Quick Nutrition

We found a new favorite side dish tonight. Wary of yet another veggie and rice/pasta combo, a tin of chickpeas caught my eye in the pantry. I threw a spoonful of ginger and garlic into a large bowl and whisked it with 3 tbs olive oil, the juice of a lemon, salt & pepper, 2 tbs curry powder and about 1/4 onion and 2 carrots - both grated. I then chopped up some cauliflower and broccoli we happened to have in our crisper - and BAM. Side Dish done. It was as delish as it was easy to make. Plus it's pretty decent for you.

I entered the values into Spark People and for 1/2 cup serving of this salad, there are approx. 235 calories, 40g carbs, 6g fat and 7g protein. Plus you're getting good fiber from the chickpeas and veggies. You can also change it up by adding whatever veggies or other ingredients you have on hand.

I think I'll add some canned tuna to the leftovers for a great lunch tomorrow!

Mulligatawny Heaven

I've started a new hobby with a friend of mine who wants to start leaning how to cook better, healthier food for himself. We've begun getting together every so often and, while we catch up with each other, we try a new recipe together. It's socializing and cooking and eating...all of my favorite things! This time we tried mulligatawny soup which is a curry-flavoured soup with a lentil base. You can add chicken or shrimp if you'd like but we left it plain 'ol vegetarian. Here's what we used:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cups (or one can) lentils
4 cups low-salt vegetable broth
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

First, take your onions and start them frying in the oil until translucent. Then add the garlic and start that going too. Then take each spice and add it one at a time to your onion/garlic mixture. Just wait a few minutes in between each addition. This will allow the spices to "bloom" and you'll layer the flavours while letting them build and intermingle with each other.

Then add your lentils and mix them into the mixture. Let them heat up with the spices and onions and garlic. Your kitchen will smell amazing! Then add in the stock and let the whole thing simmer 20 minutes. Then add the coconut milk and lemon juice. Here comes the fun part...then you blitz the whole thing with an hand-held blender or in batches in a regular blender.

And now you have soup! It's a hearty soup, even though it's blended smooth, and all those spices make it extremely aromatic and yummy. This should make enough for a couple meals and it can be frozen for lunches and future meals.