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Cauliflower Dal with Panch Phoran

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Panch phoran (also spelled panch phoron and panch puran) is a Bengali blend of five spices– fenugreek, mustard, kalonji (nigella), fennel, and cumin, in equal amounts. (In Bengal, radhuni would be used instead of mustard, but it’s not available in the U.S.) You can buy this spice blend in Indian grocery stores or you can make it yourself.

If you want a more assertive panch phoran taste, grind an additional 1/2 tablespoon of it and add it during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

  • 1 1/2 cups masoor dal or red lentils
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1/8 teaspoon canola oil (or canola oil spray)
  • 1 tablespoon panch phoran
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon ginger paste (or 1 tsp. minced ginger)
  • 16 ounces diced tomatoes (or 1 can)
  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets)
  • 1/2 cup water
  1. Pick over and rinse the lentils and add them to a pot with the water and turmeric. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the dal is tender, about 20 to 35 minutes. When done, add salt and set aside.
  2. While the dal is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Heat a large, deep skillet, preferably non-stick. When hot, add the canola oil and shake it to spread it around. Add the panch phoran and stir. (You may instead use oil spray; spray before and after adding the panch phoran.) When the first seed pops, immediately add the onion, garlic, pepper flakes, and ginger paste. Stir and cook until the onion softens, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cauliflower, and water, and stir. Cover and cook until the cauliflower is just tender, about 10 minutes.
  3. When the dal and cauliflower are both done, add the dal to the cauliflower mixture. Stir well, and check seasoning, adding more salt if needed. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve hot, over rice if desired.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s) | Cooking time: 55 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

 

Saag

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(Indian spiced spinach) Saag, or palak, dishes are spiced purees of spinach or other greens common in northern India. They often contain additional ingredients such as potatos, fresh cheese, chicken or chickpeas to make a more substantial dish.

  • Oil or ghee — 2 tablespoons
  • Onion, chopped — 1
  • Garlic, minced — 3 to 6 cloves
  • Gingerroot, minced — 1 tablespoon
  • Coriander, ground — 2 teaspoons
  • Turmeric — 1/2 teaspoon
  • Cayenne pepper (optional) — 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon
  • Spinach, chopped — 1 pound fresh or package of chopped frozen spinach thawed
  • Water — 1 cup
  • Salt — 1/2-1 teaspoons
  • Yogurt (optional) — 1 cup
  • Cream (optional) — 1/4 cup

 

  1. Heat the oil or ghee in a large pot or saucepan over medium flame. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and sauté for another 2 to 3 minutes.
  2. Stir in the spinach, water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat, allow to cool a bit. Don’t bother to use a blender or food processor to puree in batches.
  4. Add a little water if necessary and simmer another 5 to 10 minutes.
  5. OPtional — Stir in yogurt and return to brief simmer and immediately remove from heat. Stir in the optional cream, adjust seasoning and serve.

Variations

  • Saag, or Palak, Paneer (Spinach with fresh cheese): add 1/2 pound of paneer, cut into cubes, after pureeing the spinach. You may substitute tofu for the paneer if you can’t find paneer. Tofu is not an Indian ingredient, but it has a similar texture and flavor. Press tofu, cut in triangles and  brown in oil.
  • Jhinga Saag (Spinach with shrimp): add 1/2 pound peeled and deveined shrimp after pureeing the spinach. Simmer until the shrimp is just cooked through, 3-4 minutes.
  • Chana Saag (Spinach with chickpeas): add 1/2 pound cooked chickpeas after pureeing the spinach.
  • Saag Murgh (Spinach with chicken): add 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes, after pureeing the spinach. Simmer just until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Saag Aloo (Spinach with potatoes): add 1/2 pound cooked, cubed potatoes after pureeing the spinach.
  • You may use frozen or fresh spinach. Try substituting mustard or other greens.
  • A squeeze of lemon added at the end will brighten the flavor of this dish.

From whatsforeats.com

mushroom barley soup — allrecipes.com

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  • 2-3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 3/4 cup diced carrots
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 6 cups veggie broth
  • 3/4 cup barley
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chopped parsley 2-3 tbsp
 Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic; cook and stir until onions are tender and transparent. Stir in mushrooms and continue to cook for a few minutes. Pour in the chicken broth, thyme a bit parsley and barley. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until barley is tender, about 50 minutes. Season with salt and pepper before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley.

nana’s oatmeal pancakes

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1 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (don’t substitute, it won’t be the same!)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another.  Add wet to dry and mix well (batter will be thin).  Let sit for at least fifteen minutes so the oatmeal softens.

Melt half a tablespoon of butter (or just spray with Pam) in a preheated skillet (preferably cast iron); add 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.  Grill until brown on one side, flip and grill until second side is brown.  Serve with butter and syrup!

this recipe is from a great blog: the wicked noodle

Barley Soup

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6 c. water
4-6 tsp veggie stock base
1/2 c. pearl Barley
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2-4 sm potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 medium sweet onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2-1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 c. parsley, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dill

Heat the water in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the soup base and stir to dissolve. Add barley, carrots, celery, potatoes, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, bay leaf and dill. Bring all to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the barley is cooked. Serves 4-6

Eggplant Mushroom Quiche Sherry Golden

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1 pre-baked crust

1 small onion
4 oz. mushrooms, chopped coarse
1 garlic clove minced
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
3 eggs
3/4 c. milk or cream
1 cup seasoned eggplant puree
1/4 c, grated parm. or romano cheese
2 tbsp tomato paste
pepper to taste
a grating of fresh nutmeg
about 1/4 c. tomato sauce
grated cheese–parm and or mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 375.  Have the pre-baked crust ready
Saute the onion, mushrooms and garlic in butter.  Add the basil and oregano and saute for a few minutes more.  Let cool slightly.

Place this in a blender or food processor along with the eggs, milk or cream, seasoned eggplant puree, grated cheese, tomato paste, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Puree then pour this mixture into the prebaked crust and bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean.

Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over the surface of the pie, sprinkle with cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Make a 9-10 inch quiche.

Second pie, used too much tomato sauce which made the filling soft, tasted fine but not as pretty not did it hold together.

2nd quiche

 

 

Seitan Scaloppine with Lemon Sauce

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1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon basil
3/4 cup Imagine No-Chicken Broth (or other vegetable broth)
2 tablespoons tahini or cashew butter

1 tablespoon unbleached flour
1 lemon, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed slightly
10 green olives, pitted and sliced (optional)
1 1/4 cups No-Chicken Broth or veggie broth
2-3 tablespoons white wine or vermouth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
salt and pepper
additional vegetable broth, as necessary

Tear off 4 – 6 pieces of aluminum foil about 10 inches long. (See tips below for a foil-free way of making the scaloppine). Begin heating water in a steamer. In a large bowl, mix the vital wheat gluten with the nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, and basil. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the broth and tahini (or cashew butter). Stir the wet mixture into the dry until well blended. Knead gently 10 times. Quickly divide dough into 4 equal pieces.

Take a piece of dough and shape and flatten it into a thin oval cutlet. Place it on a sheet of foil, a little higher than center. Fold the bottom of the foil over to meet the top, and then fold the two edges over about 1/2 inch to form a seam. Continue folding the foil by half inches until it reaches just above the cutlet. Flatten the cutlet down a little more, and then fold the left and right edges in the same way until the packet is snug around the cutlet. Repeat with all pieces of dough.

Place the packets flat into the steamer and cover. Steam for 25 minutes. Keep packets sealed until you’re ready to use them.
 

 

Spray a non-stick skillet (or some other non-iron skillet) with olive oil. Begin heating it as you prepare a plate containing the fl

our sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. Once the skillet is hot, unwrap each cutlet and lightly dredge each side in the flour and then place in the skillet. Cook until brown and then turn over and brown other side. Remove to a plate.

(If you’d rather not use any oil at all, skip the flouring of the cutlets and just brown them alone. Your sauce may not thicken unless you add a little flour to it later.)
Add the garlic and lemon slices to the pan. Cook until the lemon slices have softened, 2-3 minutes, and then remove them from the pan, leaving the garlic. Add the olives, broth, wine, and lemon juice and cook on medium heat until the liquid starts to reduce. Remove the garlic, add salt and pepper to taste, and return the cutlets to the pan. Turn them over to

coat with the sauce. Simmer briefly to warm them through, and if the sauce becomes too thick, add a little broth to thin. Stir in the parsley, and remove the cutlets to plates. Spoon some sauce over each cutlet and garnish with lemon slices.

 

Tips for Moister Cutlets:

I found two different tricks that resulted in a cutlet that was a little moister.  Unfortunately, one of them requires an extra step, simmering the seitan in broth for a few minutes after it comes out of the steamer.  If you’d like to do this, just put the cutlets in a skillet, add broth to about halfway over them, and simmer, turning, for 3-5 minutes.  The cutlets will absorb a lot of the broth, so be ready to add more as necessary.  Once they’re done, remove them from the broth and proceed with the recipe.

No extra step is required for the other technique; in fact, it’s simpler than the original recipe, though you will need a large steamer and plates that will fit inside it.  Instead of wrapping the cutlets in foil, place them on the largest plate that will fit in your steamer.  (If you have a double-level steamer, you can place two cutlets on smaller plates on each level.) Cover with an inverted plate of the same size, to keep water from dripping directly onto your cutlets.  Steam for 25 minutes.  Your cutlets will be a little lighter in color but will have a moister texture.   This is my preferred way of making these cutlets!

 

One Pot Curried Cauliflower Rice

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from Everyday Food and Evil Chef Mom
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 large head cauliflower, cored and cut into 1 1/2 pieces
salt and pepper
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
2 cups of basmati rice
4 teaspoons curry powder
1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained-I PREFER 1 c peas
2 3/4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup heavy cream, I used coconut milk
chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium high. Add cauliflower and cook, stirring frequently, until browned in spots. This might need to be done in batches.

Transfer to a plate and season with salt and pepper. Add 2 teaspoons of oil and onions to pot; cook, stirring occasionally , until onion is translucent, 5 minutes. Add rice, curry powder, and chickpeas and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until rice is coated, about 2 minutes. Add broth and cream and bring to a boil. Scatter cauliflower over the top (do not stir to combine) Cover and bake until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Chickpea Burgers with Tahini Sauce

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• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (or 1 1/2 cups cooked), drained and rinsed
• 1 yellow or red onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons tahini –  I substituted hummus
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs – I used 1-2 tbsp!!
• 4 buns or pita pockets

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Pulse the chickpeas in a food processor until thick and pasty. (You may mash them by hand, but it is a little more labor- intensive and time- consuming.) Transfer to a medium- size bowl.
3. To the bowl, add the onion, garlic, parsley, tahini (hummus), cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and baking powder. Slowly add the bread crumbs until the mixture holds together. Add more bread crumbs, as needed. Shape into patties.
4. Place on a nonstick cookie sheet and bake for 10–12 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Using a spatula, flip each patty over, and cook for 10–12 minutes more until the other side is golden brown. Remove from the oven. Alternatively, you may fry the patties with a little oil in a pan on the stovetop.
5. While the burgers are cooking, make the tahini sauce, below.

Tahini Sauce
• One 6-ounce container plain nondairy yogurt (I used 3/4 cup Wildwood Soy Yogurt)
• 1 to 2 tablespoon tahini –  I substituted hummus
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1 to 2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a small bowl combine the yogurt, tahini (hummus), cucumber, lemon juice, parsley, salt, and pepper to taste. Chill for at least 30 minutes, and serve with the chickpea burgers, along with lettuce, tomato, and onion on a bun or in a pita pocket.

Updated pasta recipe

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For pasta:
1 1/4 cup ap flour
1/4 c. semolina flour
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp water

to make in food processor: Blend flours, eggs, salt and water in processor until mixture just begins to form a ball, adding more water, drop by drop, if dough is too dry (dough should be firm and not sticky). Process dough for 15 sec more to knead it. Transfer to a floured surface and let stand, covered with an inverted bowl. 1 hour to let the gluten relax and make rolling easier.

to make by hand: Mound flours on a work surface, preferably wooden, and make a well in center. Add eggs, salt, and water to the well. With a fork, gently beat eggs and water until combined. Gradually stir in enough four to form a paste, pulling in flour closet to egg mixture and being careful not to make an opening in outer wall of well. Knead remaining flour into mixture with your hands to form a dough, adding more water, drop by drop, if dough is too dry. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 8- 10 minutes. Cover with an inverted bowl. 1 hour to let the gluten relax and make rolling easier.

Roll pasta and make ravioli: Cut pasta dough into 4 pieces, then flatten each piece into a rough rectangle and cover rectangles with an inverted bowl. Set roller of pasta machine on widest setting.

Lightly dust 1 rectangle with flour and feed through rollers. (keep remaining rectangles under bowl. Fold rectangle in half and feed it, folded end first, through rollers 7 or 8 times, folding it in half each time and feeding folded end through. Dust with flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Turn dial to next(narrower) setting and feed dough through rollers with out folding. Continue to feed dough hrough rollers ince and each setting, withou folding, until you reach narrowest setting. Dough will be a smooth sheet about 23 inches long and 4 inches wide.

Put sheet of dough in a floured work surface and drop 6 ( 1.5 tsp) mounds of filling 1.5 inches apart in a row down center of one half of sheet. BRush egg wash around each mound, forcing out air. (air pockets increase the chance that ravioli will break during cooking) Cut pasta (between mounds) with cutter into 3-inch rounds, LIne a shallow baking ban with a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and dust towel with flour, then arrange ravioli in 1 layer in it. Make more ravioli with remaining dough 1 sheet at a time, and remaining filling, transferring ravioli to a lined pan.

Bring a 6-8 quart pot of salted water to a boil. Add ravioli, carefully stirring to separate, and adjusting the heat to keep at a gentle boil, cook until pasta is just tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a colander.