Eggplant Lentil Summer Salad

For the last month or so, I have been getting fresh picked vegetables from my in law's summer garden.  Purple broad beans, Chinese long bean, beautiful eggplants, sweet red tomatoes, super hot green chillies and bitter gourd.  It's a pretty humid day today, so I decided to make a cold salad.  Roasted eggplant drinks up all the flavors in the dressing, and the tomatoes are an explosion of flavor when you bite into them.  I had some leftover blue cheese from Salt Spring Island, so I threw some of that in as well, but you don't have to add cheese if you don't want to.  I also bought some really nice, local BC garlic, and I roasted up one of those to spread over some fresh sourdough rye. Yum, yum, yum, I hope my husband speeds up his run so that we can eat!!

This salad will taste even better tomorrow once all the ingredients have melded.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant
2 large, fresh tomatoes, diced
a cup of cooked lentils (de puy if you have them, otherwise standard green lentil is fine)
3 green onions, diced
handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of either feta or blue cheese (optional)
5 tbsp of good extra virgin olive oil ( I really like Grezzo)
half of a vidalia onion, thinly sliced
juice from half of a lemon
dash of salt
fresh ground pepper

Directions:

1. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, and rub a little bit of olive oil all over the flesh side.
2. Place on a cookie sheet face down, for about 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  You know it's ready when it's all wrinkled and it pierces with a fork very easily. If you are also roasting garlic, slice a bit of the top off, pour about a tablespoon of olive oil so that it gets all over the inside cloves, and throw it in with the eggplant.
3. When the eggplant is ready, scoop out all the flesh, discard the skin and roughly chop up the flesh.



4. Throw it into a bowl with all other ingredients and enjoy! It's as easy as that!










You know you have some good garlic on your hands when the sugars start oozing out of it as it bakes...mmmm....

Raw Kale Salad

Over the past few weeks, I have been consistently visiting the Wychwood Farmer’s Market, which I have found to be one of the few Farmer’s Markets around Toronto that is reasonably priced with a fantastic spread of fresh fruit, veggies, breads, snacks, even donuts!  I will admit, I get a little overstimulated while I am there, and end up buying way more than I should.  But, nothing ever goes to waste.  It’s just too good.  Many of the vendors have been carrying some fantasticly fresh kale, all different kinds!  I usually just add kale to my smoothies, but wanted to try something new with it.

I recently came across a raw kale recipe - and decided to give it a shot.

I bought some dinosaur kale from Wychwood, and adapted the above recipe to be one of my favorite salads of all time.  Salty, and crunchy are two of my favorite components in a hearty salad. I hope you like it too! 

Instead of parmesan, you could probably get away with using nutritional yeast if you want to veganize the recipe.

I recommend using fresh farmer’s market kale for this recipe, as I find it to be much more tender than the stuff in a grocery store.

Ingredients

1.       Half bunch of kale, washed, dried and chopped into salad size pieces

2.       1 -2 tbsp really good olive oil (infused olive oils get extra points in this recipe)

3.       3 tbsp of cooking olive oil

4.       3 slices old bread

5.       ½ tsp salt

6.       1 tsp dried basil and oregano

7.       ½ tsp dried chili flakes

8.       A few thin slices or real parmesan (optional)

9.       Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1.       Place the kale in a bowl and start massaging the really good olive oil into the kale until every piece has been covered. Let this sit for at least 10 minutes.

2.       In a food processor, pulse the bread until it is roughly chopped

3.       In a pan, heat the cooking olive oil and add the bread crumbs – add the salt, basil/oregano, and chili flakes. Mix it all together

4.       Turn the heat to low and continue to stir the mixture – the bread crumbs will slowly begin to crisp up – don’t let them burn!

5.       After 5 minutes, turn off the heat, give it a final stir, and let the bread crumbs cool.

6.       Crumble the slices of parmesan and add it to the kale.

7.       Add some of the breadcrumbs and store the rest for next time.

8.       Add fresh ground pepper and enjoy! 

My apologies for the terrible photo - I have to stop taking Blackberry photos and go to the real camera

Homemade Mango Pickle

Growing up in a Gujarati Indian household, there was always a spicy mango pickle sitting in the fridge, waiting to be used as a condiment for every meal.  This particular version of mango pickle is spicy, salty, and sour from the raw mangoes.  It is also a great condiment to any Indian meal.  Heck, l would even toast some bread, slather with butter and dollop this pickle all over the top for a mango pickle open faced sandwich! It is also great in a cheese sandwich.  The possibilities are really endless.  How do YOU use your mango pickle?

I also prefer this homemade version to any of the store bought types. Bottled versions are typically either too oily, too spicy, and lack that fresh, raw crunch of the mango.  Because there is a bit of a freshness factor to this pickle, you do need to keep this version in the fridge, and ensure there is a layer of oil on top so it doesn’t’ go bad on you.  Do these things and it should keep for at least a year.

Now I won’t lie to you, you MUST visit a well stocked Indian grocery store to make this pickle, and you need to make sure you are able to get your hands on some very raw, hard, green mangoes.  Sometimes if the green mangoes have been sitting in the store for many days, they actually ripen up and start to sweeten – you do not want these.  If you are lucky, you can also find raw mangoes in Chinese grocery stores too. 

Anyhow, if you do try this out, please let me know how it turns out!

Ingredients:

3 large or 6 small, very hard, very green mangoes

2 tbsp turmeric

1 tbsp salt

1 package of mango pickle mix OR (I prefer making my own mango pickle mix as shown below)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (maybe more)

1/3 cup split/cracked mustard

1 tbsp salt

2 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder ( I prefer this kind because it is less spicy and had a really vibrant red color to it)

2 tbsp ground fenugreek seeds

1 tbsp lightly crushed fennel seeds

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

Directions:

1.      Wash the mangoes really well and dice it into 1cm ish cubes/chunks.  The easiest way to do this is to first slice the mango as close as possible on either side of the flat edges of the mango.

2.      In a large bowl, mix together the mango, turmeric and salt really well.  This mixture now needs to sit for 12 hours. Every few hours if possible, drain the liquid that comes out of the mango pieces and mix it all up again.  This step helps give the mango a good sour crunch!

3.      If you are using pre made mango pickle mix, mix it all into your bowl of mango pieces with 1/3 cup oil. You are done!  You can store the pickle in mason jars, and make sure you pour some oil on top of each jar to help preserve the pickle.

4.      If you are making your own mango pickle mix, combine all other ingredients listed in a bowl, and then pour it all over the mango pieces. Mix it up really well and like the last step, store in jars and drizzle a little more oil over the top of the jars.

Easy Potato Leek Soup

This is a great soup to make on a cold, winter day.  It fills your belly up with warmth, and is so simple to make. An additional benefit to this soup - it's vegan! The creaminess comes from slightly blending up the cooked potatoes.  A garnish of fresh ground pepper and real Parmesan cheese, and a lightly toasted fresh baguette on the side completes this meal.

Make sure you make a cut all the way through your leek lengthwise, then chop and wash really well.  Leeks are known to hide some dirt in between their many layers.  I suggest doing two washes in a large bowl, then a final wash in a colander.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 leeks, washed well and finely chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes
2 cups hot water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. heat olive oil in a large pot or ideally in a dutch oven (I love the way things simmer and cook in a dutch oven)
2. Add leeks and cook over medium heat, about 3 minutes until they are soft.
3. Add potatoes, hot water and bouillon cube, and cover pot.  Keep it on low medium heat.
4. Periodically stir for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
5. Take a hand blender and roughly blend the mixture. A few chunks in the end is okay
6. Add additional salt if necessary and serve with fresh ground pepper and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Leftover White or Brown Rice

Back home in India, nothing ever went to waste.  Sour yogurt, limp vegetables, over ripe fruit, and 1-2 day old rice always had a purpose.  One of my favorite lunches was a traditional Gujarati meal called 'Rhusia Dhokra'.  Leftover rice is made into flavorful dumplings and slow boiled in a similarly flavorful broth.  This recipe calls for curry leaves which can be somewhat difficult to find, so just add a little more lemon juice if you omit them.

Please also keep in mind that I am not one to measure things, so once you have added the spices in this recipe, make sure you taste so that there is enough flavor. It is really important that the broth is very flavorful.  Once you put the dumplings in, they will absorb the broth and all of its flavors, so if it's bland, the whole dish will taste bland.

Ingredients:

Broth: 
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 cups boiling water
1 hot green chilly, slit (or 1/2 tsp chili powder)
10 curry leaves, dried or fresh
2 tsp salt
2 cups finely chopped fresh spinach
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice

Dumplings:
1.5 to 2 cups of white or brown cooked rice (cold 1-2 day old rice works best)
1/2 cup chickpea flour (aka besan)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1.5 tsp salt
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
warm water

2 tbsp lemon juice

chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Directions:

1. Start the broth first. Make sure you have the boiling water on hand. Heat oil in a large pot on high heat. When hot, add mustard and cumin seeds.  Don't be afraid of the popping - just keep the pot lid on, and allow the seeds to violently pop away.  See my note on tempering to see why this is important.
2. Very quickly add the hot water and keep the heat on high.  Add the rest of the ingredients. Reduce the temperature of the stove to medium, allowing the water to continue at a rolling boil. Keep the lid on so you don't lose too much liquid.
3. Now we will start the dumplings. In a large bowl, add all dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Add the lemon juice then just enough warm water so the dough comes together.
5. Once your dough is ready, taste the broth and make sure it is really flavorful.  Lemony tang level should be quite high. Add more salt or sugar if necessary.  Don't overdo the sugar, it shouldn't be sweet, but it should balance the salt and lemon juice.
6. To make the dumplings, take a small handful of the dough in your hand and pat it down into a patty shape. Add it to the broth. Continue this for the rest of the dough.
7. Now cover the pot and allow the dumplings to cook for about 15 minutes.
8. To check if it is done, the dumplings should be a little firm. Take a spoon and break off a piece of dumpling and taste to see if it's cooked through.  You can also check the seasoning again at this point.
9. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!

Roasted Vegetable Vegan Pizza

On a really cold, windy day, when there is nothing else to do but cook, I highly recommend you try this recipe.  I made up this pizza while I was unemployed a couple of years back and have not made it since, but I remember how good it was - I will have to try it again.

It is a little bit involved, which is why I recommend making this when you have some time to spare. But it is definitely worth the effort.  If you can't find fresh basil leaves, you can buy some vegan pesto from the store and throw that in.














Ingredients

1 whole wheat pizza crust
    3/4 block of extra firm tofu
    1 cup spinach leaves
    1/2 cup basil leaves
    1/2 cup olive oil
    1/2 of a large eggplant, peeled and cut into 3 inch strips
    1 onion (Vidalia or Spanish work best), cut into strips
    1 red pepper, cut into strips
    2 artichokes, chopped
    5 mushrooms, chopped
    4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
    2 Tablespoons brown sugar
    2 Tablespoons tomato paste
    salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Toss eggplant, onion, red pepper and garlic with olive oil, sugar and a pinch of salt. Bake in an oven at 375F until cooked through (about 25 min)

In a food processor, puree tofu, spinach, basil, 1/4 cup olive oil, tomato paste and salt and pepper to your liking.  Add a little bit of water if this puree is too thick to process to a smooth texture.  Set aside.

Spread majority of the tofu mixture all over pizza as the sauce. Once roasted veggies are cooked, spread all over pizza, then add the artichokes and mushrooms.

Take the leftover tofu spread and dollop small amounts on top of pizza.

Bake in a 350 F over until crust is crispy on the bottom and cooked through and it's bubbly hot.

Serve and enjoy!!!

Mini Tofu Quiche

I find that individual, one or two bit finger appetizers are always more impressive and logistically easier to deal with at a party then crudites and dips. This is my go-to recipe for an impressive, easy, bite-sized appetizer.  I made these for friends on New Years Day and they were demolished.


Spring roll sheets that are lightly brushed with oil and baked create a super crispy crust.  These work best made with a mini muffin tin.  But, if you don't have one, you can also make a simple spring roll shaped appetizer with the filling inside - but that takes more work.  This recipe also works well as a vegan recipe, but you can also sprinkle a little cheese on top of each one and bake it until it's browned and crunchy.



Ingredients:
Filling:
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups of baby spinach, finely chopped
1 package of extra firm tofu, well crumbled with your fingers
3 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp nutritional yeast (for vegan version) OR 4 tbsp fresh grated parmesan (non vegan version)
2 tbsp Italian dried herb mix (you can also use a mix of dried basil and oregano)
1 tsp chili flakes
Lots of fresh ground pepper
Salt to taste

Crust:
12 thawed spring roll sheets
oil for brushing

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Heat a small saucepan. Add olive oil, onions and a small sprinkle of salt.
• Saute over medium heat for about 3 minutes until onions are soft. Set aside.
• Mix together all ingredients for filling, including the sauteed onions. Set aside.
• Cut the spring roll wrappers in half on a diagonal. 
• Brush each spring roll wrapper with oil and place in mini muffin tin so that the oiled side is against the muffin tin, and it covers the bottom and most of the edges of each mini muffin cup.  You will need to tuck in the corners of the spring roll wrappers as well.  If there is a little sticking out, don't worry about it.  It looks pretty when it bakes and turns brown.
• Stuff each spring roll wrapper with the filling.  I use my hands to do this so that I can also give one a good press. 
• If you are using cheese, you can sprinkle a little on top. 
• Bake for about 25-30 mnutes - when you take one out of the quiches out of the tin, it should be a little brown.

These are best served right away, or you can re warm them in the oven before serving so that the spring roll crust is crisp! Enjoy!