A Vegetarian Curry Your Tastebuds and Wallet Will Love

This vegetarian curry recipe features chickpeas and sweet potatoes. That means the entree delivers a lot of good-for-you flavor at a very affordable price.

Like other beans and legumes, chickpeas are a cost-effective protein source, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Also calledgarbanzo beans, chickpeas are high in folate and provide potassium and magnesium too.

The sweet potato is a Vitamin A and Vitamin C powerhouse. It provides plenty of Vitamin B6, plus Vitamin E, Vitamin B1 (thiamin) and Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid). That’s a lot of nutrition for about 75 cents per pound.

Because it includes chickpeas and sweet potatoes, this vegetarian curry dish is high in fiber. Enjoying fiber-rich food every day can help you avoid many health problems. Lower cholesterol, lower risk of coronary heart disease, reduced blood pressure, healthy weight maintenance, enhanced blood-sugar control, reduced risk of somecancers and better digestion are all associated with getting plenty of fiber, according to the American Society for Clinical Nutrition.

Lenox Hill Hospital chefs Jesiel Vasquez Estrada and Latasha Noten createdChickpea Curry over Sweet Potato Puree with Kiwi-Lime Raita with Shirley Fu, RD and Angela Pereira, dietetic intern, for the 2014 Ultimate Chef Challenge of the North Shore-LIJ Health System.

Serving Size: 1/2 cup chickpea curry, 1/2 cup sweet potato puree, 1 tsp raita
Serves four. 
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Per Serving: 419 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 97 mg of sodium

Ingredients, Chickpea Curry:
2 cups Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), canned
½ cup Yellow onion, diced
3 Tbsp Curry powder
2 Tbsp Red bell pepper
2 Tbsp Thyme
2 Tbsp Garlic powder
1 Tbsp Black pepper
1 Tbsp Olive oil
3 cloves Garlic
½ each Plum tomato
1 tsp Pernod

Ingredients, Sweet Potato Puree:
4 each Sweet potato, medium, peeled, cooked until soft
¼ cup Sour cream
3 oz Honey
2 Tbsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon

Ingredients, Kiwi-Lime Raita (yogurt):
2 each Kiwi, chopped
½ each Lime, zest and juice
½ cup Yogurt, plain

Garnish:
2 each Scallions, finely chopped

Directions, Chickpea Curry:
Sauté onions, garlic and red bell pepper in olive oil with curry powder, thyme, garlic powder and black pepper.
Add chickpeas, pernod and water and cook over medium heat for five to seven minutes.

Directions, Sweet Potato Puree:
Cook sweet potatoes until soft and drain water.
Mash sweet potatoes.
Add sour cream, honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix together.

Directions, Kiwi-Lime Raita (yogurt):
Combine yogurt, kiwi, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix well.

Assembly Instructions:
Place ½ cup of sweet potato puree onto the plate.
Layer chickpea curry on top of puree.
Top with 1 tsp of kiwi lime raita and sprinkle with scallions.

This post was written by Nancy Copperman, RD, corporate director of public health initiatives in the office of community and public health at the North Shore-LIJ Health System.

For more North Shore-LIJ Health Blog posts, go to http://blog.northshorelij.com/ 

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