Pumpkin and Potatoes in Red Curry

My Mom gave me a small mountain of wonderful fall veggies this weekend, and tonight I made just a smallish dent in them with this random curry sort-of-thing.

Sorry for the dreadful picture - winter lighting in my kitchen is awful.

I think Caribbean cooking uses pumpkins and curry, so hopefully the flavors I came up with don't seem too outrageously weird to anyone... I know it was devoured by my family.

Pumpkin and Potatoes in Red Curry

2 Tbsp. coconut oil

1 medium onion,chopped

2 red or green bell pepper,chopped & deseeded

1 Tbsp. Red Curry Paste (or any curry paste you like, or curry powder)

1/4 Tsp.ground cloves

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 cups peeled, cubed pumpkin or Hubbard squash

2 cups cubed white or red potatoes

1 regular size can stewed tomatoes

1 cup water

1/4 tsp. salt

1 large garlic clove,crushed

1 tsp. finely shredded fresh ginger

fresh cilantro (optional)

Heat oil in a large heavy saucepan.

Add onion and pepper, stirring a bit until onion is tender but not browned.

Add the curry paste or powder and cook for just a minute or two to incorporate the curry into the oil.

Add the cloves, tomatoes, pumpkin, potato, stewed tomatoes, water and salt.

Stir to mix.

Cover and cook on lowest possible heat, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. If it gets too thick, add more water, you want it to be stew-like.

When pumpkin and potatoes are tender, and pumpkin is thick and sauce-like, stir in garlic and ginger and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Taste and add more salt or pepper if desired. Garnish with cilantro if you suddenly remember at the last minute that you have some!

Mashed Potatoes, Parsnips, Turnips and Kale

Mmmm, today is definitely a "comfort food" sorta day. Cool, misty Pacific Northwest Autumn weather and a lazy weekend with no big tasks looming...

Here's my warm and cozy lunch, another "veganized" Paula Deen recipe.

Yes, this is ALL I had for lunch. Call the carb police, I really don't care, I have enough leftovers for them too!. Not something I make that often, (who can make Paula's recipe's THAT often, really!?!) and usually I do NOT like parsnips, but I have an abundance of them to use right now and cooked this way, how can you not LOVE LOVE this combo of veggies!

Smashed Potato, Parsnip and Turnips with a little Kale

8 cups quartered yellow potatoes (I don't peel them, you can if you want)
4 cups chopped and peeled parsnip
1 turnip, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoons salt
1/2 cup chopped kale (you could use more but that's all I had)
1 (8-ounce) package Tofutti cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. Earth Balance
Freshly ground black pepper

In a large pot, combine potatoes, parsnips, turnip, onion, kale and salt; add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 18 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Add Tofutti cream cheese, Earth Balance and a dash of pepper. Mash together, taste and add more salt if you think it needs it, and serve hot.

These keep in the oven (or a crock pot) nicely while other parts of your meal are being assembled and you can snip some fresh chives or parsley on top right before serving if you want it all fancy.

Yum.

Some Potato Salads of YUM!

We're seeing a good bunch of veggies fresh from Yakima, which is half-way across the state, and has different weather entirely, so they manage to harvest earlier than we do here near the Puget Sound. Close enough for me though, I'm enjoying all the fresh summer produce I can get my hands on!!

I'm all about potato salad this week and have made it three times already. I'll post both recipes. I'll have to tell you, I LOVE radishes in my potato salad, if you're not a fan, leave them out...

Here's my newest favorite. I LOVE the fresh veggies! I got sort-of an approximate idea from our local CSA's recipe flyer.

Farmer's Market Potato Salad

1 cup raw, fresh green beans, cut in 1-inch lengths
1 lb. whole sm. red potatoes

3/4 cup small cubed smoked tofu

3/4 c. sliced red onion

1/3 c. coarsely chopped green onion

3/4 c. thinly sliced radishes

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh (NOT dried!) parsley

1/2 cup chopped red peppers

Dressing:

1 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8 tsp. ground red pepper AND black pepper

Dash of salt

2 Tablespoons Vegenaise

Make Dressing:

Mix well (I use my food processor) and refrigerate.

Salad: Cook beans until just done (they should be firm and retain their bright green color).

Drain and cool.

Quarter potatoes. Add potatoes to boiling salted water and cook until done but still firm. Drain and put into large bowl.
Add remaining ingredients to bowl (except radishes) and chill.

Do not toss until potatoes are well chilled. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight.

Pour dressing over salad 2 hours before serving and toss to coat. Before serving or transporting, stir in radishes.

And here's my favorite basic, go-to potato salad. Everyone loves this and it's SOO simple!!

Creamy Radish-and-Potato Salad

3 lbs. red potatoes, scrubbed

1/2 cup thinly sliced red radishes
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 cup Vegenaise (or other vegan mayo)

1/2 cup Tofutti Sour Cream (or other vegan sour cream)
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Cut potatoes into 1 inch chunks. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain potatoes.

Toss hot potatoes with radishes and onions. Cool to room temperature.

Add in the Vegenaise, sour cream, mustard, salt and pepper, stirring gently. When potatoes cool down to room temperature, add in dill. Taste and adjust seasoning. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving, garnish with dill and fresh cracked black pepper.

Did I Mention Our New Panini Grill?

Yes indeed.

Our kitchen is home to a shiny, new panini sandwich grill and we couldn't be more excited!

Loads of thanks to our friend, Shaun.

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I think we were actually his tester Guinea-pigs, because after sampling only 37363536 amazing and tasty things we'd grilled, he went and bought himself one too!

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The grill was actually a Christmas present specifically for my Middle Sprout. She'd had it on her wish list for over a year. No Ipod, no cell phone requests like most 15-yr-olds; this girl is truly the kitchen appliance queen and loves cooking, experimenting and playing with food as much as I do. We're fortunate that she's willing to share all the grilled goodness with the rest of us family members.
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Now everything on our plates has those delicious toasty stripes. Even slabs of pineapple. (Without a doubt my FAVORITE!!)

Mr. Panini gets used frequently for quesadillas.

I've been having a lot of luck with vegan Tofutti slices; super-yummy with some cilantro, onions and tomatoes!

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Avocado slices are good too, but my kids aren't fans of green goo oozing from their quesadillas. How sad. More for me.

Slices of potato turn out great! These had a little olive oil, pepper, sea salt and rosemary. I don't remember how long they took, but it was a while; do them on med-low so they cook through before browning to a crisp.

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I didn't get a picture of the some of the tempeh - it was Shaun's favorite. Turned out pretty amazing too!! I simmered it in apple cider, let it marinate over night and grilled with a little soy sauce.

Grilled peanut-butter and sliced strawberries on thick whole-grain bread. Better than it looks!!

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So decadent, but certain nine-year-olds like it better than junk food, that's always a plus.

And it actually makes AWESOME panini-type sandwiches too - who knew? Currently, I'm really liking grilled eggplant and portabello mushrooms on sourdough, or a tempeh-rueben.

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If you've been considering yet another counter-hogging appliance, it's definitely a great multi-tasker. Lots of fun, super easy, get's dinner done FAST, hardly any clean-up, you don't need any oil for grilling most things.

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Even vegans can get plenty of use out of these babies as our pictures show... Have a great week!!!!