Lentil, Spinach and Tomato Curry

I was inspired by the basmati rice I purchased at the market today.  On the back of the Fantastic World Foods rice box, the colors of India found in Saris and Scarves are described, the vibrant yellows of marigolds and the firey flavors of curries and chutneys.

The delicate flavor of basmati rice is perfect with the warm spice of curry and a recipe was born!

Lentil, Spinach and Tomato Curry

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large clove garlic diced

1 can lentils (drain only half of the liquid)

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cups spinach

½ tsp curry

¼ tsp tumeric

¼ tsp pepper

¼ tsp salt

Basmati Rice

In a saucepan, heat olive oil and add garlic.  Cook garlic until it begins to brown, add lentils (with reserved liquid) and tomatoes until it comes to a slow boil.  Add spinach and cover.  Cook for about 5 minutes until spinach steams down.  Add curry, tumeric, salt and pepper.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes.   Cook basmati rice according to package directions.  Serve curry with rice.

Serves 2 for dinner.

Girls Night In!

One of my most favorite things to do is host a Girls Night In!  Yes we live in a city where we have a huge number of restaurants to choose from, and don't get me wrong I love to go out to dinners but sometimes you just want to cozy up in your apartment with good friends and catch up.  What better way to do that than with yummy snacks and a good glass of wine :)


I did just that tonight, and on the menu Spinach and Tomato Crustless Quiche, Sweet Potato Corn Bread with Apple Butter and Blue Cheese Biscuits.

Spinach and Tomato Crustless Quiche

2 cups baby spinach leaves torn

1 cup grape tomatoes halved

1 small onion chopped

1 cup part skim shredded mozzarella

3 eggs

¼ cup canola oil

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp baking powder

Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Mix ingredients through oil in a large bowl.  Add dry ingredients.  Put mixture in a greased 10 inch pie plate.  Bake for 45-50 minutes until top begins to brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.  Cut into slices, plate and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Sweet Potato Corn Bread

3 egg whites

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup apple sauce

½ cup skim milk

1 cup canned cut sweet potatoes (drained)

¾ cup corn meal

¾ cup whole wheat flour

1  tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven 350 degrees

Beat egg whites in bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add brown sugar and blend well.  Add apple sauce, milk and sweet potatoes and mix until sweet potato pieces are broken down.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Pour batter into a loaf pan greased with nonfat cooking spray.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Cool bread to slice, serve warm with apple butter.

Cheese Biscuits

Pillsbury Biscuits (can be found in the refrigerator section of the grocery)

Blue Cheese (8 large cubes)

Place the 8 biscuits on a greased cookie sheet.  Flatten the biscuits place a cube of blue cheese in the center.  Bring up the sides of the biscuit to cover the cheese and seal edges.  Back for around 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

This is a super easy recipe but is a crowd pleaser!

** I used a Stilton cheese that had apples and pears in it which worked out beautifully.  You can use any type of blue cheese or any other cheese you prefer.

Chicken Parmigiana

This recipe is a special request from one of my best buds LF (like the shout out, lol).  However, I do think a lot of people will find it helpful because lord knows there are far too many people out there that eat sauce from a jar, ick!  Hopefully with the help of this recipe I can convert a few more sauce from a jar eaters to fresh homemade marinara sauce lovers!  It's super easy and always impresses the guests!  Give it a whirl... 

Marinara Sauce

1 28 oz can peeled plum tomatoes (I prefer Tuttorosso)

1 medium to larger clove garlic chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried basil

6-8 fresh basil leaves

Open can of tomatoes and pour into a bowl.  Using your hand squeeze tomatoes breaking down the whole tomatoes and leaving a chunky mixture.  Be careful, tomatoes will splatter!  Put tomatoes on side.  In a saucepan, heat oil over a medium heat, add garlic and cook until it starts to brown.  Pour tomatoes into pan slowly to prevent splattering.  Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried basil.  Mix all spices into the sauce.  Let sauce come to a slow boil for about 8-10 minutes.  Add fresh basil leaves and reduce heat to allow sauce to simmer for around 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

** If you prefer a smoother sauce, you can use stick blender or regular blender to break down the tomatoes.

** Do not cover the pot when making your sauce!   The cover will make your sauce watery.




Breaded Chicken Cutlets



4 boneless skinless thin sliced chicken cutlets
¾ cup seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tbsp grated cheese
1 large egg
1 tbsp water




Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine bread crumbs and grated cheese in a shallow bowl. In a separate shallow bowl beat egg and water. Dip one cutlet at a time in the egg mixture and then in the bread crumb mixture until well coated. Place cutlets on a shallow baking pan coated in non-stick cooking spray. Drizzle cutlets with olive oil and bake for around 30 minutes or until a light golden brown.

Chicken Parmigiana

Breaded Chicken Cutlets

Marinara Sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Grated Cheese

Spread some marinara sauce in the bottom of a baking dish and lay chicken cutlets on top.  Put sauce on top of the chicken cutlets and cover with shredded mozzarella cheese or small slices of fresh mozzarella.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for around 10 minutes until cheese melts and sauce begins to bubble.  If you made the sauce and chicken cutlets in advance back for around 30 minutes to warm through.

Use remaining marinara sauce for a side of pasta to compliment the chicken.

** How much cheese you use depends on personal preference, I generally cover with a thin layer of shredded mozzarella.

Julie & Julia? No, not me!

I decided to share my blog idea with a few friends and was a little surprised to hear oh you mean like Julie & Julia?  While I loved the book and then the movie, this blog is something very different!  For those of you who do not know, in Julie & Julia a young New Yoker takes on the challenge of cooking 524 recipes from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 in just 365 days.  What I am doing in my blog project is something completely different.  I not only cook the food but I create the recipes, they are mine 100% from scratch.  The only parallel you will find between my blog and what Julie Powell called the "Julie/Julia Project" is that we are both New Yorkers cooking in tiny New York City kitchens.  


It's pretty amazing what you can turn out of such tiny spaces!


Enjoy!

Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce and Spinach

Do you love Thai food as much as I do? And do you start to feel guilty about grabbing take-out a little too often?  That is exactly what inspired me to experiment with the flavors of Thai cooking to get my "take-out" in the comfort of my own home.  This recipe is my take on Pad Thai with a kick!

2 tbsp Olive Oil

8 basil leaves roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

1/2 tsp chili pepper sauce

1/3 cup of smooth peanut butter (room temperature or softened in microwave if refrigerated)

2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp white vinegar

1/3 cup warm water

1/2 pound whole wheat spaghetti ( I used 1/4 pound whole wheat and 1/4 spinach pasta)

2 cups baby spinach leaves

Set a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil.  Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium/low heat.  Add basil, garlic and chili pepper sauce.  Let flavors meld and garlic begin to brown.  Add next 4 ingredients to pan and mix together.  A whisk is very helpful here!  Keep sauce over a low flame stirring regularly.   As you are finishing the sauce your water should be coming to a rapid boil.  Throw in your pasta and cook according to package directions.  Just before the pasta is done throw in the spinach for a quick boil.  Drain pasta and spinach together, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.  Toss with peanut sauce and garnish with fresh basil leaves.  If you feel the noodles are too sticky you can add reserved pasta water a little at a time to get desired consistency.


Serves 2 as an entree and 4 as a side dish

** Basil Chopping Tip – Lay basil leaves on top of each other.  Roll the leaves together.  Cut lengthwise down the center and then chop down the length of the basil.

** If you have not cooked with Chili Sauce you can get it at most grocery stores in the ethnic food aisle near the Asian section.  Use it sparingly because it is SPICY!

Lentil Soup with Tomato

1 small onion chopped

1 carrot peeled and chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small potato peeled and cut to 1 inch pieces

½ cup green lentils

4 cups water

1 bay leaf

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

½ tsp garlic powder

1 can diced organic tomatoes

2 cups vegetable broth

In a heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add chopped onion and carrot, cook until onions begin to sweat and start to brown.  Add potato, lentils, 4 cups water and bay leaf.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer covered for 1 hour or until vegetables are tender.  Remove pot from heat and remove bay leaf.  Add diced tomatoes, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Remove about 1½ cups of soup and reserve on side.  Using a hand stick blender puree remaining soup in pan.  If you do not have a stick blender you can use a regular blender and return pureed soup to pan.  Return reserved soup to pan and thin with vegetable broth.  Heat through.  Serve with crunchy baguette and grated cheese.

Makes approximately 6 cups.

Welcome to Damato's Delights!

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me I should write a cookbook or share my recipes I would be very wealthy at 31!  So I decided I should seize the moment and bite the bullet...  I have been cooking for most of my life.  I grew up in a close knit Italian family where food was the center of everything!  I loved watching my mom, grandmothers and aunts cook.  I learned so much along the way from watching them and when I got to college I could not wait to break out on my own and let loose in the kitchen.  For the last 13 years, I have been working on my cooking chops, testing recipes, experimenting with different cuisine and most importantly creating things to share with friends and family and now all of you!


The kitchen is the heart of any house, it was certainly the heart of my family and it is definitely in my heart!