Ah, pot roast — the quintessential comfort food, at least for those of us who grew up in America’s breadbasket.
I’ve been dabbling in veganism lately through my juicing experiment (and beyond), and I realized that I don’t really love pot roast in the way that I used to. But, instead, I’ve fallen deeply in love with this classic Indian dish: chana masala. It’s chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans), tomatoes, onions, and lots of spices. We serve it with peas and/or rice.
We’ve made this dish a few times before, but not quite in the way that we did it this last time. Over the holidays Mark and I went to an Indian restaurant near his parents’ house and realized the perfect chana masala (that we were served there … whoa, yum) is made with fresh, not canned, vegetables. This is contrary to what we’d been doing, which is to stew the chana all day long like it was a pot roast, thinking that it would make the beans more tender. It doesn’t. The secret is in the soaking of the dry beans.
Anyway, we use dry beans and follow Smitten Kitchen’s chana masala recipe, but last time replaced the can of tomatoes with fresh, and added three — yes, three — jalapeños for kicks. Smitten Kitchen’s recipe makes enough for me to eat this every day and night for a week. And I did. Happily.
This week I tried my hand at recreating my favorite salad, except I forgot one of the main ingredients — beets. Regardless, my rendition was pretty good. This is a massaged kale salad (olive oil) with pomegranate seeds, kamut berries, and nutritional yeast. Not too shabby. In fact, if I added the beets, I might like this salad better than the version I ordered at The Café a few weeks ago. I also finally figured out how to get all the seeds from a pomegranate without tearing my hair out.
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What’s your comfort food?
11 Responses to #WIAW: My new pot roast + my favorite salad at home.
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Hi there. I'm Calee (pronounced CAL-e). If that's too hard, just call me Cal. Also known as chimes or the chimes. I'm 28ish, a designer, a runner, a self-proclaimed fitness queen, a craftster, a foodie, a music snob — some might call me a hipster. Here's the unabridged version.
Mmmmm . . . chana masala is delicious! I’m a huge fan of all those bold spices. Otherwise, my comfort foods include my morning bowl of oatbran and sweet potatoes.
Michelle @ Eat Move Balance recently posted..82°F to 12°F
YUM! I’m going to have to try that chana masala but I’ll be honest, my version will NOT have 3 jalepenos!
Katie @ Talk Less, Say More recently posted..Changing It Up
thats so my comfort food too! indian food or curry. SPicy goodness! or Thai! we love spice, can you tell?
lindsay recently posted..Benefits of the BARRE
That Indian dish looks yummy! I’ve only had Indian food once before and can’t remember what I ate, but I do know I liked it! I’m gonna try this sometime!
Mollie @Sprinkles of Life recently posted..Why are our children still obese?
Ooh, that looks good! Speaking of Indian, I REALLY want to try the Indian place that’s kind of buried behind HyVee, I haven’t been there yet. The Beef is allergic to 90% of their food (I think it’s all cooked in peanut oil) so that’s not terribly promising. GIRLDATE?
Kelly L recently posted..This Is Where We Start.
happening. except india palace. let me know when you get back from vegas. i like the $7 lunch option there so you can try a lot of things.
We make stews all the time – always better with fresh veggies, for sure. I love that you can make such a big batch at a time. Plus, if you get bored eating it the original way, it’s great scrambled up with eggs, which we do to use up the last bits on the weekend a lot.
This also seems like a good time to endorse my rice cooker. Best. Purchase. Ever.
I’ll probably give this Chana Masala a try!
Alex @ Alex Tries it Out recently posted..Alex’s World Beer Tour: Tommyknocker TundraBeary Summer Ale
whoa. wait. rice cooker? what kind and how much? because we suck at cooking rice.
and stew … any particular kind of stew?
This will change your life – all you do is add rice + water + push on button. It works for any type of rice, though. If I add multiple ingredients I usually just give it a stir while it’s going.
But most importantly … IT COOKS ITSELF. Perfectly. It’s amazing.
This is the one that I have https://www.google.com/shopping/product/2359615308652812331?hl=en&q=rice%20cooker&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41524429,bs.1,d.aWM&biw=1920&bih=955&sa=X&ei=OZYBUcybNsO-qgGly4EI&ved=0CIYBEOUNMAA
But honesty any type should do. I think they range from $15-30. You should check Craiglist, though – lots of international students have them/sell them when they’re done.
Oh gosh … chicken, beef, lentil, black-eyed pea … we make everything. Kenyans live off stew so he taught me to make it and I’ve learned you can throw about anything in there and it turns out pretty good. Just use the right spices and test as you go.
Sorry for the longest comment ever. Haha.
Alex @ Alex Tries it Out recently posted..Alex’s World Beer Tour: Tommyknocker TundraBeary Summer Ale
Mmmmm this picture makes me want to go out for Indian cuisine soon! Also, the kale salad looks to die for!
Samantha (@Brownie8727) recently posted..Weekend Shenanigans
[...] can’t get enough. In fact, I recently declared it my new comfort food — replacing the tried-and-true pot roast. Yes. It’s that good. And it’s a lot [...]