Indian Roasted Cauliflower with Fenugreek Salmon

This is a dish I made for my lunches on the weekend. I am so obsessed with roasting veggies and having them with fish for lunch. I particularly like roasted cauliflower, the texture is so hearty and crunchy and roasting it adds so much flavour. Not: do not pick up with cauliflower with your hands after roasting because it will stain your fingers. I just got my nails filled and they are soooo pretty with sparkles at the tip so when I greedily ate the cauliflower with my hands I stained the tips yellow so it looked like gross yellow sparkles. But its ok because it faded now so I am no longer angry at this dish.

Ingredients

Yields 2 servings

Salmon:
2 single portion salmon filets
2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp melted coconut oil

Cauliflower:
1 head of cauliflower, washed and cut into bite-sized florets
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mild curry powder
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
a drizzle of hot sauce (I used sriracha)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Salmon:
1. Preheat a medium sized pan to medium heat.
2. Make a rub with the melted coconut oil and all the spices. Rub on the salmon filets.
3. Grill salmon in pan with a lid on it for about 6 minutes on one side. Flip to the other side and grill for another 2 minutes. Cook times will depend on salmon thickness, but each side should be golden and the middle flaky and juicy.
4. wow I thought there would be more steps...but you're done here!

Cauliflower
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. In a big bowl mix the cauliflower florets and all of the spices, hot sauce and coconut oil so that the cauliflower is well covered.
3. Put the coated cauliflower in a large casserole dish or even a cookie sheet and roast in the oven for 10 minutes.
4. Take it out and check to see if it's getting soft. Stir it around so that the other sides get roasty. Bake for another 3-5 minutes. The done texture should be firm but a little soft on the floret side. They should also look a little golden and roasted.

Atomic Curry

This will make you grow hair on your chest...or something. We like it hot hot hot so please adjust the spice level to your preference.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

1 yellow onion, diced
4 chicken breasts, diced
1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 to 2 cans coconut milk
3 tbsp medium curry powder
2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
small bunch of cilantro, chopped
lemon, cut into wedges
2 Serrano chili peppers, minced
4 habanero peppers, minced
1 tbsp coconut oil
salt and pepper
1 cup plain yogurt

Instructions

1. Heat a large pot (preferably cast iron) on medium high heat and melt the coconut oil.
2. Season the diced chicken breast with salt and pepper and add to the hot coconut oil. Brown on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
3. Add all of the spices (curry powder, Cayenne, mustard seeds, cumin seeds) to the oil and stir around for a minute or so. Add the onion, garlic and minced peppers and cook until the onion is translucent.
4. Now add back the chicken to the pot. Add the chickpeas and the coconut milk (we used about 1.5 cans but you can determine what ratio you want) and stir well. Give it a smell and re-season if necessary.
5. Bring the curry to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low to keep it on a gentle simmer for 45 minutes to an hour to allow it to thicken and develop the flavours. Before you serve it, add the chopped cilantro and stir well. If some people do not like cilantro you can just save it for an optional garnish.
6. Serve with rice, paleo rice or pasta. Garnish with lemon juice, cilantro and yogurt.

Note on paleo rice: I had mine with paleo rice and when I got to the stage where you satay the cauliflower, I added 1 tsp of garlic chili paste, 2 crushed garlic cloves and 1 tsp turmeric and it was delicious.

Indian Red Lentils with Wild Rice

 

This meal is like crack. When I was pre-making it the night before for my lunch, I ate the leftovers directly out of the hot pan because clearly I had no time for a bowl. I first discovered a version of this recipe from a lady I used to work with (thanks Tania!). I think this is a kind of a dahl....  Rice and lentils make a complete protein so that's good, right? If you want to make this strictly vegetarian, swap out the beef bullion for vegetable and add more salt.

 

 

Ingredients

For Rice:

1 cup wild rice and brown rice mixture (I use Lundberg Wild Blend)

*2 tsp chicken or vegetable bouillon

*2 cups water

pinch of salt

1 tsp butter

 

* you can substitute the water/bouillon combo for 2 cups of stock.

 

For Lentils:

1 cup red lentils, washed

~ 1 and 1/2 cups water

1 tbsp turmeric

1 tsp chili garlic paste

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp oil (grape seed or other)

1 tbsp whole cumin seeds

1/2 cube beef bouillon

1 lemon

small bunch of cilantro leaves, rough chopped

 

 

Instructions:

1. Boil the rice with the water, bouillon, salt and butter until all water soaked up.

2. Put the lentils in a pot, and cover them with an inch of water, add the turmeric to the water and stir.

3. Bring the lentils to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until all lentils have soaked up all the water.

4. In a dry frying pan on medium heat, add the cumin seeds and toss around for a minute.

5. Add the oil, chili garlic paste, crushed garlic and bouillon. Stir around and break up the bouillon until it dissolved into the oil. Fry until the garlic is fragrant.

6. Add the lentils to the frying pan and stir well.

7. Remove from heat to the bowl or serving bowl, squeeze half a lemon worth of juice over it, and garnish with cilantro leaves.

8. Eat with the rice!