Lunch

Oct
1

Red Lentil and Acorn Squash Patties

I made these patties in a few different versions before. I learned that a great way to experiment with making patties or veggie balls, is to use dry uncooked and soaked legumes as a base ingredient. Add vegetables, herbs and spices and the options are limitless! The fun fact is:, Legumes, due to their high content of starch (that’s the white stuff you see in the soaking water) act like a “glue” so there is no need for eggs. How simple and cool is that?! Actually, Falafel balls are made with the same principle, dry uncooked and soaked chic-peas or Fava beans mixed with spices and herbs and then fried.

In this recipe I used the beautiful Acorn squash with the red/orange lentils and made it ready for fall… I served it with tri-color couscous and simple tomato sauce but It’s great in a sandwich too. So lets get to work! start soaking your lents…

Ingredients

1¼ Cup Red Lentils, Soaked in water for about 3 to 4 hours

1/2 Acorn Squash

1 Small Onion

1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs

1 tsp. Fresh Thyme leaves

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp. Turmeric

1 tsp. Paprika

1/2 tsp. Dry Ginger powder

1/2 tsp Black pepper

1 Tbsp. Maple Syrup

Oil for Frying

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400º

Cut the acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds, brush with olive oil, maple syrup and sprinkle with sea salt (I used only one half of the squash, the other half I used for another recipe).

Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour until soft. Set aside to cool. After the acorn squash has cooled, scoop the “flesh” from its inside, do not use the skin.

Rinse and strain the lentils and chop the onion.

Place the mashed acorn squash, the lentils and the onion in a food processor and blend.

In a mixing bowl, add the mixture, the bread crumbs and the spices.

Heat up the oil in a frying pan. Use an ice-cream scooper to form balls, place it in the pan and flatten a little to look like patties. Fry on medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side.

• Always fry one pattie first to test the flavoring. If more spices are needed, add it to the mixture before frying the whole batch.

• If the mixture is too soft for the ice cream scooper to pick up, add more bread crumbs.

• If you prefer, you can bake them in the oven, it comes out just as tasty. Just brush them with oil before baking.

Always test one first

Category: Blog, Holidays, Kid Friendly, Lunch, Patties and Burgers, Recipies, Uncategorized

Sep
25

Kohlrabi and Roots Salad with Asian Touch

I used to see kohlrabi only as a cooked vegetable in soups but since I learned about the benefits of raw food, I’ve been experimenting with the idea and discovering that almost everything is better raw. A great way to introduce raw hard vegetables is to cut them like noodles or slice them “paper thin”. To slice them super thin I used a Japanese mandolin. Please be careful if you’re going to use one! It’s easy to forget that your fingers are at the end of it and cut yourself. It wouldn’t be such a vegan salad if there is blood in it ha?! 😉

Colorful and fresh, this salad could complement any asian style meal and it’s also fun to eat it by itself with chopsticks.

Ingredients

1 Purple Kohlrabi

1 Green Kohlrabi

1 Golden Yellow Beet

3-4 Radishes

3 Celery stems

Asian Dressing

1 Tbsp Soy sauce

1 Tbsp Tahini

1/2 Lemon juice

1 tsp Ginger minsed super fine

1/4 Cup filtered water

1 tsp Maple Syrup

Black sesame seeds (I had the mixture with herbs)

Preparation

Slice the vegetables with a mandolin.

Whisk all dressing ingredients and pour over the salad, sprinkle with sesame seeds and…Done!

Category: Blog, Gluten Free, Lunch, Raw, Recipies, Salads, Uncategorized

Sep
17

Almost Home-Made Vegan Pesto Tomato Pizza

It took me more time to take the pictures than to actually prepare this beautiful Pizza, which was about 5 minutes. There, I said it! You can call The Martha Stewart Police on me… guilty as charged… If I can make a Vegan Wholesome Pizza that is healthier than a frozen Pizza and quicker than a Vegan Delivery Pizza than I’m choosing the easy-healthier-quick one. I wish someone will see the potential and open a Vegan Pizzeria close to me already! :). Some super moms, somewhere, are probably making the whole thing from scratch. Not me, I love time saving short cuts that lets me keep the good quality ingredients without compromising on taste, especially on days where I don’t have the time to do rocket-science recipes.

There are a few things to keep in mind / have in advance:

1. I try to keep a good quality tomato sauce handy for quick recipes like this one.

2. I used the Fresh Pesto Sauce from a day before, but even if you choose to make it the same day, it’s super quick to make as well (you can use a store-bought vegan pesto if you’d like).

3. For the crust, I found this organic great whole grain ready-made crust. If you can’t find it where you live, use any crust you like or even make it on an Indian Naan bread or pita bread (make sure to check the ingredients since some of them are made with dairy).

4. I also keep shredded mozzarella Daiya cheese which is the invention of the century for vegans… but there are other kinds of vegan cheese that you could use (Trader Joe’s has one that really melts good).

Ingredients

One 12″ Pizza Crust (I used Rustic Crust Organic Great Grains)

Tomato sauce (Marinara or basic Pizza sauce)

5 Tbsp Pesto sauce

1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella style Vegan Cheese (I used Daiya)

a bunch of heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced

a few Sliced olives and fresh basil leaves for topping

Preparation

Pre-heat oven to 425°

Spread a layer of the pesto sauce on the crust first, spread the tomato sauce over it than sprinkle with the shredded “cheese”.

Add the sliced tomatoes, olives and decorate with basil leaves.

If you want to get fancy, add some crushed pistachios mixed with nutritional yeast for a “parmesan- ish” twist.

Bake for 8-12 minutes. Cool for 3 min. before cutting into slices and serve.

Reading the ingredients list on the Pizza crust, happy I found it!

Category: Blog, Kid Friendly, Lunch, Recipies, The Main Dish

Sep
7

Vegetable “Rainbow”, Pineapple, Cashew and Tofu in Peanut Coconut Curry Sauce

A few years ago, I traveled to Asia. One of the exotic places I was lucky to be in was Thailand. Picture beautiful beaches, white sand, turquoise water, friendly people and great food. Life was so easy back then… drinking coconut water straight from its shell, so many tropical fruits right from the tree, fun in the sun and no responsibilities. That was a long time ago. Lots of coconuts fell off the trees and lots of pineapples were cut-open since my days of freedom in the sun 🙂 Good thing, I can always go back there in my mind with the help of memories and Thai food.

I once heard that the “secret” of Thai cuisine is in its right balance of flavors: savory and sweet, spicy and sour all together in harmony. This dish, I think, has it all: Beautiful colors, flavors and textures. The peanut curry sauce here is a sauce that can upgrade any vegetable stir fry dish, as long as you have peanut butter, coconut milk and spices at home. Usually I like to add Thai curry paste to give it a spicy kick. Feel free to add it if you like the “heat”, but even without it, this sauce will get you hooked!. The main work here is really just to chop the vegetables.

If you’re not going to use the Thai curry paste, you could use just the curry powder (I like both). Traditionally curry blend is made from “the five C’s”: Chili, Coriander, Cumin, Cinnamon, and Cardamom. I like to make my own from Coriander, Turmeric, Cumin, Cinnamon, Mustard powder, Garlic powder and Hot Paprika.

Ingredients

1 Large Sweet Potato/Yam

1 Fresh Pineapple or 1 Can of Pineapple Chunks

1 Pack of Tofu

Handfull Cashews

1 Pack of Mushrooms

¾ Cup Chopped Carrots

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 Cup Green Peas

5 Cloves of Garlic

1 Cup Organic Vegetable Broth

3 Tbs Sunflower Oil

For the Sauce:

1 Can of Coconut Milk

1 Inch Ginger

2 Tbs Peanut Butter

Curry Powder or Thai curry paste

Cilantro or Thai Basil (if you can find it)

Coriander

Turmeric

Cumin

Salt

Preparation

Chop all the vegetables and dice the tofu and pineapple.

Mince the garlic and ginger.

Add the oil to a heated pan and start by sautéing the sweet potato.

Gradually add all the vegetables and tofu, starting with the hardest .

Let that cook on medium heat for about 20-25 minutes.

Add the vegetable broth slowly as needed so the vegetables will not get dry while cooking.

Add the pineapple and cashews towards the end.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl make the curry sauce.

Combine the ginger,garlic with coconut milk, peanut butter, spices and salt.

Mix well until you have a thick yellow sauce.

Pour the curry sauce over the vegetables and let cook for a few more minutes on medium-low heat.

Serve with jasmine or basmati rice.

Garnish with Thai basil or cilantro and enjoy!

Category: Blog, Gluten Free, Lunch, Recipies, The Main Dish, Uncategorized, Whole Meal

Sep
5

Mango Jalapeño Summer Salad

Hot like the summer, burning like fire, Jalapeño and red onion. Then comes Mango, the hunky fire fighter to the rescue armed with sweet cherry tomatoes and a cool cucumber to ease the heat. Joining them are the fresh breeze – cilantro or mint and freshly squeezed lime juice rain. No, this is not a scene from a movie. It’s what you will experience when you taste this beautiful and surprising salad!