from amanda:
Okay, so these recipes are not ones that i've tried, but this blog is AWESOME and they all have good ingredients, so by grandma's rule, they should all be great. and this is just a few; there's a whole index you should look at.


http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/10/yellow-split-pea-soup-with-sweet.html for this one, use potatoes instead of sweet potatoes

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/04/caribbean-beans-and-quinoa.html

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/03/cumin-rice-with-eggplant-and-peas.html

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/08/eggplant-paprikash.html

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/08/orange-couscous-curry.html

secondly, here's what i do for lunch every day:

i think like this: grain, vegetable, protein. then i choose from all of the above, for example:

udon or soba noodles (great because they're super healthy, and they don't leave you feeling heavy like pasta, which dad would appreciate), chickpeas for protein, broccoli, mushrooms, and delicata or butternut squash, a green onion for on top, and then i mix together about a teaspoon each of hoisin, braggs aminos, tomato paste, and a half teaspoon each of rice vinegar and maple syrup (i don't really measure, it's just a little bit), and then a small splash of water and a shake of red pepper flakes. so i mix that stuff together, stirfry the vegetables in a little water while the noodles are boiling (do the squash first because it takes longest, then add in the others), and then i drain the noodles, add in the veggies, and toss with the sauce. it takes about 15 minutes.

i keep a squash in the fridge because i love squash and i take about a 1-cup sized chunk at lunch time.

another one i do: quinoa with chickpeas, curried apples, squash, and red peppers, topped with toasted walnuts or pecans and raisins. i set the quinoa to cooking (quinoa's great because it's high in protein and delicious), which takes 20 minutes, and while that's cooking, i do the squash first, then add in chopped apples and red peppers. i spice it up with turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, and coriander, and sometimes a little cardamom too. then when the quinoa's done, i toss them all together in one bowl and top with nuts and raisins. sometimes i drizzle about a quarter teapsoon of olive oil on top (otherwise, i do my veggies only in water in a nonstick pan, not with oil).

i like chickpeas a lot for my protein but you could use any kind of bean. i cooked up a batch of chickpeas, froze half and kept half in the fridge and used them for my lunches.

okay! recipes:

lately i've been using fire and spice a TON and i love it, but otherwise, here are a few recipes that you should check out:

in peter berley's the modern vegetarian (which you have, and if not, then tell me and i'll send you the recipes), check out: page 57- winter minestrone (i skipped the pesto but you could do it), mushroom stew with panfried tofu on page 61, three sisters stew with corn dumplings on page 65 (this one was REALLY good, and if you don't want to do the dumplings-- but they're deeelicious-- just throw in some frozen corn), morocan style tagine on 69, and if you don't want to do the tempeh, just throw in some chickpeas.


from the book veganomicon, which you might want to get because it RULES:

red lentil cauliflower curry:

olive oil
1 onion
1 chile pepper
2 shallots
half inch ginger
a parsnip
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1.5 cups red lentils
4 cups veggie broth or water
1.5-2 lbs caulilower, trimmed, sliced into chunks
2 tbs cilantro
2 tbs lime juice
1.5 tsp salt

have all ingredients chopped and ready. in a large stockpock, heat a little oil over medium heat, add onion and shallots until tender and translucent, 5-7 mins. add ginger and chile, saute 1 min. add spices and briskly stirfry for 30 secs, then ad parsnip and stirfry another min. add veggie broth, then elntils. cover pot, raise hat to high, boil a minute. give mixture a stir, then cover and lower heat to medium low, simmer for 10-12 mins. ad cauliflower, stir to coat, partially cover and simmer for 20-25 mins, till cauliflower is tener but not totally falling apart. remove from heat, stir in cilantro, lime, salt.

yum! serve with rice.

curried udon noodle stirfry

udon noodles

curry roux sauce:
2 tbs peanut oil (i usually use 1 tbs olive oil instead)
2 tbs flour
1.5 tsp curry powder
.5 tsp garam masala (or another of your fancy curry powders you guys have)
1/2 cup veggie broth
2 tsp sugar

for the stirfry:
olive oil
1 yellow onion
1 tsp ginger
1 red bell pepper
1 hot red chile
1/2 pound broccoli
1/4 cup veggie broth
2-3 tbs soy sauce
the protein of your choice: i use tofu in this, they suggest seitan (which is DELICIOUS but i don't know if you can get it out there. sam loves it; he says it has the consistency of lamb)

first: cook the udon according to package.

then, prep the roux:
combine flour and oil in a small saucepan, cook over medium low, stiring constantly with a wooden spoon, till it browns to color of caramel and smells toasty, about 7 mins. stir in curry powder and garam masala, and cook for another min, with a whisk stir in vegie broth, then sugar, and cook till it's thick, about 2 mins. remove from heat, set aside.

stirfry:

heat oil in a wok or skillet, cook onion for 5-6 mins. add ginger, red pepper, chile, and protein, stirfry for another 5 mins, till pepper gets soft. addd broccoli, stirfry for 4-5 mins, till it turns bright gren. add the udon to the veggies, sprinkle with soy sauce, stirfry for another 2-3 mins. whisk 1/4 cup of the veggie broth into curry roux sauce, then pour the sauce over the stirfry and stir to coat everything completely witht he sauce. stir and cook for 2-3 mins till sauce is simmering and noodles are warm. remove from heat and serve.


tomato and roasted eggplant stew with chickpeas.

olive oil
2 large eggplants (about 3 lbs)
1 bulb garlic (BULB!!!)
2 red bell peppers
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup white wine
2 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz can chickpeas

preheat the oven to 450 and make it so you can stick 2 pans in the oven. quarter the eggplant lengthwise and slice acrosss into 3/4 inch slices. line 2 baking sheets with parchment. arrange eggplant slices on the parchment and brush lightly with olive oil. remove teh stems and seeds from the bell peppers and put them on the pans too, lightly brushed with oil, cut side down. remove papery skins from garlic bulb and put it on one of the pans too.

roast for 25 mins, then take out the red peppers, and flip the eggplants over, and roast for about 15 mins more. you'll want to take the skins off the red peppers, they peel right off after roasting. the garlic should roast for the whole 40ish mins.

on the stove: preheat a soup pot over medium high, saute onions for 10-12 mins, then add the garlic (i skipped this since you can add whole roasted cloves, but with dad, you might want to skip the whole roasted cloves and just use 3 cloves of garlic instead). add the white wine and herbs and cook for 5 mins more. add tomatoes, then eggplant, and mix it all up, crushing the eggplant a little. add the red peppers after you chop them into bite size pieces, and then the chickpeas. simmer for 20 mins. if you're usign the garlic, squeeze the cloves out of their skins and add to the pot. mix well, turn off the heat, and eat it! we ate it on top of couscous, but you could eat it on rice or any other grain too.


that's all for now! more later!

me