Delicious April 2012 - Cauliflower, Lentil & Coconut Milk Curry

I haven't forgotten about this month's delicious magazine recipe. I have just had a bit of a motivation problem. In fact I lost my cooking mojo for a few weeks. I did make a couple of things but for the most part I really just couldn't be bothered. I did however start to get out a bit. Barbecues at friend's places, dinner out, swimming a lot. I had been getting meals from the local cafe for lunch so wasn't all that inclined to eat much for dinner. 

I was quite interested in making Bill Granger's Lentil Bolognaise from this issue. It is always nice to get some more vegetarian meals. However in the past 12 months I have managed to lose 20 kg and, as much as I love it, I am being very careful about the amount of pasta that I eat. I have issues with pasta. I just adore it. Unfortunately I just can't eat a small amount. When it comes to pasta I always have a massive bowl full and eat until I am absolutely stuffed. I also never make a salad or anything to go with it. Although at least this recipe is lentil based rather than meat. Plus I would probably add some vegetables to it, probably grated carrot, zucchini, perhaps corn & peas as well. I will make it one day. I might be able to serve it with some quinoa instead of the pasta. 

I came very, very close to making Phoebe Wood's Eggplant Escabeche. It looked and sounded so yummy. I guess the best way to describe it would be some kind of eggplant pickles or relish. The only thing that stopped me making it was the fact that it used 1.5 kg of eggplant and at the moment at my local greengrocer eggplants are $8.99/kg. Would make for a rather expensive recipe unfortunately. I will add it to my "must make" list for when eggplants drop in price. 

What I ended up making was Debbie Major's Cauliflower Lentil & Coconut Milk Curry. I had cauliflower in the fridge that was in desperate need of using up. I also had a few green beans that really needed to be used as well so I tossed them in as well. I was really happy with the result of this. I only had a good medium curry powder so just reduced the amount a touch. I would probably reduce the amount of coconut milk in it next time as there is a bit too much sauce for my liking. I would probably use 250 mls. I think that would be plenty. Although if I had the 400 ml can then I would be able to add more if necessary. I served it with some brown rice and a Chickpea, carrot & yoghurt salad. The salad was really easy to throw together, just some chickpeas, a grated carrot, sliced green onions, chopped mint & coriander, yoghurt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Was the perfect accompaniment to the curry.