Brussels sprouts in gravy

What a delicious dish we had! I had found this recipe on a very good Indian cooking blog, and saved it as a favorite; tonight we finally made it, with some amendations I'll detail.

Note that the measurements here are double what the original recipe calls for.

Ingredients:

* Brussels sprouts: a whole small bag of sprouts, which I think was about 2 cups
* Yellow Onion: 2 finely chopped
* Tomatoes: 4, or 1 large (28 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes, plus a smaller can (15 oz.) of diced tomatoes
* Cashews: 2 tbsps
* 5 dried Thai (bird) chillies rather or 2 large red chillies, finely minced. You may wish to adjust to your own tastes - we love heat!
* Cardamom: 4 crushed
* Cloves: 4
* Bay leaf: 2
* Fennel seeds: 2 tsps
* Ginger garlic paste: 2 tsps. We used equal amounts of minced garlic and ginger.
* Garam Masala: 3-4 tsps
* Salt as required it definitely did need some, but we added afterward
* Sugar: 1 tsp
* Coriander (cilantro) leaves for garnishing

this sauce would be fantastic with greens or chickpeas (or both!), or with dry-fried tofu and some fresh spinach thrown in.

Directions

1. Wash the Brussels sprouts in running water and slit open the bulb ends like "X". This helps in steaming the bulbs evenly. Steam the Brussels sprouts for about 7 minutes in a idli cooker until half done or in the microwave for about 5 minutes - depending on the size and amount of sprouts.

2. Meanwhile, puree tomatoes, red chillies and cashew in a blender. If you are using canned tomatoes, skip the pureeing step, and just blend the Thai bird chillies or red chillies and the cashews until they're nice and smooth - throwing in some of the crushed tomato from the can to help.

3. Heat oil in a pan, then add bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, Fennel seeds and onions. Fry for about 3 minutes over medium heat and then add Ginger garlic paste and continue to cook, until the onion is light brown.

4. Now add the tomato puree, garam masala, sugar and salt and cook until raw smell goes off this took about 10 minutes for us.

5. Add the brussels sprouts and cook until the oil separates.

6. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with your choice of bread or rice. We chose to serve it with quinoa, which was just wonderful with it! After some relatively rich fare over Christmas, I think we are both ready for some light and healthy meals.

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes

posted by Damzifly at the PPK
Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes - from Women's Health

My note: this is delicious! Easy, super-tasty, a real top favorite in this house.

Ingredients
1/2 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon dried red chile flakes
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and thoroughly rinsed
juice of one lime
2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions
1. Place quinoa in a small-mesh sieve and rinse thoroughly.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a medium skillet (be sure you have a tight-fitting lid for the skillet).
3. Add sweet potato, scallion, and chile and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
4. Add quinoa; toast for 2 minutes.
5. Add water and salt.
6. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and cover. Simmer until quinoa and sweet potato are tender, about 10 to 12 minutes.
7. If liquid remains unabsorbed in the pan, raise heat to high and cook for 2 minutes until it boils off.
8. Stir in black beans and lime juice and cilantro.
9. Serve warm or chilled.

Quinoa-black bean salad

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• Juice of one lime, plus about 1/4 tsp. lime zest
• 1 1/2 tsp. chipotle paste (adjust to taste)
• 1 tsp. chile powder
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of cumin
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 large scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
• 1 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
• 1 14.5 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 
  
• Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.

• In a bowl, whisk together the lime juice and zest, chipotle paste, chile powder, salt, cumin, and olive oil. Add scallions, red peppers and black beans. Stir in the quinoa and cilantro and toss well to combine. Garnish with additional cilantro and lime zest, if desired.

• Recipe is from Chronic in the Kitchen