I never expected Martha Stewart to be helpful to me twice in one season, but it happened. My wonderful friend and Naturopathic Doctor, Sandra Murphy alerted me to this recipe last month, and it was evident I needed to make it pronto (yes, this is how bad I am at updating my blog-- I made this--okay-- about three weeks ago). I made it the next night. It's a pretty simple recipe, although my version ended up looking as if it'd been stored in a plastic grocery bag and dragged through the city. Okay, so I'm no food photographer-- I guess that's no secret. That, and I added the tofu early because I wanted to, and it wasn't as firm as hers. But it was still wicked.
As I was cutting up the peppers, I noticed one piece naturally formed an "s," which I thought was pretty rad. I looked further and easily found an "e." And I think peppers are sexy anyway, thus me spelling the word "sexy" using the red peppers that I'd roughly chopped. Bruce took this photo for me. How sexy is that?
The curry (Martha calls it stew, and hers looked like stew, but mine didn't) was spicy as hell because I used a muchi curry powder (which is hotter) rather than the usual organic one I use. It was SO very DAMNED HOT (for me-- for curry powder, anyway). I'm sure some of y'all'd be all like "it's not hot at all!! You call THAT spicy?!" Everything is relative, and I'm just as adamant about showing off about certain things, so let's let it rest. But if you're looking for a hot powdered curry blend, muchi might be the one. Anyway, this stew/curry was extremely quick (like 40 minutes all told, probably) and simple and delicious and used very few ingredients. Peeling the li'l pumpkin was much less tedious than I'd remembered. As for the recipe, I varied it only slightly (for me, anyway). I used whole coconut milk because light coconut milk is for pussies and I used almond milk because rice milk is only for people who are allergic to absolutely everything. To me it's outdated and gross. I used it before almond milk became the new soy milk. Anyway, I also used a lime because a) limes are better than lemons in Indian cooking and b) that's what Martha pictured with her stew, even though she called for a lemon. ZING! Oh, I also omitted the jalapeno pepper (because I can't have too much heat) and the onion (because Bruce thinks they're evil, about which he's wrong, but I appease him). And finally, I omitted cilantro leaves. I may be in the minority here, but I'm just don't like them. I won't say cilantro's gross, I'm still working on liking it.
This was our curry and it was a good thing, or whatever.
Okay, it's purple kale, but it's soooo dhark and gets even darker (and somewhat greenish) when cooked. Anyway, I've been neglecting my kale intake lately, so I thought I'd try preparing it an Ayurvedic (for all intents and purposes-- in a balanced Indian style) way in hopes I would tempt Bruce to eat it as well. He did smell it and agree to try it at a later date, but he was so into his fishsticks and fake chicken that he wouldn't stray. So..., I just ripped pieces of kale off the stalk, boiled it until tender (you could also steam it but I wanted the energetic effects of boiled kale, plus I'm gonna use the purply mineral-rich boiling water for soup!). In another little pot, I warmed about a teaspoon of coconut oil (this one, a new one was full-flavoured and therefore tasty!), added 1/2 tsp. of cumin seeds and when they started popping, added a tsp. of coriander powder. I then poured this oil mixture on the kale and added some Bragg's liquid aminos (saltiness) and a sheet of nori seaweed (the stuff of sushi) torn roughly into squares. I was shocked at how delicious this was-- the bitterness of the kale kind of vanished-- this is a highly recommended kale preparation method. Anyway, this bowl of kale was all I ate for supper. I baked apple blueberry oat muffins later. I ate tofu for breakfast and Indian cauliflower and potatoes for lunch. I've been eating so strangely lately. It's been fun, so I've been going with it.
KALE-- it's what your creakin' bones've been askin' you for.
This was our curry and it was a good thing, or whatever.
