Lazy Girl's Indian

So, faithful reader, at this point you probably think that:

1. Kari is a lush.
2. Kari spends hours cooking EVERY NIGHT. Totally not my style.

As I sit here sipping my chocolate martini (martini purists, I don't wanna hear it!)...I can't deny #1. Alcohol + food = heaven.

However, with regard to #2, that isn't really true...I have lots of "short-cut" recipes that I use on weekdays, that require maybe 5-10 minutes of prep, and then maybe 5-10 minutes of puttering in the kitchen. Really easy, stress-free cooking.

The key to tasty, quick, luxurious meals? Knowing when prepared/frozen foods work, and when they don't. Frozen peas, baguettes, and blueberries work well; frozen strawberries and oily dishes, not so much. In the same vein, Rao's jarred pasta sauces are preservative-free, all-natural, and probably more delicious than anything I can prepare, but other brands--Progresso, Contadina, even Emeril's--just don't cut it. That's not to say that I don't use fresh blueberries in season, or that I don't make my own raw tomato sauce in the summer, but rather that there is a time and a place for frozen and prepared foods.

Indian cuisine, to me, is one of those places. Most people--except, perhaps, my good friend Ivan, who prepares vegetarian Indian cuisine like a native Punjabi--consider Indian food to be quite the undertaking, due to the number of exotic items and spices involved, as well as the time often taken to simmer sauces to an appropriate level of tastiness. Chris and I *love* Indian food, but we 1) can't afford to eat out all the time and 2) like to restrict our level of ghee consumption.

That's where Shere Khan and Geeta's prepared Indian jarred sauces come in. Chock-full of fresh-tasting onions, tomatoes, garlic, spices, and chilis, these sauces reduce hours of cooking to a simple pop-and-pour. They're also incredibly low in sodium and fat, because there's no ghee involved (at maximum, there's a bit of coconut that adds a little fat). Both brands are available at Cost Plus WorldMarket (sensing a trend, here?) and they're pretty economical (~5 bucks a jar).

There's no set recipe for this kind of cooking (although I've indicated some generalities below), but usually it involves browning some meat, adding the sauce to the pan, then adding the desired vegetables for some gentle steam-cooking. These sauces are excellent for vegetarians as well--just add more of the green stuff to your liking to replace the meat. Let the sauce, meat, and veggies simmer for a bit while the basmati rice finishes cooking, pop open a Kingfisher, and voila!--your healthy, spicy, impressively complex-tasting dinner is done in 25 minutes flat, rice cooking time included.

Beverage Note: We had this with Cline's Ancient Vines Zinfandel, perhaps my favorite red under $20.

Chicken breast, frozen peas, and canned chickpeas simmer away happily.

Try this concoction on simple coconut rice--you won't regret it.

Ingredients for 3-4 servings (alter at will)
About 3/4-1 pound of meat (chicken, lamb, etc), preferably organic, cut into bite-size chunks
2-3 cups of vegetables (canned chickpeas, frozen peas, cauliflower, eggplant, broccoli, potatoes, spinach, etc), made bite-size
1 can reduced-fat coconut milk
2 cups of rice, preferably long grain (basmati or jasmine)

Start the rice going--I love my cuckoo rice cooker, but it's perfectly acceptable and traditional to do it over a proper flame! Add the rice, coconut milk, and water to the pot (If using long-grain rice, use about 1.5 cups of liquid to every cup of rice; if using medium-grain, do a little more than 1 cup liquid to 1 cup rice. 1 can of coconut milk is a little less than 2 cups). If desired, add a little salt to the rice.

Brown the meat in a nonstick pan with a little oil over medium to medium-high heat (the Geeta's brand of sauces comes with a packet of spices to brown the meat in. So use those, if you're using Geeta's). If using eggplant, saute that at the same time as the meat. Lower the flame and add the jar of sauce. If using potatoes, add those now and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes before adding more veggies. Add the remaining veggies, and let simmer til it is cooked to your liking.

Plate the rice, and spoon the Indian goodness over. That's it. Enjoy!

When Supereasy, (Sorta)healthy, and Superyummy Collide

I arrived home on Tuesday to a humongous package on my doorstep, which held my new, GLORIOUS KitchenAid Artisan standing mixer (an engagement present from my extraordinarily generous future parents-in-law!!). It had been a stressful day--I'd just finished an afternoon of briefings--and I knew nothing would calm me down like cooking up a storm. I started with a delicious chicken stirfry from The Breath of a Wok and a delicious bottle of Virginia rose from Chester Gap Cellars, but I felt an intense need to use my brand-new mixer before the night was out.

I had three sticky-ripe bananas on my kitchen counter, so I knew I wanted to use those; my friend Lauren had sent me a "Classic Banana Bread" recipe from Cooking Light just a week or so earlier, and that sounded like the perfect thing. The recipe itself is low-fat and pretty low-cal, but I added chocolate chips so that probably sinned it up a bit!! The bread was ridiculously delicious--soft, moist, and full of intense banana flavor. It also kept very well for about two days (at the end of which we had gobbled up the entire loaf!!). The baking prep was pretty much nonexistent--it was probably 10-15 minutes from the time I started mashing up the bananas to when the loaf was happily baking in the oven.


2 cups all-purpose flour (per Lauren, whole wheat pastry flour would also work well here)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt (I used Greek yogurt, and that was just fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
chocolate chips (optional)
Cooking spray (I like Pam for baking!)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in chocolate chips, if using. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 1 loaf, 14 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

CALORIES 187 (21% from fat); FAT 4.3g (sat 2.4g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.3g); IRON 1mg; CHOLESTEROL 40mg; CALCIUM 20mg; CARBOHYDRATE 34.4g; SODIUM 198mg; PROTEIN 3.3g; FIBER 1.1g

I Really, Really Love Gnocchi

I debated for a bit whether or not to post this recipe, because it's good, but not knock-your-socks off good. But the gnocchi in this dish--buttered, browned, lightly sprinkled with nutmeg--are so amazingly delicious that they are worth making just on their own. The other components of the dish--the chicken in a fig-and-red-wine-sauce, and the crunchy bacon on top--I could take or leave. But I'll most likely make the gnocchi in this dish again, and perhaps amp up the flavor with some chili flakes or other savory addition.

The recipe, Montalcino Chicken with Figs and Buttered Gnocchi with Nutmeg is from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals. This dish isn't as all-out yummy as some of Rachael's other creations, but the gnocchi alone make it worth it. I'm very particular about my brand of gnocchi--the ones available at Trader Joe's are quite good--but my ultimate favorite are the sweet potato gnocchi from Gia Russa, which are available at CostPlus World Market. The sweet potato gnocchi cut down on the glycemic index of the gnocchi, since they're made with nutrient-rich sweet potatoes and whole wheat flour, and their slightly sweet, slightly caramelized flavors go very well with this dish.

Beverage Note: Chris and I drank a delightful bottle of sangiovese with this meal--that's also the wine that we used in the fig-chicken sauce.



4 Servings

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I didn't need much olive oil, since the bacon was pretty fatty)
1/3 pound thick-cut (1/4 inch thick) pancetta, cut into sticks (or sub bacon, like I did)
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, breasts and thighs, cut into large chunks
Salt and black pepper
Flour, for dredging
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
14 to 16 dried black mission figs, quartered
1/3 bottle Rosso di Montalcino wine (or any other dry red wine)
1 cup chicken stock plus up to 1/2 cup more if needed
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, a generous handful, chopped
Zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, 4 sprigs
1 12-to-16 ounce package fresh or frozen gnocchi
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 tbsp chopped or snipped chives, 10 blades

1. Place a pot of water on the stove to boil for the gnocchi.

2. Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and the pancetta or bacon, and brown it for 3-4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve.

3. While the pancetta browns, season the chicken chunks with salt and pepper and dredge them in a little flour (I put the flour in a gallon-size freezer bag and shook the chicken in it, shake-and-bake style). After removing the pancetta/bacon from the pan, add the chicken. Brown the pieces for a few minutes on each side over high heat, then scoot the meat to the edges of the pan and add the onion, garlic, and figs. Saute 5 minutes, combine the chicken with the onions and figs, then add the wine and cook it down for 5 minutes or so until only 1/3 cup of liquid remains. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock, the parsley, lemon zest, and thyme to the chicken and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes, while you make the gnocchi.

4. Add salt and gnocchi to the boiling water and cook them according to the package directions. Drain. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Melt the butter and brown it (til it smells nice and nutty). Add the drained gnocchi to the browned butter. Raise the heat to medium high and lightly brown the gnocchi. Season the gnocchi with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and add the chives. Toss and remove from heat.

5. Adjust the seasonings on the chicken with figs. If you would like a little more sauce, add another half cup of stock to the pan. Serve the chicken and figs in shallow dishes, the gnocchi piled in the center of the bowl on top of the chicken. Garnish with the crisp pancetta/bacon sticks.

One Of My Favorite (Easy) Things

Yes, I'm on a blog roll! Chris is gone for this entire holiday weekend so he's left me alone to post lots of recipes without him pestering me to cook him things (in truth I'm lonely. really lonely). Sooo anyhoo, here is fabulous, healthy side dish that you can make with supermarket green beans that are clearly past their prime--Roasted Green Beans, from Cook's Illustrated. Don't do this recipe with fresh, crisp haricots verts--use this when you have raggedy old string beans from the bargain bin at Safeway.

As Cook's Illustrated helpfully explains, roasting the over-the-hill string beans produces deeply flavored, caramelized, crisp-on-the-outside and tender-on-the-inside green beans that are as poppable as french fries. The roasting also encourages the Maillard reaction, which gives the beans these beautiful dark brown spots. This recipe is also extremely healthy, as it only requires 1 tbsp of olive oil per 4-6 servings.

This roasting method is also fabulous with cauliflower--resulting in cauliflower "popcorn"--and I'll likely post that recipe sometime in the near future as well!

1 pound green beans, stem ends snapped off
1 tbsp olive oil
Table salt and black pepper
(yes, that's it!!)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 450 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; spread beans across the foil. Drizzle with oil; using hands, toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt, toss to coat, and distribute in an even layer. Roast 10 minutes

2. Remove baking sheet from oven. Using tongs, redistribute beans (or just shake the pan, if you are lazy like me). Continue roasting until beans are dark golden brown in spots and have started to shrivel, 10-12 minutes longer.

3. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, transfer to serving bowl, and serve.

An Ode to Truffle Oil

All of you know by now how much I love soups during autumntime, so I won't wax poetic about that again here!! This is another one of my absolute favorites: Yukon Gold Potato and Cauliflower Soup with Truffle Oil, by my favorite chef-lady in the whole world, Andrea Immer (you can find this in her Everyday Dining with Wine). I absolutely adore pureed cauliflower--I don't follow the low-carb diet craze, but it IS a great substitution for mashed potatoes--and here it is blended with shallots and creamy yukon gold potatoes for a rich yet surprisingly healthy treat. Andrea recommends that you drizzle the soup with white truffle oil (not the kind you get from Giant, but rather the legitimate truffle oil you can basically only get via Italian producers), but the soup is still delicious without it. After having it with the truffle oil...well...I would never make this without having that oil in stock!!

Beverage note: Andrea recommends drinking this with stainless-steel fermented or barrel-fermented white burgundies. I went the trashy route and had a rum-spiked cocktail with it (hey, it's Friday!).


1 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped (I used 3--I really like the flavor of the shallots)
1 head cauliflower, cored and broken into florets (big florets are fine)
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (regular white potatoes are fine too)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Kosher salt
Freshly ground white pepper (black pepper is fine, it'll just leave specks in the soup)
2 tbsp white truffle oil, for drizzling

1. In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil on medium and add the shallot(s). Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the cauliflower and potatoes to the pot. Cover with cold water. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook at a simmer, uncovered, until the cauliflower and potatoes are tender, 15-17 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and drain (I drained the water into a fine-mesh sieve, so I wouldn't lose any good bits), reserving some of the hot cooking liquid. Use an immersion blender to blend the cauliflower-potato mixture, with the butter, salt, and pepper, and about 1/2 cup of the hot cooking liquid, until smooth (if you don't have an immersion blender, puree the soup in batches in a regular blender). Add additional liquid as needed to reach the desired soup consistency. To serve, ladle into warm bowls and drizzle each portion with a teaspoon of truffle oil or more to taste.

The Best Autumn Squash Soup

There's something about early fall that really makes me crave intensely flavorful, deeply colored soups and stews that are healthy but totally fulfilling. This soup is one of my favorite fall standards, and it's easy to tell why--it's intensely pumpkin in color, luscious on the tongue, super-healthy (chock full of Vitamin A, natch), and is easy to create on a weeknight. The original recipe for this Silky Butternut Squash Soup, which you can make with any hard winter squash (acorn and pumpkin would be good), is from Cook's Illustrated's Fall Entertaining from 2007.

Being the huge nerd that I am, I love that Cook's Illustrated really explains the reasoning behind their recipes. The secret to this recipe is that all the "guts" of the squash are simmered in water then strained out of the final product, which produces an incredibly flavorful yet simple soup.

The original recipe called for heavy cream, but since I had none in stock I left it out. I drizzled the finished product with freshly grated nutmeg and heady white truffle oil, which I use in everything I can, but other good garnishes include a thick aged balsamic vinegar or a smattering of paprika.

No picture for this recipe--yet--because I starting slurping as soon as the soup left the pot! I'll post some the next time I make this, which should be soon.

Beverage note: Dry riesling or Gruner Veltliner would be great here!

Makes 6 Cups, Serving 8 As A First Course

To make ahead: The soup may be completed up to 2 days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Warm the soup gently over medium-low heat before serving.

4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 medium shallots, minced (abt 4 tbsp)
3 pounds butternut squash (about 1 large; 2 acorn squash, kabocha pumpkin, etc can be
subbed), unpeeled, squash halved lengthwise, seeds and stringy fibers scraped with spoon and reserved (about 1/4 cup), and each half cut into quarters
Table salt
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
1 tsp dark brown sugar

1. Heat butter in large Dutch oven (or a large heavy-bottomed pot) over medium-low heat until foaming subsides; add shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and translucent, about 3 min. Add squash scrapings and seeds and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and butter turns saffron color, about 4 min. Add 6 cups water and 1 1/2 tsp salt to pot and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low, place squash cut-side down in steamer basket, and lower basket into pot. Cover and steam until squash is completely tender, about 30 minutes. Off heat, use tongs to transfer squash to rimmed baking sheet; reserve steaming liquid. When cool enough to handle, use large spoon to scrape flesh from skin into medium bowl; discard skin.

2. Pour reserved steaming liquid through mesh strainer into second bowl; discard solids in strainer. Rinse and dry Dutch oven.

3. In blender (or put everything in the pot, and use an immersion blender), puree squash and reserved liquid in batches, pulsing on low until smooth. Transfer puree to pot, stir in cream and brown sugar and heat over medium-low heat until hot. Add salt to taste; serve immediately.