Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Kale with Lentil Stew (Kale Dal)
Being a busy career woman is difficult, especially when hubby dear works equally hard. Hence, we are always on the lookout for quick, easy to cook meals. One recipe I have perfected over the years is Dal. Hubby loves this recipe and shamelessly, I will admit this is one of my best go-to recipes.
After wanting to try this variation (with kale) for a long time, today happened to be the lucky day. We did a 2 day juice fast and finished the day with this protein packed recipe. It was inspired by this blog entry, but with a few changes and tweaks to match my life style :)
I use my pressure cooker a lot - it's fast and healthy. You can also cook the dal stovetop in a saucepan, but it will take a lot more time to cook.
Ingredients:
Masoor Dal (Orange lentils) - 1 cup
Kale - 3-4 cups, lightly chopped
Onions - 1/2, diced
Tomatoes - 2, quartered
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dried Red Chillies - 3
Curry Leaves - 5-6
Oil - as required
Salt - to taste
Curry Powder - 2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - minced, 1 tsp
Ginger - 1 tsp, finely chopped
Water - 3-4 cups
Method:
- Soak lentils for about 1-2 hours. Wash thoroughly until the water runs clear. Set aside
- Wash kale leaves thoroughly. Cut off stalks and set side.
- Chop onions and set aside.
- Add oil to the pressure cooker on medium high heat. Add half of chopped onions and saute until onions turn translucent.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, garlic and ginger.
- Once the oil separates and reaches the sides, add all spices and stir.
- Add lentils and fry them for a minute.
- Add kale, water and close the lid. Pressure cook for about 5-8 minutes (mine whistles when letting off steam, so I let it whistle 3 times before shutting off).
- In a saucepan, add some oil on medium heat.
- Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, and dried red chilies. Once the mustard seeds stop popping, add rest of onions and increase heat to medium high.
- Once the onions have burned a little, turn off heat and add to lentil stew and stir.
Serve hot with brown rice, barley or fresh rotis (Whole Wheat Indian Bread).
I served it with 1/2 cup of barley today. Yum!
Can oatmeal be any healthier? Yes, sir!
I've always avoided oatmeal because its so "Plain Jane". I've been experimenting though, and recently came up with this winning formula to make it more attractive. Hope you like it!
Ingredients:
Quick quicking Steel cut oatmeal - 1/3 cup
Chopped walnuts - 1 oz
Sliced almonds - 1 oz
Chopped strawberries - 2
Ground flaxseeds - 1 tbsp
Almond milk - 2 tbsp
Protein isolate - 1 tbsp (optional)
Method:
Ingredients:
Quick quicking Steel cut oatmeal - 1/3 cup
Chopped walnuts - 1 oz
Sliced almonds - 1 oz
Chopped strawberries - 2
Ground flaxseeds - 1 tbsp
Almond milk - 2 tbsp
Protein isolate - 1 tbsp (optional)
Method:
- Heat 2/3 cup water in a saucepan. Once the water reaches boiling point, add the steel cut oats, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes
- Add rest of the ingredients except strawberries and mix well.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and top with chopped strawberries.
Note:
- I used Bob's Red Mill quick cooking steel cut oats, only takes about 7 minutes to cook. If you use regular steel cut oats, you may want to soak them in hot water overnight to cut down cooking time.
- I added some protein isolate to my oatmeal, but its optional. Not everyone will like the taste.
Here's a pic of the final product-
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