Fall Vegetable Curry with Basmati Pilaf

We obviously love curry dishes in our house, and this one boasted a quick cooking time, so I thought I'd give it a try tonight. I rarely cook vegetarian dinners that aren't soup, so I was looking forward to trying this one. The recipe recommended serving it with Cashew Rice, but I decided to try a rice pilaf recipe that looked really interesting. The flavor of both recipes was great. I loved the curry. It was a nice blend of sweetness from the potatoes, and salty spiciness, from the curry and chickpeas. The only problem with it, was the cooking time. It seemed to me, that everything needed to be cooked longer. The onions still had a bit of bite to them, and the potatoes were a tad toothsome as well. It was frustrating, because it was pretty uneven - some of it was cooked to perfection, while parts of it seemed underdone. I loved the flavor, however, so I'd like to try this one again.



Fall Vegetable Curry


Other Time: 30 minutes minutes
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup curry and 2 tablespoons yogurt)


1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced peeled sweet potato
1 cup small cauliflower florets
1/4 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
1/2 cup organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt

1. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Decrease heat to medium. Add cauliflower, onion, and curry powder; cook 1 minute, stirring mixture constantly. Add broth and next 3 ingredients (through tomatoes); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with cilantro; serve with yogurt.

CALORIES 231 ; FAT 3.9g (sat 0.9g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.9g); CHOLESTEROL 2mg; CALCIUM 106mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40.8g; SODIUM 626mg; PROTEIN 10.4g; FIBER 8.6g; IRON 2.5mg

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2010

The rice dish was interesting, because it called for both rice and vermicelli in the same dish. I had a lot of green onions in my fridge, so it was a good way for me to use them. I've never used my Calphalon pots in the oven, so I was a little nervous about how this one would come out. I was supposed to cook it in a dutch oven, but I don't have one, so I had to settle for my soup pot. The rice came out underdone, though it had absorbed all the liquid and was stuck to the bottom of my pot. So, basically, it seemed like it, too, needed more cooking time, and more liquid. Once again, parts of it were fine, while parts were toothsome. I loved the flavor though, and the parts that were well cooked, tasted delicious. This might have happened because I didn't use a dutch oven. Perhaps there's a reason it didn't call for making it in a giant pot. Hmph. Anyway, this one was a keeper as well, but it needs some refining, if I want to make it in my big pot again. Or... I may just have to break down and buy a dutch oven.
Basmati Pilaf with Vermicelli and Onions


This is a version of arroz con fidellos (rice with pasta). Fidellos is a thin Sephardic pasta similar to angel hair or vermicelli.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)


5 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup chopped Rio or other sweet onion
2 cups uncooked basmati rice
3/4 cup (2 ounces) uncooked vermicelli, broken into 2-inch pieces
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 350º.

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 3/4 cup sweet onion; cook 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add basmati rice and pasta; cook 2 minutes or until rice is opaque, stirring frequently. Stir in chicken broth, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil. Cover and bake at 350º for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Let stand 15 minutes. Uncover; stir in parsley and green onions

CALORIES 140 (19% from fat); FAT 3g (sat 0.4g,mono 2.1g,poly 0.3g); IRON 0.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 10mg; CARBOHYDRATE 25.2g; SODIUM 289mg; PROTEIN 3.1g; FIBER 0.8g

Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2006