Vegan Matar Paneer

The Carnivore and I both LOVE indian food. So, I finally decided to bite the bullet and give making it a try.

Matar Paneer Ingredients                                                       Carrot Rice            
-1 block of firm tofu                                                                            - 2 cups of dry rice
-1/2 white onion                                                                                  -1/2 cup diced carrots
-2 lbs tomatoes                                                                                    -1 tsp cumin
-1/4 turmeric powder
-2 tsp coriander
-1 tsp chilli powder
-a pinch of salt or more to taste
-2 tbs olive oil
-3 cups peas (I like lots of peas!)
-heavy handful of cashews (about 15)
-1 tsp garam masala*
-ginger/garlic/pepper paste (6 green peppers, 6 cloves of garlic, 1 inch of peeled ginger)

*I couldn't find a garam masala mix in my local grocery stores so I made my own from this recipe.

 

First I made the ginger/garlic/pepper paste with the ingredients listed above and set it aside.

When I was doing research for this dish I couldn't find a specific type of green pepper, but we like things spicy so I used serrano peppers. But, if you like another pepper or want to lower the heat I think you could use jalapenos or anaheim.

Then, I boiled the 2lbs of tomatoes to remove the skins and then  I used a food processor to blend all 2lbs of tomatoes.Voila-tomatoe puree!

Removing the skins was way, way easier than I thought it would be but a little gross. I've always hated tomatoe skins.

I made this cashew paste by soak a handful of cashews in warm water for 15 minutes while I made the pepper paste and tomato puree.




Now for the actual cooking...

I sauteed the pepper paste in a skillet with some olive oil on medium heat with the chopped white onion for about 8 minutes until the onion is translucent.









Add the tomato puree, garam masala, salt, and other dry spices. At this point I cooked the mixture down until it thickened a bit.





 Meanwhile I was cooking the rice. I put the rice and water in a pan on medium heat. While the rice began to cook, I diced the carrots. Once the rice was moslty cooked I added about 2 pinches of salt and the cumin.

Man, I love how cumin smells!

Since I used frozen peas, I had them thawing in a colindar during the rest of the meal prepartion. By the time I was ready for them they were pretty much thawed. All I had to do was mix them in and wait for them to warm up.


Last step: cut the tofu in to squares and toss in the dish.

This dish had lots of steps but they were pretty easy. The Carnivore and I both enjoyed this dish. I kept asking, "Does it really taste like Indian food?" He assured me that it did.

With this dish I finally accomplished my goal of making Indian food at home. Up next: replicate the vegetable korma dish from our favorite restaurant in Memphis!





Sweet Potato Chips

The Carnivore LOVES sweet potatoes. So, after my successful experiment with kale chips I decided to make some sweet potato chips for him.

I used 3 medium sweet potatoes and then treated them basically the same as the kale.

I took my time and sliced the potatoes very thin with a sharp knife. I didn't peel the potatoes first but probably should have since I wasn't able to buy organic.

Then I tossed them in a tablespoon or so of olive oil and sprinkled them with sea salt.

I set the oven to 250 and let them bake for two hours. I turned them once with tongs at the halfway mark.

Yes, two hours. And at the end of that time about only half the chips were as crispy as they should have been.

I became impatient and turned the oven up to 300. Big mistake. The remaining chips burned within five minutes.

The chips that turned out good, turned out really good. Good enough for me to try this again. Except this time I'll be much more patient!

Also, these chips should be eaten soon after baking. I tried to store some overnight and while they were still edible most of the crispness was gone.

Vegan Black Bean Burgers Two Ways

Somehow I always end up with several cans of  black beans in the pantry. I haven't been buying food we weren't using each week so I'm not sure if these had been hiding for a while or if I unconsciously put them in the cart one day.

Either way, I decided it was time to use them and I wanted to be more creative than tacos or burritos.

Therefore, I decided to tackle black bean burgers. I'd never made them before so I looked through several recipes. I can't point to one that I followed, I kind of created a smash up of all of them. However, I can say after all that research I had no idea there were so many variations of black bean burgers.

My Ingredients
2 cans of black beans

2 cups of uncooked quinoa
1/2 red onion sauteed
1 tablespoon each of
           -chipotle powder
           -cayenne power
1/2 tbs cumin
salt and pepper to taste

These burgers were very easy to make but next time I'll add some panko or maybe walnuts to give them more texture and to bind them more. They fell apart very easily.

To make these I sauteed the onion and cooked the quinoa. Then added half the black beans, all the onion, and 3/4 of the quinoa to the food processor.

After blending the ingredients I mixed them in the with reserves black beans and quiona and added the spices. 

Finally, I formed them in to patties. I kept for out for the next two days and wrapped the rest in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer for later in the week.

The first set I back in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, turning once.

Later in the week I tried grilling the burgers to try a get a crunch on them. 

And, even later in the week I cooked them in a pan on medium for about 10 minutes with some olive oil.

I like the pan cooked burgers best because they got a little crunchy. 

Over the course of the week I served the burgers two ways.

First, I served them with a serrano vegan sour cream and salsa on a bread thin. The sides were carrots with vegan Godess dressing and homemade sweet potato chips. (more on the chips later!0

homemade mango salsa

Second, I made burger towers layered with avocado, and a homemade mango salsa. The side is a grilled pineapple and watermelon salad.

I'm sure I'll make these burgers again because they are versatile and fairly cheap to make. I'm going to keep playing with the recipe until I get a sturdier patty.

avocado slices are the middle layer

 The Carnivore like the 2nd version of the black bean burgers best. I agree the avocado really helped bring out the flavor. His only complaint was that I gave him too much fruit that day.



As we were eating I realized I do go a bit fruit crazy that day! I'm just so happy to have so many fresh fruits and vegetables this summer.

Vegan Kale Chips

In my constant search for kale recipes I came across several recipes for kale chips.

Before starting our diet change roughly six weeks ago I was a chip fiend. Seriously, I've never met a chip I didn't like.

And, aside from the tortilla chips I have with some salsa when we made tacos, I haven't had chips in 6 weeks. I'm literally marveling at that idea right now.

So kale chips seemed like a no brainier!

Ingredients
1 bunch of kale
nutritional yeast
olive oil
sea salt

I gave the kale a thorough washing and left it out on the counter for 8 hours to try.

Then I painstakingly ripped the kale leaves, minus the steams, in to chip size pieces. I went a little overboard on this step because I wanted them to bake evenly. I won't spend nearly as much time on this next time I make these.

Then I tossed the kale pieces in enough olive oil to coat them.

Lots of recipes I saw called for parmesan. So, I figured I'd try it with nutritional yeast since I've been using it as a cheese replacement for the last 2 weeks. I coated the kale with about 1/2 a cup.

Finally I laid the chips out in a single layer on 3 baking pans and had them in the over on 200 degrees for about 90 minutes.

One bunch of kale made about 6 cups of kale chips.

The Carnivore said he'd like to try them with seasonings other than the nutritional yeast.

However, I liked them so much that I ate the whole batch in 2 days.

I stored them in air tight glass containers and they stayed crispy. Next time I'll add more nutritional yeast to really give them that cheesy flavor. Yes, they tasted like kale and were as crunchy as regular chips but they did have a sort of Cheeto-like taste.

I like them so much that two days later, I have another batch ready to go in the oven as I'm writing this post!

Vegan Green Curry

After making tacos this weekend and being disappointed with the heat level in the serrano sauce, I decided to give spicy another try and make a vegan green curry.

The ingredients in the dish are simple and it is an excellent dish to us up whatever veggies you might have in the fridge.

I know curry is traditionally served with rice but we've been eating a lot of rice lately. So, instead I used a vegan udon noodle that I found on my grocery store shelf. It did come with a sauce pack that I threw out.

Ingredients
green curry paste (next time I'm going to make my own)
1 can lite coconut milk
2 serrano peppers to add heat
salt to taste
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 can of corn
fresh spinach
1 can of diced green chilies
1 red or orange pepper
2 handfuls of frozen peas
green onions and crunchy rice noodles for garnish

In a sauce pan I simmered the coconut milk and 2 tablespoons of the green curry paste for 5 minutes.

Then I added all of the vegetables except the spinach. I cooked them on medium for another 5 minutes.

Since this dish was meant for two days of lunch I filled a 2 cup container with the curry mixture.

Finally, I added the udon noodles and spinach to the remaining curry mixture and cooked the dish for a final 3 minutes.

Before putting the dish in bowls I quickly diced 3/4 of one serrano pepper and tossed in the pan. I gave it a quick stir and let it sit for one minute.

Then I split the curry in to two bowls and topped with green onion.

This dish took about 30 minutes to make and tasted pretty close to green curries that I've had at Thai restaurants in the past. I loved the udon noodles. I know I've had a whole wheat version somewhere before that I want to try to find.

I'd certainly make this dish again. However, it has given me some confidence to try to make my own curries from scratch. Up next, I think I'm going to try to recreate a vegetable korma that is by far my favorite Indian dish.

Vegan Tacos-Fried Avocado and Mango Black Bean

And then The Carnivore said "Let's try vegan tacos this weekend."

Wait. What? Did The Carnivore actually request a vegan meal?

Yes. Yes, he did.

Fried Avocado Crunchy Taco

food nirvana

Did you know you can fry avocado? I didn't until a few days ago. Fried avocado is something I didn't need to discover!

Ingredients
1 large avocado
panko bread crumbs
chipotle powder
salt
olive oil
1 can of corn
1 red pepper
1 fresh jalapeno
cilantro
1 box of crunchy taco shells

I based my creation off of this recipe I found on foodiecrush.com

The original recipe used a wash to make the panko stick to the avocado.

I left that step out because I didn't feel it was necessary. I simply sprinkled the avocado with salt and chipotle before pressing it in the bread crumbs. Then, I transferred it right in to the pan of hot olive oil. Once browned, the avocado was flipped once and then moved to a paper lined plate.

a little bit of all the things

In a bowl, I then mixed the corn, sliced jalapeno, cilantro, and a dash of salt. I also sliced and added the red pepper to the corn.

These tacos were so good I didn't manage to get a picture of them assembled. We ate them too fast.

Fried avocado is amazing!!!


Mango Black Bean Soft Taco with Serrano Sauce

Tacos
1 can of black beans
1 red onion
1 ripe mango
handful of vegan mozzarella shreds
1 pack of soft tacos (I used chia tortillas from Trader Joe's because I know they are vegan)

Sauce**
10 oz vegan sour cream
2 serrano peppers
2 raw jalapenos
handful of cilantro
3 green onion

Super easy directions: mix the taco ingredients together and wrap them in taco wrapper. bake in oven at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Sauce-put all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until everything is mixed.

**I like things super spicy. Like my lips are on fire and numb at the same time spicy. I'd add at least 2 more serrano peppers next time. I'd suggest adding the peppers in slowly to make sure its not too spicy for you**

These tacos were delish. The red onion mellows out in the oven. The mango got a little lost so I'd use two next time. Also, our mango wasn't quite as ripe as it could have been.

Vegan Mixed Berry Cheesecake

A couple of weeks ago The Carnivore and I went to one of the only vegetarian restaurants in Nebraska.

It was an hour away and I was particularly excited to make the trip because they were having a special vegan night and avocado cheesecake was on the menu.

I have to say that I was very disappointed in the food. I was also surprised that everyone else seemed to be in love with it. We ended up spending $30 dollars for a meal that I found incredibly overpriced, less than filling, and bland.

The cheesecake couldn't even save the meal. It was frozen. It took almost 10 minutes for the waiter to explain the ingredients because he didn't know what was in it. And, it was also bland.

I might be a new vegan but I wanted to scream "Vegan food doesn't have to be boring and bland!"

Needless to say, we won't be back.

Even thought the meal was bad I couldn't get over the "cheesecake" disappointment.

The Carnivore LOVES cheesecake and I was hoping to find a vegan dessert that he would love. He liked the PB&J cake but he's not really a cake person.

So, of course, I immediately started looking for vegan cheesecake recipes online. I found several but decided to try this one from Veg Web first. It was purple. And, The Carnivore likes berries.

My Changes
 11oz of silken tofu instead of a cup*
No Strawberries
2 cups of mixed berries (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry)

*silken tofu is not refrigerated and will be in a different section of the grocery store

I followed the directions about blending the ingredients in different phases but I don't see why everything couldn't be tossed in at once.

I did use a vegan pre-made graham cracker crust. Next time, I'll make my own. I'm thinking crushed walnuts.

I tasted the mixture before putting it in the crust and it was a little chalky. This worried me but it baked up nice and smooth.

After 20 minutes I reduced the oven temp from 350 to 250 because I was worried about the crust and top of the cheesecake burning. Next time I'll probably warm the oven to 350 and turn it down after 10 minutes.

The cheesecake was easy to slice and serve.

I didn't tell The Carnivore the ingredients before he tried it and after the first bite he said "This tastes like prunes." I agreed. The blackberry flavor was a little overwhelming in the first bite. On a side note, I now want to try to make a prune cheesecake. I LOVE prunes. Yes, I'm 80!

The texture of the cheesecake resembled flan or a custard more than cheesecake. But, it was a fruity, creamy, sweet dessert that had the essence of cheesecake.

Calories: 300

I'll make this again but next time I'm going to try using vegan cream cheese and strawberries. And maybe a cocoa crust.

Happy eating!

Homemade Granny Smith Applesauce

I love apples. I like them as a snack, baked in desserts, or fried as a side dish. I eat them on their own or with peanut butter all the time.

Apples are a pretty perfect food-crunchy, sweet, good for you.

However, if I had to pick a least favorite apple, it would the the granny smith apple. I like them in recipes but can't stand to eat them on their own.

Yesterday, after cleaning out the fridge I realized I had about a bag and a half of granny smith apples left over from my juice cleanse.

What to do?

I knew I'd never eat all of them and that I could only put them in with The Carnivore's dinner so many times before I'd get complaints.

So, I used this opportunity to make applesauce!

Ingredients
8 granny smith apples, peeled and cored
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon white sugar
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice


I put all of the ingredients in a pan on high heat. I brought the mixture to a boil and then simmer on low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes. Next, I added the mixture to a food processor on high for 2 minutes.

The applesauce is a bit tart but I wished I had waited to add the sugar until after I had blended the mixture.

I'm trying to eat as little added sugar as possible and next time I'll see how it tastes before I add sugar because I think I might like it without the extra sweetness.

I plan to have the applesauce as a snack this week but since I just made it I had a few spoonfuls with half a banana and a tablespoon of peanut butter this morning for breakfast. Yum!

Vegan-Tofu with Spicy Peanut Sauce

The Carnivore loves Thai food. In particular, he found a dish called Chicken Popeye at a local thai restaurant that he loves.

In the past I haven't been crazy about peanut sauces but I wanted to try to make a vegan dish this week that appealed to The Carnivore's palate since he's been so great about all the vegan dishes.

At this point he's eating 50% to 60% vegan based on the day of the week. He even went completely vegan for two days in a row!

After searching for spicy peanut sauce recipes I stumbled on a recipe from Kayln's Kitchen.

Please reference her recipe for ingredients and measurements.

I played with the sauce recipe a bit. I used peanut butter made with coconut oil, doubled the sriracha, peanut butter, and water, and I added some whole peanuts on top for crunch. I also added some spinach.


I was happy to eat this meal two days in a row. However, next time I would store the sauce separate from the tofu overnight because it could have used a good stir the next day.

The Carnivore said the sauce was very close to the sauce in his beloved Chicken Popeye. However, he did declare that he needed meat once in a while after finding the texture of the tofu less than satisfying.

This dish was the first time I'd tried to fry tofu and I pulled it out of the pan before it could get crispy since I was worried about overcooking it or drying it out. Next time I'll leave it in longer.

And, as much as we both love spicy I don't feel like sriracha is the right element to lend heat to this dish. I think I'll try to use some raw thai chilies next time to see if it turns out more to our tastes.

Overall, this recipe was a great place to start. I think I'll be coming back to it over the next few months to perfect it.

Vegan "Ice Cream"-First Attempt

Those of you that read my post on the somewhat homemade froyo that I made a few weeks back know that I love ice cream.

Since going vegan I've been surprised by how easy it has been to go off of dairy products. I really thought I was going to have a tough time giving up cheese and ice cream.

I've found that I don't even want to eat dairy now because I'm feeling so great.

However, it is summer or spring or maybe I should just calling "hot weather season" and I find myself wanting a cold, creamy dessert. I searched the web and found this Banana Mango Ice Cream recipe and decided it was as good a place to start as any.



I didn't make the chocolate cups but did melt some vegan 72% cocoa bars in a bowl and drizzle it on top. I think the cups would be awesome though!





I have to say that I didn't follow the measurements exactly and that may have affected the consistency of the dessert. I think I ended up with two or three small bananas and one giant mango. Definitely needed more banana.

The next time I make this I will also blend it longer. I probably had it in the food processor for one minute and other recipes I've found say to blend for at least 5 minutes.

Overall, the ice cream had great flavor. However, the carnivore was right when he said it had the consistency of baby food.

Orange Grapefruit Juice and Banana Nut Breakfast

Of all the juices we've made, simple plain orange juice has really been my favorite.

I started adding one grapefruit for every two oranges because I like the added bitterness, phytochemicals, and lycoprene.

We've had a glass most mornings this week for breakfast.

I've been keeping it to 8oz because of the sugar.

The Carnivore and I also started running again this week. And, with the added exercise I felt we needed something more than juice to get us going in the morning.

Normally, I'd just eat a banana. But how many mornings can you eat a banana before getting bored?

For me, it was two.

So today I added a tablespoon of peanut butter. The peanut butter makes all the difference!

super simple breakfast

Vegan Stuffed Shells

I have a friend that makes the most amazing stuffed shells.

She made them for me years ago and when I complimented them she told me the recipe was on the noodle box. The recipe is there but I could never get mine to taste like hers!

In remembering those shells and wanting to branch out from linguine noodles and sauces I searched for a vegan recipe.

Here's the recipe I used when I was planning my dish.

Ingredients
1 16ox pkg of extra firm tofu
dried basil to taste
dried oregano to taste
garlic powder to taste

tofu mixture

(too lazy to cut up fresh garlic today!)
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
chopped fresh parsley (about a handful)
2 8oz can of organic diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning
1 box of vegan jumbo shells (check ingredients carefully)
1 bag of vegan shredded mozzarella

Directions
Add the tofu, dried spices, salt, pepper, and chopped parsley to a mixing bowl. Stir together until tofu is broken up and spices are incorporated evenly.

Pour 1 can of tomatoes in the bottom of a baking dish.

Stuff shells with tofu mixture.

stuffed!

Cover shells with the other can of tomatoes.

You can precook the shells if you want but as long as you cover them very well with sauce they will cook fully in the oven and you'll save some time and effort.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Sprinkle with vegan mozzarella and bake for another 5 minutes or so to melt the cheese.


I was happy with the way this recipe turned out.

straight from the oven to my belly

If you don't eat shells like this often you might be fooled. However, if stuffed shells are your favorite dish you'll likely notice the textural difference between the tofu and the more traditional ricotta filling.

I'll certainly make these again when I'm craving a stuffed pasta.

Perfect Summer Salad

We've been eating several variations of a spinach salad almost every day for three weeks.

It was time for a change.

Kale, Avocado, Strawberry Salad

Kale
Avocado
Strawberry
Sunflower seeds
Salt
Black Pepper
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar

I tossed the kale in the oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper to coat the greens before adding the other ingredients.

Also, it is very important to make sure you wash the greens really well. I soak them in a bowl for about 10 minutes while I cut the other ingredients up and then rinse each leaf.

Next time I'll probably also squeeze a lemon or lime over the greens as well.

This salad couldn't be easier or tastier!

I love the crunch of the kale mixed with the sweetness of the strawberries and the creaminess of the avocado.

I think it's going to replace our normal spinach salad for the next few weeks! Yum!