Stuffed Peppers and Indian Spiced Kale (vegan)

The recipe for Indian Spiced Kale is here:
http://sundaegirl108.blogspot.com/2008/10/indian-spiced-kale-and-chickpeas.html

Mmm. Stuffed peppers are so yummy!

STUFFED PEPPERS RECIPE
Ingredients:
4 green bell peppers
1 cup basmati rice
1 1/2 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
Minced garlic (to your taste, I minced about 4 cloves)
1 onion, diced
fresh parsley, chopped
1 bag frozen BOCA brand soy crumbles
Olive oil
Your fave Italian spices (I used crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, black pepper)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and throw in the onion. Sauté until translucent. Add the minced garlic and sauté for about a minute.
3. Add dry basmati rice and stir for a minute.
4. Add water and bring to a boil.
5. Lower heat to low, cover, and leave it alone for 15 minutes.
6. Rice should be done after 15 minutes. Add (to the same pot) some frozen BOCA crumbles, the can of diced tomatoes, the chopped parsley, and the Italian spices.
7. Cut tops off the peppers and scoop out the insides. Fill peppers with rice mixture and top with a bit of the tomato sauce to keep it from drying out while baking.
8. I spray a muffin pan with olive oil cooking spray and set the peppers in that. Bake at 375°F for about 30 mins or until the peppers look wrinkly/roasted.

Roasted stuffed pepper and tomato ... (Yeah, you can also scoop out tomatoes and do this ... divine!)


Enjoy with kale! Yum!

Vegan Pizza!

Huzzah! I made pizza from scratch!

Vegan Pizza, that is, with Basil Tofu Ricotta, Artichoke Hearts, Black Olives, Fresh Tomatoes, and Carmelized Onions ... Mmm. (Yes, I felt the need to capitalize all that 'cause it was so, so yummy! heh.)

This is the pizza from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan with a Vengeance.

Pages 128-129 tell you how to make the crust. It's really a great description and I managed to use yeast and put something in the oven ... and it actually resembled what I intended it to! (I am, historically, not good with dough ~ at all.)
I suggest you pick up this book to tell you how to make the crust. :) I threw some rosemary into mine which was super yum.

Once I had the dough stretched, I topped each pizza with tomato sauce, artichokes, olives, fresh tomato slices from our garden, carmelized onions, and the VwaV basil tofu ricotta. Heaven! (Then I baked the pizza at 475°F for 12 minutes.)

The Basil Tofu Ricotta appears on page 133 of VwaV.

Ingredients for Basil Tofu Ricotta:
1 pound firm tofu
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of fresh ground black pepper
Handful of fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

I just threw all of this in my food processor and blended until creamy. Mmm mmm good.

Food Inc.

I'm going to see Food Inc. tonight at Film Forum! yay!
Update: Food, Inc. was a little tame for my taste. ;) Entertaining, but tame.

I might even be able to rope Lucas into a meal at Red Bamboo or Vegetarian's Paradise beforehand. heh.
Update: We went to Vegetarian's Paradise 2. We had the Avocado Faux-Crab Tartare (yum!) for an appetizer, Lucas had the seaweed soup (yum!), I had the Texas Fried-Faux-Chicken (yum!), and Lucas had a curry. The Texas Fried "Chicken" was pretty good. It was definitely the most unhealthy high-fat meal I've had in a long time, but it was pretty tasty. It's only fault (other than fat!) was that it almost tasted too much like the real thing which made it slightly off-putting for me!

Vegan Brunch

Image source: http://superspark.wordpress.com

When winter was coming to a close, I stocked up on a few cans of pumpkin purée. (I love pumpkin.) So ... I made the pumpkin bran muffins from Vegan Brunch on Monday. They are so yummy! Mmmmmmmm.

This is after a failed attempt to make the pumpkin pancakes from Vegan Brunch. The pancakes just remained a pile of mush no matter how long I cooked them. meh. I followed the directions to a T ... I dunno what happened.

So, go for the muffins. They are super yum. :)

Vegan Mac & Cheeze

This is the first time I've made vegan mac & cheeze although it's been on my list for a while. I will definitely give this the thumbs up. Lucas, my beloved omnivore, also gave it the thumbs up. ;)

Next time, I am going to try Fat Free Vegan's recipe though (as that one is a little less fattening).

I went with Vegan Dad's recipe.
Click here for original recipe on Vegan Dad's food blog:
http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/06/creamy-mac-and-cheeze.html

INGREDIENTS
Makes a lot - enough for 4 or 5 people.

- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- 2 cups soy milk
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 cups firm tofu (does not have to be silken) NOTE: I used 12oz firm silken tofu.
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp miso (something mellow)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 cups uncooked macaroni

METHOD

1. Cook macaroni, as per directions, until al dente.

2. While macaroni is cooking, place all other ingredients in a blender and blend for 5 minutes, until very smooth. Make sure all nuts and seeds have been blended.
NOTE: I blended the nuts on their own first in my food processor with a bit of the soymilk and then added the rest of the ingredients and blended until very smooth. I feel like that blends the nuts better that way.

3. Drain macaroni and return to pot over medium heat. Add sauce and bring to bubbling. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and reduces a bit (about 5 mins)

I served it up with veggie burgers and a salad. Yum!

Okra Potato Coconut Curry (vegan)

This was probably one of my favorite curries I've ever made. Super yum!

Ingredients:

1lb 8oz potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes (I steam these for a few minutes to soften them up before throwing them in)

enough okra to compete with the potatoes (heh) ... cut off tops and then cut in half.

2 tablespoons oil (I used canola)
1 onion (thinly sliced)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
20 curry leaves**
2 tablespoons curry powder (I use a Madras medium-hot blend)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 can lite (i.e. lowfat) coconut milk
3/4 cup veggie broth
2/3 cup fresh coconut**
6 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a large skillet with sides. Add onion and stir-fry over medium heat until onion is translucent and soft. Stir in the ginger, garlic, cinnamon, curry leaves, curry powder, ground coriander, turmeric, and chili powder. Throw in the okra and the potatoes. Cook on medium-low heat until the potatoes and okra are cooked through. Once it's done, top with the coconut and cilantro.

Serve over basmati rice. Mmmm.

**I bought my curry leaves at Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights, Queens. Unfortunately, I'm yet to find another place in New York City that has fresh curry leaves! What gives??? I'm sure they exist somewhere closer to my home in Brooklyn. Please let me know if you know a place ... sheesh.
Curry leaves look like this and they make things taste divine. :)


I get my unsweetened coconut from Indian grocers. It's what I'd call a "powdered" coconut because it is fine like a powder. Any coconut you'd find in a regular supermarket will not be a good substitute.
This is the coconut I purchased at my favorite Indian grocer on 1st Avenue and 6th Street in Manhattan ... just to give you an idea of what you're looking for. It's only about $2.50.


NOTE: This recipe is a veganized version of the "Coconut Lamb Curry" recipe found on page 112 in the book 200 Curries by Sunil Vijayakar. (This book is inexpensive and it has some great, authentic, curries in it!)

More reasons to eat more plants and less animals...

Vegan Buddhist Nuns Have Same Bone Density As Non-vegetarians

Grape Seed Extract Kills Cancer Cells In Lab

I've taken grape seed extract in order to prevent blood clots. Unfortunately, my family is prone to bad circulation stuff like that and studies have shown grape seed extract to have preventative effects. It might be good for something else too! ;)