Gluten Free

Vegan Indian Feast

Genevieve 3 Comments
Vegan Indian Feast

Chana Masala with Fruit and Mint-Cilantro Chutneys

Mint Cilantro Chutney*

  • 1 bunch fresh mint
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro
  • 1 green chili pepper
  • 1-2 cloves garlic
  • 1” fresh ginger root
  • ¼- ½ teas. salt (to taste)
  • ½ – ¼ medium onion
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ¼ c. water, or as needed (or can sub w/ 1 tomato)

Add all ingredients to a food processor and add enough water to make a thick paste.

*you can also add soaked cashews to make creamy*

Fruit Chutney

  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 TBS fresh or 1 teas. powered ginger
  • 1 apple
  • 1/2 cup prunes, apricots or raisins
  • 2 TBS maple syrup or agave
  • 1/2  cup cider vinegar (or tamarind juice)
  • 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2  teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • 1/4  teaspoon chilli powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

Grate the garlic and ginger, dice the apples, chop the raisins or prunes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a gentle boil for 1 hr. until chutney becomes soft and brown. Cool and bottle.

Enjoy as a flavorful addition to any dish.

Chana Masala

  • 1 medium onion
  • 2-3 garlic cloves
  • 1 TBS. curry
  • 1 TBS garam masala
  • 1 can tomato paste with added water
  • 3 c. cooked garbanzo beans
  • 2-3 TBS cider vinegar or lemon juice
  • ½ teas. salt, or to taste
  • 2 minced chili peppers or dash of chili or chipotle powder (optional)
  • 2 TBS nutritional yeast (optional)
  • splash of coconut milk (optional)
  • veggies: peas, spinach, peppers, carrots, or whatever you feel like adding

Cut up ½ the onion to lightly sauté and add minced garlic, 1-2 c. water and tomato paste. The other ½ of the onion can be minced and added to the top with cilantro at the end. Bring to a boil and add remaining ingredients simmering for 15-20 minutes. The longer the garbanzos are simmered in the sauce the better this dish will taste. I also like to add more veggies during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Can serve over rice or even on a bed of fresh spinach or other leafy greens.

Sweet Curried Yams and Spinach

  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 cubed yam or sweet potato
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1-2 TBS curry powder
  • 1 TBS fresh grated ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves (grated)
  • 1 TBS fresh tumeric or 1 teas. powder
  • ½ teas. salt or liquid aminoes to taste
  • 1 big bunch of spinach/or greens(washed)
  • *1/2 c. added water for sauce, 2 cups for soup

Saute the onion and add about 1 cup of water to cook the yam in. Then either puree the yam, onion, and water together and add the remaining ingredients… or keep them cubed and add remaining ingredients (except spinach) to bring to a simmer for 2-5 minutes, adding greens at the very end to retain the vitamins/minerals.

Rava Laddoo (coconut almond cookies) (14 cookies)

  • ½ cup (raw: buckwheat, almonds, coconut)
  • 2-3 cardamom pods (use only seeds from pods)
  • pinch of salt (to taste)
  • 3-4 saffron sprigs (optional)
  • 2-3 TBS agave
  • 1-2 TBS hot water (only as much as needed)

Use a coffee grinder or processor to grind all dry ingredients into powder. Put into mixing bowl and add agave over the top and mix together until crumbly. Then add only enough water to form into smaller than golf ball-sized balls. Can dip each cookie into shredded coconut for added taste and texture, or add dried fruit to mixture.

Stuffed Squash with Confetti Quinoa and Lime Cream Sauce

Genevieve 2 Comments
Stuffed Squash

This is one of the dinners we made in the Creative Healthy Cooking Class last Fall… Still one of my favorites. So simple and so delicious!!!

Stuffed Squash with Confetti Quinoa and Lime Cream Sauce (serves 4)

  • 2 cooked delicata squash
  • Mexican Confetti Quinoa (see following recipe)
  • Hemp and Lime Cream Sauce (see below)

Cook two whole delicata squash in oven at 325° for 30-45 minutes. The squash is done when slightly soft to the touch. I prefer to keep them intact with seeds inside while cooking to maximize the moisture content. When done cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Then fill with confetti quinoa and pour over some hemp lime cream sauce. Can top with chopped tomatoes and cilantro as a beautiful garnish.

Mexican Confetti Quinoa (serves 4)

  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • ¼ small onion (chopped)
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 1 jalapeno pepper
  • ½ bunch kale (or other dark leafy greens)
  • juice of ½ lime
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2-3 cups cooked quinoa

Place garlic and onion in food processor and mince, then grate or mince up remaining herbs and vegetables until small pieces. The mix of veggies should be colorful like confetti… you can add whatever veggies you like, these are just some of my suggestions. Add chopped tomatoes and mix into cooked quinoa. Make the quinoa as you are prepping the veggies so it is still hot to mix in the veggies, lime juice, and salt. Then stuff squash with confetti quinoa.

My preference for squash is delicata since it is so sweet and makes nice sized portions… each person gets one half of the squash.

Hemp and Lime Cream Sauce (serves 4)

  • ½ cup raw hemp seeds (not necessary to soak)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • juice of ½ lime
  • 2-3 TBS nutritional yeast
  • water (approximately 1/2 cup)

Blend hempseeds*, salt, lime juice, and nutritional yeast, with enough water to make a creamy sauce. If you have added too much water, just increase the amount of nutritional yeast to thicken. Or conversely if the sauce is too thick just add a little more water until desired consistency.

*In place of hempseeds you can use raw sunflower seeds, cashews, or almonds… Any raw nuts you like, but it is helpful to soak them first.

Cardamom Hemp Milk

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cardamom hemp milk

I love any type of hemp milk…. but this one is just so delicious!! Add it to tea or coffee to give it an exotic flavor reminiscent of Chai. Hemp milk is good for you because it has a balanced profile of omega 3’s and 6’s, great for keeping up the perfect proportion of good fats in your diet. This recipe is a simple one and can be modified in many ways. For instance: add a handful of raspberries to make a fruit flavored hemp milk, or add vanilla and a little agave to make a sweet vanilla hemp milk… the possibilities are endless!

Cardamom Hemp Milk

  • 3-4 TBS hempseeds
  • 2 cups water
  • 3-4 cardamom pods

If you have a high speed blender (like a Vitamix) then just blend all ingredients (using seeds from cardamom pods) on high speed until nice and creamy like milk (1-2 minutes). Otherwise grind up hemp seeds and seeds from cardamom pods in a coffee/herb grinder until fine and powdery. Then add water and cardamom pods to blender and keep blending until frothy. Enjoy!!!

Getting Ready for Bali!

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Going on my honeymoon in less than 2 weeks! I cannot wait!!! Especially now that winter is finally here at the coast with all the rain and even some snow. In preparation for visiting Indonesia I have themed this month’s cooking class accordingly. Pictured above are: ginger, garlic, green onion, lime and hot peppers… All that is missing is the coconut, but don’t worry we have plenty of that too!  For January’s cooking class we made Indonesian themed food: lime and coconut soup, spring rolls with peanut sauce and mango pineapple sorbet. I even made a bonus hot sauce that I am calling “orange death” surprisingly it was very popular in both classes. The recipe is a simple one: 1/2 of a carrot, 2 Habanero peppers, and 1 garlic clove. Blend all ingredients in food processor with enough apple cider vinegar to make a thick sauce. It only takes about 1/4 teaspoon of this stuff to make a bowl of soup pretty spicy, so use cautiously. Our cute little Habanaros are ranked high at 100,000 on the Scoville scale, while jalapenos are typically around 7-10,000. Here are the other recipes we went over in class: Indonesian Vegan and Gluten-Free RECIPES.

Since we will be on our honeymoon next month (February), March will be when the next cooking classes are offered. Hopefully I will come back with some Balinese inspired recipes.

And like always… all the Creative Healthy Cooking Classes are vegan and gluten-free!