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!

A Cure for Dried up, Hard Brown Suger

Have you ever opened up a whole bag of brown sugar, only to use a few teaspoons, and rubber banded the rest up for future use?  A month later, you come back to it and it's turned into one big chunk. Lovely. Now what?  There is actually as simple solution to get your brown sugar back to its original condition.  Bread. Soft, moist, bread. Take a couple of slices, throw it in the bag and seal it up into a plastic container or a sealable bag for 2-3 days. What you will notice is the bread has become dried up and hard, and at least a portion of your sugar has sucked up its moisture. miracle!

The best thing to do when you open up a bag of brown sugar is to either throw it into a resealable bag, or even better, empty it into a Mason jar and close the lid up tight.

Lazy Dinner - Tofu and a Smoothie

Now that I am working, I am pretty tired after work and not very motivated to create a dinner from scratch. I usually make a bulk dinner on the Sunday, but that runs out by the Tuesday or Wednesday.

So today, I put a couple of random things together which ended up being a very yummy meal!

I marinated and crisped some tofu, and I made a fantastic smoothie for dinner today- both super easy and healthy.

Now, here is the thing about my smoothies. I recently bought a Vita Mix and it has changed my life and the way I eat. I never eat fruit as a whole fruit, but I will in smoothie form! On top of that, it pulverizes raw greens like I have never seen before. So i usually throw those in as well. I can't taste them, it just turns my smoothie green! Anyhow, this particular smoothie won't taste the same unless you use a high powered Blender like the VitaMix or a Blendtec brand blender. I would omit the kale if you are using a regular blender.

Crispy Tofu

Ingredients

• Extra firm tofu sliced about a 1/3 inch thick
• sesame seeds
  
• 1/4 cup soya sauce
• 1/4 cup water
  
• 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
• 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
• dash of lime juice or vinegar

Directions:
Mix together all ingredents except tofu and sesame seeds in a baking dish.

• Heat a cast iron or non stick pan with a couple tsp of oil on medium heat - swirl the oil around so it covers the bottom of the pan
• sprinkle some of the sesame seeds in areas where you expect to lay your tofu for crisping.
• Lay tofu on top and press lightly with a spatula. Sprinkle some more sesame seeds on top of the tofu slices.
• After 3-4 minutes or until the bottom is crispy and brown and sesame seeds have lightly brown and stuck to the tofu, flip and do the same thing to the other side.

Enjoy!
















Banana Mango Cardamom Kale Smoothie

• one banana (frozen banana works too)
• one mango (frozen mango works too)
• 1/2 cup soya milk
• 4 cubes of ice
• handful of kale,washed
• 2 cardamom pods, whole

Directions:

• In your Vita Mix, turn on, switch variable to 10 gradually, then to high for about 20 seconds and enjoy!!
  

I am Back!

I have finally decided after over a year to bring back the blog! I never stopped experimenting or obsessing about food, if anything it probably got worse. So stay tuned for more yummy dinners and easy lunches!

The Perfect Lunch for Work

It's been awhile since my last post, and I have gone through many changes in my life over these past few months. For starters, I began working again after a 2.5 year break. If you are like me, the first question that comes to mind: what am I going to take to work for lunch? I am personally not a fan of buying lunch everyday. Regardless of how subsidized the food may be in your corporate cafeteria, or how many creative options you have around your workplace, nothing beats a home made lunch in terms of taste and cost.

Sandwiches are a standard take to work type lunch, but they don't have to be boring. During my second week of work, I made a fantastic sandwich that I ate all week, and could continue to eat everyday because it was jam packed with flavor, textures and color. The arugula and cucumber offers freshness, the mushrooms and tofu give some chewiness, the toasted bread gives crunch, and the hummus adds moisture and tang. I have the luxury of a toaster and toaster oven at work, but even if you don't, this is a great cold sandwich as well. I brought all items in separate containers, toasted the bread, warmed the tofu and mushrooms in the toaster oven, and assembled the sandwich.

I usually make my own hummus, but I just did not have the energy, so I bought a prepared hummus from the grocery store. I have tried quite a few different brands, and nobody can beat Sante Fontaine brand hummus. I am still trying to mimick their texture and flavor in my own hummus! They have been able to mesh together the perfect smoothness, tanginess, and a nice light garlic flavor, which is great bonus when you are taking it to work!

The picture below is an actual sandwich sitting on my desk at work. yum!


Arugula, mushroom, hummus sandwich

1 tbsp olive oil
10-12 cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
8 slices of extra firm tofu, 1/2 inch slices
Fresh, rye or light rye sourdough bread
Prepared hummus (Sante Fontaine brand is recommended)
Organic baby arugula
Cilantro
Thin sliced cucumbers

Marinade for tofu

1/4 cup soya sauce
1 tbsp vietnamese chilli sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
Fresh squeezed lime juice from 1/2 of a lime

Directions
1) Mix together marinade ingredients and place in a deep dish pan. Lay tofu slices in this marinade and with a spoon, pour marinade over tofu. Let this sit in the marinade for at least 30 minutes. 1 hour is ideal. Set aside.
2)Heat oil in a saucepan and add mushrooms, salt to taste and sugar on medium heat.
3) When the mushrooms heat up, they will begin to sweat and cook through.
4) Allow the mushrooms to cook in their own juices until most of the liquid has evaporated. Set the mushrooms aside.
5) In a separate pan (ideally a cast iron pan), heat oil and place marinated tofu slices in the hot oil over medium heat.
6) Flip tofu slices once the first side browns. Allow second side to brown and set aside.
7) Toast bread to your liking and spread hummus very generously on both sides of the bread. Layer ingredients in this order: mushrooms, tofu, cucumber, arugula, cilantro.

Enjoy!!!

Thought that you would never like eggplant?

Have you ever found those little mini eggplants at the market and wonder what you can do with them? Probably not, but now if you ever see them in the grocery store, hopefully this post will entice you to pick up a few and make this stuffed eggplant recipe.

Instead of baking these eggplants in the oven, I steam them. Steaming the eggplants allows for quicker cooking and ensures that your eggplant stay soft, and come out almost creamy. This is a great side dish if you are making a dal and rice dinner, or even with some chapati/rotis and a really good, hot mango pickle, yum!

Ingredients

2 tbsp ghee or unsalted butter
1 cup of raw mixed nuts such as peanuts, cashews and walnuts, ground fine in a coffee grinder
1/2 cup chick pea flour (besan)
1 tbsp salt (add more or less to your taste)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin powder
8-10 small eggplants

Directions

1. Heat ghee/butter in a pan on medium heat.
2. Add ground nuts and chick pea flour.
3. Stir around constantly to prevent burning.
4. Once the mixture has lightly browned in color (probably takes about 10 minutes), turn off heat and add all spices. Mix well. Set aside to cool.
5. You have two choices for cutting the eggplants for stuffing. You can either make two cuts cross wise almost all the way through the eggplant's length, and stuff each eggplant, or cut each eggplant in half lengthwise and spoon as much filling on top as you can.
6. Fill a large pot so that the water comes up about 3/4 of an inch. Place your stainless steel steamer in the pot, and carefully place each eggplant in the steamer. Be careful not to spill any filling!
7. On high heat, cover the pan and steam for about 15 minutes, until the eggplants are cooked through.

Yum!

Little Asian Treasures....

These fantastic, guilt-free, savoury treats came about on accident. I was staying with a friend of mine in Toronto, and she had this 'moms in the area' meet n greet type event one Friday night. It was an appetizer potluck, so she wanted a suggestion for something simple and tasty. I recommended making bite sized tofu 'quiche'.

One of the ingredients to make the crust part is wonton wrappers, which the grocery store conveniently ran out of that day. So I bought phyllo pastry instead.

Okay, long story short, I was concerned with using phyllo as the crust in the mini muffin tin, in fear that it wouldn't crisp up. So instead I made little pocket type things, brushed with lots of butter. I can't remember why we changed up my standard spinach tofu filling, but we did and it turned out great! Now these are somewhat time intensive, but if you are looking to impress and have the extra time, they are well worth the effort.

Ingredients

Crust
8 sheets of phyllo pastry
melted butter

Filling
2 tbsp cooking oil
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 onion, finely diced
1/2 carrot, finely diced
1 bell pepper, finely diced
1 block of firm tofu, crumbled finely with your fingers
1/2 bag of spinach, washed well and finely chopped
3 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp Vietnamese chilli sauce
2 tbsp good quality sesame oil

Directions:

1. Start the filling first. In a large pan or wok, heat the oil on high heat.
2. Add ginger and onion and reduce to medium heat.
3. When onions soften (about 3 minutes), add carrot and put on medium low heat covered for 5 minutes.
4. Uncover and add bell pepper and cook for another 3 minutes.
5. Increase heat to medium high and add tofu and spinach. Mix this up until the spinach has wilted.
6. Reduce heat to medium low and add all seasonings except sesame oil. Adjust the flavors to your liking.
7. Remove from heat and mix in the sesame oil. Set this mixture aside uncovered to allow the steam to release.
8. Generously brush 4 sheets of phyllo with butter and layer on top of one another. Cut into about 3-4 inch squares.
9. Add a tablespoon of the mixture in the middle of each square.
10. Now for each square, cover the filling by bringing up the corners of the square, and giving it a good solid pinch to create a little 'sack' of yumminess! Keep pinching until it stays. You may rip a few, don't worry - these are for you to enjoy!
11. Continue the filling process until you have created as many appetizers as you would like. Leftover filling can be eaten on its own, and leftover phyllo can be used by making baklava!
12. Bake the little appetizers in a 350 degree F oven for about 15 minutes, until they are crispy and golden. I would try to serve these fresh out of the oven if possible.

Restaurant Review #5 - Bloom Cafe - Toronto, Ontario

So an out of town friend of mine was visiting Toronto one weekend. Like me, she is vegetarian, so I thought I could take her to a vegetarian joint in town. I would normally take any Toronto newbie to King's Cafe, but they are renovating for a couple of months, so I thought I would try Vegetarian Haven, located on Baldwin Street. So we decide to meet at the restaurant on a Saturday at 1pm. No big deal. Until I get there and realize that they don't open until 2pm.

Now, what restaurant opens up on a Saturday afternoon at 2pm, and not for Saturday lunch? I was very annoyed. But, I think it worked out for the better, because I noticed price increases on their menu, and that did not make me happy either. If any Vegetarian Haven owners are reading this, please have some sense and open up your restaurant for lunch on Saturdays!

Anyhow, it wasn't that big of a deal since we were on a strip where there are at least a dozen or so restaurants. One small cafe caught my eye. I had never seen it before, so we decided to try it out. It is called the Bloom Cafe. Really nice, simple decor, but no music. Silence. Also, it was empty. That usually worries me, but I decided to give it a try anyways (mainly because I am not a major fan of most of the Baldwin Streets restaurants).

My friend and I ordered a FABULOUS tea called Quite Pink. Apparently this cafe is known for their blooming teas and using flowers like globe amaranth . They pre sweeten with tea with honey and some sort of pomegranate flavor that the lady would not tell me about.

For lunch, we had miso soup, onigiri and tofu pitas. The miso soup was good, but nothing spectacular. Tasted like the miso soup that I make at home from miso paste. Onigiri are these japanese rice triangles filled with various fillings. I picked avocado/cucumber and kimchi. It was alright, al little bland for my palate. Finally the tofu pita was fantastic. The sauce on the tofu made this whole pita. It tasted like a mix of miso paste, chili paste, ginger, soy, and something a little sour.

Overall, it was a good meal, not great. I would go back to try other things on their menu, in particular, the teas! One great thing about the food at Bloom, is that it is not heavy at all. We were definitely full, but we did not feel bloated or super, can't walk type of full.

This restaurant is not fully vegetarian, but very veg friendly!

Bloom Cafe
45 Baldwin St.
Toronto, Ontario
www.bloomtea.ca

The Magic called...Curry Leaves!

Many of you have probably never used or even seen a curry leaf before. Also known as kadi patta, and limbdo, if you can get fresh ones, they are very fragrant, lemony leaves that you can throw into curries and soups. I love them. But, they are ever so hard to find unless you know of a very well stocked Indian grocery store.

You do need to be careful with these leaves. Each leaf punches a lot of flavor, so you don't want to over do it. I particularly like them in dals (Indian lentil soup) and potato curry. I have not experimented with curry leaves in non-Indian foods, because I can rarely get my hands on them, but I am sure with the right combination, they would be fabulous.

Here's my all time favorite dal recipe, but even this lentil, called toor dal is somewhat difficult to find unless you can get to an Indian grocery store.

Ingredients

1 cup toor dal
3 cups water
2 medium sized tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt
1 tsp turmeric
6 curry leaves
2 tsp coriander powder
lemon
cilantro

Directions:
1. Boil dal in the water until very soft and mushy. Feel free to add more water if necessary. Should take about 40 minutes to cook through.
2. In a large heavy bottomed pot on high heat, add oil. Once oil is hot, add mustard and cumin seeds. When they start to pop, add the tomatoes and stir quickly to prevent splattering.
3. Reduce to medium heat, and add some salt, curry leaves,turmeric, coriander powder. IF you have cayenne pepper or a hot green chillie, throw 'er in if you want some spiciness to this dal.
4. Once tomatoes are mushy, add the cooked dal and increase the heat to high. Add some additional water if you feel it is too thick. The thickness of this dal all depends on your preference.
5. Let this boil for about 10 minutes. Turn heat off and add some more salt to your taste and lemon.
6. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!

This dish goes really well with some basmati rice, and is perfect for a chilly winter's day!

Perfect Basmati Rice without the Rice Cooker

Some people swear by their rice cooker, but I have never had one and don't find the need for one. I would rather save precious kitchen cupboard space for a Vita-Mix or even a food dehydrator!

Basmati rice is of long grain type, and is the kind that I use most often. I use it mainly when I am making an Indian or Persian meal, and would use a jasmine rice for Thai or Chinese.

I have been cooking Basmati rice by this method for years, it is very difficult to mess up. The presoak cuts the cooking time of the rice, and also creates a nice, fluffy, distinct grain of cooked rice.

Ingredients

1 cup basmati rice, washed 3 times
1.5 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf

Directions
1. Soak rice for at least 10 minutes. 1 hour is ideal.
2. Put all ingredients into a heavy bottomed pot on high heat until it begins to boil.
3. Lower the heat to super low (on a scale of 1-10, the heat should be on 1). Fully cover the pot with its lid.
4. Allow the rice to cook for about 12 minutes, then taste a few grains from the top of the rice. If it is cooked to your liking you are done! If not, check if there is any water left at the bottom of the pot by tilting it. If there is no water left, add a few tablespoons and cover the pot for another 5 minutes. It should be cooked by this point.

Hot, fluffy, fresh basmati - yum!

Roasted Tomato Garlic Bell Pepper Soup

Red, orange and yellow bell peppers become sweet, smooth, and soupalicious, once they are roasted in the oven. Their flavors concentrate into these sweet melt in your mouth morsels.

This particular soup also makes use of roasted tomatoes and garlic, the perfect combination with the roasted bell peppers. I dont even put any salt or pepper in this soup. I just roast, peel, blend and serve. Such simple ingredients, and so good!

Ingredients

4 tbsp olive oil
4 tomatoes, cut in half
3 bell peppers, cut into large chunks
1 head of garlic, with a slice off the top to expose the top of each garlic clove

Directions
1. Toss all ingredients with the olive oil and place in a large casserole dish, with the flesh side face down. Make sure the garlic head gets a decent drizzle of oil as well.
2. Roast at 375 degrees F for about 45 minutes, or until bell peppers are soft and the skin is starting to char.
3. Remove from oven. At this point, you can either throw the tomatoes and peppers into the blender, or you can remove the skins of the tomatoes and peppers and then into the blender.
4. Carefully pick out the softened cloves of garlic and put these in the blender too.
5. Blend away until super smooth, and serve while it is still hot! Otherwise, heat on low heat then serve.

Pakoras: Deep Fried Goodness

Sometimes, it's okay to treat yourself. Everything in moderation right?

Pakoras are a deep fried mix of vegetables, batter and various spices. If made properly, they turn out golden, crispy and deeeeeeeee lish! They can be eaten on their own, or with a dipping sauce such as cilantro chutney, ketchup, or date-tamarind chutney (recipe for this to come soon). They are typically eaten as an appetizer to a meal, but who's to say you can't have it for your whole meal? Just make sure you go for double the work out the next day.

You may need to hit the indian grocery store to find the special flour needed in this recipe: besan, or otherwise known as chick pea flour. I have also seen it at Bulk Barn.

To make really good pakoras, you need to get your hands a little dirty. Mixing with your hands is never the same as mixing with a spoon or fork. Smearing all the spices, batter and vegetables altogether with your hands ensures that the spices and the batter is distributed nice and even on every single peice of vegetable, making a very crispy pakora. This is key!

Pakoras are best when eaten right out of the fryer. If you are entertaining and serving these to your guests, it is best to have serve small batches at a time, right out of the oil.

Ingredients

1/2 head of cabbage, very finely chopped, into little strands of cabbage
1 package of spinash, finely chopped, into litle strands of spinach
1 onion, sliced into fine strands of onion
2 green chillies, finely chopped
2 tsp salt
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 cups of besan

Directions:

1. Throw everything in a bowl and mix very well WITH YOUR HANDS. Rub and smear everything together, for a few minutes. You have to keep mixing until the salt forces some of the cabbage, spinach and onion to sweat out its liquid content. This will allow the mixture to become watery enough to create a batter out of the besan, and cover every little peice of vegetable.
2. Heat oil very hot. VERY CAREFULLY, take a tablespoon amount of the mixture in your hands and drop into the hot oil. The number of pakoras that you can fry at one time will depend on the size of your fryer. Make sure that they are not touching, and they all have enough space to cook. Do not overcrowd your pakoras. If there are too many being fried at one time, the temperature of the oil will reduce dramatically, and the lower temperature will make the pakoras soak up more oil which will not taste as good.
3. Mix them around and fry for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown.

yum!!!!

Comment on Knives and Seasonal Goodness #2 : Squash Potato Bake

This can be a very simple, easy, fast meal.....IF and only IF you have a really good knife and peeler. About 90% of the preparation for this recipe is peeling and chopping.

I can't stress the importance of a good, sharp knife. I would say, at least in my recipes, that 70% of the time spent is on chopping, dicing and slicing. If you can't do it efficiently, you could spend a whole lot of time in the kitchen, and it gets very tiring. I swear by my 3 knives - 8 inch chef's knife, 4 inch paring knife, and 6 inch cleaver. I have the Henckels Pro 'S' series, and they were worth every penny. I will cherish these knives forever and pass them onto my kids.

I probably use my chef's knife the most, for any dicing and chopping activity that is needed for vegetables and fruits. I use my paring knife for small jobs and coring, and my cleaver for any type of greens, such as spinach, cilantro, as well as for smearing fresh garlic into a paste.

I would recommend that you do not buy one of those knife sets. I don't think you need more than 3-4 really good knives, and it's a waste of money. Rather, invest that money into 3-4 knives, along with a sharpener and honing stick to keep them sharp.

Back to the recipe! This is a fantastic quick dish if you can prepare it efficiently. A good knife will allow you to also slice the potatoes and squash very thin. A simple lentil soup, or even some sour cream on the side would complete this meal. Crunchy topping, and a combination of nicely seasoned potatoes and squash, yum yum yum! The picture below shows what it looks like before baking, and the one below that is after baking.

Ingredients:

Topping:
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Filling:
3 white potatoes, sliced thin (keep the peel on)
2 sweet potoatoes, peeled and sliced thin
3 cups of any 2-3 types of squash, peeled and sliced thin
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup of any combination of fresh herbs, finely chopped (I used sage, thyme, green onion and basil)
salt to taste


Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients for the topping in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine all ingredients for the filling in a casserole dish.
3. Top with topping
4. Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees F .

DONE!

Jerk! Fajitas....yum

So I had a craving one day for fajitas. I had never made them before but how hard could they be? Make some guacamole, buy some cheese, tortillas, salsa, sour cream and stir fry up some veggies! easy!

The hardest part of this dish was trying to figure out was how to flavor the tofu and vegetable stir fry. I looked in the fridge and saw some jerk seasoning. I bought this stuff a long time ago when I visited Jamaica. Tasted it, and it was still good. Ok. But it was really spicy. I needed something to cut the spice a little. Saw some orange juice. Hmmm. Mixed them together.......interesting taste! I like it! Sauce is done!

Fajitas are a great, quick dinner that is easy to keep around for more than one meal. Just make sure you have enough tortillas, salsa, sour cream and cheese. Making loads of stirfry is pretty easy. These fajitas definitely beat anything that I have ever had in the stores. I hope you like it!

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil
1 block of tofu, cut into long strips
1 onion, cut into slices
2 bell peppers, cut into long strips
1 carrot, cut into thin sticks
1 zucchini, cut into thin sticks
10 mushrooms, sliced thick
you can also add: broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, green pepper

1 tsp jerk seasoning (depends on how hot you like it)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp corn starch

1 package whole wheat tortillas
1 bottle of salsa that you enjoy
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
guacamole from 1 avocado (to make guacamole, peel the avocado and chop up, then add lemon juice, salt and mash with a fork until it is at your desired consistency, then mix in finely chopped green onions and cilantro - that's it!)
1 tub sour cream (optional)

Directions:
1. Heat only 1 tbsp of the oil and fry the tofu in it until it is brown and crispy on medium heat = about 8-9 minutes. Make sure you toss this every minute to prevent burning. Put tofu in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the jerk seasoning, orange juice and corn starch. Set aside.
2. Heat the other tbsp of oil and put in onions on medium heat.
3. Once translucent, throw in all vegetables except zucchini and mushrooms. Cook on medium high heat for about 4 minutes.
4. Put in the zucchini, mushrooms, crispy tofu and orange-jerk mixture. Cover for 2 minutes to cook on medium heat.
5. Turn off heat, mix around and enjoy!