South Asian Noodle Extravaganza

makes about 4-5 servings

Cook enough noodles enough for 2
leftover quinoa and beans (1/4 to 1/2 cup each)

2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp hing (Indian Spice, garlic powder can be used in place of)
1/2 tsp amchur or mango powder (indian spice, optional)
2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp sriracha sauce
1/2 tbsp red thai curry paste
1/4 cup of water
 1 small cauliflower chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 bunch broccolini chopped
2 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp peanut thai sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp cilantro

Heat the oil with the cumin and the hing.  Add the cauliflower and the rest of the vegetables.
Add the mango powder, coriander, salt, and nutritional yeast and water.  Cook for 5-10 minutes.

Mix the tahini, curry paste, peanut sauce, tomato paste,sriracha, and vinegar in a separate container.

Add the mixture to the vegetables and stir.  Add a can of beans, package of mushrooms or some leftover quinoa or rice -- if you have it. Let the sauce and ingredients heat up for 5 minutes.

Once vegetables are desired consistency and temperature, take off the stove and mix in the lemon juice and cilantro.

Serve :) 

Vegan Malai Palak

Typically my attempt at Indian food always turns into an Indian- American fusion.  So I apologize for the lack of authenticity in it's taste. Despite the taste not immediately bringing you to India, it is unique and flavorful in it's own right. It has a tinge of bitter green taste yet the sweetness and the spice from the flavor combinations satisfy the palette. Ultra healthy with lots of vegetables, it does take a bit of time to prepare but worth it ;)  

Vegan Malai Palak 

2 large zucchinis (alternatively eggplant or mushrooms could be used)

Juice of one lemon

1 medium red onion sliced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 inch stick ginger minced
3 adobo peppers
1 tsp each, garam masala, and turmeric powder

1/2 tsp of fenugreek powder
2 bunches baby bok choy and 1 bunch large bitter greens of your choice -- such as dandelion greens

1 can of kidney beans

dash of salt

1/2 cup of cashews

1 cup water
1/4 tsp of baobab powder
1/4 tsp of lucuma powder

*I used the baobab and the lucuma powder as sweet tangy ingredients, alternatively tamarind paste could be used or lemon and a little bit of agave.

*If using eggplant, marinate the eggplant with salt for 10-20 minutes, squeeze out the excess water, and then marinate it with the lemon and adobo peppers. 

Marinate the zucchini in the lemon juice and chopped adobo peppers for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime the rest of the vegetables can be prepared.
Saute the zucchini (or eggplant or mushrooms) for 5-7 minutes. In another pan, saute the onions, add the ginger and garlic and then the chillies and fry till cooked. Mix in all of the powdered spices.  Then add the greens. Cook till the greens wilt. Remove the mixture, and put it into a food processor. Return the processed greens to the pan, turn on the heat and add a cup of water. Add the zucchini. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes stirring at intervals. 

Grind the cashews into a powder and then blend them with 2 tbsp of water or just enough water to make it thick and creamy.  

Add them to the vegetables and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

 Serve with rice or rice tortillas (we like to cut the rice tortillas in fourths and toast them, they make a great healthy chip, depending on how long they are heated they will be less crispy)

Tri-bean and Falafel Salad with Strawberry Chipotle Salsa

I ended up making this salad because I wanted some kind of a taco salad, but I had no tomatoes, but I did have strawberries.  It may sound like a pretty strange combination, but it's amazing.

Tri-bean and Falafel Salad 
5 servings

5 cups of chopped romaine or other salad greens
1 yellow bell pepper chopped
3 celery sticks chopped
1 can of tri-beans
5 roughly chopped falafels


Strawberry Chipotle Salsa 
8 oz strawberries chopped or roughly food processed
1/4 cup of cilantro chopped
2 tbsp of adobo sauce
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp of lemon zest
1 tbsp of oil
4 dashes of pepper
2 dashes of salt

Garnish
1-2 sliced strawberry
1-2 peel streaks of lemon

Toss the ingredients of the salad together.  Mix the ingredients for the salsa.  Combine both the salsa and the salad together, garnish the top of the salad (optional) and serve.

Jambalayan Fry

It's seriously unfortunate my camera is out of batteries, because it looks absolutely amazing.

Tip ** never steam or boil your vegetables long enough that they lose more than 70% of their original crunch.  They should only ever be cooked enough so that their colors brighten and as much of their crispness is in tact.

I made a mistake yesterday and I overcooked my broccoli for the holandaise dish.  I know, seriously a pity.  I think it's the main reason why after a few hours the broccoli gave off that typical funny broccoli smell.. so sad.  Don't overcook veggies :):)

Unfortunately the chilled version of my dish yesterday was a no go.  So best advice, serve it FRESH or, make the amendments that I made today, and you got yourself a whole new thing!

Jambalayan Fry
1 to 2 cups of leftover Ultimate Hollandaise Veggie Toss
1 tbsp of nutritional yeast
1-2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of mixed herbs
1 tsp of sriracha sauce

Mix everything together in a nonstick pan.  Fry for just enough time to get it sizzling and even a little crispy.  This is an excellent dish, in fact if you made the same mistake as me.. and made the veggie toss recipe to be served a couple hours later.. best is to make these amendments to it, so it can be a new exciting and flavorful dish for hours to come!

Tomato curry peanut pasta

I have to apologize before hand, because I know the pictures would have come out well, but my camera battery died... :/ Sad story.  

Tomato Curry Peanut Pasta

2 servings

Enough pasta for two

(boil some water, cook separately)

Tomato curry:

2 cups of halved cherry tomatoes

1 green pepper

1 carrot

2 tsp of oil

3 garlic cloves

1/8 cup of peanuts

1/8 tsp of garlic powder

1/8 tsp of onion powder

14 tsp of turmeric

1/2 tsp of garam masala

1/4 tsp paprika

1 tsp agave

1 tbsp tahini

1 tsp thai red curry 

1/8 tsp of powdered vegetable broth (or salt)

1 tbsp of nutritional yeast 

2 tsp sriracha sauce

While the pasta is cooking, chop the vegetables.  Heat oil, peanuts, garlic and seasonings up until garam masala until fragrant.  Mix in the rest of the seasonings and add the tomatoes and carrots.  Stir well, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft.  Add the green peppers, and let simmer for an additional 2 minutes.  

Ready for serving :) 

Spicy Plantain Cocoa Curry

So, my tendency is to use a recipe for inspiration, but it when it comes to the actual ingredients and methods.. I have a tendency to make it up as I go.

I guess the normal thing to do would be to plan out a weekly meal plan and recipes, and buy the ingredients for that.

I do the opposite.  I search the fridge for ingredients and find recipes that moderately match, if nothing matches sometimes I will combine 2-3 recipes to make it fit.  Sometimes it works.. and sometimes there are some pretty bizarro land creations.

This specific recipe, I semi thought that it was doomed, until the final ingredient was added and it came to life!  That is what I often find, most recipes when 'bad', they are just missing 1 thing.  And it's that one thing that turns terrible to amazing.

In some cases that one thing may not necessarily be an ingredient but a very out of the box action to bring it back to life.  One particular thing that can't be fixed though, is burning.  Sorry, hahah can't reverse that one.

Apart from that even, after baking a cake -- there can be other uses for that cake.  I have even taken a cake and reblended it with sugar and other missing elements  to only put it back into the oven!!! And you wouldn't believe but it was saved!  This is a pretty extreme example but it's totally possible.  Lol maybe it stems from my utter desire to not waste any food.  Who knows.

Spicy Plantain Cocoa Curry

I think to make this recipe easier, one can just use coconut milk instead of the base that I made.  But since I had no coconut milk,  made do with a very interesting combination that came out okay!

Ingredients
2 plantains chopped
1 tbsp oil
2 cups of green beans chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 cups of water
1/8 asafedtida powder (1/2 tsp of garlic powder would also work)
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt

Sauce
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 tsp cumin powder
2 shakes black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cocoa butter
1 tbsp tahini (optional)
1 cup dried coconut (or fresh coconut if you have)
1 cup warm water
1 tsp agave
1 tbsp dried tamarind (or tamarind paste if you don't have a powerful blender)
1tsp paprika
1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Soak the coconut in the water for 1/2 hour to an 1 hour.
-- If you have a vitamix or blendtec, you can get away with not soaking the coconut,
or if the coconut is fresh.  It just makes the consistency a little less grainy

In a pan, heat the oil add mustard powder, asafetida, and curry powder until sizzly.  Add the plantains, green beans, carrots and 2 cups of water, mix.  Add turmeric, nutritional yeast, and salt.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover with a lid and cook for 30 minutes (until vegetables are tender).

Meanwhile, in a frying pan, heat oil for the sauce, add cumin powder, 1/4 tsp chilli flakes, and black pepper.  Roast for a few seconds.  In a small blender, add coconut and water, cocoa butter, tahini, roasted seasonings, water, agave and tamarind.  Blend until smooth.

Once plantains are tender, add the sauce.

Add paprika at the end for color!



If the taste is too much of cocoa, add more red chilli flakes until desired hotness is attained.  The spice of the dish is what makes it come alive!


Some great side accompaniments:  Roti's or tortillas and Indian pickle, yesterday I had it with roti's and lime pickle... it was amazing!!