But back to the food. Ever since we became vegans I have not been able to get enough Indian food. I love the taste that is left in my mouth after a meal of Indian food. We especially like Woodlands, a vegetarian restaurant in Lauderhill, where they serve a mid-day buffet 7 days a week. We travel the 45 minutes for a very late lunch and consider it lunch and dinner.
I have been trying to cook Indian food at home, but it seems hard to duplicate without the oil for cooking the spices. So I spent a couple of days cooking a feast without adding oil and the result tasted authentic enough for me. Everyone at the table ate at least two servings of everything, so I think my guests agreed that it was excellent food.
Initially, I was concerned that the Pineapple Rice would be too sweet for my taste, but it turned out to be only very slightly sweet with a nice bite from the red curry paste. It was a fabulous component of my Indian/Asian Feast: Thai coconut soup, sesame broccoli, roasted vegetable curry, spicy potatoes and spinach, pineapple chutney, mango chutney, flatbread (like Indian Naan), and lychees with ginger and kiwi for dessert.
I also found it complicated to be the cook, food photographer and hostess at the same time, but everyone was very tolerant as they waited to be served while I took pictures of the food. I don't usually photograph the food with flash because natural light seems to make a better photo, but this time I had no choice. I don't think the food or the guests would have done too well with my running back and forth between the patio where I shoot with natural light and the dining room.
Here are recipes for the Pineapple Rice and the Roasted Vegetable Curry. The cashews enhance the rice, but if you are being really careful about the fat you can just leave them out. I use lite version to reduce the calories of the coconut milk.
More recipes from the Feast another day.
Pineapple Rice
First, prepare all of the ingredients. Note especially that the rice is cooked before it goes into this stir-fry. This recipe is adapted to remove the fat from a recipe in Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers: Fresh Ideas For the Weeknight Table by the Moosewood Collective.
4 ounces extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup Tamari
1/4 cup water
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tablespoon peeled and grated ginger
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 scallions, minced
2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
4 cups cooked jasmine rice
1/4 cup cashews, toasted
Put the tofu cubes into a small bowl and pour the soy sauce over the cubes. Set aside.
In a non-stick wok or large non-stick skillet, sauté the garlic, ginger, and curry paste in the water for a minute. Add the peppers and the scallions, and the tofu. Stir-fry until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
Add the pineapple and the rice and stir-fry until everything is hot.
Serve topped with cashews.
Serves 8
Roasted Vegetable Curry
Although the result of your efforts will taste complex, this is a very easy recipe to prepare. As part of the Indian/Asian feast, it was the dish with the most heat. The recipe is also adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers.
1 large sweet potato
1 onion
1/2 small head of cauliflower
spray vegetable oil
Curry Sauce ingredients:
2 teaspoons grated peeled ginger root
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 cup light coconut milk
1 cup diced tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with oil.
Peel the sweet potatoes and onion, cut them into 3/4-inch chunks and place them in a large bowl. Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized florets (about 3 cups) and add to the bowl. Spray with oil and toss to coat. Spread the vegetables in a single layer on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet on the center shelf of the oven. Roast, stirring once after 10 minutes. Continue to roast the vegetables for another 10 minutes, being careful to only lightly brown the vegetables.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the ginger, curry powder, and coconut milk until smooth. Stir in the tomatoes.
After the vegetables are roasted, place them in an oven-proof serving dish. Pour the curry sauce over them and stir to coat them evenly.
They can be returned to the oven until tender, about 5 minutes or covered and refrigerated for a few hours. If you have refrigerated the assembled dish, about 15 minutes before serving, cover with aluminum foil and cook the vegetables in a 350 degree oven until heated through.
Serves 4
Although the result of your efforts will taste complex, this is a very easy recipe to prepare. As part of the Indian/Asian feast, it was the dish with the most heat. The recipe is also adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers.
1 large sweet potato
1 onion
1/2 small head of cauliflower
spray vegetable oil
Curry Sauce ingredients:
2 teaspoons grated peeled ginger root
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 cup light coconut milk
1 cup diced tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with oil.
Peel the sweet potatoes and onion, cut them into 3/4-inch chunks and place them in a large bowl. Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized florets (about 3 cups) and add to the bowl. Spray with oil and toss to coat. Spread the vegetables in a single layer on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet on the center shelf of the oven. Roast, stirring once after 10 minutes. Continue to roast the vegetables for another 10 minutes, being careful to only lightly brown the vegetables.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the ginger, curry powder, and coconut milk until smooth. Stir in the tomatoes.
After the vegetables are roasted, place them in an oven-proof serving dish. Pour the curry sauce over them and stir to coat them evenly.
They can be returned to the oven until tender, about 5 minutes or covered and refrigerated for a few hours. If you have refrigerated the assembled dish, about 15 minutes before serving, cover with aluminum foil and cook the vegetables in a 350 degree oven until heated through.
Serves 4
1 comment:
Thanks for writing this.
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