Eggplant Parmesan

Serves 4-5

cook 2 cups of rice -- keep separate

3 medium to small eggplants sliced lengthwise about 1/4 inch thick

3/4 cup daiya cheese

2 14oz cans crushed tomatoes -- or home made.  

1 1/2 cans tomato paste (5.5 oz) 

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp sweetener

3 large garlic cloves minced

1-2 tsp salt

1/4 - 1/2 cup cornmeal (I used blue cornmeal)

1/4 - 1/2 cup flour (I used oat flour) 

3 tbsp olive oil

Mix together crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, sweetener and garlic, heat on the stove for 10-12 minutes.  

Cut the eggplant, spread them out and sprinkle them with salt, let them sit for 10 minutes, 

Combine cornmeal, flour and salt in a pan.

Rinse the eggplant in cold water, and pat down with a paper towel or let air dry for a couple of minutes.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Coat each eggplant in flour mixture, and place on pan.  Let sizzle for 1-2 minutes or until light brown, flip until brown on the other side.

Take a large pan, and spread 1/4 cup of the tomato mixture on the bottom of the pan.
Layer eggplant on top, sprinkle daiya cheese, and another 1/4-1/2 cup of tomato sauce.
Layer another layer of eggplant, spread out the rest of the tomato mixture and sprinkle the rest of the cheese.

Put in the oven for 30-35 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Voila :)

Buffalo style kidney beans

2 cans of kidney beans
2 tbsp of hot sauce ( sriracha)
1-2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp tamari
1/2 cup cashew cream (1/4 cup ground cashews mixed with just enough water to be thick)
1 tsp thyme
2-4 drops liquid smoke
sprinkle of salt.

Mix all ingredients in a pan until hot.

Serve on toasted bread, homemade bread, or toasted buns, serve with vegan ranch and carrot sticks :)

This recipe is super fast and super easy and loved by the guys.  

Masala Crepes with Tomato Chutney and (lemon poppy seed bars)

Potato Masala (to place on crepe)

5 potatoes chopped and steamed for 20 minutes
1 onion chopped
1 leek chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies chopped
1 1/2 tbsp ginger minced
1/4 cup coriander chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
pinch of hing
salt

Saute mustard seeds in oil until they pop.  Add cumin seeds, onion and leek let sizzle for 1-2 minutes, then add green chillies and ginger.  Add the turmeric and hing, mix well.  Combine the potatoes and coriander stir and keep aside.

Tomato Chutney (this recipe needs a good blender or grinder):
4-5 small tomatoes
1 onion
3 chillies
pinch of hing
2 pieces of dry tamarind
1 tbsp oil
salt

Heat the oil, saute chillies and onion for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes and hing.  Lightly salt. Keep cooking the tomatoes until they are soft and completely cooked.  Add mixture to a blender or grinder and add the tamarind.

Crepes (good blender needed):
3 cups water
3/4 cup dates
1/4 cup dried currents (dates and currents can be replaced with raisins if needed)
1 cup buckwheat flour (I at first put 1/2 oat and 1/2 cup gluten free flour mixture, but the crepes weren't binding, I added 1 cup of buckwheat flour and it helped a lot)
2/3 cup cashews
small handful of sesame seeds
handful of pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp sunflower seeds (all the seeds unnecessarily but can add a cup of nuts/seeds of your choice instead of cashews through sunflower seeds)
2 tbsp flaxseeds
pinch of salt

combine all ingredients apart from flour in a blender.  Blend until smooth. Add mixture to flour and stir well.  The batter should be a little thinner than waffle batter.  Add water if needed.

This recipe was a little difficult, but with practice it an be done.
Pan should be heated to a medium heat -- make sure it is non stick.  Pour 1/2 cup of batter on to the pan and quickly rotate pan to cover the bottom, or smear the batter with the bottom of the cup, before it cooks -- otherwise it will ruin it.. but if you do it fast enough it can work.



Eat crepes topped with potatoes and lathered with tomato chutney.

:)


LEMON POPPY SEED BARS

--- So when I had the crepes I add additional batter left over this is what I did with the batter -- I probably had about 2-3 cups of batter left.

I added
2 tsp of lemon oil
1/4 cup poppyseeds
1 cup of oat flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar
1-2 tbsp agave
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Heated the oven to 375 degrees
Cooked them for 14 minutes.

Came out fabulous!

Lentil quinoa stew, garlic broccolini and homemade bread

Quinoa Lentil Stew
Serves 2-3

1 small onion
1 tbsp oil
4 carrots diced
4 garlic cloves minced
6 cups veggie stock
1/2 cup lentils
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup cilantro minced
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 lime (optional)

Saute onions in oil until clear.  Add carrots and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.  Add stock, lentils, quinoa, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Then simmer for 20-25 minutes until lentils are soft.

Garlic Broccolini:
2 servings:
Saute 1 bunch of broccolini (chopped) with 2 tbsp minced garlic, until they turn bright green.

Homemade bread:
4-5 servings:
2 1/4 tsp of dry active yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 tbsp sugar
3 cups of water
5 cups of flour (or however much necessary to knead the dough, I used a combination of wheat and oat 3 to 2)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp oil
Mix yeast, sugar and water together in a small bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.  Combine ingredients apart from water and flour.  Then add 1 cup of flour to 1 cup of water, and keep adding flour and water until its an ideal workable consistency.  Knead dough and place in a bowl to rise for 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly oil a pan.  Brush the top of the loaf with oil. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  

Banana Pancakes

1 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup water
3 tbsp of oil
3 tbsp agave
1 mashed banana

Combine all dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and mix until smooth.  Pour 1/4 cup of the batter at a time on a lightly oiled frying pan.  Let it cook on medium heat until the pancakes start to bubble and are stable enough to flip.  Cook on the other side until a light brown.

Serve with vegan butter, jam and agave or syrup.

South Indian Polenta Stew

So this dish isn't actually south Indian, but something about the combination of flavors reminded me of south India.  Infused with a little bit of Italy -- I used polenta -- although it gets slightly more international as the polenta was made from quinoa :)

Anyway, the taste was amazing, I was pretty skeptical at first, not wanting it to become a soup or be too thin... I think it really became the perfect consistency-- hence why it is a stew :)

South Indian Polenta Stew:

1 pre-packaged polenta mixture
1 pckge tempeh
1 tbsp curry powder
1 big can homemade tomatoes (or 2 cans of crushed tomatoes)
1 can coconut milk
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp paprika
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1 tsp agave

6-7 kale leaves chopped
1/4 cup cilantro
1 tsp mango powder
1 green pepper


Mix polenta through agave on a large pot on the stove, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Add kale through green pepper and simmer for a few more minutes enough to get the leaves wilted. 

Serve with bread, or rice. 

Phenomenal Chilli

This chilli may or may not be hard to reproduce:
I used 16 oz of my own canned tomatoes -- which doesn't quite match what you can get in the store. But could try.

Chilli:
16 oz homemade canned tomato sauce or two 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes.  
2 cans of kidney beans drained and rinsed
4 small skinny eggplants sliced -- about 1 cup
1 green pepper chopped
2 leeks chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 jalapeno sliced
1 tbsp of oil
1 tbsp molasses
1-2 tsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce or braggs
1-2 tsp of sweetener
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp all purpose seasoning herbs
2 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp cocoa powder

Heat oil in a large pan, add leeks and eggplants. Cook until they are somewhat tender and add garlic, pepper, and jalapeno.  Cook for a couple of minutes and add tomatoes, beans and the rest of the seasoning. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until flavors seep in and the chilli thickens. 

Serve with Italian bread or toast. 

:)