Almond & Coconut Rice Pudding

I get excited when a fresh issue of a cooking magazine shows up in our mailbox- so much inspiration, so many recipes to try out!  Check out which magazines we like to flip through on our “Blogs, Books & Magazines” page.  I also like it when I have ingredients to make particular recipes, without having to break the bank- or keep visiting the grocery store.

When I was flipping through the January issue of Food and Wine, I spotted a recipe for Almond-Milk Rice Pudding.  Knowing that I had about the exact amount of sushi rice in our pantry I’ve been wanting to use up, I thought this would be the perfect dessert, or snack, throughout the week.

The week prior, we had access to a car (thanks Carrie!) and I had bought various (delicious) items at Trader Joe’s.  Two of them were almond and coconut milk.  Not too familiar with these liquids?  Almond milk is made from ground almonds, and a great substitute if you have dairy allergies.  Coconut milk is made from grated coconut, also a great milk substitute, and used in many vegan and vegetarian dishes.  I recommend using the unsweetened versions, making this a little healthier, and not overly sweet.

Almond & Coconut Rice Pudding
Adapted from: Food & Wine (January 2013)

1 1/2 cups of sushi rice, rinsed
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
4 cups of almond milk
4 cups of coconut milk

In a large bowl, or pitcher, combine the almond and coconut milks together.

In a large saucepan, combine the sushi rice, sugar, salt and 1 cup of the milk mixture.  Cook the ingredients over low heat, stirring, until the milk is absorbed- about 5 minutes.  Then add in another cup of milk, stirring until the liquid is absorbed, about 5-10 minutes.  Gradually, every 5-10 minutes add another cup of milk and keep stirring, until you use all but 1 cup.  By then, the rice mixture should be thickened, and the rice will be cooked.  Lastly, turn off the heat, pour in the last cup of milk, stir, and allow it to cool.

Serve with preserves, defrosted fruit, or fresh fruit (berries would be best).

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Thai Curry

Do you have Thanksgiving turkey leftovers?  If so, this is the perfect recipe to make a delicious meal this weekend.  I actually made this recipe a week ago, using chicken- but it will taste equally delicious using the turkey leftovers many of you have in the fridge!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving- a wonderful evening with family and friends!  Sam and I, along with his brother enjoyed our dinner at Hill Country BBQ– we had a relaxing, football-watching afternoon!

Are any of you venturing out for Black Friday sales?  I have never done it, and will probably never start my shopping that early.  I prefer to start of my post-Thanksgiving Day with a nice run- especially with the beautiful DC weather today.

Chicken Thai Curry
Adapted from: Cooking Light (Nov 2011)

If you’re not a spicy eater, definitely skip the chili’s (or use less).  Although I used chicken in this recipe, feel free to swap for leftovers turkey or tofu, or skip meat all together.  More veggies are always delicious- so don’t hesitate to add extra’s if you have them in the fridge!

1 cup of basmati rice
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
5 Thai chilies (or less/more)
rind from 1 lime
15 cilantro sprigs
5 garlic cloves
1 inch of ginger, grated
1 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp olive oil
5 carrots, peeled & grated
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups vegetable broth
2 zucchini, coarsely chopped
2-3 cups cooked chicken or turkey (optional)

Cook 1 cup of rice per package instructions.

Combine coriander, cumin, Thai chilies, lime rind, cilantro sprigs, garlic and ginger into a food processor.  Process until all ingredients are finely chopped.  Then add the coconut milk, process until smooth.

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot.  Add in the carrots and onions, cook and stir occasionally  for 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent.  Then add in the coconut mixture, the salt and pepper.  Stirring frequently, increase the heat to high, and cook for 5 minutes, or until the mixture reduces and begins to brown.  Reduce the heat to medium, add in the broth.  Bring to a boil, then stir in the half of the zucchini.  Then simmer for 45 minutes, when the zucchini is tender.

After the zucchini is well cooked, add in the rest of the zucchini and the chicken, cook for about 5 minutes until the meat is thoroughly heated.  Add in the rice, then divide and serve.

Spicy Veggie Lentil Curry

Being a food blogger does have some perks, one of them is trying out new products I might not otherwise get my hands on.  After noticing that we had bought some habañeros and other spicy peppers at the Penn Quarter Farmer’s Market, Plato’s Olive Oil contacted us to see if we would be interested in trying out one of their infused olive oils.

Of course Sam, the spice lover of this household, wanted to give this a try.  He’s even been thinking about making some of his own!  So we waited patiently for our olive oil to arrive.

Plato’s Olive Oil is a family owed company based in California.  The owner was looking for an olive oil infused with spicy flavors, and wasn’t able to find any- so he began experimenting!  The original, and the product which was sent us, is their habañero-infused olive oil, which comes from the Napa region in California.

To give it a try, I decided to make some lentil curry- and thought that the extra spice from Plato’s olive oil would be a perfect kick.  And I was not disappointed, the olive oil gave this dish the extra spice it needed!

But there is no way around it, and many food bloggers and photographers can agree, brown food is so difficult to photograph!  But sometimes- in this case a spicy veggie curry- it’s so delicious, I wish it’d look a bit nicer to show off it’s tastiness.

Veggie Lentil Curry
Adapted from: SweetSugarBean

2 tbsp Plato’s Habanero-Infused olive oil (or regular olive oil)
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 small carrots, chopped
1 inch ginger, shredded
2 jalapeño, chopped (optional)
3 tbsp spicy curry paste
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 14.5 oz light coconut milk
2 cups uncooked lentils
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 head of cauliflower
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Heat up the olive oil in a large pot.  Once heated, add the onions and allow them to cook for about 5 minutes, or until they become translucent.  Then add in the garlic, carrots, ginger and jalapeños.  Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Next add in the curry paste, cayenne pepper, cumin and coriander.  Allow to cook for about a minute, then add in the tomatoes, coconut milk and lentils.  Stir well and bring to a boil.  Then lower to a simmer, and cook until the beans are done (about 40 minutes).

Once the lentils are cooked, add in the chickpeas, cauliflower and peas.  Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Finally, stir in the cilantro and serve.

Disclosure: I received a bottle of Plato’s Habanero-Infused Olive Oil to try, but did not receive additional compensation for this post, or was under any obligation to blog about it.

Food Matters Project #7: Curry with Vegetables

I thought this post was very fitting for our household today. The chosen dish for the The Food Matters Project was a curry, and today, Sam is leaving for a work trip to India.  What a coincidence!  This weeks recipe was chosen by Joanne of Eats Well With Others.  Joanne had chosen the Curried Tomato Soup with Hard-Boiled Eggs from Mark Bittman’s book, The Food Matters Cookbook.  Check out the comments section of this post to see how everyone else’s dishes turned out.

I actually wasn’t a fan of Indian food until Sam made me dinner when we first started dating.  At that time he wasn’t eating meat, so the dish was full of veggies, chickpeas and a spicy sauce.  I fell in love (not only with the dish)!  Since then, Indian has definitely been one of our rotating flavors.  The best part is that Indian dishes are very versatile, without meat it tastes even better.  My favorite veggies to add are cauliflower and carrots, definitely try those if you haven’t already.  Add some fresh naan and basmati rice, and you’ve got yourself a great dinner.  Or even better leftovers.

This dish was light, airy and had a silky sauce with the vegetables and the coconut milk.  It’s something all of us can put together after work, or a couple of days in advance for a mid-week dinner.  Mark Bittman even suggests freezing this, for future dinners.

Curry with Vegetables
Adapted from: The Food Matters Cookbook (pg 107)
I realize that Mark Bittman’s recipe called for hard boiled or poached eggs, and other bloggers had also tried a fried egg on top.  This weekends festivities included a giant omelet, and therefore eggs were not calling my name this evening.  But if you do try this version, please let me know how it tastes!  I served this over some basmati rice, but it can also be enjoyed with some naan.

1 large onion, diced
10 garlic cloves, minced
2 inch piece of ginger, shredded
1 jalapeño, chopped (optional)
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp garam masala
3 medium potatoes, peeled & chopped
2 carrots, peeled & chopped
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into pieces (about 3 cups)
1 cup light coconut milk
1/2 cup water
3 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp cilantro, chopped

In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil.  When it’s hot, add the onion, garlic, ginger and jalapeño.  Cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally until the onions are soft for about 5 minutes.  Then stir in the curry, chili powder, cinnamon and garam masala.  Once the colors of the spices are stirred in, add the potatoes, carrots and cauliflower into the skillet.  Cook them for about 2-3 minutes, then add the coconut milk and water.

Mix all of these ingredients and allow them to cook for about 25 minutes on low heat.  Once the carrots and potatoes are soft, sprinkle in the salt and pepper.

When plating this dish, sprinkle cilantro on top.

Mushroom Thai Spicy Soup

So I had actually been waiting to make this recipe before I tell everyone something really exciting!  There is a theme behind this, which is why it took some time.

Remember when we told you that we got engaged, and are planning our wedding?  Well, we finally booked our tickets for our honeymoon!  And if you look up at the blog post title:

Thai food…so if you guessed Thailand, you got it right!

Although the trip is still months away, we are very excited and cannot wait for the wonderful adventure, the beaches, the diving and the food!

So in honor of our trip, I decided on a mushroom thai soup, with a lot of spice in it.  Although, the heat can be taken out, and the soup will be just as delicious.  The original recipe called for chicken, but I wanted to make it vegetarian and opted for tofu instead.  But if you prefer beef or no protein at all- go for it!

Mushroom Thai Spicy Soup
Inspired by: Cooking Light (Jan/Feb 2012 issue)
Servings: 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
6 serrano peppers, chopped (optional)
2 stalks of lemongrass, chopped finely
3 cups vegetable broth
15 oz light coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp sriracha sauce (optional)
1 package of tofu, pressed, chopped into small cubes
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp green onion, chopped

Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.  Once the oil is warm, add the onion, mushrooms, red bell peppers, ginger, garlic, serrano peppers and lemongrass.  Allow the vegetables to cook for about 3-5 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft.  Then add the vegetable broth, coconut milk, fish sauce and sriracha.  Mix all of the ingredients together, until the sriracha has mixed into the liquid.  Bring the soup to a boil.  Then simmer for about 10 minutes.

Finally, add the tofu.  Cook for another 5 minutes.  Ladle into bowls, garnish with cilantro and green onions.