Quick Curried Potatoes with Roasted Broccoli

Hello lovelies. I mentioned on Facebook that my friend had gotten us both a Spice Advent Calendar and so I was looking back at recipes that might be good with certain spices. Lots of these spice combinations definitely have a curry sort of feel to them, so there will be lots of curry variations in the near future which is a-okay with me.

I remembered this recipe as one that Spiderman and I ate often. It involved boiled potatoes which were then cooked in a variety of things like spices, ginger and garlic, peanuts, sesame seeds and desiccated coconut, plus a tin of chickpeas to make it a meal. I realised I hadn’t eaten it since Spiderman died because I wasn’t sure if the potatoes would hold up with a reheating. I somehow had it in my head they would be mushy on day two, but they were not. A teency bit softer perhaps, but not turning into mash. And they were a doddle to reheat in the 5 minutes it took the broccoli to crisp up in the air fryer.

The beauty of doing this recipe with a friend is we both just used what we had—so I had little new potatoes which do hold their shape a bit better, but she had larger old crop potatoes which were a bit softer, but still good. I used chickpeas but she used butterbeans as that is what she had in her cupboard. She also realised that she was out of both coconut and sesame seeds at the last minute, but she reported that it was still delicious. So if you don’t have it, don’t sweat it.

If you want to read the original recipe go {HERE}

The spice that we used was basically about a Tablespoon of curry power which contained things like turmeric, ginger, cumin, coriander etc so feel free to do it like the original recipe or just use curry powder.

Quick Curried Potatoes with Roasted Broccoli

You need:

400 grams new potatoes, diced

Boil these in a pot of water until they can be pierced with a knife. It won’t take long. Meanwhile get your other ingredients in place.  Don’t roll your eyes at the thought of lots of little containers. It will make the next step go so much easier if you can just dump and go.

The other ingredients:

1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Container 1:

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp chili flakes if your curry powder is mild

1 TB finely chopped ginger-root

Container 2:

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

Container 3:

1 TB curry powder (or the spices from THIS recipe)

¼ cup roasted salted peanuts

1 TB sesame seeds

1 tsp sea salt (if your curry powder doesn’t contain it)

Lots of black pepper to taste

To do:

When the potatoes are nearly done heat 1 TB oil in a different large pan. Drain the potatoes and reserve them over to the side.

When the oil is hot, add container one and cook for a minute stirring constantly. Then add container 2 and cook the garlic for another minute stirring constantly. Then add the potatoes and chickpeas and container 3 and cook for another few minutes stirring constantly until everything is hot and the potatoes are coated with the spice mix. If it starts to stick, then add a tiny splash of water.

Serve with something green on the side. I used broccoli I roasted 5 minutes at 200C/400F in the air fryer and my friend used steamed frozen broccoli. Do what you have. A handful or frozen peas into the boiling potato water would also work.

Today and tomorrow

This was delicious both days and quick to make and quick to reheat. I will definitely eat it again and I cannot believe I waited nearly two years (because it has been nearly two years since I lost my Best Beloved) to eat it again.

Make-It-Up-As-You-Go-Along Cream Sauce Paste with Roasted Broccoli and optional falafel

Hello lovelies! Last week I shared a recipe that used half a tin of cannellini beans. Which then makes a person think, “Now what do I do with other half of the tin?” When you live alone there is quite a lot of coming up with something to do with other half of a tin of beans. Should I just eat the same thing that I did the night before? Well, I could but I had already frozen the rest of the olive tapenade. Plus, I was out of both kale and sun-dried tomatoes. I did want to eat pasta because that is what I had (all potatoes had been used up earlier in the week) so I had to put on my thinking cap.

I stopped by M&S on the way home and grabbed a broccoli (cheapest place to get broccoli without plastic packaging) and planned a recipe in my head on the walk home from the shop.

In the end I made a sort of lemony cream sauce which was delicious, but it made much more than I was expecting so my pasta was a bit on the saucy side. Next time I will make a full batch using a whole tin of beans and freeze half and eat the other half over 2 nights. I can just vary the herbs (Za’atar instead of mixed herbs) or change up the vegetables or do one night over pasta and one night over potatoes.

Make-It-Up-As-You-Go-Along Cream Sauce Paste with Roasted Broccoli and optional falafel

The veg I used were:

1 onion

Handful of chopped red pepper (I chop a pepper at the start of the week and keep it in a container in the fridge to just throw in however much I want into meals that week)

A bit of carrot (I was slicing a carrot to feed the Bronte Snails and I just cut some of it into matchsticks.)

Cook this in a large pan with either a splash of water or oil

Make your sauce then let it simmer with your veg:

Half a tin white beans

¾ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used soya milk)

1 TB tahini

Juice of one lemon

3 TB nutritional yeast flakes

Whiz all that in a blender until smooth then throw into your veg pot to simmer.

Do your pasta:

Measure out your pasta (I used 1 cup GF pasta) and put your water on to boil in a second pot. When the water starts to boil add your pasta and cook as the package recommends.

Optional sides:

I was lucky enough to be gifted with an air fryer, so I just threw in some broccoli misted with oil and sprinkled with garlic powder in at 200C/400F for five minutes, stopping after two minutes to toss in a few falafel that I had in the fridge that needed to be eaten. If you are not lucky enough to have this wonderous contraption, then start with this first. Preheat your oven to 200C/400F and roast broccoli for 20 minutes until lightly charred. While it is roasting, cook your veg, make your sauce and boil your pasta.

The air fryer is genius because it cooks so quickly and you don’t have to turn on the oven just for one person so it really helps with cooking for one. Save up for one because they are totally worth it.

When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the hot sauce. Top with your broccoli and falafel if you have some.  Like I said, I think this could have used double the amount of pasta in there and still felt saucy. So, if you are cooking for two this still would work. If you don’t have any broccoli or don’t want to turn on your oven throw a handful or 2 of frozen peas in the boiling pasta water so you get something green in you.