Wednesday 8 April 2015

Fuhrman's Cauliflower & Green Pea Curry - adapted (vegan & gluten-free)

Rocket & Roses Kitchen Play List:

Lissie ~ Everywhere I Go
Beth Hart ~ Am I The One
Billie Myers ~ Tell Me
VAST ~ Beautiful
The Rolling Stones ~ Emotional Rescue
Lenny Kravitz ~ Can't Stop Thinking About You
Thunder ~ Broken
Meshell Ndegeocello ~ Don't Mistake My Kindness For Weakeness
Rizzle Kicks ~ Skip To The Good Bit
Martina McBride ~ Whatever You Say
Skin ~ When I'm With You
Dave Matthews Band ~ Drive In Drive Out
The Feeling ~ Fill My Little World
Harry Connick Jr ~ Smile

In making today's recipe I felt like I was paying homage to some 70's style vegetarian curry. And when taking the photos I had a hard time making it look pleasant. It's tricky to make a brown dish look attractive. Thankfully the cauliflower stood out amongst the brown sauce...phew!

Today's recipe is from Dr Fuhrman's Eat To Live Cookbook which I am recipe testing at the moment. I've been a fan of Fuhrman's work for some time as I respect the basic plan of his eating programme. I am trying to build some much needed strength for some operations that are (hopefully) coming up later in the year. His principals of eating nutrient dense foods and cutting out any macro dense foods is something I try to do every day. And his plan is naturally vegan so therefore perfect. I don't follow his everyday plan or menus but his recipes are something I enjoy. However, for me there are a little too many dried fruits in his soups for my liking and needs but that is my only quibble.

To describe this recipe as a curry is for me a stretch so personally I would have called it Curried Cauliflower & Peas. Foodies out there will understand the difference between the two. As is my rules...I made the first batch of this recipe as Fuhrman instructed and that meant using generic curry powder instead of a hand mixed blend of spices. I am not usually a foodie snob but when it comes to spices...I admit it..I am..so ignoring all of my beautiful spices I have in my spice draw and selecting my large pot of curry powder felt all kinds of wrong. It felt lazy. But I soldiered on...

It is a very basic recipe and very quick to make although my cauliflower took twice as long to cook as the suggested time on the recipe. During a recent shopping trip I had been over the freaking moon happy to find some bagged Baby Kale Leaves. If you are lucky you can sometimes buy whole leaves of kale where I live but mainly it comes pre-chopped in bags. Which does mean dried out shrivelled kale pieces with large chunks of stalk attached. Nice, eh? So I was practically jumping up and down with joy at this bag of baby kale. When I was making this dish I felt it needed a green leafy and decided that the kale was the perfect one. I added the leaves at the end of the cooking time and stirred them through the curry and left them to wilt in the heat of the veggie mix. 

I enjoyed this spiced dish but I stand by my original comments...it wasn't a curry. It was a spiced vegetable dish and you could taste the curry powder tang as it didn't have the depth that a real curry has. And the richness of a good curry sauce was evidently missing. Am I being too picky? Maybe so. Would I make it again? Yes as it was quick and easy to make and very economical. But I would make my own spice blend next time and maybe use a little more fresh tomato. The kale leaves fitted in amongst the other veggies perfectly and brought a freshness to it. It may not be a looker...but it was nice to eat.  


Fuhrman's Cauliflower & Green Pea Curry - adapted (vegan & gluten-free)

Fuhrman's Cauliflower & Green Pea Curry     Serves 4
(Adapted recipe from Eat To Live Cookbook/Fuhrman)

3 garlic cloves, minced
1 med onion, chopped
1 small carrot, grated
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 bag of Florette baby kale leaves

Water/saute the onion, garlic and carrots until tender. Add ginger, curry powder and cumin and saute for an additional minute. Add cauliflower, tomatoes, peas and water. Cover and simmer for 7-15 minute or until cauliflower is tender. Add in more water if needed to adjust consistency. Stir in the baby kale leaves, cover and leave to warm through for a few minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and serve...

Enjoy!

~Red~

NB: This is not my creation. It is the adapted recipe from the Eat To Live Cookbook so I take no credit for it whatsoever. The hard work and creation is entirely theirs. I thank them for sharing such good recipes. ~R~