Samosa stuffed baked potato

This might be my favorite recipe from Veganomicon so far. The samosa stuffed baked potatoes are assembled much like traditional twice-baked potatoes, but instead of adding lots of cream, butter and cheese to your mashed potato filling, you add a mix of vegetables and spices traditionally used when making samosas, the Indian appetizer of fried dough with spiced potato and vegetables. The only additions I made were adding a little extra salt and some chile flakes to the mix, and sprinkling the top with paprika for the traditional twice-baked mystique.

Palak Tofu and Sweet Potato Paratha

Here is the Palak Tofu from Mahanandi, a recipe I've had bookmarked forever, alongside some red quinoa and Sweet Potato Paratha, inspired by a post by Kamutflake Girl.

The palak tofu was made with palak (spinach) and with collard greens, so I guess it's really saag (greens) tofu. There is powdered poppy seed in the recipe, but since I was unable to powder the whole seeds in my food processor I just added them whole, and I don't think they did very much thickening, though they certainly didn't hurt the flavor. Next time I'll used ground cashews instead and save the poppy seeds for lemon bread. I also used canned tomatoes since those are no way in season in NYC, and I don't think I hurt anything. Overall, this is very tasty, and pretty low-fat (for me anyway), and didn't require any ingredients that I didn't already have so I will definitely be making this again. I will continue to tweak this recipe a bit though and also probably try some new ones. Saag paneer was always a favorite of mine and I'd love an Ultimate Vegan Version of the American-ized version I ate in the past. Plus dark, leafy greens are probably the healthiest things on the planet, like ever.

The parathas (whole wheat chapati Indian flatbreads with vegetable filling) were very yummy, and are made with unbelieveably simple dough, so I think I'll probably just make them instead of buying flatbreads from the store from now on. Seriously, just some flour, water, oil, maybe some earth balance for frying and a *little* bit of time and you're on your way to impressive, homemade, customizable breads. I couldn't figure out how to fill they correctly so they were more chapati than paratha on my first shot. Now that I've watched this helpful tutorial though, I will try again very, very soon. Also I still have all this leftover sweet potato filling in my fridge, so I kind of *have* to. Life is soo-o-oo hard!

I'm still very, very much a novice at Indian Food, but I love cooking it at home so far. I can control how much oil I use, and I can use substitutes for dairy (like tofu and margarine in the case) or vary my grains by using quinoa instead of rice if I'm in such a mood. Which I was. And of course at home you can make huge quantities to eat later. Which I will. Yum

Just for you...

Sorry about being such a lazy blogger lately. Can I make it up to you, please?

Here' s some spiced chickpeas, pumpkin puree, fire-roasted tomatoes and spinach (canola oil, sesame seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, coriander powder, tamari, turmeric, red chile flakes, black pepper, fresh garlic and onions) on brown rice...




And for dessert I have truffles: three kinds! There's espresso, coconut and cinnamon-chile. (semi-sweet chocolate chips, soy milk, maple syrup, chile powder, cinnamon, ground espresso. coconut extract, sweetened coconut shreds.)



We cool now?

Eggplants and Chickpeas in Peanut Masala

Made my very first recipe from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen today and had to rave immediately! I used a white eggplant from the farmer's market, a whole can of chickpeas and a few handfuls of spinach I needed to use up. This recipe is really wonderful; spicy, complex and super healthy; and I sense it will make even better leftovers tommorow. I think my garnish of cilantro (hey, I know it's in everything I make lately but it's summer, so it should be!) and toasted peanuts freshened it up and added some texture since I was too lazy to make rice to accompany it.

Yummy Indian food with no added oils? Susan V. you are my vegan hero!

Eggplants and Chickpeas in Peanut Masala Recipe