The Bride Makes A Vegetarian Curry: Spinach and Potato Curry

Here is another favorite vegetarian curry. You can use frozen spinach or a package of baby spinach to save time. This one has 2 Weight Watcher points, and is Core. And, best of all, it can be made with ingredients you have on had - if you keep spinach in your freezer.

Spinach With Golden Potatoes

1 lb spinach, or any other greens, chard, tatsoi, kale, whatever
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 TBSP fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped - optional
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne, optional
1/2 cup water

1) Clean and blanch the spinach in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, then drain in a strainer and leave to cool. When it is cool enough to handle, squeeze out any remaining liquid. If using baby spinach or frozen spinach this step can be omitted.

2) Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and fry the mustard seeds until they begin to splutter.

3) Add the sliced onion, crushed garlic, and chopped ginger and the red pepper, if you are using it. Fry for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft, stirring occasionally.

4) Stir in the potatoes, chilli powder, salt and water and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water if the water cooks down. You should have just a little bit on the bottom of the pan creating steam, but not drenching the potatoes.

5) Add the spinach to the pan. If you omitted step 1, the volume of the spinach may overflow the pan. Let it cook down for a minute or two and add the rest. Cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Add more water if necessary.

6) Serve with rice and plain yogurt.

Vivi does The Timewarp, and cooks from #22

We had a pork roast in the freezer, which I am trying to clear out. The Longe de Porc des Pruneaux of lesson 22 calls for a loin, and this was a boneless leg, but I figured once a porc always a porc.


It was delicious -- as good as the best fish we've had via Cordon Bleu. You stuff the (supposed-to-be butterflied) pork with fresh prunes. Brown the meat and roast over veggies, as you would roast a chicken. Use the drippings and a curious caramel made with vinegar instead of water to make a sauce, and then serve surrounded by more prunes that you have plumped up with, of all things, Ceylon tea.

I also made the Oeufs Mollets Florentine, sans oeufs, as a side dish. No picture because it wasn't all that beautiful, but it tasted very good. In typical Le Cordon Bleu fashion, the recipe called for boiled spinach which you squeeze dry, then sauté in heaps of butter, and then broil (with the hard-boiled eggs) with Mornay sauce in a buttered pan. Instead, I boiled the spinach, squeezed it, then threw it in a non-stick pan with just enough Mornay sauce to taste great. I think it would be better still if you just steamed the spinach, then served it with the Mornay sauce on the side. You could of course, leave out the Mornay sauce, but then it's just plain cooked spinach and I wouldn't be writing about it. The spinach was a great side dish with the pork.

We also had, for the record, Pommes à l'Anglaise, and an apple salad. And also for the record, my Mornay is too thick, more a dough than a sauce. Something I'll have to work on.

I'm going to make the fricasee tomorrow, using beef instead of veal. And the rice pudding on Wednesday, our next Dessert Night.

For comparison purposes, by the way, here is Boy-child's chosen menu.