Vij's Prawns in Pomegranate Curry

Mmmm...date night!

So apparently, we CAN have date night without cheating on the Hormone Diet!

Along with the kale I posted about yesterday, we enjoyed this delicious prawn curry, from the second Vij cookbook, Vij's at Home: Relax, Honey: The Warmth and Ease of Indian Cooking.

Once again, this is a book worth having.  Vikram and his wife Meeru not only share some awesome recipes, but every single recipe starts with the history of the recipe, what to serve it with, etc.  It's a very personal book that makes you feel like you might just know the authors a little bit. And in my house, it got read straight through from cover to cover.

And the prawns...well, we were a little skeptical when we saw there were THREE CUPS of onion in the ingredient list.  By the time we were done cooking, we were believers.  The deliciously sweet and sticky caramelized onion and tart pomegranate juice were the perfect fit for the prawns, and this one's definitely on our list to make again!

(Along with the Amazon link above, Vij's books are also available at Costco from time to time, and worth the money for the anecdotes alone.  PLUS you get recipes!)

Coconut Kale Vij's Style!

Eat your veggies!

Hubby and I love Indian food, and this date night was no exception. We're still in the midst of the Hormone Diet, but we knew that there were lots of Indian options that we could eat.  We pulled out both our Vij's cookbooks (he's a local celebrity chef) and went to work.

Our first choice was the Grilled Coconut Kale from Vij's: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine. This is kale marinated in coconut milk and spices, and then grilled to perfection.

It is SO hard to stop eating, it almost tastes like warm, coconutty kale chips, only not quite so crispy.  We make this every time we make Indian food for date night (and sometimes just because we're craving it). It's one of our favorites.

And my suggestion to you is to run out and buy the book, NOW and try it yourself!  ;)

SO delicious!

Robin's Quinoa with Mushrooms and Spinach

LOVE that quinoa!

Still moving forward with the Hormone Diet, this has been one of our favorites for lunch.  It makes lots, is full of protein and freezes well.  It may not look like much, but it is loaded with FLAVOR! I've made a couple of minor changes to the recipe, but if you want to read the original, just click on the title below and it will take you to the original recipe.


ROBIN'S QUINOA WITH MUSHROOMS AND SPINACH
Adapted from allrecipes.com

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth (for how-to, click here)
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 (8 ounce) package sliced mushrooms
• 4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup chicken broth 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (10 ounce) bag washed spinach leaves
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in quinoa until well blended.

Pour in 1/2 cup red wine and cook, stirring, until absorbed by the quinoa, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1 3/4 cups chicken broth, 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, and 1 teaspoon chopped thyme. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Pour in 4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup white wine, 1/4 cup chicken stock, and 1 teaspoon chopped thyme. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes.

Once the quinoa has cooked, stir in the mushroom mixture, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove quinoa from the heat and stir in spinach leaves, which will wilt. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.

Mmmm...Butter Chicken...

Seriously delicious!

This is one of my favorite things to cook while on the Hormone Diet...or anytime, really. It's that good! It's so good, that there was only this tiny bit left for my breakfast this morning, as the family kept going back for seconds...and thirds...

BUTTER CHICKEN

To marinate:

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in bite-sized chunks
• 1 head of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. cardamom
• 1 Tblsp. fenugreek leaves
• 2-3 limes, juiced (you are aiming to have the marinade just liquid enough to coat the chicken)

To cook:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 whole onion, diced
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom
• 1 Tblsp. fenugreek leaves
• 1 can coconut milk (preferably Arroy-D) DO NOT SHAKE!!
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Combine marinade ingredients with chicken in a large zipper bag. Marinate in fridge overnight (the longer you marinate the better it will taste, but there are many times it only gets a couple of hours around here and it's fine).

Melt butter in large pan over medium heat and saute the onion until soft. Add the chicken and marinade and cook until the chicken is sealed on the outside.

Add the tomatoes (mixture will be quite runny at this point) and lower heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered, stirring from time to time until most of the liquid has reduced (this can take 30 - 45 minutes, depending on your stove).

Open coconut milk and add just the thickened part to the mixture in pan, along with the remaining dry herbs and spices (NOT the cilantro). Cook for an additional 10 minutes or so, until the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat, stir in cilantro and serve over basmati rice.

SO good!

Chocolate Halva Smoothie

Chocolate...one of the five food groups!

I'm not much of a breakfast person (heck, I'm not much of a morning person!), and this Hormone Diet exacerbates that issue. One of the principles is that you have to eat breakfast within an hour of rising. And what breakfast, you may ask? Well, Dr. Turner's suggestion is a smoothie, preferably made from berries. Or eggs, which is even less appealing.

So on smoothie days, I wind up not doing quite what she recommends. I'll do a smoothie, but I'll do it MY way, with spinach and chocolate instead of berries.

Chocolate Halva Smoothie

• 2 Tblsp. cocoa powder
• 2 Tblsp. tahini
• 1 packet stevia powder
• 1 large handful of raw spinach
• 1 scoop protein powder
• 1 cup water

Put everything in a blender (we have a Vitamix that we LOVE!) and whiz it up. Add ice and whiz some more until it's smoothie-like.

The cocoa keeps you from tasting the spinach at all, and it really does taste an awful lot like chocolate halva (don't ask me about my halva issues, you don't want to know).

Have a great morning!

White Bean and Spinach Dip

Beans, beans, they're good for your...waistline?

So today's Hormone Diet foray into the kitchen was to make a healthy lunch from a recipe on one of my favorite go-to blogs, Choosy Beggars.

While most of their food is delicious, Tina has a real love for, and way with, beans. And by "a way with beans" I mean NOM NOM NOM! I think I've learned more about the dispatching of these legumes from her than anyone else. This recipe was no exception.

Mine is a lot greener than hers, as I let it blend for a lot longer, I suspect.

It's a lot sweeter tasting than I expected, and not super cumin-y. But, it did make for a great, "no contraband" snack this afternoon, with some veggies.

(Click the post title above or HERE to go to Choosy Beggars and try the recipe)

Greek Salad for lunch!

Nobody's missing the feta!

So...we're doing the whole Hormone Diet induction phase again, which means no sugar, wheat, pork, beef, citrus, dairy...basically anything I REALLY love. :(

It's making eating really challenging, that and the fact that you have to consume protein at every meal whether you want to or not. And LOT of veggies.

So lunch wound up being some salad shrimp with cocktail sauce (meh), and this salad.

Because I had already eaten my protein, and because I'm not allowed dairy right now (wah!) I had to leave out the feta cheese, but it was full of peppers, cucumber, tomato and black olives (I wound up having to use green onions instead of red, but that worked out fine).

GREEK SALAD DRESSING

• 1/4 cup oil
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp dried basil
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp onion powder
• 3/4 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar (or more, I like my dressing less oily and more "zippy")

Put all ingredients in a jar and shake it up! Enjoy with your choice of fresh veggies, olives and feta cheese (if you're allowed...sniff...)

Num Num Nuts

Num num num!

These are the things that happen in desperation on a Saturday afternoon when faced with another day of the Hormone Diet.  When the munchies hit, it's easy to reach for the nuts. And in my hubby's case, sometimes they have to be REALLY GOOD nuts.

So this Saturday, he came up with these peppy numbers, that were helped along with some Vulcan's Fire Salt from The Spice House (we very kindly received a sample with our last order and it is just delish...so spicy and complex it begs to be sprinkled on everything!).  These were all gone within an hour (and almost gone in the photo), so don't say I didn't warn you!

NUM NUM NUTS

• 2 Tblsps. butter
• 2 Tblsps. water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups mixed nuts (we used walnuts, pecans, cashews and hazelnuts)
• a few teaspoons of Vulcan's Fire Salt

Heat nuts in a dry skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until nuts begin to toast, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside. Add the butter, sugar, water and spices to the hot skillet and cook, stirring, until a glaze forms, about 1 minute. Return the nuts to the skillet and toss to combine with the glaze. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until the nuts are glazed and golden brown.

Remove from the heat and transfer to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, separating with a fork. Let rest until cooled and thesugar has hardened, about 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container.