slow cooker garbanzo bean and vegetable curry

How does the weekend always fly by so fast?  I was racking my brain and fridge for a good meatless Monday meal when I came across a new recipe for vegetarian curry from Nurture, a local grass roots organization that was founded to address issues including hunger, childhood obesity, wellness and an increasingly unhealthy food chain.

 I didn't have every ingredient on the list, but there were others I did have that I thought would work nicely.  With a little creativity and improvisation, I came up with something that even my recently picky little eater loved!

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup red lentils

3 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp chopped ginger

1 Tbsp curry powder

1 Tbsp crushed cumin and coriander mix

1 sweet potato

20 oz low sodium vegetable broth

3 medium carrots diced

8oz coconut milk*

1/2 small head of cauliflower

1.5 cups spinach

3/4 cup red quinoa

In literally 10 minutes, I opened the cans, peeled and chopped the vegetables and threw everything (except the spinach and quinoa) into the slow cooker and turned it on low (for 8 hours).  Sam and I walked out the door to music class and when we returned a couple hours later, the house was already smelling great!

30 minutes before we ate, I put some red quinoa in the rice cooker and turned it on and threw the spinach in the slow cooker.  I topped the curry with a little spicy chili sauce for some heat.  SO easy, so healthy & so delicious!

Recipe makes roughly five 2 cup servings

Nutrition Information per serving of curry with 1/4 cup quinoa:

316 Calories

14 g fat

41 g low glycemic carbohydrates

10 g fiber

10 g protein

And a good source of antioxidants, vitamins A, C, B as well as Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Zinc to name a few!

* According to Dr. Audrey Kunin, contributor to Dr. Oz's website, coconut milk is a great source of a compound called lauric acid which boosts immunity and fights infection. The only other major source is mother's milk. It also contains saturated fat, but in a different form than the kind that damages the cardiovascular system.  These medium chain fatty acids are thought to be good for the skin as well as a potent antioxidant!  I'm in...pour me more!