Who doesn’t love an easy curry, right?!  This one is full of fresh late summer vegetables: eggplant, tomatoes and bell peppers.  The coconut milk creates an awesome creamy sauce at the end.  And instead of regular curry powder, I used my favorite new blend of Balti Spice from Penzeys Spices.

Loved this dish!!

Eggplant and Tofu Curry

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium onion, sliced

• 5 cloves garlic

• 1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled

• 1 red pepper, de-seeded cut into 3/4-inch pieces

• 1 large heirloom tomato

• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

• 2 teaspoons curry powder

• 1 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

• 12 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and patted dry

• 3 cups spinach

• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

• Rice or quinoa, for serving (optional)

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and 3/4 of the red pepper slices and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, puree the garlic, ginger, other 1/4 red pepper and 1 to 2 tablespoons water in a mini food processor until a paste forms. Cut the tomato into bite-size pieces, reserving the juice in a separate bowl.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and the eggplant to the pot; cook 2 minutes. Add the garlic-ginger paste and cook, stirring, 2 more minutes. Add the curry powder and tomatoes (but not the juice) and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the tomato juice and 1 cup water and cook until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and tofu; simmer until the eggplant is very tender, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice or quinoa, if desired.

Recipe adapted from foodnetwork.com.

When eating vegetarian, we are always trying to incorporated different types of protein into our diet.  I am personally a huge fan of the bean: black beans, garbanzo beans, white beans, you name it, I’ll eat it.  But experimenting with other types of legumes can be a bit intimidating. 

I’ve had these brown lentils in my pantry for a few months.  I knew they were good tasting, and good for me, but I had no idea how to prepare them…  until I saw this recipe.  I used ingredients I had on hand, including a new seasoning mix* I purchased from Penzy Spices, and adapted the recipe to the one you see below.

*Balti seasoning is a fantastic spice mixture I found at Penzeys Spices.  Here is their description of the mixture:

“Baltistan is an ancient region of northernmost Pakistan with influences from Persia, Tibet and China. Traditionally a “Balti” would be cooked and served in a karahi (small Indian wok), without utensils, and would be eaten with your fingers using naan to scoop the meal into your mouth. More recently “Balti” has been catching the imagination of people in the way Tandoori cooking swept the world in the 60’s and 70’s. Hand-mixed from: coriander, garlic, ginger, cumin, dundicut chilies, Ceylon cinnamon, brown mustard seeds, cardamom, clove, fennel, fenugreek, charnushka (kalonji, black onion seed), ajwain, star anise, black cardamom, cilantro, anise seed and bay leaf.”

Balti spiced lentils with basil (recipe adapted from Farrell Spence)

INGREDIENTS

4 tbs extra-virgin olive oil

2 large garlic clove, diced

2 tsp balti seasoning

1 cup dried brown lentils

1/4 cup fresh basil

salt & pepper to taste

METHOD:

1. Rinse and place the lentils in a medium-size saucepan of lightly salted cold water and bring to a boil. Cook until al dente, 25 minutes from the time you turned the heat on.  Important: Set your timer from the time you turned the stove on, not from the boiling point!

While the lentils are boiling:

2. In a small saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium/low heat with the garlic and balti seasoning.  As the garlic begins to sizzle and brown remove from the burner and set aside. Chiffon (roll up leaves, then cut on the diagonal) the basil on a cutting board.

3. After 25 minutes, take the lentils off the stove and drain them in a sieve. Toss with the garlic, seasoning and olive oil. Add the fresh cut basil and mix into the lentils while they’re still warm. Arrange on a serving dish drizzling another 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top. Serve at room temperature.

This spontaneous creation is similar to a tabouleh salad, minus the tomatoes (only because I didn’t have any on hand!)  Fresh parsley and mint are enhanced by the zing of the lemon juice and zest and pair up perfectly with lots of cool cucumber.

Cool Cucumber & Herb Quinoa Salad

1 cup dried quinoa

1 large cucumber

1 small onion

1 clove garlic

1 cup parsley

1/2 cup mint

1 lemon (zest and juice)

2 tbs. olive oil

salt & pepper

Cook the quinoa then allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  Add to a mixing bowl.

Peel and chop the cucumber.  Finely chop the onion.  Finely chop the garlic.  Add to bowl.

Loosely chop the parsley and mint, being sure to keep the pieces big enough to taste in a bite.  Add to bowl.

Zest the entire lemon, then juice it, straining the seeds.  Add to bowl.

Drizzle with the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Give the mixture a healthy stir then let it chill for at least an hour, the longer the better before eating. 

I found this amazing looking recipe while perusing other vegan/vegetarian blogs:  Spring Green Lemon & Basil Pasta from Love & Lemons.

All I had on hand was mint, so I tweaked the recipe to fit what I had in stock.  It turned out great, super light and fresh with the lemon and unexpected brightness of the mint.

Yum.

Recipe adapted from Love & Lemons

Spring Asparagus and Snap Pea Pasta with Mint

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound pasta, I used quinoa spaghetti
1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tbs. onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bunch chopped asparagus, tender parts only
1 cup snap peas, trimmed and chopped
small handful of mint (about 1/4 cup), chopped
juice and zest of 1 lemon
pinches of salt and pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
grated parmesan cheese to go on top (optional)

METHOD:

Make a lemon oil, by pouring 1/4 cup olive oil into a small bowl with the zest of the lemon. Set aside.

Cook pasta until just short of al dente.  Drain and add to a large bowl.

Steam asparagus and snap peas, by method of choice, until tender.  

In a small skillet, heat 1 tbs. olive oil, add chopped onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent (careful not to burn the garlic), about 1-2 minutes. 

Strain zest out of your reserved lemon oil (or leave it in if you want this extra lemon-ey). Pour lemon oil and lemon juice (from the lemon you previously zested) over the pasta and toss everything again.  Add the onions and garlic, asparagus and snap peas, salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Toss in mint. Taste and adjust seasonings one final time, if necessary.

Finish with grated cheese and red pepper flake (both optional).

A delicious dessert that is also vegan.  

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Makes approx 12-18 cookies

1 cup of white flour 

1 cup wheat flour
2 cups oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup vegetarian butter product (such as Earth Balance)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy, almond or rice milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°.  In a large bowl mix together the flour, oats, baking powder and salt.

In a smaller bowl mix together your oil (and/or applesauce), peanut butter, sugars, milk and vanilla until well blended.

Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix until completely moist.  Roll into golf ball size and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Smash with a fork to flatten a bit and then turn the fork and flatten again making a criss cross design.  Do this with each cookie.  Sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Cook full fat cookies at 8-10 minutes.  Cool completely and ENJOY!

These definitely satisfy the peanut butter craving.

I’m reblogging a photo A day pic to the veggie blog!  I keep a photo A day blog HERE - a photo A day for your viewing pleasure!

Bananas with peanut butter, almonds and cocoa nibs.  

Simple. Tasty. Vegan.

lindseyamiller:

082 tasty treat #banana #peanutbutter #cocoanibs #snack #vegan #yum #photoaday #photooftheday (Taken with instagram)

Here is a quick snack I threw together with some leftover cooked quinoa and other fresh ingredients I had on hand.  

Curried Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

1.5 cups cooked quinoa

   2 small whole red bell peppers, tops cut off and insides cleaned

   1 small carrot, diced 

   2 tbs onion, diced

1/4 tsp curry powder

1/8 tsp garlic powder 

   1 tbs olive oil       

      salt & pepper

      fresh chopped parsley for garnish

Pre-heat oven to 425°.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Heat 1 tbs. olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add carrot and onion (I also added the tops of the bell peppers, diced.)  Cook about 6-8 minutes or until tender.  Add curry, garlic powder, salt & pepper.  Add quinoa and reduce heat.  Cook until the quinoa is heated.

Place half the quinoa mixture in each bell pepper.  Place the bell peppers on the parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes or until peppers are soft and tops are slightly browned.

Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.

I created this with ingredients on hand.  While eating this simple snack, I decided it could use some more ingredients, such as almond slivers, raisins, and orange zest.  Sounds tasty right?  

*The vegetable on the side is oven roasted green beans.  For those guys, I simply tossed fresh green beans in olive oil, spread them on the parchment lined baking sheet, sprinked with coarse salt and pepper and baked them along side the stuffed peppers (about 20 minutes at 425°.)

Thanks for reading.

Super quick post.  Super quick meal.  I had leftover uncooked butternut squash I needed to use up.  So, I did a quick search for ‘vegetarian roasted stuffed butternut squash’ and found this recipe.  I swapped the butternut for the acorn that the recipe called for and came up with this delicious creation.

Butternut Squash with Curried Apples

Ingredients:

    1 butternut squash, peeled, cut in half and deseeded

    2 small apples, diced into small pieces (I used Fuji)

    1/4 cup onion, minced

    1/2” piece ginger, grated

    1 tbs butter

    1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

    salt to taste

    paprika

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the butternut squash into a baking dish. Pour a little water in the bottom of the dish, enough to cover the bottom. 

2. Combine the apples, onion, and ginger. Add enough curry powder to just coat the apple mixture. Add enough salt to the mix to your liking.  

3. Spoon the apple mixture into the squash.  Split the butter. Top each squash half with a butter pad.

4. Cover the squash with aluminum foil and bake for about 45-50 minutes.  Remove foil, dust squash with paprika and return to oven under the broiler for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!!

It seems to me that cooking yummy vegetables in a hot pan is not only easy, but super tasty.  So, I did it again tonight.  My base was tofu and kale and I did a search for stir-fry with those ingredients.  I decided this recipe looked easy and I had most of the ingredients.  So I used what I had and winged it the rest of the way.

Fresh ingredients: tofu, kale, red bell pepper, green onion, garlic, ginger, lime juice

Pantry ingredients: soy sauce, oil, vegetable broth, white vinegar, corn starch, chili flakes, sugar, s&p

I don’t cook many actual stir-frys, so the fast pace of ingredient adding was new to me.  Heat your pan, then add oil, next add in the tofu.  Get em crispy brown, then add the garlic, ginger, chili flakes.  Cook for a tiny bit.

Next add the red bell pepper and green onions.  Cook for a tiny bit.

Next add kale*, sugar, s&p.  Stir.  Then add the soy sauce, vegetable broth, vinegar, lime juice, corn starch mixture.  Cook for a tiny bit.

*The recipe calls for you to blanch the kale before you stir-fry, I chose to omit that part.  Oops.  Definitely blanch your kale for a stir-fry.  The kale won’t be in the pan long enough to cook down from raw.

I plated the stir-fry then dished it up with a side of, you guessed it, quinoa.  I couldn’t resist. ;)

I would definitely change a few things if I were to cook it again.  Aside from blanching the kale, I would be sure to remove the stems of the kale leaves.  Those are no fun to chew on.  Also, I’d punch up the ginger, garlic and chili flakes.  Spicy!!  Otherwise, it was a yummy dish!