Fiesta Salad

Mixed greens with cilantro, kale, jicama, mango, carrots, corn, avocado, clover sprouts, a green pea-adzuki-lentil sprout blend, and a spicy Liquid Gold nutritional yeast dressing (with hemp).

Tamarind Lentils, Garlic-Saffron Rice, Cornmeal Roti

Veganomicon

What could beat garlicky rice with a touch of saffron?!  This was a really good, comforting meal.  I added some hot sauce to the lentils, as I wanted them a bit more spicy, but otherwise, everything as-is was perfect for me.  I even scaled it down a bit to make dinner for one! 

Quinoa & Sweet Potato Collard Rolls

 

Down to Earth Cookbook

My first recipe out of this book – a sweet potato and quinoa mixture that is flavorful enough on its own but much more healthy (and cute!) wrapped in a collard leaf, served over a lentil-celery-dill sauce.  I enjoyed this dish, especially to serve and contrast with the subtle richness of the ziti.

Ancho-Lentil Soup w/ Pineapple & Lime

 

Veganomicon

I felt like Isa and Terry were in the kitchen with me when I read that “we” were going to make our own chile powder!  (In fact, I love the feel of the whole book – it’s like your best friends are guiding you through the process.)  It was a piece of cake and I’m sure enhances the spiciness of the soup.  This is kind of a “set it and forget it” soup.  Once you’ve got everything in the pot, you let it simmer for 30-45 min., stirring here and there, and then finally prepping your pineapple for grilling or broiling.  I used my immersion blender to get a creamier texture.

Is it good?  Well, around the PPK, the phrase “fork yeah” is seen often, but that wouldn’t be appropriate for soup.  So…..SPOON YEAH!  Especially with a touch of Frank’s hot sauce.

Lentils & Rice in Coconut Milk, Potato Cakes w/ Cilantro

 

World Vegetarian Classics

A creamy rice mixture with lentils and brown rice, coconut milk, onion, garlic, ginger, garam masala, and turmeric.

The potato cakes have cooked potatoes, chickpea flour, chilies, cilantro, garlic, nutmeg, black pepper, lemon juice, and salt.  The lemon juice adds enough moisture to combine with the flour and potatoes and make the patties stick together easily and nicely.  You must be patient when making these, as they cook slowly, with little oil, for 15 min. on each side.  That’s partly why I made rice and lentils to go with….

Lavender-Blueberry Brulee and Dhal w/ Dumplings

Lavender Rice Pudding Brulee with Blueberries, Joy’s tester recipe

Toovar Dhal with Cilantro-Lime Dumplings, from Veggie Chic

Photos are repeats, but dishes were made again Wednesday night!  With hundreds of cookbooks on my shelves, you can tell I really like something if it happens to make it in the queue more than once. 

This time, I used dates to sweeten the rice pudding and some whole-grain flour in the dumplings.  Delicious!

Yemisir/Miser Wat

With injera a block away, I couldn’t resist this as my first meal at my new home!

Miser Wat Craze Continues

 

You know what I missed when I was on vacation?  Ethiopian food!  This time, the miser wat is accompanied by Vegan With a Vengeance crepes, and they make a nice pairing, without the headache of making injera that may not turn out.  By the way, I use a cast-iron skillet for the crepes and have no problems with sticking; it’s an excellent recipe.

Ethiopian Food…Uh…With Naan!

www.theppk.com (for spicy lentils w/ tomatoes)

Lord Krishna Cuisine (for naan)

www.ivu.org/recipes (for potato/carrot/cabbage/onion mixture)

I tried a recipe from IVU for injera, leaving the bread dough to ferment for at least three days, but I had no luck when it came time to cook the bread.  No Ethiopian restaurant nearby to grab some bread from, either, so I chose to make naan real quick!

The vegetable mixtures were really tasty, all reminding me of dining at Abyssinia, a Philadelphia Ethiopian restaurant in the darling University City area.

Do you think they’d let me back in the kitchen to show me how to make that awesome, spongy bread? 

Urad Dal w/ Tomatoes, Rice with Peanuts, Spinach w/ Yogurt

 

Lord Krishna Cuisine:  The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking

It’s my favorite rice recipe again!  With sauteed peanuts, cumin seeds, ginger, chiles, garam masala, and turmeric. 

The chopped spinach is steamed and then mixed with a lemony soy yogurt mixture with chopped fresh herbs, this time dill and parsley. 

The urad dal is cooked with a tomato broth, then seasoned with cumin seeds, coriander seeds, turmeric, garam masala, ginger, asafoetida, and chiles.  I also added potatoes.

The steamed organic broccoli, rice, and dal were a hit, but the chopped spinach I found to be too sour and just not my thing.  I was never big on omnivorous yogurts in my past life; I do like soy yogurts at times in sweet dishes; I just didn’t like it with the spinach.