Tag Archives: cumin

May 11 2012
10 Comments
Cooking, Recipes

Pumpkin Lentil Lower Carb Burritos!

This is one of the easier things Brent and I have made in a while, all we needed was the following:

1 head of cabbage, raw

1 14.5 oz tin of pumpkin

1 cup of dry lentils

1 cube of veggie bouillon

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

1 jalapeño (optional)

chili powder or chili paste and salt to taste

Start by cooking the lentils. Combine them with 2 cups of water and your bouillon cubes and microwave at 2 minute intervals until all the liquid is absorbed. You can also cook them on your stove at low heat until the liquid is absorbed.

Now put them into a sauce pan with the pumpkin and spices. Heat until it’s all steamy. Adjust the seasonings as necessary. You can also add a can of diced tomato and a diced onion but this recipe is designed to accommodate a friends with tomato and onion allergies, respectively. It’s delicious and filling just as I’ve written it.

Now carefully remove a cabbage leaf, add a scoop or two of your burrito filling and whatever other things you like (we’re adding cilantro and Daiya cheddar cheese).

Roll them up and insert into your face.You might not even realize you’re eating a cabbage leaf. This is a great way to have a low carb, low calorie wrap for your sandwich or burrito and doesn’t cost a whole lot. I hope you like it!

 

This is Brent and Christie, signing off.

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Apr 22 2012
2 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Who needs beef stroganoff? Not this girl.

This sauce is really my interpretation of beef stroganoff. Stroganoff is a Russian dish of sauteed beef served with sour cream. I’m not a fan of beef and dairy and nor is my digestive tract so I’m using mushrooms and tofu for a light version that’s loaded with protein and flavor. I particularly like this recipe with sweet potato or squash gnocchi, but it’s great with regular pasta or over a burger for a new twist on sandwich time. You’ll need the following:

2 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 scallions, chopped
2 cups chopped mushrooms (any kind will do)
1 tablespoon herbes de provence
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup white wine (recommended)
1 tofu sausage, chopped (optional)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 box of Mori-nu soft silken tofu
soy milk

Put the tofu into a blender and blend it until it’s smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.

Put the olive oil into a large fry-pan. Add the scallion, wine and herbs; saute for 7-8 minutes until the onion is soft.

Add the mushrooms. We actually used dried mushrooms because they were around: reconstituting them with distilled water in the microwave.

Add the sausage [if you’re using it.I actually find it boring against the other flavors… and that’s saying something] and the blended tofu. Add soy milk to adjust the texture.

While I was doing that, Brent was making the rice pasta. I imagine serving this over braised seitan would be fabulous!

Apologies for those of you who know I say this just about every time I cook with wine: I often see people using ‘spoiled’ wine for cooking. Those flavors will end up in your food so I can’t recommend cooking with wine you wouldn’t drink: buy a fresh bottle and try it to see if you like it. If you’re not much for wine, this recipe is definitely delicious with just a mushroom herb sauce but I do love the flavors it brings out in the herbs and mushrooms. If you do leave out the wine, I’d add a medium diced onion and 3-4 minced cloves of garlic.

This recipe is a decadent creamy high protein sauce that’s great over vegetables, pasta, on bread or whatever. We like it because it takes so little time to prepare for how delicious it is. Brent even licked the spoon. We hope you get to try it and love it as much as we do.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off.

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Apr 16 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes

Cuban Inspired Shepherdless Pie

After working with plantains more often, I wanted to try a vegan shepherdless pie using ingredients popular in cuisine from our island neighbor to the South. Cuban food commonly has a lot of interesting vegan elements: plantains, yuca, beans, rice and bananas. I’m a big fan of those things so this dish made sense. This is what we started with for the mashed plantains:
8 plantains (8 fist sized potatoes would work too)
1/4 cup of Diaya cheese
1/2 cup of soy milk (any non-dairy milk will work, almond if you’ve got a soy allergy)
2 tbsp vegan margarine

I peeled the plantains and put them into water to boil. Plantains and potato have similar nutritional profiles except that plantains have a significant amount of vitamin A, where potato has none. They’re both starchy, provide vitamin C, and are free of fat and cholesterol. Getting back to business, while that was happening I prepared the filling with the following ingredients:
1 white onion, diced
1 jalapeño, minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of black beans, soaked overnight or 1 can of beans, partially drained
1 can of diced tomato
10 okra, ends removed and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 lb. frozen corn kernels
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and chili powder to taste

I browned the onion, garlic and jalapeño along with the cumin until the onion became translucent. Then we added the okra, tomato, beans, corn and cilantro and stirred until everything was steamy and sticky from the okra.

Brent took the plantains and combined them with the milk, cheese and margarine and mashed them until they were gloriously creamy. They were really dry so you might need to add more soy milk depending on your plantains (or potatoes).Check out that radical dedicated mooshing face.

He also prepared a base layer in our baking dish of tortillas and daiya to aid in scooping but it’s not necessary.

He spread the mashed plantains over the hot veggies and we put it into the oven for 20 minutes at 350C/175F until it was bubbly and delightful.

It was a hearty filling meal, loaded with vegetables and flavors. It made even better leftovers after everything had a night to marinade in it’s own juice.

Next time I might tweak the seasoning but overall it was a success. We ate half the tray and the rest is disappearing fast.

This is Brent and Christie, signing off.

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Apr 15 2012
3 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

Brent and I were craving comfort food (somehow this happens more often than not). We decided to whip up some tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. For the soup we gathered the following:

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium onion, diced

olive oil

1/4 cup of lightly chopped basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp cumin

1 28 ounce tin of crushed tomato

1/2 cup of almond milk (soy, coconut or rice milk are fine too)

salt and pepper to taste

In a larger pot, I sauteed the onion, garlic and olive oil until the onion began to carmelize. I added the herbs and stirred until it became fragrant. I added the tomato and stirred in the milk. Then I adjusted the salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, Brent sliced the bread and baked it 3 minutes in a 350C/175F oven until it started to get toasty. Then he added a few leaves of spinach and placed a few slices of Follow Your Heart cheese on top. We baked that until the cheese started to melt, another 5-8 minutes.

We’ve been getting good vegan and gluten-free bread from a local lady who is a master baker. To conserve the delicious bread we decided to have open faced sandwiches. We dipped them into the soup and it was pretty awesome. The tart tomato met the creamy cheese, nutty bread and the herbal elements in the spinach and herbs to make a great meal.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!

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Mar 29 2012
1 Comment
Main Dishes, Recipes

Tofu Burgers with portobello mushrooms!

I’ll make just about anything into burgers. I just like the format. In this particular case we tried using a beloved burger recipe as a stuffing for portobello mushrooms. Whether you want patties or stuffed ‘shrooms, all you need to do is gather the following:
12 oz silken tofu
2/3 cup quinoa flakes (rolled oats work too)
1 tbsp flax meal
2 small carrots, grated
2 small stalks celery, chopped
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
tamari or soy sauce to taste

I shredded my carrots and celery in my food processor. I put everything into a bowl with the tofu and then Brent went to work mooshing. Watch him showing this future burger mix who’s the boss. You can also use a food processor but Brent is an expert moosher. Add more quinoa flakes if you find they’re not firm enough.

Shape into patties. Heat a skillet or grill and grill the burgers until each side is crispy and golden brown.

We decided to use it as a stuffing for portobello mushrooms and that’s just another option. We baked some portobellos drizzled lightly with balsamic vinegar at 350C/180F for 10 minutes.

We then stuffed each mushroom cap with the burger mix and baked an additional 20 minutes.

We topped with cheese and baked another 10 minutes. This is Heidi Ho organics, chipotle cheddar. We liked that it was low calorie (about half that of dairy cheese) and it had a nice chipotle flavor but it wasn’t particularly cheesy and didn’t melt like some other vegan cheeses. This didn’t stop us from eating the entire block. It was tasty, just not cheesy.

These burgers were definitely a hit. We ate all three and then fried up the rest of the burger mix and dipped it in buffalo sauce. They came out crispy and tender. Double win! If you try it, let us know what you think. Until then, stay tasty!

This is Brent and Christie, signing off!

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Mar 26 2012
4 Comments
Recipes

Pakora: chickpea fritters… basically.

Brent and I decided to try and recreate another of our favorite take-out dishes last night. This one was not quite as successful as our <a href=”https://turningveganese.com/2012/03/20/tofu-mahkani-quick-and-easy/”>previous endeavors</a> but we learned a lot so it’s okay. We were interested in making pakora so with some inspiration from <a href=”http://ellesite.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/guilt-free-pakora-vegan-indian-food-made-healthy/>Elle’s Diary</a> we decided to craft our own and bake them instead of traditional frying.

First I shredded 5 medium carrots and a large zucchini in my food processor. I added the folloring:
2 cups chickpea flour
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp gram masala blended spices
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter
soy milk

We mixed it together with the shredded veggies and added soy milk until the texture was like a thick batter. I spooned them onto a wax paper lined baking sheet. We baked them at 350C/180F until they began to brown at the edges and were firm to the touch, about 35 minutes.

While we were waiting, my handsome partner in criminally fun cooking prepared two sauces for dipping: mint chutney and tamarind. For the tamarind he combined:
maple syrup
thawed frozen tamarind
chili paste

For the mint chutney, he put the following in the food processor:

1 bunch fresh cilantro
1 1/2 cups fresh mint leaves
1 jalapeño pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup water, or as needed
 
The dipping sauces were an enormous success. The pakora on the other hand, needed some work. I think the next time we make this dish we’ll add a shredded onion and maybe a potato or eggplant to the veggie mix. We’ll also add a little baking soda and use a cast iron skillet to bake them since sticking to the wax paper lined baking sheet was a problem. The flavors, however, were good and this high protein addition to a traditional Indian meal will be welcome even before we work out the kinks. We’ll be revisiting this particular awesome dish again and we’ll keep you posted.
This is Brent and Christie, signing off!
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Mar 15 2012
5 Comments
Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks

Smoked Pumpkin Seed Spread

Thursday nights are raw nights at the Alldestroyers’ household (Alldestroyers is an anagram of both our last names, I’m a nerd. Don’t judge me). Today I  decided to finally try making my own spicy spread, trying to replicate smoked salmon but without the fishiness.

We started our sprouts in advance and started soaking the pumpkin seeds the morning of this dinner.

Otherwise, I started with the following:
1/3 cup of shelled pumpkin seeds, soaked 6 hours in distilled water
1 tbsp of tahini
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp ground cumin
juice from 1 lemon as needed
pinch of nutmeg
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
salt and pepper to taste (I ended up using chipotle to add spice since it’s also smoked)

We put it in the food processor and monitored it while Brent got the rest of the materials we needed to make salad rolls.

Overall they were a hit. Not fishy at all and definitely smokey and satifsying. I think we ate 4 rolls between us. Considering that this was after a grueling double session of Brazilian jiu jitsu, this is really saying something.
We put asparagus, home grown sprouts, carrot, cucumber, spinach into these wraps along with our awesome smoked pumpkin spread. We dipped them in raspberry salad dressing and the combo was faboo! Check out my customer appreciation photo: it was so good it actually blew Brent’s shirt off.

There’s a good chance I’ll use this recipe again to serve on crackers with “cheese”, as a dip for veggies, or as a regular sandwich spread.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off.

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Feb 27 2012
2 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks

I like to call this one, “Tandoori Tofu”

This is a dish about spices. I love Indian food but am wary of restaurants (even though Southeast Asian cuisine usually has ‘safe’ options for people who are vegan or vegetarian but I have the additional issue of gluten free). This is a great main or appetizer with an exotic blend of herbs and spices. Clockwise from top is cilantro, lemon (zest and juice), ginger root, garlic and something you may not be used to: turmeric root.

Turmeric is what gives Indian curries and indeed a lot of vegan foods their rich golden coloring. It’s very similar to ginger root in it’s appearance and texture but the flesh is a rich orange compared to the pale gold of ginger. It’s slightly sweet and intensely herbal in flavor when consumed in the root form. If you can find it, I recommend cooking with it whenever you can. I store mine in a paper bag, wetting with water occasionally to keep it from drying out completely. One tablespoon has 15% of your recomended daily allowance of iron. OMG!

All of these spices are excellent sources of anti-oxidants and micronutrients that you just can’t get anywhere else.
For this dish, you’ll need 1 package of firm Chinese style water packed tofu, cut into bite sized pieces (I used Nasyoa).

The marinade consists of the following:

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated or minced (a piece about the size of your big toe)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric powder or a piece about the size of your thumb, grated or minced
chili powder to taste
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
juice from 1 lemon (add a little zest if you’re feeling adventurous)

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade.

Spoon over the tofu, tossing gently to coat. Let set for 30 minutes so that the flavors can marry and sink into the tofu.

Line a baking tray with foil, spray lightly with olive oil and place tofu on the tray. Bake at 400F/200C for 20 minutes on a middle-upper rack. Serve hot, with cilantro sprinkled over the top and lemon wedges for squeezing.

You can do this with any vegetables: potato, zucchini, mushrooms… even make kebabs! This is an easy way to impress taste buds with healthy exotic cuisine.

If you’re a purist and need raita, I AM working on a vegan version. So far it’s okay but needs a little something more. I’ll let you know what happens.

This is Christie, signing off.

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