veganmofo - obama + paella bowl

Today is the big day for me! Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) is being released today!  Yikes!  *-*

The release of a cookbook is exciting and apprehensive and all other kinds of emotions all at once! How will it be received? Will people like the recipes? Like the format of the book? The ingredients chosen? So many things to wonder and worry about!

I really loved making this book and was trying to create a variety of bowl recipes that are all complete meals. I was also trying to make them a bit familiar and worked on basing the recipes on some well-established and honed flavor profiles. I wanted to create recipes that had some root in traditional meals, but made into complete meals that were convenient to serve and eat.

The original bowl recipes began simply with a grain (rice), vegetables (steamed), protein (tofu or beans) and a sauce. Simple bowls such as the Budha Bowl, quinoa bowls, Mexican bowls and other Asian-inspired bowls are the natural evolution of the original bowl, but I wanted to go beyond that.

I wanted to take "traditional," and therefore oft-tested dishes, and make them into bowl meals. Hence, there are three kinds of bowls in this book:

1. traditionally bowl meals
2. almost bowl meals - just a few additions or tweaks make them into bowls
3. original bowls - perhaps inspired by flavorful dishes that have no business being bowl meals, or off-the-cuff bowls of ingredients that play well because of flavor harmony

So there it is - my impetus for writing this book: fast, complete meals that are flavorful, healthy and nutritious. My goal was to bring you recipes that in turn bring you complete meals quickly. No brainers, no need to supplement with other dishes - just grabbing ingredients, following the recipes and sitting down to eat. Period.

Now for the #vgnmf15 part of the post. The prompt today is to make a meal for the POTUS - Obama. During yesterday's post, I shared with you the (assumed) fact that President Obama enjoys Chicago THIN-crust pizza, topped with tomatoes, basil, cheese, olives and red onion slices. Basically, that's a Margherita Pizza plus olives and onions.

All fine and dandy, but let's serve the Prez something that is usually made with meat because there is not even any question that the man is nowhere near a vegetarian, let alone a vegan.

I decided to serve something pretty and still delicious, but something that typically uses lots of seafood - his favorite animals to eat, it seems.

I share with you my Paella Bowl recipe, in honor of Vegan Bowls' book release. Which calls for another peak into a chapter of the book - this time the Sauteed Chapter:

One more thing before the recipe: Last week's giveaway of Vegan Bowls was nice but I noticed that there were some international folks missing out on the deal.

This week I will give away two copies of the Kindle edition of Vegan Bowls, one international and one US. Please enter only the contest that represents your location and not both.  To be eligible to win you must be following this blog via email or RSS feed (link). Contest ends next Monday night at midnight, September 21. Good luck!

Paella Bowl
SERVES 4 TO 6
The saffron threads are responsible for the beautiful orange-yellow color of this dish. Once the rice and broth are added, the dish is no longer stirred. It cooks uncovered while the rice absorbs the broth. As the rice cooks, it develops a flavorful crust on the bottom of the pan called socarrat – a welcome result of not stirring the rice. Using a nonstick pan will prevent the socarrat from forming, but the dish will still taste great. (Recipe from Vegan Bowls, copyright © 2015 by Zsu Dever. Used by permission from Vegan Heritage Press, LLC.)

BROTH
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

SAUTÉ
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 artichoke hearts, quartered
1 medium yellow squash or zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 small red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 small Roma tomato, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 cups frozen lima beans or edamame, thawed
1 cup paella or Arborio rice

GARNISH
1/2 cup green peas, thawed if frozen
1 jarred roasted red pepper, cut into 1/2-inch strips
1/4 cup minced parsley
Lemon slices

BROTH: Heat the broth, paprika, salt, and saffron in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Cover and keep warm over low heat.

SAUTÉ: Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the artichoke and squash and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the bell pepper, tomato, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down, about 5 minutes. Add the green beans and lima beans. Add the rice, spreading it evenly over the vegetables. Add the broth, taking care not to disturb the rice too much, but ensuring that the rice is submerged in the broth. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the rice is al dente, about 14 minutes. Arrange the squash and artichoke hearts on the paella and continue to cook until the rice is tender and the broth is absorbed, about 4 minutes longer.

GARNISH: Scatter the peas over the paella, arrange the strips of pepper on top of the paella and sprinkle with the parsley. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside for 5 minutes before serving. Serve in bowls with lemon slices.


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back to basics - fast and easy brown rice

Brown rice is something we all know we should include in our diet in lieu of white rice. This is more challenging to do in the sense that when brown rice is traditionally cooked, in the proper ratio of water to rice, the rice takes almost an hour to cook and at times is not cooked properly. I've had brown rice that was overcooked, undercooked, mushy, hard as a rock, etc. 

Here is the perfect way to cook long grain brown rice every single time. It turns out fluffy, each grain separate, tender and, best of all, is ready in around 20 minutes.  

Long Grain Brown Rice - Fast and Easy

The Process:

Step 1. Bring a pot of water to boil, about 1.5 quarts of water per cup of rice. Season the water with salt and add the long grain brown rice. Continue to lightly boil the rice until it is tender. Start checking if the rice is tender after 15 minutes of cooking.  

Step 2. When the rice is tender drain it.

Step 3. Return the rice to the hot pot it was cooked in and cover with a kitchen towel and then with a lid.

Step 4. Allow the rice to steam (using its own residual heat) for 5 minutes. This step absorbs excess moisture and leaves each grain fluffy.

The Result. Perfectly cooked brown rice in about 20 minutes.

stuffed cabbage + "grills gone vegan" winner

RECIPE UPDATE: this dish has been tested and revised and will be featured in the upcoming cookbook "Everyday Vegan Eats," by Zsu Dever.

I am so excited about this recipe! 

My dad used to cook this dish almost every single day for over twenty years at the restaurant. Although I had seen it being prepared many times, unfortunately, I paid little attention to the nuances of the recipe. It took many years and many trials to finally be able to replicate this dish to fit my remembrance. 

Stuffed Cabbage can be made two different ways. First is Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage using sauerkraut and the other is the Jewish way, with sweet tomato sauce. The latter is what I clearly remembered. The filling in stuffed cabbage is typically of ground beef and rice. Replacing the ground beef with a ground vegetarian protein is relatively a simple matter, however, it is too easy to create a dry, pale version of the original. 

To combat the dry filling of ground vegetable protein and rice, I decided to use arborio rice in lieu of the regular white rice. The arborio rice, once cooked risotto-style, becomes creamy, adding much needed moisture and a binding quality to the filling. This worked beautifully! We loved it! The tomato sauce is a very easy three-ingredient mixture. My dad, I am sure, would be proud.

The Stuffed Cabbage needs to cook for quite a while to ensure that the leaves are tender. A slow cooker comes in handy for this purpose, otherwise simmering it on the stove until tender is good enough.

Now, for the contest winner:

"Grills Gone Vegan," by Tamasin Noyes goes to...

Comment Number 3...Nichole.

 Please contact me in the next few days to claim your prize. 

veganaide (at) yahoo (dot) com

Congratulations!

Return for another cookbook giveaway in a few days as I kick-off

 "Whole Grain Vegan Baking" Blog Tour. 

This was another cookbook I tested for and Tami Noyes and Celine Steen want me to give away a copy. I will also give you a sneak peak at a recipe from the book. 

Come back on the 14th for your chance to win!

red beans and rice

Red Beans and Rice Recipe

Popeye's Red Beans and Rice, for me, is a throwback to those long-ago days of being non-vegan. This was my favorite food item on their menu. Smoky deliciousness.

The only thing that makes this non-veg is the source of the smoke flavor: ham hock or sausage, not sure which they use. This is so ridiculously easy to omit; it is a wonder restaurants that use animal products for the so-called flavor of a condiment, are willing to turn away vegetarian customers, for literally, no reason. 

I have recreated this favorite dish of mine. I used smoked paprika and liquid smoke for the required flavor. This is incredibly delicious and healthy - even if you add the optional Earth Balance at the end of cooking, which gives it that extra decadent richness.

Cost Breakdown

rice: $.75

beans: $6

spices: $.50

oils, butter: $.50

Total to make 6 servings:

$7.75

FNF + lamb shanks with sweet potato risotto

After first reading the recipe, it was confusing to me why the chef was pairing serrano peppers with lamb and risotto. Then I took note of the author and it all made sense - the recipe, Lamb Shanks with Sweet Potato Risotto and Serrano Vinegar Sauce, is a Bobby Flay, the king of hot peppers, recipe. 

Whoever picked this Food Network Friday choice at Vegan Appetite, did very well. I am all into mushrooms and I have not yet had the pleasure of making risotto because I have always been scared off by all the hype on Hell's Kitchen and other sundry shows where the risotto has to be just perfect, otherwise shame is brought on the chef and her descendants. Hence, to me, risotto is equated with a bunch of stress.  Again, Tami manages to push me out of my comfort zone.

I remember reading somewhere that your risotto is perfect when the rice is al dente and when you stir the rice, moving your wooden (only wooden, folks!) spoon across the bottom of the pan, if the rice stays out of the cleared path and only moves back to its homogeneous consistency after a few seconds. Voila! Perfect risotto. Unless someone has a more perfect suggestion? Of course, if you leave your risotto on the stove, anticipating the other fifty components of your dish to be complete, it might harden up on you. Loosen it with a bit more hot water until you get the cleared-path-on-the-bottom-of-the-pan effect again.

Speaking of the components of this meal, let me run it down for you:

1) make protein, I made Lamb-tan. Witty, right?

2) sear seitan

3) chop onion, carrot, mushroom

4) cook onions, carrots

5) reduce wine completely

6) braise seitan

7) heat water

8) cook risotto

9) bake, peel and mash sweet potato

10) roast mushrooms

11) toast pine nuts

12) reduce balsamic vinegar

13) strain sauce and reduce

14) assemble the plate

15) serve (finally!)

And a lot of us complain about the ingredients list in recipes (and this one wasn't shy in that department either, with 25 ingredients!) This was more like making a Thanksgiving meal in miniature. Keeping it all warm and ready when the component was needed was a challenge. A worthy practice for holiday cooking.

Chanterelles are called for by Flay, but I just used regular mushrooms. However, I did drizzle a bit of truffle oil on the dish. My fungus budget went to the truffles this time. 

I also added some flour at the beginning of the braise because unlike baby sheep, seitan does not have any animal protein/gelatin to thicken the sauce. 

(I'll take flour over baby sheep any day.)

As for the results - they were worth the effort. After perusing the recipe, I realized it would be more of a company-meal or at least one that would suit an important occasion because of its elegance. For us, that occasion was appropriately Tami's Food Network Friday. 

tofu escabeche over escarole

How many times have we heard of some Top Chef or Iron Chef describe his dish as an Escabeche? Doesn't it sound exotic and unattainable for us on the side-lines of the kitchen? As with most culinary terms, this too is deceptive in its simplicity. It is a fried or cooked meat or vegetable that is then marinated in a liquid containing such acids as citrus juice or vinegar. It is typically served cold, right from the marinade.

I used tofu in this dish, but seitan, eggplant or zucchini would be ideal choices as well. Although marinating helps tofu (and please correct me if I am wrong), I have never found it to be like the proverbial sponge. I have used the Tofu Express on a slab, cut it into cutlets and marinated it for days, and still the inside turned out just as white as the day it was first pressed. That isn't to say that it is all for naught, but I have personally given up on infusing the tofu completely. The tofu picks up enough of the soaking liquid to add the flavor dimension you are trying for, but for me at least, a day of marinating is all the time I am willing to devote to food down-time. Serve the darned thing already!

I did wind up reheating my Tofu Escabeche, mainly because David would have most likely asked me to, but this is totally optional. I served it over brown rice tossed with sauteed escarole and garlic. The escarole was nicely bitter, the brown rice delightfully sweet and the escabeche wonderfully acidic. 

It was decidedly a grown-up meal.    

Cost Breakdown

tofu: $4

escarole: $3

brown rice: $1

garlic, vinegar, wine, flour, olive oil: $2
garlic, herbs, stock: $2

Total to make 6 servings:
$12.00

Tofu Escabeche Recipe

FNF - slow roasted pork with coconut curry and fresh slasa

Food Network Friday

This month's Food Network Friday, hosted by Tamasin Noyes of Vegan Appetite, American Vegan Kitchen, Grills Gone Vegan (soon) and another surprise coming up next post, is Slow Roasted Pork with Coconut Curry Sauce, Corn Tortillas, Fresh Tomato Salsa over Basmati Rice.  Try saying that ten times!

Once you read over the recipe, you will note that at the end the disclaimer tells us that this is a restaurant recipe that has been readjusted to the home cook and that they take no responsibility for the quantities specified in said recipe, so don't blame them. Seven pounds of pork butt and 50 ounces of coconut milk sent up red flags. Nevertheless, I persevered and calculated how much TVP I would need to substitute said pork butt. Why anyone would want to cook the rear of anyone else is beyond me. Anyway, according to my Dixie Diners' instructions, 1 pound of Chicken (Not!) makes 3.5 pounds of meat. Not pig, I know, but neither is it chicken. Therefore, I would need 2 pounds of TVP to replace the 7 pounds of meat. Adjust for fat, and perhaps we are talking 5 pounds of meat. Maybe less.

In any case, to make the same amount of protein that the recipe calls for, I wound have needed to cook EIGHT cups of dry TVP. First off, we are not feeding an army or extended family overstaying their welcome, second, the cost would be outlandish. No thanks. I used 3 cups of Dixie's Chicken(Not!) to rehydrate to 2 pounds of the equivalent in meat. This amount was more reasonable for a family of five.

The funny thing is, I did use the 50 ounces of coconut milk because the recipe didn't cut the milk with any broth or water and I didn't want to lose any 'authenticity.' I didn't even cut the massive 1/4c of sesame oil it called for. I have hardly ever used more than a tablespoon of the stuff since it is so strong. Now that I have been your tester, you may very securely lessen the overage. It is intense. 

After rehydrating the TVP, I ripped each individual 2" piece apart by hand, to mimic the pulling. I braised, as suggested, the pieces in the 50 ounces (about 4 cans) of coconut milk, used a massive amount of curry paste (around 2/3 cup) and did not balk at the 5 tablespoons of minced garlic. The ginger is where I drew the line and took only a 2 inch piece and sliced it thick. I have my limits.

I braised the stuff for 2 hours, during which time the TVP softened considerably, the sauce thickened and the flavors were great. 

As for reviews from the family, they were mixed:

"I don't like coconut. I'm not hungry"

"This tastes just like Panang."

"I don't like this."

"This is nothing like Panang, except that they both have coconut milk."

"Boys, don't fight!" (Directed at Dad and Son by Mom.)

Now is where the recipe gets interesting! 

On top of all this, make a fresh jalapeno salsa (huh?) and roll it all up in a corn tortilla. Did we detour to Mexico? Sound like one of those challenges on the Next Food Network Star where they had to fuse the foods of two ethnicities that had gone very wrong? ... it could have been, but strangely... it was...good. Maybe all the coconut fumes got to me, but if you wrap it all up in the tortilla, it is bueno.

(Before I forget, that salsa was enough to feed a restaurant!)

Cost Breakdown:

TVP: $3

coconut milk: $7

seasonings and spices: $3

curry paste: $1

ginger, garlic, fermented beans, sesame oil: $2

cilantro, peppers, onion: $2

tomatoes: free (garden)

rice, tortillas: $2

Total to feed five people? 

$20:00

VEG-Aside: 

We have moved! In blog, in life, in location, in most everything! 

Over the past month our family has moved to a new house and as anyone who has ever moved before knows that, it, well, sucks, ...as good as it is. It is like Spring cleaning, but you have no choice. It is amazing how much stuff accumulates in less than a few years. If you don't move much, I encourage you to purge every Spring and Fall - great times to clean your house and yourself.

The new (home)school year is starting and I have two teens in college! They are very excited - one is taking Japanese and the other Japanese and English. They are 14 and 16 respectively. Yes, I am proud of them, but it is important for everyone to know that your high schooler can take college credit courses - don't make them wait if they don't have to; it is a wonderful, encouraging and self-satisfying reaffirmation of themselves. Great confidence booster!

The blog has had a face-lift because I want to emphasize that there is a new turn of events. I have noticed my lack of drive, lack of time and lack of direction over the past few months. There are many recipes I want to put out here, especially my revised seitan recipes. Overall, a new time for it all. 

Since my kids have adopted a college, it is my turn to Adopt A College as well, and you should too! I will be leafleting while they are in class and hope that you will jump on the college-train, too~ if you would like to join me, just email me.

See you next post -when I will be unveiling new secrets~

paella

Tester

I have been wanting to make Paella for a long, long time now. I have read Paella recipes and watched Food TV shows on how to make a Paella the best way. Still, vying to make it is not the same as making it. When I saw that one of Tami's tester recipes for her upcoming cookbook, Grills Gone Vegan, was a paella, I printed it out and made it the very next day.

Let me say that this is done just right.

From the flavor and texture of the rice, to the crust on the bottom of the dish, to the tofu that tops it, it is out of this world. And all that without a paella pan. For the longest time I thought I would have to buy one of those pans, and since I only buy kitchen items that have more than one function, the paella pan was not high on my list of need-to-buy, even if it was on my wish list.

Although she has many wonderful recipes for this book, this one was totally one of my favorite dishes. In fact, I kept helping myself to more, even though I knew I should stop.

Bad, but, oh, so good.

Have I mentioned how much I love testing for her? 

This is a perfect dinner party meal as well since it is so elegant and easy to prepare.

vietnamese spring rolls

Asian Night

Tonight's meal was a Vietnamese Spring Roll with a quick peanut dipping sauce.

Those papery-spring roll wrappers have had their share of bullying. Many people, including me, have been beaten by them. That is unnecessary, though. You just have to know a few tricks and you can pull off delicious spring rolls. Once you have some easy insight into rice-paper-wrapper-secrets, there is no end to the creative possibilities.

My rolls have jicama, pepper, mint, basil, chive, cucumber, bean thread and carrot in them. You can put anything in them you want: lettuce leaves, tofu, cilantro, nuts, mushrooms, etc. The list goes on.

What tends to be intimidating with the rice paper is the soaking: soak it too long, the sheet literally dissolves. Soak it not long enough and you are eating paper.

You need to have your water pretty warm and dip your rice paper wrapper into it. Only dip it long enough for it to become pliable, so you can roll it and not have it break. There is no need for it to be soft enough to eat at this point. Place it on your board, fill it moderately, wrap half way, folding both ends in, add a few julienned pieces of veggies, sticking out over the edge and finish rolling. The moisture in the veggies will finish softening the paper to a perfect consistency.

No more guesswork.

Cost Breakdown

rice paper, bean thread: $2

carrot, pepper, jicama, cuke: $3

herbs: $1.25

peanut sauce: $.75

Total to make 15 rolls:

$7.00

seitan and cheese enchiladas

Continental Night

On Saturday nights I like to make something from the Western Hemesphere, North American or South American.

Enchiladas are a wonderful way to present some of these dishes in a most delicious way. Another Enchilada dish I blogged about before had vegan cheese and spinach in a blue corn tortilla. This one has seitan, pan seared, and a combination of Daiya and Follow Your Heart. Melting the cheeses on the stove top first and then rolling them in the tortillas is the best way to make sure that your vegan cheese melts.

I made Red Rice for the enchiladas, using brown rice and baking the whole thing until the rice was tender. This took a little trial-and-error, having to add more water and then baking it some more, but I think I have the water to rice proportion correct now.

The refried beans are just pinto beans, with some sauted onions, garlic, cumin and water to thin the beans.

The enchilada sauce is just as simple using, chili powder, flour, water, tomatoes and onions.

This does not dissapoint. If you want to add sauted vegetables or tofu instead of seitan, it is all very workable and will taste great. Just make sure not to overfill the tortillas.

Cost Breakdown:

beans: $2

tortillas: $1

rice: $.50

tomato, onion, garlic, jalapeno, pepper: $3

seitan: $2

vegan cheeses: $5

herbs, spices: $1

Total to make 5 complete servings:

$14.50

Red Rice Recipe

stir-fried beans with bitter greens

Asian Night

Stir-frying green beans is commonly done, but how often do you come across stir-frying legumes?

Another really easy and quick meal, this stir-fry of aduki beans and vegetables was wonderfully delicious. I used asparagus, yellow pepper, and a bunch of rapini. I love rapini's bitter flavor and it was complemented especially well with the sweetness of the beans and peppers. You, of course, can use whatever greens you personally love.

The whole stir-fry took at the maximum of ten minutes to cook, so, again, make sure you have all the components of the dish at hand. And start cooking your brown rice before you start prepping everything else so it can all come together at the same time.

Cost Breakdown

onion, garlic, chili pepper: $1

asparagus, yellow pepper: $2

aduki beans: $2

rapini, green onions: $3

tamari, sugar, sesame oil: $.50

rice: $1

Total to make 4 servings:

$9.50

Stir-Fried Beans with Bitter Greens Recipe

indian rasam and cauliflower with creamy sauce

Indian Night

Rasam is a light Indian soup made with dal, tamarind and diced tomatoes. The dal (split legumes) is cooked  in lots of water and is seasoned with the sour tamarind and spices. When the dal is cooked well, it is whipped so it falls apart and sinks to the bottom of the pot. Tradition holds that you serve the clear, spicy, flavorful broth to guests and the 'dregs' are eaten by the family.

In our family everyone had some of both by stirring up the soup before serving.

The Cauliflower in Creamy Sauce is adapted from a recipe in Flavors of India, a nice little vegetarian Indian cookbook. This was divine. And oh so quick! While the cauliflower is steaming the sauce is made and then poured over the tender cauliflower. That's it. We all loved this version of a sauced cauliflower and it goes on our 'Make Again' list.

I also made the Saffron Rice right out of the same cookbook. I should have followed by instincts to use the amount of water to make the rice as I usually do, but instead I followed my rule of making something from a recipe as the author wrote it. Hence, I got overcooked rice. What a shame. The taste was great and the kids liked it, but you know mushy rice when you eat it.

The simplest way to cook white rice is to combine it with the water (1 c rice to 1 1/2 c water), bring to a boil, cover, reduce to simmer for 5-10 (Max!) minutes, turn it off and let it hang out on the back of the stove for another 15 minutes, covered. Fluff it with a fork and serve.

Cost Breakdown:

dal: $.50

spices, tomato, tamarind: $1.50

rice, saffron: $1

plant milk, cashews: $2
cauliflower: $4

Total to make 5 servings:
$9.00

Rasam Soup Recipe

Cauliflower with Indian Cream Sauce Recipe

native foods (MoFo 5)

Native Foods is the brain child of Tanya Petrovna, who opened the first Native Foods in 1994. She will be opening the seventh very soon! That is impressive; a vegan restaurant that will be celebrating another grand opening. What is more impressive, though, is the food. I am literally licking the plate that I served the Azteca Ensalada on - that Mango-Lime Dressing rocks!

Another impressive feat is the preparation of her tempeh. While she actually makes the tempeh on the premises, my store-bought version did not suffer any using her technique. Delicious! If you are one of those tempeh-phobes this is the recipe for you. If after having tempeh this way you don't like it, then you never will and you may fearlessly throw in the proverbial towel. 

To the recipes...

Let's face it, nachos are good. Most any nachos. But these Native Nachos are great! Chef Tanya shares her Native Chi's recipe that go on this and the taco 'meat' is TVP. You can freely use seitan ground, however, or omit it at will and double the beans. Nothing processed. Even the cashew sour cream I have on there is very easy to make. THIS is one loaded nacho plate and go ahead and customize it to your palate.


Now for that salad I was drooling over in the beginning - assorted greens with tomato, onion, jicama or apple or asian pear, cucumbers, cilantro, mango, raisin, pumpkin seeds, quinoa (superfood!) and that outrageous Mango-Lime Dressing and you not only have a complete meal but a little piece of heaven.

The last item on our tasting menu is the Gandhi Bowl - two kinds of rice, steamed greens, curry sauce and that tempeh of hers - blackened. Cajun-meets-Asian. Another out-of-the-park dish. She is batting a thousand.

The only real criticism I have is that she is inundating the east coast with her restaurants and is leaving the mid and west coast to suffer without her culinary contributions. Pure selfishness.

Cost Breakdown:

Nachos:
chips: $3 
cheeze, cashew sour cream: $3
TVP, beans: $4
tomato, onion, olive, pepper: $3
Total to make apps for 8:
$13.00


salad:
greens: $4
Asian pear, tomato, cuke, mango: $4
mango, lime, oil, cilantro: $2
raisin, pumpkin: $1
quinoa: $1
Total to make 4 servings:
$12.00

Bowl:
rice: $1.50
curry, coconut milk: $2
tempeh: $3
greens, cauliflower: $3
Total to make 5 servings:
$9.50

Native Nachos



Ensalada Azteca



Gandhi Bowl



italian rice casserole

Italian Night

Having to come home pretty late, I needed to plan something that would be easy and pretty hands-off. I cooked an Italian rice casserole full of vegetables: onion, garlic, pepper, spinach, olives, chickpeas and green beans.

After all the vegetables were chopped and the garlic, onion, chickpeas and peppers were sauteed, there was nothing to do but add the rice, the rest of the vegetables and stock. I baked it for 40 minutes and dinner was on the table without a whole bunch of hassle. The taste was pretty nice, too, so this was a success as far as I was concerned.

Cost Breakdown;

rice: $1

green beans, spinach: $3

olives, onion, garlic: $1

peppers: $2

chickpeas: $2

Total to feed a family of 8:

$9.00

malai kofta

Indian Night

An awesome Indian dish is Malai Kofta. Kofta means "balls" (as in meatballs) and Malai means "cream." Neither of these would lend themselves to veganism and I haven't found a vegan version anywhere.

The kofta can be made with meat or vegetables or beans or cheese. The kofta in Malai Kofta uses paneer, a homemade cheese.

So, let's veganize it!

The sauce is a tomato based gravy with a little cream and some spices, but nothing all that complicated.  In  order to achieve the creaminess that cream brings to the Malai party, I used cashew cream and cashew butter and a few Tablespoons of Earth Balance to up the richness of the sauce.

I made the koftas using chickpeas and fresh herbs. I pan fried them a little and then finished them in the oven.

Although this meal was very successful in terms of flavor, it does not have quite the flavor that cream lends to the original. While there are some dishes that I truly try to achieve authenticity with, this particular one tasted so good that I am not bummed by not hitting the target exactly. It most certainly resembles Malai Kofta, but since I am not using dairy cream, the taste is slightly different. So, if you are not expecting exact replication, this is a total knockout.

For the greens I made the Spinach and Kale Bhaji out of Flavors of India.

Cost Breakdown

cashew: $2

tomato: $3

spices: $1

chickpeas: $2 

herbs: $2

kale, spinach: $4

garlic, onion: $1

Total to feed a family of 6:

$15.00

north indian

Indian Night

As soon as my kids got wind that I was making Indian (again) they asked: are you going to make the same things again?

Are you kidding me??

There is a whole country of food to make!

But, it does seem, at least to kids before they tasted it, that indeed, Mom did make the same things again: legumes, potatoes and rice. It was only after they tasted it that the light bulb went off - this is totally different than last week's Indian.

It was either my cooking skills or South Indian's penchant for sour, because they enjoyed the tonight's North Indian more. 

Tonight I made a split red lentil (masoor dal) Dal with spinach and tomatoes, Chana Masala, chickpeas with gravy - one of the only vegan items on an Indian restaurant menu, and Alu Matar, a potato and peas dish. 

The Alu Matar recipe I got out of Flavors Of India by Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff. I met this lady in San Francisco where she has an Indian shop. Her cookbook is excellent and the recipes are easy. This is the book I have used before and while it does not have all the recipes that one can drool over in a restaurant, it is a great place to start. If you are looking for a good, simple Indian cookbook, look no further.

The chickpeas in the dish above need to be cooked fresh since the cooking broth is important in the preparation. Believe me, I've tried making Chana Masala on more than a few occasions since it is Cat's favorite dish, with little success until tonight.

Cost Breakdown:

onion, garlic: $1

spices, herbs: $1

tomatoes, peppers: $3.50

potatoes: $1.50

peas, lentil, chickpea: $3

spinach: $1

rice: $.50

Total to feed a family of 6:

$11.50

Chana Masala Recipe

DAL WITH SPINACH PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE