Lentil Daal with Basmati Rice

This recipe is from my new cookbook Love Bites by Heather Mills. It was very easy to prepare and was filling because of the veggies, lentils, and rice.

I soaked the lentils overnight so they cooked very quickly. The sauce consists of coconut oil, cauliflower, tomatoes, onion, lime, cilantro, red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger, cumin, salt and tumeric. It is served over basmati rice.

2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma

This curry recipe is very basic (flavored with curry powder, garlic, ginger, and other spices) but pleasantly a low-fat version from Appetite for Reduction. We served it with Basmati Rice. The cook book says active time is 20 minutes and total time is 30. It took the full 20 prep minutes just to wash and chop all the veggies. So again, these times are not realistic for us! But, I still say the recipes are worth the extra few minutes they take us.

Enjedra with Spinach

I had never heard of this meal before stumbling upon it while "blog surfing." Pride and Vegudice is a very cute blog that posts interesting meals and commentary. The author provides a simple explanation as to what Enjedra is; a Middle Eastern dish consisting of spiced rice and lentils with caramelized onions. YUM!

The recipe is simple but very flavorful and filling. It is suggested that greens can be added; I added fresh spinach. Next time, I will not put quite so much salt in though. I also used Basmati rice instead of brown and 5 spice powder instead of All-spice.

It makes a lot and I have a feeling this will make for fantastic leftovers!

Golden Curry with Basmati Rice

In September, I will be changing my status from full-time housewife to "I need more help around the house because I now have a full time job!"
Although I have loved spending my days experimenting with vegan cooking, obsessing over housework, reading, catching up on American TV, traveling, and other adventures inside the home and beyond, I am extremely excited about a) a schedule, b) daily adult interaction that doesn't involve someone being paid to help me (e.g, check-out clerks, ikea employees, dry cleaner, etc.) and c) my own paycheck!

To help me get back into the swing of full time work, John is helping with dinner a few nights a week. For his first meal, he chose this boxed, Indian-inspired, "just add water" dish. I love him to pieces and he is an amazing partner.....but I quickly established it was an old favorite from his bachelor days.

That aside, it was a hot vegan meal, contained veggies and rice, and came together quickly, and quietly!

He added chickpeas, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, and onion. He was going to add tofu to the mix, but forgot! :-)

Samosa Quesadillas and Pineapple Fried Rice

With my homemade flour tortillas, I decided to try Samosa Quesadillas from the Vegan Mom blog. They sounded so easy: mashed potatoes, peas, curry. For some reason, my mashed potatoes were a disaster. I boiled the potatoes, then added them to the food processor with a little coconut milk. The result was a glue-like, completely unforgiving gooey mess. It overflowed in the food processor and created an hour plus clean-up project for me. Deciding to power on, I spatulaed the majority of the mess out of the food processor (and off the counter and in/under/around the blade) and added the peas and curry. I can see why this would be a great meal, with the right potato mixture!

I also made Pineapple fried rice. This is the recipe I vaguely followed. I omitted the carrot, raisins, peas, and the egg and instead added zucchini, green onion, and red pepper.

Spicy Lentils, Beet Salad with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette, and Scallion Flat Bread

I am cutting way back on our weekly grocery budget because we are moving in 2 months and I want to move as few food items as possible. I have quite a nice selection of spices built up so I made two things tonight that call for a wide variety. First was Quick Spicy Lentils. I used a can of brown lentils and substituted lemon juice and sage for the coriander. I also left out the chiles. I have made this recipe in the past and the cayenne gives it enough heat to suit me. Along with the lentils, a Beet Salad with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette. The recipe is about half way down this page. I changed many things. Here are my adjustments:
1 garlic clove
Salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 tablespoons finely diced shallot
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon of sage
¼ teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
3 beets
Whisk all ingredients together and pour over chopped beets.

And, to bring it all together, Scallion Flat Bread with dipping sauce. The flat bread is like a traditional paratha. It consists of flour, peanut and sesame oil, sugar, salt, water and scallions. The recipe is from Veganomicon. The dipping sauce is soy based with rice wine vinegar, ginger, sugar, and sesame seeds.

My Own Private India Menu

From the "Menus for the Masses" section of Veganomicon, I traded a few of the meal items with another Indian feast called "Lazy Indian Gourmet." I love this section of the cookbook because it maps out a perfectly balanced meal for me to follow, all within a common theme.

The meal consisted of the following: Sauteed Spinach and Tomatoes, Cornmeal-Masala Roasted Cauliflower, Curried Tofu, Rice, Roasted Yellow Pepper and Corn Bisque, and Vanilla-Yogurt Pound Cake with berries and soy ice cream for dessert.

Sauteed Spinach and Tomatoes
We spent last weekend in Frankfurt, Germany with friends and Julia made this one night with dinner. Her recipe is almost identical to the one in Veganomicon. Onion, garlic, and ginger are sauteed in vegetable oil. A very large portion of spinach is added to the mixture (around 6 cups) along with diced tomatoes. This is all cooked down for as long as possible and splashed with lemon juice before serving.

Cornmeal-Masala Roasted Cauliflower
My beloved Brussels Sprouts are out of season so I substituted Cauliflower in this recipe and was not disappointed! It is a breading mixture of cornmeal, chickpea flour, garam masala, and other spices all coating the cauliflower and baked to crispy deliciousness.

Curried Tofu
Pressed, marinated, and baked, this tofu had a really nice flavor. But some credit has to be given to the fact that I bought the tofu fresh from the Asian market. I am not sure I could ever go back to pre-packaged tofu again!

Rice
I really like this rice recipe. It seems to come out just right each time and has just enough flavor but not too much to take away from whatever it is served with.

Roasted Yellow Pepper and Corn Bisque
This soup has a bit of a bite but the combo of the spice along with coconut milk, lime, roasted veggies, corn, garlic, and nutmeg along with everything else make it great! It makes a huge batch and fortunately leftovers taste just as good.

Vanilla-Yogurt Pound Cake
The above link to the recipe is slightly different than in Veganomicon. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup Vanilla Soy Yogurt but this blogger substituted vegan Sour Cream. Also, the original recipe calls for 2 cups all-purpose flour, no whole wheat. This cake is heavy but if I remember correctly, pound cake is supposed to be! The vanilla soy yogurt and the citrus extracts gave it so much flavor. It went really well with strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries (sprinkled with sugar to bring out the juices in the fruit) and Soy Ice Cream.

Pumpkin Saag with Scallion Flatbread

I am a huge fan of anything spinach so it saddens me that most Indian restaurants put cream in their Saag (a spinach, curry based dish). This recipe came from the Veganomicon cookbook. I made it a day early to let the flavors really do their magic.

The flat bread is like a traditional paratha. It is flour, peanut and sesame oil, sugar, salt, water and scallions. It is also from Veganomicon.

On the side, Basmati rice.

Indian Curry with Naan and Samosas

I found these cute triangle shaped Naan breads and was inspired to cook an Indian meal. But, before I describe the meal, I have to get something off my chest. Before we found out we would be moving around the world for the next two years, I was busy building up an arsenal of spices and herbs and seasonings of every color, culture, and combination! I had such an eclectic collection that was so diverse and delicious! To wrap this rant up, no food items make it through customs. I am really happy to have given everything to my friend Rachel, whom I know will use it all! But I desperately don't want to start building the collection again, knowing we are moving in 8 months. So, I have been opting for small amounts of packaged spices or jars of spices that are multipurpose. (Yes, I am bitter. But I am working on it!) For the Indian meal, I opted for a jar of Korma Curry Paste. The recipe was already translated for me on the back and was very simple: cook an onion in oil, add meat, add the Curry paste and water, and serve. What a snap, right!? Instead of the meat, I roasted potatoes, eggplant, and yellow pepper. After getting it all into the pan, I noticed it was very thick. A thick consistency like gritty syrup. It didn't look right at all. In a panic to save my lovely roasted veggies, I poured the sauce out of the pan and started retracing my steps. The directions were so simple, too simple! I realized that when it said, "add Curry Paste," it didn't say how much to add. I assumed that it was the entire jar. WRONG. So I now have an entire jar of watered down Korma Curry Paste in a plastic container in my fridge that will probably make 15 Indian meals, not one! At any rate, when I got the majority of the sauce out, it turned out flavorful and delicious. Because I am not working and have tons of time on my hands, I decided to make Samosas to go along with the Indian meal. This website has a video describing how to make the Samosas. I substituted spinach for the peas and a package of curry spices for the 4 that they suggest. Also, the "cone" that she suggests did not work out for me. I just wrapped them up like a little box.

Aloo Gobi

One of the most challenging parts of being vegan is traveling. I worry constantly that I won't be able to find something to eat. I have been spoiled in Eugene, where almost every restaurant has at least something vegan, if not everything vegan! But that is definitely not the case everywhere. While traveling around Oregon with John's parents, I asked a waitress what could be prepared without dairy or meat. Her reply was a Salmon Caesar Salad....interesting. So I have learned a few "almost always guaranteed to have something I can eat" options. Thai restaurants generally can make things vegan by leaving out the fish sauce in many of their dishes. And, my personal favorite, Indian food! I order Aloo Gobi almost every time, so when I found this recipe I had to try it. John is not a huge fan of Aloo Gobi from a restaurant but said, "This really has the flavor I want." I also enjoyed it!