A Teaspoon of Turmeric

April is ‘Earth month’ (Earth Day being April 22nd) and this year Earth Day Canada has a campaign called Give It Up, challenging people to give up meat, toxics, electricity or material consumption. 

With over 60 varieties of lentils and beans and an array of spices that make your taste buds go ‘wow’, Indian cuisine is game for anyone cutting back meat from their diets.

Try Aloo Gobi ~ it's simple and delicious and a great way to enjoy cauliflower!

Take this simple and delicious Aloo Gobi dish for example. It’s hearty, satisfying and delicious. Served with rice, a lentil dish and raita I think dinner is served! So often I hear people cringe at the thought of cauliflower, but when you spice it up and add turmeric giving it a beautiful yellow colour, this simple vegetable transforms into a very popular dish!
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Aloo Gobi ~ Potato, Cauliflower and Peas Curry

Ingredients:
2-3 tbsp. oil
½ tsp. mustard seeds
½ tsp. cumin seeds
4-6 Arvinda’s Curry Leaves
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
½ medium cauliflower, cut into small pieces
1 cup peas
1 ½ tbsp. Arvinda’s Curry Masala
½ tsp. Arvinda’s Garam Masala
2 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped to garnish

Method: In a medium pot or pan, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add mustard and cumin seeds. Cover the pan and fry until they sizzle and mustard seeds pop. Add Arvinda’s Curry Leaves and gently fry for one minute.

Add potatoes, cauliflower and peas. Add Arvinda’s Curry Masala. Mix to coat vegetables with spices. Cover with lid and cook on low heat until potatoes are tender and cooked, about 20 minutes.

Remove in a serving dish and garnish with Arvinda’s Garam Masala and cilantro. Serve with basmati rice. Serves 4. Printable recipe is here.
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Check out our two Exquisite Indian Vegetarian courses (one in Toronto, one in Oakville) in the month of May. Also, for Be Kind To Animals Week join us for the Whole Foods Market Community Long Table Dinner (tickets $60 with 100% proceeds going to the Oakville/Milton Humane Society). Details are here.

If you’re taking the Earth Day ‘give it up’ challenge, what are you planning to give up? After tuning into Elizabeth May on Strombo last night, ‘giving it up’ is a very good idea. I’m going to give up all consumption. This will even mean adding another tea to my already inflated tea collection will have to wait until I’m finished my reserves. As you know I like culinary collections and I haven’t shown you my tea collection yet!

If anyone else is taking the challenge, please share your stories. By leaving a comment below you’ll be eligible to win a pair of passes to Toronto’s Green Living Show, April 15-17, Direct Energy Centre (valued at $24). Passes will be mailed directly to you.

A teaspoon of: Ingrid Michaelson. Listening to: Giving Up.