Kale Soup

I made this yesterday for lunch. I was having competing desires for a warm meal and something leafy and bright. This was my odd compromise. It hit the spot though and hubby loved it that night. Today I pulled it out. It is a gloomy day with snow threatening us again. I am a great lover of snow, but just this weekend it was brilliant and beautiful and I started on yard work and mentally made the leap to spring. Sigh. So with the new gloom in the air I had this for lunch but added a dollop of greek yogurt. Double yum. Plus, it is low cal, fast and cheap. Trifecta!


½ onion sliced
½ bag chopped kale (or about 3 cups??)
2 cartons of beef stock (could used veggie, chicken, or broth if you prefer)
1 can chick peas
2 tbs sweet curry
1 tbs olive oil.


Heat olive oil, sauté the onions until soft. Add stock, kale and chickpeas and bring to simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Add curry and any salt you want. Viola!

Curried Salmon over Golden Raisin Brown Rice

1 lb salmon
4 tbs butter divided
1 clove of garlic grated or crushed
1 tsp corn starch
½ c. milk
2 tbs cream
1 tbs plus 1 tsp (divided )of sweet curry (I used Penzey’s)
½ tsp salt
1tbs soy
2 tsp brown sugar (could use honey or agave too)
1 roasted read pepper
1 medium onion sliced
2 tbs dry vermouth
Salt and pepper


I have to be honest. I almost abandoned this recipe. It wasn’t coming out right. I added a bit of this and that and almost pitched it and stated over. I couldn’t get the richness I wanted. I thought I needed coconut milk and didn’t have any, but the brown sugar hit the notes I wanted. I am so glad I didn’t give on this. It is one of my favorite dishes of late, and I WILL be making this again. That said, I think that the roasted red peppers get pretty lost in the dish and I ended up using the sugar to give the sweet I was looking for. I would say, if you have them put them in. The red pepper surely made it pretty, with flecks of red spotted off the mustard colored curry. I just am not totally convinced that it made much difference in the flavor of the dish.

In a small skillet heat 2 tbs of butter. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Meanwhile in a small dish, whisk together milk and corn starch. Add that to the butter and garlic.
Then add the cream, salt, soy, red pepper (if you have), 1 tablespoon of curry and sugar. Heat until thick and set aside.

In a separate skillet heat remaining 2 tbs of butter and sauté onions over low heat until nice and brow and soft.
Add the teaspoon of curry and stir.
Add vermouth and cook for 1 minute.
Salt and pepper fish.
Place the salmon in the dish with onions, turn heat up to medium high. Cook salmon for one minute, flip and cook on other side one minute.
Reduce heat to medium low and pour you curry sauce on top. Cook for another 5-8 minutes.





Rice
I served the salmon over rice. I used brown but you can use whatever rice you like. If you use anther type of rice, just cook it to the package instructions.

1 cup brown rice
3 cups of water
3 bullion cubes
2 tsp curry
½ c. golden raisins

Put everything in a pot and bring to a boil, stir to incorporate the bullion, cover and cook for 45 minutes over low heat.

chicken curry

1 tbs olive oil
1 cu chopped carrots
2 bay leave
1 small chopped onion
2 cups chicken stock
2 chopped tomatoes
4 chicken thighs bone out skinless
1 tbs soy sauce
4 tbs Penzeys sweet curry powder
½ c. peas
Salt and pepper
Rice
Okay you can use any curry powder(and boneless skinless chicken if you must), however, Penzeys sweet curry powder is great. I just got it and this is the first time I have used it. Despite what the sales guy told me, it does pack some heat, just not the heat you typically think of when you think of curry. It has a heave cardamom flavor, which I adore.
Heat oil. Add carrots and onion and sauté for 3 minutes. Add stock and bay leaves and bring to boil. Add tomatoes and cook 10 minutes on low. Add chicken , curry and soy and cook. Once chicken is done or mostly done add peas., and cook for 3 minutes. Test for salt and if needed add salt. Serve over rice.

Curried Peas

2 c. frozen peas defrosted (don’t boil)
¼ c sour cream
1.5 TBS sweet curry powder
1 tsp lemon
Salt

Mixed together serve chilled.