Vegan Mofo 1.1: Veggies in Curried Tomato & Peanut Butter Sauce over Brown Basmati

Happy first day of Vegan Mofo everyone! I hadn’t intended to sign up this year because my November is crazy but then I realized there was no reason not to. I am going to try my best to post at least once a day. With a little luck that will happen. My plan is to number my posts by day and then post within the day. For example 1.1 would be the first post of the first day. If there is a second post that day it would be 1.2, etc. I am going to do that for my long time readers that have gotten used to one post per day so they don’t miss anything. I expect my posts will be shorter this month due to my schedule.

For those of you that don’t know me I a foodie who became vegan a few years ago due to cancer. My husband (Dan) and I both love good food with a lot of flavor. The recipes I post are full of flavor. However I also try to make them as healthy as I can. I always cook with health as well as flavor in mind.

Some of our favorite cuisines are Italian, Indian, Japanese, and Thai. I am of Italian heritage so Italian is hands down my favorite. Indian food is something that I have cooked for almost 3 decades since college when my best friend had come to the US for school from Madras, India. Tonight I made an Indian inspired dish because we had not had any in a few days.

Since the post of our Sunday activities is going to be huge (and probably require more than a few separate entries) I decided to start Vegan Mofo with our dinner tonight which was a simple affair. I made quick and easy curried veggies over brown rice. Here is what I did:

Veggies in a Curried Tomato and Peanut Butter Sauce over Brown Basmati
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, peeled and diced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating)
½ tablespoon fresh ginger, minced or grated (if it is organic you can leave the skin just be sure to clean it well)
4 cups fresh or 28 ounces canned peeled diced tomatoes (fresh has much less sodium)
4 cups water
½ tablespoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
½ tablespoon coriander seed
½ tablespoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
¼ teaspoon ajowan seeds
freshly ground black pepper, to taste (be generous since the piperine in the black pepper makes the turmeric more bioavailable)
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
3 tablespoons reduced-fat peanut butter, or to taste
2 carrots, cut into bite-size chunks
2 parsnips, cut into bite-size chunks
2 Japanese eggplants, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 crowns broccoli, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 ½ cups brown basmati rice
3 cups water

Directions:

Combine the onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, water, spices, carrots and parsnips. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has begun to thick, about 30 minutes.

Combine the rice and water and cook. Depending on the type of pan you are using the rice will take anywhere from 35 (using enameled cast iron) to 50 (using stainless steel) minutes to cook including the time to bring the liquid to a simmer. Start the rice at the time appropriate for the material of the pot. Having the rice finished a little early isn’t as much of a problem as too late since the rice will hold better than the veggies.

Add the peanut butter (to taste) to the sauce and mix to combine. Next add the eggplants and cook for 10 – 15 minutes. The broccoli gets incorporated the last 15 minutes of cooking so it doesn’t get overcooked. To finish add lime zest and lime juice and stir to combine. Serve over rice.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 375.32
Calories From Fat (14%) - 53.25

Total Fat - 6.37g
Saturated Fat - 1.15g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 61.13mg
Potassium - 1325.55mg
Total Carbohydra tes -73.74g
Fiber - 13.7g
Sugar - 13.49g
Protein - 11.05g

Comments:

This dish has a lot of flavor. It is certainly not traditional. I used reduced fat peanut butter for the fat component rather than coconut milk (or even light coconut milk) to reduce the saturated fat. The broccoli was added at the end to retain the maximum amount of nutrition. If you are okay with adding more fat this dish would be great finished with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts, slivered almonds or roasted cashews for texture. The cilantro and spinach rice I made a few days ago would also be great with this dish and would add extra vitamins and minerals.

Signing out:

Tomorrow will start out early here since it is Election Day which means it is time for me to sign out. Talk to you again tomorrow.  I hope everyone had the best Monday possible.

Hungarian Spiced Eggplant and Mushroom topped Quinoa

When we got up this morning it was a very brisk 45 degrees. I am not a fan of cold weather which means I am not looking forward to our temperatures dipping further. Yesterday was actually very nice and even reached 77 degrees. Apparently we needed to pay for that by being cooler than normal today. Needless to say I have been drinking hot water with lemon slices all day to stay warm. There is nothing worse than being cold in my opinion.

The day started with a wimper but ramped up fairly early. Monday’s are always hectic here but today was a bit more so. My to-do list at the moment is a tad out of control. With a little luck I can get my list knocked off by mid-week leaving Thursday to relax. Well …. that is my plan at least. We will see if it actually happens.

Lunch:

I packed the majority of the leftover split pea soup in Dan’s lunch. But there was about a cup leftover for me while I forgot to save any smoked mushrooms at least I remembered to save a dollop of truffle crème to put on top.

To go with the soup I ate the rest of the pesto topped green beans and cucumbers. I was surprised by how filling my lunch was.

Green drain cleaning:

Using toxic chemicals to open a slow drain is something we do as a last resort. I don’t like having those nasty things in my house. To cut down on the need for those chemicals once a week (on Monday here) I put a cup of baking soda down the kitchen drain followed by 2 cups of vinegar that I slowly pour in. I let this sit for 10 minutes and then follow with at least 4 cups of boiling water. The baking soda and vinegar is supposed to cut through the grease that builds up in the pipes.

I buy both the baking soda (in a 12 pound bag) and the vinegar (in a 5 liter jug) at Costco. Since I also use these in many of my green cleaner recipes I can never have too much of either of these products on hand.

Since I started doing this weekly I haven’t had any need for chemical or mechanical drain cleaning which leads me to think it is working. At the very least my sink always smells clean. ;-)

Nutritional misinformation:

I am always surprised by the amount of misinformation I read about health and/or nutrition. Typically this happens more with the blogosphere but it is also found in books. When I see bad information in the blogosphere I can blow it off since it wasn’t something that I consider to be credible in general. However when I read bad advice in books I am much more annoyed.

The nutritional misinformation I read yesterday was worse than I have seen in a while. You would think that health based books would have an RD (registered dietitians) confirm the accuracy of the information contained within but clearly that is not always the case.

I try to make certain things I write are well documented (and from reputable scientific sources) before I mention them on the blog. However nutrition is something that is a moving target which means that something that is thought to be accurate today might be laughed at in 2 years.

The reason I am mentioning this is that I want everyone to know that if they read something somewhere else and it doesn’t sound right they can ask me what I know about the subject. I am happy to share what I have read and where I have read it. The idea of bad information swirling around is a personal pet peeve of mine. Additionally I actually enjoy doing nutrition research which means your questions are welcomed and appreciated.

Dinner:

Somehow I didn’t end up starting dinner tonight until after 7:30. I guess I have gotten used to Dan’s crazy schedule so there didn’t seem to be any reason to rush. I had no idea what I was going to cook which is not usual. This recipe showed up in my email box from Real Simple and I thought I could make it something like it only healthier of course. Employing my use what you have on hand methodology I knew diced eggplant and mushrooms would make a good stand in for the “meat” and that is how dinner was born. Here is what I made:

Hungarian Spiced Eggplant and Mushrooms
Serves 6

Eggplant Ingredients:

1 large red onion, peeled and finely diced
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced
6 cups peeled, diced tomatoes
1 large eggplant, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
½ teaspoon dill weed (dried)
¾ teaspoon caraway seed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon vegan worchestershire sauce, adds umami but could be omitted
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Accompaniment ingredients:

1 ½ cups quinoa
3 cups water
Cashew creme fraiche made with 1 cup raw cashews, ½ cup water and a splash of lemon

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients for the eggplant dish and simmer until the eggplant is cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Prepare the quinoa about 20 minutes before you want to eat.

To serve top the quinoa with the Hungarian spiced eggplant and finish with cashew crème fraiche.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 369.05
Calories From Fat (32%) - 118.99

Total Fat - 14.02g
Saturated Fat - 2.52g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 52.15mg
Potassium - 1224.35mg
Total Carbohydrates - 51.97g
Fiber - 9.79g
Sugar - 8.82g
Protein - 13.52g

Comments:

This is one those dishes I toss together when I need to get food on the table fast. This dish came together in under 30 minutes from start to finish.  You can make this with any veggies you choose.  Alternately you can change the dish completely by altering the spices. This would be good with Indian seasoning or Italian seasonings.

Signing out:

That is going to be it for me tonight. I hope everyone had a good Monday. Talk to you again soon.

Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Salad/Dip

Today has been crazy cold here. I think our high was 74. Talk about unseasonably cold. What is up with this weather? It was a nice change from our typical heat and humidity but it is so out of the ordinary. We must have had a cold front come through with the rain we have been getting off and on all day. The ground here has been extremely dry so we needed the rain desperately. It was nice to be able to skip watering today and probably tomorrow as well. Overall it was odd day but a good one.

Given our unseasonably cool temperatures I decided to crank up the oven since it has been mostly taking up space for months. Roasting vegetables in the oven concentrates the flavor making a much more flavorful dish. Many people think you need oil to roast vegetables but you don’t, the flavor is as good (I think it is a much cleaner taste) without the oil.

Today I wanted to make my version of a dish one of our local Middle Eastern restaurants serves. I haven’t had it in a couple of years but my version is certainly similar and no doubt healthier since most chefs love to use copious amounts of olive oil. Here is what I made:

Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Salad/Dip
Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 small eggplants (about 1 ½ pounds)
9 – 10 Roma tomatoes, cut in half
1 head of garlic, cloves detached
I lemon, zested and juiced
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground
½ teaspoon coriander seed, toasted and ground
¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
2 tablespoons fresh mint, minced
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 black olives thinly slivered, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a half sheet pan with parchment or a silpat (to make clean up easier).

Pierce the eggplants with the tip of your paring knife at least 5 times so that steam can escape when they are roasting. Cut the tomatoes and half and separate the garlic cloves from the head and give them a little smash (to activate the allicin development).

Place all the prepared produce on your baking sheet and put it in the oven uncovered. Check the oven every 15 minutes. Remove the garlic when it is caramelized which happened at the 30 minute mark in my oven. Cook the eggplant until it is thoroughly soft, it will collapse as it cools. You want a little char on the tomatoes to give the dish a smoky flavor. Here are the veggies uncooked

and cooked.

Allow everything to cool so you can handle it. Once cool peel the eggplant and chop the flesh. Place the eggplant in a strainer and using a spoon press out the excess liquid. Move the eggplant to a mixing bowl. Roughly chop the tomatoes and drain them of their excess liquid (no need to press) and move them to the mixing bowl with the eggplant.

Peel the garlic and drop it into your blender. Add the juice of one lemon, cumin, paprika, and coriander and process until smooth. Pour the dressing over the veggies. Add the lemon zest, fresh herbs and olives and stir to combine. Refrigerate until needed. This should be served cold and will be better after the flavors have had a chance to marry.

Taste and add freshly ground black pepper before serving. Top each serving with a few olive slices.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 77.35
Calories From Fat (11%) - 8.39

Total Fat - 1.03g
Saturated Fat - 0.15g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 32.13mg
Potassium - 851.36mg
Total Carbohydrates - 18.05g
Fiber - 7.78g
Sugar - 8.66g
Protein - 3.57g

Comments:

I really enjoyed this dish as did Dan who is not a huge fan of eggplant. This dish is fresh and light and has a complex flavor. Traditionally it would be served with flat bread but I went with cucumber slices to make it healthier. Later this week I can see it as a salad topping.

Food since my last post:

It has been a fairly boring food day here sorry to say. I spent much of the day reading and relaxing so I wasn’t really hungry. I try to listen to my body, within reason of course. Since I wasn’t very active today my body didn’t seem to crave food.

For breakfast I had another green smoothie (like yesterday).

Lunch was a simple green salad or shredded romaine, Roma tomatoes, pomegranate molasses, sumac and pine nuts.

To accompany the salad I had a bowl of watermelon, peaches and blackberries.

Most the day I was sipping hot water with lemon. With the cooler temperatures I wanted something hot to drink but wasn’t in a tea mood. I used to love hot water and lemon in the mornings so I made a mug. Yep, I still love it. I may be going back to that in the morning to help me wake up. Since I am not a morning person I need all the waking up I can get. ;-)

Dinner tonight was another salad. ;-) This one contained shredded romaine, caponata, fat free hummus, marinated mushrooms and cucumbers in a garlic cashew cream topped with diced tomato. Nothing fancy just simple healthy food.

To go with that we had to sample the roasted eggplant and tomato dip which we eat with sliced cucumbers.

Other stuff:

With the gray rainy weather we had to today there was not a lot going on at our house. I had a very low key day.

I don’t know how many of you watch Top Chef but it is one of my favorite shows. If you like “chefy” food you should check it out. Obviously it isn’t vegan but I get great ideas in terms of plating and presentation as well as composition. Tonight’s episode had black garlic as one of the mystery ingredients. This was fortuitous since I was actually discussing black garlic with someone today. Tomorrow may see a dish with black garlic turn up for dinner which will be a stretch since I haven’t seen any recipes that contain it. However we have had it out so I have a few ideas of what to do with it. Do any of you have any experience cooking or eating black garlic?

It is getting late so I am going to sign off for the evening. I hope everyone had a great Wednesday. We are more than halfway to the weekend. Yay!

This eggplant dish is going out to the August SOS challenge.

Eggplant Slices with Pomegranate Molasses and Cashew Sesame Crème

As promised I am keeping with the Middle Eastern theme for Ramadan for as long as I can. I love Arabic food and don’t make it often enough. I have decided that Ramadan is a great excuse to prod myself to focus on cuisine I enjoy but don’t often cook.
This is not an original recipe but my version of a traditional dish called batinjan bil rumman wal laban. The original dish uses dairy yogurt and oil which you know I don’t use. I also substituted a few things and added others. This recipe keeps with the spirit of the original but is definitely my own. Here is what I made tonight:

Eggplant Slices with Pomegranate Molasses and Cashew Sesame Crème
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant, thinly sliced (approximately ¼ inch slices)
Approximately 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses and an equal amount of lemon juice or pomegranate
juice to thin the molasses
sumac or ground sour grapes (maybe a ¼ teaspoon)
½ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 30 minutes
2 tablespoons raw sesame seeds
splash apple cider vinegar (maybe 1 tablespoon, not much)
approximately ¼ cup water
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons pine nuts and/or pomegranate arils

Directions:

Start the raw cashews soaking at least 30 minutes, preferably two hours before you will be eating. I keep small jars of cashews soaking in the refrigerator to use later. That way I don't have to wait for the nuts to soak to make something spur of the moment.

Combine the pomegranate molasses and lemon or pomegranate juice together and stir to combine. Place the eggplant slices on your dehydrator tray. Brush the top of the slices with the pomegranate mixture. Sprinkle the eggplant slices with sumac or ground sour grapes.

Dehydrate on 145 degrees, or bake on low, until the eggplant is just starting to soften. I only used the dehydrator because I didn’t want to turn on the oven. Typically I made this dish in the oven.

In your blender combine the drained raw cashews, sesame seeds, apple cider vinegar, water, and garlic and process until smooth. You may need to add more water depending on the texture you want.

To serve, top the sliced eggplant with the cashew crème and sprinkle with pine nuts and/or pomegranate arils.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 201.56
Calories From Fat (50%) - 100.48

Total Fat - 12.01g
Saturated Fat - 1.69g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 10.41mg
Potassium - 458.08mg
Total Carbohydrates - 22g
Fiber - 5.94g
Sugar - 8.67g
Protein - 5.53g

Comments:

The key to getting this right is “cooking” the eggplant until it is warm and soft. If you don’t dehydrate the eggplant long enough this won’t taste good. Also if you dry it too long it will get crispy. Just check it after an hour to see how it is doing. I “cooked” mine about 2 hours. The exact cooking time depends on how thinly you slice the eggplant and the temperature you set the dehydrator.

This raw version reminds me a lot of the cooked original only less greasy and much more pleasant to eat, in my opinion. It was very hard for me to give up cooking with olive oil but now that I have I can’t imagine using it anymore. I swear it mutes the flavor of food in addition to making it slimy. Yuck!

Dan, who does not love eggplant, enjoyed this dish quite a bit. The pomegranate molasses and lemon added a nice sweet but tart flavor to the eggplant. It is nice with the creaminess of the cashew sesame topping.

Unusual ingredient from this recipe:

Sumac is a dark red berry/purple berry from a bush in the same family as cashew that is dried and ground. It is high in tannins which gives it an astringent taste that mimics lemon. It was used in cooking by the ancient Romans and Egyptians. Sumac is featured in many Middle Eastern and North African dishes. It is used in salad, rice dishes, yogurt based sauces, meats and vegetables. Sumac is found in zahtar and spice blend of thyme, and sumac. I order mine from Zamouri spices because I haven’t found it locally.

Too fat for 15:

Have any of you seen the show “Too Fat for 15” on the Style next work? I just saw it last night for the first time and my mouth was hanging open through most of the show. Talk about sad. I just can’t imagine how these kids ended up where they were when the episode was filmed. I wanted to cry for them. Each of these young kids is at least 100 pounds overweight. One child weighted 510 pounds. If you have difficulty watching children struggle and get emotional don’t watch this show. I don’t know that I can continue to watch this show but I am going to try.

I am very interested in nutrition which is why I wanted to see what the show is going to teach the kids. One thing that stood out to me was how the kids responded when asked what foods were their favorites. No surprise the kids answered pasta, pizza, sweets, chips and fried foods. Just as I expected the foods that are high in sugar, fat and salt were the ones they loved. The more I hear and read the more certain I am Dr. Kessler is on to something with his book, “The End of Overeating.” When was the time this you heard someone say they are addicted to salad?

The show didn’t talk as much about nutrition as I was hoping. However they did mention goal setting which made me smile. I think the show has promise. I hope they focus more on specific lifestyle changes and less on drama in the next episode. Either way the clear take away message is that it is critically important what we teach our children about food and nutrition. If we feed them unhealthy food the consequences can be devastating.

Healthy cleaning:

This is I topic I don’t typically discuss but it is an important aspect of who I am. As most of you know we are vegan for health reasons. In my opinion keeping chemicals out of our home is another aspect of being healthy. Initially I changed from standard commercial products to healthy cleaners (like Method and Seventh Generation). But now I have given up those things as well. I imagine you are thinking I am crazy about now. How can I possibly keep my home clean? That is what you are thinking right? It is easy actually, I use a steam cleaner. A few years ago I bought a large machine on wheels that I use to clean the bathroom, counters and floors. It is amazing how well it works and there are no nasty chemicals lurking in the air in our house. In fact I am surprised by how easy it is to use and how well it cleans, and yes I was skeptical that it would do a good job. If you have been considering moving away from chemicals I would encourage you to make the leap. Our home is much fresher without the nasty toxic smell of cleaners lingering in the air.

My food since the last post:

As I mentioned I skipped breakfast yesterday. I wasn’t in the mood for food, either eating it or preparing it. I don’t normally skip breakfast in fact I almost always eat it because I know how important that is. But some days you need to listen to your body which was how I was feeling yesterday.

When lunch time came around I was a little hungry but still not much. I made a light little salad with shredded romaine, cold cooked quinoa, salsa and raw sunflower seeds.

I know this doesn’t like much food, because it isn’t. However I was so tired from not sleeping well again that I did nothing yesterday. When you are sitting most of the day you just don’t need many calories to fuel that little bit of activity.

Around 5pm my stomach started growling and I knew I needed to get a bite to eat. Since Dan has been working late recently I also knew it had to be substantial. I made myself a giant salad of a head of romaine, ¼ cucumber, ½ cup salsa, 1 organic heirloom tomatoes (they are the best), 1 shredded carrot and ½ a haas avocado. Yes it was one big salad but that is just volume not calories. This mammoth bowl of salad had only 350 calories, 25 grams of fiber, and 14 grams of protein. Combine that with 51,00IU of vitamin A, 184mg of vitamin C, 300mg of calcium, and 980mcg of folate and you have one nutritious meal.

Dinner was ridiculously late because Dan is so swamped at work. I almost skipped dinner completely but I wanted Dan to eat. We had a serving of the eggplant dish above and called it a night.

Today:

I slept a little better last night so I was up to exercising this morning once Dan left for work. It felt so good to get moving this morning. The exercise fueled my appetite which resulted in a big breakfast for me.

Breakfast this morning was a small (about 8 ounce) glass of fresh veggie and fruit juice. I also made myself a bowl of the red lentil and brown rice soup and a salad. The salad was really good. I used romaine, tomato, cucumber, diced eggplant from last night, along with the sauce I used on the eggplant. I topped the salad with pine nuts. I have never used this leftover eggplant dish on salad before but it was really great. No doubt I will be using it that way again.

Since it is Friday you know what that means. I have to check on my parents, do a little cleaning at their place and run some errands. As usual I also want to get a few things accomplished at my house so I can relax this weekend.

I will be back later with a post at least that is my plan now.

Healthy Eggplant and Tahini Dip

Since I had the oven on yesterday for the sweet and spicy tofu I decided to also bake an eggplant for baba ganoush, or my version of it I should say. As you all know I never follow a recipe, mine or those of others. I think recipes are simply suggestions unless we are talking about baking, and I don’t do that any longer for health reasons. I also suggest you don’t follow recipes but use them as ideas to change to your own tastes. Much of the fun of cooking is taking a recipe and making it your own.

Over the years my cooking has changed dramatically. In prior decades my cooking more closely resembled what you would find in a restaurant. Many evenings dinner was a celebration at our house. I am not talking about national holidays but just some random weeknight. Before the cancer we would eat for taste assuming we had plenty of time to make healthy changes later before we were old. Little did we know the universe had other plans. I mention this because I want you to think about what you are consuming. Eating is a chance to refuel your body and provide much needed macro and micro nutrients. When you look at food as fuel rather than an indulgence it is much easier to make healthy choices. Well at least that works for us. Climbing down off my soapbox now. ;-)

Okay, back to the dip. I say this is my version of baba ganoush because it doesn’t contain olive oil and certainly not in the ridiculous quantities that most recipes call for. I think it still tastes great it just isn’t causing inflammation or coating the inside of our arteries with crud. Here is how I make a healthier eggplant dip:

Eggplant and Tahini Dip
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, well scrubbed
½ cup raw sesame seeds (tahini if not using a high speed blender like a Vitamix)
½ lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (ground if not using a high speed blender)
¼ - ½ teaspoon sumac, add to taste
6 tablespoons of water, or whatever is necessary to achieve the creamy texture you desire

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a pan with parchment or silpat.

Prick the eggplant with the tip of a paring knife and bake until the eggplant slumps, about 30 minutes. You want it to be completely soft and easy to pierce with a fork. Allow the eggplant to cool a little so that you can remove all the skin. You want to be sure to get all the skin because it can impart a bitter flavor to the dip if you leave it on the eggplant.

Place the peeled eggplant, sesame seeds (or tahini), lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and sumac into your blender. Start with a couple of tablespoons water and turn on the blender. Add more water a tablespoon at a time until the blender is processing easily and the texture is creamy.

Refrigerate in a closed container until needed. I like to serve this with a drizzle of pomegranate molasses and a few pine nuts which is how it is pictured above.

Nutritional Information (for 1/6th of the recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 90.94
Calories From Fat (57%) - 51.88

Total Fat - 6.21g
Saturated Fat - 0.87g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 4.23mg
Potassium - 253.19mg
Total Carbohydrates - 8.45g
Fiber - 4.48g
Sugar - 1.84g
Protein - 3.1g

Comment:

This dip is very much like hummus but with a base of eggplant. It is creamy, rich and very flavorful. Since the base is eggplant and not garbanzo beans it is lower in fiber, starch, and protein. I really like eggplant dip but Dan is not a big fan of eggplant so he actually prefers hummus. However the sesame paste smoothes out both the texture and flavor of this dip enough that even Dan likes this in moderation.

I use this on wrap sandwiches, with collard leaves as the wrapper of course. This is also good on a salad in place of dressing. We also like to dip raw veggies in it.

Today’s lunch:

I had a late lunch today because I have been out of the house for a while with a friend. When I got home I wanted something quick but nutritious. So I decided to make a veggie sandwich in a collard wrap. I stuffed the collard leaf with green cabbage, marinated mushrooms, roasted red peppers and eggplant dip. Here it is unwrapped,

and then wrapped and cut.

It was a nice light little lunch. Perfect for this hot weather we are having.

Unrelated note:

Today I spent some time with my friend Sheila who is trying to make more healthy food for her family. Now that is a project I can completely get behind. ;-) She is new to vegan cooking and wanted to know how to make nut cheese. I showed her how to make my almond feta spread. We also made cinnamon walnut butter. We had a productive late morning/early afternoon. It went so well I think we may have to do this again soon. Hopefully her husband and son enjoy our efforts as much as we did.

I need to do a few things around here and then work on dinner. I will chat with you all again later. My plan is to make an Asian salad with the quick tofu I made yesterday. I hope everyone is having a great Thursday.

Middle Eastern Eggplant and Zucchini in the style of Imam Bayildy

(pictured: eggplant on the left, zucchini on the right, with reduced sauce on top)

There is a Middle Eastern dish that I love called Imam Bayildy, which means the Imam fainted. It is a famous Turkish dish that you find in most Middle Eastern restaurants. The original dish is quite high in fat from the amount of olive oil that is traditionally used. Some say that is where it got its name. The Imam fainted when he heard how much of the precious olive oil was used to make the dish.

Since we are trying to keep our fat down to minimize our inflammation I decided to change the dish significantly. Additionally I decided not to stuff the whole split eggplants and then also to add zucchini. This is why I am calling this “in the style of Imam Bayildy". Many of the flavors are the same, but the technique and calorie count are very different.

Middle Eastern Eggplant and Zucchini in the style of Imam Bayildy
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely diced
4 Roma tomatoes, peeled and diced
½ teaspoon of cumin seed
¼ teaspoon of coriander seed
¼ teaspoon of fennel seed
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon of agave
14 ounce can of tomato sauce
½ cup of water
2 medium white eggplant
2 medium zucchini

Directions:

Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until tender. Add the remaining ingredients except the zucchini and eggplant. Cook over medium heat while you prep the zucchini and eggplant.

Slice the zucchini and eggplant lengthwise from top to bottom. Score the exterior of the eggplant to make it easier to cut later. Cut a deep cross hatch pattern into the interior of both the eggplant and zucchini to help them collapse so that they are reasonably flat when cooked.

Put the zucchini and eggplant interior down into the bubbling sauce. Cook covered on low heat for 20 minutes. Turn the zucchini and eggplant over and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

When the zucchini and eggplant are soft, remove them from the pan and move to a serving platter to cool to room temperature. The eggplant may cook more quickly than the zucchini. If this happens cook the zucchini until it is also soft and then remove to a serving platter to cool.

Continue to cook the sauce (uncovered) to reduce the sauce to a thicker consistency that you can serve on top the zucchini and eggplant. When the sauce is thick (about 15 minutes) cool it to room temperature.

This dish is best served room temperature or cold. Imam Bayildy is traditionally served cold but I think the flavors are better at room temperature.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 147.92
Calories From Fat (26%) - 37.83

Total Fat - 4.34g
Saturated Fat - 0.62g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 538.45mg
Potassium - 1168.11mg
Total Carbohydrates - 27.45g
Fiber - 11.71g
Sugar - 11.96g
Protein - 5.47g

Comments:

You can make this dish with all eggplant or zucchini if you wish. I prefer eggplant and my husband likes zucchini so I make both versions at the same time. This is a much easier and healthier version of the iconic original dish. If you like Middle Eastern dish you should give this a try.

Crispy Baked Eggplant Filled with Tofu Ricotta and Pine Nuts

This dish is a vegan version of a restaurant dish from Sue and John's wedding anniversary this year when we all went out for dinner. The original dish was made with ricotta and was shallow fried. I have had this on my list to make healthy for about six months (sorry for the delay guys). The tofu ricotta worked extremely well as filling for the eggplant. Tofu firms as is cooks so the texture was perfect in between the eggplant slices. Raw cashews added richness to the filling. Pine nuts were included because they were in the original dish.

Not surprisingly this dish was the favorite this evening of my omnivore parents, who both had seconds, and took the leftovers home. If you are looking for a decadent dish for a party with both vegans and omnivores I suggest this one. If you want to take this over top you can drizzle it with basil or chive oil. This would also be wonderful served on a bed of homemade tomato sauce.

Crispy Baked Eggplant Filled with Tofu Ricotta and Pine Nuts
Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 globe eggplants, sliced ¼ - ½ inch thick
14 ounces of firm water packed tofu, thoroughly drained
¼ cup of raw cashews
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
1 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt
½ teaspoon of garlic powder
½ teaspoon of oregano, dried
¼ cup of pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons of almond milk
1 ½ cups of whole wheat panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Place the eggplant slices of a half sheet pan lined with paper towel. Place paper towels between the layers of eggplant slices (I had two layers). Top the pan with another pan and weigh it down lightly (I used a couple of empty Pyrex containers. You want the eggplant to give off its excess liquid so the final dish won’t be soggy. I allowed mine to sit undisturbed for about an hour.

Squeeze the tofu dry as you can get it and place in a colander while you process the cashews.

Put the raw cashews in your food processor and process until the nuts are finely ground. Add the tofu, garlic, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and oregano. Process until everything is thoroughly fine and smooth. Stir the pine nuts into the mixture by hand (you want them to remain whole for texture) and move the mixture to the refrigerator until you are ready to make the eggplant sandwiches.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheet pans with parchment.

I find it easiest to line up the eggplant (top and bottom) first. Spread the tofu onto half the eggplant sandwiches and top with the matching eggplant slice.

Dust each sandwich with whole-wheat flour to make the breading stick. Dip each sandwich into almond milk and then into the panko breadcrumbs. I like to allow the sandwiches to dry out a little (10 minutes) before I proceed with the baking. I think this helps the coating to stay on the sandwiches.

Lightly coat each eggplant sandwich with a little drizzle of olive oil. I tried spraying it with oil but it causes some of the breading to come off. I used a total of 1 tablespoon of oil for all the eggplant sandwiches. Bake the sandwiches for 15 minutes and check to see if they are ready to be flipped. The top will be more brown than the bottom. You may need to add a little oil if the sandwiches are dry (mine didn’t need it). Cook an additional 15 minutes on the second side.

Serve these hot.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 201.12
Calories From Fat (40%) - 79.84

Total Fat - 9.44g
Saturated Fat - 0.98g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 541mg
Potassium - 500.69mg
Total Carbohydrates - 21.83g
Fiber - 6.11g
Sugar - 3.7g
Protein - 10.96g

Comments:

My omnivore parents devoured this dish. Both of them told me this was their favorite dish tonight. I thought it was good, but honestly felt it was a little too rich for me. Adding an acid to this may have made it a little better for me. I think next time I will serve this on a bed of tomato sauce.

Bulgur, Seitan Brats and Eggplant Tomato Sauce

(pictured: bulgur and brats in sauce with vegan mozzarella grated on top - not yet microwaved to melt the cheese)

This morning I decided to use up leftovers for breakfast. I make things like this often for breakfast and lunch. I wanted to use a brat in breakfast this morning since I wanted to see what the texture would be like if they were simmered rather than crispy. My husband and I both agree that we with prefer the brats simmered. We are discussing trying the brats out on the parents this weekend for dinner to see how they work on omnivores. I don’t know that I am feeling that brave yet, but we will see.

Bulgur, Seitan Brats and Eggplant Tomato Sauce
Serves 2

Ingredients:

½ cup of bulgur, dry
1 ¼ cups of water, filtered
1 pinch of kosher salt
1 seitan beer brat, sliced thin
1 cup of eggplant tomato sauce
vegan mozzarella, to garnish – optional

Directions:

Combine the bulgur, water and kosher salt in the small pan with a lid. Cover the pan and bring to a boil then reduce the heat so that it is simmering. Cook for 10 – 12 minutes (depending on how long it takes to absorb the water). Leave the lid on the pan and turn the heat. Allow the bulgur to stand for 10 minutes so that it will continue to steam.

While the bulgur is steaming make the brat and sauce topping. Slice the brats thinly and add to the tomato sauce. Simmer the brats and tomatoes until heated through.

Top the bulgur with the brats and tomatoes. Garnish with a little shredded vegan mozzarella if desired. The vegan mozzarella will melt on top if your sauce is hot enough (at least 185 degrees). Or you can pop the dish in the microwave for 30 seconds and that works as well.

Nutritional Information (without optional cheese):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 269.45
Calories From Fat (12%) - 32.59

Total Fat - 3.75g
Saturated Fat - 0.56g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 373.63mg
Potassium - 484.69mg
Total Carbohydrates - 40.84g
Fiber - 9.54g
Sugar - 3.98g
Protein - 20.05g

Comments:

The brat texture was quite good simmered in the sauce for a few minutes (about 10). We think the texture of this sausage is closer to real sausage than any other seitan sausage we have tried before. It is still firmer than traditional sausage, but the soaked breadcrumbs do make the texture less firm (which was the point).

In case you are curious I think we have decided on what is for dinner tonight ….crispy baked eggplant slices stuffed with tofu ricotta and pine nuts. This is another dish that has been on my list for a while and since the weather is less than stellar today it is a good day to spend in the kitchen.

Mediterranean Stir Fry

Today I couldn’t get inspired to make something new or different so I cooked from what I had on hand. This Mediterranean inspired stir-fry was what came out of my head tonight.

The dish started with smoked paprika because it is one of my favorites. I will use smoked paprika in almost everything (my husband can attest to this). Since smoked paprika is Spanish I decided to stay with a Mediterranean theme. Chickpeas and the seitan sausage were added for protein. The vegetables (eggplant, tomatoes, and onion) were used because they were here. I included the rosemary and parsley for their cancer fighting properties. Rosemary’s woody fragrance comes from the fatty acids of terpene in the plant, which encourages the cancer cells in tumors to stop reproducing. Parsley contains apigenine, a natural oil that has been shown to prevent angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels to the tumor). The apigenine from parsley acts similarly to the prescription drugs Avastin and Sutent.

This dinner is quick and tasty, my favorite type of dinner to make.

Mediterranean Stir Fry
Serves 2

Ingredients:

½ tablespoon of canola oil
1 red onion, minced
1 globe eggplant, cut into bite size pieces
1 large red tomato, cut into bite sized pieces
1 large green tomato, cut into bite sized pieces
1 Mexican spiced seitan sausage, cut into bite sized pieces
½ cup of chickpeas, cooked
1 cup of short grain brown rice, cooked (I used yellow rice)
2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of fresh rosemary, chopped
¼ cup of fresh parsley, chopped
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat a large skillet with the canola oil and add the onion, eggplant, tomatoes, and sausage and cook for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except the parsley and cook until everything is heated through (about 5 minutes on low heat). If the pan gets dry add a little water or dry white wine.

When you are ready to serve add the fresh parsley and stir to evenly distribute throughout the pan. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust before serving. Serve hot.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 475.64
Calories From Fat (13%) - 63.66

Total Fat - 7.41g
Saturated Fat - 0.62g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 331.61mg
Potassium - 1108.16mg
Total Carbohydrates - 85.89g
Fiber - 17.78g
Sugar - 11.25g
Protein - 26.05g

Comments:

This was a nice quick dinner. I had it on the table 15 or 20 minutes after I started and that included time to chop the vegetables. This meal was very filling probably due to the fiber and protein. Even though this wasn't a "planned meal" I was quite happy with how it turned out.

Laotian Style Vegetables

For some unknown reason I wanted Laotian food tonight. I like to mix up the origin of our food, as you may have noticed. Laotian food is reasonably new to me. I was introduced to it at our favorite local restaurant where a couple of the guys in the kitchen are from Laos. The cuisine is quite nice and seems to use a lot of hot Thai chilies, lime and fresh mint. If you like that combination you will like Laotian cuisine.

This dish has a lot of flavor from the chili garlic sauce, lime and mint. It is hot and refreshing at the same time. I didn’t serve this over rice, but it would be great that way or in a lettuce wrap.

Laotian Style Vegetables
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 cups of zucchini, halved or quartered and thinly sliced
2 Japanese eggplants, thinly sliced
1 cup of fire roasted diced tomatoes
½ - 1 tablespoon of chili garlic sauce (depending on how much you like heat)
1 scoop of stevia (or agave)
1 lime, juiced
¼ cup of fresh mint, chopped

Directions:

Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot add the red onion, zucchini and eggplant, fire roasted tomatoes, chili garlic sauce, stevia and lime. Cook until the vegetables are as tender as you like them.

Stir the fresh mint into the vegetables just before serving. You want the mint to stay fresh and vibrant. This would be good over brown rice or any other whole grain.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 93.83
Calories From Fat (7%) - 6.64

Total Fat - 0.82g
Saturated Fat - 0.14g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 254.17mg
Potassium - 902.81mg
Total Carbohydrates - 22.9g
Fiber - 7.78g
Sugar - 4.64g
Protein - 4.73g

Comments:

This dish packs a punch of flavor. It you like spicy Asian food you should give this a try. I served it tonight with a whole-wheat tortilla with a little nutritional yeast sauce and fire roasted tomato bits. However, this would be great over brown rice.

Spicy Seitan and Eggplant with Green Tea Rice in Lettuce Wraps

Anything in a lettuce wrap is popular at our house all summer long. I knew I wanted something Asian tonight which is why I made the green tea rice earlier today. Initially I thought of making something like bibimbap. Then I changed my mind and thought of lettuce wraps and ultimately decided to make something that combined both ideas. Many of my recipes come from unorthodox combinations of other recipes and this one is no exception.

The seitan was included for protein, and "meat like" chew. The coconut milk was added to the sauce to make it somewhat creamy and to tame the heat a little on the tongue. I used the full 4 tablespoons of chili garlic sauce and ….. needless to say I needed the “cream” to tame the heat a little. The ginger and garlic provide antioxidants as well as cancer fighting phytonutrients.

This is versatile method that can be used with many different fillings. I plan to make other variations of this throughout the summer.

Spicy Seitan and Eggplant with Green Tea Rice in Lettuce Wraps
Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 servings of pressure cooked seitan – mild flavor, cut into ¼ by 1 by 2 inch strips
1 Japanese eggplant, cut into ¼ thick diagonals
1 red onion, slivered
½ tablespoon of liquid aminos
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch of ginger, minced
14 ounces of tomato sauce
¼ cup of light coconut milk
2 – 4 tablespoons of chili garlic sauce (depending on how much your family likes heat)
¼ cup of green onion, sliced
1 cup of green tea short grain brown rice
1 head of red leaf lettuce; cleaned, dried and leaves separated

Directions:

In a large saucepan combine everything except the rice and lettuce. Heat over low until the eggplant and onion are soft. Cool to approximately 140 degrees before serving so that it doesn’t wilt the lettuce. The cold rice will also help keep the lettuce fresh. You can also serve this filling cold if you want to take it for lunch and don't have access to a microwave.

To serve, place a little cold rice on the lettuce leaf and top with the spicy seitan and eggplant. Allow enough room in the leaf that it can be rolled like a taco and eaten by hand.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 246.29
Calories From Fat (9%) - 21.02

Total Fat - 2.45g
Saturated Fat - 0.35g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 1300.11mg
Potassium - 833.24mg
Total Carbohydrates - 41.44g
Fiber - 7.09g
Sugar - 6.61g
Protein - 19.75g

Comments:

This recipe is not authentic by any stretch of the imagination. It is something I dreamed up while thinking about what to make for dinner tonight. I like the crunch and freshness of the lettuce against the softness of the rice. There is plenty of spice and flavor in this vegetarian dish. If you want extra crunch you could add a little cucumber. A few peanuts would also be nice in this dish if you like. A few broccoli sprouts would be great on top if you are serving the filling cold.

If you like bibimbap and lettuce rolls I think you will like this recipe I know I did.

Braised Vegetables and Garbanzo Beans with Indian Spices over Green Rice

My best friend in college was from India and I have loved Indian food ever since. It is a little scary to think that was almost 30 years ago. Making Indian food to now second nature to me like Italian food.

I go through phases when I cook a lot of Indian food. I was a little concerned that removing the coconut milk from this dish would result in an unsatisfactory end result, but I should not have been worried. The almond milk thickened with cornstarch slurry was a fine substitute for the low fat coconut milk I normally used. This dish came in lower in fat than I expected, but the flavor was still very good.

One of the things I love the most about Indian food is the use of turmeric. The more you learn about the health benefits of turmeric the more you will find yourself looking for ways to incorporate it into your life. Turmeric is very high in antioxidants and is thought to fight cancer in many ways. According to “Anticancer” you need to consume the turmeric with oil and black pepper to get the maximum benefit.

If you are looking for a recipe to introduce your family to Indian flavors this is a nice mild dish to try.

Braised Vegetables and Garbanzo Beans with Indian Spices over Green Rice
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 cup of garbanzo, cooked until tender (if using canned, use one 14 ounce can)
1 teaspoon of canola oil
1 red onion minced
3 garlic cloves, minced (allow to stand to 10 minutes so allicin develops)
1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon of turmeric, or to taste
1 teaspoon of cumin seed, or to taste
1 teaspoon of coriander seed, or to taste
1 teaspoon of mustard seed, or to taste
½ teaspoon of fenugreek, optional
½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes, optional but recommended
2 large zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
2 Japanese eggplants, halved lengthwise and sliced
15 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 cup of almond milk, unsweetened
1 tablespoon of hot crushed peppers (wet hots)
½ jalapeno, finely minced
1 tablespoon of cornstarch, mixed with 2 tablespoons of water to form a slurry
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 cups of brown basmati rice
4 cups of water, filtered
1 teaspoon of canola oil, to keep pressure cooker from foaming
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
½ - 1 cup of fresh cilantro, minced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
½ jalapeno, finely minced

Directions:

Cook the garbanzo beans until tender, and then set aside until needed. If you don’t want to use dried bean substitute one 14-ounce can of garbanzos that you rinsed and drained.

Sauté onion, garlic and ginger in olive oil until tender. Add turmeric, cumin, coriander, mustard seed, fenugreek and red crushed peppers and cook until mustard seed begin to pop. Add the zucchini, eggplant, diced tomatoes, almond milk, hot crushed peppers and tender garbanzo beans and cook over low heat until the vegetables are tender (about 20 minutes).

Meanwhile rinse the brown rice in a fine sieve under running water and then drain. Put drained brown rice and water in a pressure cooker with the oil and lock the lid. Bring the pressure cooker to pressure, then turn down to low (but not so long the steam stops) and cook for 18 minutes. Use the quick release method to bring the temperature down. Fluff the rice with a fork and add in the cilantro, green onion and jalapeno. Note: If you are not using a pressure cooker, begin cooking the rice 45 minutes before dinner (or 25 minutes prior to starting the vegetable braise).

Add the cornstarch slurry to the braised vegetables to thicken the sauce. Taste for seasonings and serve with the green rice and tofu Raita.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 456.37
Calories From Fat (13%) - 57.85

Total Fat - 6.79g
Saturated Fat - 0.82g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 308.48mg
Potassium - 1201.68mg
Total Carbohydrates - 87.45g
Fiber - 15.92g
Sugar - 10.76g
Protein - 15.34g

Comments:

I intentionally reduced the heat level in this dish so that my 80-year-old parents could eat it. If I were making this dish for only my family I would double the jalapeno, pepper flakes and the hot crushed peppers.

Everyone enjoyed this meal tonight including the omnivores that aren’t very familiar with Indian food. I think this is a good Indian inspired dish for someone you are trying to introduce to Indian flavors. The flavors are not very aggressive, but you do get the essence of Indian food.
If you aren’t as concerned with fat as we are you can add a little low fat coconut milk to the sauce, or a few toasted cashews. Both are traditional and would be excellent used here.

Dinner from the Freezer

I like to keep a few meals in the freezer for days when I don’t have the time or inclination to cook. Today was one of those days, so tonight we had dinner from the freezer. I can’t post the recipe since I didn’t document it before I put it in the freezer but I can share the methodology.

Tonight’s dinner was “no pasta” lasagna. I grilled zucchini and eggplant slices (cut length wise) and layered those with tomato sauce and tofu ricotta. I make the tofu ricotta with firm or extra firm tofu that I crumble into a food processor with a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast and a handful of raw cashews and puree until the nuts have been completely pulverized (about a minute). I layer the sauce, grilled veg, tofu ricotta, sauce, grilled veg ….. until I reach the top of the pan. Sometimes I top the mixture with follow your heart mozzarella and sometimes I don’t. Bake the dish as you would lasagna, in a 350 degree oven until it is heated through.

The flavor of this dish comes from the tomato sauce and the grilled veggies. It helps to get dark grill marks on the veggies to add more flavor. This dish freezes extremely well and defrosted in the microwave in about 20 minutes on power level 3. It will give off a good amount of liquid as it defrosts. I stop the microwave every 5 minutes and pour of the liquid.

If you haven’t tried to make vegan lasagna it is very easy and turns out much better than you may expect. I think the raw cashews in the tofu help to mimic the fattiness of cheese. I have seen other recipes add vegan cream cheese to the tofu which I assume is done for the same reason. I prefer not to buy the processed vegan cream cheese (it contains too many “mystery” ingredients).

Because I made a big batch of sauce yesterday I will make lasagna, in the next week or so and post that on the blog so you have the recipe.