Chana Masala with Kale

So this is another test to see how blogging goes straight from my smartphone. Tonight, I have a cold. So my cure is to cook warm, comforting slightly spicy foods.
I have been thinking about making chana masala for a while and tonight I had everything I needed.
The recipe was cobbled from a few different googled "easy chana masala" recipes I found. Basically, I sauteed onion in olive oil until it got soft, added cumin seeds, cumin powder, curry powder, cinnamon. Added minced jalapeno & garlic and one 15oz can of chickpeas.
I added 2-4 diced tomatoes, stirred everything up and added about 1/2 cup of water or so and let everything simmer until it reached the consistency I liked and at the very end I added 1.5-2.5 cups of kale. I served with quinoa. i

Okra, Tomato & Potato Curry [Vegan Mofo]

Vegan Mofo, Day 4!

So this is what I whipped up for dinner tonight, with delicious results!

A stew/curry of tomatoes, potatoes, okra, quinoa, curry powder, onions, garlic, spicy Rotel for more tomato-y goodness.

I didn't measure anything, really. This was an experiment to work on something in the future. I think that this is a great example of why I don't blog all my food. I feel bad if I don't write down a full recipe and measure everything, etc. By the time I even start thinking about that, I give up on considering blogging and just eat some food! So this is a great push to keep posting about food, recipe or not.

Smoky Beans and Rice with Tortilla Chips

This has been a recent favorite of mine. Again, follows the theme of cheap, easy, and fairly simple.

Again, no real "recipe" here with accurate measurements. Once I make this a few more times, I'll get a solid measured recipe with it. I still have not worked out the spice to lime juice to smoky flavor ratio.

I used black beans in the above photo, but I've also used a mixture of black and pinto beans and mixed light and dark kidney beans. I always use brown rice, though surely white rice would work, just not as nutritious.

I use about half a large onion, diced; several cloves of garlic (3-4), minced; 2 cans of beans (the 15 oz style, or one of the larger cans or a bunch of cooked beans that I make from dry beans). Usually I like a fairly even ratio of beans to rice, about 2-3 cups of each, though I prefer a little more beans than rice.

I start by sauteing the onion in a little oil and adding the garlic. I shake on some cumin and salt, mixing well. Then I add the cooked beans, stirring well. I pour in some veggie broth and then shake a little of liquid smoke into the pot. Seriously, a little goes a LONG way.

I add a generous amount of rice, 2-3 cups, stir. I add more veggie broth, and simmer until the broth really gets absorbed into the beans and rice. (This will happen even more after it cools down, so it's okay if it seems like there is too much liquid when you turn off the heat.)

At this point, I have added lime juice, cilantro, hot sauce, or nothing. I have not perfected this yet, but I've gotten some tasty combination and ratios of all three add-ins. I've also added frozen corn. This goes great with salsa and chips, or just as a hearty lunch.

Vegetable & Bean Stew with Spicy Biscuits

I made this quick vegetable stew the other day. I also made biscuits, a variation of the recipe from the other day. I added some liquid from the stew as well as red pepper flakes to the mix to create a spicy version. Another make it up as I go, so not an "official" recipe, but here's roughly what I did.

The Stew

Ingredients:
1 28oz can of Fire Roasted tomatoes
1 15(I think)oz can of dark red kidney beans
1 15(I think)oz can of white kidney beans (cannellini)
1 8oz can spicy Ro-Tel [diced tomatoes with habaneros)
1/2 a large onion, med. dice
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
frozen corn
cumin
paprika
chili powder
water
veg stock or bouillon cube
1tsp oil (for sauteing onion & garlic)

Instructions:

1. in stock pot, saute onion in oil until soft, add garlic and spices to taste

2. add drained and rinsed beans and can of tomatoes

3. add Ro-Tel, stir everything

4. add water. I basically filled the big tomato can with water and dumped it in and added a little more

5. bring to boil, add some frozen corn and or vegetables of choice. Sweet corn really works with these flavors but I'm sure many others would work.

6. bring down to simmer. If you feel like it, add vegetable stock or bouillon cube for flavor.

Done! The flavors of both the stew and biscuits are even better the second day. This lasted for most of the week for both me and Mr. Coconut's lunch.

Mini Wheel and Mini Farfalle Pasta with "Meat" Sauce

The picture doesn't show the perspective very well, but the pasta really is miniature versions of these shapes. The "meat" sauce was made by cooking Whole Foods brand vegan meatballs in pasta sauce and then crushing them up with a potato masher. Adding extra seasoning like olive oil, salt, garlic salt, pepper, and cumin helped punch up the sauce even more.

Grilled Turkey and Guacamole Sandwich

This was my brilliant plan. I've been obsessed with grilled sandwiches lately. I've been buttering and grilling every sandwich. Then...I grilled a sandwich with just gracamole because we were out of chips. It was awesome. Will be making that in the future to accompany a tomato soup of some sort. Or Gazpacho!

Anyway, this is simply guacamole spread between two pieces of bread, with slices of tofurky deli meat layered in between. There are also sauteed onions added for good measure. The true genius is in the grilling: Earth balance spread on the outside, as well as a good dash of cumin and cayenne. Really tasty and crispy. Excellent!

Pizza: Papa John's

Just a jazzed up piece of Papa John's pizza. I added a bunch of garlic sauce, some cumin, Parma!, and red pepper flakes. The toppings from PJ's were: Green Peppers and pineapple. Maybe onions as well, can't remember.

Nothing special, but still a nice treat.