Chickpea "Meatballs" (cutlets) in Red Curry Sauce

For a recent meal, the carnivores in the family were having meatballs in a "Caribbean" sauce with pineapple and peppers. I wanted to make a similar dish for myself, but didn't have vegetarian meat on hand, nor did I feel like tofu. 

I found this recipe for chickpea "meatballs", which looked promising and fairly easy to make. I dunked a couple of them in the pineapple sauce, and it was okay, but not a great fit. The original recipe calls for tomato sauce, but I wasn't in the mood for that, so I put together a quick spicy red curry sauce to go with them and it worked out perfectly.

If you don't like red curry, you can have these with whatever sauce you like, or even eat them plain, perhaps in some pita bread.

If you don't have or don't like any of the herbs or spices, you can omit them (I made it with only cilantro, as I didn't have any parsley on hand).

Chickpea "Meatballs" in Red Curry Sauce 

 

 Ingredients (for 16 large cutlets): 

For the Cutlets 

- 2 cups cooked chickpeas (if you can get them, it's best to use frozen cooked chickpeas and defrost them. If not, canned or self-cooked will do fine). 

- 1 large onion, peeled and quartered 

- 3 cloves garlic, peeled

- 4 slices of white bread, soaked in water and then squeezed (gluten free bread works fine) 

- 1 cup parsley leaves

- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves

- 3 tbsp tahini (the raw kind, not the prepared spread) 

- 1 tbsp lemon juice 

- 1 tsp ground cumin 

- 2 tsp Ras-Al-Hanout or Garam Masala 

- 1/2 tsp black pepper 

- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

- olive oil for oiling the pan 

For the Sauce: 

- 2 tsp canola/sunflower/vegetable oil

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced 

- 1 inch/2.5 cm of fresh ginger, grated (or 1 tsp of frozen ginger) 

- Thai red curry paste (make sure you use a vegetarian brand, as many contain fish/shrimp). Start out with about 1/2 tbsp, and then add more if you want the sauce spicier. I went with 1 heaped tbsp in mine.

- 1 can coconut milk

- 1 tbsp lemon juice 

- 2 tsp sugar

Preparation: 

For The Cutlets:

1. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment, and grease with olive oil. Heat oven to 200 C/ 400 F. 

2. In a food processor, blend the chickpeas, onion and garlic together. Add the wet bread, herbs, tahini, lemon, and spices (including the salt and pepper) and blend together to a smooth paste. 

3. Using lightly oiled hands, roll the mixture into 16 balls and place each on the prepared baking tin. Bake for 25 minutes or until the bottoms are golden-brown and the cutlets fairly firm. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.

Note: at this point, you can just eat the cutlets as they are (they would make a nice sandwich), or serve them with any sauce you like.

For the Sauce: 

1. In a large pan, heat the oil, and then saute the garlic and ginger until fragrant and golden. 

2. Add the red curry paste and mix around a bit to break the paste up. 

3. Add the coconut milk and stir well, until all of the red curry paste is fully incorporated into the milk. Check the flavors and add more paste if needed. 

4. Add lemon juice and sugar, and cook on a low simmer for a few minutes, until the sauce thickens.

5. Carefully place the cutlets in the sauce, stirring gently to coat, and cook for a few minutes until the cutlets are warmed through. Serve with rice.

Enjoy!

Creamy Pasta with Roasted Peppers and Tomatoes

This great recipe happens to be vegan, but still has an immensely satisfying rich creaminess that would please even the hardiest dairy-lover. This is achieved by drizzling the olive oil in while the food processor is running, as well as by the nuts.

Creamy Pasta with Roasted Peppers and Tomatoes

Ingredients (for 3-4 portions): 

- 250 grams/1/2 lb dried pasta of your choice (or the equivalent in fresh pasta)
- 3 medium tomatoes
- 2 red bell peppers
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup nuts (almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts will work)
- 1/4 cup good quality olive oil, plus extra for roasting
- Salt and pepper
- Grated Parmesan (optional) 

Preparation:

1. Heat an oven to 200 C/400 F.  Slice tomatoes in half and place them round side down in a baking dish. Cut the peppers and remove the seeds and "ribs". place them, skin side up, in the same baking dish. Add the garlic cloves as well. Drizzle olive oil over all of the vegetables and lightly season with salt. Place the baking dish in the oven and roast the vegetables until the skin of the peppers is blackened and puffy. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

2. Set a pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.

3. When the vegetables have cooled enough to touch, carefully remove the skins from the tomatoes and the peppers (it's okay if you can't get every last bit of skin off), and place them in a food processor. Peel the garlic cloves and add them as well.

4. Add the nuts into the food processor, and begin to process. Once the vegetables have begun to form a pasta, drizzle in the olive oil while the food processor is running. As you do this, you'll start to see the color become pinkish and creamy. Continue to run until you have a fairly smooth pasta (there may be a bit of chunkiness from the nuts left over. That's fine). Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.

5. Cook the pasta according to instructions and drain. Return the pasta to the pot, add in the sauce, and toss together. Check seasoning. Serve warm, with a sprinkling of Parmesan (if desired).

Enjoy!

Saag Tofu/Paneer

This is a relatively mild Indian dish, made with loads of lovely spinach. It can be made vegan using tofu, or non-vegan using paneer cheese (For a simple recipe for homemade paneer, see the end of my paneer tikka masala post). I made some changes to the original book recipe to simplify it.

The book: Indian Home Cooking by Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness 

 

Description: This book is, as the title suggests, a guide to cooking Indian food in your home kitchen, and specifically in an Western kitchen. This means that while there is some use of specialty ingredients, often the book will offer alternatives or simply supply a simplified version of a recipe that makes it easier to cook at home. It works really well if you are living in the UK, or in  a fairly large American city with access to places like Whole Foods or other retailers that will carry Indian spices and the like. It can require a bit more creativity to make it work if you live somewhere where such items are more difficult to locate.

Language:  English

 

Genre: Indian food 

 

Veg Status: The book is by no means exclusively vegetarian, and it has large sections dedicated to meat and fish. However, because Indian food is very vegetarian friendly, this book has lots of vegetarian and vegan recipes. Moreover, most of the meat recipes can be easily converted to vegetarian or vegan by substituting tofu, paneer, or cooked chickpeas for the meat. 

 

GF Status: Indian food is very GF friendly. While there are some breads and pastries that would be difficult to convert to GF, some Indian classics are GF by virtue of using chickpea flour or lentil flour instead of when flour. And of course the vast majority of the recipes for curries and the like are naturally gluten free. In other words, you will be able to find enough GF recipes for your heart's content in this book. 

Saag Tofu/Paneer

 

 

Ingredients (for 2 large portions or four small ones): 

 

- 1 package (about 300 grams) firm tofu or paneer, sliced into cubes

- about 500 grams/ 1 lb fresh spinach or frozen spinach 

- 1.5-2 tablespoon ghee, butter or oil

- 3 whole dried chilis

- 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

- 7 green cardamom pods

- 7 whole cloves

- 3/4 teaspoon fennel

- 1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated ginger

-1/2 teaspoon salt 

Preparation: 

 

1. Heat 1/2 tbsp of oil to a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add as many cubes of paneer/tofu as will fit comfortable and brown them on all sides. Drain the tofu/paneer on paper towels and continue until all of the tofu/paneer is browned, adding more oil as needed. (I needed only one batch). Set aside. 

2. Boil about 2 inches/5 cm of water in a large pot. Add the spinach (frozen or fresh), cover and cook stirring for a few minutes until the fresh spinach is wilted or the frozen spinach is thawed. Drain, and either puree in a blender with some of the cooking water, or simply chop finely. 

3. Heat the ghee, butter or oil with the red chiles, cumin, cardamom, cloves and fennel seeds in a large wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until the cumin turns a golden-brown color, 1-2 minutes. Add the ginger and cook, stirring, 45 seconds. Add the spinach and the salt. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for about 5 minutes. 

4. Place the paneer/tofu squares on top of the spinach. Cover and cook gently 5 more mintes. Halfway through the cooking, use a spatula to gently turn the paneer in the spinach. Taste for salt. 

5. Serve with rice and/or Indian bread.

 

Gazpacho (chilled tomato soup)

Gazpacho is the ultimate summer dish. It's not only cold and refreshing to eat, it's also cold and refreshing to make, as it doesn't require turning on the oven or stove.
It is quite an easy dish as long as you have a good blender or food processor. Without either one, it's quite a lot of work and won't have quite the right texture.

There are lots of versions of gazpacho out there, but I used this one as my base.

Here I garnished it with finely diced cucumbers and onions as well as some lightly browned almond slivers, but you can garnish it with lots of other things.

Gazpacho is at it's best if allowed to rest overnight in the fridge, so that all the flavors combine. But you can eat it as soon as it's ready if you like.

Gazpacho

 

Ingredients (for 4-6 portions): 

- About 6 medium tomatoes (1 kilo/2 lbs), preferably very red and ripe. 
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 medium or 2 small cucumbers, peeled.
- 1/2 red onion, peeled
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 medium Jalapeno or other hot pepper, deseeded
- 1/3 cup of olive oil, preferably extra virgin
- 1 handful of almonds and 1 slice of bread (gluten free is fine) OR 2 slices of bread OR 2 handfuls of almonds
- 3 tbsp of lemon juice or a light vinegar such as sherry vinegar or cider vinegar (but not balsamic).
- Salt and pepper, to taste.
- Water or ice cubes, as needed. 
- For garnish (choose any combination of these, or nothing at all): finely diced cucumbers, finely diced tomatoes, finely diced onion, finely diced hard-boiled egg, croutons, lightly browned almonds.

Preparation: 

1) chop all of the vegetables into a large chunks. If using bread, cut the bread into small chunks.

2) Put the tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion, garlic, jalapeno, olive oil, almonds/bread and lemon juice/vinegar into a food processor or blender, and blend until you get a relatively smooth mixture (although it will still have a bit of texture, especially with the almonds).

3) Season with salt and pepper. If you would like a slightly runnier texture, add a little bit of water (but not much!) at this point. If you plan to eat the gazpacho right away and would like it to be really cold, add a few ice cubes (but only if your blender can handle them!). Blend some more to get the seasoning mixed in and the ice (if using) fully crushed.

4) Serve with the desired garnish and a drizzle of olive oil.

Wine Poached Pears with a Chocolate Bottom

Poached pears are a classic dessert, but this versions adds a lovely chocolate surprise that makes them even more delicious. It also has the advantage of being both vegan and gluten free.

Wine Poached Pears with a Chocolate Bottom

Ingredients (for 6-8 servings): 

-  6-8 smallish pears
-  1 bottle wine, preferably medium-dry. You can use red or white. If you use red, the pears will take on the color. I used white here.
- 1/2 cup sugar(with a bit extra as needed)
- 1 tsp cinnamon (or one stick cinnamon)
- a pinch of ground cloves or a few whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger (or some slices of ginger)
-  200 grams/7 oz high quality dark chocolate (if you want to make this vegan, make sure you use a vegan chocolate)
- Almonds or other nuts of your choice, finely ground (optional)
- Finely shredded coconut (optional)

Preparation: 

1. Make the wine syrup: in a wide flat pot combine the wine, sugar and spices. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Check if the syrup is sweet enough and add a bit more sugar if not. It should be somewhat sweet but not overly so.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the pears: slice the bottom off of each pear, so that they can stand. Using a paring knife or a melon-baller to take out the core of the pear from the bottom, trying to leave as much of the flesh intact as possible. Peel each pear from the top down, leaving the stem.

3. Place the pears in the pot, bottom down, and poach for about 10 minutes, then plop the pears on their sides so that the tops cook properly as well. The pears are ready when you can easily stick a toothpick or fork into the flesh, but they do not fall apart and still retain their shape. Do NOT overcook them. Remove from heat and allow the pears to cool down inside the liquid. When the pears are cool enough to touch, remove them with a slotted spoon (or by gently taking them out with the stems) - reserving the liquid -  and place them on a plate to dry off. Take a clean empty plate and place it in the freezer to use in prepping the pears.

4.  Reduce the syrup: put the pot with the liquid back on a medium flame, and cook until it is somewhat thickened and reduced by about half. Remove from heat and reserve the liquid.

5. Melt the chocolate in a relatively small heat-proof bowl, either in a double boiler or in the microwave. (You want to make sure that the bowl is small enough that you can easily dip the pears in the chocolate). In a bowl or on a plate combine the almonds/nuts and coconut.

6. When the pears are relatively dry, take the clean plate out from the freezer. Gently take each pear by the stem or top, and dip the bottom in the chocolate. Try to make sure that the chocolate not only covers the bottom of the pear but also fills the hollow core. Dip the chocolate covered pear in the nut mixture, and place on the cold plate to harden. Do this for all the pears.

7. Allow the pears to harden on the plate. If it's a warm day or the chocolate won't harden, refrigerate the pears for a bit to help the process. Serve each pear on a plate with some of the reduced syrup. You can also add some nice ice cream to make it even better.

Southern Style Rice and Beans

This colorful dish is perfect for potlucks and dinner parties, because the carnivores treat it as a nice side dish, while us veggies know that with rice, beans and vegetables, this actually works as a satisfying entree.  It's just as delicious at room temperature as it is warm, and you can make it more or less spicy based on your preferences. The recipe is from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook.

Southern Style Rice and Beans

Ingredients (for 4 entree portions): 

- 1 cup white rice, uncooked
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced
- 1 small green bell pepper, diced
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 small tomatoes, diced
- 1 chili or jalapeno pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped (if you don't like heat, you can leave this out. If you like more heat, leave some or all of the seeds and ribs in the pepper)
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed
-  Salt and pepper
- Seasoning: you can either use about 1 tsp of a prepared cajun-spice mix, or you can mix together any or all of the following spices and season to your taste: garlic powder, cayenne pepper, chili powder, dried oregano, dried thyme.
- Fresh basil, chopped, to garnish (optional)

Preparation: 

1. Cook the rice according to instructions either in a rice cooker or in a pot with water, until just tender. When it's cooked, place in a large serving bowl or dish.

2. In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large pan. Cook the bell peppers and onion for about 5 minutes, until they begin to soften (but they shouldn't get really soft), stirring occasionally.

3. Add the tomatoes and chili pepper and keep cooking for another 2 minutes. Add the kidney beans and keep cooking just to heat the beans.

4. Add the vegetables to the rice and mix well. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cajun spice/spice mix.  Garnish with fresh basil if desired.
 

Pea Soup

This soup, which we like to call "witches' brew" in my family, has the advantage of being incredibly delicious and looking quite elegant, while at the same time being ridiculously easy to make.

Pea Soup

Ingredients (for 4-6 servings): 

- 1 package (4 cups) good quality vegetable broth (or 4 cups of water flavored with buillon powder, but this is less recommended).

- About 2 packages of frozen peas (I used 2x12 oz package, so total of 24 oz or about 700 grams, but you can play with the exact amount).

- 1 small onion, finely chopped (optional, and a bit of oil if you are using it).

- Salt and pepper to season.

- To serve: sour cream/creme fraiche, croutons (all optional)

Preparation: 

1. In a medium pot, saute the onion in a bit of oil until softened (if you are using the onion). Add the broth (if you aren't using the onion, just put the broth directly in the pot). Heat to a boil.

2. Add the peas into hot broth and cook for about 10 minutes, until the peas are mushy.

3. Using a stick blender (better option) or a food processor/regular blender, carefully puree the soup until it is completely smooth and green, without chunks of pea or onion in it. Reheat the pureed soup. I like the soup quite dense, but you can add broth or water to adjust the consistency to one you like. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve the soup hot. I like to serve it with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream and some croutons, but of course this is up to you.

Pakoras (Spinach, Onion and Potato Snacks)

These are vegetable fritters with Indian spices and just a hint of heat, fried crispy in a chickpea batter and delicious.
They are best served with various chutneys. This recipe is from Indian Home Made Cooking. 

Pakoras

Ingredients (for about 30 pakoras): 

Spice Powder:

-1 tsp coriander seeds

- 1 tsp cumin seeds

- 1 tsp garam masala

- 1/2 tsp cayenne/chili pepper

- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds

For fritters: 

- 6 cups fresh spinach, finely chopped 

- 1 medium red potato, peeled and very finely diced

- 1 medium red onion, diced 

 - 1 fresh hot green chili pepper, very finely chopped

- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

- 2 cups chickpea flour (can be found in the "natural foods" section of many supermarkets)

- 1 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1.75 cups water 

- Canola oil for deep frying

Preparation: 

1. Mix the spices in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind very coarsly. 

2. Combine the spice powder with the vegetables, chili, cilantro, flour, salt and baking powder and stir to coat everything with the flour. Add the water gradually and stir to create a batter. 

3. Pour several inches/cm of oil into a large skillet and heat over medium heat until the oil is hot (but not very hot. You want the potatoes to cook without the pakoras burning). Spoon 4-5 large spoonfuls of the mixture into the oil. Allow to fry for about a minute, then turn over and cook for another minute, then keep cooking, flipping occasionally, for about 5-6 minutes, or until cooked through and golden brown. 

4. Using a slotted spoon, remove the fried pakoras into a plate lined with paper. Keep doing this until you fry all of them. Serve hot with chutney.

Tofu Fajita

This is a simple recipe for a tofu fajita filling. You can eat it as is or with some rice (I made mexican rice for this version), or you can serve it with tortillas, sour cream, guacmole, salsa, cheese etc.You can also make this with seitan. In fact, in the version in the picture I used part tofu and part seitan, just because that's what I had on hand.

This is a vegetarianized version of a recipe from Jane Milton's mexican cookbook.

Tofu Fajita

Ingredients (for 4-6 portions): 

- 1 package of extra firm tofu  

- 2 limes or lemons

- 2 tbsp sugar

- 2 tsp dried oregano

- 1/2-1 tsp chili powder (depending how hot you like this)

- 1 tsp cinammon 

- 2 onions 

- 3 peppers (1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow or orange) 

- 3 tbsp vegetable oil 

- To serve tortilla, salsa, guacamole etc. (optional) 

Preparation: 

1. Slice the tofu into small strips. In a large bowl combine the juice from the limes/lemons, sugar, oregano, chili powder and cinnamon. Add the tofu into the bowl and mix well. Marinate for 20-30 minutes. 

2. Slice the onion and the peppers into strips. 

3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the tofu and stir fry until the tofu is beginning to brown. Add the peppers and onions and stir for another 3-4 minutes. The vegetables should be fairly soft. 

4.Serve with rice, or on tortillas with toppings.

Sweet Potato, Red Lentil and Spinach Curry

This is a rich and filling dish, which still doesn't feel too "wintery", perhaps because of the vibrant orange colors. The lentils offer protein and the sweet potatoes are the starch, so this dish makes a complete meal by itself.

The original recipe is from Al-Haschulchan's vegetarian cookbook, but I felt the flavors needed a bit of adjusting.

Sweet Potato, Red Lentil and Spinach Curry

Ingredients (for 4 portions): 

- 1 cup red lentils
- about 4 small sweet potatoes (this adds up to about 700 grams), sliced into thin disks or small chunks.
- 1 tbsp canola oil
-  1 onion, sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
- 3 heaped tsp Thai red curry paste (make sure you use a vegetarian/vegan kind)
- 1 tbsp grainy mustard
- 1 can coconut milk (I used light)
- 1 large package (about 300 grams) baby spinach leaves
- handful of chopped cilantro (optional)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- juice from 1 lemon
 - salt and chili powder, to taste

Preparation: 

1. Bring water to a boil in a medium pot. Add the red lentils and a little bit of salt, and cook for about 10 minutes, until the lentils soften but still keep their shape. Drain.

2. Cook the sweet potato slices in water for 20 minutes or bake in an oven at 180 C/350F until softened.

3. Heat the oil in a wok or large pan. Stir fry the onion, garlic and ginger until the onion is golden.

4. Add the curry paste and mustard and stir until the curry begins to soften, then add the lentils, sweet potatoes and the coconut milk. Stir until the curry powder is fully melted into the sauce and it all looks like cohesive dish.

5. Correct seasoning: taste the dish and see whether it is to your liking. I found it helpful to add the brown sugar and a few good squeezes of lemon juice, as well as quite a bit of salt and chili powder. However, you may prefer the dish less seasoned.

6. Add the spinach and cilantro and continue heating until the spinach wilts into the dish, stirring. Serve warm.

Asian Tofu Lettuce Salad

 A warm and flavorful tofu salad sitting on top of crisp fresh iceberg lettuce, topped with crispy rice noodles. Depending on the portion size, this can make a lovely appetizer, a snack or a complete meal.

This recipe was inspired by Chinese restaurant chain P.F Changs, which we go to because they have an extensive gluten free menu. One of our favorite dishes on their menu is the tofu (or chicken, for the meat eater) lettuce wraps. We found a recipe that looked very similar in Sheshet Asian, and decided to try using that recipe to make something similar to what we eat at the restaurant.

At the restaurant, they serve this with a side of "bowls" made from the lettuce, which you then use to wrap parts of the tofu mixture. But if the iceberg doesn't quite want to cooperate, you can just eat this as a regular salad, or you can use iceberg bits that aren't perfect bowls to use for the wraps.

Also, if you've been wanting to try tofu for the first time, this is a good recipe to use, because the strong flavors mask the blandness that tofu can sometimes have.

Asian Tofu Lettuce Salad

Ingredients (for 2-4 portions, depending if you eat it as an appetizer or full meal): 

- 1 pack extra firm tofu, cut into very very small cubes.
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon grass, very finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, very finely chopped or minced
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 1 small chili pepper, finely diced
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (or gluten free Tamari)
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 scallions (green onions) finely sliced.
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- a handful of mint, finely chopped
- a handful of basil, finely chopped
- a handful of cilantro, finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Crispy rice noodles, to top (optional)

To serve: iceberg (round) lettuce leaves (ideally "bowl" shaped, but don't worry about it), washed and dried. 

Preparation: 

1. Prepare the tofu: Heat the oil in a wok and stir fry the lemon grass, garlic, ginger and chili until they start to turn golden. Add the tofu cubes (they should really be very small, almost like "ground tofu"), and keep frying while stirring for another 2-3 minutes. Add the soy sauce and the lemon and stir well. Taste to check flavoring and if necessary add more soy sauce or lemon.

2. Turn off heat, and add the scallion, the sprouts, the herbs and the sesame to the salad, and mix.

3. Arrange a few leaves of lettuce on a plate, and top each leaf with some of the salad. If desired, top with some crispy noodles.

4. You can eat this with a knife and fork, but the fun way to eat it is to lift up a lettuce leaf, wrap it around the salad, and eat them like a wrap.

Basics: Crispy Rice Noodles

These crispy noodles are great as a garnish for salads or a little crunchy topping for stir-fries.

Crispy Rice Noodles 

To make these noodles, take a pack (or just a little bit) of rice vermicelli (rice sticks), and soak it in warm water for about 20 minutes, until they get a chewy texture. Drain and allow to sit in the colander to try for about 10 minutes. Tear the noodles up in order to make relatively small pieces. 

Heat some oil for deep frying in a wok or pan. When the oil is hot, take a little bit of the noodles and carefully sprinkle them into the oil. WARNING: the oil will sizzle a lot when the noodles touch it, so be very careful not to get splattered!
The noodles are ready when they are crisp and the oil around them stops sizzling, about 1 minute. Carefully remove the noodles with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat with all the noodles.

If the noodles clump up during frying and you want smaller pieces, once they are fried it is easy to break them into smaller bits by lightly pounding on them with a spoon or knife.

"Pressed" Garlic-Mint Tofu

 This succulent tofu is marinated to give it a great flavor, and then cooked while being pressed under the weight of another pot or skillet in order to get rid of excess moisture and keep it crispy.

Because our household is both veggie and non-veggie, we sometimes struggle with what to cook for dinner. Because it's a hassle to make two completely different meals, we often try to make food that is similar and uses similar ingredients, but one version is veggie and the other is not.

This exact situation is the concept behind the cookbook The Flexitarian Table . This book is divided into meals rather than individual recipes, where most of the meal is vegetarian, while the main course usually appears in two versions: one veggie, one not. Both versions use very similar ingredients and they are written in such as way as to create as little mess as possible.  Although in this case it uses tofu as a chicken alternative, not all of the veggie recipes in the book use "meat alternatives" such as tofu and seitan. The main change I made from the book is making extra marinade.

In the picture this is served with lemony Israeli couscous.

"Pressed" Garlic-Mint Tofu 

Ingredients (for 2 portions of tofu): 

- 12-14oz (about 340-400 grams) extra firm tofu, cut into four slabs about 1 cm/half an inch thick
- 4 large cloves of garlic, smashed
- 1.5 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup packed chopped fresh mint
- grated zest from 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation: 

1. Prepare the tofu: place the tofu slabs on a paper towel, top with another paper towel and press down on them to remove excess liquid. Leave them under the towel until the marinade is ready.

2. Make the marinade: Mash the garlic to a paste with the sea salt. In a bowl, whisk together the mint, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic paste and pepper flakes. Then, while whisking or mixing constantly, drizzle in the olive oil.

3. Put the marinade in a dish large enough to contain the tofu slabs and place the slabs in the marinade.Leave to marinate for about 30 minutes.

4. Prepare to cook the tofu: in order to cook the tofu pressed, you will need a large heavy skillet for the actual cooking. You will also need something to weigh the tofu down. I used another heavy pot with a clean bottom. If your other pot isn't very heavy, you can weigh it down additionally with a brick, a large can or another heat-proof object, or you can just press down on it while the tofu is cooking.

5. Cook the tofu: Put the skillet over medium high heat and allow it to get nice and hot. Take the tofu pieces out of the marinade reserving the left over marinade and place them on the hot skillet. Place your weighing-down pot directly over the tofu and press down. The tofu should lightly sizzle, but if it's smoking a lot and sizzling loudly then lower your heat a bit. Cook, pressed, for about 5 minutes, or until the bottom of the tofu is golden-brown and crispy looking. Then flip the tofu over, weigh it down again, and cook until the other side is also golden and crispy. Remove tofu to the plate or serving dish.

6. Take the reserved marinade (if you don't have a lot left you can add a bit more olive oil to it) and put it on the skillet on medium-low heat. Gently scrape anything that was left on the bottom of the skillet into the marinade and cook together for a few seconds. Pour the heated marinade over the tofu and serve hot.

 

Israeli Couscous (Ptitim) with Peas and Lemon

In Israel, ptitim (known around the world as Israeli couscous or pearl couscous) are the most basic food you could possibly find. They are the thing you serve with ketchup to your very picky toddler who refuses any other sustenance. So the fact that in recent years they have showed up on the menus of gourmet restaurants around the world is a consistent source of hilarity for Israelis.

The "traditional" Israeli way to serve these is with nothing other than a bit of fried onion - and I will speak no ill of that, because they are absolutely awesome that way.
However, sometimes you do want to try something a little different, so here it is. 

If you can't get your hands on Israeli couscous, you can make this with Italian orzo, which is basically the same thing. Also, in Israel one can get gluten free ptitim (which are, in fact, what I used in the picture you see), but sadly they have not yet made it to the US. If you want to make this gluten free, I suggest using similar flavors but adding cooked white or brown rice.

Israeli Couscous with Peas and Lemon

Ingredients (for 3-4 portions): 


- 250 grams uncooked Israeli couscous (ptitim)
- 2 handfuls of frozen peas
-  finely chopped herbs (I used garlic chives, but dill or mint would work well)
-  1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon
- salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation: 
1. Cook the peas: either heat them in the microwave with a little bit of water for about 2 minutes and strain, or cook them in a pot of boiling water until tender and drain. Set aside.

2. Make the couscous: do not make it in the regular (cooking until the water is absorbed). Instead, cook it like you would pasta: boil water in a pot, add the couscous, cook until al-dente and drain. 

3. In a large skillet or in the same pot you used for the couscous, heat the olive oil. Add the herbs and cook for about 1 minute. Add the couscous and the peas and stir. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon on the couscous and stir. Taste to see if you are happy with the tartness. If not, add more lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Seitan/Tofu in Orange Sauce

Crisp pieces of seitan, in a sweet, tangy, orange-y sauce with just a hint of a heat. So delicious!
Don't be fooled by the small amount of orange juice in this recipe. The recipe actually tastes quite strongly of orange, in an excellent way. I started out with this  "orange chicken" recipe, but modified it to make it both vegetarian and gluten free, although the latter is not a requirement.
One of the nice things about this recipe is that the protein pieces are just lightly floured and stir fried in some oil, rather than battered and deep fried, so they still taste nice and crispy, but they aren't heavy with batter and it's not a mess to make.

As always, you can use seitan, tofu or any protein of your choice for this.

Seitan/Tofu in Orange Sauce

 

Ingredients (for 2 large portions or 3-4 smaller ones): 

For the Sauce: 

- 1.5 cup water

-   2 tbsp orange juice (freshly squeezed is best)

- 1/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best, this is about the juice of  2 lemons) 

- 1/3 cup rice vinegar

- 1 tbsp soy sauce 

- 1 tbsp sesame oil 

- grated zest from 1/2 orange 

- 1 cup packed brown sugar 

- 1 tsp minced ginger root

- 1 clove minced garlic 

- 2 tbsp chopped green onion

- red pepper flakes (at least 1/4 tsp, but add more if you like things a bit hotter) 

For the protein:

- 1 package seitan or tofu (about 8 oz/225 grams), sliced into strips or chunks. 

- 1 cup all purpose flour or all purpose gluten free flour 

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp pepper

- 3 tbsp vegetable oil 

To finish off the recipe: 

- 2 handfuls of snow peas, sliced (you can also use other greens, such as broccoli)

- 3 tbsp cornstarch 

- 2 tbsp water

Preparation: 

1. In a saucepan combine all of the sauce ingredients. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. 

2. Place the seitan/tofu pieces in a bowl, pour 1 cup of the cooled sauce into the bowl, stir to coat the pieces well, and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes (but if you can leave it longer, by all means do so). Keep the rest of the sauce. 

3. In a resealable plastic bag combine the flour, salt and pepper. When the protein is marinated, put the pieces in the bag of flour, seal the bag and shake it around to give the pieces an even coat. 

4. In a wok or large skillet heat the oil to medium heat. Take the seitan/tofu pieces out of the flour, shaking them a bit to lose excess flour, and add them to the skillet. When the pieces are nice browned, take them out of the skillet and set aside.

5. If the skillet is completely dry, add another tsp or so of oil. If you still have some oil, just use that. Stir fry the snow peas for about 1 minute, until they just begin to soften. 

6. Add the sauce that you had previously saved to the skillet and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and mix well. Add this mixture into the sauce and stir. The sauce will immediately begin to thicken. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the seitan/tofu pieces and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve as is or over rice. Enjoy!

Black Bean and Corn Chili

A few days ago we drove past a lovely country farm stand, and they had some great fresh corn. I'd never cooked fresh corn before, except straight on the cob, so I decided to look for a few recipes, and came across this one.  I modified it a bit to fit my tastes, and the result was a hearty vegetable chili with great flavor and texture, which was perfect served on rice.

I made it just before I had to leave town for a few days, so I froze the leftovers. When I got back it was late and I needed a quick dinner, so I defrosted and heated the chili in the microwave and wrapped it up in a tortilla with a bit of melted cheddar for a quick burrito. It was delicious, and the chili didn't seem to suffer at all from being frozen.

Black Bean and Corn Chili 

Ingredients (for a large pot of chili, about 6-8 servings): 

- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 bell peppers, whatever color you liked, diced.
- 1 hot pepper (Serrano or jalapeno or something similar) , finely diced. You can deseed it if you don't like heat, or leave some of the seeds for a bigger kick.
- 6 medium tomatoes, preferable ripe red ones, diced.
- Fresh kernels from 2 corn cobs (or about 1 cup of kernels frozen or from a can)
- Seasoning: black pepper, cumin, chili powder, salt
- 2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained.
- 1.5 cups vegetable stock or water with bullion seasoning
- grated cheese to serve (optional)

Preparation: 

1. Heat the oil in a large pot. Add all of the vegetables (except the beans) and saute until the onion is softened and becomes somewhat translucent.

2. Season with the various seasonings. The original recipe calls for 1 tsp of the black pepper and cumin and 1 tbsp of the chili powder, but you can modify this according to your tastes.

3. Add the beans and the vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Then take 1.5 cup of the chili and put it in a food processor or blender and puree it (if you only have a stick blender, you can also just slightly puree the chili, but still leave it chunky). Add the pureed chili back into the pot and cook for another 10 minutes or so. Check seasoning. If wanted, top with grated cheese.

You can serve this by itself as a thick soup/stew, or over rice as a chili. You can also serve it over nachos or inside a burrito.

Rice with chickpeas and crispy potatoes

When it comes out perfectly, this recipe yields a layer of thin, crispy potatoes, topped by a delicious mixture of rice, chickpeas and onions. But even if the potatoes don't come out perfectly crispy, this recipe is still great. Serve it with some salad on the side and you have a complete meal.

It's really best to make this recipe with dried chickpeas that you cook at home, but canned will also do in a pinch. 

Rice with Chickpeas and Crispy Potatoes

Ingredients (for 4-6 portions): 

- 1 large potato, sliced into thin slices

- 1-2 tbsp of canola oil 

- 1 large onion, finely chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced 

- 1-2 tsp olive oil 

- 1-2 cups of cooked chickpeas (or canned) 

- 2 cups of rice 

- 4 cups of water 

- salt and pepper

Preparation: 

1) Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, and fry the onion and garlic until they are lightly golden.  Set aside.

2) Put the canola oil in a medium pot (one that has a lid) and layer the bottom of the pot with the potato slices. Don't worry if the potatoes overlap. Place the pot on a medium-high heat and cook until the potatoes begin to crisp up around the edges. 

3) Add the rice, fried onions and garlic and the chickpeas to the pot and very gently stir them (you want the chickpeas to be interspersed within the rice, but not to move the potatoes at the bottom of the pan). Add the water, season with salt and pepper, and cover. 

4) Lower the heat to medium low, and cook until the rice is completely cooked and all the water has been absorbed, about 20-30 minutes. Then continue cooking a while longer, until the rice that is touching the side of the pan begins to be golden and a bit crispy. Be careful not to burn the dish! 

5) Remove from heat.  Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary. When serving, make sure that each diner gets some of the potatoes from the bottom of the pan as well as a mixture of rice, onions and chickpeas.

Basics: Preparing Chickpeas

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are really great for a lot of things, but preparing dried chickpeas for use takes a long time. I always make a large quantity of chickpeas and then freeze them in small batches, which I defrost as needed.

I just prepared some last week so there will probably be a few chickpea recipes here in the near future. You can use canned chickpeas in these recipes, but dried beans taste much much better than canned, so it's worthwhile doing this.

Preparation: 

Take 1-2 pounds (0.5-1 kilos) of chickpeas (smaller chickpeas are better, if you can get them) and put them in a large bowl with plenty of water and about 1 tsp of baking soda (the latter is optional). Soak them overnight in the water, but make sure they are covered in plenty of water before you go to bed.
Drain the chickpeas and wash them. Then place them in a large pot and cover with plenty of water.

Bring to a boil. You will likely get little "clouds" of foam. Clear them out of the way using a slotted spoon. Lower the heat and cook on a simmer for about 1.5 - 2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding water as necessary, until the chickpeas are quite soft and the water is a muddy color. Salt the chickpeas and taste to make sure they are seasoned. Turn off the heat and allow the chickpeas to cool in the leftover water.

When the chickpeas are cooled, place between 1-2 cups of cooked chickpeas into each container (freezer safe plastic containers are good), and put the containers in the freezer.

When you want to use the chickpeas, simply take out a container and defrost it.

Mejadra - rice and lentils

Mejadra is, as far as I'm concerned, the ultimate vegetarian food. The combination of rice and lentils offers a complete protein, and this dish is filling, delicious and quick to make. Whenever I feel like a hearty veggie meal and can't think what to make, a large bowl of mejadra and a bit of salad on the side do the job.

At its very simplest, all you need to do is cook lentils, cook rice, and mix them together with some seasoning and perhaps a bit of fried onion. This slightly (but only slightly!) more complicated version is based on the one in The Book of New Israeli Food.

When making the mejadra you see in the picture, I used Laurell Hill's "lentil medley", just because I wanted a little variation in my lentils. However, normally I use plain brown (green)lentils, and I've also made it in the past with black or puy lentils. I wouldn't make it with red lentils, though, because they tend to go mushy really fast.

Mejadra

Ingredients (for 6-8 portions): 

- 1 cup of  brown/green lentils (or other lentils you like, but not red)

- 2 cups of white rice (you can also make it with brown, but it will probably need more cooking)

- olive oil for frying

- 2 medium onions, chopped 

- 1 tbsp ground cumin 

- salt and pepper 

To garnish (optional): 

- 2-3 onions, cut into thin rings

- 2 tbsp olive oil, for frying 

- Sour cream or yogurt

Preparation: 

1. In a small pot put the lentils and plenty of water, and cook for about 30 minute, or until the lentils are softened, but still have a little bit of a bite to them.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the onion garnish: heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan and add the thinly sliced onion rings. Fry over medium heat until the onions are very brown and crispy, but don't let them burn. This may take some patience. When the onion is ready, set it aside.

3. In a large saucepan with a lid, heat a tbsp or two of olive oil, and add the chopped onions (from the main recipe, not the garnish). Fry until the onion is lightly golden. Add the lentils into the saucepan, season with cumin, salt and pepper, then add the rice and stir well.

4. Add 3 cups of boiling water to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover the pan, lower the heat, and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. This took about 10 minutes for me, but may take longer, so test it frequently. Turn off the heat. Fluff the rice with a fork or spoon, then cover the saucepan again and let sit, with the heat off, for another 5-10 minutes.

5. To serve, pile the mejadra on a plate, garnish with a large pile of the fried onion rings and if you want, top with a dollop of sour cream, Greek yogurt or regular yogurt.

Besan Chilla (Spiced Indian chickpea bread)

Besan chilla (or besan ka chilla) is a lovely Indian flatbread laced with onions, chili pepper and cilantro.
It is a wonderful accompaniment to any Indian meal and is very easy to make.

Because the only flour used is chickpea (garbanzo) flour, this bread is also a great gluten free alternative to naan, chapati or roti in an Indian meal.

This is a slightly simplified version of this recipe.

Besan Chilla 

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Ingredients (for about 8 large pieces of bread): 

- 2 cups of chickpea (garbanzo) flour

-  1 large onion, very finely chopped 

- 1 green chili, very finely chopped 

- 1 bunch of cilantro leaves, very finely chopped 

- 1 tsp black pepper 

- 1/2 tsp red chili powder

- 1 tsp garam masala 

- 1 tsp ground coriander seeds 

-  salt, to taste

- 1- 1.5 cups of water 

- oil for cooking 

 Preparation: 

1. Place all of the ingredients except for the water and the oil into a bowl and stir well. 

2. Start adding a little water and mixing, adding more water until to you have a batter of the appropriate consistency. The batter should be quite thin, like crepe batter (thinner than pancake batter). 

3. Oil a large pan or griddle and heat. When it is heated, pour a ladle of batter and spread it around to make a fairly thin crepe. When it starts to look golden-brown and crunchy on the sides (this will happen quite quickly), oil the top of the "crepe" a little and flip it over. Cook for another minute or so until it also looks quite golden on the other side. Continue doing this with the rest of the batter. 

Small tip: I recommend tasting a little bit of your first besan chilla, to make sure that the seasoning is correct. I felt I had to add more salt after the first one. 

Enjoy!