My Culinary Adventures: Steamed Cauliflower with Curry Butter and Toasted Almonds

Steamed Cauliflower with Curry Butter and Toasted Almonds (Serves 4)
Recipe adapted from Pinch My Salt
Ingredients
1 medium head of cauliflower, about 2 pounds
4 tablespoons butter

1 shallot, peeled and finely diced (can use 1/2 a small onion)
2 teaspoons curry powder
3 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
3-4 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted**
salt, to taste

1. Rinse cauliflower under cold water and cut into small florets. Steam cauliflower in a basket over boiling water for 5-8 minutes, or until just tender. Remove the cauliflower to a plate or bowl and set aside.
2. Melt butter in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring, until softened. Add curry powder and stir for another 30 seconds. Stir in lemon juice, cilantro, and honey. Add steamed cauliflower and almonds and toss until well combined and heated through. Season to taste with salt.
3. Serve over steamed white or brown rice or alone, as a side dish.

**Toast slivered almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan or stirring often, until they start to turn golden. Immediately remove almonds to a dish or bowl to stop the toasting.

My Culinary Adventures: Curried Coconut Chicken, Aloo Gobi, Indian Saffron Rice

Ok, this is take two of the Curried Coconut Chicken curry!  The first time I tried it, it came out way too tomatoey.  This time it turned out much better because I used less tomato paste!  I changed up the saffron rice recipe by adding peas, carrots, cardamom and cinnamon and it was delicious!  I had two guests over for dinner and they really liked it :)  Took about 3 hours total of cooking time, and I was using both burners, switching in pots and pans, but it was fun and I was definitely super proud of myself for making a meal like this!

Curried Coconut Chicken
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 teaspoon salt and pepper, or to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed, diced tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons sugar

1. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
2. Heat oil and curry powder in a large skillet over medium-high heat for two minutes. Stir in onions and garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Add chicken, tossing lightly to coat with curry oil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear.
3. Pour coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sugar into the pan, and stir to combine. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

Aloo Gobi
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes
Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ginger
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala*
salt to taste
1 pound cauliflower
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Stir in the cumin seeds, garlic, and ginger. Cook about 1 minute until garlic is lightly browned. Add the potatoes. Season with turmeric, paprika, cumin, garam masala*, and salt. Cover and continue cooking 5 to 7 minutes stirring occasionally.
2. Mix the cauliflower and cilantro into the saucepan. Reduce heat to low, add some water to the pan so that the vegetables don't stick to the bottom, and cover. Stirring occasionally, continue cooking 10 minutes, or until potatoes and cauliflower are tender, adding more water as necessary.
3. * I don't have garam masala, but there is a recipe with all the ingredients.  I basically just added all of those ingredients to the pan.

Indian Saffron Rice
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes
Ingredients
1 teaspoon powdered saffron
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups boiling water, divided
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup uncooked white rice, not rinsed
1 teaspoon salt

1 small can peas

1/3 cup raisins

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Steep the saffron in 1/2 cup boiling water.
2. In a skillet that can be tightly covered, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the rice and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until the rice begins to absorb the butter and becomes opaque, but do not brown the rice.
3. Quickly pour in the remaining 1 1/2 cups boiling water along with the saffron water. Stir in peas, raisins, cardamom, and cinnamon.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 20 minutes, or until all of the liquid is absorbed. For best results, do not remove the lid while the rice is cooking.

My Culinary Adventures: Moroccan-Spiced Chickpea Carrot Soup

I'm not usually a big fan of soups, unless it's Lebanese lentil soup, creamy tomato soup, Burmese ohno kaukswe (coconut chicken noodle soup), or Vietnamese phở.  After seeing this recipe online, and all the interesting ingredients, I knew I had to try it.  It's a hearty soup too, which I prefer over more watery ones.  A lot of unexpected flavors came out of this, and I had to add in a lot more quantity of spices than the recipe called for, but it's a trial and error thing.  Just taste test it.  I've made it twice and both times it was a hit with my guests :)

Moroccan-Spiced Chickpea Carrot Soup (Serves 2)
Recipe adapted from Cook Bake Nibble

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 medium carrots, chopped small
1 large clove (or 2 small) garlic
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ginger
pinch saffron (if you have it, can be omitted)
1 can chickpeas (or 2 cups cooked), rinsed
1 medium vine ripe tomato, chopped
1 tsp salt, more to taste
Black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 cups water
Small handful almonds, chopped
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Dash of cayenne pepper (optional, for that extra kick)

1. Heat the oil on medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add carrot and continue cooking until softened, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and stir, cook for one minute. Add all spices and “toast” for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add tomato and chickpeas, stir to mix with onion and spice mixture. Add salt, black pepper to taste and lemon juice. Stir well and pour in water.
3. Bring water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer partially covered 20-30 minutes. Season to taste. Top with a sprinkle of almond and fresh cilantro. Serve hot.

My Culinary Adventures: Asian Crunchy Broccoli Salad

I never really used to eat Asian food in the states often.  If it came down to choose between an Asian restaurant and some other option, most likely I'd choose the other option.  I think it may have been because I was living with my relatives and they cooked Asian food almost all the time and I wanted some variety.  I do enjoy certain cuisines though, such as Thai, Indian, Vietnamese (mostly just phở), and some Chinese, but not all the time.  Moving to Honduras, however, has made me realize how much I miss all things Asian, and any sort of Asian thing or Asian person I come across here just reminds me of life back in California with my family and friends, and I think that is probably why I get overly excited whenever I come across them.  Like really excited.  It's embarrassing sometimes.  My family very thoughtfully mailed me a couple boxes containing a lot of Asian food items to cook with, such as Hoisin sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes.  I decided to put a few of those items to good use :)

Asian Crunchy Broccoli Salad
Recipe adapted from Tiny Urban Kitchen

Ingredients
1 head broccoli
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
Soy sauce (to taste)
Sesame oil (to taste)
Pinch of sugar (to taste)
Red pepper flakes (to taste)

1. Remove the outer part of the broccoli skin and chop into bite-size pieces.
2. Add garlic and sprinkle with salt. Stir and let marinate for at least 20 minutes. Pour out any water that may have collected during the marination time.  
3. Add a splash of soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Eat immediately, or for better results, let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

My Culinary Adventures: Banana Crumb Muffins

I bought a muffin/cupcake pan!!  Ah, joy :)  These muffins were delicious, but the crumb topping didn't really turn out very...crumbly.  It may be because I don't have proper butter here, and instead have been using the tub butter for all my baking.  It still tasted good though, and it did harden so it had a nice different consistency than the muffins.

Banana Crumb Muffins
Recipe taken from Allrecipes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

My Culinary Adventures: Tuna Pasta in Garlic and Olive Oil

Tuna Pasta in Garlic and Olive Oil
Recipe adapted from Food.com

Ingredients
1 bag pasta
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked
2 tbs olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 ounce) can tuna in vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
Salt

1. Cook the pasta noodles according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile while pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in pan.
3. Sauté garlic in oil until lightly brown or fragrant is release.
4. Stir in tuna including the vegetable oil. Cook this for 1 minute.
5. Stir in the cooked pasta and rice and mix. Remove from heat.
6. Season with salt. Add more salt and dried basil leaves according to your taste.
7. Note: Only start cooking the tuna when your pasta is just a few minutes from getting done. That way, the pasta is mixed with the sautéed tuna while it's still hot to incorporate the taste.

My Culinary Adventures: Stuffed Bell Peppers

Whenever I travel to El Progreso to get some shopping done, I always seem to come back with a lot more than I had planned on getting.  My eyes were bigger than my stomach when I saw the different-colored bell peppers (we only have green here) and I bought a lot more than I could eat by myself.  I decided to try this recipe for stuffed bell peppers, since I also had bought ground beef and wanted to use that in something other than pasta sauce.  Had my site-mate over to share, and froze the leftovers in the freezer.  They still tasted great after reheating!

Stuffed Bell Peppers
Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes

I ended up with more stuffing than was needed, so I mixed the rest with pasta on a later day.  Yum!  The next time I make this, however, I think I will actually mix the ketchup/worcestershire sauce into the stuffing before baking.  It would make for a more flavorful dish.

Ingredients
4 bell peppers, any color
Salt
5 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 cup fresh chopped tomatoes
2 tsp dried oregano
Pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
Dash of Tabasco sauce

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, cut top off peppers 1 inch from the stem end, and remove seeds. Add several generous pinches of salt to boiling water, then add peppers and boil, using a spoon to keep peppers completely submerged, until brilliant green (or red if red peppers) and their flesh slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Remove skillet from heat, add meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano, and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well. (You may find it easier to put the ingredients at this point into a large bowl and mix together with your hands.)
3. Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil inside the peppers. Arrange the cut side of the peppers up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling. Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl, then spoon over filling. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes (or longer, depending on how big the peppers are that you are stuffing), until the internal temperature of the stuffed peppers is 150-160°F.

My Culinary Adventures: Curried Chickpea Salad & Tuscan Scrambled Eggs

I bought chickpeas randomly one day and really had no idea what I was going to do with them.  I was thinking maybe hummus but then I'd want an entire Middle Eastern/Mediterranean meal to go with that and I wasn't ready to take on a cooking challenge like that just yet.  I stumbled across this amazing recipe online, as well as a super easy recipe to make scrambled eggs a bit more interesting!  You wouldn't think that something as simple as onions, tomatoes and eggs would turn out so flavorful, but the way the tomatoes are cooked with the onions until all the juice has evaporated, then stirring in the eggs really makes it such a delightful dish.  It's a recipe I've turned to many times over.

Curried Chickpea Salad (Serves 2)
Recipe adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

I like to increase the amount of spices called for in a recipe, so really it depends on how you like your dish.  The amounts I give are what is in the recipe.  I definitely added a lot more, eyeballing and taste-testing while cooking.

Ingredients
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed well and drained
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 tbs chopped cilantro
1 tbs lemon juice
Salt to taste

1. Drain chickpeas into a colander placed in the sink, then rinse well with cold water until no more foam appears and let chickpeas drain while you cook the onions.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy frying pan or saute pan, add the onion, turn heat to medium-high and saute onions until they are lightly browned and starting to get crisp, about 6-8 minutes. Stir frequently while the onions cook, and don't let them get too browned or they will be bitter. 
3. When onions are lightly browned, stir in the turmeric, cumin, coriander, and cayenne pepper and cook 2-3 minutes more, until the spices are fragrant and slightly toasted.
4. Add the drained chickpeas and cook 2-3 minutes more, stirring so the spices and onions are well-distributed in the chickpeas.  Then stir in chopped cilantro and lemon juice and cook 3-4 minutes more.  Turn off heat and season to taste with salt.  
5. Let the mixture cool, then transfer to a plastic container with a snap-on lid and let salad chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving.  Serve cold or at room temperature, tasting and adjusting the flavor with more lemon juice and salt before serving if desired.

Tuscan Scrambled Eggs (Serves 2)

Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes
Ingredients
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2 roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil on medium heat in a nonstick skillet. Add the onions and cook until translucent, just starting to turn golden in color, about 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook over low heat until the liquid evaporates, about 40 minutes.
2. Whisk the eggs in a bowl until well blended. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the tomato and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, and scraping from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat as soon as the eggs begin to set, but are still moist, about 3 minutes. Turn out onto a serving plate. Serve immediately.

My Culinary Adventures: Paletas (Popsicles)

As the season changed from rainy to hot and humid here in El Negrito, I started craving cold treats.  During training in Cantarranas, a number of people would sell paletas from their pulperia or straight out of the house.  There was a wide variety of flavors, such as coconut, peanut, banana, chocolate, chocolate covered in a hard chocolate shell, ronpopo (kind of like eggnog), and tutti frutti (my favorite, a mix of cut up fruits in fruit juice).  Usually at least one of us while in class would be eating one while making a delicious mess.  Unfortunately, nobody in my site sells paletas like that, but they're easy enough to make, and I had bought 5 small metal cups made especially for paletas, as well as the popsicle sticks.  The cold dessert they do sell here though is basically the same thing, except in a small plastic baggie.  They're called charramuscas in the south of Honduras, and topogigos (toe-po-he-os) in the North.  You bite the corner off the bag and suck out the contents as they melt.  The most common flavors of those here are nance (it's a small round yellow fruit that to me, tastes like rotten fruit), banana, milk, tamarind, and kool-aid.

Paletas
Ingredients
Frozen bananas
Skim milk

Frozen watermelon
Strawberry juice (I used the Livean brand no-calorie Strawberry-flavored powder in water)
Frozen orange pieces
Frozen papaya
Ice

1. In a blender, combine bananas and milk and blend until smooth.  Pour into paleta cups and insert popsicle sticks in center.
2. Rinse blender, combine ice, watermelon, strawberry juice, orange, and papaya and blend until smooth. Pour into paleta cups and insert popsicle sticks in center.

My Culinary Adventures: Roasted Roma Tomatoes and Garlic

I absolutely love cooking with fresh basil, but unfortunately with all the heat these past few months, my basil plant is dying :(.

Roasted Roma Tomatoes and Garlic
Recipe adapted from: Allrecipes

Ingredients
4 Roma tomatoes, halved
6 Cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 Onion, sliced
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400F or 200C
2. Place the tomato halves in a shallow baking dish in which they can all fit in snugly side by side.  Insert the whole cloves of garlic in between the tomatoes.  Place sliced onion rings on top of tomatoes.  Brush olive oil over the top and sprinkle with basil.  Season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake uncovered for 35-45 minutes, until tomatoes have softened are are sizzling int he pan with the edges slightly charred.  Serve while hot.