Vegan MoFo #14: Red Lentil-Cauliflower Curry

Just a quick post today to share one of my favorite recipes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Veganomicon. I come back again and again to the Red Lentil-Cauliflower Curry (page 186). This recipe transforms a head of cauliflower and a cup and a half of red lentils into a giant pot of creamy delicious curry. The lentils break down in the broth to create a thick, protein-packed sauce which coats the cauliflower florets. This is a great weeknight meal, which results in lots of tasty leftovers to pack for lunch at work. I cannot say enough good things about this recipe, or this cookbook for that matter!



Your turn to share, what are your favorite Veganomicon recipes?

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.

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.

Curried Red-Lentil Stew with Vegetables

I'm a real sucker for curry recipes. I'm an even bigger sucker for curry recipes that I come across that I already have all of the ingredients on hand for, and this Curried-Red Lentil Stew with Vegetables was just that. I spotted this lovely over at Dana Treat one afternoon, and within a couple of hours I sat down to a big bowl of curry.

The recipe below is exactly as she listed it. I decided to add 1/2 tsp ground coriander (because I love me some coriander), and I subbed kale for the spinach. This dish has a mild level of spice which could easily be kicked up a few notches with a couple of fresh chillies (which I'm known to do), but I decided to keep this nice and mellow this go around. This stew was even tastier the next day -- hooray for great leftovers!

Curried Red-Lentil Stew with Vegetables

(from Dana Treat)
Serves 4-6

Serve this stew over basmati rice.

Vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
Salt
1 (2 x 1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
5 cloves of garlic, minced
5 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
3/4 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed
3 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise
5 oz. baby spinach leaves
1 cup frozen peas, not thawed
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat a heavy 4-5 quart pot over moderate heat and then add just enough oil to coat the bottom. Cook the onion with a sprinkling of salt, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8-10 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Add spices and cook over low heat for 1 minute.

Stir in lentils and 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add carrots and another sprinkling of salt and simmer covered, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender and lentils have broken down into a coarse puree, 15-20 minutes.

Stir in spinach and peas and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until peas are tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in cilantro and season stew with salt and pepper. If necessary, add enough water to thin stew so that it can be ladled over rice.

(Stew without spinach or peas can be made and chilled, uncovered, until completely cooled, then covered for up to 5 days. Reheat over moderately low heat, thinning with water to a pourable consistency and stirring frequently, before adding remaining ingredients.)

Curried Lentils and Sweet Potatoes

Well if that photo doesn't tempt you I don't know what will!! Seriously though, this was one of the hardest dishes I've ever tried to make pretty, and I pretty quickly gave up on that idea and focused on using a cool bowl and placemat. Despite the bad photo, this recipe is too good not to pass along. You can stop by Smitten Kitchen to see the photo that made me to want to actually cook this. This is a comforting and healthful single pot meal. On the spice-o-meter, this is another one full of spice and flavor, but is not fiery hot.

Curried Lentils With Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard
(from Smitten Kitchen)

Yields 8 to 10 side-dish servings; 6 main-course servings.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded if desired, then minced
4 to 5 cups vegetable broth as needed
2 pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into
1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 cups dried lentils
1 bay leaf
1 pound Swiss chard, center ribs removed, leaves thinly sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/3 cup finely chopped tamari almonds, for garnish (optional), available in health food stores
1/4 cup chopped scallions, for garnish.

In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, garam masala, curry powder and jalapeno. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Stir in 4 cups broth, sweet potatoes, lentils and bay leaf. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium, partially cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. (If lentils seem dry, add up to 1 cup stock, as needed.) Stir in chard and salt and pepper, and continue cooking until lentils are tender and chard is cooked, about 30 to 45 minutes total.

Just before serving, stir in cilantro, lime zest and juice. Spoon into a large, shallow serving dish. Garnish with almonds if desired and scallions.

Green Curry Noodles

Everywhere I turn I see summer inspired recipes. I've been eating a lot of cherries and asparagus to celebrate the season even though summer hasn't really caught on yet in Chicago. I can count on one hand how many days have made me feel like summer might actually be here. Today was particularly chilly and rainy around the time that I got off of work, which left me wanting something for dinner that would warm me up inside. Something hot, spicy, and soupy perhaps?

The core ingredients from my cabinets that would satisfy this need were noodles, green curry paste, and coconut milk. The vegetables and protein that ended up in the pot were ones that I had on hand. It all came together quickly and beautifully, and I was sufficiently warmed up by this meal. Although it ends up looking a bit like soup, the broth is pretty thick, but is not quite thick enough to be considered a sauce. You could easily add or cut back on liquids if you wanted it to be soupier, or alternately, on the saucy side. As I made it, you'll need both a fork and a spoon to sufficiently enjoy this dish.





Green Curry Noodles

2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups coconut milk
2 cups water
4 oz green curry paste

9 oz. package of Nasoya Chinese Noodles or similar
1/2 15 oz package of firm or extra firm tofu, cubed
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup baby carrots, quartered lengthwise
1 cup quartered white mushrooms
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
A generous squeeze of fresh lime juice (1/2 or whole lime)
red pepper flakes to taste

Mix curry paste and coconut milk in a large pot over medium low heat. Once curry paste is well blended add water and vegetable broth and bring to a rolling boil. Add noodles, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots and cook for 3 minutes. Add tofu, tomatoes, and mushrooms and simmer for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and mix in cilantro, red pepper flakes, and lime.