Dinner, Healthy and special diets, Recipes, , , , ,


I have decided to share my Vegetable Curry recipe with you today for several reasons:

  1. It was delicious.
  2. I used quinoa instead of rice.
  3. I cooked it in the slow cooker.
  4. It is perfect for a rainy day when you come in from work and want a meal there waiting for you.
  5. Nutritionally it is really good for you.
  6. I topped it off with homemade Naan Breads which were the perfect accompaniment to this wholesome meal.

I only started using quinoa last week as I seem to have gone on a bit of a health kick, so along with my smoothies and exercise routine I am trying to add other protein into my vegetarian lifestyle. Making the meals with [amazon_textlink asin=’B0050B9JCO’ text=’quinoa’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’aebd003b-3c88-11e7-9234-4bf91bad354f’] in mind has involved some changing of meal plans to accommodate quinoa and meat for the rest of the family’s diet. However, when they have seen what I have made for myself, they have all ended up trying it with mixed results- some like it and some don’t. For example, my vegetable curry last night was shared between my husband, my daughters and myself whilst the naan breads everyone enjoyed. I am so pleased and amazed with how the naan breads and vegetable curry turned out that I will be making this meal again.

[lt_recipe name=”Vegetable Curry with Quinoa” servings=”4″ prep_time=”10M” cook_time=”4H” total_time=”4H10M” difficulty=”Easy” summary=”This will be perfectly cooked for a deliciously, warming dinner if left to cook for the length of time stated. Nutritionally, one portion contains 228 calories, 6.4g total fat (8% daily total fat), 34.5g total carbohydrate (13% daily total carbohydrate), 5.1g fibre (18% daily fibre) (based on a 2000 calorie diet).” print=”yes” image=”https://www.love-to-bake.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/vegandquinoacurry.jpeg” ingredients=”1 cup of multicoloured quinoa;1 jar of Korma curry sauce (from Aldi);2oz mushrooms;1 onion;2oz broccoli;1oz green beans;1oz mini corns;2 cups water;1tsp chilli powder;” ]In a slow cooker, chop all the vegetables and add to the cooker.;Wash the quinoa in a sieve under the tap then add the quinoa, water, chilli powder and curry sauce.;Switch onto low for 4 – 5 hours.;Stir after one hour to stop the quinoa sticking at the bottom of the cooker.;Serve with homemade Naan breads.[/lt_recipe]

Confession time here, for easiness and availability I used a jar of [amazon_textlink asin=’B00889ZOSI’ text=’Korma curry sauce ‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’869eeab2-3c88-11e7-bf22-6d4eb42328c0′]from Aldi. This is what my family prefer when I make curry at home but if I had all the spices in the cupboards I would have made a fresh sauce.  I buy a lot of my supplies for baking from Aldi as they do have good quality products which produce excellent results for baking. The quinoa and vegetables in the slow cooker would have thickened the curry very easily without any need for intervention from me. For a homemade vegetable curry, I would have used curry powder, cayenne, cumin, tinned tomatoes, ginger, garlic, coriander, turmeric. At the end of the cooking time I would stir in yoghurt to reduce the heat  of the  spicy curry and make it suitable for the family who don’t like to much heat.

The quinoa tasted fluffy and nutty and was a brilliant addition to the curry. We didn’t miss not having  rice with the meal as the [amazon_textlink asin=’B00BHFI9IC’ text=’Naan Breads’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’ddc085f1-3c88-11e7-989a-5902a5b11696′] more than made up for them. Before I added the quinoa to the cooker I washed it under the tap to remove any residual saponins which can make the quinoa quite bitter. These saponins are natural chemicals present in the seeds which act to prevent pests from eating them but they are a irritant if consumed by humans so it is better to wash the seeds before cooking.

For the Naan breads I found a recipe online which I wanted to try as I didn’t have any special equipment for cooking the Naans I used the oven on a high heat. Making the dough was so easy and it produced very tasty results. I followed a recipe by “[amazon_textlink asin=’0091949475′ text=’Madhur Jaffrey’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’3e49528b-3c8c-11e7-9052-91eff00c67a4′]” but I tweaked it slightly as I went along. I added more salt as I thought the original recipe would be too bland. Next time, I make these Naans I am going to add garlic or coriander to spice them up a bit more. The family loved them.  The dough had to rise for about one hour but after that they only had about 3 minutes in the oven where they browned and crisped up. Next time, I will turn them over to ensure the base is thoroughly cooked as a couple of the larger breads were slightly under cooked but still edible as the children didn’t seem to mind – totally emptied the plate.  ðŸ™‚ The Naans were large and great for soaking up the curry with. A very pleasant combination and healthy too.

Some recipe changes which could be made to this meal would be to add chicken, lamb or any other meat you like to the slow cooker to make it a meat curry. Also the flour used in the Naan bread recipe could be changed for gluten free flour or even [amazon_textlink asin=’B00581KV50′ text=’quinoa flour ‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’2d7c0ce6-3c89-11e7-9030-e39ef6280ae5′]sticking with the quinoa theme. To make the Naans lactose friendly you could use [amazon_textlink asin=’B016AEI8W6′ text=’lactose free  milk’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’94d40b50-3c89-11e7-92f4-6591d0764699′] such as soy milk and lactose free yoghurt  to achieve the same results. The original Naan bread recipe contains egg so some other alternative egg free product could be used to replace the egg in the recipe.