J&B Do Indian - Take 3: Whole Wheat Veggie Samosas and Garbanzo Bean, Cabbage, and Potato Curry

Over the weekend, since I wasn't able to get a loaf of ciabatta from Uprise for our usual soup and bread night (aka Saturday), I decided that it was the right time to try Indian food again. I've long been interested in Indian food as there is a lot of vegetarian fare and I understand it is spicy. However, our first two experiences with it were pretty bad.

I decided to try out a simple curry and veggie samosas. I've never seen an Indian samosa, I've only had Thai ones at a local restaurant, so I wasn't entirely sure what they were supposed to look like, hence why they are in many different shapes. I also decided to try out a curry as our main dish, as that is the type of Indian food I see most often around the blogosphere.

The verdict? The samosas were pretty good - the dipping sauce pictured below was horrible, so I won't bother with a recipe. I will say though, I like the Thai ones a lot better. And the curry - I think if you like Indian food, you would like this curry, but for us, it was just too strong. I know curries are normally served with rice or bread - which I imagine tones down some of the something that is so overpowering about the dish, but already having samosas too, I decided against pairing the curry with anything. In the end, I think we just don't really like Indian food. We were able to eat this meal and see the positive qualities it would have to someone who likes the combination of flavors used, but it just isn't for us. I love Thai food though, so I am interested in trying a Thai curry. We like spicy, but there is just a little too much flavor for either of us to handle.

Don't let that stop you from making these though, if you like Indian food, I think the curry would be very pleasing. And the samosas were really good, their filling was very flavorful, but not overwhelmingly so. I think I will make sure to have some sort of chutney or other dipping sauce that isn't icky next time I make samosas.















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Whole Wheat Veggie Samosas
Makes about 12 samosas

Samosa dough:
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp safflower oil
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
a pinch of salt
enough water to work dough

Combine ingredients in a bowl (I used my hands to get it all combined) and let rest for 30 minutes.

Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface until very thin. Cut into 12 even portions (I used a sharp knife, a pizza cutter would work well too).

Filling:
4 small potatoes, boiled and drained +
1 carrot, peeled and chopped +
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced +
6 shiitake mushrooms, chopped +
1/2 cup peas + (not local but from a local store)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped +
4 cloves of garlic, minced +
1 tbsp curry powder
pinch salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the carrot, jalapeno, mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the peas and heat through. Drain any excess liquid.

Using a fork, mash the potatoes with the curry powder and salt. Stir in the rest of the veggies.

Spoon a tablespoon or more of the filling into each section of samosa dough. Apparently they are supposed to be triangular in shape, but I just rolled them up like eggrolls or burritos. Either way is fine.

In a large heavy pan, heat about 1/4-1/2 inch of safflower oil over medium high heat for about 3-4 minutes.

Carefully (I used tongs) place the samosas in the oil and fry for about 8-10 minutes and flip. Watch the other side, it doesn't normally take as long to get done. Drain on paper towels.

Garbanzo Bean, Cabbage, and Potato Curry
2 cups garbanzo beans (chickpeas), cooked
1/2 head cabbage, chopped +
4 small potatoes, cubed (I left the skin on) +
1 yellow onion, chopped +
4 cloves of garlic, minced +
1" ginger, minced
2 small tomatoes, chopped +
2 tbsp curry powder
dash salt and pepper
1/2 cup veggie broth

Heat a few tablespoons of water or safflower oil in a large skillet. Add the potatoes. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times.

Add the cabbage, onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Add the tomato, garbanzo beans, broth, and spices. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

I would recommend serving this with rice or naan.

I had also mentioned that I had planned on taking the weekend off from baking - well that kind of fell through. I am making baked goodie baskets for our families for the holidays and one of the recipients is allergic to caffeine and chocolate, so I needed to try out a couple of recipes for him. Not to mention, we had our holiday party yesterday, so I also had to bake another loaf of our Pumpkin-Walnut Bread. I've gotta tell ya, I am going to be very happy to be done with these. It has been fun, and improved my baking skill, but I've felt like I've spent the whole weekend working between baking multiple things a weekend and all the dishes that creates. I also haven't had time to play with many of the new dishes I've wanted to, and to be honest, there are times when I don't want to make dinner at all after baking and doing dishes for 10-12 hours. I am down to two recipes to test, and hopefully, if those go well, I will be able to take not this weekend, but the next, off of baking. Wahoo!

Needless to say, I had a couple of successes this weekend and will post about them later this week. I also made the time (though I was exhausted at the end of the day) to make a homemade enchilada sauce from scratch, which I will be using in a nice (easy!) dinner tonight.

'Til next time!

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Sautéed Zucchini and Summer Squash

Well, I took a half day from work. We got all of our gardening supplies, transplanted peppers, an avocado tree, some wheatgrass for the kitties, and sowed a wheat/barley/oat grass mix in a small pot for them. We wanted to transplant the One Ball squash today too, but the pot is huge and we are trying to figure out some sort of "back-up drip pan". Sometimes they get overwatered, even the ones with the little catchment trays, but when you've overdone it, you've overdone it, and since the plants are going to be set on or near carpet, we wanted back up. We'll either think of something or get a different container. That one may have to be strictly "outdoors".

Anywho, after these and some other tasks were attended to, I figured I could try to catch up a little bit and do one of the three recipes I have in "backlog" to post about. In case you've all been wondering where all the basil and pasta were going (and I know how much you have), one word, pesto! This is just one of the variations we've been playing with, nothing special. Simple, fresh, and yummy - you can't beat that.

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden















This is another one of those things that nobody would eat if they only ate pretty things. :-)

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
Makes about 1 cup

2-3 cups fresh sweet basil *
1/3 cup of walnuts
1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup good olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, peeled *
a couple of pinches of fresh black pepper

Combine everything in a food processor until smooth and well blended.















Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Sautéed Zucchini and Summer Squash

penne pasta *
1/2 large zucchini, chopped ***
1/2 large yellow summer squash, chopped **
1 tsp safflower or coconut oil
3-4 large tomatoes, chopped * and ***

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Heat 1 tsp safflower or coconut oil in a small skillet. Add the zucchini and squash and cook for about 10 minutes or until well cooked.

Toss pasta with a few tablespoons of the pesto (or to taste), then toss in the fresh tomatoes, zucchini, and squash.

Yum! I'm glad it is almost dinner time here!

'Til next time.

Veganomicon, Pasta Salad and Mexican Flatbread

I am very stoked, so before I talk about last night’s food adventures, I must express my excitement that I got my first vegan cookbook, Veganomicon. I want to get a couple more cookbooks as a vegan starter collection, so if anyone out there has ideas as to what else would be good to have, please send the advice my way. Needless to say, I had to work today, so I haven’t gotten to look over it as much as I would like to, but during my brief glance over it during my lunch break, I noticed a recipe for Yuca Tortillas. Yummy. So many good recipes to choose from! Does anyone else ever have trouble deciding where to begin when you get a new cookbook?

Moving on, yesterday I made a tried and true recipe for a simple pasta salad with asparagus, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes. It came out good as always and it makes a good lunch. My only problem with it is that it doesn’t have much in the way of protein in it, so it doesn’t stick with you for very long. But it is very good, so I guess it’s a trade-off.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Asparagus Pasta Salad

sun dried tomatoes (I used 2-3 dried – see note below)*
whole wheat pasta (I used about half of a package)
garlic - minced (lots – I used 3-4 cloves for this)
asparagus (as much as you like)
olive oil (2-4 tbsp.)
pinch red pepper flakes

*If using dehydrated sun dried tomatoes, bring a small pot of water to a boil, remove from heat, and toss in sun dried tomatoes for 5-10 minutes or until rehydrated.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Set aside in a large bowl.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Break off woody ends of asparagus. Lay flat on large baking sheet and give a light drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt if desired. Roast, uncovered, in oven for about 5 minutes on each side. Remove from oven and cut into one inch pieces.

In a medium sized skillet, heat oil and add asparagus, cooking for a few minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Add the sun dried tomatoes and cook until veggies are at desired "doneness".

Add veggie mixture to pasta. Toss in a pinch of red pepper flakes and a dash of olive oil (enough for a moist salad).

I also decided to work with a whole-wheat flatbread recipe I have, that in the past, I have generally topped with vegan pesto, tomatoes, pine nuts, etc., but I wanted to have a different take on it this time. I decided to try to Tex-Mex it by topping it with pureed black beans and veggies and dusting the bottoms of the flatbread with cornmeal. It turned out quite well which was a nice surprise, as I wasn’t sure how a whole wheat crust would taste with black beans and the like.

I made a rudimentary Corn Salad dish to go with the flatbreads and it was alright I suppose. It consisted of corn, sautéed bell pepper, garlic, jalapeno, onion, fresh squeezed lime juice, cumin, and salt. I think it would have been good except I juiced an entire lime on the salad, which was much too much. I will probably try the Corn Salad again, as it had potential, I really like the lime and cumin flavors together, but next time I will squeeze the lime juice in just a little at a time, rather than juicing the whole thing and just tossing it all together.

Mexican Flatbread with Black Bean Puree and Sautéed Veggies

Black Bean Puree
2-3 cups cooked black beans
Sauteed onions diced
Sauteed jalapenos diced
Sauteed garlic minced
chili powder, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste
cumin, to taste
salt, to taste
water (about ¼ cup to start, add more if not smooth enough)

After cooking the veggies, add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth.

Flatbread
1 cup organic bread flour
Half of one of those small, single-serving packages of fast-rising yeast
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup hot water
1/2 tbsp. olive oil

corn meal

Combine ½ cup flour, undissolved yeast and salt in a small bowl. Stir in water and oil.

Stir in enough flour to make the dough soft and to where all mositure has been absorbed.

Lightly flour counter. Knead dough on floured counted until elastic, about 5-6 minutes. Cover with a cloth or paper towl and let sit for 10 minutes.

Divide dough into three pieces, roll each into balls and flatten like you would a pizza crust.

Cover and let rise for 20-30 minutes.

Coat bottom of rounds with corn meal before sticking in the oven.

Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown, adding the cheese about 10 minutes into the baking time.

Toppings (this list is by no means exhaustive, be creative!)
onion
black olives
corn
mushrooms
vegan cheese

Putting it all together: Top baked flatbreads with black bean puree and sautéed veggies and cheese (optional). Toss in oven for 5 or so minutes until everything is heated through and cheese is melted.

Top with tofu sour cream and enjoy!

So long for now.