Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash

Not sure what to do with your spaghetti squash? Take it apart, then put it back together with chicken in. From Wanderlust and Wellness, this recipe results in two spaghetti squash skins stuffed with a delicious and mildly spicy chicken/squash mixture topped with gooey cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized spaghetti squash
• olive oil
• 512mL cooked shredded chicken (a grocery store rotisserie chicken works well here)
• 256mL shredded mozarella cheese
• 84mL Frank's Hot Sauce
• 32mL melted ghee
• 84mL  coconut cream
• 1.25mL pink himalayan salt
• 1.25mL ground black pepper
• Shredded cheddar and/or monterey jack cheese
• more hot sauce to top with

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F.
2. Bisect the squash lengthwise. Remove the seeds.
3. Brush the exposed interior of the squash with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Place the squash face down on a baking sheet and cook for 40 minutes.
5. While the squash is baking, combine the shredded chicken, mozarella, hot sauce, coconut cream, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
6. When the squash is finished, as soon as it is cool enough to handle, scrape out the flesh and mix it into the bowl.
7. Return the squash-chicken mix to the skins. Top with cheddar and monterey jack.
8. Place under the broiler until the cheese has melted and is just starting to brown.
9. Drizzle with additional hot sauce and serve.

Kheema Paav

Aka "Indian sloppy joes", a well spiced ground beef curry that exists to be served on buns. In my opinion, there's no point in making sloppy joes when kheema paav is on the menu.

Ingredients

• canola oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ~1 C finely chopped red onion
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 slices of fresh ginger, finely chopped, or 2 tbsp ginger paste
• 2 fresh green thai, cayenne, or serrano chilis, stems removed, finely chopped (do not remove the seeds)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp Bin bhuna hua garam masala
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• ½ lb lean ground beef
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
• buns -- the book calls for fairly small slider-type buns, but you can make it with full size burger buns as well
• ½ C finely chopped scallions for garnish

Procedure

1. Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle until they turn reddish-brown and fragrant, 10-15 seconds. Immediately add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chilis. Stir-fry until the onion starts to brown around the edges, ~5 minutes.
2. Add the tomato paste, garam masala, and salt. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce develops an oily sheen, ~5 minutes.
3. Add the ground beef, breaking it up if needed. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the meat is browning and partly cooked, 5-10 minutes.
4. Stir in 128mL water and continue simmering, covered, stirring occasionally, until the flavours have mingled and the beef is cooked through, ~8 minutes.
5. Brush the buns with butter or ghee and toast them on a griddle or in a toaster oven.
6. Fill buns with meat. Sprinkle with scallions. Insert into face.

Saag Paneer

Often described as a spinach and cheese curry, the version in 660 Curries uses both spinach and mustard greens; personally, I like mustard greens so much that I think it's even better if you omit the spinach entirely and double the amount of mustard greens.

Ingredients

• canola oil
• 1 medium-size red onion, bisected and thinly sliced
• 6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
• 4 5x2cm slices of fresh ginger, coarsely chopped (or 64mL of ginger paste if you don't have fresh ginger on hand)
• 10mL Bin bhuna hua garam masala
• 2.5mL ground turmeric
• 32mL tomato paste
• 512g mixed spinach and mustard greens in any proportion you like, coarsely chopped
• 5mL coarse salt
• 550g paneer, sliced into 2cm cubes and fried
• 128mL whipping (35%) cream
• 2.5mL Punjabi garam masala

Procedure

1. Heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and ginger, and stir-fry until the onion browns, ~10 minutes.
2. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the Bin bhuna hua garam masala; the residual heat will be enough to cook the spices without burning them.
3. Transfer the mixture to a blender jar. Add the tomato paste and 64mL water. Puree, scraping the inside of the jar as needed, to form a smooth paste. Return it to the skillet. Rinse out the blender jar with 192mL of water and add that to the skillet too.
4. Return the skillet to medium heat. Pile some greens into it and cover until they're wilted enough that you can stir them into the sauce and add more. Repeat until all the greens are in.
5. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens break down and merge with the sauce, turning it dark green, 10-15 minutes.
6. Stir in the salt, cream, paneer, and Punjabi garam masala. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the cheese is warmed through, 5-8 minutes.
7. Eat.

Chana Masala

660 Curries contains something like half a dozen chana masala variants. This is the one simply titled "Chickpeas in a Spicy Tomato Sauce (Chana Masala)".

Despite not having whole chilis in it, I find this more spicy than the vindaloo without the moderating influence of the vinegar.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. (32mL) ghee or oil
• 1 tsp. (5mL) cumin seeds, whole
• 1 tsp. (5mL) cumin seeds, ground
• 2 Tbsp. (32mL) ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. (16mL) garlic paste
• 2 Tbsp. (32mL) tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. (16mL) coriander seeds, ground
• 1 Tbsp. (16mL) amchor (unripe mango powder) or lime juice
• 1 tsp. (5mL) cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. (2.5mL) turmeric
• 1L cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 c. (64mL) chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. (5mL) coarse salt
• 1/2 c. (128mL) finely chopped red onion

Procedure

1. Heat the ghee in a large saucepan over medium high heat.
2. Sprinkle in the whole cumin seeds and cook until they sizzle and turn reddish-brown and fragrant, 10-15 seconds. Immediately lower the heat to medium and add the ginger and garlic pastes. Stir-fry until they start to brown, ~2 minutes.
3. Add 256mL water and the tomato paste, coriander, amchor, cayenne, turmeric, and ground cumin. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has cooked off, leaving you with a thick, reddish-orange sauce, 5-10 minutes.
4. Add 512mL water, the chickpeas, the salt, and half of the cilantro. Raise the heat back to medium-high and cook, stirring occasoinally, until the sauce thickens, 15-20 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and top with the onions and remaining cilantro. Serve over rice or naan.

Beef Vindaloo

A favourite of mine, this curry -- despite its reputation in the UK as a melt-your-face-off death curry -- is more tart than hot, with the vinegar moderating the heat of the chilis. It's easy to make, as long as you start the day before (so it can marinate overnight) and allow an hour for it to simmer the day of. Don't forget to prepare a side dish as well; there's not much to this apart from the beef.

Ingredients

• 128mL malt vinegar
• 10mL cayenne
• 2.5mL turmeric
• 500g boneless stewing beef, cut into 2cm cubes
• canola oil
• 128g pearl onions, peeled and halved, or an equivalent amount of yellow or red onion, chopped coarsely
• 5 medium-size cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 6 dried red thai or cayenne chilis, stems removed
• 5mL coriander seeds, ground
• 5mL cumin seeds, ground
• 2.5mL coarse salt
• 32mL finely chopped fresh cilantro (for garnish)

Procedure

1. Combine the vinegar, cayenne, and turmeric in a medium sized metal or glass bowl. Add the beef and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.
2. Heat ~32mL of oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the garlic, onions, and chilis. Cook, stirring, until the onions brown, ~5 minutes.
3. Add the beef and marinade. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef has absorbed the vinegar and started to sear and the oil has separated from the meat, ~15 minutes.
4. Stir in the coriander, cumin, and salt and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
5. Add 256mL water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until fork-tender, ~45 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Meatloaf

From foodnetwork.ca, a beef/pork meatloaf recipe for the slow cooker. We ended up not getting it into the slow cooker in time and baking it in the oven instead, but despite winging it this turned out delicious. The recipe here is for the baked version.

Ingredients

• Loaf:
• 450mL fresh breadcrumbs
• 128mL milk
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 5mL dried oregano
• 2 eggs
• 128mL chopped oil-packed sundried tomatoes
• 128mL chopped fresh parsley
• 128mL freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2.5mL salt
• 2.5mL pepper
• 500g ground beef
• 500g ground pork
• Topping:
• 256mL grated provolone
• 32mL chopped fresh parsley
• 32mL chopped oil-packed sundried tomatoes

Procedure

1. Mix the breadcrumbs and milk in a bowl; set aside for ten minutes.
2. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat; sautee the onions, garlic, and oregano until soft and golden brown, ~5 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, tomatoes, parsley, parmesan, salt, pepper, breadcrumb/milk mixture, and onion/garlic mixture. Add the veal and pork, mixing with a wooden spoon or, if necessary, your hands.
4. Pour into a large baking dish. Cover with tinfoil.
5. The baking is a lot of guesswork; I ended up doing something like:
   - 40 minutes, covered, at 350°F
   - 20 minutes, uncovered, at 375°F; drain off the fat
   - 20 minutes, uncovered, at 400°F; drain the fat again
   but it could probably be made faster than that. At any rate, you want it 160°F in the middle and nicely browned on top.
6. Top with the provolone, parsley, and tomatoes. Return to the oven until the provolone melts.
7. Eat.

Pork Vindaloo

Another recipe from 660 Curries, one of several pork vindaloo variations. This one has a long simmering stage, but relatively few ingredients, simple preparation, and no marinating phase, making it easier to put together on the fly than the beef vindaloo.

The recipe as written calls for boneless pork loin chops. We didn't have any and I made do with a pork picnic roast. It turned out fine, but if you can get leaner pork to make this with, definitely do.

Ingredients

• ½ C cider or malt vinegar
• 1 tbsp garlic paste
• 2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
• 2 tsp cumin seeds, ground
• 1½ tsp coarse salt
• 1 tsp cayenne
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 medium sized red onion (or two largish yellow onions), cut into 1cm cubes
• ¼ C raw cashews
• 1½ lb boneless lean pork, cut into 2cm cubes
• ½ C unsweetened coconut milk
• cilantro for garnishing

Procedure

1. Whisk together the vinegar, garlic paste, coriander, cumin, salt, cayenne, and turmeric.
2. Heat some canola oil in a pot or deep skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add the onion and cashews and cook, stirring, until the onion starts to brown and the cashews are toasted, 5-8 minutes.
4. Stir the vinegar to mix it up and then add it to the pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vinegar has mostly evaporated and the spices are clinging to the onion chunks.
5. Add the pork and continue stirring until it's seared all over, about a minute.
6. Deglaze with 128mL water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer, covered, until the pork is cooked through and fork-tender, about 30 minutes.
7. Increase heat to medium and add the coconut milk. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.