My Dinner's Too Currylicious Fo Ya Babe

Sorry kittens, it seems my penchant for punny post titles (and alliteration, apparently) has reached all new lows heights. Also, I've never used strikethrough in a blog until just now. But back to the point of that terrible post title...

You must make this curry. I found the recipe here, on a site I have raved about before when my friend pointed me to it. Her blog is so very much better than mine. I'm making up random stuff in my kitchen and tweaking other people's recipes, but she's whipping up all sorts of original recipes that have never let me down. You can hop over to Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes any time you want something new to cook that will definitely be great.

I've made this curry a few times, and each time I pretty much disregard the spices, for a number of reasons. One, I can't find asafetida, and since she said it's optional, I opted out. Two, I used cumin to taste instead of cumin seeds. Three, Bobby truly despises cilantro (the same thing as coriander, referenced in her recipe) because he is one of those unfortunate people to whom cilantro tastes like soap. I also tend to add other random spices to taste, such as garam masala, turmeric, curry powder, or even cardamom. Other than that I follow her directions exactly and this has become our favorite go to, easy dish. The coconut milk- full fat ya'll, it's good for you and worth the taste- makes it every bit as creamy as traditional cream.

Apologies for the flash, I couldn't find Bobby's (much better) camera and needed to snap a shot and get on with the dinner making

 The recipe specifically calls for fresh tomatoes instead of canned. I've made this with canned and fresh tomatoes, and it's hard for me to tell the difference taste wise, but texture wise I far prefer fresh.

 Hello again, $3 Goodwill saute pan. Onions and cumin look good on you. They smell good, too.

 This is the finished product, simmering on the stove so that all the flavors meld. Forget Glade, or AirWick, or anything else that promises to make your home smell wonderful. Just simmer some curry on the stove and you'll have it covered. The sweet tomato and coconut smells mix with the heady spices and it's amazing.

I usually serve this with a side of plain white rice. Alternatively, you can make cauliflower rice if, like me, rice doesn't exactly get your culinary heart racing. You just wash and chop a head of cauliflower, and then pulse it in a food processor (raw). Once it reaches a consistency/look similar to rice, you can take it out and shake it around a hot pan a bit to soften it and warm it through- feel free to season however you would normally season your rice. Basically what you're looking for is a neutral, chewy, starchy complement to the creamy, layered flavors of the curry, and cauliflower does that job very well. Plus it gets some extra veggies in your day. And a day with extra veggies is usually a pretty good day.

Food Facts FYI: Cauliflower
For 25 calories and 0 grams of fat, one cup of raw cauliflower gives you 77% of your DV of vitamin C and 2% of your DV of calcium and iron. It also has 3 grams of fiber and 2 grams of protein, plus an array of phytochemicals. And if you ever get bored of plain old white cauliflower, you can check out orange or purple varieties :)