Coconut Chickpea Masala

This is my go-to dish for a quick & easy dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 large can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
• 3/4 cup of coconut milk
• 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil (for sauteing the onions)
• Spices to taste

Directions:

1. Heat up the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add the chopped onions, and let them saute, stirring occasionally.
3. Once the onions have softened up, and started to change colour, add the chickpeas, and stir them in with the onions.
4. Let some of the moisture from the chickpeas cook off–I let them sit in the pan for about 5 minutes, uncovered. Stir them so they don’t burn.
5. In a small bowl, mix the coconut milk in with some salt, pepper, and whatever curry spices you like. I use smoked paprika, a masala blend from a south indian grocery store in town, garlic power, cardamon powder, and a little turmeric.
6. Stir in the coconut milk-spice mixture.
7. Cover the skillet with a lid or large baking sheet, and allow the chickpeas to absorb the coconut milk. Give them a stir every so often, and cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
8. Turn the heat down to low, and cook uncovered for another 5 minutes or so.
9. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

You can serve this dish as is, with your favourite sweet chutney on the side; or you can mix it in with some rice (jasmine or basmati are best), and roll it up into roti or naan bread for a tasty “hands-on” meal!

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Vegan Baking’s Sticky Cinnamon Rolls

You got it…sticky, chewy, tasty cinnamon rolls from one of my favourite vegan food blogs, Vegan Baking!

I won’t lie–these bad boys were a lot of work, especially to roll out the dough; I probably should have let the dough rise for longer than I did. But! The result was no less delicious!

Observe:

Tofu Scramble with Roasted Yams

A little twist on the normal tofu scramble recipe (which is a definite staple in my house).

This is less of an official recipe, and rather more of a guide to what works for me. Cooking allows for a lot of freedom to experiment, so play around with volume and flavours.

Yams:
Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Wash, chop the yams (peeling is optional) into 1/2 inch chunks.

In a shallow metal baking dish, toss yams in olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast for 30-45 mins (or until soft).

Scamble:
I start by sautéing onions in a little grapeseed or coconut oil over medium-low heat. once the onions have become soft, and started to change colour, crumble some extra-firm tofu into the pan, and stir it in with the onions.

Next comes the seasoning. I usually add (to taste) ground sea salt, ground black pepper, dried dill, garlic granules, cumin, and paprika. Stir the spices in well, coating all the tofu. I like my tofu well-done, so I let some of the excess moisture cook off for a bit.

If you’re feeling adventurous, add some GOOD QUALITY hot sauce. I’m talking something with nice flavours, rather than just burning hot. My favourite is a Mexican brand, Valentina. It’s the best hot sauce I’ve ever had, and I tend to sneak it into just about every dish I make!

At this point, I would stir in some nutritional yeast, and turn the heat down to low.

Once the yams are done, toss them into the pan with the scramble, and mix it up.

Transfer to dish, and drizzle a little flax oil over top and toss.

For extra fun, try mixing in some fresh cilantro (or fresh parsley, or dill).

Done!

Pesto Pizza with Home-made Spelt Crust

Being an Italian, you’d think that I would have attempted to make an entirely home-made pizza before the age of 29 (childhood moments of helping my grandmother aside).

I’ve been trying to brave the waters of gluten-free/wheat-free baking for sometime, but I’ve encountered quite the learning curve with understanding the right proportions and substitutions. Traditional baking tends to be science first, art second, so messing around with key ingredients like flour and sugar is not to be attempted lightly.

Still, I managed to create a successful (and might I add, delicious!) pizza creation, so I thought I’d share the results with you fine folks:

For the crust, I used this recipe from Vegetarian Times.

For the “heck, yeah that’s good!” pesto sauce, look no further than Vegan Spoonful.

And, voila!

You can top it off with whatever tickles your fancy. I sauteed some white mushrooms and sweet onions, and added sun-dried tomatoes, dusted it with some cracked black pepper, a few chili flakes, some dried oregano and rosemary, and drizzled olive oil over top before baking.

Pumpkin Day!

MMMM…you know it’s the best time of year when all the markets start bringing in local squash!

To celebrate, I decided to have a pumpkin day. What started out as one recipe, turned into two, since I wanted to use up the mashed pumpkin I bought.

Admittedly, I ought to have bought a pumpkin, cooked and mashed it myself, but let’s be honest–I didn’t want to spend the entire day prepping these dishes.

First up is a Pumpkin Loaf from VegNews:

I omitted the ginger & cranberries, mostly because I didn’t have them on hand, but I also prefer the loaf without them. I also dusted some organic icing sugar on top of the loaf while it cooled. [Incidentally, the difference between organic icing sugar and the old Roger’s stuff I used to use is remarkable!]

Then, on a whim, I decided to use the remaining pumpkin in the PPK’s Oatmeal-Pumpkin Cookies:

Vegan Apple Crumble

I decided to use up the apples that my fiancée had bought last week before they turned, so I turned to the trusty Post-Punk Kitchen for this delicious recipe for Apple Crisp!

Fresh from the oven:

Half-eaten: