Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Ginger-Soy Carrots

Recipe Source: Viestad, Andreas.  Where Flavor was Born.  Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2007 p. 95

I hate carrots.  I have always hated carrots.  My mother used to try all sorts of tricks to get me to eat carrots.  "They'll make your hair curly," she'd say.  (My hair was quite curly enough, thank you.)  "They'll help you see at night."  (I see just fine at night.  Always did.)  "You'll grow up big and strong."  (Didn't need the carrots for that.)  The fact is that carrots are just too sweet for my tastes and I have never, ever liked them.  I would sometimes tolerate them if my grandmother made chicken soup, but I would pick them out just as often .  The thing is, though, my CSA gave me an absolute ton of carrots toward the end of the season and I promised myself I would use everything they gave me.  My daughter also adores carrots.

Fortunately, I have an easy solution: Sunday open houses, when people get fed.  Most folks kind of like carrots.  I decided I would use up all my excess carrots in one dish: this one.  Naturally I had to make a few changes.  I increased the quantities to accommodate the excess of carrots.  I omitted the honey because the carrots were quite sweet enough.  I used chives for the garnish - I could have used cilantro but felt compelled to use chives, which is good since we got a guest that day who is allergic to cilantro.  I used blood orange juice for the tangerine juice called for in the original, because I was able to find tangerine juice easily.  Finally, I used garlic paste when I used the ginger paste instead of using finely chopped fresh garlic for the garnish.  Raw garlic is an acquired taste and I didn't feel confident that my guests would be all that enthusiastic.

This dish was a real hit.  My daughter loved it, as expected, but even a lot of the guys who aren't really into vegetables enjoyed it.

Ginger-Soy Carrots (serves 8; approx. $1.20/ea.)

6 tablespoons butter

3 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" thick sticks

4 large shallots, finely chopped

1 1/2 ounces ginger paste

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 ounce garlic paste

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 cup blood orange juice

3 tablespoons soy sauce (I used low-sodium soy sauce because it's what I had, but you can use whatever.)

Chopped fresh chives

Equipment:

• Large saute pan

1. Melt the butter in the saute pan.
2. Add the carrots and shallots.  Saute about 2 minutes.
3. Add the gingers, garlic paste and coriander.  Reduce heat and cook another 2 minutes.  Stir frequently to prevent burning.
4. Add the juice and soy sauce.  Cook until the sauce is reduced to a thick syruppy glaze.
5. Transfer to a serving bowl.  Sprinkle with the chives and serve.

Recipe: Tofu and Kale Piri Piri

Recipe Source: Robertson, Robin. Vegan Fire & Spice. Vegan Heritage Press, Woodstock, 2008 p. 135

I've said it before, but I feel like I need to say it again. I am not a vegetarian. I am not a vegan. I am at minimal risk of becoming a vegetarian or vegan. That said, I don't think that there is anything wrong with limiting the meat we consume. Most of my ancestors, like many other families, came from places where the consumption of meat was a rare luxury. If they could have afforded to eat meat on a regular basis, I suspect that most of them would have stayed where they were. But then folks came here and meat was plentiful and affordable. When people were still working mostly manual-labor jobs – factory work and farm work – and life spans were much shorter that wasn't such a problem. Now, of course, things are different. Most of us here in the States live comparatively sedentary lifestyles. We work behind desks. Our towns are no longer designed for pedestrians – even the strip malls are built without sidewalks now, so that we have to drive between stores whether we want to or not. People are living long enough that the consequences of eating three meals a day actually come home to roost. In light of all that, maybe cutting back on meat consumption isn't the worst thing in the world.

That doesn't mean that eating needs to be an ordeal. Even vegetarian food should taste good. I will admit that I'm not a big fan of tofu and I would have preferred this dish if it were made with paneer, but since I ate seconds of this it couldn't have been all that bad. I made a few changes to the original recipe. I used the mini-prep to make the marinade and I left the tofu in the marinade overnight. I changed the proportions of some of the spices and I added some ground coriander and turmeric to the recipe. I added a couple of habaneros because the cayenne pepper didn't seem spicy enough to me. I used lime juice instead of lemon juice just for fun, and I reversed the proportions of juice and olive oil in order to reduce the fat in the recipe. I needed to reduce the fat because I was going to sauté the dish instead of baking it. Why would I make such a change? Because I wanted to add some red-leaf kale. Kale is a super-healthy vegetable and I wanted to make this more of a one-dish meal than it otherwise would have been. The kale not only added fiber and other important nutrients but it filled out the dish, made it more substantial. Even my husband, who cringed when I told him we were eating tofu, liked it.

Tofu and Kale Piri Piri (serves 4; approx. $1.24/serving)

1 package extra-firm tofu, drained, cubed

8 garlic cloves, peeled

2 habaneros, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 bunch red-leaf kale, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon hot pepper sesame oil

Equipment:

• Zip-top plastic bag
• Mini-prep miniature food processor.
• Wok

1. Combine the garlic, habaneros, spices, salt, lime juice and olive oil in the mini-prep and process to a thin paste.
2. Put the tofu cubes in the plastic bag. Pour the marinade over the tofu and let sit at least 2 hours or as long as 24 hours.
3. When you're ready to cook, heat the sesame oil in the sauté pan.
4. Add the tofu in its marinade. Sauté over high heat until the tofu takes on a little color.
5. Clear some space in the center of the wok. Add the kale and sauté until the kale is just wilted. (You can cook it for longer if you like your greens to be truly limp, or blanch the greens. Just be careful of the smoke point of your oil.)
6. Serve with brown rice.

Recipe: Kenyan Beef Stir-Fry

Recipe Source: Samuelsson, Marcus. The Soul of a New Cuisine. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2006 p. 289

I know I've mentioned this before, but I've been pretty under the weather for a couple of weeks. Actually the whole house was sick. When I was planning my menu I really wanted things that were simple and easy and quick to prepare, because I knew I wasn't going to have the energy to do anything particularly elaborate or complicated. This stir-fry really fit the bill. It also appealed to me because it contained kale, one of my favorite dark green leafy things.

I made a few changes, mostly from necessity. The biggest change is beef for lamb. I wanted to use lamb here. I really prefer lamb. However, the only lamb the store I went to had was unsuitable for stir-fry or any other quick-cooking method. I increased both spices and the garlic just as a matter of personal preference and because garlic chases away illness. I added some chili peppers to the mix as well, because when my husband and I are feeling poorly we like spicy food. I also doubled the tomatoes. Tomatoes are a super-healthy food, especially cooked tomatoes, and you can't really have too many of them.

I could have been happier with the meat – it seemed very dry to me, and as I mentioned before I really prefer lamb anyway. However, the dish was quite tasty otherwise, and we certainly didn't have any leftovers. S

Kenyan Beef Stir-Fry (serves 4; approx. cost per serving not available)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 red onion, sliced

1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

8 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons minced ginger

3 hot chili peppers, sliced

1 bunch kale, chopped

1 ½ pounds boneless steak, sliced in approx. ½" slices

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, with juices

Equipment:

• Wok

1. Heat the oil in the wok.
2. Add the onion, spices, garlic, ginger and chili peppers. Sauté until softened.
3. Add the kale. Sauté until just wilted. Evacuate to a plate.
4. Add the beef to the pan and sauté until just browned.
5. Add the tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes.
6. Return the kale mixture to the pan and heat through.
7. Serve.

Recipe: Ground Beef Stew (Minchet Abish)

Recipe Source: Mesfin, D. J. Exotic Ethiopian Cooking. Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises of Falls Church VA, Falls Church, 2004 p. 125.

I had originally intended to serve this dish on a Sunday. It was just going to be us, and since we've been trying to limit our red meat to once per week (not always successfully, it must be said) I thought it would be a nice start to the week. Plans changed. We decided that we would invite some friends to decorate our Christmas tree with us. Those friends really can't handle spice. The husband is particularly sensitive. I decided that we would do just fine to eat this on Saturday night instead – it was just filling enough that we didn't feel tempted to load up on hors d'oeuvres at the party we attended that night, and since I made it well ahead of time it was no trouble at all.

I made a few changes to this. You may be surprised to note that using lamb for beef, which is what I would normally do, is not among them. I had to go to the Large Chain Supermarket That Shall Not Be Named near my house that week, and their lamb selection was dismal and did not include anything that would be suitable for this dish. I did, however, halve the recipe as there were only two of us eating it. I reduced the proportion of butter, though, figuring that using that much butter would cause my husband no end of discomfort. I used chili powder (X-Tra Hot, of course) for the berbere, since berbere is hard to come by these days and the cost of making it at home according to the recipe in this book was prohibitive. I also added cumin and coriander to the mix, just because they seemed to work well here. The result was a delicious and satisfying dish that makes a wonderful make-ahead meal.

Minchet Abish (serves 4; approx. $3.04/serving)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground beef

2 red onions, finely chopped

½ cup chili powder

1 cup water

½ stick butter

Kosher salt to taste

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon chickpea flour

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground coriander

½ cup red wine

¼ teaspoon ground fenugreek

Equipment:

• Large sauté pan

1. Heat the oil in the pan.
2. Add the onions, salt and fenugreek. Sauté until browned.
3. Add the meat. Sauté until relatively dry.
4. Add the butter. Cook until the butter is melted.
5. Add the ginger and wine. Cook 2 minutes.
6. Add the chickpea flour and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
7. Add the remaining spices. Simmer until the meat is soft and tender.
8. Serve. I garnished with a little chopped fresh cilantro out of habit, but you don't need to.

Recipe: Roast Beef with Plum Sauce

Recipe Source: Samuelsson, Marcus. The Soul of a New Cuisine. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2006 p. 273.

We've been trying to cut back on the amount of red meat we consume. It's not that we don't like it, it's just that we're trying to eat healthier and red meat every day isn't healthy by any stretch of the imagination. As a general rule I prefer lamb to beef, but every once in a while I kind of crave roast beef. Roast beef is what my mother used to make when we had company or on other special occasions. We only ever saw it on Saturday, because it was a time-consuming affair and therefore not suitable for our weekdays. I can still remember how the smell of the roasting beef filled the house on those days and the eager anticipation with which I sat upstairs, mouth watering. Roast beef made you feel like royalty.

Of course, this is not that recipe. If it were, I would not have cited Mr. Samuelsson as the original source. Mr. Samuelsson is not my mother. Maybe someday I will make a roast beef like my mom's, and my daughter will sit upstairs and anxiously await the arrival of the guests so she too can partake. (She did get bits from this roast beef, and I can safely say that my daughter is turning out to be quite the carnivore.) This is a South African recipe, or at least South African in inspiration. I made a few changes to the original, of course. We roasted the beef in the Big Green Egg, which necessitated several changes in procedure. I substituted a small amount of olive oil for the large amount of peanut oil in the original. We mostly use olive oil in this family and eschew peanut oil in general because of a food allergy. I also didn't feel we needed the extra fat. I changed the proportions of some of the spices in the original. I replaced the honey in the original with a bay leaf; I hesitated before doing this because I really love honey, but at the end of the day my grandmother would come back from the grave and pinch me black and blue if she caught me putting sugar in anything with tomatoes. I ultimately decided that honey counted as sugar. I reduced the amount of water used to fit in my pan. I also increased the amount of garlic, but you knew that already.

The result was kind of mixed. I loved the rub. I loved the sauce. The meat was not as inspiring as it could have been. I didn't think it was all that bad, but my husband was very frustrated with both the texture (he found it tough) and the fact that he did not let the meat rest long enough before carving. I will therefore say that you should not rush the carving and let the meat rest for the full time listed, if not more. Our daughter took great delight in the meat, as I mentioned.

Roast Beef with Plum Sauce (serves 4; approx. $5.15/serving)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons chili powder (I like X-Tra Hot, you choose your favorite. Substitute paprika if you truly cannot handle heat.)

1 2-lb beef roast

½ stick butter

2 onions, chopped

1 bay leaf

8 garlic cloves, crushed

1 2" piece of ginger, peeled and minced

2 tomatoes, chopped

6 plums, pitted and chopped

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate

¾ cups water

Equipment:

• Big Green Egg or other grill. You can also cook this in your oven.
• Saucepan
• Small bowl

1. Combine the olive oil, cumin, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, kosher salt and 2 tablespoons chili powder in the small bowl. Rub the rub all over the roast and let stand at room temperature 1 hour or in the refrigerator 3 hours.
2. Prepare your Big Green Egg for indirect cooking and pre-heat it to 400 ̊.
3. Roast the roast in the Big Green Egg until the internal temperature reaches your desired degree of doneness. Samuelsson gives a temperature of 125 ̊for medium-rare.
4. Meanwhile, melt the butter in the saucepan over low heat.
5. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaf and ginger. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent.
6. Add the tomatoes, plums, coriander, remaining chili powder, remaining powdered ginger, tamarind concentrate and water. Increase heat to medium and bring to a simmer.
7. Reduce heat again and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 30 minutes.
8. When the meat is done, bring it indoors, tent with foil and let rest 20 minutes. Do not become impatient and carve after, say, five minutes. You will be sad.
9. Serve with the sauce passed alongside.

Recipe: Tanzanian Fish Curry

Recipe Source: Doeser, Linda. Fish & Shellfish. Anness Publishing, London, 2003 p. 240.

I made this as part of my effort to make things ahead of time during the week, and I do have to say that this makes an ideal make-ahead dish. Both my husband and I really enjoyed it and we both regretted that there was not more left to eat! I have no idea how "authentic" this dish is, since I know just about nothing about the cuisine of Tanzania. (If you have a recommendation for a good cookbook in a language I can at least kind of understand, please share.) However, it was a delicious dish, and that's what matters in this house.

I made a few changes. The Spouse firmly declines to eat whole fish, so I used haddock fillets instead of the whole snapper called for in the recipe. I substituted almond butter for the peanut butter because I am allergic to peanuts. I increased the number of chilies because I had them. I also used Lemony Vegetable Broth in place of the fish stock.

Tanzanian Fish Curry (serves 3; approx. cost per serving not available)

1 pound haddock fillets

1 lemon

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 finely chopped onion

8 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tablespoons curry powder

1 14-oz can chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon smooth almond butter

½ green bell pepper, chopped

1 ounce minced fresh ginger

3 Serrano chilies, finely chopped

2 ½ cups Lemony Vegetable Broth

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Shallow bowl

1. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper.
2. Rub with fresh-squeezed lemon juice (from the lemon). Set aside for 2 hours minimum.
3. Heat the oil in the saucepan.
4. Add the garlic and onion. Season with salt and cook until soft.
5. Add the curry powder, reduce heat and cook another 5 minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes, almond butter, bell pepper, ginger, chilies and broth. Mix well and simmer 10 minutes.
7. Add the fish to the sauce. Simmer until the fish is cooked.
8. To serve, plate the fish and spoon the sauce over the fish.

Recipe: Pomegranate Rice

Recipe Source: Samuelsson, Marcus. The Soul of a New Cuisine. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2006 p. 99

I know that this is not the first rice and pomegranate recipe I've posted. What can I say? I love pomegranates, and it's pomegranate time again. I made this as a side dish for a Sunday dinner. It generally impressed. I know I loved it. The texture of the rice was a little strange to some people, but when I told them that it was supposed to be a little crunchy they were okay with it.

I made a few changes. I substituted walnuts for the pistachios because I had them on hand. Pistachios are expensive! I added the spices and substituted lemony vegetable broth for the chicken stock. When the choice was given between broken jasmine rice and long-grain white rice, I chose the former because I got a large sack of broken jasmine rice for free once and wanted to use some of it. You can just use basmati rice: it will be just fine.

Pomegranate Rice (serves 6; approx. $1.33/serving)

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups broken jasmine rice

½ cup olive oil

½ tablespoon cumin

½ teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 shallots, chopped

3 tablespoons minced ginger

1 cinnamon stick

3 cups Lemony Vegetable Broth

1 bay leaf

½ cup chopped walnuts

Seeds of 2 pomegranates

Equipment:

• 2 saucepans, 1 with lid

1. Melt the butter in one of the saucepans over very low heat.
2. Add ½ cup of the rice. Stir to coat.
3. Cook very slowly until the rice is browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In the other saucepan, heat the oil.
5. Add the shallots, spices, ginger, cinnamon stick and remaining rice. Sauté until golden, 5 minutes.
6. Add the broth and bay leaf. Bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 14 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, 10 minutes.
9. Combine all the rices in your serving bowl. Add the pomegranates and nuts.
10. Serve.

Recipe: Mildly Spiced Lentils (Yekik Alich’a)

Recipe Source: Mesfin, D. J. Exotic Ethiopian Cooking. Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises, Falls Church, 2004 p. 191

This dish had been on my menu for weeks – literally weeks – before I made it. I'm not sure why it kept getting pushed back because I clearly wanted very much to make it. For whatever reason it just kept not happening. Eventually though I made it and I'm really glad that I did. It was delicious and even the non-vegetarians that week really enjoyed it. If you make it with olive oil, as is done here, you can serve it either hot or cold. If you choose to use butter – I didn't – serve it only hot.

I made a few changes as usual. I reduced the amount of oil by a lot, which may make it somewhat less authentic but makes the dish so much healthier. I increased the garlic and the ginger as well. When the option was given I used red lentils because I had so many of them on hand.

Yekik Alich'a (serves 6; approx. $1.14/serving)

2 cups red lentils, washed

4 cups water

2 red onions, chopped

8 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons minced ginger

8 cloves garlic, crushed

4 jalapeno peppers, sliced

1 pinch kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh-ground cubeb

Equipment:

• Medium saucepan
• Colander
• Bowl
• Sauté pan or wok

1. Combine the lentils and the water in the medium saucepan and boil until soft. Red lentils cook up pretty fast, so this shouldn't take an obscene amount of time. Skim the surface if need be.
2. Set the colander over the bowl and drain the lentils into it. Reserve the water.
3. In the sauté pan, heat the oil and add the onions. Season with a pinch of kosher salt.
4. Cook the onions until softened. Add the lentils, garlic, ginger, cubeb and reserved cooking water. Simmer, stirring frequently but gently, 20 – 30 minutes.
5. Transfer to the cooking vessel. Top with the sliced jalapenos and serve.

Recipe: Pepper-Crusted Fish in Watercress and Spring Onion Sauce

Recipe Source: Viestad, Andreas.  Where Flavor was Born.  Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2007 p. 82

I made this dish on one of the many occasions when I have no idea how many people I will be serving.  When I planned my menu, my husband's parents were coming to town and "might" come and eat with us.  They ultimately opted not to dine with us and we had enough of this dish for two more diners than we actually had.  The only reason I'm telling you this is because the extras were not a problem.  There were no leftovers.  The sauce was particularly interesting, and I can't quite describe it.  Try it for yourself sometime soon.

I made some changes to the original recipe.  I couldn't find black peppercorns in a grinder here at home.  I thought that I had them but I was wrong.  This was a flimsy excuse to use the cubeb I'd just purchased in a handy little grinder bottle.  The fish fillets were haddock.  I couldn't tell you if the wine was oaked or not, but it was a South African wine so I'm happy with that.  I omitted the croutons.  I also used Lemony Vegetable Broth in place of the fish stock.

Pepper-Crusted Fish in a Watercress and Spring Onion Sauce (serves 4; approx. $10.57/serving)

2 tablespoons freshly crushed cubeb

2 tablespoons white pepper

2 tablespoons freshly crushed Szechuan peppercorns

Kosher salt to taste

4 haddock fillets

2 cups white wine

2 cups Lemony Vegetable Broth

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 small bunch watercress sprigs - about 1/4 cup

4 spring onions, chopped

1 pound cherry tomatoes

Equipment:

• Broiler pan (this would be well cooked on the Big Green Egg or on another grill, but trying to coordinate that was just too much this particular night)
• Food processor
• Saucepan

1. Combine the peppers and cubeb with some salt.  Dredge the fish in the peppercorns and set aside.
2. Preheat your broiler.
3. Combine the lemony broth and the wine in the saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce to about 1 cup
4. Add the cream.  Cook until reduced to about 2/3 cup.
5. Transfer to a food processor.  Add the ginger, cress and spring onions.  Puree until smooth.
6. Broil the fish fillets until done.  The book said 8 - 10 minutes but that will depend on the type of fish you're using; it seemed excessive to me.  Broil the tomatoes in an oven-safe container next to the fish.
7. Plate the fish.  Sauce the fish and top with the tomatoes.  Serve. 

Recipe: Chicken and Mixed Nut Stew

Recipe Source: Samuelsson, Marcus.  The Soul of a New Cuisine.  John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2006 p. 114

I'm about to really, really date myself here.  At least, I'll be dating myself as far as anyone from the Boston area is concerned.  I had to make some changes to this recipe, and the biggest change I had to make was substituting cashews for peanuts.  Unfortunately, some of my supply of cashews got contaminated, and I had to replace that container with almonds.  I'd initially intended to call this a chicken and cashew stew, but now the nuts were mixed.  This made it a mixed nut stew.... and as soon as I realized that, I couldn't get Mixed Nuts out of my head.  Mixed Nuts was a handful of guys, probably homeless but one shouldn't make assumptions, who used to hang around in Kenmore Square and play air guitar for spare change.  I don't spend much time in Kenmore Square anymore and haven't in a long time, but when I have been in that area I haven't seen them. 

The picture isn't pretty.  I guess it kind of looks like something you might find in Kenmore Square late on a Saturday night toward the end of baseball season, just as the frat party season is getting underway.  At least, that's what you would have found in that area back in the day.  It's been a while.  Anyway, don't let appearances fool you.  This stew was absolutely delicious. 

Chicken and Mixed Nut Stew (serves 4; approx. $5.71/serving)

2 onions, sliced

2 carrots, chopped

2 habanero chiles, halved

1 1/2 ounces grated ginger

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon black pepper

4 cups water

2 lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into pieces

1 cup unsalted cashews

1 cup unsalted almonds

3 tablespoons Olive oil

2 baking potatoes, cubed

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 pound spinach, chopped (I used frozen)

Equipment:

• Large wok or saucepan
• Small frying pan
• Food processor
• Large saute pan
• Immersion blender

1. Combine the onions, carrots, chiles, ginger, bay leaves, peppercorns and water in the saucepan.  Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add the chicken and simmer 25 minutes uncovered.  The chicken should be cooked through.
3. Meanwhile, toast the cashews in the frying pan over medium heat.  Do this carefully lest they burn.
4. Grind the cashews into a thick, coarse paste in the food processor. 
5. Toast the almonds in the frying pan.  Set aside.
6. Remove the chicken from the vegetables and cooking liquid.  Set aside, preferably out of reach of the dog.
7. Use the immersion blender to puree the vegetables in the pot.  I left a few chunks because I prefer that kind of texture, but it's up to you.  Discard the bay leaves before you do this. 
8. Heat the oil in the large saute pan. 
9. Add the potatoes and saute until golden brown.
10. Add the chicken pieces and brown on all sides.  Remove pan from heat.
11. Return the pot with the vegetables to a boil.  Add the cashew puree and almonds.  Stir well to combine.
12. Add the tomatoes, chicken, spinach and potatoes.  Simmer until warmed through.
13. Season to taste and serve.