Chimp Cakes

Many of the friends think it is very strange that we celebrate our son’s monthly birthday. We put a cute new outfit on him, make a cake and take pictures. One of my friend actually said that it is too much to think about and arrange for. But for us it’s something we enjoy and cherish every month.

It’s hard to believe that our little fella will soon be 1 and before we even realize he’ll be off to college. I hope time takes a little break and he doesn’t have to grow up that fast.

For this month’s birthday, I made these Chimp cakes. I adapted the recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine. This is a vegan recipe, but I made it non-vegan. Here’s my non-vegan version of the recipe.

Recipe Adapted from here.
Ingredients:
All-purpose flour – 1 cup
Whole wheat pastry flour – 1 cup
Baking Soda – 1 tsp
Brown Sugar – ½ cup
Regular Sugar – ½ cup
Unsweetened Apple sauce – ½ cup
Canola Oil – 1 cup
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
1% Milk – ¼ cup
Bananas – 3 medium, mashed
Chocolate chips – 1 cup
Walnuts & Cashews – ½ cup, chopped


Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 18 muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
• Whisk the two flours, sugars and baking soda in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
• In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, oil and vanilla essence.
• Fold applesauce mixture into the flour mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts into the batter.
• Fill prepared muffin tins 2/3 full with the batter. Bake 25-30 minutes or until the cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes, then unmold onto wire rack to cool.
  

This is my entry to
* Meeta’s (@ What's For Lunch Honey?) Monthly Mingle: Fruit and Chocolate and
* Hima’s (@ Snackorama) Sunday Snacks-Bake it event.

Thai Broccoli Salad

I got paired with 28 Cooks for this month's Taste and Create XIII edition created and hosted by Rachel @ For the love of food. Fiber @ 28 Cooks calls herself a Vegaquarian and her blog has a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan recipes. Her hearty vegetarian sub, Curried Lo Mein and Black Bean cakes are on my must-make list. For the event I made Broccoli salad with Thai peanut sauce. It was simple, but full of flavor.

Ingredients:
Peanut butter, smooth - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 1/2 tbsp
Hot water - 1 1/2 tbsp
Lime juice - 1 1/2 tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Sesame oil - 1 1/2 tsp
Red pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp
Broccoli florets - 2 bunches
Bell pepper - 1 medium, julienned (I used 1 green bell pepper)
Carrot - 1 medium, julienned
Onion - 1 medium, thinly sliced
Garlic - 3 cloves, minced

Method:

• Blend peanut butter, sugar, water, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, and pepper flakes until well blended and set aside.
• Heat oil over medium high heat in a large pan. Add the veggies and garlic, and stir-fry until tender crisp.
• Remove from heat, place in a large bowl and pour dressing over it. Mix well and serve.

This salad is quick, filling and delicious. I would add fried tofu for a complete meal next time.

Gulab Jamuns from Scratch

My MIL makes awesome gulab jamuns from scratch. I grew up eating MTR jamuns and I loved them until I tasted the jamuns made from scratch with khoya. They are quite easy to make and they taste soooo good.

Ingredients:
Khova/ Khoya – 1 pkg (I used Nanak frozen khoya)
Sooji (semolina) – ¼ cup
Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
Oil/ Ghee – enough for frying

For the syrup:
Sugar – 2 cups


Method:

• Thaw khoya by leaving it in the refrigerator overnight and resting on the counter for couple of hours.
• Add water to sooji and knead till it resembles roti dough. Cover and let it rest for about 1 hour. Knead again for another 5 minutes.
• Add 2 cups of water to sugar and simmer till the sugar melts about 15-20 minutes.
• Crumble khova into the food processor and add sooji dough & cardamom powder. Pulse until it almost comes together, about 3-5 minutes. Remove into a bowl and knead well for at least 10 minutes.
• Roll them into small balls. My MIL makes them into bullet shaped balls because they fry up better without any rawness in the center.
• While the jamuns are being made, heat oil/ ghee; when it is hot enough, slowly slide in the first batch of jamuns and fry on medium flame till golden brown. Do not over crowd the pan; always fry in batches. Also keep an eye on the oil temperature; too hot jamuns burn.. not hot enough jamun centers are uncooked. Remove the fried jamuns onto a plate and let them cool for couple of minutes, before sliding them into the sugar syrup.
  

Enjoy warm or cold with some ice cream. These jamuns stay fresh at room temperature for upto 4-5 days. Makes about 25 jamuns.

Grilled Tempeh with Broccoli Rabe and Red Peppers

Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans and has higher content of protein, vitamins and dietary fiber compared to tofu. It also has a different texture and a very strong flavor (slightly bitter). My favorite way of cooking tempeh would be baking it in a marinade and made into a sandwich. Grilling it would be my second favorite; grilling makes it juicy and yummy.

I used broccoli rabe for the first time in this recipe. I have to admit that I didn’t like it. I thought I would because I like Karela (bitter gourd), but this was way too much bitter for my palate. Next time, I’m going to make this with either broccoli or broccolini (never had this before and is on my must-try list; now that broccoli rabe is out of it).

Recipe adapted from here.
Ingredients:
For the marinade:
Low-Sodium Tamari – 4 tsp
Olive oil – 4 tsp
Balsamic vinegar – 1 tbsp
Garlic, minced – 1 tbsp
Dijon mustard – 1 tsp
Dried basil – 1 tsp
Dried Oregano – 1 tsp
Onion powder – ½ tsp
Paprika – ½ tsp
Red pepper flakes – ½ tsp
Salt and Pepper – to taste

For Tempeh:
Tempeh – 1 8oz. pkg any variety (I used veggie style tempeh)
Red Onion – 1 medium, diced
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Broccoli Rabe – 1 bunch, roughly chopped
Red pepper – 1 medium, diced
Garlic – 1 tbsp, minced
Nutritional Yeast – 4 tsp
Salt and Pepper – to taste

Method:

• First prepare the tempeh for marinating. In a medium sauce pot bring some water to a boil. Cut tempeh into quarters and add them to the water. Let the simmer covered for 10 minutes.
  
• In the meantime whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a dish that’s big enough to place tempeh.
  
• After 10 minutes, remove tempeh from water and immediately place in the marinade. Cover and marinate for at least 1 hour.
  
• Preheat grill pan on medium-high heat. Grill tempeh for 5 minutes on each side.
  
• Reserve the marinade. Keep grilled tempeh warm in a warm oven until ready to serve.
  
• Then prepare broccoli rabe and red-pepper. To remove the bitterness of broccoli rabe, bring some water to a boil in a large skillet, cover and cook it for 5 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
  
• Wipe the skillet clean and add oil; when hot, add onions and sauté for 5-8 minutes until onions are soft and golden. Add garlic and red pepper. Sauté until peppers are tender. Then add cooked broccoli rabe, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. Serve along with grilled tempeh and rice.
  

This is my entry to this month’s JFI-Soy hosted by Lovely Sia @ Monsoon Spice. (JFI is the brain child of Indira @ Mahanandi)