Healthy Recipes 360

Shown below is a photo of most of the ingredients. Starting from the back row and going left to right: turmeric, chopped garlic, whole cumin seeds, garam masala, 3 large tomatoes, onion, dried mung beans, ginger root, coriander (cilantro) and Anaheim chili peppers.

Shown below is the rest of the ingredients – fresh spinach.

Start by rinsing the mung beans. Rinse them about 5 or 6 times, straining through a mesh colander after each rinsing.

Add 5 cups of water to the rinsed mung beans plus 1/4 tsp. of turmeric and 1 tsp. of salt. We are using sea salt. Place the pot over a high flame then cover and bring to a boil. After it comes to a boil, turn the flame way way down and cook slowly for 1 1/2 hours. Cook it over a low flame to get a creamy texture. Cover it with a lid while cooking.

While the dal is cooking, chop up all the vegetables. Start with the Anaheim chili peppers.

Cut the end off the pepper, then cut the pepper in half.

Remove all the seeds and ribs.

Slice the pepper halves lengthwise into about 4 or 5 slices each.

Now chop into medium sized chunks. Repeat for all three peppers.

Gather up al the chopped peppers into a bowl and set aside for now.

Slice the onion into thin slices. Start by quartering the onion. If you are using two small onions instead of one large onion, you can cut them into halves instead of quarters.

Peel the skin off and slice each part into thin slices.

When the onions are all sliced up, set them aside.

Chop the fresh coriander (cilantro).

Peel the fresh ginger root and slice up into chunks.

Either use a chopper or chop the ginger root with a chef’s knife. Chop it up real fine – nearly minced.

I like to prepare all the chopped ingredients in bowls so they are ready to add when the time comes. Shown below left to right, back to front: ginger root, chopped garlic, coriander and whole cumin seeds. Lately I’ve been doing this a little differently. I place all the chopped peppers in a bowl, then add the coriander, ginger and garlic over the top of the peppers because they are all added to the skillet at the same time.

Finally, chop all the tomatoes and set them aside in a bowl.

Check the dal and stir it with a wooden spoon once in awhile. Keep it covered while cooking.

In a large skilet, add about 1/2 cup of water and bring it to a boil over a high flame. Then add the whole cumin seeds.

Cook the cumin seeds over a high flame for about 1 to 2 minutes. The seeds will start turning dark and the cooking water will become yellowish in color.

Add the sliced onions, then cook over a medium flame for about 10-12 minutes. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon.

After the onions have cooked for about 10-12 minutes, add the chili peppers, coriander, chopped garlic and ginger root. Cook for 2 minutes and stir with a wooden spoon.

After the chili peppers, coriander, chopped garlic and ginger root have cooked for 2 minutes, add the chopped tomatoes.

Stir all the vegetables together with a wooden spoon.

Cover the skillet and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After the dal has cooked for 1 1/2 hours, add the fresh spinach. I like to cut the spinach into smaller pieces so they aren’t too stringy in the finished soup.

Stir the fresh spinach into the dal until it is completely covered.

Cover the pot with a lid and continue cooking over a very low flame for another 15 minutes.

When the vegetables have finished cooking 20 minutes after the tomatoes have been added, they are ready to be added to the dal.

Add the cooked vegetables to the dal.

Stir the cooked vegetables into the dal and add 1/2 tsp. of garam masala. At this time I like to add about another 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. of salt.

Simmer for about 15 minutes to marry up all the flavors, then serve hot. Serve with brown rice and some naan bread. Naan bread is really good but it can make you hungry so go easy on it.

Shown below is a photo of all the ingredients: starting in back and going left to right – chicken broth, fat free plain yogurt, cliantro (coriander), curry powder, turkey meat, onion, garlic clove, ginger root and Anaheim chili pepper. Start by cooking the brown rice. I like to use a rice cooker.

Next, cut up all the vegetables. Start by slicing the onion. This is a large onion so I am going to cut into quarters first.

Slice the onion into thin slices. This recipe works better with sliced onions rather than chopped onions. It makes for a better texture.

Now all the onions are sliced up…

Next, prepare the chili pepper by removing all the seeds and ribs.

Start by cutting off the end, then by slicing the pepper down the middle.

Scrape out all the seeds and ribs by hand.

Slice each of the pepper halves into long thin slices.

Arrange the slices into a bunch, then chop the pepper into small chunks.

Now the pepper is all chopped up …

Measure out the curry powder into a dish.

Measure out a cup of chicken broth …

Chop up the fresh coriander (cilantro). Fresh coriander goes bad real fast even when kept in the refrigerator, so only buy as much as you need.

Measure out the chopped coriander into a dish and set aside for now …

… Same thing for the yogurt … measure it out into a dish and set it aside for now …

Next, chop up the garlic clove and fresh ginger root. Here I am using a chopper, but you can do it just as easily with a good chef’s knife. Peel the ginger first.

Now the garlic and ginger is all chopped up ….

Cut the turkey meat into small bit sized chunks.

Now the meat is all chopped up and ready to go …

Now that the vegetables and meat have all been sliced and chopped and all the ingredients have been set aside in dishes, it’s time to cook. Start by adding the onions, chili pepper, garlic and ginger to a skillet. Add about 1/2 cup of water to the skillet. This is the fat-free way to cook it.

Cook over a medium flame stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 10 minutes or so until the onions are soft and translucent.

Next, add the turkey meat …

… followed immediately by the curry powder. Keep cooking over a medium flame.

Stir everything together until the curry is evenly distributed and the meat is slighty seared. This should take about 2 minutes. Don’t overcook or burn the turkey.

Then add the chicken broth …

Cook for another 5 minutes or so. Again, don’t overcook the turkey. Cook until the sauce is of a smooth consistency.

Now turn off the flame and add the yogurt and coriander.

Stir everything together until all is thoroughly mixed. Now it is ready to serve.

Place some cooked brown rice into a bowl.

Cover with a serving of the cooked ginger turkey curry.

Fat Free Pinto Beans

Start with a medium sized cooking pot with lid. I like to cook 3 1/2 cups of dried beans at a time. Measure out the beans and spread them out on a clean, flat surface, then sort through them and discard any stones or shriveled beans.

Cover the beans with 1 to 2 inches of water (see photo below … it is hard to see the water line in the photo). Place the lid on the pot and set the beans in the refrigerator and allow to soak overnight.

The next day, most or all of the water will have been soaked up by the beans. If necessary, add more water just prior to cooking. Add enough water to just cover the beans.

Place the pot over a flame and bring water to a boil, then reduce to a very low flame. Allow to cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Shown below is a photo taken just after water begins to boil and just before reducing the flame. Stir occasionally, checking the water level periodically and adding more water as necessary to just cover the beans during cooking. It has been my experience that water needs to be added around the first 20 minutes after boiling.

During the last 30 to 45 minutes, there may be a tendency for the beans to stick to the pan, so be careful around this time. Stir the beans and make sure the flame is very low and that the water level covers the beans.

The beans should be fully cooked in no more than 3 hours. Once you have cooked the pinto beans, you can make them into refried beans, or you can allow to cool and place in a covered container in the refrigerator. You can also freeze some of them if you like, then place in the refrigerator after thawing.