Red Lentil Loaf

I've seen lentil loafs before, but never using red lentil. I cam across this recipe on pinterest and adapted it.  I've made it a couple of times already and just served it for Shabbat lunch with tomato chutney and yogurt sauce.

The leftovers are great for lunches and it doesn't even need to be heated up, it is fine room-temperature.

1tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1/4 tsp medium curry powder

1/4 tsp dried ground ginger

1/4 tsp dried cilantro
dash cardamom
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups red lentils
4 cups water
1/2-1 cup rolled oats

Heat the oil in a saucepan, and cook the onion, garlic and carrot over medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until the onion is soft.  Add the spices and cook, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes.

Add the lentils and water, and season to taste with salt and black pepper.  Simmer for around 20 minutes, until the lentils are soft.  Stir regularly adding more water if needed. 

Remove from heat and stir in as many oats as you need to bring the mixture to the correct consistency (you may need slightly more or less). The lentils should be moist, but sturdy enough to hold its shape solidly rather than filling the container.  Mix well.

Lightly grease a baking dish or loaf tin or line with baking paper, and spoon in the lentil mixture.  Spread out until smooth.

Bake at 200°C (Gas Mark 6 / 400°F) for 30-40 minutes, and then gently turn out onto a baking tray. If needed, broil for a few minutes to crisp and brown the top. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes, before carefully slicing.

No Oil Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Here is a twist on these Flourless Oatmeal Cookies.  I wanted to see if I could make them with tachina instead of oil/butter/margarine and they came out great. Substitute tachina for the butter and add less sugar for a healthier gluten-free treat.

Coconut Milk Curry

I love curry and this curry is amazing and super easy. My amazing friend SR made this Squash and Chickpea Curry. I couldn't get enough of it, it was so unbelievably delicious. She used frozen spinach instead of chard since it is much easier to come by.  Using her recipe I made this curry a couple of times and not once did I actually put in the veggies that the original recipe calls for. One time I used sweet potate, white potato and peas and tonight I did carrots and red lentils. I haven't used vegetable stock in it and I make it on the stove top and cook it for less time, and it still came out great! Ha ha I am so bad at following recipes.

Here is the original recipe from SR. (I don't know her original source.)


SQUASH AND CHICKPEA CURRY

Ingredients

2 cups (500 mL) cubed peeled butternut squash
2 cups (500 mL) diced peeled potatoes
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp (15 mL) minced gingerroot
3 tbsp (45 mL) mild curry paste
1 can light coconut milk
1 cup (250 mL) vegetable stock
1/4 cup (60 mL) natural cashew butter or peanut butter
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
2 cups (500 mL) packed shredded Swiss chard
1 cup (250 mL) frozen green peas
2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped fresh coriander

Preparation

In slow cooker, combine squash, potato and chickpeas.

In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; fry onion, garlic and ginger, stirring occasionally, until onion is
light golden, about 7 minutes. Add curry paste; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add to slow
cooker.

Add coconut milk and stock to slow cooker; stir in cashew butter and salt. Cover and cook on low for
about 4 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in Swiss chard and peas. Cover and cook on high for about 15 minutes or until Swiss chard wilts.
Sprinkle with coriander.

Vegan Mac 'n Cheese

This is my first attempt at vegan mac 'n cheese and it came out awesome! I was surprised at how quick and easy it was to make and was even more surprised at how much everyone loved it!
One of my current obsessions is Brewer's yeast, but my husband is not as big of a fan so I wasn't sure if he would like this dish or not.  Most vegan "cheese" recipes call for nutritional yeast or Brewer's yeast because of its cheesy taste. I didn't tell him what was in it until after he tried it just in case, but this is SO good that I think you could fool many a cheese lover.

I got the idea to make vegan mac 'n cheese and started my internet search for recipes. Many recipes called for silken tofu or cashews or some other ingredient that I didn't have, so I just used the recipes I found as a guideline and here is what I came up with.

Ingredients

• 1 package of noodles
• 1/4 cup oil or margerine
• 2 Tablespoons Bragg (or soy sauce)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1-2 teaspoons agave nectar
• 2 Tablespoons tachina
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 1/2 cups boiling water
• 1/2-1 cup Brewer's yeast
• Bread crumbs
• Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a saucepan over medium heat add oil, Bragg, garlic, mustard, pepper, agave nectar, and tachina. Whisk until mixed.
Whisk in flour & heat until thick and bubbly.
Add boiling water and continue to whisk until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat.
Stir in Brewer's yeast.
Mix sauce and noodles in a casserole dish.
Pour a generous amount of sauce on top. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and paprika.
Bake about 15 minutes until sauce bubbles up and top is browned.

Wheat Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Post Punk Kitchen has done it again, these are AMAZING vegan chocolate chip cookies. I made them with whole wheat flour instead of oat flour and left out the flax meal since I was out of it. But I did add in some old fashioned oats to half the dough and it was SUPER YUM! I think I like them even better with the oats.  I definitely recommend doubling this recipe because just 18 cookies aren't going to be enough!

Vegan Pancakes

Recipe adapted from Post Punk Kitchen Puffy Pillow Pancakes

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup water*
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center.

Measure the water/milk into a measuring cup. Add vinegar and chia seeds, and use a fork to vigorously mix the ingredients until foamy. This will take a minute or so.

Pour the milk mixture into the center of the dry ingredients. Add the sunflower oil and vanilla and use a fork to mix until a thick, lumpy batter forms. That should take about a minute. It doesn’t need to be smooth, just make sure you get all the ingredients incorporated.

Preheat the pan over medium-low heat and let the batter rest for 10 minutes.

Lightly coat the pan in oil. Add 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake, and cook for about 4 minutes, until puffy. Flip the pancakes, adding a new coat of oil to the pan, and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Pancake should be about an inch thick, and golden brown.

*Note: I didn't have any almond or soy milk in the house so i just used water. Almond or soy milk will make the mixture foamier and creamier, but water works just fine. If you want to use a milk use 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup of water.
I used 1 Tablespoon white sugar and 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar.

A New Spin On the Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

So what does a person do if they run out of cocoa powder?! Make something totally new and maybe even better!!!

This smoothie is creamier and more refreshing than the traditional Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie.
So here is what I did...
In a blender or tall cup for an immersion blender add:

• 1-2 frozen bananas
• 1-2 Tablespoons natural (sugar free) peanut butter
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• dash of cinnamon
• 8 ice cubes (you may need more or less depending on what consistency you are going for)
• 1/4 cup liquid

I add in small handfuls of ice as I go as well as adding small amounts of liquid until I get the consistency that I am looking for.
You may be asking yourself "what liquid should I use", great question! I used water, but if I had vanilla almond milk it would make this smoothie even better.  Water worked just fine, milk or soy milk would also work great.   Yum! This smoothie was SO good that just writing about it make me want some right now!

Check out the smoothie mustache!

Chayim also loved this smoothie as much as I did.

Cheaper Substitute for Water Chestnuts

Turnip is a great cheap substitute for water chestnuts. Just slice the turnip into thin slices and saute it with oil for a few minutes, then add a little salt and water, cover and let cook until soft, then you can add them to any asian dish or eat them as a side dish. They remarkably taste like water chestnuts. 

Thai cabbage stir fry

Thai cabbage stir fry is a staple in our home.

This recipe is based off of my Asiany Stir Fry but the main ingredient is white cabbage.  This stir fry, like the Asiany Stir Fry has tons of veggies and you can really add whatever veggies you want.  After sauteing the onions, garlic, ginger, and carrots add in the chopped cabbage and once it starts to cook add in the other veggies.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently and then add coconut milk and chopped fresh basil and cilantro, and continue to cook and stir until done. YUM!

Serve over brown rice.

Black Bean Soup with Chipotle Chiles

This black bean soup is super yum and healthy!

I make my own chipotles in adobo using those long skinny green spicy peppers that you can find any where.  If you can't find limes because it isn't the two months of the year that we can get limes here, then you can just use lemon or try a young green lemon, its not quite a lime, but more lime-like.
I find that this recipe needs more spices so just add more in as you like, overall this is an awesome and quick prep recipe.
You can also try sour cream instead of yogurt, add green onion and a few tortilla chips as a topping, or let people add their own fixings.

Cinco de Mayo Dinner

As a California girl who loves Mexican food, I decided to make a Cinco de Mayo inspired Shabbat meal since it was Cinco de Mayo.

We had a vegan Hot Tamale Pie as the main.  We like spicy so I added in finely chopped fresh hot pepper.  In my opinion this recipe needs the extra spice and could use more cumin, chili powder and salt.  As always I used dried beans instead of canned, just soak the beans for as long as you can, preferably over night) and then boil in water until soft but not mushy.  Adding some spices in while the beans are cooking could add an extra flavor too!

To make a full protein we had green rice (arroz verde) loosely based on this recipe and using brown rice instead of white.

There was of course one of my favorites, homemade salsa (pico de gallo)!

And for dessert we had Chayim Cupcakes Mexican-Style!

OLE!!

Chayim Cupcakes

These Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes are amazing and are known in our family as Chayim cupcakes because it has become a tradition to make them for Chayim's Birthday!

The frosting is super easy and healthy!

In a small mixing bowl combine 1/2 cup techina, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, and enough agave nectar to make the techina sweet and a creamy smooth consistency.  Add in 3/4 cup or more to taste of unsweetened cocoa powder and a dash of salt.  Mix well.  Then slowly add in small amounts of water till the mixture becomes smooth creamy frosting.

 Alternatives:

If you want to make the cupcakes chocolate then just add in 3 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder to the dry ingredients.

If you like cinnamon add in 1/2 -1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients.

For Mexican-Style add in 2-21/2 teaspoons of cinnamon to the dry ingredients and add chili powder (to taste) to the techina frosting for a bit of a kick!

Moroccan Couscous

In honor of all of those who gave their lives for Israel, our dinner for the end of Yom HaZicaron and the beginning of Yom HaAtzmaut!

Make this quick spicy couscous recipe healthier by using whole wheat couscous or make it cheaper by using a couple carrots instead of sweet potato.

Pasta With Lenils & Kale

A great healthy and cheap dinner that kids should like too!

This recipe has simple ingredients, but has a few more steps than I like, but is worth it.

I used fresh kale from my garden and I used the larger, regular brown lentils and doubled the amount.

Enjoy!