I’m back from my travels this week. The upper peninsula of Michigan is a beautiful place. If you want untamed wilderness, that is the place to go. Cities are few and far between. There are only a handful. Those cities are very small compared to a place like Grand Rapids or Detroit. Plenty of camping, national parks, hiking and even mountain climbing. In the winter they get hammered with snow. Which is great if you are a downhill skier like me. There are several great places to ski.

This week I am starting with a recipe from Love Food for Plantain and Chickpea Curry. I’ve never cooked with plantain before, but there is a first time for everything. Vegetarian recipes that happen to be curries are right up my alley. This one won’t be low carb because of the plantains. I prefer to keep my desserts low carb and my dinners to have healthy carbs. Carbs are good for you, so long as you don’t eat a bunch of junk food. Working out and doing many other things get a bit difficult without carbs. Our brains and our bodies need fuel.

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I deleted the added salt to reduce the sodium.
• I swapped the canned chickpeas with a low sodium variety to reduce the sodium.
• I added red bell pepper to increase the vitamin C.
• I added carrot to increase the vitamin A.
• I reduced the plantains from 4 to 2 to lower the calories.
• I added green beans to increase the fiber.
• I added extra canned chickpeas to increase the protein.
• I increased the servings from 4 to 10 to reduce the calories.
• I added rice to round out the dish.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Plantain and Chickpea Curry

Serves 10

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 3 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 carrot chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp dried mixed herbs
• 1 tbsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp all-purpose seasoning
• 6 tbsp curry powder
• 4.4 fl oz water
• 7 fl oz coconut milk
• 3 x 14oz cans of low sodium chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 ripe plantains, peeled and sliced
• 1 Scotch bonnet pepper
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• 10 oz fresh spinach
• 24 oz frozen green beans

1. Add the brown rice to a pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a pot over a medium heat, then add the onion, red bell pepper, carrot, garlic and ginger. Sauté for 5–7 minutes until the onion is soft.
3. Add the cumin, mixed herbs, chilli powder, all-purpose seasoning, 4 tbsp of the curry powder and a tiny bit of the water. Stir together.
4. Add just a tiny bit of the coconut milk and mix together to form a paste.
5. Add the chickpeas, plantain and Scotch bonnet and mix into the curry paste. Then add the rest of the water and coconut milk, and stir.
6. Add the spring onions and remaining curry powder, along with the black pepper, then stir, cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes.
7. After that give it a mix and add the spinach, then stir gently. Add in the green beans. Simmer for a further 5 minutes before removing the Scotch bonnet and serving.