Salmon and Souvlaki

Here’s another one of our favorite vegetarian recipes (and why I’m posting them is here). For this recipe, it’s important that you use red (or yellow) lentils rather than brown or green lentils because the red ones will fall apart (which is what you want).

Red Lentil Coconut Curry
adapted from Simply In Season
serves 4-5

1 C dried red lentils (rinsed)
2 ½ C water

In a small saucepan, cook for 15 minutes or until tender and falling apart

While lentils are cooking:

1 medium onion, chopped
½  T oil (coconut or olive are both good)

In a large pan, sauté in over medium heat until softened.

½ T minced garlic
½ T peeled and minced fresh ginger root
1 T curry powder (or use less if you don’t want it to be so spicy)
¼ tsp each turmeric, cumin, black pepper
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Add and reduce heat.  Cook and stir constantly until very fragrant, about 3 minutes.

1 C coconut milk (or just use the whole can)
¼ C soy sauce
½ C tomato sauce or chopped tomatoes with their juices

Add and simmer on low heat for 10ish minutes, stirring occasionally.

½ of a medium head of cauliflower (cut into bite-size chunks)
1 medium sweet potato (cut into bite-size chunks)
¼ head cabbage (cut up in bite-sized pieces)
cooked lentils, with any remaining liquid

Add and cook until tender.  (Alternately, you can use basically any vegetables you want to.)

1-2 C peas (optional)
Add to pot and simmer until just heated through.  Add more soy sauce as needed for salt.

Serve over brown rice with plain yogurt.

(This recipe is actually a bit spicy so we do usually stir in some yogurt at the end.  So you may want to eliminate the ground red pepper and cut down on the curry powder if you don’t love spicy food and don’t want to use the yogurt.)

Here’s another one of our favorite recipes (and why I’m posting them is here).  We usually eat these with tomato soup.  This recipe is more for guidance than absolute amounts.  I usually make 20+ burritos at a time and freeze them.  So I roast a bunch of sweet potatoes, throw in a lot of black beans and then add a lot of all the other good stuff until it tastes good.  Freeze them individually on cookie sheets before putting into freezer bags.

The filling of the burritos is also delicious by itself, especially as a cold salad.  This makes it a good option for a gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan meal!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos
Adapted from a Baltimore Sun recipe from many years ago
makes approximately 9-10 burritos.

1 lb (about 2 medium) sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
olive oil
salt

Drizzle sweet potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Start in a cold oven and then roast at 400 degrees until just tender when pierced with a fork.* (It’s important that they don’t get too soft – you don’t want mashed sweet potatoes!  On the firmer side is better than too soft.)

3 C black beans (about 2 cans), well-rinsed, and drained
1 C diced and seeded cherry or plum tomatoes (or you can just skip the tomatoes, which we do when we’re making them in the winter)
1/2 of a red onion, finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
2-3 T fresh-squeezed lime juice (or more, to taste)
1/4 C chopped cilantro (optional, leave it out if you’re a cilantro hater)

Combine black beans, tomatoes, onions, cumin, salt, cayenne, lime juice, and cilantro in a large bowl.  Stir well.  Gently stir in roasted sweet potatoes.  Taste for flavor – add more cumin, salt, and lime as needed.

burrito-size flour tortillas
grated cheese (we usually use cheddar, Monterey Jack is good too)
sour cream

When ready to serve, soften tortillas by warming them slightly in a warm skillet.  Place approximately ½ C filling in each tortilla, put a little grated cheese on top of the filling, and fold up.  Cheese is certainly optional if you want these to be vegan and/or dairy-free.

If planning to eat right away, put in a 400-degree oven and bake until heated through and the tortillas are crispy.  Serve with sour cream.

Freeze leftovers for later!  It’s best to let them defrost before you heat them in the oven.  Otherwise, you end up with cold insides and too-crispy outsides.

*Starting sweet potatoes in a cold oven helps them turn out sweeter in the end.  It’s a trick that my sister-in-law taught us and we use it any time we bake sweet potatoes!

Here’s another one of our favorite recipes (and why I’m posting them is here).  Although certainly not authentic peanut noodles, these are easy and delicious!

Peanut Noodles with Vegetables
(adapted from a recipe I found in a magazine long ago)

2 T soy sauce
2 T plus 2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp (or more to taste) of chili garlic paste (or ½-1 tsp red pepper flakes)
1/2 C peanut butter
1 C water

Combine soy sauce, vinegar, chili paste, peanut butter, and water in a bowl and set aside.  Don’t bother trying to blend in the peanut butter.  That will happen when it cooks.

1 T oil (olive or coconut is what I usually use)
1 1/2 T minced fresh ginger (or more to taste)
4 cloves garlic, minced

Heat oil on medium heat and saute ginger and garlic for 1-2 minutes.  Add the sauce mixture and cook for about 7-10 minutes until smooth and slightly thickened.   Taste and add more soy sauce and chili garlic paste as needed.  If it gets too thick, add more water.

Several cups of cooked vegetables, all kinds (we often use a combination of any or all: sweet corn, broccoli, zucchini/summer squash, green beans, cabbage, etc.)

Add to the sauce and heat through.

1 pound spaghetti (or any other pasta is fine)

Meanwhile, cook in well salted water until al dente.

1 carrot (or more), grated (optional)

Toss pasta with the peanut sauce/vegetables and raw carrot.  Serve immediately.

The Best Cornbread Ever
(adapted from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe)
makes nine generous pieces (or 12 smaller ones)

1 C flour (white or whole wheat)
1 ½ C cornmeal*
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt

Whisk together in a large bowl and set aside.

¼ C packed brown sugar
¾ C sweet corn, fresh or thawed if frozen
1 C milk with 1 T white vinegar OR 1 C buttermilk
2 large eggs

In food processor or blender, blend brown sugar, corn, and milk for about five seconds. Add eggs and blend until well combined (with corn lumps still remaining), about five more seconds.

8 T unsalted butter (1 stick), melted

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Stir gently for just a few turns until it has barely started to combine.  Pour in the melted butter and continue to stir gently until everything is just moistened.  Do not over-beat.  Spread batter smoothly into a greased 8-inch square baking dish (glass is best, like Pyrex).  Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven until deep golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes.  Serve warm with honey and Black Bean and Corn Stew (among many options!).

*We make this with roasted cornmeal that we get from our mill.  It makes the cornbread even more amazing. If you can get your hands on some roasted cornmeal, try it that way!

This is one of our favorite vegetarian meals, particularly because it’s so fast and easy to make.  I also love this recipes because aside from the onion and garlic, I can pull everything else out of my freezer, from what we have preserved the summer before or cooked ourselves.  It makes our hard work feel justified! 🙂

Black Bean and Corn Stew
adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food from about 7-8 years ago
Serves 4 (and is very easily doubled)
(tastes great as leftovers too)

1 T olive oil (plus a little more if needed)
1 medium onion, diced
chopped jalapenos, to taste (about ½ C?) or you can use 1 small can of chopped green chiles, or add chili powder instead – if using canned, add with the beans and tomatoes

Preheat the oil.  Add the onion and jalapenos  and cook until soft, about 5-10 minutes.

 4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground cumin

Add and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes more.

2 C black beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 15-oz cans)
3 C diced tomatoes (or 2 14.5 oz cans) plus their juice
2 C water
¾ tsp salt

Add and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes (or for however long you have time to simmer it – less is fine).

1 C sweet corn (frozen is fine)

In a blender, purée 2 cups of the stew.  Return the puree to the pan and add the corn.  Simmer until heated through.  Taste and add more salt if needed.  Serve hot.

**Garnish with any or all: sour cream, cheddar cheese, diced red onion, hot sauce, chopped chives, and/or wedges of lime for squeezing.  We like to eat this with our amazing corn bread.