Culinary suggestions

[Seriously, later this afternoon, I will blog about Garan. <3]

I was a total slug Saturday...so to make up for it, I was up by 8am Sunday. Went to Trader Joe's, home by 1, back out to grocery stores in Astoria by 2 (after eating). I'm such a dork. I walked down to Key Foods for their cottage cheese sale, but on the way, stopped at Trade Fair and Top Tomato (more of a veggie/fruit store) to price check. I got a few things at Key Food and then stopped at TT and TF on the way back. I shopped at four freakin stores Sunday. :dork:

I had a few plans on things to cook - a slow cooker beef in Cabernet wine inspired by this delicious recipe my brother made on Thanksgiving (one of MANY things). And I think I'm going to attempt a slow cooker chicken curry today - chicken thighs, sweet potatoes, eggplant, maybe some chickpeas? and peas?... (Any ideas?) I'm sort of blending together this recipe and a slow cooker curry recipe from an America's Test Kitchen cookbook.

But last night, after getting the beef in the slow cooker, I also made roasted shrimp and broccoli. The recipe is found here, and I found out about it through The Amateur Gourmet. (He's so cute, imo...) I have a few issues with it - I thought my broccoli was cut small enough, but by the time the shrimp was done, the broccoli is still a bit too crunchy. I figure by the time I reheat it, the microwave may take care of that issue. But I'm trying to figure out how to dress it... It's been a while since I had actually had cumin and coriander, so the flavor was good but a bit unexpected. Any suggestions on things to dress it or what to throw in with it if I decide to make it into a salad? It's good but it's just missing... something.

So...the beef (it was a stew beef, with lots of carrots, onions, celery, garlic, bacon, a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon - $3 buck Chuck from TJ's) ended up cooking for 12 hours! And now it's cooling in the fridge. The plan is to skim off the fat and possibly reduce the wine down a bit more. :) I wish I could share the full Beef in Barolo recipe with you (I do have it...) but I will say, Cook's Illustrated is sort of worth the cost if you're a culinary type. As for the coming curry, I definitely want to do the sweet potatoes, eggplant, some onion, and throw some peas in at the end. Does anyone think chickpeas are a warranted add-in? Any other suggestions? Thanks!