Chicken Tikka Masala & Coconut Kale

This week I attempted one of my favorite genres: Indian. I found myself at my parents house and my brother got dubbed with cooking dinner. My wonderful brother is still in the learning phase of cooking and so I quickly (and eagerly, I might add) stepped up to plate to help him cook something a) amazing b) new c) something I wanted to eat. (I might have had my own ambition here…) and so I pulled one of my favorite cookbooks, America's Test Kitchen, and found their Chicken Tikka Masala recipe. Normally, I'm entirely about the freeform cooking, but for the sake of coaching my brother and being genuinely curious about their recipe, I followed it exactly.

It was amazing. And it was even better the next day, much to my glee! Of course, that alone wasn't enough for me- I needed a veg! For my parents, I had to steam some plain zucchini (they are not spice-crazed like myself) but for me, I decided to recall a recipe I had once found on the internet (wilted spinach with mustard seed, cumin seed, and toasted coconut) and made this variant:

sauteed chopped kale

ground cumin

ground mustard

red chili flakes

olive oil (or butter)

sliced almonds

toasted coconut flakes

This blend is so good… I actually want to try and make this into a whole proper salad add further ingredients. I definitely want to try more combinations with spices that are outside of my comfort zone… mainly anything not italian, mexican, or thai. Indian spices are a good place to start due to their complexity.

And for a bonus round: about Wednesday or so, I was hit on my a semi-celebrity chef. It was sort of a crash and burn awkward, so I'll spare all the details. In short, I'm not going out with him. Mainly because his food sucks. I've eaten at his restaurant several times and I've been sorely let down each time. So after that, I had no choice but to go home and cook something that I knew was better than his version. I present to you…

The "My Turkey Burger Is Better Than Your Turkey Burger!"

Turkey patty - cook in olive oil until done, sprinkle with parmesan cheese at end

Rosemary/parmesan roll- heat in pan with olive oil until crusty brown awesome

Pesto sauce - use as light spread for roll

Wilted spinach, drizzled in truffle oil

Avocado

So there, Mr. Chef.

****

Chicken Tikka Masala recipe: http://www.copykatchat.com/tried-true/49392.htm

EDIT: Orignal spinach dish recipe here! http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/spiced-coconut-spinach-recipe.html