Great Squash Curry Recipe

This month might be tricky since there are fewer days, Kelly is starting a new job and we have company the whole last week. Convenience is the thing that kills us. If we had time to cook everyday it would be no problem. We're on day two today.

I made a killer butternut squash curry the other night. Recipe courtesy of Food & Wine Mag.

This Indian twist on the traditional Thanksgiving dish of roasted butternut squash is supereasy: After tossing the squash and chickpeas with curry and cayenne, Melissa roasts them, then drizzles the dish with a cooling cilantro-spiked yogurt sauce.

ingredients

• 2 large butternut squash (5 1/2 pounds)—peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch dice
• One 19-ounce can chickpeas— drained, rinsed and dried
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon mild curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
• 3/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 
  

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large bowl, toss the butternut squash with the chickpeas, olive oil, curry and cayenne and season with salt and pepper. Spread the squash cubes on a large rimmed baking sheet and roast for 1 hour, or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir the yogurt with the cilantro and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
3. Spoon the roasted butternut squash and chickpeas onto a platter and drizzle with 1/2 cup of the yogurt sauce. Serve the remaining yogurt sauce on the side.

NY Times says it better than I can

Every time I try to explain some of the reasons I am now eating less and better quality meat, I feel I don't do an adequate job of convincing people of the merit of the idea. The NY Times, god bless them, did a much better summary today.

So read "Rethinking the Meat Guzzler" here.

Pretty easy now

Except for that first week (actually we started off with 8 days) this has been pretty easy. I feel like I've met my goals of eating much less meat and consuming better quality when I do, save the Taqueria Cancun burritos.

We're on Day 11 of Half Vegetarianism.

Is she gonna make it?

We're nearing the end of our first consecutive 7 day vegetarian period and I think my wife is turning on me. What started off as some eye rolling and huffing has taken a slightly more aggravated edge recently. She's bristled with the slightly crazed eye of someone who's hungry. She wants meat!

All in all I think we've eaten pretty well so far. Most meals have been fairly well rounded with cheeses, fruits, nuts, pastas, eggs and of course veggies. Last night we had a vegetarian combo at this Eritrean restaurant called Assab. On Friday night we had a vegetarian deep dish pizza from Little Star that was fantastic as usual. I made a minestrone type soup earlier in the week that was pretty good.

After the holiday week of absolute gluttony on every level, this past week has been a welcome change in diet. I feel like I've legitimately lost a few pounds and eaten a lot more veggies than usual. One more day and then we'll feast on some pasta carbonara with some tasty pancetta.

whaaa whaaa stomp stomp

i'm throwing a bit of a temper tantrum with this no meat nonsense. let it be known, it's noah's idea and i am voluntarily joining him in this endeavor. i couldn't stand the thought of wimping out and feeling guilty with my pork chop as he munches on roasted veggies. so i'm in. i really don't like the idea of complicating our lives or being stuck in a situation when we're on a "veggie night" and someone invites us over for a good steak. also, will this be weird for our digestive system? i tried to use this on noah as an excuse not to do it. no dice. however, i do like a challenge, and i do feel cutting back on meat for ethical and health reasons is a good thing. so here we are.

our first meal tonight was good, so we're starting on the right foot. we had pasta alla norma (a jamie oliver recipe) that was quite tasty. there was eggplant, garlic, tomatoes and loads of basil...and if you're me, about a cup of grated parmesan cheese. YUMS. i love the way jamie writes recipes; "twizzle" your pasta, "swig" of vinegar, a "sneaky red pepper". oh to be british! since i can be british, i guess i'll have to settle for half a vegetarian.

A Year of Eating Differently

Three years ago my wife and I decided to go a year without eating fast food. Well almost a year. We gave ourselves six free passes to indulge. We had a few reasons that inspired us to do so including our own health and our concern over the way fast food impacts our environment and food culture among other things. It also was just a fun little challenge. No Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, etc. We haven't made it explicit in the years following but we eat almost no major corporation fast food anymore.

This year my attention has turned to meat. Now, I am a true meat lover. I by no means want to give up pancetta, aged porterhouse steaks, king salmon, or roasted chickens. However I am compelled by many reasons to eat much less meat. Not my taste buds mind you, they're craving it more than ever. Its the ethical, environmental, and to some degrees the health aspects of eating SO MUCH meat. The conditions under which most animals are raised for the industrial food complex is staggeringly cruel. As we become further and further separated from the source of our food, I don't think most people would have much of an appetite if they were able to follow the path of the pig all the way to the bacon on their plate. In addition, it is producing serious environmental repercussions. This is probably the most alarming in the case of fish. I made a list of some recent articles about this.

So for 2008 we are going to be "half-a-vegetarians." Fifteen days, and at least one seven consecutive day stretch, of each month will be meatless. We get a great box of vegetables each week from our CSA box at Terra Firma Farms and we live in veggie friendly San Francisco. Plus it's not like we're going without meat. Just trying to eat less. The meat we do eat will hopefully come mostly from sources that are sustainable, humane, responsibly produced. Eggs, milk, cheese, oysters, clams, mussels are fair game for veggie days. We're not going "half-a-vegan" after all!

We'll try to update this blog as to what we're eating, recipes and the general experience. We're kicking off this New Year with our first seven day stretch.