This Food Is Good!

Finding vegetarian Indian recipes is not hard to do; less than 30% of India's population regularly consumes meat. As the food relies heavily on spices, cooking Indian dishes can seem intimidating. Fortunately, you need not be scared. Madhu Gadia's book, The Indian Vegan Kitchen is great for everyone, but the overview of Indian cooking and spices that it has (about 50 pages worth) are especially helpful for newbies.

My favorite dish (aside from the ever popular and tasty Samosas) is Matar Paneer. Paneer is a cheese... and I was pleased to find that tofu makes a very good substitute for the Paneer in this recipe, now appropriately called Matar Tofu, or, Pea and Tofu Curry. It has heat to it, but is not *so* spicy. I've changed a few things from the book to suit my cooking preferences, if you want Gadia's version, you'll have to get the book.

Matar Tofu

1 Lb. Extra Firm Tofu (cut in half inch squared and drained on a towel to remove extra water)
2 c. Frozen Peas
1 c. Yellow Onion
1 T. Ginger
1 t. Garlic
1/2 t. Cayenne Pepper
1/2 c. Tomato Paste
1 t. Cumin Seeds
1 T. Poppy Seeds (I use white, black will work the same)
1/2 t. Turmeric
2 t. Ground Coriander
3-4 T. Vegetable Oil, divided
1 t. Salt
2 1/2 c. Water
1 t. Garam Masala

Heat 1-2 T. of oil in a skillet on med-high heat and add the tofu cubes. You want them lightly browned on each side, so flip them every so often and set them aside in a bowl once they are finished.

While the tofu is frying, toss the onion, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, tomato paste, cumin seeds, poppy seeds, turmeric and coriander in a blender. If it seems too stiff and not smooth you can add 1-2 T. of water).

Add your blended mixture to the skillet that the tofu just occupied, and add 2 T. of oil. Cook until the oil starts to separate from the mixture, and add the 2 1/2 c. of water.

Now add the tofu, peas, salt and garam masala. Bring it all to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer until you are ready to eat. Serve over Basmati rice and with warm Naan bread.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with a Fresh Orange Glaze

This is without a doubt my favorite chocolate cake recipe. It is easy, makes great cakes and even better cupcakes. It has a very rich yet fluffy texture... the end result will look like you were in the kitchen forever making it. But in reality, you threw it together in about 5-10 minutes. Here's the recipe:

Preheat oven to 350.

Put these in a bowl and mix:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

Now push everything to the sides of the bowl so you have an empty spot in the center. Add these:
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 T. white distilled vinegar
1 cup cold water (cold coffee will also work very well)

Mix everything together (don't over mix, though) and bake for 15 minutes.

For my glaze, I mixed 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar, 2 T. of fresh orange juice and the zest/peel from that orange. I left the pieces of zest a bit long, but you could mince them as well and it would still look nice :)

This is a great smoothie to pair with a light salad at lunchtime or for an afternoon energy boost.

Strawberry-Banana-Kiwi-Flaxseed Smoothie... now with shadow of doom behind it!

1 c. Frozen Strawberries
1. Ripe Banana, not frozen!
1. Fresh Kiwi, peeled and cut in half
1 t. Ground Flaxseeds
1 c. Almond, Soy or Rice Milk

Add everything to a blender, and pulse it until it is smooth. It's that easy. Make sure you use an unsweetened milk, whichever one you choose. There is enough sugar in the fruit that you will not need any more. You won't taste the flaxseeds if you just add a teaspoon, but they're a really healthy addition. I add them to all of my smoothies. Make sure you fill the blender jar with water right away, even if you are just going to leave it in the sink for a while. You'll be glad you did that later on when you go to do the dishes. Plus it's less than a dollar to make, and serves 2.

First, a thank you to my lil' sis for the shout out on her blog - Today I Made Risotto . She makes super good food, especially desserts. When she's not cooking, she is working toward becoming the first female member of the Blue Man Group. Or the second...

Now... the food...

Today I give you: The Black Bean Seitan Burger


Remember the Italian Seitan Sandwiches? There was extra seitan, so I froze it until it was needed.

1 1/4c. Seitan
1 15oz can of Black Beans (rinse them, the can juice isn't needed)
1 T. Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 c. Bread Crumbs
2 T. Flour
1/2 c. Corn
1/2 t. Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 t. Cumin
1/2 t. Chili Powder
1/4 t. Salt
1-2 T. Veg. Oil

It really is this easy: Throw the seitan and black beans into your food processor and pulse them until they are completely mixed. Put the mixture into a bowl, add the other ingredients and mix them with your hands.

Heat up a skillet - while heating, prepare your patties... between 1/4 and 1/3 cup is a good amount for a patty. Add some oil to your skillet, then add the burgers. They cook quickly, and I recommend letting them get pretty dark on each side. Put them in a bun with all of the fixings and it is fantastic! I added portobellos, onions, lettuce and tomatoes. They have some heat to them from the spices, but not so much that I'd call them spicy.

You will thank me for this one.


There are a lot of great options out there for when you are craving a certain taste but don't want the meat, however... Italian beef sandwiches were one thing that I had figured just weren't going to happen. I didn't crave the meat part - just the juicy, spicy, well-seasoned bread that came with it. I haven't cooked with seitan much, but I've always enjoyed it at restaurants and prefer it to tofu. Then I discovered this recipe, and adjusted it to my liking.

This is what you need to gather:
1 and 1/2 lbs. of thinly sliced seitan
3-4 c. water
3 vegetable bouillon cubes
2 t. dried oregano
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
2 t. fennel seeds
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
2 chopped up red bell peppers

Put everything in a pot, stir it, cover it, and simmer over medium heat for about an hour. After an hour, turn the heat to low and keep it covered until you are ready to serve it.

Serve with rolls. I got 5 for $1 at the Vietnamese bakery across the street and they were amazing. They were served in a bowl, sliced, filled with the seitan and then I poured the juice over them. Perfect!

It looks basic, and it is, but the flavor is very satisfying. First though, I have to give credit to my friend Melvin, who told me how he makes his salsa... and I based my recipe on his. Having said that... it's cheap, easy and healthy. You can prepare it in just a few minutes, and it's easy to make it in large quantities.

SALSA

3-4 Tomatoes
1/2 c. Red Onion
1/2 c. Sweet Corn
1/4 c. Cilantro
2 T. Lime Juice
Adobo Seasoning with Pepper

Dice the tomatoes and onion and toss them in a bowl. Add corn. Chop up the cilantro and add it. Add the lime juice and then shake on the Adobo to taste. Mix it all up and you are done. If you would like, you can mince a clove or two of garlic and add that.

TIP: I use about 1/2 of a can of sweet corn to make this. Take the rest of the corn from the can, put it in a small freezer bag, and freeze it until the next time you are making salsa, soup or a stew. Don't fall into the habit of throwing out extra food that can just as easily be frozen and used in the future.

It is really easy to procrastinate making healthy food when it requires a lot of preparation time every time you want to make something. Who wants to spend time every day slicing tomatoes, rinsing lettuce and sprouts, dicing onions and chopping peppers just to make lunch? No one has time to add more tasks to their day, and it creates more dishes.

I go grocery shopping once a week. When I get home, I make it a point to go through and prep the food for cooking. Fresh herbs get rinsed, wrapped in paper towels and stored in a zip lock bag. Lettuce and sprouts get rinsed and stored in containers with paper towels. Everything else gets chopped up and put into small containers. A mandolin slicer will make this go even faster. Rinse the slicer and cutting board between veggies.


This makes it really easy to take your lunch to work (but more on that later)... as it now will take you less than 5 minutes to throw this together:

Whole Wheat Veggie Wrap

Warm a whole wheat wrap or tortilla of your choice on the stove. Just toss it on the skillet, no need to spray. Warm it for a minute before flipping it over to warm the other side.

Spread some hummus (I used the Chipotle Pepper Hummus that I made yesterday) in a line down the center of the wrap. Mustard also works well.

Sprinkle chopped veggies on the wrap. Don't overload it, or you won't be able to hold it together later. I find that you get a better overall taste with chopped rather than sliced veggies.

Top it off with some large pieces of red lettuce, fold the sides over, and you are done.

This photo was taken just before the lettuce was added.

This is my favorite hummus recipe. If you have the time, you can soak dried chickpeas for it, but I like to use a can of ready-to-go ones. They're $1.59, which I am okay with.

2 c. Chickpeas (drain them first)
1/4 c. Tahini
1/4 c. Lemon Juice
3 cloves of garlic
1 T. Oil (I use vegetable oil)
Small can of Chipotle Peppers
A quick dash of salt

Throw everything but the peppers in a blender and tap the pulse button until it is a consistent blend. In between pulses, add another pepper or two and keep tasting until it's as hot as you want it. Don't over-blend it though, it should be slightly chunky but still not creamy.

You can substitute the chipotle peppers with roasted red peppers, or skip the peppers all together and add in a few extra garlic cloves. I've made this recipe many different ways and it is very adaptable to different flavors.

This usually costs around $2.50 to make, assuming I don't use dried chickpeas which would make it even cheaper! Considering it makes three times the amount of something twice as expensive at the grocery, this is not a bad deal.