New Post for a New Path.

Ethiopian Cabbage, Carrots, and Potatoes (Atakilt Wat) and Basmati Rice

Recipe modified from Vegan Richa's Original Recipe here: 

https://www.veganricha.com/atakilt-wat-ethiopian-cabbage-potato/

It's time to heal from all the chaos of the last few years. In an effort to do something for myself and motivate myself to eat better, I signed up for and just completed the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate at the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. Woo! 

Well, it worked. Better than I anticipated. 

The importance of no added oil was mostly unknown to me before taking this course! I took it to motivate myself to eat better ... which, for me, means to eat vegan. I also didn't anticipate being so motivated to cut out processed foods. So, a mostly Whole Foods Plant-Based (WFPB) diet it is! I'm not one to do most things rigidly and I usually have most success when I make gradual change. These things I know about myself. Progress over perfection. 

So, no added oil cooking was a bit of a mystery to me. I've never cooked this way. Every salad dressing I made had oil in it. First step was to find some yummy things to make! I'll record some of my endeavors here. 

First up ... I made this recipe from Vegan Richa using no added oil. Ingredient list and method of preparation via the link above. I revised it to make it no oil by steaming the carrots and potatoes. I also sautéed the onion, ginger, garlic, and hot pepper in a non stick pan in some water. I added the spices and then added the shredded cabbage. It actually worked! 

I thought it would be best served with some vegan raita. So, maybe some plain vegan yogurt made into raita on top would be super yummy. 

 

I also made my standard basmati rice recipe sans oil as well. It worked! 

Oil-Free BASMATI RICE  

1 cup of rice to 1 1/2 cups of water

Heat dry pan and add dry rice. Toast the rice for a few seconds. 

Add water, stir, bring to a boil. 
As soon as the water is boiling, lower heat to low, cover the saucepan, and do not disturb for exactly 15 minutes. Turn heat off and boom! Rice. 

**Sometimes I add a cinnamon stick and a few whole cloves to enhance the flavor.

Superbowl Tacos!

I had a cute pic of Chewie, but when I updated my iPhone OS, it put all my pictures in a ton of folders and I can't find anything now. argh

Anyway, I made some homemade taco seasoning and tacos tonight for our Superbowl party of three. I think this recipe is a mix of some I found somewhere online. It was pretty delicious.

 

Taco Seasoning

 

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

 

Mix together in a small jar.

I had some Gardein Beefless tips which I sautéed with some of my taco seasoning. I also sautéed a couple poblano peppers and an onion. Tacos were the Gardein Beefless tips, peppers and onions, fresh cilantro leaves, vegan sour cream, salsa, and fresh organic tomatoes with flour tortillas. I served them with roasted carrots and mashed sweet potatoes with a pureed chipotle pepper in adobo mashed into them. Mmmm.

Vegan Brunch with Muffins! yay! (and a quick dinner)

Mmm. Made a vegan brunch today thanks to my favorite vegan cookbook, Vegan Brunch.
I made the "swiss chard frittata" (which ended up being a baby kale and caramelized onion frittata because Whole Foods was out of chard). I also made my polenta topped with roasted tomatoes. Mmm.

I made the Blueberry Ginger Spelt Muffins on page 155 of Vegan Brunch for the first time.
These were pretty good; I was craving some blueberry muffins and these hit the spot. I think I prefer a more dense bran-type muffin, so maybe I'll make blueberry bran muffins when I run out of spelt flour.

Dry Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups spelt flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt (a 6oz container) (as I'm typing this I realized that I actually screwed up and used 1 cup plain soy yogurt but it was totally fine!)
1 cup mylk (any kind of nut mylk will do)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups blueberries
(original recipe also calls for 1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger, which I omitted.)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375F. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
Mix all dry ingredients in a big bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in a separate bowl with the exception of the blueberries. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Fold in the blueberries (and ginger if using). Scoop batter into muffin tin and bake 28 - 32 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes in the tin before transferring muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.

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Later, for dinner, I made a salad and a quick steamed spaghetti squash with vegan meatless balls. Mmm

This salad was also satisfying and it was just kalamata olives, mesclun lettuce, cucumbers, fresh heirloom tomatoes, roasted chestnuts, and the balsamic dressing that I made yesterday.
I paired it with some steamed spaghetti squash "pasta" and a veggie-loaded tomato sauce and Whole Foods' brand vegan meatless balls.
This is my lower carb alternative to pasta. meh.
To steam spaghetti squash (the lazy way): Cut ends off squash and then cut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and put in a microwaveable dish with about 1 centimeter of cold water. Microwave for about 13 minutes. Hold squash with a potholder (it's HOT!) while you scrape out the strings into a bowl.
To make the sauce (the lazy way): I sauté a sliced onion in a little olive oil in a saucepan until translucent. Then add a 28oz can of organic diced or crushed tomatoes and some Italian herbs and spices such as oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flake, salt, and pepper. I also added some frozen artichoke hearts to this sauce which I had reheated in the microwave. (This was my first try of frozen artichokes. Blech. I will stick to canned or jarred.) Heat through until flavors blend - about 5 - 10 mins.
Prepare your favorite vegan meatless balls as directed, put on top of spaghetti squash, top with sauce and enjoy! yum. (Add a basil chiffonade for extra yum yums.)

Vegan "No Huevos" Rancheros and a Simple Salad

Vegan "No Huevos" Rancheros

This is one of my favorite quick as can be dinners.

Ingredients:
Polenta, prepared (I buy one of the pre-cooked polenta rolls when I'm feeling lazy.)
GOYA Rancheros beans
Olives (I usually use black olives)
Fresh chopped tomatoes
Avocado chunks
Vegan sour cream (if you like) - I like Tofutti brand.
Salsa

Preparation:
Layer polenta slices at bottom of microwaveable bowl, then a layer of the beans. Cover and heat until warm (about 1 min 30 seconds).
Layer some salsa, fresh tomatoes, olives, avocado, and sour cream on top.
Enjoy!

 

Simple Beet Salad

 

Including here because I am trying to overcome my need to sprinkle cheese in every salad. This one was satisfying without the cheese.

 

Ingredients:

Roasted Beets

Avocado

Mesclun Lettuce

Cucumber slices

Shallot

Hemp Seeds

 

Wolffie's Balsamic Vinegar Dressing (from La Dolce Vegan p.95): (my fave!)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup oil (such as flax, hemp, or grapeseed)

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

 

Preparation:

Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl. Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well. Sprinkle some dressing on salad. Yum.

 

I think I'll have some soy whip and chocolate pudding for dessert. ;) Yum!

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

Yesterday, I just ate some leftovers. Today, I made another really delicious dinner - vegan shepherd's pie from Julie Hasson's Vegan Casseroles book. Buy this book! Recipes use whole food and all look so amazing that I had a hard time deciding what to make first!
Shepherd's Pie won because there was some debate over Christmas as to what the entrée would be for Christmas dinner. So, I've had visions of shepherd's pie swirling in my head. heh.
This was a little labor intensive, so definitely a weekend meal, but SO WORTH IT! Yum yum yum. And, it turns out I learned something new - oat flour is magic! It thickened the delicious gravy called for in this recipe like a champ. Such a yummy and simple gravy too! I'll definitely be spreading it over mashed potatoes and such.
Here's a pic of the lovely gravy cookin' away and the final product ...

Shepherd's Pie with Lentils and Herbs

(based on that found on p.74 of Vegan Casseroles)



  Ingredients:

Topping:
2 1/2 pounds red potatoes
3/4 cup plain unsweetened soy milk or almond milk
2 tablespoons vegan butter
2 tablespoons nooch (aka nutritional yeast)
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used some granulated garlic.)
1 teaspoon sea salt
fresh black pepper to taste

Filling:
1 cup brown lentils
olive oil
1 yellow or sweet onion, diced
(original recipe calls for 5oz mushrooms, but I omitted since mushrooms are the one food I do not like!)
2 carrots (I used 4 small carrots), finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup frozen peas (I heated mine in the microwave before tossing them in)
1 recipe Good Gravy! (recipe below)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Good Gravy!:
1/2 cup Oat Flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Flour)
6 tablespoons nooch
3 cups plain unsweetened soy milk
2 teaspoons granulated onion
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons vegan "no-beef" beef flavored bouillon paste (such as Better Than Bouillon brand)
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:
First, make the gravy. In a large saucepan, whisk together the oat flour and nooch. Whisk in the soy milk until the mixture is very smooth. Whisk in the granulated onion and garlic. Add the bouillon and pepper, whisking well. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and while continuously whisking, bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and continue whisking until the sauce thickens (for about 5 minutes).
Next, preheat the oven to 425F.
Prepare the lentils and potatoes. Put lentils and potatoes in pots and cover with a few inches of water. Bring pot with lentils to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer for about 25 minutes. Boil potatoes until tender. Drain lentils and potatoes. Return potatoes to pot.
Mash the potatoes with a  masher and add the soy milk, nooch, vegan butter, garlic, salt, and pepper.
In a large skillet prepare the filling. Add the olive oil and cook over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until garlic fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the Brussels sprouts and carrots and cook until both are just tender. (I added a little water and covered the pan to cook them.) Stir in the lentils, gravy, rosemary, thyme, peas, salt, and pepper and mix well without smashing the lentils.
Grease a 13 inch x 9 inch pan. Scoop gravy mixture into pan and spread the mashed potatoes on top. Be sure to spread the potatoes all the way to the edges to try to avoid the gravy mixture from bubbling over. Bake for about 25 minutes - until the potatoes begin to brown.

Healthy Start to the New Year

Happy New Year!
My alcohol-free month of vegan, relatively low carb, and mostly whole foods has begun!
Today was a productive start to 2015. I bathed the dog, went to the gym and lifted weights, went grocery shopping, rode my exercise bike, cleaned the bathroom and kitchen, unpacked, changed the sheets on the bed, and made some delicious food.
Let's just say, the boys had other plans. ;)

Here's the stuff I ate today:
I just had coffee with coconut creamer for breakfast as I wasn't hungry. Then, I made myself a delicious lunch of what I like to call "save the crab" salad with a green salad. It's a vegan take on crab salad made with hearts of palm (instead of crab) based on the vegan crab cake recipe in Crazy Sexy Kitchen.

 

Then, I had a Mamma Chia beverage for a snack. This one was pretty good.

 

I went all out for dinner and made a black-eyed pea and root veggie tagine based on the Chickpea Tagine recipe in Crazy Sexy Kitchen. Since it's New Year's Day, I added black-eyed peas instead of chickpeas. I made mine with turnip, sweet potato, and carrot. This was out of this world good!

 

I served this with couscous and some vegan cucumber raita. I decided to make the raita with Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream non-dairy sour cream this time. It was pretty excellent.

Vegan Cucumber Raita

Ingredients:
1 package Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream
1 cucumber, deseeded
about 1 teaspoon garam masala
about 1 teaspoon cumin
a few twists of freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Put sour cream in bowl. Grate about 3/4 of the cucumber directly into the bowl with a hand grater. The cucumber's juice will thin out the sour cream; you want that to happen. Add the spices. Stir and keep in fridge until ready to serve. I like to garnish mine with some cilantro leaves and leave it in the fridge for at least an hour so that the flavors blend. Mmmm.

Tofu and Peanut Stir Fry

Tofu and Peanut Stir Fry
(recipe adapted from a Food Network magazine recipe)

6 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry (I found some Shaoxing rice wine in Chinatown)
1/3 cup oyster sauce (vegan version available here: http://importfood.com/sayw2405.html )
1 (14oz) block firm tofu, drained
1 cup unsalted peanuts, preferably raw
1/4 cup peanut oil
2 teaspoons minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 whole dried arbol chiles
1 can sliced water chestnuts
sugar snap peas, strings removed

1. Make the marinade: Whisk 2 tablespoons cornstarch, the rice wine, oyster sauce, ad 2 tablespoons water in a large bowl. Cut the tofu in half horizontally to make 2 large
rectangles, then cut each rectangle into 4 squares. Add tofu to the marinade and turn to coat.
2. Cook the peanuts in the oil in a large skillet over heat, stirring, until golden brown. (4-5 mins) Remove skillet from heat and transfer nuts to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
3. Drain the tofu, reserving the marinade. Sprinkle both sides of the tofu with the remaining cornstarch . Return the skillet to medium heat and add the tofu. Cook about 3 mins each side. Remove tofu to a plate. Add the ginger, garlic, chiles, and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the snap peas and water chestnuts. Whisk the marinade with 1 cup water, and add that to the skillet as well. Stir until thick. Add the tofu and nuts back in and heat through.
Voila!
Here it is cooking ... Mmmm.

 

I had a tempeh salad for lunch today that was quite pretty. ;) I just sautéed the tempeh cubes in a non-stick skillet with some cooking spray and sprinkled it with some hot paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. yum.

  

Baigan Bharta and Steamed Kale and Prepping for the week ...

Today I made smoothies for breakfast and then hit up the gym and went grocery shopping for the next couple of days.

I made a tabouleh salad and a spiced beet salad for lunch and snacks tomorrow and Tuesday.

Click for the Spiced Beet Salad Recipe.

The Tabouleh Salad is just a box of Near East Tabouleh with fresh lemon juice, grape tomatoes, fresh parsley, black olives, cucumbers, and roasted red pepper added. Mmmmm.

Then, for dinner, I made Baigan Bharta - an Indian roasted eggplant dish with some steamed kale. More Mmm ...

After my nice long break, needless to say, I'm not exactly looking forward to the beginning of the work week tomorrow. meh.

Zucchini and Chickpea Curry (Sort of African, Sort of Indian)

Veggies and cilantro leaves getting ready to be cooked up ... and the curry cooking. Mmm

The final product (served with some vegan pierogies)! Chewie approves. ;o)

This was seriously delicious!

Zucchini and Chickpea Curry

2 zucchinis, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds
1 large can chickpeas
1 onion, diced
1 jalapeno
1 inch piece ginger root, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
8oz can tomato sauce
1 bunch cilantro leaves
1-2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon of vegan butter
1-2 teaspoons cumin powder
1-2 tablespoons Madras-style medium hot curry powder
2 teaspoons hot Hungarian paprika
sea salt and black pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat the oil and butter and sauté the onion for a bit until translucent. Meanwhile, process the garlic, ginger, and jalapeno in a small food processor until minced. Add garlic, ginger, jalapeno mixture to the skillet and stir to combine with the onion. Stir in the fresh chopped tomatoes and zucchini. Stir in the spices and the tomato sauce. If you need to add a little water so that the zucchini is mostly covered by liquid, do so. Add chickpeas and some cilantro leaves on top. Put on lid to skillet and simmer over low-medium heat until zucchini is tender and flavors have combined. Serve with couscous, rice, or, well, pierogies tasted great with this!

Serves 4 hungry souls.

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African Black-eyed Pea Stew with Spicy Butternut Squash HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today began with some vegan pancakes for breakfast. Pancakes felt like just the right breakfast this morning. heh. I always make the pancakes from Vegan Brunch. They really are "perfect." Mmm.

 

Today also begins with my eating totally vegan for a while. I'm going to try to cut out processed foods and eat lower carb too just to  take off a few holiday season pounds. (Today's pancakes don't count. haha) I'm returning to my straight-edge vegan Krishna-core roots for at least a month as I think it really is the healthiest way to live. ;o) 

 

I like to watch a marathon of all the Planet of the Apes movies on New Year's Day. This year, I only got to the first movie 'cause I had a bit of a disaster. I finally ordered my long-awaited Vitamix (thanks mother-in-law and sister-in-law for the gift cards!!) ... and the damn thing didn't work right outta the box! WTF?! So, I have to send it back and reorder it. *cries* At least Amazon has an awesome return policy. But my smoothies will have to wait until a new one arrives. *sniff*

 

I made some avocado hummus for snacking on while we watched the movie. That's how I knew the Vitamix didn't work. :( Recipe here. Picture below. :)

 

For dinner, I made an African Black-eyed Pea Stew with Spicy Butternut Squash to be all traditional and stuff for New Year's Day. Happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year everyone!

This recipe is adapted from the Black-eyed Pea Stew with Spicy Pumpkin recipe in Linda McCartney's cookbook entitled Linda McCartney On Tour: Over 200 Meat-Free Dishes From Around The World (page 110).



 

 Black-Eyed Pea Stew

1 large onion, chopped

2 large carrots, sliced

1 bell pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon paprika

4 tablespoons peanut oil

1 and 1/4 cups vegetable stock

2 x 14oz cans black-eyed peas

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Tabasco to taste

 

Spicy Butternut Squash

2 tablespoons vegan butter
1 medium sized butternut squash, cubed
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons curry powder
pinch of ground nutmeg
1 and 1/4 cups water
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Black-eyed pea stew:
Sauté the onion, carrots, pepper, garlic, thyme, and spices in the peanut oil for 5 mins or so. Add the stock, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, stir in the black-eyed peas, and season to taste with salt, pepper, and Tabasco. Cover and simmer for about 15 mins, adding more stock or water as necessary until the veggies are tender.

Spicy Butternut Squash:
Melt the vegan butter in a large saucepan or pot. Sauté the onion in the butter for a bit until it softens up. Add the squash, garlic, tomatoes, spices, and water. Stir well and simmer, covered, until the squash is tender (about 10-15 mins). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with the black-eyed peas.

This was quite good. I hope all that about black-eyed peas is true. ;o)

Savory Amaranth Stuffed Peppers

Huzzah! I made amaranth! I'm pretty excited about this; I've been meaning to do this forever. This was pretty damn good. The marinade is from The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life by Melisser Elliott (the Brussels sprouts with crispy tempeh recipe in that book).   

Savory Amaranth Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
1 cup dry amaranth
2 cups water
4 red bell peppers (tops cut off and deseeded)
1/4 cup raw pine nuts
5 sun dried tomatoes, rehydrated in hot water for 10 minutes and then cut into thin strips
1 clove garlic, minced
1 onion, cut into thin slices
olive oil to sauté onion
5 ounces raw baby spinach, wilted in about 1/2 inch boiling water in a saucepan

Marinade ingredients:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Method:
Combine all marinade ingredients and set aside. Next, set oven to 375F. Spray peppers with cooking oil or coat in oil. Roast peppers for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, bring two cups water to a boil in a sauce pan. Once the water is boiling, stir in the cup of dry amaranth, cover, and lower heat to a simmer. Leave amaranth simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Next, heat oil in a pan and sauté onion until it's caramelized. I threw in the minced garlic at the end of the onion sauté just to heat it and release the flavor. Once amaranth and pepper done, turn off heat and combine amaranth, drained wilted spinach, sundried tomatoes, onions, garlic, and marinade in the saucepan. Spoon mixture into peppers and serve. Serves 3 or 4.

BANDHAKOPIR DALNA (BENGALI CABBAGE CURRY)

I made this last night. It's one of my favorite cheap recipes because, if you already have the spices, you really just have to buy a head of cabbage (uber cheap at less than $3) and some ginger. I usually skip the potatoes and serve this over basmati rice with some sour cream on top. Yummmmmmmmmmm.

Ingredients:
1 lb cabbage, sliced finely
2 potatoes, cut in small cubes
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp turmeric
1 1/4 to 2 tsp green chili paste (I substitute with THAI KITCHEN brand green curry paste)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 inch ginger grated
1 tbsp butter
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

Method:
♥ Fry cubed potatoes in hot oil in a wok until lightly browned. Remove from oil and keep aside.
♥ To the hot oil add cabbage. Sprinkle with salt.
♥ Stir and cover. Simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove cover.
♥ Add the turmeric, chili paste, cumin, coriander and ginger. Stir and fry until the spices are well blended with the cabbage.
♥ The cabbage should be nearly cooked at this stage.
♥ Add 1/2 cup water and add potatoes. Adjust salt and add sugar to taste.
♥ Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are cooked and there is practically no gravy in the pan.
♥ In a frying pan, heat butter. Add the bay leaves and garam masala. Stir fry a couple of minutes and pour over bandhakopir dalna.
♥ Stir the cabbage and remove from heat.
Recipe Source: http://festivals.iloveindia.com/durga-puja/cabbage-curry.html