Non Pad Thai

I am still searching for an 'almost as good' recipe for pad thai. This one promised to deliver but wasn't even close. However, it is a yummy rice noodle dish that I will make again!

Non Pad Thai

Oil for frying

1lb tofu in small cubes
1 tsp season salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 cup boiling water
2 tbsp tamarind paste
5 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 tbsp brown/raw sugar

1 pkg rice noodles
1 pkg vegan 'chkn' cut into strips
3 carrots peeled and sliced
1 green pepper in small cubes
1 red pepper in small cubes

Chopped cilantro
Lime wedges
Crushed peanuts

Cook the rice noodles according to package instructions.

Mix the water, tamarind, soy sauce, cayenne and sugar in a small bowl.

In a wok, heat a tbsp oil on medium heat. Add tofu, salt, turmeric and nutritional yeast. Fry until the cubes become browned a bit. Put them into a bowl.

Heat another tbsp oil and fry the chkn. Add the carrots and peppers and fry until they are softened a bit and the chkn is heated through. Add the noodles, tofu and sauce and heat through.

Serve with lime, peanuts and cilantro.

I had bought bean sprouts to blanch and serve with the dish but I forgot. If you use them, blanch them in a sieve when you are cooking the noodles. Never eat bean sprouts raw. They carry yucky salmonella.

Corey ate the dish cold for lunch and said it was delicious.


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Granola

I have to admit that I miss granola with fruit and yoghurt but soyghurt just isn't a good replacement. Last weekend I found almondghurt and coconutghurt and decided to give them a try. It was timely as I had found a yummy looking recipe for homemade granola.

While the two new 'ghurts' aren't awesome, they are certainly good enough when mixed with this granola and some fresh fruit. I may start to get strawberries soon and this will be delicious.

Easy Granola (adapted from everyonelikessandwiches.com)

4 cups oats
1 cup smashed almonds (or hazelnuts or other nuts you like)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup cranberries or dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the oats, almonds, coconut and salt in a large bowl.
Pour in the melted coconut oil and maple syrup.
Mix well with a wooden spoon.
Spread evenly onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake 10 minutes, stir, bake 10 minutes, stir, bake 10 more minutes.
Take out the granola, leave in the pan and mix in the dried fruit. Let cool.

The original recipe calls for mixing in 4tbsp cocoa powder with the dry ingredients. I don't crave chocolate in the morning so I made it without and it was yummy like that. If you try it with cocoa let me know what it's like!


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Cinco de Mayo Taco Salad

Corn, black beans and rice. What a perfect combination. You could make this mixture and use it in tacos, wraps or on a salad as the recipe intends. Use whatever you like in the salad: taco chips, lettuce, avocado, tomato, cucumber, salsa, cilantro... This is adapted from the Eating Well website.

Taco Salad

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup corn kernels
1 large tomato, chopped
1 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1 1/2 cup cooked beans (black, pinto, kidney)
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp oragano
1/4 tsp salt

lime wedges for the salad dressing

Heat the oil. Add onion and corn and cook until the onion starts to brown. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the tomato breaks down. Let cool before adding to your salad or serve hot in the taco shells. Squeeze the lime over the mixture when you mix it with the salad.

Squash Shepherd's Pie

Every Thursday I go to eat at Mum's and she takes advantage of the opportunity to try new recipes. This week she made a shepherd's pie. Instead of the acorn or butternut squash, she used spaghetti squash. It didn't have the same "potato" style topping but it was tasty anyway. I really like the quinoa in this. This recipe is adapted from an EatingWell recipe online.


Squash Shepherd's Pie

Olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp paprika
2 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp allspice
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 large can diced tomatoes or 2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups chopped frozen spinach, kale or chard
1 cup quinoa
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 cups mashed squash (you can buy it frozen or cook a large squash or even use mashed sweet potato)
1/3 cup chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large ovenproof frying pan and fry the onion until tender and browned. Add all the spices and garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Stir in everything except the squash and cilantro. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes.

Spread the squash over the mixture in the frying pan. Cover the pan and bake 45 minutes until it it steaming hot and bubbling. Let sit 5 minutes before serving. Top with cilantro.

Enjoy!

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Eggplant "Parmesan"

I love eggplant. I always buy eggplants at the market in the summer and we eat them roasted on the bbq. I make a smoked eggplant biryani that is wonderful. Today I decided to try eggplant parmesan. I remember making this dish for my father years and years ago when I was a teen because I knew he liked eggplant. I'm sure he didn't enjoy the dish (not his style of cooking at all) but he was gracious enough to eat it and not complain.

Eggplant "Parmesan"

1 large eggplant sliced into 1/2" slices
Soy milk
Flour
Salt, pepper, italian spices
Bread crumbs
Olive oil

1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
1/4 cup green olives
1 cup passata (tomato sauce)
1/2 cup water
Salt, pepper, italian spices, basil
Nutritional yeast
Grated Cheddar "cheese"

Heat a layer oil in a cast iron frying pan on medium-high.

Put the milk into a bowl. On a plate, mix the flour, salt, pepper and spices. On another plate, pour a layer of bread crumbs. Have a third plate for the coated slices.

Dip the eggplant into the milk, dredge in the flour, dip in the milk and dredge in the bread crumbs. Place on the third plate. Repeat with all the slices.

When the pan is smoking, turn the heat down slightly and fry the eggplant slices. Flip and fry the other side. You will need to add more oil as you go. Once all the slices are fried, turn down the heat and place the slices all in the pan (if your pan can't go into the oven, arrange the slices in a lasagna pan.)

Turn the oven on to 375 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, heat some olive oil. Fry the onion and garlic until fragrant. Add the peppers. Once they are sizzling, add the passata and the water. Bring to a boil and add the olives, salt, pepper and spices. Adjust the seasonings as you wish. You can add chilli peppers if you want to add some heat.

Sprinkle nutritional yeast over the eggplant slices.

Pour the sauce over the eggplant. Careful! If you are using a cast iron frying pan, the sauce will bubble and splatter.

Top with the grated "cheese." Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the edges are bubbling and the sauce looks quite thick.

Remove from oven and let sit 5-10 minutes before serving. It will be very hot!

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Baked Beans

So Corey and I have started griping about our limited and boring repertoire of food. Maybe it's the grey days but we are both uninspired when it comes to cooking and both of us are starting to crave pizza on a daily basis. However, we are trying our best to fight against this cooking lethargy and we are attempting new recipes from our plethora of cookbooks.

Tonight I tried a recipe for baked beans and we ate them on top of pasta (one thing to note - rice pasta does not freeze well as I found out when I reheated the pasta we had in the freezer... ugh! I just cooked a new bag.)

Baked Any Type of Beans

5 cups cooked beans (I used my frozen black-eyed peas but you could use kidney or pinto or other beans)
1 cup water
5 cloves garlic, gently crushed with the side of the knife
3 tbsp minced ginger
4 tbsp soya sauce
3 tsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup smoked tofu in small cubes
4 drops liquid smoke (or more or less depending on your smoked tofu or preference for the smoky flavour)

Preheat over to 375. Mix all the ingredients together and put into a bean pot or deep casserole dish with a lid. Bake for 45 minutes. Easy!

Green Bean, Olive and Pasta Salad

We are currently getting organic green beams from Mexico and while that is a long way to travel, green beans are a nice break from kale, collards and chard. Plus there were organic tomatoes from Israel last week at the supermarket so by comparison, beans are from my own back yard!

Green Beans, Olive and Pasta Salad

1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut in half
454 gram bag of pasta
12 stuffed olives, sliced
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup raspberry balsamic vinegar (or just 1/4 cup balsamic total)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
Cracked black pepper

Get a pot of water up to boiling and put the green beans in to boil 3-5 minutes. Remove with a strainer and throw into a sink of ice water. Continue to use the boiling water and cook the pasta.

While the beans are cooling, mix the vinegars, oil, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss in the sliced olives. Drain the beans (save the water to cool the pasta) and toss them into the bowl. When the pasta is cooked, drain and toss into the sink of cold water. Swish around and add more cold water if necessary. When the pasta is cool, toss into the salad. Mix and let sit a little for the flavours to mix.

If you taste the dressing before adding the salad ingredients, it will seem quite sweet but once the beans, olives and pasta are in, the flavours balance well.




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Another Chili Recipe

I can't ever decide if chili is chili or chilli or chile so each time I write the word it may be spelled differently. Anyway, I am talking about bean stew! Tried a new recipe in the slow cooker but this could be easily made in a pot as well.




Another Chili for a Snowy Sunday

1 medium onion, chopped
2 peppers (red, yellow or orange) cut into chunks
8-10 roma or plum tomatoes, peeled
3 cups cooked beans of choice
2 tbsp chili spice
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
Ground black pepper
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup frozen corn

If you do this in a saucepan, you would heat some oil, fry the onions, add the peppers, then the tomatoes and once they were mushy, add all the other ingredients.

If you do this in a slow cooker, throw all the ingredients into the pot, turn on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours and serve!

I made guacamole and served a dollop of it in with the chili and it was yummy. You could add chunks of avocado as well. We also ate olives with it and tortillas. Corey had made veggie burgers the night before so I had a couple of those in the mix as well so if you have a veggie burger of choice, you could crumble that into the chili but that is not called for in the original recipe.


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Mum's delicious gnocchi

So gnocchi is not necessarily vegan as some recipes contain egg and others have lactose. Check the labels. You could also cook shells or macaroni and then use those instead of the gnocchi although it will change the texture considerably.


Mum's Gnocchi and Beans (adapted from Eating Well)

1 tbsp olive oil plus 1 tsp
1 pkg gnocchi
1 medium onion, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water
6 cups chopped chard leaves or kale leaves chopped fairly small
2 cups diced tomato or canned tomato
1 tsp italian herb mix
Pinch rosemary
2 cups cooked white beans
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Heat oil in a skillet and fry the gnocchi until it starts to brown. Put into a bowl. Add remaining 1tsp oil to the pan and cook the onion over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and water. Cover and cook 4-6 minutes until the onion is soft. Add chard and cook, stirring, 1-2 minutes until it starts to wilt (longer for kale.) Stir in tomatoes, herbs, beans and pepper and bring to a simmer. Add the gnocchi. Cover and cook until it is bubbling.

** There is a sweet potato gnocchi that you can get as well as mini gnocchi. See which you prefer for taste and texture. This recipe does not call for salt and we didn't find that it needed any. Season as you like!**

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Easy Yummy Indian Lentils

I received a book from a friend in Nepal who is caring for 15 orphan girls and putting them through school. She is from England and returns home every so often so on one of her trips home in 2012, she mailed me this awesome little cookbook entitled Indian Vegetarian Cuisine by Kikky Sihota. I've tried several recipes and have found them all to be yummy. I always modify them a bit based on my needs but I have not hit a dud yet! On Monday I wanted to eat some Indian food to go with the naans Corey had made so I tried two new recipes from this cookbook. The lentils were amazing and SO easy to make. I hope you enjoy them as well!

Mixed Dal

3/4 cup dried red/yellow lentils
3/4 cup dried brown/blue lentils
5 cups water
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 salt
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chilli flakes

Pour small amounts of the lentils onto a plate and swirl them around to check for rocks and other debris. Put all the ingredients into a large saucepan (lentils foam up when they boil so they need a lot of space.) Bring to a boil uncovered. Turn down the heat to medium and cover but allow the steam to escape and let bubble until the lentils are done. I removed the lid and let the mixture thicken a bit as well before serving. DELICIOUS!