Category: Vegetarian/Vegan

Pakoras are one of my all time favorite Indian snacks.

Who would think combining a few vegetables together, dipping them into gram flour (chickpea) and frying/baking could turn out such a delightful snack.  Of course I knew that you don’t need a lot of ingredients to make a delicious meal. Many of the foods I prepare use four ingredients or less.

In the past, the pakoras I’ve made have been (usually) pan fried. Since we don’t eat them often I’m not worried about packing on the excess poundage. Since pakoras have been on my brain for the past week or so, I do believe I’ll finally get around to making them today.

So… I guess you can add pakoras to my list of recent cravings that I’ve finally decided to make at home. I’ll be sure to post pictures.!

Last week, I made baked curried lentil burgers and vegan ranch fries to satisfy my food cravings. And this morning, I made  my modified version of V8 juice. Good thing I like  to cook, I rarely follow a recipe. I have more fun creating my own.

I prefer savory foods to sweets and so this morning I gathered some tomatoes, romaine lettuce and garlic from our garden and made them into a vegetable smoothie. The taste was similar to a V8 juice.

 

I could have added cucumbers and dark leafy greens like kale, collard or dandelion, but I didn’t feel like going outside to pick them. It had started raining. I combined everything (16 ounces of water, 3 tomatoes, 2 large cloves of garlic, ground raw pumpkin seeds, two handfuls of romaine lettuce and some added spices/seasonings)  into my Vita-Mix.

Within a few seconds I had my own vegetable smoothie. Similar to V8 juice, but without the high sodium content that (usually) runs rampant in that beverage.

And although the vegetable smoothie was simple, I must say it was packed with a variety of nutrients.

Health Benefits: Garlic

• Garlic can help reduce your cholesterol
• Garlic boosts your immune system
• Raw garlic eliminates some intestinal parasites
• Garlic boosts your immune system
• Garlic lowers your blood pressure

Health Benefits: Romaine Lettuce

• Romaine lettuce is a rich source of Iron, protein, Calcium, Omega 3’s, rich in B vitamins, A and K
• Romaine lettuce contains a lot of water

Health Benefits: Pumpkin Seeds

• Pumpkin seeds can reduce your risk of cancer
• Pumpkin seeds are antimicrobial and anti fungal
• Raw pumpkin seeds is used to expel internal parasites
• Great source of vitamins and minerals

Health Benefits: Tomato

1. Tomatoes are high in potassium, vitamin A, C and E
2. Tomatoes reduce the risk of heart disease
3. Tomatoes protects against thrombosis (blood clots in the blood vessels)
4. Tomatoes are high in fiber

References:

1. The Worlds Healthiest Foods:  What’s New and Beneficial about Garlic?
2. Mercola: Chemists Shed Light on Health Benefits of Garlic
3. SFGate: Benefits of Eating Raw Pumpkin Seeds
4. Science Daily: Health Benefits of Eating Tomatoes Emerge
5. World’s Healthiest Foods: Romaine Lettuce

 

A few days ago, I made curried lentil burgers (vegan.) I’d been craving a good veggie burger for a while and finally got around to making my own. I don’t purchase frozen veggie burgers. Personally, I don’t think they taste that great. Besides, I can make a much better veggie burger.

 

 

After I gathered all the ingredients needed, I mixed everything together.

 

I formed the ingredients into burger sized patties. Then, I put the patties on a tray and stuck them in the oven.

When making veggie burgers, I tend to bake them into the oven instead of cooking them in the skillet. I’ve found the end results is a much firmer “veggy burger.”

 

 

At the halfway mark I flipped the burgers.

 

My curried lentil burgers were an overwhelming success!  I didn’t make more ranch fries to accompany this meal. In hindsight, perhaps I should have made pakoras (Indian spiced vegetable fritters.) Instead of frying them, I would have made a baked version.

But back to the curried lentil burgers. They were moist, high on flavor and low on calories. Which is how it should be. I must say, that these burgers were even popular with those who weren’t vegetarian/vegan; the burgers didn’t last long.

On Independence day (July 4th),my daughter and I were craving fries.

Although I could have made shoestring fries, we both wanted something a bit thicker and with wedges… and so I made ranch fries.

 

Five potatoes were cut and tossed into a ziplock bag. Olive oil was added along with other spices/seasonings. After that, I closed the bag and  shook everything.

 

Once the ranch fries were seasoned to my preference, I laid them on a tray and slid them into the oven.

 

 

 

Before long we had some crispy golden ranch fries. Much better than the frozen kind you purchase at the grocery store and my daughter thought they tasted better than the fries we occasionally get at restaurants. Eating at restaurants is a “once in a blue moon” occasion since I much prefer making our meals.

 

I love black beans…

 

I only use dried beans, I’ve found them much more flavorful (and healthier) than purchasing canned beans. When I prepare dried beans, I normally cook a lot of them in advance, freeze the bulk of the beans and use as needed. It’s simple, and much better than the canned beans purchased from the store.  Black beans are delicious and are loaded with nutrients.

Black Beans: Health Benefits

• Black beans are great for your cardiovascular health. They’re loaded with soluble fiber; this type of fiber is helpful in lowering your risk of heart disease.
• Black beans are also great sources of folate (B6) our nervous system depends on this to create the amino acids that it needs to function.
• Black beans contains several types of flavonoids. Studies have shown consuming these types of flavonoids can help reduce certain types of cancers.
• Since black beans are a great source of protein and fiber it helps move the food through the stomach and large intestines. Which aids the digestive tract from working too hard.

I added carrots, cauliflower, onions and garlic to this dish. I also added some spices. The cauliflower and garlic came from the garden. I’ve found that fresh garlic tastes much better than the garlic you typically receive from the store. Fresh cauliflower, is amazing also.

I was going to add zucchini, that’s plentiful in our garden but I held off adding it to this dish. However, today, I’ll be using zucchini in a dish.This was a simple, nutritious and delicious meal and was prepared in minutes.

 

Resources:

1. Cancer Letters: Inhibition of Caco-2 colon, MCF-7 and Hs578T breast, and DU 145 prostatic cancer cell proliferation by water-soluble black bean condensed tannins
2. Cancer Letters: Consumption of black beans and navy beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) reduced azoxymethane-induced colon cancer in rats.
3. Natural News: Research links eating cooked black beans to lowered risks of cancer
4. Department of Health: Folic Acid The Vitamin that Helps Prevent Birth Defects

We’re not big tofu eaters in my house, but now and again I’ll prepare a dish that calls for tofu.

What’s amazing about tofu is that it takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. I think of it as my blank canvas that I can turn into whatever I want. A few years ago I made a chocolate truffle pie. The secret ingredient was tofu. A few of my friends didn’t believe that tofu was in there, until they saw me make one.

Last week I made tofu scramble for my daughter and myself. My daughter was pleased since she loves tofu scramble, and I was thrilled that because the meal was colorful, nutritious, and on the table in under ten minutes.

For Thanksgiving, my daughter wants Indian and Caribbean food. I suggested we go out to eat, but she wants us to make the food at home. Uhm, ok… looks like we’ll be cooking on our unturkey day. 😉

Craig Mack: Flava in Ya Ear (ReMix)