Garbanzo Curry on Couscous

Let me make one thing perfectly clear - I have never been to India. Therefore, my knowledge of Indian-spiced foods (known as "curry" in most of the English-speaking world) is second- or third-hand. I love to eat at Indian restaurants, and I love to cook from my Indian cookbook. This is an all-time favorite recipe in our home - simple, tasty, and exotic. -Jake.

Update 6/12/14: Last night I was making this dish and I tried a little variation: instead of broth (in the curry) I used tomato juice, and I added about a tablespoon of minced fresh ginger with the garlic. Both changes made for a great improvement!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 4 cups cut fresh vegetables - bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, celery, broccoli, red onion . . .
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 cups vegetable broth, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (and like last time, I still like McCormick brand, although you could make your own)
• 1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), drained and rinsed.
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 3/4 cup couscous
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted

Directions

Over medium-low heat, heat oil in large saucepan. Add vegetables and sweat for 5-10 minutes, or until the veggies are slightly softened. Add garlic, cook 1 minute (until fragrant). Stir in 1 cup broth, curry powder and red pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover the simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in garbanzo beans, raisins, and salt. Cover and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Over medium high heat, bring 1 cup of broth to a boil in a sauce pan. Stir in couscous. Remove from hear and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro and almonds with fork to fluff the couscous. To serve, spoon couscous into bowls then top with garbanzo curry.

Jalapeño BBQ Sauce

Another BBQ sauce recipe? Yes, I've posted sauce recipes before, but I'm always trying new variations. Adding jalapeños changes it enough for the better that I had to share! -Jake

Ingredients
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 tomato sauce can cider vinegar (yes, measure the vinegar in the tomato sauce can)
1 small can diced jalapeños
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Put tomatoes, sauce, vinegar, jalapeños, and garlic in a blender and purée together*. Place in a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Once it starts bubbling, reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring frequently for 10-15 minutes, until the sauce is thickened.

* You can use an immersion blender and purée the ingredients directly in the saucepan if you would like.

Tropical Tuna Salad

Salad Ingredients

• 1 can pineapple tidbits (8 ounces), drained, juice reserved
• 2 cups cooked macaroni such as elbows or shells
• 1 can water chestnuts (8 ounces), drained and slices
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions (white and green parts)
• 1 can albacore tuna, drained
• 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved

Dressing Ingredients

• 1/4 cup pineapple juice from canned pineapple above
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (to taste)

Whisk all dressing ingredients together except oil and sugar. Slowly drizzle in the oil while constantly whisking continuously until fully blended. Add sugar if you like your dressing sweeter.

Toss together all salad ingredients except lettuce and tomatoes with the dressing. Let chill in fridge until ready to serve (up to several hours). To serve, spoon salad over chopped lettuce and top with tomatoes.

Alternative Serving: instead of using canned pineapple, buy a whole fresh pineapple. Cut in half and hollow out the halves to about 3/4 inch from the rind. Chop the pineapple from one of the hollowed-out halves and mix into the salad. The remaining half can be juiced for the dressing (either use a juicer, or puree the pineapple in a blender and strain out the juice). Serve the salad out of the scooped-out halves for a dramatic presentation.