Spinach Dal (aka Dal Palak)

Hey friends, do you remember a while back when I posted about my favorite Spinach Dal from Savera restaurant in Pune, India? And how I went there in the last week of my trip and pleaded for the recipe (after having ordered it about 10 times in one month), and they finally broke down and wrote it out for me? And I was super happy! Except how they wrote things like "add the garlic and coriander," so I promised you I would do some experiments and make it into a proper recipe? Well, the deed is done!!

The first time I made it, I was pretty pleased with the results, but Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats said it was too garlicky. "Too garlicky" is a concept that does not exist in my world, but I had predicted this problem would arise. In fact, I remember sitting there in India - ooooohing and ahhing about the dal and saying "Mr VE&T would not like this, it has too much garlic for him!" Of course, I was right. Also, in the first batch, I used moong dal, which I didn't think cooked down quite to my tastes... the whole thing was a little lumpier than I wanted it.

So, I made a few little changes - reduced the garlic for Mr. VE&T (because I love him, I am willing to make this difficult sacrifice), and used red lentils (masoor dal) instead of moong dal. I made a few other little tweaks, and I thought the 2nd version was really great! I hope you'll give it a try and let me know what you think!

Spinach Dal (code name: Dal Palak)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs spinach (about 2 lbs before stemming)
1 c red lentils

4 cups water
1 Tbsp peanut oil (or less for low fat option)
4 cloves garlic, coarsely minced (you can use up to 8 if you like a very strong garlic flavor - like at the restaurant)
4 oz shallots, minced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed (or 3/4 tsp coriander powder)
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp red chile powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
more water, as desired
fresh lime, cut in wedges... for serving

Get Cookin':
Stem and wash all the spinach. Steam the spinach in a steamer basket until very tender (5-10 minutes). Remove from heat, transfer to a food processor and grind to a paste. Don't bother squeezing out the liquid before blending it up -a little liquid is fine. (I think you could probably use a blender too... maybe just add some of the spinach steaming water to help it blend). Set aside.

Add the red lentils and 4 cups water in medium sized pan with a tight-fitting lid. Over high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and allow to simmer until the lentils are completely tender... almost obliterated! (about 20 minutes). Once cooked, remove the lentils & their cooking liquid (don't drain!) from heat and set aside.

Once you've got the lentils simmering for about 10 minutes, warm the oil over medium-high heat in soup pot. Add the garlic, and saute until the garlicky chunks are truly golden, stirring frequently. Quickly add the minced shallots and ginger, stir it up, and then cook another 5-6 minutes until the shallots are tender. Stir it often to prevent the garlic from burning. Add in the coriander, cumin seeds, chile powder, turmeric, and salt. Stir for 30 seconds or so, then add in the spinach paste & cooked dal and stir to fully mix the spices and garlic mixture into the spinach and dal. Stir well, and bring to a simmer for another 10 minutes or so. Serve hot with a wedge of fresh lime and some rice.

Do the happy dance with me!

Yummers The Veggie-Eating Cat

You may recall how much our cat Yummers Potatoes loves his veggies.... I swear to you, I didn't do anything to convince him that veggies are yummy, he was just born this way! He likes most veggies, but I think his 4 top favorites are: broccoli, green beans, corn, and most definitely asparagus. The other day I made some quick risotto with leftover asparagus, and when I sat down to eat it - Yummers came running from the other side of the house and jumped up next to me and tried to bat the risotto off my fork and into his naughty kitty mouth.

So, in keeping with the legendary broccoli and corn-eating videos - I now present you with:

Yummers Potatoes Eats Some Asparagus

(Please take care to notice the super-adorbs way that he purrs while he chews)

Oh, in case you just came for food and not for kitty videos, here's what I made for dinner:
Zesty Orange Mojo Tofu from Viva Vegan, pan-cooked asparagus and steamed beet greens (the BEST).

lots more food fun coming this way soon...

Gujarati Feast for Dinner!

When we got home from India, my friend & travel companion Jane leant me a couple copies of Saveur magazine featuring Indian recipes. I was especially tempted by one issue with an amazing feature article on the food of Gujarat (a region of India). Gujarat is very much a vegetarian part of India, so all the featured recipes were vegetarian, and most were also vegan - or very effortlessly made vegan.

I picked out 3 of the articles dishes to make - after all, this was a weeknight dinner, so I only wanted to go sorta crazy, not totally crazy!

First I picked the "Spiced Chickpea-Flour Snacks," aka Khandvi. Mostly I picked this recipe because it looked totally unlike anything I had ever had before, and that is the kind of thing that gets me excited to hit the kitchen! Also, I have made various treats over the years with chickpea flour and I usually like them quite a bit.

Step one of making Khandvi was to cook up the batter on the stove top... and once it was appropriately thickened, to spread it out on the back of a cookie sheet. I lined my cookie sheet with aluminum foil, because the back of my ancient cookie sheet is a little funky. (note: I used parchment paper for the first batch, and I wouldn't recommend it - the moisture in the batter made the parchment paper wrinkle a little, which led to varying thickness in my sheet of batter). The batter pretty much just cools on the back of the tray, and then you trim off the ugly edges, cut it into little strips and roll them up.

Here are my little roll-ups!

Finally the roll-ups are adorned with a seriously picante mix of mustard seeds and curry leaves and hot green peppers (yowza!!!) - and topped with grated coconut. I used rehydrated shredded coconut (unsweetened, obvs!). I like spicy food as much as the next guy, but seriously folks, I found myself picking some of the topping off these babies - that topping was super hot! Truth be told, this is not the most delicious thing I've ever made, but it was a lot fun to make, and I thought they were even yummier the next day. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find myself making these again someday.

Next up, I also made the Curried Cauliflower with Tomatoes - simple, pretty quick and very delicious. Mr Vegan Eats and Treats really, really loves tomatoey dishes... AND he has a special love for cauliflower, so this dish was pretty much a no-brainer. It came together quickly, had a great spice profile, and is definitely something I'll make again.

Last up, I made a batch of Spiced Black Eyed Peas with Curry Leaves, aka Safed Chole. Delicately spicey, saucey, and yummy - Mr VE&T called them "Indian Baked Beans," which was actually a pretty great description.

Dinner is served!

I think I finally got dinner on the table at about 10:30 at night! Good ol' Mr. VE&T is always so patient with me and my cooking adventures. At least he got a delicious Indian meal out of the deal (actually - two delicious meals, since we had the leftovers for dinner the following night as well!).

I just love discovering and cooking new recipes, and as should be obvious by now, I had a special love for international recipes. So fun to think that these foods that are new and exciting for me are everyday familiar fare in other parts of the world!

Bake Sale Bonanza!!!

We had our Vegan Bake Sale for Japan this weekend, and we raised a grand total of $1860!! Such an amazing turnout of support from our team of bakers and from our hungry community! Here in Santa Cruz, much of our downtown was completely decimated by a large earthquake in 1989. That earthquake was such a scary experience, and it took such a long time for each of us to heal as individuals, and collectively as a community, and even longer to finally rebuild where buildings were destroyed... As a result of living through that earthquake, and the long slog of recovery afterwards, I always feel a special empathy for other communities affected by disasters. Obviously, what's happened in Northern Japan is on a level far beyond what we experienced here in Santa Cruz, and frankly it's hard to fathom the pain and loss. It's so maddening to know about so much suffering and not be able to do much about it... So, I guess us vegan bakers take to the kitchen and do what we do best - make delicious treats!

I didn't manage to photo document everything that made its way to the table, but between my mom, one of charming bakers & my new pal Carrie, and me, we did get some great pictures to share... the goodies were absolutely gorgeous! You can tell which ones are Carrie's pictures because they are the beautiful ones! ha. She's a great photographer!

So many delectable goodies to choose from!

I did most of my baking on Friday, and I also did most of my baking gluten-free. I don't mind baking gluten-free, and I usually get pretty great results, so I figured I may as well. Plus, this way all the gf folks could have some sweeties too! I'm always so stoked when I find a vegan treat out there in the world, so I know how the gluten free folks must feel. First up I made these Almond-Anise Seed Biscotti from Veganomicon (gf). They turned out beautifully!

These cuties are the Lime-Coconut Cookies (gf) from Vive Le Vegan... They were super delicious, but not very limey or coconutty. So, after some consultation with Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats, we came up with the name "Old Fashioned Sparkle Cookies," because that is what they tasted like. One must have truth in advertising! You'll be happy to know that I made Mr. VE&T donate to the cause before he could sample all the treats I was baking.

It went something like this:

Mr VE&T, walks into kitchen, sees trays of cookies - "Ooooh, are these my cookies??"

Me - "Only if you want to steal from the people of Japan!"

ha ha! A generous donation was given, and snacking rights were happily granted!

One of my favorite cookie recipes ever! Mary's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies... I love love love this recipe. The cookies always turn out perfectly and crazy delicious. If you are unsure of gluten free baking, this recipe is a great place to get started!

Chai Spice Cupcakes!

I used the Chai Latte cupcakes recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, and added a buttercream frosting with vanilla bean flecks from 1 1/2 vanilla beans, a bit of vanilla extract, and a dash or two of cinnamon. So tasty!

In my constant quest to understand what sells well at a bake sale, I noticed that these were quite popular...

Triple Ginger Cookies!!

I love this recipe from my friend Talya's upcoming cookbook. They've got SO much ginger in them, they're perfectly moist, gluten free, and they are totally delicious! One fellow even came back to the table to discuss the recipe with me, which was very cute!

Double Chocolate Almond Explosion Cookies - from Vive le Vegan! This is another one of my favorite cookie recipes - quick, easy, fail-safe, delicious, chunky looking... I just love 'em! This batch was Gluten free, which I've done before, and this recipe is really easy to make gluten free.

Japanese Flags!

I used the lemony vanilla cake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, and made square cakes instead of cupcakes... then I cut them into little rectangles and iced 'em up like Japanese flags. There were some scraps left over (yippee!), so I got to taste these and they were so delicious! So lemony! When I was a little girl, I remember really loving lemon cake... maybe I'll make myself a lemon birthday cake this year. :)

After all those sweeties, I wanted to make sure there was at least a little something savory on the table... so Saturday morning I made this Asparagus-Tofu Tart with an Oat-Sesame Crust. I used a combination of two recipes from Vegetarian Modern Kitchen and Real Food Daily... Sort of a mash up! I saw something like this recently in a magazine, and I knew I wanted to veganize it for the bake sale! Somewhat to my surprise, this was the first thing to sell out. Now I'll have to make another one, just so I can have a bite and see how it turned out.

Here we are, just getting set up!

Nikki brought along a HUGE and glorious platter of espresso truffles - so chocolatey! so espresso-y! They were super delicious. They got a little melty in the sun after a while, so we hardened them up in the shade for a bit.

She also brought along Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries and Mandarin Slices. GREAT IDEA! These were super popular item, and are definitely a good idea for future bake sales!

One more thing from Nikki - delicious Welsh Fruit Buns... featuring dried fruits soaked overnight in tea. Oooh la la! It was nice to have some things on the table that weren't super sweet, because apparently not everyone wants all-chocolate-all-the-time (??!! confusing?!). Ha!

Espresso Cookies!! I love the swirlies of chocolate in there... Nic made a TON of these (plus two loaves of banana bread), and they were very popular, so I'll remember for next time that coffee-enriched treats seem to go over well!

Dina busted out the moves, and made almond croissants and pain au chocolate. Amazeballs!

These were "Reesey Cupcakes" - chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, but filled with peanut butter on the inside! I like the carefully arranged peanuts on top. I was already quite distracted by these beauties, but I didn't even know about the peanut butter on the inside until the last one sold, which completely made me freak out! (baked by Dina!)

Dina's beautiful iced pumpkin cookies (so orange!), and Kristen's lovely peanut butter cookies - sprinkled with Big Sur sea salt!

Dina also made some great gluten free options: Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies and Pecan Pie Bars. I keep thinking we should make a list of what sold the best - and the Pecan Pie Bars would definitely be on that list, they were a big hit!

Love this picture! Keepin' Santa Cruz Weird! Purple hair + Vegan bake sale = perfect Santa Cruz moment. As you can see, we had great weather too... not too hot, not too cold... just right!

Laurie's Cowboy Cookies - coconut, pecans and chocolate chips were decadently HUGE and were seriously amazing looking. We didn't want to short-change our bake sale, so I didn't actually taste almost any of this good stuff... but those cowboy cookies were making eyes at me all afternoon.

Check it OUT. Isn't that just amazing? So gorgeous! Autumn's flat bread had Butternut Squash, Spinach, and apple with a roasted garlic and white bean spread. Man o man. I think we were all secretly hoping that no one would buy this and we would all be forced to eat it. But - fortunately for our fundraising endeavors and unfortunately for our tummies - this did not come to pass. Just looking at this picture is making me crazy all over again.

Can you even believe it? I wanted one of Autumn's soft pretzels so badly!! I couldn't believe how beautiful they were. I haven't had a soft pretzel in years... and these were just so fluffy and golden and I couldn't stop staring at them. I also received reports from happy customers that they were every bit as delicious as they looked. Amazing!

So, these cinnamon rolls were A-Mazing. Amazing amazing amazing! There was a scrap left in one of the pans, & we all got a taste... and seriously - the flavor was positively stunning. Gooey, sugary, perfect rise... I was totally in awe. Between these and the flatbread and the soft pretzels, Autumn pretty much rocked the yeasted goodies. She's got some mad skillz!

Cinnamon Rolls, Macaroons, Vanilla Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting!

I loved how the cupcakes looked like Japanese flags with the raspberries on them (did you do that on purpose, Laurie??). Hanna brought loads of delicious cookies - which somehow escaped documentation - but luckily these macaroons were captured! She brought macaroons (some dipped in chocolate, some plain), beautiful ginger cookies (*recipe on her blog!), and huge oatmeal raisin cookies... AND she did two emergency runs for us when we ran out of paper plates and napkins. Bonus thanks for that, Hanna!

I love this picture of Nikki with our table stocked full... and that sweet little girl contemplating all her delicious options!

Some of our friendly bakers and our vast array of goodies. I had only ever met these three gals online (over at the PPK forums), and it was so awesome to meet them all in person! Not only did we have a super successful fundraising endeavor, but I also made some super great new buddies. SO great!

Also, big thanks to Bookshop Santa Cruz for letting us set up out in front. It was such a great location - bustling with happy people! Bookshop is always my number one destination downtown, and I know I'm not alone because there were people streaming in and out all afternoon. Thanks so much, Bookshop!!

YUM! What would you choose??

Blondies! Chocolate Chip Almond Cookies!

Brownies! Oreo Brownies!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Blondies!

I was totally spellbound by the bounty and abundance of this platter - a CRAZY tempting array of cookies and bars to make you droooooooool! Most of these goodies were baked by Carrie... who deserves a special Baking Champ Award, considering her power went out for 5 whole hours on friday!!

Here she is snapping up all her beautiful shots. In addition to all the great goodies she brought, she was sort of like our official photographer! :)

It was really wonderful how many people helped bake... I think we had 10 bakers in all. So wonderful! One of the great folks who come to my yoga classes, Norah brought by two dozen chocolate cupcakes... with sprinkles!!

Here's a lovely close-up! As long as we are taking bake sale notes... let it be mentioned that EVERY single child picked out one of Norah's cupcakes. Apparently the small people are powerless against the magical allure of sprinkles. Good to know!

Huzzah! We stayed on one extra hour and sold out everything! This is our spontaneous eruption of joy upon selling our last two cookies!!

Thanks again to everyone who baked, who sent good vibes, and who came by to donate and purchase treats! It's so rewarding to put in so much work, and have the event be a huge success. Hopefully our contribution will help make a small, positive difference in the sea of need in Japan.