Fat Free Vegan Red Lentil Tarka Dal Curry (Indian Lentil Curry)

Now that the weather is cooling down, how about some delicious dal curries to warm things up?

This is another version of tarka (meaning tempered spices) dal using split red lentils. It is really simple to make, totally vegan and contains only a few ingredients. I make this recipe often when I’m looking for a quick dish and I always keep onions, tomatoes and red lentils on hand for just such an occasion. What’s nice about this dish is you can take this basic recipe and change it up with different spices, add more or omit the chilies depending how spicy you like it and use it as a thick stew as it is or a curry to serve over rice.

The dal is cooked separately and then the tarka seasonings are fried on their own and added  after so they retain more of their flavor. If you’re short on time you can throw everything in together, but it might be a little blander so you’ll want to adjust the seasonings. Normally the spices are tempered in ghee or oil, but since I don’t use oil in my recipes I’ve added slightly more whole dried spices to this recipe and used some water instead.

This is a beautiful dish that is great for entertaining and also a nice way to introduce lentils to your friends and family that may be skeptical of them. Red lentils are very mild and don’t have any flavor when they are cooked so they absorb the flavors they are cooked in very well. I prefer using split red lentils over regular whole brown lentils for this recipe as they are lighter and smoother tasting.

Feel free to try using other lentils, but you will need to cook your dal much longer as whole lentils will take twice as long to cook.

 

Fat Free Vegan Red Lentil Tarka Dal (Indian Lentil Curry)

Serves 4

Dal Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils (split)
1 large onion, diced
2 large tomatoes, diced (or 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes)
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 – 3/4 tsp Herbamare or salt to taste
3 cups of water or vegetable broth (low sodium)
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp roasted ground cumin
1/2 tsp roasted ground coriander
1 handful cilantro/coriander, chopped for garnish

Tarka Tempering:

2-3 inches of ginger peeled and sliced in long strips
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds (black)
1 dried red chilli, chopped (more if desired)
4-6 curry leaves *optional

Directions:

1. Place lentils into a mesh metal strainer and rinse under cold water until water runs clear. *To cook your lentils faster you can soak in warm water while you prep the rest of your vegetables.

2. Heat a medium saucepan or wok over medium heat and add the onions, garlic and turmeric. Sprinkle a little salt on the onions to get them to sweat. Saute for 2-3 minutes and then add the tomatoes and continue cooking until the tomatoes are soft.

3. Add drained lentils and 3 cups of water or vegetable broth. Stir and bring to a boil uncovered. Turn heat down to medium low and and cover with a vented lid (or leave lid cracked to let steam escape) cook for 20-30 minutes until the lentils are soft and to desired tenderness.

4. In another pan, add a little water and fry the slices of ginger, chilies and curry leaves. Stir the ginger. When the water dissipates, add the mustard seeds and toast until they pop. Then add the cumin seeds and toast for a minute or two.

5. Add the tarka seasonings, lemon juice, cumin and coriander powder to the dal and stir in. Add Herbamare or salt to taste and adjust seasonings if desired.

6. Serve and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Additional Tips:

If you like you can use different lentils, but keep in mind that whole lentils will take longer to cook, so you may need to cook this dal for around an hour until they are soft.

What’s your favorite way to use lentils?  

Soy Curls With Chickpeas In Tomato Sauce

Soy Curls with Chickpeas and Tomato Sauce

I would say this recipe reminds me a bit of chicken cacciatore and it’s one of my favorite ways to make Soy Curls. I find Soy Curls need to be seasoned well and it’s nice to have a sauce to cook them in for better flavor. Sometimes I add sautéed eggplant to this recipe, but I didn’t have any today, so it’s just onions, soy curls and chickpeas in tomato sauce. I served mine with multigrain rice from Trader Joe’s but you can also serve this over pasta, couscous, quinoa or another rice of your choice.

Soy Curls are a non-GMO product made by Butler Foods and come from Portland, Oregon. So if you’re in Portland you will find them at Food Fight Vegan Grocery, Whole Foods and other health food stores. You can also sample them in dishes at places like Homegrown Smoker Food Cart, A N D Cafe, Blossoming Lotus Restaurant and many more.

There are a lot of different ways you can prepare Soy Curls. I like that they are a dry product that you can keep in the cupboard as opposed to having to refrigerate it or freeze it and it’s unflavored so you can season it however you want.

Here is what the package looks like. One package will make 3-4 recipes for 4 servings.

If you don’t live in Portland you can buy Soy Curls online and have them shipped anywhere in the continental USA (my mom orders these and has them shipped to her place in Texas).

I prefer to not use the chicken style seasoning they sell as it contains hydrolized soy protein which is another term for MSG. (For more info on food ingredient terms that contain or mean MSG check out http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html)

Here is one of my favorite ways to prepare Soy Curls. You can use this recipe or adapt it to contain whatever seasonings you desire. You can even turn it into a curry if you want to add cayenne pepper or hot chilies too.

 Soy Curls With Chickpeas In Tomato Sauce

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (I use Muir Glen Organic)
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained (I use Eden Organics Salt-Free)
1 – 1 1/2 cups Soy Curls (buy on Amazon here)
Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute to taste (or other salt free herb seasoning)
Herbamare or salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Soak Soy Curls in a large bowl of warm water and sprinkle in some salt and 21 Seasoning Salute. Adding some salt will help give the soy curls some flavor. Leave for 8-10 minutes while you chop your onion and garlic.

2. In a large non-stick skillet or wok sauté onion and garlic dry for 4-5 minutes until soft.

3. Drain the Soy Curls, season with more 21 Seasoning Salute or salt free seasoning and add to the pan and sauté until the soy curls dry out a bit (4-5 minutes.)

4. Add tomatoes and drained chickpeas, and stir. Break up the tomatoes and season to taste with Herbamare or salt and pepper and any other desired seasonings.

5. Cook until tomatoes are soft.

6. Serve with rice, quinoa or pasta.

Have you ever tried Soy Curls before? What’s your favorite way to cook them?

Vegan Mushroom, Olive, Pepper, Arugala and Basil Pizza

olives, mushrooms, red pepper, arugula, basil, Daiya cheese

Mmm vegan pizza… so many delicious options for veggies and herbs to put on your pizza. My friend and I made some homemade pizza crusts using this dough recipe below.

This dough recipe is from Zojirushi’s bread maker recipe book

Traditional Pizza Dough Recipe (Bread maker)

Makes 2 12″ pizza crusts

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil (I skipped it)
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

  1. Measure all ingredients and sprinkle into baking pan, making sure the yeast doesn’t touch the sugar or water.
  2. Select dough setting on bread maker and press start.
  3. Remove dough and preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
  4. Roll out dough and shape into desired shape.
  5. Cover dough with cloth and let rest for 15 minutes.
  6. Spread pizza sauce over crust.
  7. Top with desired toppings and vegan cheese if desired. (I used Daiya.)
  8. Bake 20-25 minutes until crust is golden brown.

This pizza was topped with olives, red bell pepper, sautéed mushrooms and onions, fresh arugula, fresh basil and Daiya cheese. Not a typical vegetarian pizza, but it was very delicious! If you can’t find Daiya cheese you can substitute another vegan cheese, make your own vegan cashew cheese, or leave it with just sauce and veggies like a flatbread.

Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World Now Available!

My new recipe eBook Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World is now available!

I originally wanted to release this in the spring, but I decided to double the amount of recipes included in it and take more delicious photographs! It’s got over 60 recipes in it. All are 100% oil free, low in fat and based on whole foods like potatoes, yams/sweet potatoes/ rice, beans and lentils. There’s absolutely NO fake meat and no fake cheese in these recipes either!

I also teach you how to cook brown rice, Indian rice, quinoa and pasta so you can have delicious side dishes.

Oh and did I mention there are 5 different gravy recipes too? As well as cheezy sauce, hummus, baba ghanoush, roasted red pepper hummus, tangy ranch dip and queso sauce, so you’ll never again wonder what to put on your vegetables!

Some of my favorite recipes include:

Fettuccini Alfredo With Mushrooms And Spinach

Indian Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala)

Greek Rice Stuffed Peppers

Vegan Baked Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Marinated Portobello Bean Burritos

Black Bean And Corn Tacos

The Best Cabbage Rolls

and more!

So check it out:

http://www.plantbasedu.com/comfortfoods

 

Preview Photos From Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World Recipe Ebook

I’m excited to announce that I’ll have a BRAND NEW recipe ebook coming out soon. This one has been a long time in the making, because I was forever adding recipes and expanding the tutorials included in it. My ebook Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World has ballooned to over 60 new delicious recipes and includes how to cook every low fat vegan side dish from scratch as well.

This is the one recipe book you’re going to want to dive in and start making recipes from right away. I’ve taken classic rich and decadent (and typically unhealthy) comfort foods and stripped the fat and processed ingredients from it and created a delicious and whole foods based version. There is absolutely NO processed fake meat, NO store bought fake vegan cheese or anything like that in these recipes. These dishes are nutritious and focus on calories from whole carbohydrates and lean vegan proteins such as lentils and beans. It’s also extremely gluten free friendly, and most recipes are soy free and nut free as well. There are a few recipes that use tofu (for tofu ricotta “cheese”), but the majority of the recipes are based on vegetables and whole grains and legumes.

Right now we’re just finishing up some final edits for the ebook and it will be available shortly. But I wanted to kick off with a contest! To enter to win a copy of my new ebook Comfort Foods From Around The World just comment below and tell me what 1 or 2 recipes you are MOST looking forward to trying and why. You can also share what your favorite comfort food was growing up too. I wanted to cover a wide variety of comfort foods, so half of them are American and the other half are European and Asian.

BTW there were just way too many photos to post, so this only HALF of all the recipes that are in the ebook to give you an idea of what I have in store for you. And every single recipe in this book comes with a photo unlike most recipe books, so you can let your eyes decide exactly what you want to make!

Baked Artichoke Risotto
Yam Black Bean Enchiladas
Baked Butternut Squash Mac And Cheezy (contains no fake cheese)
Quinoa Veggie Slow Cooker Chili
Baked Ziti And Greens
Better Than Boston Baked Beans
Black Bean And Corn Tacos
Cauliflower Potato Tofu Frittata
Deluxe Spinach Mushroom Lasagna
Easy Cheezy Shells And Broccoli
Fettuccini Alfredo With Mushrooms And Spinach
Gourmet Chanterelle Mushroom Risotto
Greek Rice Stuffed Peppers
Herbed Lentil Loaf
Holiday Stuffed Acorn Squash
Indian Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala)
Meatless Sloppy Joe’s
Rainbow Nachos with Queso Sauce
Indian Roasted Eggplant Curry (Baingan Bharta)
Pulled Jackfruit Carnitas (faux pulled pork)
Marinated Portobello Bean Burritos
Mashed Potatoes With Gravy
Ratatouille
Costa Rican Rice and Beans (Gallo Pinto)
Rotini Marinara With Chanterelle Mushrooms
Saucy Eggplant Fajitas
Yam And French Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
Spicy Mexican Black Bean Burgers
The Best Cabbage Rolls
Yam Chickpea Spinach Curry

How To Win a Copy: What 1 or 2 dishes are you MOST excited to try and why? Comment below and you’ll be entered to win a copy when Comfort Foods From Around The World is launched. The winner will be randomly selected from all entries. You have until Wednesday Oct 10 at 11:59 pm EST to enter.

Good luck everyone! I know you’re going to love eating these recipes as much as I did making them. Make sure you sign up for my newsletter (the pink box on the right) to make sure you’re notified when my ebook is for sale.

How To Cook The Perfect White Basmati Rice

How To Cook The Perfect White Basmati (Indian Rice)

 

Long grain Indian Basmati rice is a little different from the typical white rice. It is long and thin and, if cooked properly, can be light and fluffy and delicious. Quite often it can be overcooked and turn out sticky and mushy. Follow these directions for the best white Indian Basmati rice.

Stove top directions for white basmati rice:

1. Measure rice and add to a bowl or mesh strainer. Rinse with cold water 3 times moving the grains around with your hands.
2. Add rice to a bowl and soak with 1-½ times as much cold water for firm rice and double the water for softer rice. Add ½ tsp. of salt for every cup of rice. (This is optional, it helps the grains stay firmer and not stick together.) Let the rice sit for 30 minutes to 2 hours. This helps stop the grains from breaking and sticking together.
3. Transfer rice and water to a heavy bottomed pot and cover with a fitted lid. If it has a steam vent cover it with a small cloth.
4. Turn to high heat and bring to a boil.
5. When it’s at a rolling boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 12-14 minutes. DO NOT PEEK OR OPEN THE LID.
6. Turn off the heat and let the rice steam for 5-10 minutes.
7. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Rice cooker directions for white basmati rice:

1. Measure rice and add to a bowl or mesh strainer. Rinse with cold water 3 times moving the grains around with your hands.
2. Add rice to a bowl and soak with double the cold water as rice. Add ½ tsp. of salt for every cup of rice. (This is optional, it helps the grains stay firmer and not stick together.) Let the rice sit for 30 minutes.
3. Transfer rice and soaking water to rice cooker pan and set the white rice/regular cook setting.
4. Allow rice to steam for 5-10 minutes when cooking cycle is complete.
5. Fluff with a fork and serve.
For firmer more al dente rice, at the beginning, just rinse in cold water and skip the soaking time. Combine water and rice in a rice cooker and cook on the white rice/regular cook setting.

For cooking brown basmati rice over the stove, use 2 cups of water for every cup of rice. Bring to a boil and cook it covered over a simmer for 35-40 minutes. Let it stand 10-20 minutes after done cooking to finish steaming.

For brown basmati rice in the rice cooker set it to the brown rice setting.
Tip: You can also add any additional Indian spices such as cumin seeds, cardamom pods, mustard seeds, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, turmeric etc. to the soaking water to flavor your rice.

Low Fat Vegan Greek Stuffed Eggplant With Brown Rice

This summer I had some girl friends over for an end of summer vegan dinner party. I wanted to make something special and I decided on stuffed eggplant. Many people have tried stuffed peppers, but few have had stuffed eggplant, let alone delicious succulent Greek stuffed eggplant.

When I was traveling around the world I fell in love with rustic Greek cuisine. It’s nothing like you find in North America and it’s not all about souvlaki and rack of lamb. Many classic Greek dishes are vegan or vegetarian in nature, so it was a pleasant surprise to find delicious homemade dishes at local tavernas. These are called Melitzanes Papoutsakia or “Little Shoes”. They are often served luke warm or room temperature as is customary in Greece.  They believe that room temperature food is the best for health and this may be why their mezze platters are so popular, where a variety of items can be eaten together at the same temperature.

This is my vegan spin on Greek Little Shoes and you can find it with and without rice. Since this was a main entree I decided to add rice to it and I had some delicious pre cooked brown rice from Hinode in the cupboard so this was pretty easy to throw together.

I have found that it makes a difference in cooking time to precook the eggplant before baking and this way the flesh can soften without having to be cooked with oil. It’s got all the flavor you need by adding fresh herbs without any of the fat.

I served this with salad and my Tuscan Roasted Tomato Chickpea Soup that’s featured in my Comfort Soups To Keep You Warm recipe ebook.

Greek Stuffed Eggplant (Little Shoes)

Serves 8

Ingredients:

4 medium eggplants/aubergine
1 cup vegetable broth (low sodium or homemade)
1 large red onion, diced small
5 large cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups of fresh tomatoes, diced small
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice (I used Hinode)
3 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp fresh oregano or 1 1/2 tsp dried
1/2 cup of fresh dill or parsley, chopped
2 -3 tsp of honey/maple syrup or pureed dates
1/2 tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper
olive oil for greasing pan and sprinkling on eggplant

Directions:

Step #1: Cut tops off of eggplant and slice in half. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and boil eggplant skin side down for 15 minutes. Depending on how large your pot mouth is and your eggplant you may have to boil 4 halves at a time.

Step #2: Once done, take out eggplant and set aside to cool before handling.

Step #3: Preheat oven to 350 F/177 C. Scoop eggplant out of shell carefully and leave a small layer of flesh inside to prevent skin from tearing.

Step #4: Heat a large wok or frying pan over medium heat and add the vegetable broth. Add the onions and sauté for 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and tomatoes and sauté for 5 minutes.

Step #5: Cut the chunks of eggplant into smaller pieces or mash them. Add to tomatoes and onions and continue cooking.

Step #6: Meanwhile, chop the dill or parsley into small pieces.

Step #7: Add cooked rice, dill/parsley, oregano, lemon juice and salt and pepper to eggplant and tomatoes. If your tomatoes are a little acidic, add honey or sweetener to balance the taste as desired.

Step #8: Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and place the eggplant shells skin side down. Fill with tomato eggplant mixture evenly.
Bake eggplant in oven until heated through, about 20 minutes.

Serve warm with salad, potatoes, or pita and hummus.

 

Have you ever had eggplant before? What’s your favorite eggplant recipe?

How To Cook The Perfect Brown Rice

How To Cook The Perfect Brown Rice

 

Brown rice takes much longer to cook than white rice and sometimes it can be confusing why your brown rice didn’t turn out if you have never cooked it before. Brown rice is a whole grain and still contains the outer layer of bran. White rice has just been de-hulled and reveals the white endosperm inside. Any rice that contains the outer layer of bran will look brown and can be called brown “rice”.

So let me show you how to cook brown rice in 2 easy ways, on the stovetop or in a rice cooker.

Stove Top Directions For Cooking Brown Rice:

  1. Measure out rice using a measuring cup. Usually it’s 1/3 cup for a small single serving and 1 cup for several servings. You can always make a big batch in advance and reheat it later or use to make rice salad.
  2. Place rice in a mesh strainer or a bowl and rinse with cool water to remove any debris and excess starch.  Drain.
  3. Add rinsed rice to a pot and add 1 ½ times the amount of rice you have in fresh water. For 1 cup of rice, add 1 ½ cups of water.
  4. Put the pot on the stove uncovered and turn the heat to high and bring it to a boil.
  5. Once your water is boiling, turn the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid. If your lid has a hole or steam valve cover it with a little cloth. Let the rice cook at a simmer for about 20 minutes.
  6. Turn off the heat and let the rice sit and steam for another 10 minutes.
  7. Fluff with a fork and serve.
My favorite rice cooker is the Zojirushi 5 1/2 cup (dry amount) rice cooker. It’s designed in Japan and is like the Mercedez of rice cookers. You can program it to cook rice at any hour of the day, but I personally enjoy being able to set it the night before to cook steel cut oats for whole grain oatmeal in the morning. It also has settings for brown rice, white rice, mixed rice, sweet rice, porridge, cake and steaming vegetables. So if you’re looking for an awesome all in 1 grain cooker I recommend this one. If you’re just a single or looker for a cheaper one there’s also the Zojirushi 3 cup (dry amount) rice cooker. 

Rice Cooker Directions For Cooking Brown Rice:

  1. Measure out rice using the measuring cup that comes with rice cooker. Usually it’s 1/3 cup for a small serving and 1 cup for several servings. You can always make a big batch in advance and reheat it later or use to make rice salad.
  2. Place rice in a mesh strainer or in rice cooker pan and rinse with cool water to remove any debris and excess starch.  Drain.
  3. Add rinsed rice back to rice cooker pan and add water to the corresponding water level for brown rice. If your rice cooker pan does not have a brown rice and white rice water line, use 1 ½ times the amount of rice for water. For example: 1 cup of dried brown rice will need 1½ cups of water.
  4. Turn rice cooker on and select brown rice setting. If your rice cooker does not have a brown rice setting, select white rice or just press on/start.
  5. Once cooking is complete and the rice cooker turns to the keep warm setting, let the rice sit and steam for 5-10 minutes before opening. (This helps your grains stay separated and not stick together when you scoop it out.)
  6. Fluff with a fork and serve.

I suggest setting your rice cooker to cook 1 to 2 hours before your main dish is ready to ensure that it is ready on time. For basic rice cookers it’s about 1 hour of cook time, for the Zojirushi it’s about 2 hours because it adds a soaking cycle (and produces better brown rice.)

Fruit and Veggie Smoothie Recipe with Beet Juice

Sometimes people ask me, “Can I put vegetables into my fruit smoothies?”.  And I say “Well that depends”. I wouldn’t necessarily tell a novice that they should try broccoli or carrots in a smoothie, because those vegetables are pretty hard to blend and you may not like it. Same goes for beets. Don’t just toss them into your blender (unless you have a really high powered one and like a gritty chewy smoothie).  So instead I recommend for those wanting to up the nutrition of their fruit smoothies that you juice some veggies like carrots or beets and use that as a base for blending. That way you can get the added nutrition of veggies in your fruit smoothies just like a V8 juice, but a much much healthier version.

Normally I only use water to blend my smoothies (because I use sweet fruit like ripe bananas I can get away without using packaged fruit juice), but using a fresh pressed veggie juice is an idea you can try as well. We all know you can certainly drink more beets or carrots than you can chew, so once in a while this may be a good option for you to sneak in some more veggies to your diet. (Or the diets of your loved ones!)

I decided to try it out, and it’s a very interesting taste, you get the earthiness from the beets, without the smoothie being too overly sweet and it’s a cross between a smoothie and plain veggie juice. It’s nice actually. So this way you are still keeping a lot of the fiber intact and this helps create bulk and fullness so your smoothie is much more satisfying as a meal than just a plain old juice.

Here is my beet juice smoothie creation:

Beet Banana Mango Strawberry Smoothie

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fresh beet juice (about a bunch of small beets juiced, tops optional)
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup fresh or frozen mango
1/2 cup strawberries

Directions:

Pour beet juice into blender and add remaining ingredients. Blend on high until smooth. You can either juice the beet tops or you can chop them up and blend them in.

Additional Tips:

Remember beet greens are a little stronger tasting than lettuce so start  out with a little at first and taste test and see what you think. To make this even sweeter add another banana.

Other veggies you can consider juicing to add to your fruit smoothies:

  • carrots
  • golden beets
  • cucumbers
  • celery
  • greens (but you can always blend them in too)
  • other mild veggies

I don’t recommend strong vegetables from the brassica family such as broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower etc.  You CAN however make a savory blended salad or savory veggie stew if you use things like tomatoes for the base and skip the fruit.  I just don’t find strong sulphur containing vegetables go well with fruit.

Have you ever had beet juice or beet greens in a smoothie before? What did you think?