vegan indian curry with cauliflower and lentils

 

I can't remember the last time I purchased a head of cauliflower!  I wasn't even sure if anyone would eat it.  They sure did!  This dish was a winner.

vegan indian curry with cauliflower and lentils (allrecipes.com)

3 tablespoons oil (I used water)

1 oion, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons coriander

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup lentils, rinsed

3/4 cup vegetable stock

1 head cauliflower, small florets

1 can light coconut milk

1 can sliced carrots, or use fresh

1/2 cup frozen green beans, thawed

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons cilantro

Heat water in a pan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until soft.  Add ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric and curry and cook for 2 minutes.  Stir in lentils and pour in vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes.  Stir in cauliflower, coconut milk and carrots into the lentil mixture.  Bring the curry back to a gentle simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender (I cooked mine for 30+ minutes).  Stir in green beans and cook 3-4 minutes.  Stir in cilantro and lemon juice.

vegan curry lentil soup

 

This soup was excellent.

vegan curry lentil soup (slightly adapted from it doesn't taste like chicken)

1 tablespoon oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

3 cups vegetable broth

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 cup lentils, rinsed

2 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 (15 ounce) can light coconut milk

1 handful cilantro (oops!  I forgot!!)

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium high heat.  When hot add onion, garlic and ginger.  Saute 5 minutes.  Stir in broth, tomatoes, lentils, curry powder, cumin, salt and cayenne.  Cover and simmer.  Cook for 25 minutes or until lentils are cooked through.  Stir in coconut milk and heat through.

vegan tofu spring rolls

 

Don't let the words "vegan" and "tofu" scare you.  My family loved these.  My husband said they were even better than the spring rolls at his favorite restuarant Magenta.  My girls said they were the best they've had.  I gave them a sideways glance to make sure they were telling me the truth.  I'll be making these again for sure.

vegan tofu spring rolls (slightly adapted from the spruce eats)

8 ounces extra firm tofu, well pressed

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon sesame seed oil

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced or grated

1/4 head green cabbage, thinly sliced (I used bagged angel hair cabbage)

2 carrots, grated (I used bagged grated carrots)

2 blocks of brown rice noodles from Costco, cooked to package instructions or vermicelli

1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves

10 spring roll wrappers

hot water for wrapping spring rolls

sauce for dipping (we like sweet Thai chili sauce)

Prepare your tofu by pressing it well.  Slice the pressed tofu into thin strips.  Heat the soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil and ginger in a skillet and saute the tofu for 5-7 minutes just until lightly crisp.  Remove from the pan and place on paper towels to allow to drain fully.  In a large bowl, toss together the cabbag, carrots and noodles.  Submerge spring roll wrappers in hot water just until soft and pliable one at a time.  Place 1/4 cup of the veggie mixture on an individual wrapper horizontally and just below the centerline.  Place a few cilantro leaves on top and top with a slice of tofu.  Wrap the spring rolls.  Serve with a spicy Thai peanut sauce or sweet Thai chili sauce.

easy yummy tuna patties

 

Nobody in my family likes tuna the way that I do so I made myself some tuna patties for lunch today.  I'm so glad I did.  They were really good and I have a few leftover for tomorrow.  I lightened up a recipe I found at allrecipes.com.

easy yummy tuna patties (allrecipes.com)

3 egg whites

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

5 tablespoons Italian-seasoned bread crumbs

3 (5 ounce) cans tuna, drained well

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

In a bowl, beat egg whites.  Add dried minced onion and stire well to combine.  Add parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and black pepper and combine well.  Add the tuna.  Shape the tuna into 5 patties (I used a cookie scoop to make them as uniform as possible then flattened them out).  Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat; fry patties until golden brown, 5 minutes per side.  Serve with tartar sauce, ketchup or mustard.

chickpea shawarma salad

 

This is a GREAT salad.  Again, another hit with the family.  Some of us put feta cheese on ours and I'd say that put this recipe over the top.  I loved the hummus dressing; great idea!

chickpea shawarma salad (slightly adapted from minimalist baker)

1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teapsoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon salt

a pinch of black pepper AND ground coriander

salad ingredients

two heads romaine lettuce, torn

couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced and quartered

1/2 cucumber, peeled and quartered

pita chips, slightly crushed

feta cheese, if desired

hummus dressing

1 cup hummus (I used "everything" seasoned hummus)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teapsoons garlic, minced

water to thin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Add washed and dried chickpeas to a mixing bowl.  Add olive oil and all seasonings and toss to combine.  Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 20-22 minutes.  Then set aside.  Prepare all salad ingredients and add to a bowl, reserving pita chips for later.  Prepare dressing by whisking all ingredients.  To serve, add chickpeas and pita chips to the salad with half of the dressing.  Toss to combine.  Serve in individual bowls with the remaining dressing.  Sprinkle with feta if desired.

the best vegetarian chili in the world

 

The chili was impressive!  My kids ate bowl after bowl.  My vegetarians don't like a lot of meat substitutions but I put the veggie crumbles in it for extra protein and they didn't even notice.  If you like meat, subsitute the veggie crumbles for lean ground beef.  A winner!

the best vegetarian chili in the world (slightly adapted from allrecipes.com)

1 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoons dried onion (if you're not trying to use up food storage use a real onion)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 green bell pepper, diced

1 tablespoon garlc, minced

1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles

1 package vegetarian burger crumbles

2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained (I used great northern beans)

Heat oil in a large pot over meidum heat.  Stir in the onion and season with cumin, oregano and salt.  Cook and stir until onion is tender, then mix in bell peppers, garlic and green chiles.  When the vegetables are heated through, mis in the vegetarian burger crumbles.  Reduce heat to low and cover pot and simmer 5 minues.  Mix the tomatoes into the pot.  Season with chili powder. Stir in all the beans.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 45 minutes.

eggroll in a bowl and homemade hoisin sauce

 

A family favorite!  I made this version and a vegetarian version and it all got eaten up.  Delicous!  I didn't have hoisin sauce on hand so found a homemade version and it was great too.

eggroll in a bowl (the seasoned mom)

1 pound ground chicken

1 onion, diced

1 tablespoon sesame oil (I forgot this!)

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons garlic

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 bag angel hair coleslaw

1 cup grated carrots

2 green onions, sliced (to sprinkle on top)

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

Heat skillet over medium heat.  Add ground chicken.  Add onion, sesame oil and vinegar until the onion is ender.  Add garlic, ginger, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, coleslaw mix and carrots.  Cook 5-7 minutes or until cabbage is wilted.  Remove skillet from heat.  Stir in green onions and season with salt and pepper if desired.  Serve with an extra drizzle of hoisin sauce if desired.

homemade hoisin sauce (slightly adapted from daring gourmet)

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons black bean sauce (Can you believe I had this in the food storage pantry?  Random!)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Whisk ingredients together.  Makes 14 servings.  Will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator.