[Note: This post is from 2014.] Before I get to the recipe, I have a favor to ask of you. On Tuesday, I’ll be having surgery, which will probably be followed by a few weeks of rest and follow-up treatments. I’m positive that I will be fine, but I may not be posting or answering email as much in the coming weeks. I would appreciate your healing thoughts and energy and look forward to being up and cooking very soon.
With that out of the way, I have an excellent recipe for you, as well as a special treat for all of you Loki fans.
Over spring break, my husband and I took our high school junior on a 5-day whirlwind tour of 6 colleges in Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. We had excellent vegan food, especially in Chicago (Karyn’s on Green just rocks!) but one meal stands out as an unexpected treat. We were driving through Indianapolis after touring our last college, on our way back to Chicago to catch a 9pm flight home, and stopped at an all-vegetarian Indian restaurant called Spice Nation. We were just in time for the lunch buffet, where all the vegan dishes were helpfully labeled. I will be honest: We stuffed ourselves. Everything was so good, and it was a thrill to be able to eat at an Indian restaurant and not worry about butter or cream. I think all of us would agree that our favorite dish was the one that was put out last, a creamed spinach with chickpeas similar to Palak Paneer but without the cheese.
By the time the spinach dish was put out on the buffet, I was already so full that I could only have a small taste of it. Rich and creamy, it was hard to believe that it was vegan, but the staff assured us it truly was. I came home determined to replicate it at home. Of course, I had to be a little different, so I made my version with kale instead of spinach. But my family didn’t notice, and according to them, it’s as good as the original, which was definitely not low-fat.
I used a few raw cashews for creaminess, but other than that, this rich, flavorful curry contains no oil, not even to temper the spices. I also used soy milk, but you can make it completely soy-free by using rice, almond, hemp, or coconut milk. And, of course, it’s naturally gluten-free. It was an instant family favorite both for its flavor and for how quick it is to prepare. Even using a bunch of kale that had to be washed, stemmed, and chopped, I was able to make this dish in under a half hour. If you use pre-chopped kale or spinach, you can make it even more quickly.
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger root, minced, or 1 tsp. powdered ginger
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons garam masala (see below)
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 8 cups chopped kale, packed (1 10-ounce bunch, about 6 ounces after stems removed)
- 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup unsweetened soymilk or other non-dairy milk
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
- salt to taste
- Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown, 4-5 minutes, adding water by the tablespoon if needed to prevent sticking. Add the garlic, ginger, and cumin seeds and cook for 1 minute. Add the remaining spices and cook for another minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
- Reduce heat to medium. Stir in the kale and vegetable broth. Cover and cook until the kale is bright green and tender, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the kale is cooking, put the milk, cashews, nutritional yeast, and tomato paste in the blender and puree until smooth. When the kale is done, add it to the blender and blend until smooth.
- Transfer blended mixture back to the skillet and bring to a simmer. Check seasonings and add more to taste. Stir in chickpeas and continue simmering about 10 minutes. Add salt to taste and serve over basmati rice.
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds (from green cardamom pods)
1 small cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
Toast lightly in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant (be careful not to burn). Remove from heat, cool, and grind in a coffee grinder or spice mill. Use immediately or seal tightly and store in a dark place away from heat. Makes about 2 tablespoons.
Before our trip, I had to buy a new suitcase. It arrived from Amazon in a big box that Loki immediately decided was our gift to him. I taped his favorite toy to the top and threw some of his balls and stuffed animals inside, and whenever he starts running wild, knocking everything off the kitchen table or climbing up the drapes, I bring him over to his box. This is the result:
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{ 170 comments… read them below or add one }
Best wishes for an easy surgery and quick recovery, Susan! Just make sure they don’t take out the magical genius part that brings us all the amazing food. 😉
Thanks for all you do!!! Sending you lots of love and light for a speedy recovery!
I hope that you have speedy recovery!
Dear Susan,
You and your cute blogs, amazing recipes and fun enthusiasm towards vegan cooking has been such a huge force inmy life over the past two years. I am so very thankful for you and your site… I really hope your surgery and recovery go smoothly and you are back in the kitchen and enjoying your hubby, kitty and sweet girl as soon as possible. Nothing affects healing as much as a positive attitude and healthy mind and you seem to have both. Good luck my friend!
Lots of healing and positive vibes coming your way!
This is ETL friendly, correct? (still learning the in’s and out’s sorry).
Good luck …. I know all will be well and you are in our prayers!
Thanks – SS
If you use no-salt-added chickpeas and salt-free or homemade broth it is definitely ETL-friendly 🙂
I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers for a successful surgery and speedy recovery to the full! So enjoyed the little Loki video – what a fun and spunky little guy! Gotta’ love a cat for fun! I’m sure you’ll enjoy his antics as you recuperate. So look forward to your recipes, and I’m especially fond of the chickpea ones…they are my favorite. Be well!
Very best wishes for a fast and complete recovery.
I look forward to hearing that you’re all better.
This looks so good! We often get saag chana at our local Indian restaurant, but yours looks so much more inviting! Plus, I’d take kale over spinach any day of the week.
You’ve certainly gotten to see a lot of the country with your daughter’s college tour. Isn’t Chicago delightful for vegan fare? We visited Karyn’s On Green for my birthday this year and really enjoyed it.
Sending you lots of good vibes on your upcoming surgery!
Sending lots of positive thoughts your way. Also a gentle reminder, from experience, that recovery often follows the path of a yo yo whose handler is climbing up a long flight of stairs (that include a few “landings”). Hang in there and try to have as much patience with yourself as you would for others
I will pray for your safe recovery.
Tim
Prayers will be heaven-bound for you on Tuesday! I can hardly wait to try this recipe. Get well and come back to us with even more of your wonderful cuisine creativity.
Wishing you a speedy recovery. Thanks for all the good recipes, I can’t make them all.
Dear Susan,
Sending healing thoughts and good intention. Hoping for a speedy recovery!
Thank you for the delicious recipe (tonight’s dinner).
Be well,
SuiYee
Best wishes for a speedy recovery! Your video clip of a playful Loki was a treat to watch 🙂
Wishing you a complete and speedy recovery!!!!
Susan,
If you put the love and energy of your food passion into your recovery, you will do great! Very positive and healing vibes for you on tuesday and the weeks ahead. I envision a very healthy and even better than ever you. Much gentleness, compassion to you.
In kindness,
Sharon
I can’t wait to make this! Thanks for the recipe. Wishing you a speedy recovery!
Susan, I have made this curried creamy Kale after eating in our Indian Restaurant here in Ocala Florida, but I did not use cashew nuts or milk, but used cauliflower as my cream base and absolutely loved it and it was very nutritious.
Thinking of you and wishing you well before, during and after the surgery. Eat well when you come home. HA HA
Will send healing thoughts your way Susan! Thanks so much for all you do — you are a rock star in our house!
Susan,
You bring so much joy to my life through your writing and recipes (and, of course, now Loki videos as well!). I will be holding you close to my heart, and sending lots of healing energy your way. Take gentle care of yourself. XO
Be well,
Rebecca
Oh, and also, I’m totally making this once I get to the grocery again. Indian is an absolute favorite of mine. I already regularly make Chana Masala and Rajmah, and now I get to add Chana Saag thanks to you!
By the way, these are your soups that are pretty much in weekly rotation in my house: your Smoky/Stormy Bean (I combine the two recipes into one), North African Kale, Black Bean Pineapple, Curried Cauliflower with Sweet Potato, Tropical Black Bean and Collard, Green on Green, and your Curried Split Pea with Cauliflower/Kale. Oh, and I can eat your Superfoods Soup daily. You’re an ETL rockstar in my kitchen. XO
You’ll be in our thoughts and prayers. Hope all goes well and you have a speedy recovery. Even my 8 year old gave this recipe a thumbs up from the picture – we both can’t wait to try it!
Hi Susan,
I have been following your wonderful website for about 9 months now, since changing to a vegan diet as part of my own healing.
Remember that your body is designed to heal itself so give it the right conditions:
reduce stress( a big factor in ill-health I think), eat your fabulous vegan diet and be positive and gentle with yourself. I have also found meditation very useful.
Warm wishes for your surgery and recovery!
Looking forward to your new posts when you are ready.
Elise
Australia
Enjoyed the post. I will certainly have you in thoughts and prayers and will beam positive energy your way. You d so much for us!!!
Praying for a quick recovery for you! Thank you for what reads like another great recipe and for the Loki video. He’s really growing and is getting so handsome!
Best wishes for a quick recovery, Susan! This recipe looks delicious. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to trying it!
Sending lots of healing thoughts and prayers. This looks amazing…will be making lots of your recipes this Spring!
Sending you light to support your positive energy… and rushing to the kitchen to make this for dinner. I’ll sauté the onions and garlic and warm the chickpeas and the rest will be blended raw. Can’t wait!
Thanks for this wonderful recipe and the precious Loki video! Wishing you a successful surgery and a very quick and easy recovery <3
Ah, a speedy recovery to you, Susan! I’ll make sure to say a prayer for you each time I make one of your recipes (I would say visit your site, but I do that multiple times a day. God might get tired of hearing about my vegan chef extraordinaire needing healing.;) )
Anyway, be well. And this recipe looks delish as usual (I’ll make it sometime probably next week. I would make it sooner, but don’t tell anyone, I only have one can of chickpeas (not even any dried ones) in my pantry. Vegan foodie alarms are going off somewhere as I type this.)
Best to you. 🙂
Susan,
Wishing you a speedy and uneventful path to restored health. You will be enveloped in an outpouring of love and concern from your readers, as I can tell after following this blog for the last several years. You have given us so much joy and inspiration through your healthful recipes, excellent writing, and most recently sharing your adorable kitten with us. Sending positive, healing thoughts your way in the coming weeks. Look forward to hearing from you when you’re up and about!
Hope you recover very quickly! Thanks for the Loki video to brighten our day! We love kale & chickpeas, so we’re looking forward to trying the recipe.
Blessings for you. You will be fine. Ill be missing your recipes and stories. Big hug read you soon
Your kitty is adorable, your recipe looks amazing, and I’m sending lots of healing energy and thoughts your way. 🙂
Lots of prayers going up and blessings coming down. Take your time healing. We will miss you and Loki’s antics.
Sandi
Best of luck with the surgery!
I am recovering from a hysterectomy .. which was a total shock because I feel so great since I have changed to a plant based diet. I’m so glad that I have changed my health for the better. It’s been about two weeks and I feel pretty good. I’m totally amazed. I hope that you recover quickly! I know that your healthy eating will help you to heal quickly after your surgery. Thanks for all you do to help us all get healthy. I know that your posts have helped me to change my diet and get healthy.
This sounds delicious — can’t wait to try it! Susan, you’ll certainly be in my thoughts and prayers for a successful surgery and a healing and recovery that’s as pain-free and speedy as possible. Please take care of yourself — many blessings to you!
I love Indian food and will definitely be making this. Meanwhile, Susan, best of quick recovery wishes to you! I hope somebody will be cooking your favorite foods for you while you heal. Prayers and hugs!
How wonderful that you are looking after yourself along with taking care of your family, friends, etc. Rest, recover and re-energize…and our good thoughts and prayers are with you! Hugs!
Susan,
I will be praying for you.
Can’t wait to try this recipe, it looks and sounds delicious. Sending positive thoughts and well wishes for a quick and full recovery!
Thanks for another lovely recipe Susan.
Hope everything goes well with your surgery – I’ll be thinking of you. Enjoy your convalescence!
Love Angela X
My prayers are for you.Wish your surgery goes on well and you will recover fast.We want to see our Susan with good cheers soon.God bless you.
This look delicious, Susan, and I’m making it on Tuesday in your honor. I’m with you all the way!! (And so nice to read what excellent company I’m in when it comes to all these marvelous well wishes!) With light and lots of love for a speedy recovery,
xoxo
moonwatcher
Wishing you a speedy recovery Susan.
Clare and Tom (Cyprus)
Susan,
I will definitely hold you in my thoughts on the day of your surgery and in the succeeding weeks. Your recuperation will be a good opportunity for your husband and daughter to put on the cook’s hat, and to appreciate even more the gift of delicious food that you give them every day.
Dear Susan,
this looks very yummy. I’ll try it soon. i just wanted to write to let you know that I’ll be thinking of you on Tuesday. I hope you have a quick recovery, and as pain-free as possible.
thanks for always supplying us all with delicious, healthy and beautiful recipes. 🙂
This looks incredible. Love the idea of adding kale for a beautiful, healthy green sauce. Gorgeous photos too! Those bowls are great.
Wishing you a very speedy recovery!
Susan, thanks for the yummy recipe and the adorable video (Loki is growing fast!). Sending you healing thoughts and positive energy from New Mexico. We’ll miss you, hurry back!
Positive and healing energy coming your way!
Healing thoughts and prayers coming your way. Have a speedy recovery.
I appreciate that you share with us some glimpses of your life as well as your wonderful recipes, Susan. I’ll be thinking of you and wishing you the best outcome and recovery. Take good care, Kensington Kicker
I’ve been enjoying your blog for quite a while, and I share your recipes with lots of my friends. Now I’m sharing my good vibes with you. I’m wishing you a speedy, pain-free recovery. Hope you’re back to your strong, vibrant self fast!
First and foremost, I’ll be thinking of you tomorrow, sending you healing energy and my strongest wishes for a speedy, comfortable recovery! I’m glad your family’s food needs will be taken care of by friends – you know that if it were technically possible, every one of us would whip up a healthy vegan goodie and email it to you! (You’d have enough to eat for every meal for the next decade!) 🙂
Wow, “little” E is growing up so fast! Already looking at colleges, how is this possible – she was just 10 yesterday!! And Loki is growing up fast as well – loved the video! He’s as gorgeous and entertaining as he is lucky.
And speaking of gorgeous – this dish! Wow! Off I go to pin it and save it to my recipe box. This is one I know we’ll love! Almost as much as we love you. 🙂 Be well, dear Susan!
This recipe looks delicious and I have everything in the house – bought kale and spinach at the weekend, though have used most of the kale so think it will be spinach in this dish, which I can’t wait to make tomorrow.
Good luck for your op and wishing you a speedy recovery. Reading Brendan Brazier, it seems a vegan diet is actually conducive to speedier recovery than an animal diet, at least in sport, so let’s hope it applies to medical recovery too. All the best.
Susan, healing thoughts coming your way! I hope you get lots of rest and recover quickly.
Good luck from an italian in the UK, Susan! I shall send healing thoughts your way. I hope you also let your animals near you as I find my lot (three cats) have certainly that healing power! I love you cats! Little Loki is gorgeous!
Best of luck, virtual friend to all of us, and let others take care of you.
Liliana
Many good wishes, thoughts and prayers for your quick recovery! Thanks for all you to to help keep my family healthy. Love your recipes!
I hope you are better soon! I made this recipe today; admit I cheated and added some olive oil and didn’t use the broth. It was so yummy and delicious. Thank you.
I’ll be thinking about you and sending you good wishes! Good luck tomorrow!
I’ll be praying for you, Susan….and for your surgeon…….that God grant him the skills needed to take care of you….
We all need you!!!
This looks great – love the vegan-ifying of it, and I’m such a big fan of kale!
Best wishes for a trouble-free surgery and easy recovery! You will be missed.
Wishing you a very speedy recovery!
I made this recipe for lunch today and it is fabulous! I had some rainbow chard that needed to be eaten, so I used it instead of kale. So delicious!
Speedy recovery, Susan – all the light and healing energy to you! And thank you for a great recipe – can’t wait to make it and devour it 🙂
Best wishes for a speedy and full recovery.
Hope everything goes as planned and you have a quick recovery. Thanks agsin for another great recipe!
Smooth sailing on the surgery and a Healthy recovery to you! Thanks for the Loki fix 🙂
Made it tonight. Love the taste of Garam Masala any time of the day! Even though I pureed the garbona beans by mistake, it still tasted awesome!! Sat Nam, sister – here is to a successful surgery & speedy recovery. We’ll be waiting for your next post & health update.
Susan: wishing you a speedy recovery. Take care,
Barbara R
I’m hoping you have a quick recovery.
Thank you for creating and sharing so many delicious recipes. This is the most delicious recipe- the family raved about it at dinner.
Hi Susan! I’ll pray for your successful surgery and a speedy recovery! Hope to see you back on your blog soon!
I’m sending you well wishes and healing thoughts. You ‘re recipes are always a sure bet! My adventure into vegan cooking has been well received by my family and for that I thank you!!! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
I hope everything goes well today and healthy recovery- sorry if this is a double. I was not sure the first went through.
Susan, good luck with your surgery! With so many people wishing you well, you should come through with flying colors. We’ll miss your blog, but we’ll just be that much happier when you are back.
Wishing you the best, Susan, and sending healing, supportive prayers. You have much loving energy directed your way from your readers, feel that and breathe it in! Take care, and hope you are back in the comfort of your home very soon. xx -Dreena
Susan, I absolutely adore your blog. I have made so many of your recipes and they are almost always instant hits here. I even recommend them to non-vegan friends because they’re so good. Oh, and we love the pictures/vids/stories about Loki. 🙂
Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.
I live in Indianapolis and LOVE Spice Nation. It’s a little gem – so glad you found it while busy with school visits! Even more excited to make this recipe since eating there all the time is less socially acceptable 😉
Susan, hope you have a speedy recovery!!
Thanks for all your lovely recipes & inspiration.
Best wishes for your surgery and a quick recovery. Thank you for your blog, it has brought so many delicious and healthy recipes in my household!
Wishing you rapid healing and sending positive energy your way. Your sharing is so helpful to so many. Loki will be great company for you.
Dear Susan,
I hope you are already on the road to recovery and that you will be enjoying some delicious vegan food very soon.
I wish all of us readers could go to your house and cook you a meal, so you could feel some of the love you give us each week.
I absolutely love the sound of this! I always gravitate to the green spinachy curries, I imagine kale is just as delicious! I’m definitely bookmarking this one for later.
Best of luck with your recovery, Susan! You’re a gem for us vegans–a speedy and easy recovery to you! Also, high school junior?! I can’t believe E is looking at colleges. This recipe looks amazing, thanks for yet another positive addition to my kitchen!
I tried this recipe today and I loved it. It’s so delicious, yum yum
I’ll keep you in my thoughts. And send good healing vibes too…love your site, and that kitty video is AMAZING! What a great idea for a kitten, my almost 3 year old Tonk will always be a teenager because of a brain injury, so I’m going to see if he’ll enjoy a box like this!
This is an amazing vegan food blog. I just found you about a month ago and I’m so grateful for your site. I’ve been vegetarian for 2 years and I’m now going vegan. I’m slowly, ever so slowly, taking my family with me on a journey to eating healthy. Everything that I’ve made has been delicious and oh so flavorful. All good thoughts for your surgery. Surround yourself with peace and love. I look forward to your return.
Wow this recipe looks amazing! Hope the surgery went well.
Hi Susan
This recipe was simply amazing, haven’t enjoyed a meal so much in ages:)
Sending you healing blessings and hoping you are on the road to recovery.
Best wishes
Calre
Thank you for this recipe! I can’t wait to try it. I buy boxes of Palak Paneer every week and am so happy to know how to make it myself AND happy to not have the dairy.
Wishing you a successful surgery and swift recovery!
Allou
Wishing you a speedy recovery!!!
The kale and chickpeas was fantastic !! I think it serves 4!
Delicious recipe! It’s going into my Meatless Monday line-up.
Susan: I hope your cooking friends are treating you as well as your Creamy Curried Kale and Chickpeas recipe treated us tonight. I added the cashews and used soy milk with the nutritional yeast-I did the whole bit. i used spinach and added mushrooms to the “creamed mix” and added chopped red pepper and lots of broccoli at the end. It was absolutely delicious. Thanks so much for developing such an outstanding recipe.
I’m focused on your recipes to keep me focused on healing thoughts for you.
Sending love and lots of hugs for your speedy recovery. Jill
Sending positive thoughts your way, Susan!
Thanks, Paula, and everyone for your healing thoughts!
I apologize if this is a dumb question, but is the nutritional info for Creamy Curried Kale and Chickpeas based on the cream dish only, or does it include an estimate of the rice you suggest to serve it with?
34 carbs in the dish alone plus the carbs from the rice would put it over my allowance.
Thanks, great site!
The nutrition info is only for the dish itself, not the rice or any grain you serve it over.
Hello Susan,
I couldn’t find the ingredient curry in the above recipe. Am I missing something?
Thank you for a great blog!!
Martin Miller
Hi Martin, curry isn’t an ingredient; it’s a style of cooking or a set of flavors inspired by Southern or Southeast Asia. There is a curry leaf that can be used for flavor, but it’s not necessary for a curry to contain it (most don’t). And there is curry powder, which is a combination of spices, but most curries made from scratch contain the individual spices rather than a pre-made mix.
Hi Susan, Thanks so much for the quick reply! I am a newbie at eating Vegan. To stay on course, I have started cooking, trying out interesting
and varied vegan recipes and that’s how I came to your delicious sounding recipe. I appreciate your explanation, I recalled another time running into this kind of situation, but that time I assumed it got left out so I added a 1/2 tablespoon. 🙂 I was curious this time cause I get bulk curry and I noticed the label said “curry blend”. Well, this sure is fun learning all these wrinkles and help I get from fellow vegans. We seem to be a pretty nice bunch. Thank you again Susan, what a wonderful blog you have!
Martin
Thanks a lot for the recipe. I used some leaves that are just called seasonal greens in the shop but they look like collards. I also wanted to make a sauce without any tomato so I added a couple of medjool dates and a tablespoon of lime juice as substitute for the sweet and sour tastes of tomato. Additionally I used walnuts instead of cashews, a green chilli instead of flakes and some coriander leaves instead of the spice. I am eating it as I write and it is delicious.
We had this for dinner tonight and it was delicious!!!! I posted it on Facebook and many friends will be making this as well. Thanks!!
Just discovered your site recently and thanks to it, I’ve gathered energy and good thoughts as well as inspiration. So I have plenty of healing thoughts and good energy, which I’m sending your way, with my thanks and hopes that all went well with your surgery and you’re having a speedy and good recovery. 🙂
Let me add my energy and good thoughts to you Susan for a complete
recovery.
Thank you for your blog.
Fat free vegan is what Dr.Neal Barnard, M.D. recommends. You help make the journey healthy and tasty!
Best,
Martin
Hope and wish for your quick recovery. Susan I just joined your blog and found many amazing original recipe with a partly unique taste. You are a food genius, hope you will share many more in near future.
Which schools did your daughter enjoy? My Daughter is just finishing up her last semester before she takes a gap year(she is actually taking two years). My other children have finished and they actually have jobs.
Hope the surgery went well
Hi, Susan. I hope your recovery and followup treatments go quickly and smoothly. I just had to thank you for this recipe. I made it last night and it was fantastic. My husband and daughter (reluctant kale eaters, both) ate full servings–major victory. Thanks and good wishes–
Just made it! I used coconut milk (because I had half a can left from doing garlic soup the other night) and added some green peas I had in my CSA this week. AWESOME!!!
Speedy recovery!
Just a note to wish you the best in recovering from surgery. Be well.
Murali
Can’t wait to give this a go!
Sending you lots of healthy vibes!! ♡
This looks incredible to me, as I looove chickpeas. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Hope you’re well!
Love frome Germany,
Elisa
This looks oh, so, delicious, Susan! Can’t wait to try it!
Just made this, really excellent! I think my garam masala mix is a bit ‘sweet’ and strong so next time I will cut it down, or make your version. Thank you! I hope you are recovering well!
What a funny cat and she is so playful 🙂 I hope everything is well with you.
Thanks for this yummmi recipe!
Hi Susan,
A few days ago I made this recipe for the first time as I wanted to demonstrate to my friend how delicious vegan dishes can be. We went to our small city’s square where they have picnic tables. She enjoyed it very much…and so did I!
Susan, I am a newbie. Eating vegan what I eat 1. is satisfying 2.delicious and 3. I am losing weight which I was not able to do when eating exclusively a typical American diet. In retrospect, I was addicted to cows milk and cheese and often ate too much protien.
I am very happy and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the wonderful recipes that you post.
Warmest wishes,
Martin Miller
This was delicious! I added spinach to the kale. Thanks so much.
I’m just catching up with blogs. I wanted to add my wishes that you are healing as quickly as possible.
I made a version of this tonight based on what I had. I used white beans in place of the chickpeas, and because I didn’t have enough kale, I added a couple of cups of sliced mushrooms. It was tasty, but I suspect it would be better with chickpeas. I’ll try this again when I’m better prepared.
Thanks for the recipe!
This was one of the first things I made in my new Vitamix and wow, this is so flavorful. It really blew me (and my husband) away. Thank you !!
I haven’t checked this blog in quite awhile; so I am in special awe of how the stars align. I live just down the street from Spice Nation! There are many fantastic ethnic restaurants in this stretch of 38th St. in Indianapolis. Welcome to our great city!
You’ll bounce back before you know it, Have a great day1
Hope you’re recovering well Susan 🙂
I have never left a comment on a site like this, but I felt compelled to after trying this recipe! I was amazed at how easy it was to make, how few ingredients I needed, and how flavorful it was! This is definitely going to become a staple in my house, and I’ll be looking at this site for more delicious recipes!
Susan, this was absolutely fabulous!
I approached this with somewhat mediocre expectations (even with you and my trust in your culinary tastes and skills), as palak paneer was one of my favorite standard Indian dishes when I was an omnivore, and I thought there’d be no way to replicate the taste and overall flavor without the cheese. And between becoming vegan and moving to a rural area with no Indian restaurants in sight, it’s been a very long while since I’ve had any.
Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong–and any more pleased! As I as eating, I thought to myself, “God really loves me! He really does! This dish proves it.” LOL
It was quick and relatively easy, too.
I admit to tempering the cumin seeds with a teaspoon of coconut oil (which truly wasn’t necessary), but everything else was kept as is. Served over brown basmati, this was just what my taste buds needed, but didn’t know they needed.
Thank you so very much!
Great recipe, thank you.
This looks great, but I’m allergic to cashews! Any recommendations for a stand-in nut?
Any nut or seed that will lend creaminess will do. Off the top of my head, I would suggest sunflower seeds, pecans, sesame seeds, or pinenuts. And, of course, you could just leave out the cashews or substitute a little silken tofu.
Loved the video of your cat playing
Made this for dinner tonight. Awesome way to eat greens.
I noticed many of your recipes call for raw nuts. Is that because there is added oil in roasted nuts that you are trying to avoid? Most of the nuts I buy are roasted and would like to use them in your recipes unless there is a reason that I am not thinking of that would make them unsuitable.
Thanks!
Amanda, there are many reasons why raw nuts are more nutritious than roasted, including that some roasted nuts contain added oil and salt. Roasting destroys many of nuts’ delicate nutrients. But besides the health benefits, raw nuts, especially cashews, blend up to be much more creamy than roasted ones. I hope you will have the chance to try this recipe with the raw nuts.
Thus dish looks just wonderful. I never thought of making my own garem masala, but I bet making it fresh really kicks up the flavor of this dish. Thanks for the great recipe idea and I hope you are feeling much better!
Susan,
I just made the Creamy Curried Kale and thought it was fantastic. Thanks so much for the recipe. My husband and I have just started following the Dr Fuhrman “eat to live” plan and your recipes have been so helpful. We really appreciate what a great resource your site is for good recipes. Thank you.
Yummy! Tomorrow’s dinner sorted…can’t wait to try this – such a lovely combo! Thank you
I made this last night with collards and it was amazing! We served it over quinoa. Even my omni partner who usually claims things don’t feel like “meals” without bread or meat ate it right up and loved it! Thanks.
I made this for dinner last night and it was totally awesome – we LOVED it. I love that you used kale instead of spinach. It was as good as any dish I’ve ever had in an Indian restaurant! Thanks for all you do Susan!
I made this for lunch and I loved how simple and easy it was to make. This is much better than palak paneer. Thanks for the great recipe, Susan!
We made this for dinner last night and it is absolutely amazing! The spice level is perfect. It came together in about 25 minutes, too, just like you promised 🙂 Perfect for a quick weeknight meal.
This is so incredibly tasty! I am absolutely addicted to this dish — so much so that I ate the leftovers for breakfast! The best part is that it is so quick and easy to make – 30 mins from start to finish! I added frozen green peas and fresh asparagus along with the chick peas for a nice, fresh burst of veggies.
This is our favorite dinner of 2014 thus far! We paired it with a bellpepper/pineapple/red onion/red pepper flakes curry and brown rice – man, was it good!
Delicious! My blender struggled with the kale (it is only a poor little Oster but has held up well over the years)… A vitamix is a few years down the road for me, but even though it didn’t blend as smoothly as I originally wanted, I enjoyed that it had more texture than say a chana saag.
I made this tonight for Sunday dinner and it is excellent! I was out of Garam Masala, but found a “make your own” recipe on the web and it worked. The best thing about this recipe is that it is a great way to use the kale and other greens we get in our CSA each week and the entire family loves it! I cannot wait for lunch time tomorrow when I get to have leftovers. Thanks for posting such a versatile and healthy recipe!
If you, like me, are a plebe without a Vitamix, do not use kale in this recipe. It’s not creamy at all – very disappointing. If I make this again, I will stick to spinach, which blends well in a regular blender.
Actually I just made it – without a vitamix – and mine looks like the one on the photo. I used pre-soaked raw cashews and a stick blender and made sure I blended for a few minutes.
Delicious!
I just made this today. Turned out very well — I didn’t want to deal with grinding cashews, so I used one russet baking potato and the liquid from home-cooked chickpeas to make the ‘creaminess’; came out just fine. Thanks for the inspiration and the recipe! (BTW, I live in Indiana, and the Spice Nation buffet is a favorite spot for overindulging.)
This is such a lovely dish, I did find it slightly bitter as I was cooking it, so i roasted some carrots which gave it a lovely sweet balance when eating.
I also didn’t have much kale, so did half kale half and baby spinach.
This is wonderful. Your recipes are all good but this one just hit on all levels of yum without any guilt.
My husband and I both thought this dish was so tasty. I left out the cumin as I find that cumin makes a dish seem “bitter” to me, but we both found it tasted wonderful without the cumin.
A couple of members of our family are lactose intolerant, one has a gluten intolerance as well and another is a vegetarian so many of the recipes from your blog are ideal for our family get togethers. Also, we all love Indian vegetarian dishes, so recipes like this are very much appreciated!
Thank you for developing and sharing your recipes on your blog!
I’ve been making this pretty obsessively lately, mostly because it’s amazing, and partly because I’m inherently lazy and it’s so much easier to dump pre-bagged greens in without having to mess with chopping and all that. Today, I left out the Indian spices and added basil paste and garlic to the blender (also used cannelini beans and added a pound of cooked mushrooms). SO good!
It was very brave of you to share your story with all your site’s readers. I join the many, many fans who are directing positive energy to you for your healing and complete recovery. I recently made your Lentil soup recipe which was absolutely delicious. Thanks for bringing interesting recipes to us all.
I made this with scallions instead of onion and a combination of regular kale and dinosaur kale. I started with tempering of jeera and shahjeera. I totally loved it and I’m sure my family too.
Adorable, I loved when the cat dragged the green prey into the box.
Made this for dinner today using a 6 oz bunch of kale, stems and all! Now I don’t have to figure out how to use up the stems in some other recipe. (: I also substituted soft tofu for the cashews. It came out great! Thank you!
Wow! I just made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! My husband loved it and he is picky. Thank you so much for this great site- I am on it many times a week. We are doing the Dr. Furhman 6 week program and you make it so easy because so many of your recipes fit the program but are so delicious it doesn’t feel like we are missing out on anything.
I’ve been looking at this recipe for a while and today is an extremely cold day — I certainly don’t want to go outside. So, before I start to make this I hope you can answer a question for me. Are the cans of chickpeas supposed to be drained before adding them. I’ve searched the webpage and can’t find an answer to this so I’m supposing that all the liquid gets stirred in too. Thank you! I’m looking forward to dinner tonight!
Yes! Sorry, I normally write “drained and rinsed” after any canned beans, but somehow I left that off here. Hope you find it warming on this cold day.
I want to make this but have questions. Its called Curried but I saw no curry in the ingredient and you list tomatoe paste in the instructions, but thats not in the ingredient list. Thanks
Hi Mike. Curry is a type of dish, not an ingredient. According to Wikipedia, “The common feature is the incorporation of complex combinations of spices or herbs, usually including fresh or dried hot chillies. Some limit the use of the term curry to dishes prepared in a sauce, but curries may be ‘wet’ or ‘dry’. A curry dish may be spiced with leaves from the curry tree, but many curries do not have this ingredient.”
I’m not sure what you mean about the tomato paste. It’s in both the instructions and ingredient list.
Greetings, this dish sounds amazing while being so simple to make (my favorite kinds of recipes), however, I am not a fan of tomatoe paste, if this a key ingredient in the dish? If so, is there an alternative, or do you know if it would be just as good with fresh tomatoes?
here’s to a good recovery.
Hi Susan! I’m so glad I found this recipe! I had some kale leftover and wanted to use it up. This was a tasty solution to the problem and it’s going to be hitting our table regularly. Thank you!
Thank you for this recipe. Just tried it tonight and it was just great. Yum!
So glad I stumbled over this recipe. Made it this morning and it is soooo good! I often sprout chickpeas, this is a great recipe to add my sprouted chickpeas to. Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe.
Made this tonight, and it was seriously amazing. I likely will up the Ginger and heat next time; but the flavor was perfect. My first real try at Indian food. Thanks Susan!
Great recipe. I have to try it one day. I really love pictures you add to your post. They are of really good quality, just as the food. But I will have to cook it first myself to find that out 🙂
Thank you for sharing your loki videos… I am still smiling.