Happy Sunday! If you like Indian food and/or spinach, have I got a recipe for you to try! One of my favorite blogs, Vegan Eats & Treats, featured Spinach Dal a few weeks ago. She got the recipe from a restaurant during a trip to India and it just sounded too good not to try! It calls for a ton of spinach, but you'll be surprised at how much it cooks down, so don't skimp - use the 1 1/2 pounds called for in the recipe. I thought the spices could have been amped up a little more, not necessarily the garlic, but the coriander, cumin and chili powder, so add those liberally. I served with brown basmati rice and some roasted butternut squash. I took my friend Jen's advice and seasoned the squash with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh rosemary and salt and pepper, then roasted at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes. It was DELICIOUS - so simple and earthy. The rosemary flavor didn't go so well with the spices of the Dal, but you can have two tasty things on one plate and be in love with each!
Trying to figure out what I want to cook this week. I have been spending a lot of time checking out the recipes of Christina Pirello, she's so awesome! Her recipes are vegan and some of them are macrobiotic. Very inspirational. What are you cooking this week?
Looks like a wonderful plate! I have been eating a lot of roasted butternut squash lately and can't get enough. Not looking forward to winter squash being out of stock until the fall.
ReplyDeleteMmm... I LOVE the butternut squash. I want to try the spinach dish, too!
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to stick to weight watchers lately, and finding myself with very few points at the end of the day. Luckily, veggies are 0 points on the plan, so they're my dinner staple.
Recent fave: spray a frying pan with olive oil spray, saute chopped mushrooms, vidalia onions and green bell peppers for 6ish minutes on medium-high heat.
While that's cooking, heat two corn tortillas (are those vegan?) in a paper towel -- 30 seconds in the microwave. Then I brush the tortillas with "salsa lizano" from Costa Rica (but you could use any hot sauce or salsa) and some canned green chiles. I add an egg or two once the veggies are cooked down (and a little caramelized... mmm!), but you could do tofu or another meat-sub. Put the tortillas on a plate and spoon the veggie mix on top. There's usually more than fits in two tortillas, so I just eat some with a fork. If folks aren't watching their calories, bust out some more tortillas! If I have extra calories/points, I dice some avocado and toss that on top. :)
VERY yummy and very easy!
(PS: Who knew it wasn't spelled "sautee"? Not this girl.)
Oh -- and cover the veggies while they're cooking, or you'll end up with little black char on your pan. Not that I've done that or anything. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah! I love winter squash, too, but I'm looking very forward to summer squash. There's an amazing Lebanese dish of stuffed yellow squash and zucchini that I will try to veganize soon!
ReplyDeleteJen - that sounds SO GOOD! Corn tortillas are almost always vegan - in fact, I've heard the best corn tortillas have only three ingredients: corn, lime, and salt. What does "salsa lizano" taste like?
Salsa lizano is not at all like the salsas you find in America or Mexico/Mexican food. It's really a more of a very *spiced* sauce than spicy. I can't think of anything in the US to compare it to. Wikipedia says it's "slightly sweet with a hint of spiciness lent by black pepper and cumin." We bought 4 giant bottles when we were in Costa Rica, but once we got home we realized you can get it on the internet. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsa_Lizano
They served the salsa lizano with another dish called "gallo pinto" for breakfast every day (although when we were in the more Americanized hotel, we had to specially request "Costa Rican sauce" to go with our "rice and beans" or gallo pinto). It actually would be pretty easy to be vegan there!
ReplyDeleteHi Hally- I love your blog! What a great idea! I was wondering, actually, how you put the Daily Puppy on the right hand side of your blog? Too cute and I need me some daily puppies, that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteHi Jess! I love The Daily Puppy, too, they find the cutest pups! If you use Blogger, you just go into the Design tab and add a gadget. Under "Search for a gadget" type in "The Daily Puppy". It should pop up and allow you to add it. Thanks for visiting!
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