Citrus Curry with brown rice

This is a really delicious and slightly unique curry recipe. Its unusual flavor comes from the citrus, which you add rind and all. As an alternate, you can use orange slices instead of lemon and butternut squash (cubed with skin removed) in place of the yams. A credit for this one goes to my former roommate in London, Tanya, who introduced the idea of making curry like this to me.

Ingredients:

2 cups brown rice
4 cups of vegetable broth

2 TBS of olive oil
1 white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, sliced (in the spring/winter when these aren't available locally, you can use canned roasted red peppers and add them with the coconut milk)
4 cloves garlic minced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, minced
1 lemon, cut into slices
3 small yams, washed and cubed (with skins left on)
1 can of coconut milk

One bunch of swiss chard
One hand full of cilantro, chopped

Spices:
2-3 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cardamon seeds, removed from the pod and slightly crushed
1 hot chili pepper, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a saucepan, add the rice and veg broth and simmer on medium heat until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is fully cooked.

While the rice is cooking, you can make the curry. Start by heating the oil in heavy bottomed pan on medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until they start to turn translucent. Add the spices and stir until the onions are fully coated. Cook 2-3 minutes until the spices are very fragrant. Add the peppers and keep on stirring.

Next add the garlic, ginger, and lemon slices. Give the lemons a little squeeze when you add them to release a little juice.

Now add the yams and stir until fully coated with spice mixture. Add the coconut milk and cover, turning heat down to medium low. Stir occasionally to make sure that the bottom doesn't stick.

When the yams are *not quite* fully cooked (when you can almost slide a knife cleanly into the pieces), add the swiss chard to the top of the curry mixture and cover, cooking on low heat until the chard stems are fully cooked, but the leaves are still a bright green color.

Spoon a serving of rice into a bowl, and ladle the curry on top. Serve with a sprinkling of cilantro and the chard on the side.

Serves 4. Enjoy!