Kidney Bean and Sweet Potato Curry

I wish I had a better photo to show you guys but I really wanted to post this recipe and this photo was all I had (it also happens to be the only photo of a homemade dinner I've ever taken, and I have no idea what inspired me to take this photo with my phone when I did).

I had to start this blog with this recipe because it is something I make every single week. This is how I introduced my boyfriend, Matt, to curry and I think it would be safe to say that this is now his all-time favourite dish. He was a little sceptical about Indian food in general but now he loves it, even requesting Indian restaurants for his birthday dinner. I think it might be my favourite dinner recipe too. It takes fairly minimal prep time and then simmers largely unattended for around 20 minutes. And it is so yummy.

This recipe has evolved from a Chicken Tikka Masala recipe in Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook (Jamie would love to know that I think this was the cookbook that initially piqued my interest in cooking, and this is the recipe I've chosen to kick off my food-sharing blog). It's not a vegetarian cookbook but it is a really helpful cookbook for beginners. I like sharing this recipe with vegetarians who live with meat-eaters because you can cook it in one pot, leaving room on the stove for omnivores to make meat to eat with it. Matt will sometimes make a chicken breast to go along with it (chopped up and mixed in with his portion of curry) but he has eaten it happily on its own as well.

About the sweet potatoes. I don't know what they spray on those guys but they are absolutely massive if you don't buy the organic ones. If your sweet potato or squash is really large, you'll want to either add extra canned tomatoes or some water to ensure they're mostly covered in your pan. Green guides always recommend that squash and potatoes are two vegetables that are smart organic purchases because of their thin/edible skins and the high amounts of pesticides used in growing them. I peel sweet potatoes (which wouldn't remove any pesticides that made it through the skin) because I've heard the skin can be toxic but I don't actually peel butternut squash (I just cut the ends off, and remove the seeds in the middle). I also use canned beans unless I've got my act together over the weekend to cook some dried ones. You can always replace the two cans with about 2 cups of cooked beans.

Ingredients
1 - 19 oz can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 - 19oz can of mixed beans (or another of kidney beans), drained and rinsed
1 red pepper or onion (or a mix), chopped
1 medium-sized sweet potato (or a small butternut squash), peeled and diced into approximately 1-inch cubes
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced or 1 1/2 tsp powdered ginger plus 1 tsp lemon
1/2 cup tikka masala or mild curry paste (I absolutely love Patak's)
1 - 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, including juice
1 - 14 oz can of light coconut milk (if you use regular, add about half a can of extra water)
1 Tbsp peanut or vegetable oil, or butter

Rice enough to feed your family (any kind: Basmati rice is so decadent with this dish but I'm usually a minute-rice kind of girl). This is about 3 cups for Matt and I (including leftovers).

Optional (if you like heat): 1 fresh red chile, finely sliced or 1 tsp of chile flakes (or to taste)
Optional: a small handful of sliced almonds
Optional: a dollop of plain yogurt (preferably Greek)
Optional (but highly recommended): naan bread, such as PC Blue Menu Naan from Superstore

Directions
1. In a large frying pan (the biggest you have), place the oil and onions or red pepper. If you are using fresh ginger and/or a fresh red chile, add them now as well. Cook them for around 5-7 minutes or until soft.
2. Add in the tomatoes, coconut milk and curry paste. Stir it around to make sure the curry paste gets mixed in with the liquids.
3. Add in the beans, sweet potato or squash, powdered ginger and lemon (if you did not add fresh ginger) and chile flakes if you are using them. Mix around to make sure everything is coated with the sauce. If the sauce does not cover the beans and potato (this will depend on how large your potato was), fill one of the 14 oz cans with water and pour it in.
4. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down and let it simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Check it regularly to make sure it's not drying out too much and add water if necessary.
5. While it's simmering, prepare your rice as usual.
6. Once the potatoes are tender, take the lid off and let it simmer for another few minutes to let the sauce thicken up if you like a thicker curry like I do. If you're impatient (like I am!) or you don't want to let the sauce reduce too much in volume, dissolve about a tbsp of corn starch with a 1/2 cup of warm water and stir it in the curry to thicken it.
7. Spoon the rice into bowls and smother it in delicious curry. Sprinkle over almonds and a dollop of yogurt, if using. Use the naan to scoop it up and eat it, if you like. I get lots of greens in throughout the day but will sometimes make a spinach salad with a lemony dressing to go along with it.

Another Way
Sometimes I make this with a mixture of dried red lentils and yellow split peas (about 1/2-3/4 cup each). I'll add extra water (3-4 cups, or more if it starts to dry out) to cook the lentils and peas and make it a little more like soup. I also keep it boiling (rather than simmering) for the 20 minutes and I leave the lid off. I might replace the sweet potato with 2 carrots. I usually eat it with rice for dinner but by itself as soup for lunch the next day.

I hope that's clear! To be perfectly honest, my way of cooking it is more like "dump everything in the pan all at once and get Matt to check on it while he's cooking the rice" but when I'm taking my time, this is how I do it. Anyway, this is my first time writing out a recipe to share so please, please, please let me know if something doesn't make sense. And let me know if you try it, and how it turns out! And then invite me over so I can have some too.

It's March 31st - Earth Hour! What do you plan to do during your energy-free hour? Do you plan on incorporating a reduced-energy dinner into your Earth Hour? I think I might. I heard that Calgary tends to use more energy than usual during Earth Hour. I hope we can do better this year! Check out this article by Adria Vasil for energy-saving dinner tips.

About the Blog

Hello, and welcome to 10,000 Ways!

I decided to start this blog after several of my friends expressed interest in learning more about environmentally-friendly lifestyle choices and specifically vegetarian cooking. I started eating a plant-based diet and transitioned into becoming a vegetarian so slowly that I cannot pinpoint an exact date. I do know that the last time I ate meat was a single bite of turkey on Canadian Thanksgiving Day last October. I had reduced (and eventually eliminated) my meat consumption to reduce my impact on the environment and to improve my health and figured that a little bit of meat now and again wouldn't be the end of the world. It turns out that it's true what they say and eventually, your tastes adjust to what they're used to. I've never been a picky eater but I definitely struggled to get that piece of turkey down my throat without gagging! I handed my plate to my little brother, picked up a salad bowl and have never looked back.

I named this blog 10,000 Ways after the Thomas Edison quote "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." because I love experimenting even though it frequently takes me a lot of tries to get something right. I've never been one to follow a pattern exactly, whether it's in a recipe or in life. Most of the recipes I'll post will be from cookbooks, so you don't need to worry about getting too many duds from me!

10,000 Ways also suits my style of cooking. Because I am not a trained chef and I tend to be in a rush, I like to make meals that have the same basic steps (practice makes perfect!) but can be made with a variety of ingredients. To further reduce my impact on the environment, I try to eat seasonally and locally as much as possible and I will often change the ingredients of a recipe to suit what's available to me depending on the time of year. Of course, living in Canada does reduce the amount of fresh local produce available to me and I handle this by eating a lot of "winter foods" as well as some imported fruit and vegetables. I would never be able to stick enjoy sticking to a strict diet and I think it is better to make as many good choices as you can instead of trying too hard to be perfect and then giving up completely. I hope this blog will appeal to a wide audience because my primary goal is to help people learn a bit about the small steps that they can take to incorporate more vegetarian meals into their diet and reduce their impact on the environment. If I can do it, I'm sure you can too!

This post is getting pretty word-y so I'm going to leave you with a picture of my dog, Gus. Check back for a Kidney Bean and Sweet Potato Curry Recipe coming Saturday!