Simple Mushroom Curry...Simply Full of Tomato

Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 1...2 if you have a tiny stomach
Overall Rating: 5...read on for suggested improvements

I am lucky to have a husband that knows his way around the kitchen well. After a little encouragement (okay, nagging) on my part, I was able to convince him to make me dinner on Friday. Ryan chose Simple Mushroom Curry from VegWeb.com, which was indeed quite simple; he commented that the most time-consuming part was chopping the onion.

Seeing as I sat back and enjoyed a glass of pinot grigio, while Ryan cooked, I don't have too many insights as to how to craft this meal. It did smell mighty delicious in the short time it took to prepare.

However, the final product did not taste like a curry. While still tasty, the recipe simply tasted like a mushroom marinara sauce. Due to its ease, we will likely make a variation of this of this meal again; however, Ryan and I both agreed that we would add a lot less tomato paste and more of the spices (cumin, chili powder, turmeric, etc.).

My deceptive cook serving up the curry

Okay, PAUSE. Ryan just confessed that he left out both the coriander and the cilantro. He has some strange aversion to buying spices. Well, that tanks the credibility of this entry. I suppose I will have to do my blog cooking by myself moving forward...

But I can still advise you to make at least a double batch of this recipe if you're looking to feed more than one person. We served the curry over big portions of quinoa with sides of asparagus. Despite the sides, we were both left hungry.

Simple yet Satisfying: Lentil and Quinoa Salad

Time: 40 minutes 
Servings: About 2 for Dinner
Overall Rating: 6.5...but lots of potential!

On my way home from work today (Boston to southern New Hampshire-yuck!), I was despairing a bit about the lack of food in the fridge for dinner. I thought about stopping to pick up a Cedar's Black Bean Salad and some brown rice, but I really didn't want to go to the supermarket. So I took my chances and went home to rummage through the pantry.

I was lucky enough to find some lentils, quinoa and various veggies (mostly thanks to my brother, Jimmy, who is staying with us for a few months). The resulting salad, served over baby spinach, was nothing outstanding, but it was certainly healthy, satisfying and pretty yummy.

In addition to great nutritional value, the beauty of this salad is its flexibility. Choose a base grain (such as quinoa, brown rice or wild rice), choose a protein (such as lentils, black beans or chickpeas), add veggies (such as peppers, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber, etc.), oil (such as olive or sesame), vinegar (such as balsamic, white wine or rice wine) and seasoning. As you can see, there are many options to make a hearty grain/protein salad.

Tonight's version is as follows:

Ingredients

This is what I found through my rummaging efforts.

• 1 Cup Uncooked Quinoa
• 1 Cup Uncooked Lentils (your choice of color; I used brown)
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper
• 1/2 Red Onion
• 1/2 Jalapeno
• Handful Cauliflower
• 1 Large Tomato
• 1.5 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• 1.5 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Pepper to Taste

Cook the rinse both the quinoa and lentils and cook according to directions. I mixed 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water, covered it and brought it to a boil, reduced the heat to low and simmered about 10 minutes--cook just until the water is gone. For the lentils, I also used about 2 cups of water for 1 cup of lentils, but I had to add another cup toward the end because the existing water was almost gone and the lentils were still a little hard. They took about 22-23 minutes to cook.

While the quinoa and lentils are cooking, finely dice your veggies, or, to make things so much easier, throw them in the food processor for a few pulses.

Mix the cooked quinoa and lentils with the chopped veggies. Add the oil, vinegar and seasoning. Voila! Serve over baby spinach or other greens for some extra nutritional value.

Check out these other grain/protein recipes for some more inspiration. You'll notice that most of them are a variation of the grain, protein, oil, vinegar, seasonings guideline.

Black Bean and Quinoa Salad
Cherry Quinoa Salad 

Let me know what combinations you come up with in the comments :).

Super Easy Chickpea (Chicken?) Salad

Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2-3 for dinner; 4-5 for lunch
Overall Rating: 8

Firstly, I must apologize that this entry is for Super Easy Chickpea (Chicken?) Salad and not for the promised Macadamia-Encrusted Seitan with Broccoli Slaw. I bought the ingredients a couple of weeks ago and have been so busy (dog sitting for the 'rents and working on thesis) that the produce went bad before I was able to prepare it. It will certainly be feature in a future post.

Speaking of which, I must also apologize for the several-week span of no entries! I will work harder in the future to provide you with great vegan cooking insight on a more regular basis...ideally 2 to 3 times per week. Feel free to drop me a line and "kick me in the butt" if you're not seeing enough good stuff.

Anyway, deciding to be vegan meant I had to give up one of my favorite foods: chicken salad sandwiches! Chickpea Salad is a fabulous substitute and is a staple at our house...because it's so easy and so delicious. In addition, chickpeas are a good source of protein, calcium and iron. The recipe works well for lunch or dinner; add some of your favorite soup on the side to round it out.

Ingredients

• 3 19oz. cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed 
• Vegenaise (vegan mayonaise) to taste
• Onion powder to taste
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Relish or diced pickles to taste
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• Baby spinach
• Pita pockets, such as Joseph's Heart Friendly Pita Bread

Mash the chickpeas into mostly small pieces. Ryan and I typically use a hand potato masher, but a few pulses in a food processor would also work. Add the vegenaise, onion powder, pepper, and relish to taste--I recommend that you start small, mix it up, and add more as necessary. You can also feel free to add finely diced veggies like carrots or celery to the mix.

Cut your pitas in half, line with baby spinach and tomato slices, then top with the chickpea salad. That's it! Enjoy.

Quick & Easy Sugar Cookies for a Blustery Day

Time: About 30 minutes
Servings: About 25 cookies
Overall Rating: 6

I know I said my next recipe would be Macadamia-Encrusted Seitan, but that will still come next. I'm stuck home in yet another snowstorm (check out Twitter hashtag #snowhampshire), and my dog Cotton and I got a case of cabin fever this afternoon. We decided to bake something. Because a trip to the store would be difficult with the current road conditions, I figured sugar cookies would be simple enough to make with what I already had in the house.

A quick Google search yielded a Simple Vegan Sugar Cookies recipe on GroupRecipes.com. The only ingredient I didn't have was egg replacer, so I used 2 tablespoons of soy milk instead. See this article on NutritionMD.org for more egg replacer suggestions. To cut back on some of the fat and calories, I also subbed half of the oil with unsweetened applesauce.

My cookies needed 8 minutes rather than the 7 indicated on the recipe.

The result? Pretty good cookies for only about 30 total minutes of work (prep through cleanup). They will certainly suffice for a sweet tooth.

Please note: On my first batch, I only slightly flattened the cookie balls, as the recipe indicates; however, they didn't spread or flatten much, and the insides were a bit underdone. For the second batch, I flattened them quite a bit myself before cooking. These ones came out with a better shape and the inside was finished. You can see the difference in the picture (first batch on left, second batch on right).

Now my tasks for the rest of the afternoon include 1) to actually get some work done, and 2) try not to eat all of the sugar cookies.