Eggplant and Chickpea Curry

In the mood to try something new, I came across Healthy Girl's Vegan Indian Eggplant Curry. It looked good and I had all of the spices that needed to go into it (minus the fenugreek, which is more of an optional flavor), so I gave it a shot and it was delish! I added a little protein into the dish (chickpeas!) so it could be a more nutitionally-balanced entree! I served this with sticky brown rice for David and he enjoyed it! I plan to make this again this week! Yum!

Eggplant and Chickpea Curry

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 4-6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (1-inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated on a microplane
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 large eggplant, peeled and cubed
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 (15-oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and jalapeno and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add the broth, eggplant, peppers, chickpeas, salt, turmeric, coriander and cumin and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 70 minutes.
4. Serve immediately or reheat before serving.
5. Optional: Serve over brown rice.

 

Raw Chocolate-Mint Pie

So I saw this raw dessert on VegWeb and just knew I had to try it. I mean come on, a dessert that has avocados in it?! I would never imagine such a thing! And from the picture, would you even guess it was avocados? Let me tell you - you would never know they were in this! This dessert was great chilled in the refriegerator or as a tasty frozen treat! I think my favorite part was the crust though - the combination of nuts, dates and cocoa powder was just delightful!

This recipe was posted by Sketch-free Vegan Eating and I decided to start following their blog - they post a lot of fun and healthy vegan recipes!

When I made the raw chocolate-mint pie, I made a few changes, but it still turned out wonderful! Hope you enjoy this!

Raw Chocolate-Mint Pie (Click to view Sketch-free Vegan Eating's original recipe, Click to view recipe posted to VegWeb)

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1/2 - 3/4 cup almond milk pulp
• 1/2 cup packed Medjool dates (~ 8 dates)
• 1 (8-oz) container cashews
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch sea salt

For the filling:

• 2 large avocados
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup agave syrup
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

For the ganache:

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup agave syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• pinch sea salt

Directions

1. To prepare the crust: In a food processor, add all of the crust ingredients and process until well combined. Press into an 8-inch pie pan. Chill in the refrigerator until firm. Clean the food processor for the next step.
2. To prepare the filling: In  a clean food processor, add all of the filling ingredients and process until well combined and creamy. Pour the filling into the chilled crust; chill in the refrigerator until it is set. 
3. To prepare the ganache: In a small bowl, add all of the ganache ingredients and combine until smooth. Pour the ganache over filling. Use the back of a spoon to help spread it out over the pie. This must be done pretty quickly - the ganache will start to harden once it touches the chilled filling. Chill the pie until ready to serve. Can freeze or refrigerate.

 

 

 

 

 

Rachel's Loaded-Veggie Sushi Rolls

Saturday night we decided would be sushi night! But I really had an urge to try making sushi myself! I got a few pointers from VegWeb's Healthy Avocado Sushi with Brown Rice on how to make the sushi rice. Healthy Vegan Recipes has a great video which shows you how to roll sushi and I recommend watching it if you're a beginner! Here's what I came up with!

Rachel's Loaded-Veggie Sushi

Ingredients

• 1 cup short-grain brown rice
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
• 5 nori (seaweed) sheets
• Assorted vegetables*: Avocado, thinly sliced; Scallions; Red bell pepper, thinly sliced; Bean Sprouts; Zucchini, julienned; Carrot, julienned
• Low-sodium soy sauce (optional)
• Pickled ginger (optional)
• Wasabi (optional)

Directions

1. In a small pot, bring the rice and water to a boil. Once boiling, stir rice once, cover pot and reduce heat to a simmer for 50 minutes.
2. When rice is finished cooking, transfer to a bowl. Gently stir in the vinegar until it is well-mixed into the rice (rice will stick together). Place a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl and allow rice to sit for 10 minutes, letting it cool, before making the sushi rolls.
3. Here is where the video will really help you: Using a bamboo mat, place a nori sheet on top of it, add 1/5 of the rice on 2/3 (closest to you) of the sheet. On top of the rice (on only the closest part of the nori sheet to you), stack the vegetables in a thin row on top of each other. Take end of nori closest to you, and begin to roll up and over the vegetables. Use the bamboo mat to tighten that portion of the roll. Continue to roll (with the use of your bamboo mat) until the entire sheet is rolled up. Place on a plate, allowing the rice to soften the nori, while you continue making the next sushi rolls.
4. When all 5 sushi rolls are made, starting with the first sushi roll made, wet a knife and cut each roll into 6-8 pieces. Wetting the knife aids in the slicing process or else the rice will stick to the knife, making it difficult to cut.
5. Serve with soy sauce, ginger and wasabi. Yum!

*Note: I did not put amounts for the vegetables I used because it is really all your own preference! You really don't need a lot of veggies to make one roll, let alone the 5 rolls I made, so I highly recommend these few friendly tips before preparing your own sushi and deciding on amounts:

1. Warning: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO STUFF YOUR SUSHI ROLL. Stuffing your sushi roll makes it very difficut to roll up and slice. Yes, I am speaking from experience but was not about to take a picture of the disaster!
2. Wrap sushi roll as tight as possible with bamboo mat. The tighter your roll, the easier it is to slice.
3. Wet knife before slicing sushi roll into pieces (the rice sticks to the knife, making it difficult to cut).
4. Don't forget to have fun!

Enjoy!

Homemade Almond Milk: Take 3

Happy with the recommended ratio of almonds to water for almond milk from Run Hard Eat Clean, I decided the missing ingredient from Homemade Almond Milk: Take 2 was sweetener! Rather than using sugar though, it is a little healthier to use natural sweeteners such as agave nectar or honey! Now most vegans eliminate honey from their diet, but I'm keeping it in mine! If you are curious to know why honey is not vegan, click here. Shannon calls me a psuedo-vegan, but I'm okay with that!

Homemade Almond Milk

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup almonds, blanched
• 2-1/2 cups water, divided
• 1 tbsp honey (or agave nectar)

Directions

1. In a blender, add cups of water, almonds, and honey. Blend until a creamy consistancy forms. Depending on how creamy you prefer your almond milk, you may need to add more or less water or almonds. It's your preference though!
2. Hold a mesh strainer over a bowl and strain the almond milk. Store the almond milk in a jar/pitcher/plastic bottle and keep refrigerated. Keep the pulp refrigerated until ready to use (good to use in raw desserts!). Shake milk before using if it separates while sitting in the refrigerater.

   

   

The addition of honey gives the milk a perfect touch of sweetness! I use it in cereal, which I love! Yummy and oh-so fresh!

The Herbivore's Out-of-this-World 5-Bean Chili

Okay, so Recipe #4 of The 2011 Cookbook Challenge required a little something extra. We need some chili to go with our cornbread! So I came up with a new chili recipe. I just love experimenting! I decide to post this on VegWeb.com and soon after they gave a special announcement on Facebook about my recipe! How exciting! You can really find some really good vegetarian/vegan recipes on their website. Hope you enjoy my latest creation!

The Herbivor's Out-of-this-World 5-Bean Chili

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1-1/2 yellow onions, chopped
• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 5 (small- to medium-sized) carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 (14.5-oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (15-oz) can organic garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15-oz) can organic soy beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15.5-oz) can dark red kidney beans, undrained
• 1 (15.5-oz) can light red kidney beans, undrained
• 1 (15.5-oz) can black beans, undrained
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 jalepeno chili pepper, seeded and finely diced
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1-1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions

1. In a dutch oven pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the onions, minced garlic, celery, and carrots until tender (about 5-7 min).
2. Stir in the diced tomatoes, beans, red bell pepper, jalepeno and hot sauce.
3. Add the chili powder, ground cumin, cumin seeds, garlic salt, and oregano. Stir to combine.
4. Bring the chili to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes.
5. Optional serving suggestion: Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro. Stir into chili for a delicious flavor.
6. Serves 4-6.

The cilantro mixed into the chili brought out an amazing flavor. Cilantro is an acquired taste. It has a very distinct flavor and most people either love it or hate it. If you bring up the word cilantro to my sister she freaks out and will go on and on about how much she despises it. I will admit, I did not like it at first, but after quite a bit of experimenting with different foods and flavors, I have realized I do in fact like this little herb! And again, it is AMAZING when stirred into this chili! Enjoy!

Homemade Almond Milk: Take 2

Fresh Almond Milk

After my first experience with homemade almond milk, and it not quite failing, but not up-to-par either (a little on the watery side), I decided to give almond milk another shot! I found a different recipe that I figured was a better beginner's recipe. Very simple: just water and almonds! But I learned a new technique: how to blanch almonds! It is recommended to blanch almonds (remove their skins) before using them in almond milk because the skin tends add a slightly bitter taste. I found a recipe through Vegan Reader which I wanted to share with all of you!

Almond Milk

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup raw almonds
• 3 cups water, divided

(That's it?! Yup, that's it!)

Directions

1. In a small pot, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add the almonds and boil for 3 minutes.
2. Drain using a mesh strainer.
3. Pour the almonds on a plate and let them cool slightly.
4. When the almonds are cool enough to touch, remove the almonds from their skin. This is very easy, the almonds will pop right out. Naked almonds!
5. In a blender, add 2 cups of water and the naked almonds. Blend until a creamy consistancy forms. Depending on how creamy you prefer your almond milk, you may need to add more or less water or almonds. It's your preference though!
6. Hold a mesh strainer over a bowl and strain the almond milk. A lovely result - fresh almond milk in your bowl and "pulp" in your mesh strainer, which can be used in desserts, such as raw chocolate chip cookies! Store the almond milk in a jar/pitcher/plastic bottle and keep refrigerated. Keep the pulp refrigerated until ready to use. You may notice the almond milk separates a bit while sitting in the fridge - no worries! Just shake it up before using.

I enjoyed learning how to blanch almonds and this was definitely a great recipe to use for those new at making almond milk! But I felt there was something missing in this recipe.... stay tuned for Homemade Almond Milk: Take 3!

January 25, 2011 Recipe #4: Cornbread

After a long day at school, I don't know how I managed to find the energy, but I decided to take on Recipe #4 of The 2011 Cookbook Challenge: Cornbread! So it's 5:30 pm, just got home (after being at school since 6:45 am - I'm crazy) and I start making this cornbread, along with a fresh pot of chili (keep posted for a blog about my new chili recipe). I was done in an hour, exhausted, but still had quite an appetite!

Well, the cornbread was good, but it was nothing to go bragging about. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't great either. As I ate a piece of cornbread though, I just craved butter. Okay, for those of you who don't know me, I really don't care for butter... so for me to crave butter is just shockingly wierd! BUT I will tell you, that spread a little butter on this cornbread and it is so delicious! Since I have been trying the vegan diet, I used Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread which is quite tasty! I couldn't tell the difference between this butter and regular butter. David liked the cornbread with a little butter but he prefers the sweet cornbread over this cornbread recipe (unsweet).

David had a great idea: to use the leftover cornbread in stuffing! I'll let you know if I end up doing this.