Chicken Tikka Masala

I love Indian food and one of my favorite dishes is chicken tikka masala. There are so many delicious flavors and the texture of the curry is wonderful on the tongue. All that said, eating out is expensive and doesn't let you fill those early morning curry cravings, so I decided to figure out an easy way to get the tikka masala experience in my own kitchen. Here's what I came up with.

Chicken Tikka Masala 
(serves 4)

~1.5 lbs chicken tenders, diced into bite size pieces (~2 inches)
6oz can of organic tomato paste
16oz coconut milk
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp garlic, diced
1 white onion, diced
powdered ginger, to taste
turmeric, to taste
sea salt, to taste
handful sliced almonds

Heat coconut oil in a pot (one with a lid) on low heat. Add the diced onion to the pot and caramelize it until it's browned. Add garlic and stir to mix with the onions. Sprinkle turmeric and ginger over the contents of the pot to taste. I added enough to coat the onions and garlic with each (~1/2 tbsp). Add one turn of ground sea salt. Pour in the coconut milk and tomato paste and stir until the sauce is yummy orange color. Turn the heat up to high and add the chicken, making sure that all the meat is completely submerged in the sauce. Cover the pot and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
You can serve this over rice, but I used leftover spaghetti squash and it was delicious! For the spaghetti squash option, you'll want to halve the spaghetti squashes, put them face down on aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes, pulling at the spaghetti squash with a fork.
Go on, have a peace! Enjoy!

Gluten & Guilt Free Spaghetti

I love spaghetti. It's been one of my favorite comfort foods since I was a kid, as I'm sure it has been for many of you. It's just plain good. Nothing fancy. Just noodles and sauce and slurping delectability. But pasta - even when you get that nifty whole-wheat spaghetti you can find now - is still pasta. Maybe you have friends who are gluten free, or you are, or you're going off grains for a while - which is good to do every once in a while anyway. Whatever the reason you want to scoot out of the pasta aisle, you shouldn't have to give up the things that you love. So... here ya go. A little down home comfort for your soul and your belly; a healthy dose of culinary affection for those around you.


Gluten/Guilt Free Spaghetti 
(serves many - at least 4)

2 large spaghetti squash
12 oz baby carrots, chopped
1 medium white onion, chopped
4 sticks celery, chopped
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
6 white mushrooms, chopped
2 cans whole tomatoes, meaty
2 tbsp tomato paste
6 cloves garlic (you can use less, I just like my sauce extra garlicky)
2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
daiya shredded white cheese (vegan mozzarella substitute), optional for topping

First, you want to preset your oven to 350 F and get out a couple cookie sheets, covering those in aluminum foil.

On your stove, in a large pot, pour 2 tbsp olive oil and set the stove to medium heat.

Next, in your food processor, chop your carrots, onion, celery, and broccoli. They don't need to be super fine, but you'll want them to look like delicious vegetable mostly-mush. Add this mush to the pot and stir to keep from burning. About 8 minutes, give or take.

Back to your food processor, add the zucchini, mushrooms, oregano, and garlic. This is going to be the 'meaty' portion of your sauce; the zucchini and the mushrooms give it a really nice texture. Add this processed mixture to the pot along with the two cans of tomatoes and the tomato puree. Bring the contents to a boil, then pop a lid on the pot and set the stove to low to let the contents simmer for about 45 minutes.

Take your spaghetti squash and cut the ends off, then slice them in half. You have to remove the seeds, much like you would a pumpkin - so if you have one of those friends who loves getting their hands smeared in squash innards, now's the time to invite them over for dinner. When the seeds are removed, brush a light layer of olive oil over the exposed squash and set them face-down on the cookie sheets, putting them into the oven for 30-40 minutes.

When the squash is done, take it out and - being careful not to burn yourself on those piping hot spaghetti squashes - take a fork and drag it along the inside of the halves. The 'spaghetti' should peel up with barely any pressure. Make sure to flake the sides of the squash, to really separate the 'noodles', and keep scraping even after you think you've gotten it. Sometimes whole portions hide up against the skin.

Fill a few bowls with the warm 'spaghetti', pour a generous portion of your fresh sauce over top, and enjoy. Go on. Have a peace. :)

A Haiku for July

.足元へいつ来りしよかたつぶり
ashi moto e itsu kitarishi yo katatsuburi

at my feet
when did you get here?
snail

- Kobayashi Issa (1762-1826)

Pesto Chicken and Sun-dried Tomato Wrap with Roasted Fennel Rings

This is an oven-free recipe. It's a super easy, very tasty little picnic munchable for the upcoming summer months. Take it to the park or an outdoor concert and enjoy feeling full but not stuffed. :) I paired it with a 2007 Rosato di Sangiovese from one of my favorite Napa Valley vineyards - Gargiulo Vineyards.  And brought a side of roasted fennel, which I'll also tell you how to make.

Pesto Chicken and Sun-dried Tomato Wrap
(makes 4)


2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped into bite size pieces
Lavash bread (or pita bread as you prefer)
Sun-dried tomatoes
Arugula
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup raw cashews (ground to tiny bits)
~ 4 tbsp Simple home-made pesto sauce (see below for directions)

When I'm grilling, I use my George Foreman grill, which really keeps the cooked meat lean, but this will work on any grill. Brush a light layer of olive oil onto the chicken breasts and sprinkle a little salt and pepper to taste on the chicken before putting it on the grill. You'll want to cook it until it's cooked through and not much more. The more tender it is the better, just make sure it really is cooked through.

When it's done, dice it up into bite sized pieces and put it in a large bowl with a few handfuls of arugula, about 4 tbsp of sun-dried tomatoes (more if you like - I like to start with this and then bring more sun-dried tomatoes in tupperware for later), some ground cashews (for a little crunch), and about a tablespoon of lemon juice.

Next you want to add your pesto sauce slowly to the bowl. You want just enough to coat the contents of the bowl, not drown them, approximately 1 tbsp for each serving. Mix it up well, making sure that everything in the bowl is nice and pesto'd up, then layer a few spoonfuls out onto each piece of lavash and roll them up, folding the ends, before wrapping in aluminum foil. Easy peasy. Go on. Have a peace. :)

Simple home-made pesto sauce
3.5 packed cups fresh basil leaves
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ground pecorino cheese
1/4 cup ground raw cashew

Combine basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, salt, cashews in a blender and blend until smooth. When the mixture is completely smooth, add the pecorino and pulse the blender until it has been incorporated into the mix.


Roasted Fennel Rings
(makes 2 servings)

2 fennel bulbs
extra virgin olive oil

Preset your oven to 400 F. Prepare a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and then set a cookie cooling rack on top of that - preferably one with small squares instead of bars, but bars will do.

Take two fennel bulbs and cut much the same way you would make onion rings (cut off the ends, and then make regular slices). You'll want to peel apart each layer and set them on the cooling rack on top of the cookie sheet so that the individual semi-rings will not fall through. Brush olive oil lightly on both sides of each piece of fennel. Roast for about 20 minutes.

These roasted fennel rings have a sweet, not overly licorice-y flavor, and make a great light side dish or, even, a fun alternative to dessert.