Cashew Veggie Korma

My favorite Indian dish is chicken Korma. But since I've been on the vegan kick, I naturally had to find a vegan version - very difficult to do. The traditional dish, aside from having chicken, has a cream/yogurt base to it.

But leave it to the Post Punk Kitchen to develop a recipe. I thought it was pretty close the original thing. You can find the recipe here.

I made only half the recipe and it still made alot. I ended up giving some of it away because it was just too much for DH and I to eat.

Although the recipe is long, it really wasn't that difficult to put together. I think I had it done during nap time.

Vegetable Curry

Okay. I've been lazy. I've been hanging onto this recipe for months, wanting to type it up and post it for you all. I just never sat down to do it. Too much typing. But Kerri inspired me with her last curry recipe.

We love curry in our house. We'd put curry on our Cheerios if we could. The only drawback is that your house smells like curry for 3 days after you make it. I think this recipe makes it worth the price you pay. I've been making ever since we turned over the vegan leaf in January. Its one of our favorites. Relatively easy to put together if you are organized. And only about 30 minutes of cook time.

I wish I were this fabulous cook who could survey the things in my pantry and just make up something fabulous. But alas, I'm not. My cooking talent stops at being able to follow a recipe. This one comes from my all-time favorite cookbook "The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2011". There isn't a recipe in this book that I haven't liked. The biggest downside about it is that there isn't much that vegan, much less vegetarian. But I digress. Here it is, I hope you like it as much we do (BTW, if anyone out there knows of a good Koorma recipe, please send it my way!):

Vegetable Curry
Servings: 4-6

2 Tbsp. sweet or mild curry powder
1 1/2 tsp. garam masala
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 onions, minced (about 2 cups)
12 oz. Red Bliss potatoes (about 2 medium), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 serrano chile, ribs, seeds, and flesh minced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 medium head cauliflower, trimmed, cored, and cut into 1-inch florets (about 4 cups)
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, pulsed in a food processor until nearly smooth with 1/4-inch pieces visible
1 1/4 cups water
1 (15-oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Salt
1 1/2 cups frozen peas (8 oz.)
1/4 cup coconut milk


Toast the curry powder and garam masala in a small skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the spices darken slightly and become fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove the spices from the heat and set aside.

Heat 3 Tbsp. of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onions and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are caramelized and the potatoes are golden brown on the edges, about 10 minutes. (Reduce the heat to medium if the onions darken too quickly.)

Reduce the heat to medium. Clear the center of the pan and add the remaining 1 Tbsp. oil and the garlic, ginger, chile and tomato paste; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the toasted spices and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute longer. Add the cauliflower and cook, stirring constantly, until the spices coat the florets, about 2 minutes longer.

Add the tomatoes, water, chickpeas, and 1 tsp. salt; increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula or wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits. Cover and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer briskly, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the peas and the cream; continue to cook until heated through, about 2 minutes longer. Adjust the seasoning with salt and serve immediately, passing the condiments separately.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

This is one of my husband's favorites. This recipe is my adaptation from a meat recipe I found on allrecipes.com. It uses lentils instead of beef and the lentils are prepared a-la-Snobby Joes (see Veganomicon). I always liked getting the Asian lettuce wraps from the Rainforest Cafe, and PF Changs has a similar entree, but neither are as good as my vegan version below (in my humble opinion). It also makes a decent leftover.

I recommend having everything set out so everyone can fill their own wrap to their liking.

For the filling:
1 C lentils, cooked
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

For finishing touches and assembly:
16 Bibb lettuce leaves
Asian chile pepper sauce
1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 bunch green onions, chopped
shredded cabbage
bean sprouts
chow mein noodles (for crunch)
sugar snap peas


Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.

Cook the lentils in 4 C water according to package instructions and set aside to cool (this can be done in advance). Cook the onion in olive oil, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, sesame oil and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in the lentils. Continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.

Serve the lettuce leaves, chopped water chestnuts, green onions, chili sauce, sprouts, peas, noodles and shredded cabbage and allow the guests to fill each leaf with their choice of filling and toppings. Wrap the leaf up like a burrito and munch away.