Peachy Keen Green

For our acappella rehearsal, Harold's wife Chris served this delicious, easy spice cake. The recipe came from her kids elementary class, made vegan so more kids could eat it. Super easy and good! Ingredients Dry: 3 C flour 2 C brown sugar 2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt spices: 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp allspice 1 tsp ginger 1 tsp cloves Wet: 1/2 C oil 2 T vinegar 2 tsp vanilla 2 C warm water Chocolate version: Use white sugar instead of brown and 1/2 C cocoa in place of spices; everything else the same! Instructions Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix together wet ingredients, then pour over dry. Mix until all dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.  Bake in a greased 9x13" pan for 30-35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

I've been meaning to try to make a chana masala for awhile, and today I found a nice recipe in Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen that I adapted slightly, using wisdom from Munira, some canned tomatoes since I didn't have enough fresh, and adding cilantro and mushrooms, which I love in masala. It was super good! Ingredients 4 C chickpeas (2 cans, or 2 cups dried, cooked in instant pot) 2 fresh tomatoes 2" knob of ginger 6 garlic cloves 1 hot chili pepper 1 tsp lemon juice 2 T canola oil 1 tsp cumin seeds 1/4 tsp hing 1 red onion, chopped 1 tsp salt 8 oz mushrooms, chopped (optional) 1 can diced tomatoes 1/2 C cilantro, chopped 1/2 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp chili 2 tsp masala powder or garam masala (or both! I used both, including some of Munira's homemade garam masala mix plus part of a masala packet from an Indian store) 2 1/2 C water Instructions In a blender or grinder (I use the smaller cup that comes with my Ninja blender), combine 1/2 C chickpeas, fresh tomatoes, ginger

After a lovely, spur-of-the-moment hike with Judy and Robert on New Year's Day, Judy made us a fabulous dinner of pasta and lettuce salad (with olive oil, rice vinegar, and cumin dressing), along with leftovers of a vegan version of this  NYT lentil salad  with back beluga lentils. Very tasty, and these lentils hold together so well! A great high protein component of a veggie meal.  Ingredients 1 C lentils, black beluga or french green, or a mix 1 small head cauliflower 1 block tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1 T canola oil 4 scallions, thinly sliced Dressing: 3/4 C olive oil 1 C fresh cilantro leaves, tightly packed 1 small serrano chili (or half a medium chili) Juice of 1 lime (about 1/4 C) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper Instructions Rinse lentils and put in instant pot to cook for 6 minutes. Drain. Cut cauliflower and tofu into bite-size pieces, mix with salt and pepper and oil, and put on roasting sheet. Roast at 350 degrees, stirring occasional

Another of Munira's yummy recipes. Black chickpeas have such a nice flavor. Of course all the measures are approximate guesses; no actual measurement tools were used in the making :) Ingredients 2 C dry black chickpeas 2 T canola oil 1 hot pepper, diced 1" ginger, diced 2 tsp mustard seed 2 tsp cumin seed 1/2 tsp hing 1 small onion, diced 1/2 tsp salt 5 large garlic cloves, sliced 1/2 C cilantro, chopped 2 tsp coriander 1 tsp red chili powder 1 tsp turmeric 2 T dry (not sweet) coconut (optional) 1 tsp garam masala Instructions Cook chickpeas in instant pot: 15 minutes with 3 C water if soaked; 30 min w/5 C water if not. Saute pepper, ginger, mustard seed, cumin seed, hing, onion, and salt a few minutes in oil. Add garlic and cilantro, and stir. Add remaining spices and cooked chana, including water (may need to add more water, depending). Simmer 30 minutes and serve!