Feeding a Vegan

I have a friend named Emily, who sprinkles pixie dust of light wherever she goes. If you don't believe me, than you have never spent time with her. A few years ago she called her self a warrior of light. Currently she is on tour. She is crossing the country, and the world, performing concerts... and through her music she is inviting people to dream big and to follow those dreams. I would say more, but this is a boring blog... so if you want to find out about her very exciting project check out her webpage http://www.themillionkisses.org/

She performed a small house concert in my living room for an audience of 3, including me, Thursday night. Since I only had a week to prepare for it, I purposely kept it small. I would love to have hosted a larger group, but I knew having too many would totally stress me out.

Anyways, because of Emily, who is a vegetarian, I tried out a few new recipes. They were pretty great... and the easiness + delicious-ness = HOMERUN! to be made again and again. 

Slow cooker Punjabi eggplant with potatoes

I halved this recipe and it was about 4 servings. I can't believe how easy and absolutely delicious it was. To give credit where credit is due, I found it here >>> The perfect pantry 

Ingredients: 

 2 medium eggplants, stem end removed, cut into 1/2-inch dice (approx. 10-12 cups)

1 large Idaho or Yukon Gold potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 medium yellow or red onion, peeled and chopped  + 1 small onion halved
1 tsp ginger paste (or grated fresh ginger root)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped  X food allergy
2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground red chile pepper
1 Tbsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric X food allergy
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp kosher salt, or to taste
1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, to taste

Directions:

Combine eggplant, potato, onion, ginger, garlic, jalapeño peppers, cumin, ground chile pepper, garam masala, turmeric and oil in a 4- or 5-quart slow cooker. Stir as best you can to distribute the spices and oil. (The smaller cooker will be frighteningly full, but don't worry; the eggplant will cook down.) Cook on HIGH for 2 hours, stirring after 1 hour.

After the first two hours of cooking, stir well. There should be a nice amount of moisture in the cooker, and the eggplant should have collapsed a bit. If there is plenty of liquid in the pot, continue cooking on LOW for 30 minutes, uncovered. If there's not much liquid, cook on LOW for 30 minutes with the cover on.

Add the salt and cilantro, to taste. (Salt added during the cooking will draw more moisture out of the eggplant, so it's best added at the end.)

Serve at room temperature, over rice or topped with raita, or make ahead.

TRADITIONAL INDIAN RAITA and... I served it with raita from here >>> epicurious.com  I also halved this recipe, and we drizzled the raita on top of the Punjabi

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup chopped seeded English hothouse cucumber
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 teaspoons chopped green onions
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

PREPARATION

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Season to taste with salt. Chill raita, covered, until ready to serve.

VEGAN RICE PAPER ROLLS > original Recipe

and after the concert we ate these together pic-nic style on my living room floor. I have made spring rolls a handful of times over the years... I really like them. I think, however that this was the first time my guests had had them... or at least the first time they had homemade spring rolls. I used tofu, avocado, lettuce. I Julienned cucumber, carrots, red bell pepper, yellow bell and an orange one. I used a jalapeno instead of a chili, and omitted the basil. I love basil, but my basil would not cooperate. I didn't use the recipes dipping sauce. I tried it, but I didn't care for it. I found another dipping sauce that will follow this one. 

INGREDIENTS

• 5 sheets Vietnamese Rice Paper
• 1 large Carrot, Julienned
• 1 small Cucumber, Julienned
• ½ an Avocado, cut into slices
• Small bunch Thai Basil
• 2 ounces Tofu, cut into strips (we use Satay flavored Tofu)
• ½ cup mixed Salad Leaves
• 1 Red Chilli, de-seeded and cut into thin strips
• 
  Click here for Hoisin Peanut Dipping Sauce recipe.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare a large bowl of hot water to soften rice paper in.
2. Working one at a time, submerge rice paper into hot water (be careful!) for about 5-10 seconds, or until it is just starting to soften. Don't soak it for too long or it'll tear to bits.
3. Place a small bed of salad leaves in the middle of the softened rice paper, and then top with small amounts of every other ingredient. Although tempting, try not to over-fill the rolls as it will make it hard to roll up.
4. Roll rice paper roll up, egg-roll style. (Bottom up, sides in, and roll to close).
5. Serve with hoisin peanut sauce at the side. Rice paper rolls are best eaten fresh.

THE BEST THAI PEANUT SAUCE 

from Allrecipes.com

This is a variation of the more popular version of The Best Thai Peanut Sauce on Allrecipes. I changed a few things due to food allergies... and in the case of the fish sauce I just forgot. I highly recommend full fat coconut milk. It made it so creamy. I also used freshly ground almond butter from the health food store in place of peanut butter. Mix it all up in the blender and that is it! 

Ingredients Edit and Save

• 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used fresh ground almond butter) 
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce X
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar X replaced w/ 3 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, minced X
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro X

Directions 

1. In a bowl, mix the peanut butter, coconut milk, water, lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, hot sauce, ginger, and garlic. Mix in the cilantro just before serving.