LONDON CALLING

Ever since a trip to London nearly eight years ago, we have been obsessed with Indian food. It is our favorite!! Everyone knows that England is famous for its Indian food. When we got back from that trip we tried tons of Indian places. We found a few good ones but I really committed to making my own Indian food at home. Tonight's inspiration came from Madhur Jaffrey's book, "Quick & Easy Indian Cooking." This is a great book if you want to try some Indian recipes. They really are quick and easy and she explains all of the different ingredients commonly used. It is not intimidating and it's totally accessible for a beginning or experienced cook.

I tried out the pressure cooker that my landlord was kind enough to lend to me, for the first time tonight. I was terrified that it would explode, so I think I had the heat a little too low, but after some tinkering I think I have it down now. The urad beans went in there with some tomato, onion, mustard seeds, cumin, mint and cilantro. I love the lentils and beans in general, but I love the flavor from Indian spices. Legumes are a good source of cheap protein and also fiber-something that most of us don't get enough of from our diets. The pressure cooker is pretty cool too, so I'll have to give it another whirl this week.

I should point out that I had nearly all of the ingredients on hand, except the shrimp and I did run out of cilantro, but I chose this menu based on what was hanging around. We love spicy and this cauliflower did not disappoint. Fresh jalapenos and cayenne gave it a nice little kick, some ginger, garlic and mustard seeds rounded out the flavors.

Shrimp is always really easy to make, because it takes no time at all to cook. Simply sauté in a pan and then add a sauce that includes, tomato paste, coconut milk (full fat, none of that lite nonsense), cilantro, cumin, more chile and cayenne, garam masala and some curry leaves. Done.

So there's my home made Indian feast. I prepped all of the ingredients for each dish, then cleaned up my little mess. The actual cooking time for each dish was no longer than 15 minutes. So in less time than it would take me to pick up takeout, I had my own version on the table.

RECIPE CONTEST WINNER

CAULIFLOWER COUSCOUS

I entered this recipe into a healthy Thanksgiving recipe contest and was one of the winners! I served it on my Thanksgiving table, it's one of my favorites. It is easy, and can be made in advance and you can be sure no one else will have had it.

2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 pomegranate, seeds removed
1 small bunch parsley
4 ounces feta, chopped
4 ounces pine nuts, toasted**
1/4 cup capers
1 lemon, juiced and zested
2 tablespoons mint, chopped
2 tablespoons dijon
1/4- 1/2 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss Cauliflower with 2 tablespoons olive oil and roast until golden. When cauliflower is done, remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, combine lemon juice, zest, dijon and olive oil to make a vinaigrette. Set aside.

When cauliflower is cool enough to handle, finely chop florets until they resemble israeli couscous.

Combine chopped cauliflower with feta, pine nuts and capers. Toss with vinaigrette and herbs. Lightly fold in pomegranate seeds.

serves 8

** As an interesting side note, several of my friends have experienced a strange, metallic, bitter taste in their mouths and the culprit has been...pine nuts. Here is a link to an article about it.

Feel free to substitute toasted sliced or slivered almonds.

THAI VEGETABLE CURRY

Another simple recipe. I almost feel guilty for this one because I cheated a little. See, I do not ever use any prepared ingredients and here I am using Thai curry paste. Recently, I have rediscovered Thai curry paste and fallen in love.

Tonight's dinner was a vegetarian curry based on what I had in the fridge and pantry. I always have coconut milk in the pantry which is the key to this dish. You could substitute nearly any vegetable, add chicken, shrimp or tofu. I had rice noodles in the pantry but you can just as easily serve this over brown or jasmine rice.

Thai Vegetable Curry
serves 2-4

1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 can coconut milk (not low fat)
1 heaping tablespoon Thai curry paste or more to taste
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
3 cups mixed vegetables- I used broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and edamame
1 tablespoon fish sauce
cilantro, chopped
limes, zested

In a large sauce pan, combine the coconut milk, stock, ginger and curry paste and mix well. Add the vegetable mixture and simmer until the vegetables are cooked. Before serving, stir in fish sauce, lime zest and cilantro.

That's it! Easiest recipe ever.