Friday, August 24, 2012

Lillet Rose Cocktail

8.23.12 Red Grapefruit Lillet Cocktail

This might be the best cocktail ... ever.

Lillet Rose Cocktail
(recipe based on one from Martha Stewart Living magazine April 2012)

2 parts Lillet Rose aperitif
2 parts Ruby Red grapefruit juice
1 part gin

Shake in a cocktail shaker with some ice and serve up (picture above)
... or ...
Muddle some fresh basil leaves in a rocks glass, add ice, shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with some ice and pour over ice and basil (picture below) (optional: add some seltzer on top)

8.23.12 Red Grapefruit Lillet Cocktail 2

Vegan Summer Rolls

I finally made summer rolls! They were far easier than I thought they'd be! I thought I'd be wrestling with broken rice paper wrappers and unable to actually make a neat roll. Not shabby for my first attempt ...
8.23.12 Summer Rolls
The lovely filling stuffs ... some avocado, sprouts, basil, julienned orange pepper, sliced cucumber ... I also put some shredded carrots and cellophane noodles in these rolls.
8.23.12 Summer Rolls 2

To make cellophane noodles: The package should have the instructions, but all you do is drop them in boiling water, turn off the heat, let them sit for about 10 minutes, and drain.
To make summer rolls: Just dip rice paper wrapper quickly in room temperature water until it becomes pliable. Lay on a cutting board and put in some of the ingredients you've chosen to stuff them with. Roll wrapper over ingredients, tuck ends in (like a burrito), and finish rolling up.
Voila! So healthy ... so delicious! 

I like to dip these in peanut sauce or sweet and sour sauce (both of which you can buy over the counter).

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Summer Tomato Salad (thanks to my local CSA)

summer salad

Summer Tomato Salad

My CSA delivered some delish local organic tomatoes this week, so I made this simple salad that was out of this world. It's just fresh sliced tomatoes, roasted red pepper, pitted kalamata olives (capers would also be nice here), and some homemade pesto dotted on top. Yum!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Cauliflower Curry and Cucumber Raita

8.16.2012 cauliflower curry

My Favorite Cauliflower and Pea Curry ...

Ingredients:

Cayenne Pepper
Flour
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets and steamed
About 10oz frozen peas, defrosted
Canola oil
curry powder (I like Madras style)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
about 3 tablespoons tomato paste
cilantro leaves for garnish

Method:

Steam cauliflower florets. Mix a small amount of flour and a generous amount of cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like things - I make my flour light pink!) in a gallon-size zip lock baggie. Add steamed florets to baggie a little at a time and shake to coat the florets with the flour/cayenne mixture. Heat oil in a 12" skillet with sides and saute the onion until soft. Throw in the garlic and saute for about 1 minute to release garlic flavor. Put cauliflower florets into skillet and coat with curry powder so that each piece has a bit of curry on it. Add broth, peas, and tomato paste. Stir to break up the tomato paste and dissolve it into the broth. Mix the whole mixture well so that all the cauliflower is coating with the tomato paste/broth mixture. Simmer for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened. Serve over basmati rice with cilantro leaves as a garnish. Yum!

8.16.2012 raita

Cucumber Raita ...

I serve this as a side dish for any spicy Indian curry, but sometimes I also eat it for breakfast! It's so yummy!
Ingredients:
8oz plain yogurt (vegan or otherwise)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 of an English seedless cucumber, grated

Method:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Yum!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Quick Black-Eyed Pea Slaw and Polenta Fries (vegan)

8.14.2012 black eyed pea slaw

Quick Black-Eyed Pea Slaw

Ingredients:

1 (15oz) can black-eyed peas
1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
3/4 of a 10oz bag thinly sliced red cabbage
1/3 cup prepared salsa verde (I like La Costena brand.)
2 tablespoons vegan sour cream
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon gomasio or 1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Method:

Whisk together the sour cream, salsa verde, vinegar, and olive oil in a large bowl. Throw in the black-eyed peas, cabbage, parsley, and grated carrot and mix well. Season with gomasio (or salt) and pepper. Yum! (My husband really liked this slaw! It's going to become a regular.)

Easy and Inexpensive Grilled Polenta Fries

8.14.2012 grilled polenta fries

Ingredients:

About 3 cups prepared polenta, cooled so that it's firm. (I used some leftover polenta from the other night's dinner.)
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Old Bay seasoning

Cut cooled polenta into rectangular sticks. Sprinkle with garlic powder and Old Bay Seasoning. Heat some olive oil on a grill pan. Grill polenta on two sides until warmed. Delish!

My recipe how to make polenta is here: http://sundaegirl108.blogspot.com/2010/05/polenta-with-roasted-tomatoes-vegan.html

Saag Tofu (vegan)

8.13.2012 Saag Tofu

Saag Tofu (Spinach Curry with Tofu)

Ingredients:
23 oz fresh baby spinach
olive oil
1 tablespoon ground coriander
3/4 tablespoon turmeric
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon garam masala
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup vegan sour cream
1 (14oz) package firm or extra firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Method:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet with sides and fry the powdered spices for a minute. Put as much spinach as will fit into the skillet along with the water and stir to coat with the spices. Cover and let that batch wilt until you can fit more spinach. Add more spinach (and water, if necessary), cover, and let that wilt. Fold in the vegan sour cream and tofu cubes. Add the salt and sugar and stir well. Continue cooking over low heat for about 5 minutes so that the flavor of the spices gets into the tofu. Serve with basmati rice. Mmmm.

My basmati rice recipe is here: http://sundaegirl108.blogspot.com/2010/12/sweet-potato-curry-with-spinach-and.html

The above saag tofu recipe is losely based on the Paneer Sak recipe (p.184) in The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking by Adiraja dasa. You can purchase that book here: http://www.amazon.com/Hare-Krishna-Book-Vegetarian-Cooking/dp/0902677071/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344987514&sr=8-1&keywords=the+hare+krishna+book+of+vegetarian+cooking

HARE KRISHNA! Jagannath