Vegetable and Garbanzo Curry

Vegetable and Garbanzo Curry (slightly adapted from Better Homes & Gardens, Servings: 4-6, Total Time: 5.5 hours)

Ingredients

·         3 cups cauliflower florets

·         1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained

·         ½ of 16 oz. bag frozen cut green beans

·         1 cup sliced carrot

·         ½ cup chopped onion

·         2 cups vegetable broth

·         2 tsp. curry powder

·         2 cups light coconut milk

·         ¼ cup shredded fresh basil leaves

Directions

1.       In a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker, combine cauliflower, garbanzo beans, green beans, carrot, and onion. Stir in broth and curry powder.

2.       Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

3.       Stir in coconut milk and basil.

The picture on the Better Homes & Garden website is very misleading.  My vegetables were in no way bright and vibrant.  After about 2 hours in the slow cooker, they were quite dull.  It definitely took away some of the excitement that I had for this meal.  The flavor was also kind of missing as well.  I added a bit of garam masala, red cayenne pepper, and ginger to try to get more flavor out of the dish. My husband enjoyed it, but I just couldn’t get behind it.  I finally just added some Sriracha to amp up the flavor.  With all that said, I would not make this dish again.  There are a lot of other curry dishes that I have made, successfully, and I’d much rather have those.  It’s a shame because this was super easy to make. 

As a note, I served the curry over brown basmati rice, which soaked up the broth/coconut milk mixture.  That was a nice plus – I like it when I have a runny curry and can use rice as a sponge!  This dish would not work with naan.

Roasted Green Beans with Peppers & Onion

Roasted Green Beans with Peppers & Onion (from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 6, Total Time: 50 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 lb. whole green beans, trimmed

·         1 each red and yellow pepper, cut into thin strips

·         1 large onion, cut into thin strips

·         ½ cup  Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

·         ½ cup Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

1.)    Heat oven to 400°F.

2.)    Toss vegetables with dressing in large roasting pan.

3.)    Bale 30 min. or until vegetables are tender, stirring after 15 min.

4.)    Sprinkle with cheese; bake 2 to 3 min. or until melted.

I made this for Thanksgiving at my mother’s. I used a sweet balsamic dressing from Kraft and it imparted an excellent flavor onto the vegetables.  A sweet/sour taste since it was a vinaigrette.  My family really enjoyed this as well.  I used frozen green beans, thawed, and tossed them with the rest of the veggies.  I think that this dish could honestly do without the cheese (when using the sweet balsamic) – I don’t feel that it really added anything. Maybe with regular balsamic it would.  The veggies stayed crisp and worked well with a side dish of mashed potatoes.  A great side dish to Thanksgiving dinner (and my Tofurky).  Enjoy!