Crazy Creamy Chickpea Curry

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. coconut oil (refined or unrefined)
  • 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced (1 cup)
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh minced ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp. mild curry powder
  • ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes (we used ½ tsp.)
  • 2 ½ cups vegetable broth (we used Swanson’s organic vegetable broth)
  • 2 Tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari (we used reduced-sodium soy sauce)
  • 2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • ¾ lb. Yukon gold potatoes, cut into ¾-inch pieces (2 ½ cups)
  • 1 large carrot, sliced diagonally ¼-inch thick (we used 2 medium)
  • 4 cups large (1 x 2-inch) cauliflower florets (we cut them into bite-size pieces)
  • 1 (15-oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed & drained
  • 1 cup (from a 13.5-oz. can) coconut milk (we used regular, not lite coconut milk)
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
  • ½ cup frozen peas (we used ¾ cup)
  • Salt to taste
  • Cooked basmati rice (we used brown basmati rice), for serving
  • Sriracha, for serving (optional)

Directions

  1. Take a heavy 4-quart pot out and pour the coconut oil in, setting the heat to medium. Once the oil’s melted and hot, add in the onion and stir frequently for 5 to 7 minutes or until the onion’s lightly browned. Toss in the ginger and garlic, stirring constantly for 30 seconds or until they’re fragrant. Now add in the following ingredients, stirring to combine: curry powder, pepper flakes, broth, soy sauce, maple syrup, and tomato paste*.
  2. Add the potatoes and carrots to the pot, putting a lid on afterwards and just waiting for it to come to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down so it’s just at a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Mix in the cauliflower, chickpeas, coconut milk and the ¼ cup cilantro. Once the curry is at a simmer again, leave the lid slightly ajar and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Gently stir in the peas and cook for another minute, just to get the peas heated through. Take the pot off the heat and season with salt to taste. Serve the curry with the rice, adding cilantro to garnish on individual portions and serving with sriracha if the curry isn’t spicy enough for you.

Serves 6 (1 2/3 cup per serving).

*The tomato paste may not break down completely when you mix everything together  but it will as it gets heated through.

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We like the level of heat this has on its own but that heat will get cut down a little by the rice once they’re eaten together. This was a very filling dish thanks to the combination of chickpeas, potatoes and the “meatiness” of the cauliflower as well. Hope you’ll like it as much as we did !

Recipe source unknown.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Swanson.

Take care everybody !

Drunken Mushroom Spaghetti

Ingredients

  • ½ cup dried porcini mushrooms
  • 1-1 ½ cups chicken or vegetable stock (we used vegetable stock)
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil (we used extra-virgin olive oil)
  • 2 Tbsp. butter (we used unsalted butter)
  • 1 ½ lb. mixed fresh mushrooms, such as cremini, hen-of-the-woods and stemmed shiitake, wiped clean, then sliced (we used stemmed shiitake)
  • 2 large shallots, chopped
  • 4 large cloves garlic, chopped or grated (we chopped our garlic cloves)
  • 8-10 sage leaves, thinly sliced (we used 10 leaves)
  • About 2 Tbsp. thyme, leaves stripped from stems and chopped
  • 1 lemon, zested (about 1 ½ tsp.) and juiced (about ¼ cup) (we used 2 lemons so we could get ¼ cup of lemon juice)
  • Salt and pepper (we used kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper)
  • 1 lb. spaghetti (we used Ronzoni whole grain spaghetti)
  • 1 bottle white wine, such as Pinot Grigio (we used Beringer Main & Vine Pinot Grigio)
  • About 1 cup of freshly grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for sprinkling onto your individual portions
  • EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil), for drizzling
  • 3-4 Tbsp. chives, finely chopped

Directions

  1. Take a small saucepan out and place the dried porcini mushrooms in it, adding just enough stock to cover* the mushrooms. Set the heat to high and wait for a low boil to occur. Once it is at a low boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer for 2 to 5 minutes or until the mushrooms have softened. Take porcini mushrooms out using a slotted spoon, transferring them to a cutting board afterwards. Chop them up and leave them off to the side for now. Strain the stock so that any grit is removed, reserving the strained liquid for later.
  2. Take a large pot of water and bring it up to a boil to cook the pasta in later.
  3. Take a large skillet out and pour the two tablespoons of olive oil in, tilting the pan twice so the bottom is completely coated, setting the heat to medium-high afterwards. Once the oil’s hot, add the butter in, letting it completely melt. Add half of the mushrooms in, cooking them for 3 to 5 minutes or until they’re brown and fragrant. Take the mushrooms out of the skillet and repeat the process with the other half of the mushrooms**. Return all the cooked mushrooms to the skillet, adding in the shallots, garlic, herbs and lemon zest as well. Season with salt and pepper and pepper and stir constantly for 2 minutes or until the shallots have softened.
  4. Salt the boiling water (we used table salt), adding in the pasta afterwards. Cook the pasta a few minutes shy of al dente, about 5 minutes (we went with the 5 minutes).
  5. Add the chopped porcini and strained stock into the skillet, pouring the wine in next, waiting for the sauce to come to a boil afterwards. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let the sauce simmer for 3 minutes or until it’s reduced slightly.
  6. Drain the pasta and add it into the sauce, turning the heat down to medium-low afterwards. Toss the sauce for about 3 minutes or until the pasta is al dente and has absorbed some of the sauce. Take the skillet off of the heat and stir in the lemon juice and cup of cheese. Drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil over the pasta to marry the sauce with the pasta. Top with chives and enjoy !

*Our mushrooms started to float so we were never able to truly “cover” the mushrooms with the stock. We decided to pour in the whole 1 ½ cups.

**The first half of the mushrooms absorbed all the butter and oil so we decided to add another 2 tablespoons of oil and butter to the skillet before cooking the second half of the mushrooms.

Serves 4.

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With a name like “Drunken Mushroom Spaghetti”, we had to try this out and see what the dish was like ! Unfortunately you’re not going to get drunk off the finished sauce but this was still a delicious, bright dish. You definitely taste the acidity from the wine and lemon juice and it pairs wonderfully with the salty Pecorino Romano. The chives can add a nice pop of color but we didn’t think that it added any real flavor, whereas some extra cheese only made it even better tasting !

Recipe source unknown.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Ronzoni or Beringer Main & Vine.

Take care everybody !

Punjabi Chickpeas with Potato (Chole)

Ingredients

  • 1 large red onion
  • 4 tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral oil, divided (we used grapeseed oil)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamon
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika (we used smoked paprika)
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (we used ¼ teaspoon)
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper (we used kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 12 ounces russet potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes), peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
  • 3 medium garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste (we used Hunt’s tomato paste)
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • Two (15 ½-ounces each) can chickpeas, drained (we used Bush’s chickpeas)
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice, plus lime wedges to serve
  • ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, plus more to garnish
  • Chopped fresh tomato, thinly sliced serrano chiles, whole-milk Greek yogurt, and flatbread (such as roti or naan) (we used garlic naan) to serve (optional)

Directions

  1. Grate the onion on the large holes of a cheese grater, placing the grated onion in a mesh strainer where it can drain. Take a small bowl out and add the following ingredients to it, stirring to combine: 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil, coriander, cardamon, paprika, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cayenne, 1 ¼ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon of black pepper.
  2. Take a 12-inch skillet* out and pour the remaining oil into it, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add the cumin seeds in, shaking the skillet for 30 to 60 seconds or until the seeds smell fragrant. Add the grated onion into the skillet, stirring constantly for 1 to 3 minutes or until any moisture from the onion has evaporated.
  3. Add the potatoes to the skillet, turning the heat down to medium afterwards. Continue stirring constantly for 6 to 8 minutes or until the onion begins to brown and a “fond**” forms on the bottom of the bottom of the pan. Add the following ingredients into the skillet, stirring for another minute afterwards: ginger, garlic, and tomato paste.
  4. Move all the food from the center off to the sides, placing the spice paste from step 1 into the center, mashing the paste while stirring it around in the center for roughly 15 seconds or until you can smell the spice paste. Mix the paste in with the vegetables now. Pour the water into the skillet, bringing it up to a boil afterwards. Once boiling, scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet, adding the chickpeas in afterwards. Once the mixture is boiling again, put a lid on the skillet, turning the heat down to low afterwards. Let the potato-chickpea mixture cook for 13 to 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the oil starts separating around the edges of the skillet.
  5. Take the skillet off the heat and mix in the tablespoon of lime juice and ¼ cup of chopped cilantro. Serve individual portions with lime wedges, chopped tomato, chiles, yogurt and flatbread if you want.

Serves 4***.

*They said to not use a nonstick skillet when making this dish so we used our 12-inch cast-iron skillet.

**We had no clue what “fond” meant and had to look it up. Turns out, it’s just another term for all the browned bits that form on the bottom of your skillet while cooking !

***They say it’s supposed to serve 4 but if you decide you don’t want to serve this with the flatbread, plan on it only serving two.

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Oh this was so delicious ! We knew it was going to taste great simply based off the wonderful smells produced while cooking, especially when we were mashing the spice paste !  Even without the additional optional toppings, this tasted great with the naan bread. That increase in cayenne gave the dish a nice pleasant heat that didn’t overwhelm the other flavors (although a few serrano slices could give you a nice little burst of heat). You can still taste some of the lime juice and cilantro in the background of each bite. We hope you enjoy this filling scrumptious dish as much as we did !

We got this recipe from Milk Street.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Hunt’s, Bush’s or Milk Street.

Take care everybody !

Wild Mushroom Frittata

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp. butter (we used unsalted butter)
  • 2 cups sliced mixed wild mushrooms (we used shiitake mushrooms)
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
  • 12 eggs, beaten (we used large eggs)
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Add the butter to a medium ovenproof skillet*, setting the heat to medium. Once the butter’s melted, add in the mushrooms, shallot and tablespoon of thyme. Stir the mushroom mixture around now and then for 8 minutes or until the mushrooms brown. Add the eggs and ¼ cup of Parmesan to the skillet, seasoning afterwards (we decided to add a teaspoon each of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper). Place the skillet in the oven for 15 minutes or until the eggs have just set (took us 10 minutes). Pull the skillet out of the oven and top with additional Parmesan and thyme if you want (we did).

Seves 4 to 6

*We weren’t sure what they meant by “medium” so we used our 12-inch cast-iron skillet.

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This was the first time we made a frittata and it was delicious ! You get a little bit of that “meaty” texture from the shiitake mushrooms and while you can taste the Parmesan and oregano, it’s not a “punch you in the face” flavor, it’s more subtle. Hope you’ll like this as much as we did !

Recipe source unknown.

Take care everybody !

Skillet Mac and Cheese with Crispy Breadcrumbs

Ingredients

  • 12 oz. uncooked large elbow macaroni (we used regular elbow macaroni)
  • ¼ cup salted butter
  • ¾ cup chopped yellow onion (from 1 onion)
  • 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic (2 to 3 garlic cloves) (we went with the tablespoon measurement rather than the amount of cloves)
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 8 oz. sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
  • 6 oz. processed cheese (such as Velveeta), cubed (about 1 ½ cups) (we used mexi-velveeta)
  • 1 cup mayonnaise (such as Duke’s) (we used Duke’s)
  • ½ tsp. kosher salt
  • 6 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided (we used 8 tablespoons, divided)
  • ¾ cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 ½ cups panko (Japanese-style breadcrumbs)
  • 2 Tbsp. salted butter, melted

Directions

  1. Cook the macaroni based off the directions on the package they came in, leaving them off to the side for now. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Take a 12-inch cast-iron skillet out and add the ¼ cup butter to it, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the butter’s melted, toss the onion in, stirring constantly for 4 to 5 minutes or until the onion just starts to brown. Add the flour and garlic in, continuing to stir for another mixture or two or until the garlic becomes fragrant. Pour the milk in and wait for the mixture to come to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and gradually whisk in the Cheddar cheese and processed cheese until all of it has melted. Take the skillet off the heat and mix in the pasta, mayonnaise, salt and ½ cup of parsley (we used 6 tablespoons).
  3. Take a small bowl out and mix the ricotta and egg together in it. Take the ricotta mixture and gently stir it into the macaroni and cheese, leaving large swirls. Place the skillet in the oven for 10 minutes.
  4. While the skillet is in the oven, take a medium-sized bowl out and mix the panko, melted butter, and remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley together in it until combined. Once the skillet’s been in the oven for 10 minutes, pull it out and top it with the panko mixture, sticking the skillet back in the oven for another 10 minutes or until the panko mixture is lightly browned.

Serves 6 (1 ½ cups per serving) (Could serve even more people if you choose to serve this as a side dish.)

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This is a delicious mac and cheese that you’ll enjoy either as a main dish or just as a side dish ! The parsley adds a nice pop of color as well as adding a nice freshness to the dish when you get enough of it in a bite. You can taste the garlic a little as well but it’s the wonderful cheesy flavor that comes through the most. The panko mixture provides a nice crunchy contrast to the macaroni and cheese. We hope you enjoy this hearty macaroni and cheese as much as we did !

This recipe came from Southern Living.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Velveeta, Duke’s or Southern Living.

Take care everybody !