Have you noticed that you need to support yourself more in winter? With more rest, exercises and good nourishing food?
Do you feel more sluggish and tired during winter months? Do you get regular colds, even flu after Christmas, during those short, colder days? If the answer is Yes to all three, you might need to top-up with some vitamins, nutrients, warming food that will support you and your immune system.
Every Tuesday early morning we get a fresh organic veg box from Riverford. Have I mentioned that before? Possibly. Always a joy and surprise what we get., what we get. And, yes, most weeks esp. in winter we will find the same seasonal root veg in the box. However, I always try to cook something different, a new dish from those ingredients.
Last week, another January dish to warm you up and to support your Immune system, in those darker, colder days. Cauliflower has a daily recommended amount of vitamin C and good source of folate – B9. Who knew, right? And, who wouldn’tΒ like chickpeas – a full of vitamin C., E, C. folate, magnesium, potassium and iron.
So here I share my Wednesday dish with a joyful warming winter Cauliflower Curry with Chickpeas, Sweetcorn, Spinach and Quinoa
Warming Winter Cauliflower Curry with Quinoa
You will need ( 4 people eating ) You can also freeze the rest of the curry if you are 2 people. Allow 50-60 mins from start to finish.
- 1 smaller white onion ( can be 1 small leak instead too
- 3 medium sized garlics
- 1 small red chilli ( you can of course cook this dish without chillies if your gut is sensitive to spicy food)
- a small amount of fresh ginger
- small tin of sweetcorn
- 1 small cauliflower
- 40g chickpeas ( overnight soaked )
- 1/2 cup of Quinoa ( you can also choose brown rice instead )
- 1 small organic carrot
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp fennel
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 6 leaves of curry lime leaves
- coconut oil for cooking
- 2x tins of coconut milk
- 150g of fresh spinach
- coriander or fresh parsley as a garnish
- Himalayn salt and fresh ground black pepper
Prepare cauliflower florets, wash them thoroughly, even the cauliflower leafs. This time, I did not include cauliflower green leafs, I saved it for the soup. Once all cleaned, prepare your spices, open the tin coconut milks, peeled the carrot, rinse the chickpeas few times esp. they have bee soaking over night.
STEP 1. One small spoon of coconut oilΒ in the pan ( I use Le Creuset casserole dish ), add cut onions, chillies, ginger, and cumin and fennel seeds. Fry it at least for 10mins till onions golden. Then, add raw cauliflower and fry it all for another 10mins. in medium heat. Then, add chickpeas, one carrot, turmeric and cumin powder, stir for a couple of minutes. I do occasionally use the lid to bring the flavours all in.
STEP 2. Add 2 tins of coconut milk, salt and fresh ground black pepper, rinse tins with a little bit with filtered water, add sweetcorns and 6 curry lime leaves. Put the lid on and cook for about 30mins on medium heat. Do try flavours at this point because you might want to add a bit of pitch of salt or black pepper or, even dry chillies if you want extra spice. Rinse the spinach in cold water and, add to the curry 5 mins before the end. Spinach does not need to be cooked a long time, less the better. Retain vitamins in spinach as many as possible by cooking less.
STEP 3. Allow 15mins for Quinoa to cook before curry is ready. So both are lovely and warm when serving. Once Quinoa is cooked, served you warming cauliflower curry first on the plate and, add spoon or a couple of fresh cooked Quinoa. Yes, you can use rice – white or brown instead, just Quinoa is better, much healthier version to incorporate with curry and, Quinoa is a complete protein of 9 essential amino acids which we need. It’s naturally gluten-free so if you are gluten intolerant, this is a perfect alternative to try. I use Quinoa into salads, soups. It’s my top go go protein.
I hope you will enjoy cooking this dish and, do let me know if you have any questions or, if you enjoy the warming curry.
We buy dry foods e.g chickpeas from these guys https://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/ and, fresh organic veggies from Riverford. Sometimes, we go to Bedford market to get fresh herbs, spinach, lemons, etc…
Just made Buckwheat pasta with grilled Tofu and, potatoes with paprika. I know sounds totally strange but, oh boy – that was delicious! And, achieved a sense of satiety. ( fullness in your stomach without feeling that you overeaten ) The recipe till next time…
Have a good rest of the day, speak and share soon…
Food love,
Julia xx