Vegan MoFo #2: Palak Delicata and Red Lentil Dal

Thanks for your enthusiastic comments on my first Vegan MoFo post -- both kabocha squash and pumpkin biscuits are definitely worth getting excited about!

I wanted to take a moment to welcome any new readers, be sure to say hello and leave a link to your blog if you have one. I am taking full advantage of Vegan MoFo to update the list of blogs in my reader. It is just two days into the Vegan Month of Food and I am already bursting with inspiration. Keep those amazing posts coming! 



For dinner tonight I was in the mood for some Indian food. I had in mind to whip up some Aloo Palak (potato spinach curry), but as I reached for the bag of potatoes on the counter the pile of delicata squash grabbed my eye (and yes, I keep piles of delicata squash around). I thought, why not swap in some roasted delicata for the potatoes? And Palak Delicata was born. Sure, it isn't traditional, but it is delicious! I imagine about any roasted winter squash would do well here (except for that oddball, spaghetti squash), but I favor the edible skin varieties. Sub the potatoes back in if you are in the mood for Aloo Palak.

I served the Palak Delicata with a side of long grain brown basmati rice and a variation of Lindsay's Red Lentil Dal (my adaptation below). I loved this meal and plan to put both of these dishes into regular rotation.

Palak Delicata
Serves 2-3

1 lb delicata squash, ends trimmed, seeds removed, and chopped into 1.5" chunks
10 - 12 oz fresh baby spinach (or frozen, thawed and drained)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, finely diced
1 tsp cumin seeds (or 1/2 tsp ground cumin)
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup fresh or canned diced tomatoes, with juice
Salt to taste

Garnish: Toasted delicata seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425. Toss squash pieces with a small amount of oil and salt, and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until fork tender, stirring halfway through. Set aside.

Rinse and drain the fresh baby spinach. Heat a large dry skillet over medium heat, and dump in the lightly wet spinach leaves. Saute for 3-4 minutes, until wilted and bright green. Pour the spinach into a colander and set aside to drain and cool. (If you are using frozen spinach skip this step, you need only thaw and drain as much liquid out as possible).

Heat 1 tbsp of oil or 1/4 cup water in the same skillet. Add onion and saute for 3 minutes, until translucent. Stir in the garlic, ginger, jalapeno pepper, and cumin seeds and saute for 3 minutes more. Add in the rest of the spices, stir well, and saute for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and let simmer for 5 minutes.

While your tomatoes are simmering, return to your spinach. It should be cool enough to handle, pick it up in both hands and give it a few good squeezes to drain out a bit more of the water. Pulse the drained spinach in the food processor until well chopped (but not pureed).

Add the spinach and roasted squash to the skillet, and stir to coat. Cook for about 5 minutes, until heated through. Season with salt, and garnish with toasted squash seeds if desired.

Red Lentil Dal
(adapted from Happy Herbivore)
Serves 4

1/2 cup red lentils
2 cups vegetable stock
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1-1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1-1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup diced fresh or canned tomatoes, with juice
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp garam masala
Handful chopped cilantro or parsley (optional)

In a medium pot, saute onions, garlic, and ginger in 1/4 cup water until translucent. Add spices, except garam masala, and cook for 2 minutes, adding more water if necessary to prevent sticking. Add lentils, stock, tomato paste, tomatoes, and coriander. Cover and turn heat to high. Once boiling, reduce to low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until lentils are cooked. Add garam masala and cilantro or parsley, stir to combine. Let stand for 3-5 minutes before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bhindi Masala

So it's the last weekend before Christmas, and I am actually relaxing. I have worked hard over the last couple of weeks and I am pretty well caught up now. Well, caught up enough that I could grab my laptop, lean back on the couch with my feet propped up on the coffee table, and work on a post about another yummy Indian dish. So let's get right to it, I hope that you enjoy this one as much as I did!

Bhindi Masala
(adapted from Two Blue Lemons)

1 small yellow onion
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 cups okra, sliced, stems discarded

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cayenne
Pinch of cinnamon
2 whole cloves
4 green cardamom pods

1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 can diced tomatoes or 2 large fresh tomatoes, chopped

Slice the onion into thin half moons and saute in olive oil until the onion are translucent. Add the ginger and garlic saute for a minute or two or until the garlic is fragrant. Add the okra.

Add the cumin, garam masala, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Cook for a minute to toast the spices.

Stir in the coconut milk, water, and diced tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the tomato and coconut has created a thick, dark curry.

Well, time to get back to my lounging, but before I go I wanted to tell you about something exciting that I've decided to take part in this January. For me, this holiday season has been a major overdose on sweets and other not so healthy foods. I was ready to throw in the towel a couple of days ago, but the big day isn't even here yet! Now, I'm not the new year resolution type, but it really does make sense to make diet changes after the holidays. So without calling it a new years resolution, I was planning on starting out the near year by cutting out dairy and sugar for a few weeks, as a sort of detox and to get myself going in the right direction for 2010.

Wouldn't you know that the day after I committed myself to doing this on my own I learned about the January Cleanse 2010 co-hosted by clinical nutritionist, Gena, of Choosing Raw. Hop on over to check out the program and take advantage of a discount for signing up before the end of December. There are three levels to choose from, based on where you are at with your current diet. Sample menus for all three levels of the program are now available here. The cleanse will be taking place Jan 18-27, be sure to let me know if you plan on joining me!

Just in case I don't have the chance to post again, I'd like to take the opportunity now to wish you a very Merry Christmas. Wishing you the very best, my friends!

Matar Paneer and Aloo Tikki

After my first major success in cooking authentic tasting Indian food at home, I had in mind to show off my new skills to my boyfriend. Oh, how very rude of me, you haven't been introduced, have you? This is Steve, my most wonderful boyfriend. Everyone say, "Hi Steve!" He pretty much rules, and I am certain that you would love him.

Steve shares my love of Indian food so I was very excited to cook up something special for him. We both love all things paneer, so I thought it would be most fun and tasty to conquer a paneer dish. I returned to Lisa's Kitchen for inspiration since her Chana Masala was such a hit, and I was pleased to find many paneer recipes in her archives. With a big bag of frozen peas already in my freezer the Matar Paneer was the obvious choice. I put Steve to work measuring spices into small bowls so they would be ready for me when I needed them. He seemed to really enjoy the process of watching it all come together. We were super happy with the end result, and I definitely plan to make this dish again.

To make this an extra special feast I made Aloo Tikki as an appetizer, Indian spiced fried potato patties. I don't have any experience making fried things at home, because I shy away from recipes that involve submerging food in oil. We did not have the highest expectations for these, but were very pleasantly surprised in the end. I love it when that happens! I want to continue with my habit of not submerging my food in oil, but it will be hard not to indulge in this recipe from time to time. This would be great with some tamarind chutney on top, but we did not have any this time.

Matar Paneer

(from Lisa's Kitchen)

a few tablespoons of oil or butter, or a mixture of both
1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 hot green chillies or jalapenos, finely minced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of ginger, grated or finely minced
1 generous teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of turmeric
2 teaspoons of water
2 cups of tomatoes, finely chopped
1 - 2 teaspoons of sea salt
2 cups of paneer cheese, cubed
1 1/2 cups of frozen peas, defrosted
1/2 - 1 cup of yogurt
2 teaspoons of garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons of kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) - I could not find this, so I omitted
3 tablespoons of fresh parsley or coriander, chopped

In a mortar and pestle, make a paste of the garlic, ginger, cayenne, coriander, paprika, turmeric and water. Set aside.

In a large pot, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. When hot, add the cumin and black mustard seeds and stir and fry until the mustard seeds turn gray and begin to pop. Now add the onion and cook until it is translucent, stirring frequently. Add the chillies, stir and then add the ginger, garlic spice paste. Stir and fry for a minute.

Add the tomatoes and salt to the pot, increase the heat slightly and cook for about 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened. Reduce the heat, and add the peas, paneer, yogurt, garam masala, kasoori methi and parsley. Stir to combine and gently cook for another 5 minutes.

Serves 4.

Aloo Tikki

(adapted from VegNews)

2 russet potatoes, peeled, chopped, and boiled (apprx 1.5 - 2 cups)

3/4 cup cooked chickpeas

1 green chile, seeded and minced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp ginger, grated

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp fine grain sea salt

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup canola oil, for frying

In a large bowl, mash potato and chickpeas (the chickpeas will remain a bit chunky which is fine). Add chile, cilantro, ginger, lemon juice, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, flour, and cornstarch and mix well. Use your hands to shape the mixture into small, tight patties.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add the patties and cook until both sides are golden brown, turning once. Serve hot.

Chana Masala

When dining out, you can usually count on my vote going to Thai or Indian food. Let's face it, American cuisine is largely not veggie friendly (or at very least mostly uninspiring), with menus often yielding only a couple of choices. So for heat-freak vegetarians like myself, veggie packed Indian and Thai curries reign supreme.

I've dabbled at home with Thai cooking with some success, but for some reason I have been reserved about cooking Indian curries. It might have (or definitely) had something to do with the inevitable long list of spices that comes with each recipe, most of which were not already in my pantry.

Well, since joining the food blogging community my pantry has changed quite a bit. This was thanks to being inspired by simpler dishes with a shorter list of spices to get me started, and also thanks to discovering a great international grocer down the road with an amazing supply of inexpensive spices. Over the last few months each time I went shopping I'd pick out one or two more spices to add to my collection, and now I am pretty well stocked.

I've had my eye on Lisa's Chana Masala for ages now, it just kept popping up everywhere! I've made this twice now in the past two weeks and my reservations about preparing Indian curries at home are quickly dissolving. If you are like I used to be, let me encourage you to start working on your pantry so that you can have Indian yummies at home, it is so very worth it!

Oh, and this is what happens when I photograph food on my bedroom floor next to my big window. Evie just wants to be near the action all the time. I do apologize if you don't find kitties and kitty paws as cute as I do, don't let that detract from this delicious dish!

Chana Masala
(from Lisa's Kitchen)

1 1/4 cups of dried chickpeas
2 - 3 tablespoons of ghee or a mixture of butter and oil (or to make vegan, just use oil)
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
5 green or black cardamom pods
2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves

1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
1/2 - 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
1 teaspoon of turmeric

2 - 4 finely chopped hot red and green chilies
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 - 2 inch piece of ginger, grated or finely chopped

2 medium-large tomatoes, finely diced
juice from one small lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon of garam masala

Soak the chickpeas overnight in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 - 2 hours or until the chickpeas are buttersoft. Drain well and set aside. (I did this a day ahead)

Heat the butter and oil in a large pot. When hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves. Stir and fry until the mustard seeds begin to pop and the cumin seeds begin to brown.

Throw in the onions, and stir and fry until they begin to brown. Add the ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne and turmeric to the pan and stir until the onions are well coated with the spices - about 1 minute. Then, add the fresh chilies, garlic and ginger. Stir and fry for a few minutes.

Next, add the tomatoes, half of the lemon juice and cook to thicken, about 10 minutes. Put the chickpeas into the tomato mixture, add the salt, some black pepper, half of the parsley, the remaining lemon juice and the garam masala. Cook for about 10 minutes to blend the flavors, adding a bit of water if necessary. The chickpeas should be fairly dry.

Remove the bay leaves if you are using whole ones, and the cinnamon stick. Stir in the remaining parsley and serve hot.

Aloo Gobi

I had a wonderful visit to a local Asian supermarket recently. I left with all sorts of goodies like thai basil, coconut milk, panang curry paste, soba noodles, and miso paste. In addition - for just $1, a bag full of these cute little guys got to come home with me. They look so innocent don't they? :)

I have featured these chillies in a few dishes this past week, and the first was Aloo Gobi. This common Indian dish is aptly named in Hindi after the two main ingredients:

Aloo - potato
Gobi - cauliflower

I adapted this recipe from epicurious which involves roasting the vegetables instead of pan frying. On the advice of most of the people who commented on the original recipe I doubled most of the spices, and I was glad that I did. The dish was full of flavor and had a definite kick, but not too overpowering. I would have been able to handle even more spice (almost never too spicy for me!), but I wanted to give my poor roommate a break. If you are looking for very mild spice follow the original recipe.



Aloo Gobi
(adapted from epicurious)

1 (1 3/4-lb) head cauliflower, cut into 3/4-inch-wide florets
1 1/4 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 fresh chopped chilli peppers, including seeds (or 2 tsp fresh jalapeño chopped, including seeds)
3 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup water

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and place a shallow baking pan on rack. Preheat oven to 475°F.

Toss cauliflower and potatoes together in a bowl with 2 tablespoons oil, mustard seeds, and1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread in hot baking pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender and browned in spots and potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes.

While vegetables are roasting, cook onion, garlic, chillies, and ginger in remaining oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until very soft and beginning to turn golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in water, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, then stir in roasted vegetables and peas. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

Slow Cooker Vegetable Vindaloo

One of my sources for new recipes is Vegetarian Times Magazine. They also have a website with a large archive of recipes - http://www.vegetariantimes.com/ I found the Slow Cooker Vegetable Vindaloo on the website when I was in search of a recipe to put my new crockpot to use. I served the vindaloo atop brown rice with some naan on the side (Indian-style flatbread). Perfect!

A word from VT about Vindaloo:

Vindaloo is a spicy stew from the Goa region of India. Here, cauliflower and chickpeas replace the lamb or pork traditionally used in the dish. You can also substitute 3 cups of potatoes for half of the cauliflower for a heartier meal.

Slow Cooker Vegetable Vindaloo

6 cups cauliflower florets
2 15.5-oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 large leeks, white and light green parts sliced into 1-inch pieces (1 1/2 cups)
1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
2 Tbs. curry powder
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. red pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
3 Tbs. chopped cilantro
3 cups cooked rice

1. Combine cauliflower, chickpeas, leeks, tomato sauce, vinegar, ginger, curry powder, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper sauce, and 1/4 cup water in 4-quart slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on high 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

2. Transfer Vindaloo to large bowl, and cool 15 minutes. Stir in cilantro, and serve over rice.