Cooking Together

Chris joined me in the kitchen to make his better ever day sweet potato chips. I made wraps using cream cheese, Gorgonzola cheese, salad greens, tomato, cucumber, shredded purple cabbage, sea salt, and mixed hand-ground pepper. We also had some leftover brown rice with beans seasoned with Indian spice.

Afterward, for the first time, I made Chai latte Frappuccinos. That was my first attempt. They tasted very close to Starbucks.

Earlier in the day I cleaned out two kitchen cabinets, moving all the tea we had into the cabinet just above my teapot. Why I didn’t think of this sooner I don’t know. It’s unreal how much tea I had. I’m a collector of tea. I guess I’m of the belief that tea solves everything. Have you ever seen in soap operas (although it’s been so long since I’ve seen a soap opera, so maybe this still isn’t the case) how a cup of tea is suggested during a bad moment? For me, it goes equally as well with the good moments and any form of dessert, or in the case of Chai lattes it is the dessert.

 

 

I’m thankful we sometimes cook together.

Cashew Curry

I made this dish a couple of days ago.  I was looking for a recipe using the coconut milk.  I had just purchased a carton hoping to switch over from regular milk, which I mostly use for chai teas.  But the taste just didn’t appeal to me.  And, the coconut milk just didn’t mix with the chai.  So, I needed to use up the milk.

I found a cashew curry recipe that sounded good, and I had most of the ingredients on hand.  Unless it’s a backing recipe I usually change things anyway.  In this case, I used asparagus, broccoli and roasted red bell peppers in place of the cauliflower and green beans, because that is what I happened to have on hand.  I did use a red onion, but I think a yellow or white would be better the next time.

The site I found the recipe on is:  http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/cashew-curry-recipe.html

I had mostly shied away from curries, but this was so simple.  It made me take a look into Heidi Swanson’s cookbooks.  She has a cookbook about super natural cooking.  I immediately put this on my amazon wish list.

1 cup whole coconut milk
1 – 2 tablespoons curry powder*
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 large red onion, chopped (I personally think a white or yellow would work better.)
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
1/3 cup water
4 ounces firm tofu, cut into small cubes (optional)
1 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch segments (used asparagus)
1 1/2 cups cauliflower, cut into tiny florets (used broccoli)  (also used some roasted red bell peppers – I love them plus the color they give.)
1/3 cup cashews, toasted
a handful of cilantro, loosely chopped

I served along with a multi-grain rice.

I’m thankful I’m learning to use coconut milk in recipes.  I’m also using so much more cilantro.  Hopefully I will get more adventurous with curries.  Fresh ginger is calling out to me.