Vegetable Korma

Tonight I made another recipe from Appetite for Reduction - although I took away the low calorie appeal of this meal since I didn't have any low fat coconut milk... which is fine with me - the full fat is so much better.

Today I worked all day - and having the house alone to himself today, the husband decided to go play hockey. I mean, what else would you do Sunday morning? Luckily, he came home and cleaned the entire house. Brownie points! While I was making dinner and baking some goodies, he announced he was going to play another hockey game, and would be missing dinner. So I enjoyed this one myself.

There is an amazing Indian place by us, and I cannot help always ordering the veggie korma - which is made with cream. This recipe replaces the dairy with delicious coconut milk, and what it lacks in spice it makes up with awesome flavor. I heaped sriracha on, so if you like spice be prepared.

2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma
1 tsp olive oil
1 small red onion
3 cloves garlic (I used one giant clove of elephant garlic)
2 Tbsp minced ginger
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp Na++
2 cups vegetable broth
1.5 pounds cauliflower
1 pound zucchini
1/2 pound carrots
3/4 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup light coconut milk (I used one can full fat)
1 tsp agave nectar
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Heat oil in pan, saute onion until translucent. Add ginger and garlic and and saute for a bit longer. Add broth with spices and Na++. Add all of the veggies, cover the pot and crank up the heat for 7-9 minutes, letting the curry boil. Add in the peas, coconut milk and cilantro.



Serve over jasmine rice and garnish with cilantro. Don't forget the sriracha.



Now it's time for the Californication season finale! :-)

Coconut-Hoisin Stir Fry

I was sitting at lab today, thinking of all the wonderful dinners I could make when I got home. I saw THIS POST on Vegan Dad after searching for a bok choy recipe. I had my heart set on tofu - and I didn't have any garbanzo beans, so I decided to meld these two recipes into an amalgamation of goodness. I threw in everything I could think of - and it was FANTASTIC.

Coconut-Hoisin Stir Fry
Tofu:
1 package extra-firm tofu
1 Tbsp soy sauce

Stir-Fry
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 clove elephant garlic (or two regular garlic cloves)
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 zucchini - sliced
3 bunches baby bok choy
1 package cremini mushrooms
1 bunch scallions, sliced on diagonal
1 can full fat coconut milk (with cream removed from top of can to make one of these smoothies)
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp soy sauce
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
Na++ and pepper
Sriracha if you are AWESOME like me

Tofu: cover a baking sheet with tin foil. Press tofu by wrapping in a clean cloth and squeezing it against a cutting board. Slice tofu into cute little squares and toss in soy sauce. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350.

Stir fry: Heat oils in wok, add ginger and garlic, and stir until they actually smell like ginger and garlic. Add the vegetables in descending order - asparagus, zucchini, bok choy... not the scallions yet- hold on! Give each a little time to soften before you add the next. Now add your coconut milk, curry, soy sauce, hoisin, and Na++ and pepper if you desire.

Add the tofu when it is nice and firm from the oven. Stir, plate.... now add the scallions! Heap on some sriracha if you dare.

Tempeh with Snow Peas

Happy MLK day! I am at work all night, which is fine because I slept in until 10:30 today.

Yesterday I cleaned the house, while drinking some delicious beer and listening to the Gov't Mule New Year's Eve 2010 show. I hate cleaning, but beer and loud music make it much more bearable. Plus, it really couldn't be avoided any longer. My house had reached the stage where it was too disgusting to be able to sit down without shuddering thinking of all the dirt. I was even waking up at night - not able to rest thinking of all the dirt around. I'm usually laid back about messes, but this was BAD.

DRINK THIS BEER!!!! Thank me later.



Anyway- I had a leisurely morning full of lots of coffee and reading. I decided to make dinner before leaving for gym/work so that I could eat an actual meal at lab.

My sister-in-law posted a recipe for this meal on her blog a little while ago- and I started to salivate just thinking about how good it probably was. She and my brother made it for us on New Year's Day- and it was so delicious. Even my father ate it, who normally reacts pretty strongly to all the weird vegetarian stuff I make. His usual response: "it's different!"

The redeeming quality of this meal for him was the coconut rice it was served on top of. It's so simple, rather than cooking your rice in water, use a can of full fat (or low fat if you are a loser) coconut milk! I used short grain brown rice, put it into a saucepan, brought it to a boil and let it simmer for 50 minutes. And when it's done it is creamy and WONDERFUL!



The recipe can be found by following the link above! It takes about 5 minutes to throw together and costs about $1.05 - the price of freedom.

Carribean Rice with Garbanzos and Veggies and Orange-Glazed Tofu

I was having a Lazy Saturday yesterday - watching old Californication episodes (marry me David Duchovny... Hank Moody doesn't trump Fox Mulder for me obviously). Mmm David.




Anyway- I was perusing some food blogs, and saw this wonderful post on Carribean-themed recipes on Love Veggies and Yoga. The recipe for Carribean Rice with Garbanzos and Veggies has caught my eye before, and since I had the basic ingredients in the house I decided to go for it. It was incredible! The original recipe can be found here, my changes are below!


Carribean Rice with Garbanzos and Veggies:
1 cup short grain brown rice
1 can full fat awesome coconut milk
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tsp ground ginger
1 Tsp sugar
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 can garbanzo beans
1/2 bunch asparagus, chopped and steamed until soft and bright green (this takes two minutes in the microwave- just put in a closed tupperware container with some water and nuke)


Bring rice, coconut milk and spices to boil. Cover and simmer until rice is done (we all know this takes a bit, maybe 40 minutes. Check your bag of rice for exact cooking times). When done, add peanut butter, beans and asparagus. OH MY GOODNESS. It is so creamy, delicious and filling (going with my David Duchovny theme for the most part).

I served it with some orange flavored tofu I made using a wonderful gift of Chinese marmalade from my dear friend in Macau.

Orange-Glazed Tofu:
1 black extra-firm tofu
2 Tbsp orange marmalade
2 Tbsp honey (or agave to make it vegan)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
(some soy sauce would be good, but I was out)

Slice tofu into cute little cubes. Line a baking pan with tin foil (unless you want to ruin your pan with burnt marmalade mess) and preheat oven to 450. Set out the tofu on your pan and cover in 1.2 the marinade. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip over, cover with remaining marinade and cook ten minutes longer (or longer if you really like it crispy five minutes longer than that). Done. It was delicious. What a good meal. I talked about the deliciousness for a little bit too long during the Sabres game last night!




Now a nice day of spinning, swimming, sauna, Black Swan, and dinner with friends. Eventually I will decide what to cook for the rest of the week!

Thai-Pineapple Stir-Fried Rice

I make this dish frequently- it's another winner from Vegan Express. It is very simple and very good. The leftovers are almost better than the original batch because the flavors meld together so nicely! I served this with some tofu I tossed in a soy-type marinade I concocted on the spot. A good meal!

1.5 cups long grain brown rice
1.5 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cups broccoli
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 red or orange pepper, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
16 oz can drained pineapple chunks
1 cup light coconut milk ( I use a whole can of full-fat- it makes it ultra delicious and creamy)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp curry powder
2 tsp chopped or jarred ginger

Cook rice with 3 cups water (bring to simmer, simmer 30 minutes). Saute up the veggies. Start with the onion, and then the rest after the onion softens. Cook until the tomatoes are a little softened and nice. Stir in the rice, coconut milk, and remaining ingredients.

Lazy and Productive Sunday = Snacks, Lunch and Breakfast

Today the husband and I woke up late (9:30 is the equivalent of 11:00 to my husband) and we headed out for a lazy breakfast before hitting up the the grocery store. While at breakfast, I checked my schedule to find it ridiculously light. Mind you, I do have FINAL edits of a manuscript I have been working on for months as long as the task of finishing up a lecture on opiates (yay!). For the past few weeks I have been SWAMPED- doing all of these things amongst running a study for 10-15 hours/day. For whatever reason I am never prepared for the busy weeks, so as a consolation, I decided to be overly prepared for the coming week by preparing breakfast, lunch and snacks! HOLY CRAP!

Too bad I won't be busy - but perhaps I can spend a ton of time at the gym to create the illusion of business. I am in a weight gain/loss competition with my husband to see who can gain/lose the most amount of weight before Xmas. He is trying to gain (tough life) and I am trying to lose. The most amount of poundage gain/lost entitles the winner to a free dinner. I am all over this.

Breakfast:
Chocolate-Covered Katie has been whipping up some mini baked oatmeals ("boatmeals") this week - and I figured I had to be able to make these minis into a full pan (I also wanted to use my new cute little Le Cruset pan.) This will be 6 servings for me because of our friendly competition (I may resort to using Ex-Lax in his meals as we get down to the wire).

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal:
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 Tbsp Maple syrup
1 Tbsp splenda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup coconut milk creamer

Mix it all together and bake 15 minutes at 375. I dusted the top with cinnamon to be fancy. I tasted a spoonful already and it was GREAT. I am excited about breakfast this week. Add a light smoothie and I am good to go (and not gain).



Lunch:
My mom calls this "garbage soup" because you are essentially cleaning out all the veggies in your fridge.

Garbage soup: There is nothing to this: chop up all of your veggies, add it to some veggie stock (I had just made some) or broth, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 Tbsp chiles in adobo (is you like spicy things like me) and some seasonings. Simmer and that's it. Divide into little lunch-sized containers.

This batch contained: broccoli, summer squash, beet greens ( I was roasting beets for salads), onion, bell pepper, garlic, thai chile peppers, basil, herbs de provence, salt, pepper.... and I guess that's it. I will be eating this with salad all this week (I want to WIN)!!!




Snacks:

I recently happened upon Oh She Glows which is a cute little blog with gorgeous food/great pictures/a story of abandoning academia and opening a bakery (sigh). I was reading some past posts and saw these cookie bites - which were described as not sugary at all- PERFECT for me and my weight loss glory title. They came together in 5 minutes flat, baked for 14 and tasted great right out of the oven. A few of these after lunch will help my sweet tooth a TON.



I also bought a ton of summer squash for hummus dipping, some apples to slather with peanut butter for my 5PM pre-yoga/spinning/swimmming/pilates/metabolic effect sustenance, and those cheater bags of 94% fat free popcorn that we all learned in weight watchers is only 1 point for the entire 3 cups! Sign me up.

Tofu fajitas

I am running a new study- so that means I work past 5 almost every night until I finish. Meaning dinner has to be quick, quick, quick. Tonight I worked until 7:15, and Dave called me 3 times to see if he was resigned to death by starvation. He had already left the house - assuming I had died and left him to perish- and made me go meet him for Asian once he got ahold of me (mind you, our house is FULL of food, he just refuses to even make a sandwich).

Anyway- yesterday I made my favorite quick recipe of all time - Sizzlin' tofu fajita's from Nava Atlas' Vegetarian Family Cookbook. (My very favorite cookbook of all time).

Basically you just toss some baked tofu, pepper and onions in olive oil and lemon juice and roast. I garnished with some cilantro, corn and black beans - and that's it. 15 minute meal.


While reading the new Vegetarian Times I enjoyed Luna and Larry's Coconut Milk Ice cream- cherry amaretto flavor. It is out of this world creamy and delicious. It really just tastes like straight up coconut milk with cherries in it. You must try it!

Jamaican rice and beans (quick)

My advisor is not only a scientist- but also an actor. He does community theater. I guess it is a good thing to have someone in science support having outside interests. Sometimes your life had to revolve around science, and you can never leave the lab. The environment I work in now is pretty laid back work-wise because of that - which really means I have to motivate myself.

Back to the acting, way back before I was a vegetarian - some then co-workers and I decided to go see my advisor perform in a play in a small town about an hour away. We figured we'd grab dinner out there- expecting no more than BBQ or friend chicken. Lo and behold, there was a Jamaican restaurant - right there in the middle of nowhere. The food was great, and my vegetarian coworker went nuts over the rice and beans- which were made in a thick, delicious coconut base.

Now that I am a vegetarian, I realize what a go-to rice and beans are. So simple! Following is the recipe I made, from the suggestions of both the restaurant owner and my coworker. This was easily made from all pantry food- I love emptying out my cans - and didn't have time to soak any beans.

Brown jasmine rice (enough for 4) - I stick mine in the rice cooker.
2 cans red kidney beans
1 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp jerk seasoning
Salt and Pepper

Make rice. Dump beans (juices too) into large pot. Add coconut milk and seasoning. Simmer. After about 20 minutes, I take a potato masher and mash a few of the beans to get them to break down to thicken the sauce further. It was awesome - and I am having some of the leftovers for lunch. Start to finish - 1 hour!