Coconut Chana Saag (Vegan, GF)

Coconut Chana Saag | Once Upon a Recipe

Hello friends!

How is 2014 treating you so far? Made any resolutions yet? Come up with any goals for the new year? Or maybe you’re easing into January by slowly decreasing your chocolate/cookie/wine intake in preparation for new healthy habits.

Coconut Chana Saag | Once Upon a Recipe

Personally, I’m easing into 2014 gently. There are still cookies and salted caramel bark in my freezer that need to be eaten, yo! And champagne in my fridge that needs drankin’. However, despite the way I present myself and my eating habits on this blog (cookies and cakes and sweet things galore), I actually eat fairly healthy on the regular.

One of my goals for 2014 is to give you, my dear readers, a more accurate representation of the way I typically eat. Generally speaking, I try to focus on the 80/20 rule – 80 percent of the time I try to eat healthy and wholesome – veggies, fruits, lean proteins, and whole grains, and 20 percent of the time I allow myself to indulge. Some days, the scale tips more in favor of indulging, and other days, it tips more in favor of eating healthy. It’s all about balance, friends.

Coconut Chana Saag | Once Upon a Recipe

Coconut Chana Saag | Once Upon a Recipe    Coconut Chana Saag | Once Upon a Recipe

This recipe for Coconut Chana Saag is wonderfully reflective of the way I tent to eat. Simple ingredients, easy preparation, and lots of flavor. I was gifted a new cookbook for Christmas – Isa Does it by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Isa Does It is full of easy and delicious vegan recipes, and I have already bookmarked about 20 recipes to try. If any of them are half as delicious as this Coconut Chana Saag, I have a very tasty 2014 ahead. And so do you!

Coconut Chana Saag | Once Upon a Recipe

Coconut Chana Saag (slightly adapted from Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz)

This Coconut Chana Saag comes together quickly and easily. I served it over brown basmati rice, but you could also use quinoa, jasmine rice, or your favorite grain. Store leftovers in a sealed container and refrigerate, then enjoy throughout the week! Serves 6.

2 TBSP. coconut oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

A knob of fresh ginger, minced (about 2 TBSP.)

2 TBSP. curry powder (I used Moghul curry powder)

1 tsp. salt

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1/2 tsp. crushed fennel seeds

1/4 tsp. garam masala

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

A pinch of cayenne pepper

1 24-ounce can whole tomatoes

2 15-ounce cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

8 ounces of baby kale

1 14-ounce can of lite coconut milk

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (plus more for serving)

Juice of 1 lime

Cooked brown basmati rice (for serving)

Heat the coconut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute for about 7 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the garlic and ginger, and saute until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the curry powder, salt, pepper, fennel seeds, garam masala, cumin, and cayenne and mix well. Allow the spices to roast for about a minute.

Add the tomato juice from the can, and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Add the tomatoes from the can, squishing them with your fingers or mashing with a wooden spoon. Add the chickpeas and mix well. Cover the pot and increase the heat to medium-high. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the kale and stir until wilted, and then simmer for about 5 minutes more.

Add the coconut milk, cilantro, and lime juice and heat through. Taste for seasoning. Allow to sit for 10-20 minutes (if possible), so that the flavors can mingle. It tastes even better the next day. Serve over brown basmati rice and add more fresh cilantro, if desired.

Have a great week! 🙂

Dip It | Curried Cream Cheese Dip with Dried Cranberries, Pine Nuts, and Green Onion

Hello friends! Happy Monday. I hope you all had a lovely Easter/spring weekend filled with family, friends, good food, and sunshine. I sure as heck did. If you ate half as much food and chocolate as I did, you have probably been swimming in a food/sugar coma state, like me. And could there possibly be a better cure for such a coma than perusing and drooling over a new recipe? I think not.

Especially when it is an attack-the-tastebuds-in-a-good-way recipe. Enter this seemingly complex, colorful, flavor explosion dip.

Explaining this dip with words is impossible. But I’ll try anyway. It’s creamy, tangy, sweet, and spicy all at once. Plus chewy from dried cranberries and crunchy from toasted pine nuts. I first tried it at a work potluck a couple of years ago, but only recently rediscovered it. I don’t know where the recipe came from, or what the real name of this creation is, so I am calling it like it is.

Take this dip to your next potluck or serve it at your next party. Your guests won’t know what hit ’em.

In a good way of course.

Curried Cream Cheese Dip with Dried Cranberries, Pine Nuts, and Green Onions

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tsp. curry powder

2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 cup red pepper or red chile jelly, divided

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/4 cup green onions, chopped (about 3 green onions)

Combine the cream cheese, spices*, and 3 TBSP. of the jelly until smooth. An electric or hand mixer will make this easy. Spread the mixture into the bottom of a shallow dip dish (roughly 5″ x 7″). Spread the remaining jelly over top of the cream cheese mixture. Combine the dried cranberries, pine nuts, and green onions in a small bowl to mix, then sprinkle evenly over top of the dip. Chill until you serve. I think this dip tastes great with plain rice crackers, but any small cracker will do! Enjoy!

*You can adjust the amount of curry powder and cumin depending on the level of flavor you would like. If you don’t want such strong flavors, use just 1 tsp. of each. If you want the flavors to be very intense you can use up to 1 TBSP. of each, but I find 2 tsp. of each to be a happy medium.


What are some of your favorite potluck or appetizer recipes?

Another Keeper | Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry

Hello lovelies! I hope you are all having a great weekend. If you are in Edmonton, you are probably digging your way out of all of the snow over the past week. Where is it all coming from? I can’t remember the last winter that saw us getting several feet of snow at once! Makes me want to just hibernate and wake up in April. Only 3 more months to go. *sigh*

Cold weather warrants warm, spicy, and fragrant stews around here. Honey and I are big curry fans, and typically eat some type of curry concoction at least once per week. We also try to eat a couple of vegetarian meals each week. This sweet potato chickpea curry kills two birds with one stone and has a lovely flavor from the peanut butter and orange juice. Not to mention the thai curry paste. I’m not a huge fan of very spicy dishes, but if you like your curries on the hotter side, increase the amount of curry paste you use. You could also substitute green or yellow curry paste, depending on your preference (green is the spiciest, yellow is the mildest). Enjoy my friends ~ happy eating!

Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry (adapted from The Best of Chef at Home, Michael Smith)

A splash of vegetable oil

1 large onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

A small knob of frozen ginger

2 tsp. of Thai red curry paste

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 19-oz. can of chickpeas, drained

1 14-oz. can of coconut milk

1 cup of orange juice

1/2 cup of peanut butter

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 cup frozen green peas

Several handfuls of baby spinach

Chopped cilantro

Add a splash of vegetable oil to a stockpot over medium-high heat. Toss in the onion and garlic and saute them until they are lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Grate the frozen ginger into the pan and add the Thai curry paste. Continue cooking until the spices are heated through and fragrant, another few minutes.

Add the sweet potatoes, chickpeas, coconut milk, orange juice, peanut butter, and salt. Brig to a simmer, lower the heat and continue simmering until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in the peas, spinach, and cilantro. Serve over rice.