healthy recipes

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Curried Chickpeas with Habanero Mango Chutney

March 12, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 7 comments

Meal #1 of the Spring Health Challenge was a success. It wasn’t really any different from regular meals, but as it is fairly healthy and inexpensive, I made a huge batch for freezing. Adding protein to my diet? Check! Drinking more water? Check! Going for a run and doing strength training? Check!

I can honestly say I am feeling better already. That might also have something to do with being done with the nasty old flu. . . I hope.

Anyway, I am always up for Indian-inspired food at home, and I was jonesing to use the slow-cooker. Thus was born slow cooker curried chickpeas with mango chutney.

My recent discovery that dried beans cook up really well in the slow-cooker made me brave enough to just toss in a 16 ounce bag of chickpeas, covered by about an inch and a half of water. To this, I added a couple shakes each of cinnamon, cayenne pepper, curry powder, paprika, black pepper, and crushed coriander seeds. I also added a can of crushed tomatoes, a scoop of coconut oil, and six potatoes, sliced into discs.

I set it and forget it, leaving the chickpeas to cook on high for four hours, then lowering them to low for three more hours. I checked on them about every hour and added more water and crushed red pepper toward the end.

I didn’t want to just have the curried chickpeas on their own, so I decided to whip up some mango chutney as well. I started with two cups of frozen mango and added it to a pan with two habaneros, just chopped in half.

I covered the mixture with white vinegar, added a spoonful of honey for sweetness to balance out the habanero spice, and cooked the chutney on low for a little over an hour.

Eventually, it got syrupy and smelled lovely. Just be sure to strain the habaneros out before serving!

To serve, I filled bowls with the chickpeas, chutney, and topped it with a scoop of Fage 0% Greek yogurt, served with a glass of Travessia Un-Oaked Chardonnay.

The husband said it was better than Indian food at any restaurant we have been to; I will take that as a sign of success!

Now for the giveaways: The winner of the $30 CSN gift code is. . . Melissa! And the winner of the restaurant gift cards giveaway is. . . Shannon! Ladies, please email me so I can match you up with your prizes!

Technorati Tags: chickpeas, curry, Fage, healthy, healthy recipes, Indian Food, mango chutney, recipe, vegan, Vegetarian, yogurt

Tags: chickpeas, curry, Fage, healthy, healthy recipes, Indian Food, mango chutney, recipe, vegan, Vegetarian, yogurt

Sultry Spiced Vegetables

February 23, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 10 comments

Trying to eat more veggies, but tired of the same old dishes? I was feeling this way over the weekend, so I dreamed up a recipe for a roasted vegetable salad with feta that ended up being out of this world.

I started with a giant sweet potato, a yellow onion, a peeled eggplant, a bunch of carrots, and some butternut squash chunks, cutting and peeling everything as needed. After tossing them in oil, I put the carrots, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash into a 420 degree oven to get started while I prepped the dressing.

The dressing was really full of flavors and textures which made this veggie dish so enjoyable. I used about a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, a teaspoon of coriander seeds, crushed, and a half teaspoon of cumin. I absolutely love coriander, so I kept some of the seeds whole, roughly crushing them in a bowl with the back of a spoon.

One of the other key ingredients in the dressing was a fig jam that was in my swag bag from the Boston Food Blogger launch party.

To a little bowl, I added a teaspoon of the jam, the spices, and about a half cup of balsamic vinegar. Then I streamed in olive oil until the dressing tasted just right.

When the veggies were soft and browned, roasted to perfection, I scooped them into bowls and poured some of the dressing over them, tossing to coat all of the warm vegetables.

I cut up a bit of Athenos feta to sprinkle over the top.

And sat down with a glass of wine and a really satisfying dinner. I planned on heating up some chicken sausage with these veggies, but I ended up pretty full from them.

Do you like roasted vegetables? What are your favorite veggies to roast?

Technorati Tags: butternut squash, carrots, eggplant, feta cheese, healthy, healthy food, healthy recipes, onion, roasted vegetables, salad, spices, sweet potato, vegan option, Vegetarian, vegetarian recipe, veggies

Tags: butternut squash, carrots, eggplant, feta cheese, healthy, healthy food, healthy recipes, onion, roasted vegetables, salad, spices, sweet potato, vegan option, Vegetarian, vegetarian recipe, veggies

Zesty Black Bean Soup

February 21, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 10 comments

In keeping with the week’s simple and healthy theme, I decided to unearth some of the many dried beans I keep in the pantry for a comforting soup. Though Friday’s weather made it seem like spring was near, I couldn’t get warm this weekend and needed something hearty that could bubble away on the stove while I was working.

I soaked about two cups of dried black beans in plenty of water overnight, then drained and rinsed them before prepping the rest of the soup ingredients.

I smashed six cloves of garlic and minced them, then added the garlic to some olive oil, starting it on low heat.

To the garlic, I added my soup’s secret ingredient, Howard’s Hot Pepper Relish. I love the sweet and spicy flavors of this peppery relish, so I put in three heaping tablespoons.

Once I could smell the garlic starting to cook up, I added the softened beans, two cups of water, and half of a bag of frozen sweet corn.

I brought everything up to a boil, then brought the heat down to low, letting the soup simmer for over an hour, checking to see if water was needed. You will want to eyeball it and taste the beans to make sure they are cooked all the way through.

To make the soup an even more complete meal, I cooked up some al fresco spicy jalapeno sausage, sliced it into small pieces, and added it to the soup.

And finally, I added a dollop of Fage 2% Greek yogurt to the top of the soup. This would definitely be fine without the chicken sausage for a vegetarian soup, maybe even with some quinoa or brown rice added to bulk it up. Delicioso!

I am in a serious weather funk. I can’t warm up, even when I am dancing to my Ke$ha Pandora station or lifting weights, and I feel tired all of the time. I just want to open the windows and to be able to sit in my house without my coat! Can it be spring yet?

Hot pepper relish is a condiment that I love to have around the house. What is your favorite condiment?

Technorati Tags: beans, black bean soup, black beans, chicken sausage, cooking, corn, dinner, easy recipes, fiber, garlic, healthy comfort food, healthy eating, healthy recipes, hot relish, Lunch, peppers, soup, vegetarian soup