BUT ... since we are still working on the final details of unpacking and moving in, and also want to ensure the house is relatively clean and tidy for visitors, there hasn't been a ton of spare time for us to invest in long and drawn out meal preps for said visitors.
Thank goodness it's fall and slow cooked crock pot meals are seasonally appropriate.
This past weekend, I was really in the mood for something curry and slow-release carb friendly (read: diabetic appropriate for my guests). After googling, I stumbled across this recipe and figured it was worth a shot.
Following the recipe mostly as written, the only substitutions I made were:
(1) I used regular soy sauce instead of gluten free tamari
(I didn't want to buy another bottle to clutter up my fridge)
-and-
(2) I used 36+ ounces of coconut milk
(my cans were 12-13 oz each, and I wasn't going to waste the last bit for no reason)
Serving the curry over brown rice, which I prepared on the stove top separately, I found my end dish to be somewhat watery (likely due to my excess coconut milk), and in need of more seasoning. For the future, to help with the excess liquid and to save myself the need to make a side of rice, I plan to omit the rice all together and just pump the quinoa in the slow cooker WAY up (maybe 1-2 cups into the cooker directly). I also plan to swap the turmeric for curry powder in order to add more spices into the mix, and will likely double or triple that portion as well.
For those of you must have meat people, this curry would pair perfectly with seared chicken breasts. After letting the slow cooker go all day, about an hour before serving simply cook a few breasts on your stove top, cut the meat into slices or cubes, and stir into the slow cooker. This will allow the chicken to absorb some of the flavor prior to serving without it getting over cooked in the coconut milk.
Also - when I made this, I put my slow cooker on high for close to 4 hours and my vegetables were all still mostly raw, despite the original recipe's instructions. To speed things along, as this was lunch and we didn't have time to spare, I transferred from a slow cooker to a stock pot and simmered on the stove for another 20 minutes or so ... which proves that any slow cooker meal is also stove top friendly in a tighter time frame, so don't be shy to make this directly on your stove top if you don't own a crock pot of some sort. I'd guess an hour simmering on the stove top, omitting slow cookers entirely, should suffice.
Anyway, since the original recipe as is was still quite good - below is the recipe as I prepared it, without the modifications noted above.
Enjoy!
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Easy Vegetarian Coconut Curry
Ingredients
- 1 medium-large white onion, diced
- 1 medium-large sweet potato, scrubbed clean and diced
- 1 large head of broccoli, cut into bite sized florets
- 15 oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons tamari (or regular soy sauce)
- 2 teaspoons salt (or omit salt and add extra soy sauce)
- 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 3 cans, 12-13 oz (+/-) each, coconut milk (or 30 oz if you can find it)
- 1 cup water
- optional: cooked rice for serving curry over, chopped parsley garnish
Directions
Spray interior of slow cooker with non stick olive oil spray.
Place diced onion and sweet potato on bottom of bowl. Top with broccoli florets, drained beans, and uncooked (dry) quinoa. Layer in garlic, ginger, turmeric, tamari (soy sauce) and salt. Pour in entire can of diced tomatoes, including juices. Top with coconut milk and water.
Place lid on slow cooker and turn on heat. High setting will take 4-6 hours, low setting will take 8+.
Makes a very large dish. Will feed 6-8 hungry adults, likely with leftovers to spare.
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