Poutine! Krishna Das and Patrick

I asked a simple question on Facebook today. What could I possibly make for lunch besides sandwiches? My daughter Jen replied with "Poutine". Which totally got me wanting, craving, desiring the wonderful, delicious, so bad for you that you can't even believe it, poutine. For those of you Americans who don't know what it is, Wikipedia describes this Canadian dish this way:  Poutine is a dish of French fries, fresh cheese curds, and sometimes additional ingredients, covered with brown gravy or sauce. Yes, like I said, slop on a plate. But oh the salty, fatty, potatoey (that's a word right?) goodness. She should not have mentioned that to me before noon. I called her and gave her a motherly reprimand.

Below is a visual if you still cannot picture it.

Ahem. Moving on. All I could think about was Poutine. We have a local greasy spoon that serves the best poutine this side of Outlook. It took all that was within me not to dial the number and order myself a HUGE portion which I could never finish for the mere price of $4.50 CAD. That is $4.55 for you Americans. 

Then I thought of the wonderful yoga practice I did yesterday. The kind of practice that makes your buns sore when you walk up the stairs the next day. The kind of practice that makes you listen to Krishna Das on repeat because your husband is not home and you can. Yeah, that is what I am talking about. I decided not to call the greasy spoon and looked in the pantry for what I could cook up before my twitching fingers could dial the number.

It did not take me long to put this quick, easy curry together and you can too, in any moment of weakness. Under 15 minutes and it was on  my plate. True story.


Chickpea and Spinach Curry

1 19oz can chickpeas rinsed and drained.

4 cups of organic spinach (or whatever is leftover in your fridge) washed and drained.

1 19oz can whole tomatoes, chopped.

 1 onion, diced, 1 1/2 T grated ginger, 1 garlic clove, minced, 1 T extra virgin olive oil, 2 T curry powder, 1 1/2 T sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

Leftover basmati rice if you have some. Not necessary.

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, sugar, curry,  garlic, ginger. Saute until onion is translucent. Add chickpeas and tomatoes. Simmer a few minutes. stir in spinach , salt and pepper. Add rice if using. Cook until heated through. And there you have it.

Isn't that a much healthier option than poutine? Yes, I thought you would agree. Each time I make this dish for myself I think of my brother in law Patrick. It is what I would make for him if he stopped in for lunch. The funny thing is, I don't even know if he likes curry but I always think of him each time I open a can of chick peas.

Best thing about this dish is tomorrow, when the mood for poutine raises its greasy head, I will have leftovers to pop into the toaster oven. I'll be sure to put some Krishna Das on the CD player as I eat. ;)