Incredible Indian Potato Pie

On these cold winter nights, comfort food is essential for survival and feeling good.  Thank you very much to Mom who sampled this recipe and sent it to me.  My bestie, Lori, and I whipped this up on a chilly Saturday night in Austin and we couldn't stop eating it.  The original recipe can be found at:  http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1039649/indian-potato-pie.  You can easily modify it and add more tasty ingredients.

Preheat oven to 375F.
Cook 1 large russet potato and 2 large sweet potatoes until soft:  boil or microwave.

Saute in a pan with some olive oil:
1 onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 garlic cloves
1 red chili pepper
1 thumb sized piece of chopped ginger
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
cooked potatoes, chopped into large chunks

Add in some water (1 cup) and 1 cup frozen peas.  Bring to a boil, then let simmer while you prepare the pastry.

Line a pie pan with sheets of filo dough brushed with butter (approximately 14 sheets).  Scoop potato mixture into the pan.  Cover with sheets of filo dough brushed with butter (14 sheets).  Tuck the edges of the top and bottom sheets together.  Poke several slits into the top of the pastry, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds.  Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until pastry is browned and flaky.

Served here with some sauteed cabbage.  Awesome pie, made by some awesome girls, who had an awesome weekend : )

Tasty Treats: Raw Balls

I've been trying to eat healthy, high protein snacks (especially after working out), but we're on a budget and we try to avoid overly processed foods.  I found this tasty recipe for Raw Balls in The Kind Diet.  I made them with a few changes and I can't stop snacking on them!

Combine in a food processor and process until a paste:

1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Add in 1/2 cup chopped pecans and hand mix.  Rolls tablespoon balls in coconut flakes.  The paste is pretty sticky and tricky to deal with, but just get in there and get your hands sticky.  Once you start rolling them in coconut, they form nicely into balls.  Freeze them.  They are delicious frozen or thawed.  Enjoy!!!

Vegan

Awww, Azuki Beans and Butternut Squash

This is a simple dish that is quite tasty and satisfying.  I started with a recipe from The Kind Diet and fixed it up from there.  Azuki beans are these nice little red beans from Asia that often are used in sweet desserts that contain "bean paste."  They are high in flavor, fiber and protein.  Butternut squash is always a winner, especially this time of year.

Soak one cup of azuki beans overnight in water.

Saute in a large pot:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chopped and peeled butternut squash (1/2 large squash)
1/2 large onion
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon sea salt

Add azuki beans and cover with 2 inches water.  Bring to a boil, then lower to simmer.  Serve when beans are split and soft.  You may season with garlic salt for extra flavor.  Here, I garnished with steamed edamame.  Enjoy!!!

Pickled!

Sometimes you get stuck in a rut and overwhelmed with life.  As my absence attests, I was victim to both situations.  Thanks to a new job and the support of friends (thanks Diane and Kiran), I am inspired to post today.  It is beautiful in Houston (75 degrees!) so we had a nice trip to the farmers market.  The pickling cucumbers were abundant and a good deal, so I picked up a small bucket to turn into spicy tart pickles.

If you are interested in canning, I recommend The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest.  It has tons of information on pickling, canning, jamming. jellying, drying and any other form of preservation.  If you haven't canned or pickled before, it has lots of key information to doing so safely.  The pickle recipes tend to be large volume, but you can do some math to reduce the recipe or improvise.  You can either make these pickles in regular jars and refrigerate or use sterile canning jars and water seal them.

Here is a good basic Pickling Spice recipe:

2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
2 teaspoons whole allspice
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

To make pickles:

Use as many pickles as you like:  whole, quartered or chopped.   Pack them into jars.  Add at least two tablespoons of pickling spice per jar.  For spicy, garlicky pickles, I added 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes and 3 cloves minced garlic per jar. 

Boil (microwaving works well) enough vinegar to top the cucumbers within 1/4 inch of the jar's opening.  If you like them really tart, use white vinegar.  If you want a more mellow taste, use 1/2 white vinegar and 1/2 apple cider vinegar.  Cover cucumbers with vinegar, place the tops on the jars and refrigerate or water seal them.  They should be ready in about 24 hours, but for a deeper flavor I like to let them sit for several weeks. 

Enjoy!

Eating In Week Day 6: Peanut Butter Pie

We've done a good job of eating in this week and so for Saturday night, we are going to have dinner at some friends' house.  We're bringing my favorite dish: Dessert!  Okay, I wish that I had the most wonderful rich and fluffy photos of this pie, but more often than not, the worse it looks, the better it tastes.  So, this looks like a mess, but it is tasty, indulgent and so rich!

I mashed together about 3 recipes to come up with a taste and texture that I liked.  Sources include The Kind Diet, Marantha Nut Butters, and Compassion Over Killing.

Pie Crust
You can use a premade pie crust (graham cracker or chocolate) or make you own:

Crush 20 graham crackers (or 2 cups chocolate cookies).  Blend with:
3 tablespoons safflower oil, margarine or butter (I used Earth Balance)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (optional)

Press into a pie pan.

Pie Filling
Blend together until creamy and silky:
12 to 16 ounces of firm tofu
1 1 /2 cups peanut butter (or to your taste)
1/4 cup maple syrup (add more or less depending on your sweet tooth)

Refrigerate 2 hours.  You can top with whipped cream, nuts or a chocolate coating.

Chocolate Coating
Melt 12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips.  You can add vanilla extract, vanilla soy milk or maple syrup to taste and desired consistency.  Spread over top of pie.  Allow to refrigerate another hour.

Indulge and Enjoy!

Eating In Week Day 5: Tempting Tempeh Tacos

Well, Eating In Week is going well and we have stuck to it!  The only challenges have been all the dishes and leftovers.  The more we cook, the more we have of both.  We were both a little tired today, so we grilled up some tempeh with Patak's Sweet and Smoky Marinade, chopped it up and served it in tortillas with black beans and onions.  It was an interesting Indian-Mexican fusion.

Eating In Week Day 4: Spring Rolls

It's Day 4 of Eating In Week and I had a lunch date with Emily at my house.  I've been craving Asian food, so I made spring rolls for the first time!  To prep for it, I made some baked tofu.  You can purchase spring roll wrappers (rice paper) at Asian grocery stores, in the Asian food section or at Whole Foods.  Then you slice up some vegetables, make some rice, wet the rice paper (5 minutes in warm water), roll up the veggies, tofu and rice and serve with soy sauce or Asian peanut dip.  

We stuffed our rolls with baked tofu, cucumber, red pepper, cilantro, green onion, rice, carrots, and purple cabbage.

The whole experience was fun, interesting and a nice way to spend some time with my friend.

Silky Asian Peanut Dip

 Yummy!  I found this recipe at www.myrecipes.com and decided that it would be a great spread and dip.  You can put it on bread, toast, apple or carrot slices, dip spring rolls or chips.

Blend in a food processor or with beaters:

8 oz silken tofu
1/2 cup peanut butter (chunky or creamy, depending on your palate)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 (or more) teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 cloves minced garlic

Boy Oh Boy! Baked Tofu Slices

Well, I have never been much of a tofu eater or cooker, but Eating In Week is inspiring me to try new things.  These slices are nice to have on hand for munching, making sandwiches, stuffing in pita or tortillas or making spring rolls.

Start with 16 oz firm tofu.  Drain excessive packing water off.  Place on a plate, put another plate on top and heavy weighted item on top of the plate to press off excess water.  Since my father loves to give me decorative paperweights, I found a nice heavy one to do the job.  Let sit 30 minutes.  

Drain off water, slice into 1/2 inch strips (or whatever size you like). 

Marinate with your favorite marinade for 20 to 60 minutes.  I used the following mix:

1 clove garlic
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
juice from 1/2 lime
sprinkle of cayenne pepper

Bake at 375 on a greased cookie sheet for 40 to 60 minutes, until desired chewiness.  Serve in strips or chop up.  Enjoy.

Gnocchi with Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce

So, for Day 2 of Eating In Week, I decided that some warm pasta would be nice on this cold rainy night.  Have you tried gnocchi?  Gnocchi is potato and flour dumplings from Northern Italy.  You can dress up gnocchi with pesto, marinara and cream sauces or it stands alone beautifully with just a little bit of olive oil and garlic.  I have been craving the indulgent vodka tomato cream sauce that I have tried at restaurants.  Well, I have lightened up this version, making it almost fat free and vegan.  

You make gnocchi just like pasta.  Bring 1 pound of gnocchi to boil, boil for 3 minutes, drain and toss with the sauce.

To make the sauce, saute in a medium saucepan:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons of parsley
1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
4 minced garlic cloves

Add one 28 oz can whole tomatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Puree in a blender with 1/2 cup silken tofu.  Transfer back to saucepan, heat gently and add 2 tablespoons of vodka (I had to pinch some from the neighbors).  Heat one minute, then toss with the gnocchi.  Serve with a nice Italian salad.

Swell Sweet Potato Thai Stew

I found this recipe at VegNews and it seemed interesting.  Making up a big batch of stew is a good lead in to Eating In Week.

Saute in a large pot:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, quartered and thinly slices
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut into narrow strips
1⁄2 teaspoon red or green curry paste, more or less to taste
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 stalks lemongrass (optional)
1 teaspoon salt

Then add:

3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1-1⁄2 pounds), peeled and diced
3 cups water
1-1⁄2 cups frozen green beans (I used soybeans)

Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft.  The add one 13.5-ounce can light coconut milk, 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter and one 8-ounce package Thai peanut-flavored baked tofu, diced (optional).  Garnish with cilantro leaves.  Serve with brown rice, or over brown rice.

All Star Almond Butter

 This is an easy way to make your own spread and it is super healthy because there are no added hydrogenated fats, preservatives, sugars or high fructose corn syrup.  Usually we buy the grind-it-yourself peanut butter at Whole Foods, but we ran out the other day and we had a surplus of nuts in the pantry.  I decided to whip up some Almond Butter and it is so simple and satisfying.

Blend until a "butter" in a food processor:

2 cups raw almonds (I prefer unsalted)
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons sunflower or safflower oil

You can alter the consistency by altering the oil or water.  Store in a glass jar (bonus- less packaging) in the refrigerator.

Vegan Valentines Day Truffles

Well readers, I made truffles for the first time ever and am blessed to be a guest writer on Kiran's blog, Wish.

So, for recipes and more photos, please jump over to Wish and check them out!

Awwww yum Artichoke Spinach Dip

Thanks to my fellow bloggers for their inspiration.  On Friday night, I took Kiran's lead and had a at home date night with this delicious warm artichoke spinach dip.  Kiran used a recipe from The Kind Diet for her version, which you can find on her blog Wish.  I made a few more of my own changes.  It's easy to make this recipe vegan or non-vegan.  Veganaise seemed to work quite well instead of mayonnaise.  We served it with corn tortilla chips and little toasts.  Savor!

Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine in a bowl:

1 can drained artichoke hearts
1 cup spinach (I used frozen)
1 cup Veganaise (or mayonnaise)
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (vegan or dairy)
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Blend everything together and fold into a glass baking dish.  Top with additional 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Bake 30 minutes until warm and cheese on top is slightly toasted.

Best Bean Salad

Muchas gracias to my friend and neighbor Dawn for this tasty recipe.  On my street, we tend to share our leftovers or magic foods with each other.  Well, it was a nice surprise to come home and have a container full of this delicious treat waiting for us on the porch!  Here's Dawn's post::

Combine in a bowl:

1 can black beans (drained)
1 can red beans (drained)
1 can garbanzo beans- also called chick peas (drained)
1 can black olives (drained)
1 can artichoke hearts
1 bag broccoli or cabbage salad (can be found with the pre-packaged salad at the grocery store)
3 chopped green onions (or sometimes I use 1 small red onion)
Couple tablespoons sliced green olives (to taste)
Couple tablespoons sliced pepperoncini (to taste)
Couple teaspoons minced garlic (to taste)

I just mix all of these ingredients in a large bowl then add a vinaigrette dressing. Sometimes I make my own with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sometimes I use a salad dressing that I buy at the grocery store. Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinegar is my favorite store bought dressing. You can also add cooked pasta or rice, if you like. It is kind of one of those things that you can add in what sounds good to you and take out what you might not like. I am so glad you liked it!  I hope your readers enjoy!

Gentle Ginger "Steaks" and Carrots

So, my shameless reliance of The Kind Diet and its recipes continues.    I'm not much of a tofu eater, but I decided to give it try for the sake of variety.  I made these "steaks" last night.   They're pretty easy to make and even tastier if you give them some time to marinate.  Since I was grating ginger, I decided to make up a ginger carrot and cabbage dish. 

Lately I've been experimenting with fresh ginger because I enjoy its unusual and refreshing flavor.  Ginger is used abundantly in Indian, Asian and African dishes and is also a medicinal herb.  Herbalists recognize and use ginger for its anti-nausea and beneficial digestive properties.  When my stomach is off, I find that a cup of ginger tea settles it nicely. 

Enjoy these tasty ginger flavored recipes.

Ginger Tofu Steaks

To make the marinade, combine in a glass cooking pan:

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame, sunflower, safflower or olive oil

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cruched red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon brown rice syrup

1/3 cup chopped green onions

Cut extra firm tofu block (1 pound) in to half lengthwise and then half widthwise.  Add to marinade, coat thoroughly and let marinate at least 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 375F.  Drain off about 1/2 the marinating liquid.  You can keep this sauce for dipping later or discard.  Bake tofu steaks 40 minutes. 

Ginger Carrots and Cabbage

Saute in a pan:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups grated carrots

2 cups grated cabbage

1/2 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

Serve with rice and tofu steaks and enjoy!

Kiran's Kind Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am excited, because my dear friend in California, Kiran, is guest hosting this blog entry.  Please check out her blog at Wish.  Please enjoy her contribution to Chunky Chef, in her words:

One of my favorite things to do with my kids is cook.  It is one area where I have enough confidence in the outcome that I can just let them have fun with it.  It is almost always a relaxed and fun activity for all of us.  Even the 1 year old is starting to get in on the action with an occasional stir or dump of ingredients.  Last week we had several days of rain and cookie baking is the perfect rainy day activity.  My two boys seem to have very different palates.  One loves chocolate more than any other food (he takes after his grandmother for sure).  The other has declared that he hates chocolate and only likes vanilla desserts.  So it is always a big debate when we are going to make a dessert...what kind shall we make?  who will we please?  Since the weather was so gross and we had nowhere to be I decided on this day that we'd make chocolate chip cookies AND snickerdoodles.  Since I have recently made a switch to a vegan lifestyle the cookies had to be vegan.  I consulted several cookbooks and recipes and came up with adaptations/combinations of recipes I found in Vegan Lunch Box and Babycakes, based on what ingredients I had in the house.  Some vegan dessert recipes have weird ingredients.  Using applesauce to replace some of the margarine makes a moist and cakey cookie which my 4 year old thought would make excellent ice cream sandwiches.  If only the cookies had lasted long enough to try it.

For the snickerdoodles we used this recipe (http://veganyumyum.com/index.php?s=snickerdoodles&searchbutton=Go%21) from Vegan Yum Yum.  Yum Yum indeed!

 

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 C whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 t baking soda

1/4 sea salt

1/2 stick earth balance butter flavored margarine, softened

1/2 C applesauce

3/4 C maple sugar or sucanat or brown sugar

3/4 C white sugar

3/4 C silken tofu, drained

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 package of vegan chocolate chips (because we like lots of chocolate)

In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt

In a large bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer) beat margarine, applesauce, sugars, tofu and vanille until light and fluffy.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Add chocolate chips.

Place large spoonfuls of cookie dough on baking sheets  3 inches apart.  Bake until dark golden brown around edges, about 15 minutes.  Let sit on baking sheets for a minute or so then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. 

Superfeast

This meal was inspired by my recent lunch at Ruggles Green.  It was easy to make and so tasty.

Roast vegetables in oven or pan saute them.  I used the following:  tomatoes, red peppers, delicata squash, onions and mushrooms.

Assemble the following on a plate:

cooked quinoa
roasted vegetables
Roasted Kale

Drizzle with Dijon Barley Malt Dipping Sauce.

Dig in and enjoy!

Dijon Barley Malt Dipping Sauce

This sauce is another gem from The Kind Life.  I first made this dipping sauce to serve on black eyed pea croquettes, but I love it so much that I am using it on so many foods.  It's a great sauce to add instant "charm" to grains, beans, greens and anything else.

Mix in a bowl:

1/4 cup barley malt syrup

2 tablespoons chunky dijon mustard

Heat up in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir to blend and serve over your favorite meal.

Really! Roasted Kale

The other day, I had the most delicious lunch at Ruggles Green.  Thanks Janette for ordering the local vegetarian plate.  Wow!!  Now, it was good enough to eat there everyday, but my wallet can't afford it.  The most stunning part of the meal was the roasted kale- which is crazy crisp treat.  It's simple to make and you will be blown away by its deliciousness.  Please enjoy.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Remove kale greens from stems and chop into large pieces.  Toss with oil (olive, safflower or sunflower), salt and pepper.  Roast in a glass baking dish for 20 minutes or until  leaves are crisp.  You can serve with a dipping sauce, nuts, grains or eat as a quick snack.