Lunch Tomorrow

Whole wheat tortillas (Trader Joe's) stuffed with Cuban black bean salad, grilled peppers and onions, and a tiny bit too much red pepper flakes. Topped with sprouts and some grape tomatoes to snack on. :)

I'm excited!

Southwestern Couscous

I made this delicious dish for lunch tomorrow. I had planned on fancy Cajun-rubbed portabella mushrooms with an avocado cream...but alas! My Vegenaise was expired! I then had to scramble to make sure I had some proper food for tomorrow...a more official start of my cleanse.



Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup uncooked couscous (I used tricolor)
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth (I used water with 1/2 a garlic bouillon cube)
- 1 1/2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
- a dash of ground cumin
- 1 15oz. can of black beans
- salt/pepper to taste

Now...here is where things got a little fun. Since this was a last minute plan, all I could add to this was fresh avocado. In the future, I would certainly make sure I have some corn kernels, green onions, or peppers on hand.

Directions:
- Bring broth to a boil and stir in the couscous.
- Cover the pot and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, vinegar, and cumin. Add beans and the other vegetables. Toss to coat.
- Fluff the couscous well, and add to the bowl with the dressing/beans.
- Mix well (breaking up any couscous chunks) and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves:
1 large portion or two side servings.

Flavorful Soybeans

This was pretty damn delicious and I can see it being a side or an entree with some couscous.



Ingredients:
100g soybeans, soaked overnight
2 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
.5 teaspoon garam masala
2 tablespoons cilantro
salt

Directions:
1. Bring a pot of water (2 cups) to a boil, lower flame, add salt to taste (around 1/4 tsp), and cook the pre-soaked soy beans for about 30 minutes, or until cooked.
2. Drain.
3. While the beans are cooking, heat oil in a saucepan on a medium-high flame and add the mustard powder.
4 When the mix starts to brown, add the chopped onions and sauté until they turn brown.
5 Now add the tomato paste, red chili powder, garam masala powder, and sauté for about 5 minutes.
6 Add the cooked soy beans to the saucepan, mix well and sauté for another 5 minutes.
7 Remove from flame, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot!

Number of Servings: 3 LARGE servings

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 159
Fat: 11.3 g
Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 5.5 g

Chana Saag (Chickpea Spinach Curry)

This was my first time cooking with mixing so many spices and I was a bit nervous about the outcome but it was great! Next time, I'll probably add more chili powder, as there wasn't much spice, even though I added a dash of paprika. As you may have already figured out, I add paprika to everything! :D Overall, though, the result was great and something I would most likely make again.

This time, instead of quinoa, I served it with couscous, which I just picked up from the Turkish market downstairs.



Ingredients:
1lb fresh spinach
2 15oz. cans of chickpeas (next time, I think I'll use 1 1/2 cans, since the chickpeas were overwhelming)
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. cardamom
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup onions, chopped
1 can of stewed tomatoes in juice, diced
.5 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder
.5 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. salt

Directions:
1) Rise chickpeas and roughly chop spinach (make sure to clean well)
2) Heat oil over medium heat. Add cardamom and cinnamon and let it cook a minute
3) Increase the heat to medium-high. Add garlic and cook til it starts to change color. Then add onions and sautee until golden.
4) Reduce heat to medium. Add turmeric, coriander, chili powder, garam masala and salt. Mix well, for 1 minute.
5) Add ginger. Stir, then add tomatoes and saute for 3 minutes, until well blended.
6) Add chickpeas. Stir and let cook for 4-5 minutes. Then cover and cook for another 10 minutes, until chickpeas soften.
7) Add half of the spinach, stir and put the lid on the pot for 1 minute. Remove lid and add the other half and cover for a minute.
8) remove the lid and let simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Indian-Spiced Kale with Chickpeas

I stole this recipe from my co-worker's deliciousness blog, and it was sure yummy!

Ingredients:
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch of kale, ribs removed, coarsely chopped
1 cup reduced-sodium vegetable (or other) broth
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed

Directions:
Heat oil in a Dutch oven (or any large pot) over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add kale and cook, tossing with two large spoons, until bright green, about 1 minute.
Add broth, coriander, cumin, garam masala and salt. (I also added a touch of paprika for spice)
Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
Stir in chickpeas; cover and cook until the chickpeas are heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.



I served this with some quinoa and it was utterly delicious. Great as a main dish OR a side!

Falafel!!

For my birthday, which was on May 30th, I got lots of awesome kitchen supplies such as a rice cooker, a blender, and a food processor!! Since I finally had a real human-sized processor, I decided to finally make some falafel. I must warn you, there are A LOT of pictures in this post.

First, I decided to make tzatziki (yogurt) sauce. This is the only part of the recipe that is not vegan. If you follow a vegan diet, you can use a tahini-based sauce such as the one found here.

Simple Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients
- 1 cup plain lowfat yogurt
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled and seeds removed
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- a dash of dill (optional)


My ingredients.

Directions
In a small bowl (I used my mini food processor), mix all of the ingredients well.


Once mixed, let cool in refrigerator, to maximize flavor.


Now that we have our super delicious cucumber sauce, it's time to make the falafel.

Ingredients*
- 1 lb. dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- 1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
- oil for frying

*These measurements make enough to serve 6 people

My ingredients.

Directions
*Soak the chickpeas in cold water in the refrigerator overnight.*

The next day, drain the chickpeas and mix with onion and the rest of the ingredients in a food processor.


Mix it very well, stopping the processor occasionally to scrape the mixture. Once it looks complete, process the mixture for a second time for 2-4 minutes.

Mmm...chickpeas.

Next, pour some oil into a large pan on medium heat. Take the mixture and clump it together to form walnut sized balls.


Place the balls in the pan and fry them up until golden-brown.


While the falafel fries, slice up some tomato and lettuce for serving. Also, halve pita bread.



Some of my falafel came out well-done. :P

And that's it! Stuff the pitas with lettuce, tomato, and falafel, using cucumber sauce to drizzle over the top. I also served this with extra sauce on the side because the falafel was a little bland.


My pita bread was too dry. :(

Overall, this was a very good dish and very easy to make (although pretty messy). The only change I would make next time is to add more spices into the falafel mix such as curry, red pepper flakes, and more garlic. Other than that, A+ and super filling too!!

Emeril's Hummus di Tahina

Oh Mr. Emeril, you have failed me on this one.

I tried making the hummus recipe I found here. Let me just say that it didn't turn out anything at all like what I had expected.

Here are my ingredients, ready to be used.

Now, it probably wasn't the brightest idea since my "food processor" is actually one of those choppers that utilizes a hand-crank. Trying to mush chickpeas with a hand-crank isn't too much fun and it came out with the consistency of tuna salad. Also, the recommended amount of tahini was waay to much. The recipe is very strongly tahini flavored, and thick.

Here's the final product:

I definitely am not trying this one again.

Just for fun, here are pictures of the injuries I sustained while attempting to make this "hummus."

I am definitely going to have to invest in an electric food processor before I try making hummus again. :)