Peachy Keen Green

Munira brought back a masala dabba for me from India. So exciting! The next morning I filled it with some of the spices I use the most, and drew a key to help me remember what is what. It was SO fun to use it to make my  Pav Bhaji this weekend. I need to make Aloo Patta Gobhi next. Thank you SO much, Munira!

Larry put Japanese miso powder on his Christmas wish list; he wanted powder since paste can go bad if you don't use it up quickly. Good thing, since we just opened the jar today, 5 months later! He made up a quick recipe using our roasted seaweed snacks, some silken tofu in the pantry, and chives from our garden. It was super fast and delicious. Serve with spinach salad and yakisoba! Ingredients 1 T miso powder (we like marukome from Japan) 1-2 roasted seaweed, cut up 1/4 cup tofu, cubed 1 T chives, chopped 1.5 C hot water Instructions Cut up tofu into cubes and toss into soup bowls. Using a scissors, cut up chives and seaweed over each bowl. Add miso powder to the bowls.  Put water in a kettle and heat it up to boil. Pour hot water in the bowls. Stir and serve! Larry says that in Japan, on often eats it by slurping from the side of the bowl, stirring as you slurp. 

Our neighbor Elsa gave us 4 beautiful fresh leeks from her garden. I had been planning to make my chickpea tart , but then I found a mushroom leek quiche in Vegan Comfort Classics that looked worth a try! Here's my slightly adapted version, using zucchinis and mushroom. The red pepper relish is amazing on crackers or anything else you might serve a chutney with.  If you don't have time to make the relish, cranberry sauce or mango chutney is pretty good with the quiche. The Parm is totally optional; I've made this several times and don't usually bother with it anymore. Ingredients 2 pie crusts; like Wholly Wholesome or   whole wheat pie crust Veggie saute: 2 T canola oil 2 C leeks or onion, diced 1-2 C mushrooms, sliced 2 C zucchini or broccoli, chopped 1 tomato or red pepper, chopped (optional) 3 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper optional: 1 tsp sage (or 1T fresh) 1 tsp tarragon 1 carton  Egg from Plants (16 oz)  2 slices vegan chees...

Our friend Judy shared this roti for two recipe with us, which just uses flour and water, and is very good! Munira adds some spice to her roti, and luckily, she shared her secrets with me in Whatsapp. I also searched to see what other spices people use in rot. So I've adapted the recipe (below) to include some optional spicing :) Ingredients 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour 3/4 C water 1/2 tsp salt optional spices (mix and match) 1 tsp cumin seeds or 1/2 tsp cumin powder 1 tsp roasted flax seeds of flax meal 1/2 tsp garam masala (or other curry powder) 1/2 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp fenugreek (if not using leaves, below) 2 T fenugreek leaves or cilantro leaves 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped Instructions In a large bowl, mix the flour and optional spices/leaves of your choices. Add 2/3 cup water and see how wet your dough is; add water until you get pizza dough consistency (don't want it too gummy). Knead a bit. Cover the dough and let it rest for at least 30 minutes....

We have a ton of fresh cilantro growing in our side yard, to I searched for recipes that use a lot of it. This coleslaw recipe looked good, and also uses oranges, which we have tons of. Here's my version, with a few changes. It was yummy - Larry loved it! Ingredients 2 carrots, shredded Half a cabbage (about 6 cups, red or green or mix), shredded 1/2 C red onion, chopped 1 C cilantro leaves Dressing: 1/4 C plain yogurt (I use homemade ) 1/4 vegan mayo 1/4 C fresh squeezed orange juice Zest of 1 orange 3 T white vinegar 2 tsp maple syrup 1 tsp black pepper 1/4 tsp salt (or more, to taste) Instructions Shred/slice the carrots, cabbage, and onion (I used my food processor with slicing attachment) and put in a big bowl with the cilantro. Whisk up the dressing in a separate bowl. Mix dressing into veggies until well combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Serve!

Growing up, Larry's family had a tradition of eating applesauce at most meals. Since we've started doing weekly zoom dinners with his family, they decided everyone should always have applesauce for dessert. Cute! But it's been hard to find jars of applesauce. We're just seeing pouches and single-serve containers as options at Costco and our Instacart orders. Yuck.  But apples are easy to get. And I make a mean ginger pear sauce .... So why not make applesauce, too? Of course! Ingredients 7-8 apples (I use gala or fuji), chopped 1/4 cup sugar (brown or white) juice from one lemon 1 C water 1/2 tsp cinnamon, or a cinnamon stick Instructions Chop the apples and eat around the core :) Oh, I leave the skin on, of course - it's where most of the nutrition is. Put the apples in a soup pot and add sugar, lemon, cinnamon and water. Stir and let sit awhile as you putter around (like an hour or three; whatever fits your schedule - but stir it occasionally). Cook ...

Getting fake meat during the pandemic is unpredictable; some basic things (tofu, tempeh, soyrizo) are often out of stock. I wanted to make my Mexican lasagna , but couldn't get soyrizo. So I wondered... can I make my own? Turns out, yes! I found a couple of recipes that use textured vegetable protein (TVP, which I wasn't aware of before now), and with a few tweaks, came up with this recipe, which makes enough for 2 lasagnas (use half, freeze half). Verdict: Delicious! We definitely like it better than purchased soyrizo. Aside: I now have lots of TVP and soy curls in my pantry (need to check out Judi's  soy curls recipes ).  So I'm feeling self sufficient. I haven't been to a grocery store in 6+ weeks - getting by with mail orders from Costco & Amazon for dried goods like beans & soy protein, local  Albert & Eve produce delivery, and Instacart from Costco, Sigonas, and Sprouts (our TJ substitute, since TJs doesn't allow instacart). Ingredient...

In one of our zoom chats with friends during the pandemic, Robert & Judy shared their desktop to flip through some random photos. I asked them to pause on a beautiful pizza they made for dinner. Judy said it was one of her favorites! So I had to give it a try. I found a crust recipe and adapted it; the dough turned out crunchy and good! We wanted a bit more flavor, so I added kalamata olives, as well as  whipped almond ricotta ,  like True Food Kitchen does . Ingredients Toppings: Sweet potatoes or squash, cubed or sliced Red onion, sliced salt & pepper 2 C kale or spinach 1 T balsamic vinegar 1 apple, chopped (optional) 1 T fresh chopped rosemary (optional) Kalamata olives (optional) Whipped almond ricotta (or mozzarella for non-vegans) Pizza dough (if making; TJ's whole wheat pita also works) 1 1/3 C flour 1 T cornmeal 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar 3/4 C water 1 T oil Whipped almond...

We often enjoy  Andersen's Pea Soup in Buellton when we drive to or from southern California. Andersen's sells bags of peas along with a pea soup recipe, which I've slightly adapted to add more veggies and a hot pepper. It was especially delicious and tasted SO much like the restaurant's when I made it using split peas that I ordered from Washington (below), leeks instead of onion (thanks, Elsa!). In the past, I've also added baby carrot top greens; totally optional. Could also try adding potato? Ingredients 2 T canola oil 1 small hot pepper, diced 2 cups green split peas 2 stalks celery, chopped 2 carrots, chopped 1 onion or leek, chopped 8 C water or veggie broth Spices: 1 bayleaf 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1/2 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp salt Instructions Saute pepper, onion, celery, and carrot in oil in a soup pot for about 5 minutes. Add spices and stir a few minutes. Add water and split peas. Bring to a boil and boil hard for 20 minutes. Turn off and let si...

We really like these PB2 brownies - super easy to make, not too sweet, and very satisfying. But it's time to try some other desserts. I still have a lot of PB2 and almond butter; surely one can make a good chocolate chip cookie from that? I googled, looked through several recipes, and decided to try a twist on these vegan chocolate chip almond butter cookies by Beaming Baker. I made several changes, including using half PB2 and making them less sweet (most desserts are always too sweet!), and used brown sugar and fewer chocolate chips (half the amount listed was plenty!) Note: If you don't have PB2, just use 1 1/4 cups of any flour (oat, almond, wheat, or a mix).  Makes 2 dozen cookies. Ingredients Dry ingredients: 3/4 C flour 1/2 cup PB2 (or any other flour) 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt Wet ingredients: 1/2 C almond butter (or 1/3 C vegan butter) 3 T canola oil 1/3 C brown sugar, heaping 2 flax eggs (2 T flaxmeal, 6 T warm water) 1/2 ...

Thinking about alternatives to my (limited) flour as we go shopping less during the pandemic, I recalled that I have two big jars of PB2 (powdered peanut butter) that have been in my cupboard for awhile. Googling brought up several lists of healthy PB2 recipes  including some  PB2 Flourless Chocolate Brownies . I played with the recipe and made a few changes. In particular, it worked best for me with half PB2 and half flour, sugar in place of honey, and fewer chocolate chips. (And of course flaxmeal in place of eggs!). It's really yummy and not too sweet! Ingredients Dry: 1/2 C powdered peanut butter 1/2 C flour 1/2 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt Wet: 1 flax egg (1 T flaxmeal, 3 T water) 1/3 cup sugar 1 C plus 1T water 1 tsp vanilla 1/3 to 1/2 C chocolate chips (1/4 cup is too little, I found!) Instructions Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 8x8 or 9x9 pan with vegan butter. Make flax egg (mix flaxmeal and water) and set aside. In a l...

Loving my Vegan Richa 's Indian Kitchen cookbook. With the uneasiness in the world, our pantry is full of dried beans and lentils - and I'll definitely be making this again. Here's a slightly adapted (and tripled) recipe from the cookbook. (Thank you, Munira, for bringing us all the great lentils and other items from your Indian grocery store - and especially for your homemade garam masala!) Ingredients 3 C mix of dry lentils with similar cooking time: - split pigeon pea (>= 1 C) - chana dal (< 1 C) - moong dal (< 1 C) - red lentils (less cooking time) 5+ cups water for cooking) 2 T canola oil 1 T cumin seeds 2 tsp mustard seed 2 cups chopped red onion 1-2 green or red chiles, chopped 10 cloves garlic, chopped 1.5 inch knob ginger, chopped 1.5 tsp turmeric 1.5 tsp coriander 1.5 tsp garam masala 4 tomatoes, chopped (or 1 can diced) 1 tsp salt Garnish: fresh chopped cilantro fresh chopped mint lemon juice Instructions Cook the lentils. Red lent...

Munira often makes a potato cabbage fry for us that is yummy. I love cabbage and have a head of it that needs used, and found a recipe in my Vegan Richa cookbook to try! Ingredients 1 T canola oil 1 T cumin seeds 1 T mustard seeds 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional) 1 hot green pepper 3 gloves garlic, minced 1 (1/2) inch knob of ginger, minced 1 tsp turmeric 2 medium potatoes, chopped (might pre-microwave 3 min) 5+ cups chopped green cabbage 1 tsp salt 2 T cilantro, chopped, for garnish Instructions Saute cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds (if using), and pepper in oil. Add garlic, ginger, and cook 2 minutes. Add turmeric and salt and mix. Add potatoes and mix well. Add cabbage and mix. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and spice. Serve hot, garnished with cilantro.

In 2020, I bought an instant pot to get the Yogurt button, and made some batches following this  blog post on soy yogurt . I also tried soaked almonds processed in my ninja blender; it was pretty good but a little gritty and more work. Oat and coconut milk did not thicken. With soy, it's critical that the milk you use has zero additives; Trader Joe's soy milk works great. Even so, it was hard to get it to be as thick as I'd like. Cooking longer - I tried up to 15 hours -- helps, but was super tangy! My brother Jeff bought an instant pot and experimented with combinations of soy milk and thickeners (like soy flour & cornstarch) and syrup for the yeasties to eat, dissolved in the boiling milk. His winning combo then was to boil 1 qt soy milk with 4T almond flour and 2T ginger syrup, cool, add 3 TJ  probiotics  pills, and then cook in the instant pot with water around the jars to better distribute the heat. It took almost half the time (roughly 9 hours) and was ama...

One of our favorite restaurants, Cafe Sprout , has a spicy red curry soup that we love -- with chickpeas, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, red lentils, and quinoa. Isa also has a  Sweet Potato and Red Curry Soup  that looks good. So I made up a recipe that pulls from both. Larry said it was fantastic! (Originally posted September 2015; updated February 2020 to be even better :) Ingredients 1T canola oil 1 small hot pepper (like serrano), diced 1 medium onion, chopped 3 stalks celery, chopped 3 medium carrots, chopped 1 medium potato, chopped 2-3 cups cauliflower, chopped 1 can diced tomatoes (or 2 cans if big batch) 6 cups vegetable broth 1 lb (16 oz) dried red lentils, washed 1/2 C quinoa (dry, uncooked) 1 can or 2 cups chickpeas, cooked 1/2 to 1 can lite coconut milk 3T fresh lime juice Spices: 2 tsp cumin seeds (or ground & add w/other spices) 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 T fresh ginger, minced 1 T curry powder 2 tsp turmeric 1 tsp coriand...

We bumped into Elsa the other evening on a walk, and asked how she uses  Candied Buddha's Hand . She makes biscotti! Larry turned to me and said, "Biscotti, please." I found a recipe for vegan orange almond biscotti by Minimalist Baker  and made a few small adaptations (like adding orange juice as holycowvegan does). After experimenting with various flours (whole wheat, almond, and oat flour), eventually I landed on just white flour and cornmeal, which holds together well and is still yummy! Ingredients Wet: 1/2 C vegan butter 3/4 C sugar 2 flax eggs (2 T flax meal, 6 T warm water) 1 tsp vanilla extract Zest from 1 orange Juice from 1/2 orange Dry: 1 3/4 C flour  1/2 C fine cornmeal 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp sea salt 1/2 C sliced almonds, toasted 1/2 C  candied buddha's hands  (optional) 3/4 C chocolate chips (optional) Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flax eggs in a small bowl and set aside to gel for a few minute...

Our friends Pat and Allen have a Buddha's Hand Tree, and offered us a chance to harvest a couple of the fruits! Pat also shared her recipe for delicious candied Buddha's citron. It's yummy as candy or in cookies -- and it makes your kitchen smell heavenly as you cook it up.  Ingredients 1-2 Buddha's hand citron, washed well, and chopped (as described below). For every 3 C chopped buddha's hand (I often have 6-9 C), use: - 2 C water (takes longer to reduce the more water you use) - 3 C granulated sugar (sometimes I use 2 C and it seems to work fine) Instructions Dice the citron, taking care to use only the portions that include the zest and some pith. Discard interior pith portion that has no zest. Option: To reduce cooking time below, place diced citron in saucepan covered with water, bring to boil and simmer 30-40 min; drain. Put candy thermometer in a pan, add the diced citron and the water and sugar. Put it on medium heat and wait for it to boil, stirring...