Curried Potatoes, Cauliflower and Green Squash

Summer is (unofficially) over and it is getting cool enough again to use the oven.  After a trip filled with all sorts of meat, I was excited to enjoy a warm vegan delight...but don't let the word "vegan" scare you.  I constructed this dish based on what looked good at the local veggie stand and to not be too hot because it is not that cold out yet.  It is a mild curry taste that is savory and filling.

Here was the method to my madness...
Turn on the oven to 300 degrees and in a large pot with a cover (you can see the pot I used below) that can be put go in the oven, mix:

• 1 can of light coconut milk (or regular)
• 1 cup of vegetable stock (low salt preferred, you could also do chicken stock)
• 1 tsp of sea salt
• 2 keffir lime leaves (optional)
• 2 tbs of a good curry powder
• 1/2 tbs of garram masala powder
• 1/2 tbs of paprika
• 1/2 tbs of black pepper
• 1 tbs of rice vinegar
• 1/2 tbs of sage powder (or fresh sage)
• 2 tsp of cinnamon

Vegetable Arepa- Spring Edition

Another post about arepas but I can't help myself. All you do is sautee up some stuff and put it on a delicious corn cake and you are set!

This time I really focused on having a lighter more veggie taste to the arepas.

In a large non-stick sautee pan, combine the following on med-high heat...

• 2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup of water
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbs of vinegar (or lime juice)
• 1 red pepper, chopped

Curried Vegetables over Noodles

I've been away from cooking due to a crazy schedule and travelling but I happy to be back.

Back with a well-intentioned but not so great meal.  I will give you the recipe as I made it but include in brackets where something should change in the future to make it delicious.  I learned a lot from this meal...mainly that brussel sprouts do not like to be curried.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Yellow Stew

Okay...so it doesn't have the best name but I can't think of anything better.  It started out being a white meatless chili but then I did not have enough peppers and the slow cooker was too full for enough beans to be considered chili.  So it is Yellow Stew and despite its Sesame Street-esque name, it is delicous!

I opted for the slow cooker for this one on high the entire time.  From the moment I started tossing things in until I served it, it took a total of about 4 hours of stewing.

Step 1:  Turn on Slow Cooker on High and add 3 tbs of olive oil.
Step 2: Nuke 3 cups of Potato Leek Soup.  Why nuke it?  Because then it will be hot when it goes in the crock pot.  Getting the slow cooker hot is 1/2 the battle and if you are putting in a lot of ingredients from the fridge, it will take forever.
Step 3:  Add all of the following in whatever order your heart desires:

• 1 whole yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 russet potatoes, chopped small with the skin on
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 cup of vegetable stock
• 2 yellow bell peppers, chopped
• 3 parsnips, chopped
• 1 bunch of scallion tops (I had them leftover from a salad that used the white parts)
• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped (no stalks)
• 1/2 pound of mushrooms, chopped small
• 2 tbs of salt 
• 2 tbs of peppers
• 1 tbs of garlic powder
• 2 tbs of each rosemary, thyme, sage
• 3 cups of boiling hot water
• 6 dashes of tabasco sauce for some heat
• 1/2 tbs of red pepper flakes

Impromptu Mexi-veggie Stew

I recently got a root canal in one of my front teeth due to a sporting accident when I was teen, long story.  Well, unfortunately, it means I can't eat anything that needs my front teeth to bite, rip or chomp. So soup, a lot of soup.  Today I brought a can of wonderful gluten free soup that I enjoy at home when I can add cheese and spices but in my office directly out of the can and heated in the microwave was less than uplifting.  Instead of moping, I took action and swung by the grocery store and concocted a fun filling easy to chew chunky stew on the spot...and it was delicious!   The photo to the right is really bland looking because I stewed it for extra long to make sure everything was nice and soft.  Chop off 15 minutes and the veg will be brighter and crisper.

I'm calling it Mexi-veggie Stew because I was in the mood for Mexican, although, I will admit, that there are several at least 2 items in the stew that are not very Mexi at all.

Sauteed Veggies, Fried Eggs and a Rice Tower

This last weekend I was a bit under the weather and wanted something hearty but not too heavy.  I originally thought to Tortilla Espanole but that was too much work and I am horrible at flipping it.  I then remembered an amazing dish I would eat while studying abroad in Madrid. It was essentially a tower of rice covered in tomato sauce with a soft boiled egg hiding in the center.  it was easy and delicious. I thought I would recreate it with my own twist.

I made 2 cups of plain white rice in the rice cooker and while that steamed away I sliced up  some kale and spinach, onions, garlic, a can of diced tomatoes, and some mushrooms and sauteed it all in a  cast iron pan with some extra virgin olive oil.  I put in the onions first so they would brown and then added everything else so the spinach would not get too soggy. I liked using the cast iron for this because it get nice and hot and it would also be great for the eggs.  While everything was sauteeing, I tossed in some sage, paprika and basil.

No-Noodle Vega-rific Lasagna

Who doesn't love lasagna?  cheese, tomato, more cheese.  Gluten-free lasagna noodles ain't so great.  So here is a recipe a gluten free version that is better for you than normal lasagna and super versatile.

First off, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees and oil up a lasagna pan with some olive oil.  The trick to this lasagna is slicing the veggies super thin.  I used a kitchen mandolin on the thinnest setting.  Select a bunch of different veggies and slice them up thin, grab some ricotta, pasta sauce, cheese and start layering.

Here is the order of layers from bottom to top that I used:

• 2 red potatoes
• layer of ricotta (part skim)
• Swiss chard, leaves only (you can then press down on the leaves to even out the ricotta
• 1 turnip
• 1/2 a yellow onion
• Pasta sauce (I prefer something spicy or something filled with vegetables)
• 1 large yellow potato
• 1 large carrot 

Tomato Leek Veggie Medley Stew

I really like soup and I like throwing a bunch of stuff in my large slow cooker and coming back hours later to a delicious meal.    This stew was supposed to be a soup and was supposed to have a lot more stuff in it but my eyes were bigger than my slow cooker when I was at the grocery store.  I had a fridge full of veggies and just started grabbing random veggies I thought would taste good together...I hoped.

Time:  30 minutes prep, 5 hours in the cooker (3 hours if you cut everything smaller)
You will need:

• a slow cooker  You could also do this in a pot on the stove on low or even in the oven around 250 degrees. I used a large slow cooker so you may need to reduce the ingredients for your vessel.  

Turn the slow cooker on high and pour in 2 cups of veggie stock (I like Imagine's veggie stock) and 4 cups of hot water.  Let the liquid pre-heat until it is hot to touch...this will help the stew come together more quickly.