Going Lo-Co

Healthy, Delicious and Easy Vegetable Curry

Posted on January 26, 2011

In this frigid tundra we call Connecticut (will it EVER stop snowing this winter?), I needed a break from the salad thing.  Something hearty and filling and warm.  Something that I could make for dinner that would yield lunch leftovers.

Casting about for a new Lo-Co recipe to meet these demanding criteria, I turned to one of my favorite sources, Cooking Light.   There I found a crock-pot recipe with 53 reviews and 4 stars (my minimum requirement for trying any new Cooking Light recipe) that looked interesting.

Then I hesitated.

First of all, this vegetarian recipe has 19 ingredients – 20 if you include the garnish of lemon wedges.  But a solid read-through revealed all was OK because I recognized each of the 19 ingredients (as opposed to the sunchoke (?) potato soup recipe I also considered).   Plus, all this recipe required was chopping — and many of these ingredients I could buy pre-chopped, so really, it was just mixing.

Totally do-able.

But still I hesitated because I’ve tried crock-pot cooking many times, always with mediocre results.  While dealing with the drudgery of eating salads I was in no mood for chopping and mixing 19 ingredients if there was a chance the result could be boring.

My worries were unfounded: this Vegetable and Chickpea Curry recipe is hands-down the best thing I’ve ever made in a crock-pot.  It’s hearty, creamy and so delicious that my husband, who was enjoying a pizza dinner with our son (way too many vegetables for broccoli-only-boy to try), pushed aside his slice and gulped down a bowlful.

Then we both had it for lunch the next day, and my husband asked when I was making it again.  I’d call that a huge recipe success, made even more delightful since not only is this recipe low cholesterol – it has NO cholesterol.

If you’ve never read Cooking Light, have a look at this recipe and its reviews on their website: Vegetable and Chickpea Curry. I took the advice of reviewers and added MORE curry (I like Penzeys Spices Sweet Curry Powder) and substituted sweet potato for baking potato.

Other modifications I made: as I detest green peppers, I went with red instead.  And since I accidentally purchased a jalapeno instead of a serrano pepper, I just opened a can of diced green chili peppers instead.

Way easier.

Plus, there is no need to measure all 19 ingredients carefully, which I love.  For example, I just diced one red pepper and one sweet potato, and tossed in most of the can of diced green chilis – and ignored the precise measurements listed.

For the recipe with my modifications, download the PDF on my Lo-Co Recipes page or here: Vegetable and Chickpea Curry, Modified.  As it just started snowing again, I think I’ll make another batch this weekend.