Quick & Dirty Chicken Curry in a Hurry (Bangladeshi style in a Crock Pot/Slow Cooker)

I had 10 minutes to throw together chicken curry before picking up my kindergarteners.  I was shocked the curry came out so delicious in a crock pot!!  SUCCESS!!

ingredients:

• 1.5 pounds of organic chicken legs (broil both sides on high)
• I sliced onion
• 1.5 teaspoons ginger garlic paste (ratio:  2/3 ginger & 1/3 garlic)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon Bangladeshi dark coriander (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cardamom pods
• 3 cloves
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup water
• few tablespoons olive oil
• 5 small potatoes quartered

method

Broil both sides of the chicken on high setting.  You don’t want to put raw chicken in a crock pot.

Turn the crock pot on high.  Cover the bottom of the crock pot with olive oil.  Add onion and all spices including tomato paste.  Mix it up with a wooden spoon.  Add your par-cooked chicken.  Place potatoes on top.  Add water.  Cook for 3 hours.  You can add some fresh cilantro or sea salt if needed.  Serve with rice or naan bread.  You can also keep it paleo friendly by serving over a bed of greens.

Pumpkin & Hemp “Queso” (Vegan & GF)

I miss cheese. I even miss processed nasty cheese dip — toxic but diabolically delicious.  This recipe was inspired by my love for cheesy dips and a bare fridge/pantry as I needed something delicious, allergen friendly and suitable for a potluck.  Pumpkin & hemp queso served in a fondue pot (or something similar that will keep the dip hot) with veggies/crackers/tortilla chips/etc. is perfect for a potluck or party!

I know this sounds a bit insane because pumpkin does not taste like cheese.  But this dip is reminiscent of cheesy goodness (creamy mouth feel with hints of cheesiness from the nutritional yeast) while having its own unique flavor that is insanely addictive.

I absolutely love this dip.  Try out the recipe and please report back!

I made this dip in less than 10 minutes.  I was in a mad dash rush and had no time to snap a photo or make a video.  Enjoy!

ingredients:

• 1 can pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 3-4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3 tablespoons olive oil (or less)
• 1/2 onion diced
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 jalapeno diced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder or sriracha
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/2-3/4 cup hemp hearts
• 2 hot & sweet pickled cherry peppers (optional; can substitute)
• 2 teaspoons sea salt

method:

In a skillet, saute onions in olive oil until golden and soft.  Then add garlic and jalapenos.  Stir the mixture for a minute or two.  Add tomatoes and make sure they are fully cooked.

In a high speed blender (I use a vitamix), blend 1 cup of water, pumpkin, nutritional yeast, hemp hearts (I used 1/2 cup), sweet & spicy peppers and salt.

Add blended mixture to skillet and stir until the dip is nice and hot.  I needed to add a bit of water because my queso was too thick.

Serve immediately.

Aam Doodth (mangoes & milk) for breakfast or snack

Aam dooth was my favorite dessert during the summer.  An incredibly simple dish with a perfect blend of flavors — creamy, yet healthy.  I often give the children a non-cereal breakfast after I discovered most cereals are not healthy as the high temperature needed to make cereals results in a less nutrient dense end product.  It makes sense, better to eat more real foods that are minimally processed.  But I also need fast recipes for breakfast as we are often in a time crunch.  This recipe fits the bill.  It’s also a great way to use up left over grains.

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cooked room temperature grain (i.e., rice, quinoa, etc.)
• 1 ripe mango smashed up by hand or food processed
• 1/2 cup hot milk (full fat  milk or vegan alternative)
• pinch of salt

method:

Mix all ingredients and enjoy as breakfast or a snack!

Hot Cocoa for Breakfast!

I love thick Spanish style hot chocolate.  But it’s a bit too decadent and rich for breakfast.  I made breakfast style hot cocoa, very reminiscent of Mexican champurrado (hot chocolate made with corn), out of my nut free “nutella”.  This cocoa is sugar free, protein rich with hemp hearts and even packed with a superfood.

ingredients

• 1.5 cups coconut milk (or milk of choice)
• 2 TB nut free “nutella”
• almost 1 ounce of dark chocolate
• 1/2 TP organic corn starch or arrowroot powder
• 1/4 – 1/2 TP cinammon

method

Bring all ingredients to a boil over medium heat.  Let it boil for 1 to 2 minutes until the cocoa is nice and thick.  I also blended with an immersion blender to ensure a creamy drink with no bits of hemp heart.  This is a great way to start the day!

Nut Free “Nutella”

We often eat sprouted bagels from the farmers market for breakfast.  Due to my son’s nut allergies, I can’t use the classic peanut or almond butter and jelly comb on the bagels.  Our favorite spreads are grassfed butter or cream cheese with jam or lemon curd.  I wanted a new delicious spread to add to the mix.  The kids loved this creamy chocolately hemp butter spread.  My 2 year old licked all of the chocolately spread off of his bagel.

ingredients

• 1.5 cups frozen hemp hearts
• 3-4 TB cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2-4 TB honey or maple sugar
• pinch of sea salt

method

In vitamix (not sure how other blenders do with butters), start on variable 1 and quickly go to 10 and then to high, while using tamper to vigorously push down on the hemp hearts.  Blend for 1.5 minutes.  Scrape out the creamy hemp hearts into a bowl and add remaining ingredients.  Using a spoon or fork, patiently incorporate all the ingredients.  If you want your spread to be more decadent, add 1-2 TB melted coconut oil and 2 TB powdered sugar.

Keema Curry with Sweet Pototoes & Green Peas (Paleo-Friendly)

Any day with a sick kid ends up being twice as long with little time to get anything done.  Today was one of those days.  I needed dinner ready in 30 minutes.  I fantasized about a well stocked freezer with well thought out homemade leftovers.  No such luck. I made keema curry because I had ground turkey in my fridge.  The dish is also very warming because it contains cinnamon, cardamom and cloves — great when you are feeling run down. ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 onion diced
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic & ginger paste (2/3 ginger to 1/3 garlic ratio)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1.5 cinnamon sticks
• 8 cardamom pods
• 10 cloves
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 4-5 small sweet potatoes (peeled & diced)
• 1.5-2 cups of peas (frozen is just fine)

method Place diced sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, mix with olive oil and sprinkle of turmeric, and bake for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven while flipping potatoes once after 10 minutes. While sweet potato cooks, saute onion with olive oil in a large skillet until the onion is soft and light brown.  Then add remainder spices and stir for one minute until the mixture is fragrant.  Add ground turkey and stir often but do not mash up the ground meat so it no longer has any texture.  After the ground turkey is more than half way cooked, add the peas and cook until peas are tender.  Finally, add the roasted sweet potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Keema curry is great with rice or can be paleo friendly on top of a bed of greens!  Please let the kids know that they should pick out the cloves/cardamon.