17 posts tagged “vegetarian”
Okay, so that is a picture of the S'more Cupcakes (Seriously, DO NOT replace the frosting with marshmallow fluff, it does NOT work well. Melts all over the place.) and the Carrot Cupcakes with homemade Cream Cheese Frosting. Delicious, probably my favourite thus far. These are all from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The most brilliant book ever. These have been a hit with EVERYONE that have tasted them. Gobbled up :)
Well, I've had a request for the Pumpkin Cupcakes. They were wonderful. I wasn't able to take a picture of those. But I made half with and half without chocolate chips (just add them after filling half the cups) since my mom doesn't like pumpkin and chocolate. They are a bit dense, but they were still delicious. I'll highlight the small change I made:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing
Makes 12 Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 cup canned punpkin
1/3 cup oil (I split it oil/apple sauce)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup AP Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
I added 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c choc. chips
--Cinnamon Icing
Direction:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil/apple sauce, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon/pumpkin spice, salt. Stir together with a fork--don't use a handheld mixer, as it will make the batter gummy. Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Fill liners two-thirds full. Bake for 22-24 minutes. Transfew to wire rack and let fully cool before icing.
Cinnamon Icing
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (also added some pumpkin spice)
2 Tbl margarine, melted
1 Tbl soy milk
1.2 tsp vanilla
1. Place sugar and cinnamon/pumpkin spice in a small bowl. Add the margarine, soy milk, and vanilla and stir with a fork until smooth. Keep at room temperature until ready to use. The mixture should look opaque and honey brown. If it's glistening a lot or looks too liquid, add a little extra confectioners' sugar.
Assemble:
I just used a spoon and drizzled the icing on -- the book tells you to pipe it on. Whatever.
~Nikki
Apple Golden Raisin Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients:
1 1/2 c Rolled Oats
3/4 c AP Flour
1/2 c firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 c plus 2 Tbl granulated sugar, divided
3/4 c butter flavor Crisco stick or shortening
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped Granny Smith Apples
1/2 c golden raisins
1/2-3/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
Changes:
Sugar: I used splenda brown sugar blend in place of the brown sugar (so my mom could eat them, she is diabetic). I also replaced the granulated sugar with agave nectar.
Cream cheese: I used half neufchatel cheese (like cream cheese but less fat)
Eggs: I used Ener-G egg replacer because I don't like using eggs
Also used Fuji Apples (and probably about 1 1/2 c total, just one apple though), regular raisins plus some dried cranberries, and 1/2 tsp almond extract (recipe called for 1 tsp but it was very overpowering. I would use less next time)
Recipe:
1. Heat over to 350F
2. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, and 1/4 c granulated sugar in large bowl; mix well. Cut in shortening with fork until crumbs form. Reserve 1 c of mixture.
3. Spray 13x9 inch baking pan with Cooking spray. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes or until mixture is set. Do not brown. Place on cooling rack.
4. Combine cream cheese, eggs, 1/2 c granulated sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Spread evenly over crust.
5. Combine apples and raisins in medium bowl. Add almond extract; stir. Add 2 Tbl sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice; mix well. Top cream cheese mix evenly with apple mixture; sprinkle reserved oat mixture evenly over top. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until top is golden. Place on cooling rack, cool completely. Cut into bars.
Makes 18 bars.
Hint: If you forgot to take the cream cheese out to soften, simply remove the wrapper, place in a small bowl and microwave on medium for 15-20 seconds or until slightly softened.
I really loved this recipe and I am FAR from even liking regular cheesecake. This was fantastic. You should try it!
From
~Nikki
From: Neelam Batra's 'The Indian Vegetarian: Flavors for the American Kitchen'
1 bunch mustard greens, trimmed of tough stems and washed
1 small turnip, peeled and chopped
1/4 c water
3 Tbl veg oil
One 3-inch stick cinnamon
8 green cardamom pods, pounded lightly to break the skin*
One 1 1/2 by 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into julienne strips
1 1/2 c finely chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 c finely chopped fresh tomatoes
1/4 c nonfat plain yogurt, whisked until smooth (Note: I used soy yogurt)
2 Tbl ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 recipe basic paneer cheese, cut into 1 by 1/4-inch squares
cherry tomatoes for garnish
*Substitutes: brown cardamom OR equal parts ground nutmeg and cinnamon OR equal parts ground cloves and cinnamon OR nutmeg OR cinnamon
**You can buy paneer in some high-end grocery stores. I use tofu and it ends up having a similar consistency. Cut the X-tra firm tofu into the right sized squares (the recipe they refer to makes 30 of the 1 by 1/4 in squares. Shouldn't take more than a block, probably less). Put in a bowl and toss with enough veg oil to coat them. Pour out onto a baking sheet covered in tin foil. Back at around 350 the entire time you are cooking your dish until they sort of toughen up (but don't brown them).
Place the spinach, mustard freens, turnip, and water in a large nonstick saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over high hear. Reduve the hear to medium and continue to simmer until the turnip is tenger, 5 to 7 minutes. Cool, then process in a good processor until smooth. Return to pot and set aside.
Heat the oil in a small saucepan over moderately high heat and cook the cinnamon, cardamom pods, onion, and ginger, stirring, until the onion turns medium brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook until all the liquid from the tomatoes evaporates, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the yogurt a little at a time to prevent curdling, then add the coriander, garam masala, paprika and salt.
Immediately transfer the contents to the pan with the blended spinach, cover, and simmer over medium heat for 7-10 minutes. Add paneer and stir gently to mix (Do not break the pieces). Simmer another 5 to 7 minutes to blend the flavours.
Transfer to a serving dish, garnish the the cherry tomatoes, and serve as a main dish with any Indian bread. Palak paneer stays fresh in the fridge for 4 to 5 days.
Makes 8 servings.
I'm really behind in posting all the recipes I've been making, aren't I? Well, here is a fantastic one that I made for Christmas. I makes a pretty big batch, but it freezes well. I also cheated and used pre-made pie crusts. Oh well :P This is quite possibly one of my favourite recipes I've ever made. Perhaps because of the copious amounts of cheese? In any case, I encourage all of you to try it. Once the veggies are chopped up, it really is pretty quick
From Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant
Pre-made Pie Crust
Filling
2 celery stalks, diced (about 1 cup)
1 small trunip, diced (about 3/4 c)
1 leek, washed and chopped (about 2/3 c or 1/2 c chopped scallions)
1 1/2 c diced carrots
4 c grated cheddar cheese (12 ounces)
pinch of mace
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
In a large bowl, miux together all the filling ingredients.
Preheat the over to 375F
Cut 6 9-inch circles out of pie-pastry crust.
Place 1/6 of filling in the middle of each pastry circle. Pack it down so that it will fit. Pull one edge over the filling to make a half circle. Seal the two edges together like a turnover. Turn the edges over all around and press with a fork or your finders to double seal. Cut slits in the top of each pastie so that steam can escape.
Back for 15 minutes at 375F, then reduce the heat to 350F and back for 15-20 minutes more, until lightly golden. Let the pasties rest for at least 5 minutes out of the oven before serving.
Make plenty, pasties are even better when reheated the following day. Or make a batch and freeze before baking.
MMM, delicious. And since I have to eat all my frozen food before I leave for Massachusetts and no one in my house will eat something without meat, I have a lot of yummy pastie dinners in my future :) Enjoy!
~Nikki
Hey everyone! Yes, I'm still alive and still here. I was in Washington D.C. for the beginning of the month looking for a job and apartment. Neither panned out. You can't get an apartment without a job and can't get a job without an apartment. But being there over the election was TONS of fun. Guess I haven't posted because I'm just too depressed with life right now because of my unsuccessful trip. But I don't go into those things on this journal, so, that is that. Future plans are to move in with my parents after I have to leave this apartment until Christmas (I have to be out of the apartment by the 17th, figured I would stay around to spend Christmas with the family) while continuing to look for a job in DC. Then, if it takes even longer, moving to my parent's new (empty) house up in Massachusetts while looking for a job so I would be closer to DC should I get a call for an interview. I just want a bleeding job already
Oh, and another part of my depressed state of affairs. My external harddrive had a head crash (meaning: it fell off a table) and completely broke. To get it fixed is going to cost over a thousand dollars. So....it will get done, but I'm going to store it for a while until I get a job. Really pissed off. Amazing how many things I had on there that aren't replacable. Like my pictures from China. Which is the entire reason I'm going to pay that ridiculous amount to get the information back. Plus other pictures from trips, New Orleans, England, etc. Then there are the movies, which aren't a big deal since I can just download them again or get them from my mother. And a few things I've since also figured out: all my Christmas music and my database of all my books, well over 200 that I REALLY don't want to enter in all over again.
And just to put icing on the cake, I've been having more problems with my computer. Occasionally when I turn it on, the keyboard doesn't respond. Which is a problem on a laptop because you can't just replace it. Then it freezes when I try and turn it off since I can't log on without a keyboard. The only way to restart the damn thing is to take out the battery. But obviously, this is totally random since I am now using it. I just can't afford this right now. A new harddrive, fix my old harddrive, might need a new computer soon....all I need now is for my car to break and my apartment to burn down. But I'm being overdramatic. I realise.
That is enough complaining. And as far as sewing projects go, there probably won't be many until after Christmas since I'm sewing most of my Christmas presents but can't post them since I don't know who will see the entry.
Now for the recipe.
Leek, Mushroom, and Sweet Potato Pasta
1 clove minced garlic
2 leeks, chopped
5 small portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 tomato, diced
1 sweet potato, chopped
approx 1/3 c of cream (I used soy creamer)
Spaghetti
Be sure to soak chopped leeks in water and rinse well to get the grit off. Drain before using, but don't dry.
Heat the oven to 400F. Put sweet potatoes in roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and some spices (basil, marjoram, etc) and put into oven
Heat oil in large frying pan/wok on low heat (olive oil has lower heat tolerance than canola/veg oil) and add garlic. Allow garlic to get fragrant and add leeks. Stir often and allow to cook for around 30 minutes until leeks are very soft. If the pan gets dry add some water or veg broth or cooking sherry.
After 30 minutes fill pot with water for spaghetti and bring to a boil.
First add some pepper to the leeks to offset some of their sweetness. Add portabello mushrooms to leeks and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add tomatoes.
Add spaghetti to boiling spaghetti water.
Add cream to leek mix and let cook on a low heat, stirring often.
Take out sweet potatoes and add them to the leak mix. If the potatoes are dry, they will soak up the cream, some more may be added if desired. Let the mix cook down till creamy. Drain spaghetti and add to wok. Coat with sauce and serve hot!
I get creative when my fridge starts to reach empty. This was a very interesting combination of flavours and a bit sweeter than most pastas. I thought it was very pleasant and automney and warm :)
~Nikki
I promise, I won't post again till I'm in a better mood so I don't subject you guys to this again. Maybe I'll post some pictures I took of DC that I was able to salvage out of my recycling bin before deleting completely after my harddrive died.
Maybe I should just stop numbering them, 10 posts for what is supposed to be a month of posting is kind of pathetic. Oh, and I found an Indian grocery store in my little town. Isn't that nice? It had everything I have been looking for. Once I get my cookbook back from my mother and get back from my trip to DC (eek), I'll be cooking up a monsoon while packing my life up. I called my mom to tell her about how awesome the place was, she kept saying, 'how come we are finding all these places right when we are moving (referring to the theatres, Indian sections of DFW with shops and now the grocery store)?' I told her, 'To be fair to Fate, we just started looking.' The lady working there was very nice, you can even rent dvds there. Awesome, right? I bought a bunch of stuff and it was really cheap, so I don't know if I'll have a reason to go back, since I'm leaving in a month and a half, but I would like to!
Anyway, here is yet another Indian spinach dish. It doesn't really look Palak Paneer however, and looking back I may have used too many tomatoes and too little cream. Actually, I'm sure that is what I did because I halved the recipe and forgot to halve the tomatoes :P Whatever. I like tomatoes, I'm sure it would be just as tasty if the recipe was followed correctly.
Only major change (other than my major mistake) was that I used tofu instead of cheese for the paneer. I cut it into pieces, coated them in oil and baked them. Better for you than deep frying them, but they come out more or less the same. Tofu is a fantastic substitute for paneer, if you ever have a recipe you need it in.
So, in any case, here is my dish, I thought it came out delicious, everything I make has tomatoes, so it wasn't really like it was a disaster, I loved it. Next time though...I'll try and make it more authentic.
- 1 10 oz package of chopped frozen spinach or 4 cups of fresh finally chopped spinach
- 1/3 lb paneer
- 2 medium tomatoes, pureed
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
- Pinch of hing or asafetida
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tomato thinly sliced to garnish
- 1/4 cup water
Method
If using frozen spinach thaw and blend it just for a minute so spinach has a creamy texture but without becoming pasty.
Mix ginger, coriander powder, turmeric, and red chili powder with tomato puree and put aside.
Mix whole-wheat flour with heavy cream and put aside.
Cube the paneer in about half inch pieces and deep fry them on medium high heat just for few minutes so paneer become very light gold in color, take paneer out on paper towel so extra oil can be absorbed.
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away it is ready. When oil is hot add hing and cumin seed. After cumin seeds crack, add the tomato puree mixture, and let it cook for a few minutes until you see tomato puree has started leaving the oil. Now add the spinach, and let it cook on low medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add heavy cream mixture and let this cook another four to five minutes.
Add paneer and fold it gently with spinach and let it simmer for a few minutes. Pot should remain covered until the cooking is finished, otherwise the spinach will splatter. Transfer the spinach to a serving dish and spread the tomato slices over the top, then cover the dish so tomato slices get tender with the steam from the spinach.
Suggestion
You can replace the heavy cream with 1 1/2 cups of milk.
I also made some more Gobi Ka Parathas from the frozen left over stuffing I had. They didn't turn out as well as last time (they fell apart more, oh well, just gotta get the rolling down!), but they tasted the same. The little cup in the picture is some tomatoe chutney that I picked up at the Indian store, it comes frozen in a pack of 4 of those little cups. Brilliant. Oh, but apparantly 'Masala Tomato' means spicy as hell. That was quite a shock when I licked it off my finger after opening it. Yow.
Enjoy!
~Nikki
I think I'm going to make those Pumpkin Sweet Rolls today, so keep an eye out for that :)
A few days ago I made a spinach side dish to go with some left overs I had (Indian food). Looked up a few recipes, but ended up kind of winging it. It turned out delicious though! It was a totally random way of making it (to me at least), but I would definitely make it again. I wouldn't necessarily say that it was Indian in flavour either,despite the name, so you can make it with anything! I'll do my best in coming up with directions, but honestly...I don't measure things when I cook.
- 2 Tbl oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 9 oz spinach
- Spices for taste: (approx:)
- 1/2 Tbl ginger, minced
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- Salt
- 2 Tbl water
- 2 Tbl Cream (I used Silk Soy Creamer)
Heat oil in a large skillet (with cover) over medium heat. Add the puree and sprinkle with garam masala. Put cover on skillet and simmer, stirring ocassionaly, for about 10 minutes (don't let it get too dry! Add more water if necessary).
Reduce heat to low, add spinach, mix in, and simmer, stirring, until done (5-10 more minutes, should be pretty well done)
Add Cream, simmer for a bit longer until most of the liquid has cooked off.
Serve and enjoy. It is delcious. This is a halved recipe, it only had 2-3 servings. Could easily be doubled if you want more. Adjust spices to your taste!
And then today I cooked up some chili in my crockpot. Just a normal recipe, some beans, tomatoes, threw in half a can of pumpkin puree (doesn't affect taste at all, mostly a smooth texture I found) and put in half a butternut squash. Though, I plan on adding the other half because it sort of got lost in the chili. It turned out good though! Bit of a different taste than my plain chili, nice for a change. Made some Pumpkin Cornbread to go with it. Mmmm, it smelled SO good while cooking! I enjoyed it, great for a subtle change from regular cornbread and hey, I am obsessed with pumpkin, nothing with pumpkin could be wrong!
Got the recipe from here. My only real changes were Ener-G egg replacer instead of the eggs, I subbed half the oil for applesauce and some agave nectar since I didn't have molasses.
- 1/2 c all purpose flour
- 1/2 c wheat flour
- 1 c cornmeal
- 1 Tbs baking powder
- 1 tsp salt (I always leave out salt)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg (I didn't have any, so I threw in a hefty dash of pumpkin pie spice)
- equivalent of 2 eggs
- 1 c pumpkin puree
- 1/4 c oil
- 2/3 c brown sugar
- 1 Tbs molasses
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease 10 in pie pan or 9 in square baking pan
2. Sift together flours, baking powder, salt, spices, and cornmeal in large mixing bowl
3. In separate bowl, whisk together eggs (or replacer) pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, and molasses.
4. Make a well in the dry mixture. Add pumpkin mix and blend batter with a few quick strokes (don't over mix, just blend)
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cornbread is browned and the surface has a slightly springy feel.
Servings: 8
Enjoy!
~Nikki
Wow, only 8 posts for the month on Vegan MoFo....I'm awful at this, aren't I?
Anyway, actually cooked something new last night to go with my Alu Chole (the sauce was from a package, that is why I didn't post it)
So, they turned out good, I combined about 3 different recipes. The recipe that said to use a whole cauliflower...well...he was way off. I only used half of it, however, I did grate the entire thing. Anyone know what else to do with grated cauliflower?
I've never actually had these before, so I actually have no idea about how the turned out. They were a little dry, some yogurt or chutney would be amazing with it. Unfortunately, my mother still has my cookbook. Oh well. Without further ado, the recipe
Dough:
2 c. wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp oil
Filling:
1/2 medium cauliflower (2 cups), grated
1 med onion, finely diced
1 green chili, finely diced (looking back, adding one or two more would have been good as well)
Coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1) Mix the flour, salt and oil with enough water to make a stiff dough - set aside while making filling
2) Heat oil in pan and add cumin seeds, stir for a few seconds till fragrant, add onions, chili, ginger and coriander. Saute for a minute or two
3) add cauliflower and turmeric - cook on low, uncovered until cauliflower is cooked, about 10 minutes. Let cool (easier to fill)
4) Knead dough for 2 minutes and divide into 5 pieces. Roll out into circles with the center being thicker than the edges. Put the filling in the middle and bring the edges up covering the filling. GENTLY roll into a flat circle - be careful not to break it - i.e. after this step you'll realise why they say to have the center thicker.
5) Fry with a few drops of oil in a pan until each side is golden, flipping almost constantly.
Throw in a Hindi movie, eat, and enjoy.
And like I said, a yogurt dip or chutney would be really great with this.
Links used: (might give more detailed directions if you are unsure)
One Hot Stove
Priya's kitchen
The yum blog
It isn't like I was overzealous with cooking earlier this week, but it sure seems like I've been eating more of the same thing than I usually do.
So, if anyone else made my recipes, here is something I did with some leftovers. I absolutely refused to eat another Clayuda, but I had so much left over!
So, I got out that bean puree and put it on some of those oh-so-small tortillas. I sliced up half a zucchini and sauteed them in a bit of paprika and cayenne pepper to put inside. I also added a little bit of salsa in my mini burritos. I rolled them up and stuck them in a little dish for the oven. Then, I made some Nutritional Yeast Queso Sauce to pour over the top. Obviously, I once again halved the recipe. I also used 1/4c salsa and 1/2c canned tomatoes. I sprinkled some cheese on top before I stuck these in the oven as well. The cheese sauce was surprisingly good! I wasn't really expecting much from fake cheese, but I'm glad it turned out. I may have to go out and buy some chips to eat the rest of it with or something...
But even with only half a zucchini and half a recipe of sauce, I still ended up with leftovers of my leftovers! Ah well, c'est la vie.
But, it was something a little different than what I have been eating all week at least. I had to really pull myself away from getting something out of the freezer because I was so sick of eating these leftovers, but I knew, deep down, that I can't afford to let food go to waste! See, that is how cheap I am :P Economic meltdown practice, lol.
That is my post for the day. Just a little example of how to not waste food! And I needed to sit still for a while because, even with the leftover leftovers, I stuffed myself. I'm telling you, it takes some careful planning. If I go and buy chips for the rest of my queso dip, it means I need to make chili next week to eat the rest of my chips with! I need to move in with someone just so they can help me eat food!
~Nikki
Made two side dishes yesterday. First was some Spanish rice to go with the Clayudas I had left over, the other was a salad, which is technically meant to be a full meal salad, but I used it as a side to go with half a sandwich (some of the left over eggplant spread and that delicious baked italian tofu on the sourdough that my mom bought me....mmmm)
1 cup uncooked rice -- I used brown
1 1/2 cups cold water plus 1/2 veggie broth
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
olive oil
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
small tomato, diced
hot pepper of your choice, sliced lengthwise -- I didn't have one on hand, so I used a hefty dash of cayenne pepper
Salsa - a little less than 1/4 c
1 teaspoon cumin powder (I used more, I love cumin)
I changed tomato sauce to salsa plus I added a good bit of cayenne pepper (I love spicy), so this end result is quite a bit spicier than the original. Just be warned!
Put a little olive oil (tbsp or so) into a medium-sized pot and heat to a medium temp. Add the rice, uncooked, and brown in the oil. Make sure all the rice is lightly coated with the oil. you do not have to stir the rice around very much at first, while browning, but as the rice becomes browner you want to be stirring it around to make sure it all browns evenly and doesn't burn. It will turn BROWN....its not burning unless its turning dark/black. Towards the end of the browning, add the garlic so that it is sort of sauteed/browned.
Next, dump the water on the rice (it will steam up loudly) and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well and cover (with a small air escape). Reduce heat to medium-low to medium, and let cook for 20-30 minutes. (cooking time and temp varies with your stove....check after 20 min to make sure you don't burn!) Note: Brown rice also takes longer than white.
The essential part of this recipe is DO NOT PEEK while the rice is cooking
When it is ready, all the water will be absorbed, the rice will fluff, and each grain will be split open because of the browning. It should be dry, not saucy. You can adjust the spices/peppers to your taste.
Serves 4; Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook time: 15 Minutes
Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, sliced
2 red chilis, halved, deseeded, and sliced
4 tsp cumin seeds, lightly crushed
2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 tomatoes, halved, deseeded and diced
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 naan bread
FOR THE SALAD:
1 oz fresh coriander
1/2 cucumber, cut into thick batons
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
4 oz fresh baby spinach
The changes I made:
I didn't have red chilis. I added some cayenne pepper and a tiny bit of garlic chili sauce at the beginning of the recipe, just to spice it up. I also chopped up a yellow bell pepper I had lying around, I put half in the salad (uncooked) and put half in the recipe at the same time they tell you to put the chili in. Hung on to the spices very nicely. I also used a white onion instead of red. And the bought lemon juice instead of fresh. And like I said, I halved the recipe and have a ton left over.
1. Put 5 Tbsp of the oil into a large pan and add the garlic, chilies, and cumin. Warm over a medium heat for 10 minutes - take care not to burn the garlic. Add the chickpeas, then warm through for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the grill to high (I used a toaster oven)
2. Add the tomatoes, lemon zest and juice to the chicpease, season, then set aside.
3. Brush the naan with the remaining oil. Grill both sides until crisp and golden then, when cool enough, tear into 3 cm pieces
4. Toss together the salad ingredients and divide between 4 plates. Spoon the chickpea mix over. Top witht he naan croutons.
Enjoy the recipes!! Both tasty, both with a little bit of (controllable) kick. Great :)
~Nikki
