I have begun the journey of vegan cooking. I'm loving it, and so is my family (most of them anyway, I have that one picky eater, my 4 1/2 year old). There are many reasons why I love cooking vegan. It's so good for you! And, it's so very tasty. But, I understand. Choosing to eat vegan can be daunting, overwhelming, and downright scary. But, if I can do it, anyone can.
My 3 young boys (now 8 years, 4 1/2 years, and 15 months) are now home with me for the summer, and I couldn't be happier! I'm trying to get into the swing of things again with a new routine, and that's making dinner preparations challenging sometimes. It's more of a timing issue, trying to make sure everything's done in time for our dinner hour, 5pm. That means I'm sometimes cooking at 2pm in the afternoon, or even earlier. That's what happened the other night when I made this delicious dish from my Vegan Planet cookbook.
Red Bean and Sweet Potato Curry
1 TBS safflower oil (or any light oil of your choosing)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 TBS curry powder (I used a sweet curry because I'm new to the world of curry)
1 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp cayenne (I omitted this because of the kids)
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped (any color bell pepper will do)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS fresh ginger (I used 1/4 tsp ground ginger)
1 3/4 cups vegetable stock
1 14/5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained (I used crushed tomatoes, because that's what I had)
1 1/2 cups cooked or 1 15-oz can dark red kidney beans, drained
2 med. sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the oil on medium heat in a large pan on the stove. Add the onion and cook until soft. Stir in the spices (curry, coriander, cumin, tumeric, and cayenne - if using). Add the bell pepper, garlic, and ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Add the stock and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the beans and sweet potatoes. Season w/ salt and pepper to taste and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 20 min.
If you want, you can puree some of the mixture to make the sauce a little thicker.
Serve w/ brown basmati rice and a lettuce salad.
Enjoy!
Can you tell us a little bit about the less common ingredients? Like what it looks like or where it might be found in the store? Example: tumeric. Also, when you make a dish like this, what do you pare it with? Like, what was everything you served with it? Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteTumeric is a spice, yellow in color and not too strong of a flavor. Coriander and cumin (in a lot of mexican dishes) are spices also. It's great with the rice and then I had a lettuce salad too. That's all you need! The beans and rice have lots of fiber so that really fills you up. And, the sweet potato and bell pepper add a delicious sweetness. Super yummy!!
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