Palak-Bok Choy Stir Fry (Indian Style)

Vegan Mofo Day 21:

Weekend whizzed by very fast as usual, nothing much was accomplished, though there are too many tasks on the list. Didn't touch the stove until Sunday evening due to laziness, little bit of shopping and party at friends place. So finally when I started to cook, I had half a bag of baby spinach, half a bunch of bok-choy and a 3 huge bunches of scallions. So all of them went into this easy, tasty stir fry. I fried some home made vadiyalu/ wada (fritters, for lack of good English translation). My mom makes sure that I'm well stocked with these at all times.

Ingredients:

Baby Spinach - 3-4 cups, chopped (half a 16 oz. bag)

Bok Choy - 2 cups, chopped

Green onions - 2-3 bunches, chopped

Carrot - 1 small, cubed

Green chilies - 3, slit

Curry leaves - 6

Garlic - 3 cloves, minced

Shahjeera seeds - 1tsp

Kitchen King Masala - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat 2tsp oil in a sauté pan; add shahjeera seeds aonce they start to sputter, add garlic, onions, green chilies and carrots. Sauté for 4-5 minutes or until the onions are slightly wilted.
• Next add the chopped greens mix well; cover and cook till they are cooked, about 8-10 minutes.
• Add salt and masala; cook for another couple of minutes uncovered.

Serve with rice or roti.

Veggie Pakoda (Balls/ Fritters)

Vegan Mofo Day 19:

I sometimes worry about raising a vegetarian kid in this not-so-vegetarian world. As of now, he eats whatever I give him in day-care/ school and even his teachers in school know about his dietary preference and don't give him anything that has meat. But when I think of him going to a real school, I'm not sure how he's going to fare. How do I tell him that it's not OK to eat meat, but at the same time I want him to respect his friend's eating choices, I don't want him to say something that will hurt other kids. How do you guys teach your kids to say "no" to meat? Any comments and advise will be highly appreciated..

Coming to the recipe on hand. I made these veggie balls when my son's daycare had an International dish day. I was told that the kids really enjoyed them. I made them very mild and instead of deep frying used my Appam pan. So they are quite healthy and yummy too.

Ingredients:

Cabbage - 1cup, very finely chopped

Carrot - 1 small, grated

Green onion - 2, finely chopped

Green pepper - 1/2 cup, very finely chopped (may be half of a medium sized pepper)

Chickpea flour (Besan) - 1/4 cup (or more)

Rice flour - 2tbsp

Ginger + garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Red chili powder - 1/4tsp

Salt - to taste

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Method:

• Microwave all the veggies except the scallions with little water until completely cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.
• When cool enough to handle, add the chickpea flour, rice flour, salt, chili powder, garam masala, ginger+garlic paste and mix into a thick batter. Add more chickpea flour if the mixture is too wet. Add little water if the mixture is too dry (the veggies should be wet enough and no additional water is usually necessary).
• Heat an appam pan, add about 1/2 tsp oil in each hole. When the oil starts to sizzle, add about 1tbsp of batter in each hole and cook on medium-low flame until golden brown on all sides. These cook pretty fast, so constant attention is required. Adjust the heat so that all the balls cook evenly.

Serve hot with ketchup. They make excellent appetizers, just stick a fancy toothpick in each of them and serve with a dip.

Caribbean Coconut Rice

Vegan Mofo Day 18:

This recipe from Vegetarian Times has been on my list "to-make" for a very long time and last night I made it. It is very simple to make, but is packed with flavor. I wanted to add some Caribbean flavored tofu I had on hand to the rice, but the flavors were too bold and I didn't think my 3 year old would like it much. So I made just the rice (which by the way, the kiddo loved) and tofu separately (I sautéed tofu with some green onions & spinach and seasoned it with coconut milk powder, salt & pepper). Yummy dinner I should say and perfect for a weeknight meal.

Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Times.

Ingredients:

Rice - 2cups, preferably Jasmine rice (I used Blue Ribbon brand long grain rice)

Light Coconut milk - 1½ cups

Ginger - 1" piece, grated

Garlic - 2 cloves, finely minced

Cinnamon stick - 1" piece

Lemon zest - 2tsp, grated

Salt - to taste

White Pepper - ½tsp (or more to taste)

Sugar - 1tsp

Toasted Unsweetened Coconut - 2tbsp (optional)

Method:

• Rinse and drain the rice. Keep aside.
• In a medium sauce pan, heat 2tsp butter (I used Earth Balance butter). Add ginger, garlic & cinnamon stick. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until it starts smell fragrant.
• Add rice and sauté for 2 minutes or until rice turns opaque.
• Add coconut milk, 2½ cups of water, sugar, pepper and salt. Bring to a simmer on medium heat.
• Reduce the heat to low; cover and cook for 15 minutes (no peeking please). Let the rice rest for 5 minutes.
• Fluff with a fork garnish with toasted unsweetened coconut (if using) and serve with any Asian or Caribbean side dish.

This is the first time ever in my life, the rice turned out perfect when cooked in a pot. I'm so used to cooking in the pressure cooker that whenever I try to cook separately in the pot, it either turns out to be mushy or undercooked. Do try this rice and the addition of lemon zest brings a new dimension to the taste. Enjoy!!

Multi Grain Bread

Vegan Mofo Day 16:

OK Guys... Finally after a lot of deliberations & discussions, we've added a Kitchenaid Stand mixer to our ever growing kitchen appliances list. I had to take the storage space available, usage and the price into consideration. I do bake almost every week and I thought I can re-organize my counters to accommodate the new arrival, but the price was still an issue.

So when I saw Kohl’s had it on sale for $199.99 ($259.99 Retail), got another 30% off for using Kohl’s credit card; so I ended up paying $150 (that’s including tax), with another $20 mail-in rebate. So I’m a happy to get a Kitchenaid that is 2nd in Consumer Reports rating for less than $150.

For my first attempt, I made “Multi-Grain Bread” using Peter Reinhart’s recipe from “The bread baker’s Apprentice”. The recipe called for kneading for 10 minutes in the stand mixer, but I took it out after 5 minutes and kneaded it by hand for another 7 minutes.

Ingredients:

For the Soaker:

Coarse cornmeal (polenta) or quinoa or millet or amaranth – 3tbsp

Rolled oats or wheat or buckwheat or triticale flakes – 3tbsp

Wheat bran – 2tbsp

Water – ¼ cup

For the Bread:

Bread flour – 3cups

Brown sugar – 3tbsp

Yeast – 2tbsp

Salt – 1½tsp

Cooked Brown Rice - 3tbsp

Milk or Buttermilk – ½ cup (I used Soymilk. You can also use water instead)

Water – ¾ cup, at room temperature

Honey – 1½ tbsp (omit if vegan)

Method:

• Prepare the soaker the night before you plan to make the bread: Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. Water is going to just cover the grains and helps in hydrating. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature overnight.
• Next day make the bread: In a mixing bowl or in the stand mixer bowl, add flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Stir together using the paddle attachment.
• Next add water, milk and honey. Stir until ingredients form into a ball. Change to the dough hook and knead for 8-10 minutes. Alternately knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 12 minutes.
• The dough is quite sticky to begin with; after kneading it is tacky but not sticky and becomes smooth with a shiny surface.
• Transfer into a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 90 minutes or until doubled. One tip from the Kitchenaid manual that helped me with proofing the dough in this cold temperature is to turn on the oven at 400°F for 1 minute and turning it off. Then put the bowl (covered with a kitchen towel) in the center of the oven.
• After the first rise, take the dough out and roll it into a ¾ inch thick rectangle of 6” wide and 8 – 10” long. Then roll it from the short edge to form into a loaf, pinch the edges to seal and transfer into a lightly greased 9” x 5” bread pan.
• Spritz lightly with cooking spray; cover loosely with plastic wrap (and a kitchen towel) and let rise for another 90 minutes. At this point, you can also make individual rolls instead of making into a log.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake on the center rack for 20 minutes. Individual rolls should be done baking by then. If baking the log, turn the pan 180° and bake for another 15 minutes.

Bread should have a golden brown crust and should make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Remove bread from the pan immediately and let cool for at least 1 to 2 hours before slicing or serving.

The bread has a slightly crunchy crust and the interior has a nice texture from the added grains.

It is perfect for breakfast with some peanut butter and jelly or with any sandwich accouterments or just to to dunk in soup . Well worth the effort I must say.