Homestyle Baked Beans in 3 Easy Steps!

This recipe was handed down to me when I was 12 and it became my absolute numero uno to go with just about anything. No joke. I've had this [and loved it] with mashed potatoes, various forms of pasta, various forms of rice, pies, bbqs, stews, various types of bread, various types of Indian food (including roti), on it's own; I mean honestly, I can't think of anything it doesn't go with!

Of course, I made my changes and turned it into my own secret recipe. Until now. Share the magic with your friends and family. I dare you to try this with ANYTHING. That's right. ANYTHING. Until you come up with this something to prove me wrong, I'm guaranteeing this goes well with just about ANYTHING. Prepare yourself for the simplest magnificence you have ever seen!



HOW I MADE IT


INGREDIENTS

-2 tbsp oil

-1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

-1/2 medium to large onion, finely sliced

-1 can vegetarian baked beans in tomato sauce (or look for any baked beans in tomato sauce without animal extracts. The fewer and simpler the ingredients, the better.)

-3-4 medium tomatoes, diced

-! large clove of garlic, minced

-3 tbsp ground green seasoning & garlic

-salt & hot pepper or peppersauce to taste

-1 3/4 cups water

STEP BY STEP:

1. Heat oil in a deep saucepan and add onion. Sprinkle sugar and wait until sugar starts a golden brown froth and add garlic and tomatoes.

2. Stir and let simmer for 2 minutes. Add the tomato sauce from the baked beans, season with salt and hot pepper or peppersauce, and cover on medium heat for 5 mins. Add green seasoning to beans and mix.

3. When the liquid thickens and begins sticking to the pot, make a well in the center of the pot and add the beans. Stir for two minutes and add water. Cover for 15-20 minutes and mash some of the beans against the side of the pot with the back of the spoon or cook until beans have achieved the thickness you prefer and serve.

Happy Eating!

The Lots of Things Potato Pie

This dish was introduced to me years ago by my strictly vegetarian aunt and cousin. I took a bite and I was in love. I've since tweaked it to become my own thing, and yes, it has passed the carnivore approval test with flying colors! As an added bonus, it tastes extraordinarily awesome on its own, as a main dish, or as a side dish. Take your pick. In even better news, it's vegetarian! (YAY!) You can also make it vegan by using non-dairy milk and cheese and replacing the butter with a tbsp of oil and 1/4 extra of milk.

Thus, I introduce you to my awesome yummy love-y sing & dance potato pie. Because it's awesome. And yummy. And as with everything I make, it MUST be made with love (hubby can tell when I'm mad at him by tasting slight differences absolutely nobody else has ever managed to pick up on; which kinda sinks my whole I'm-secretly-mad-at-you-but-I'm-not-gonna-say-anything-because-I'm-so-calm-and-collected-and-supercool thing). And it tastes even better if you sing and do your happy little dance all around the kitchen.

So it's more than just a potato pie. There's a lot more that goes into it than just the ingredients I will soon list. Hence the name "The Lots of Things Potato Pie".


HOW I MADE IT


INGREDIENTS

Serves 4 (or just me ^_^)

-3-4 large potatoes

-3/4 cup milk

-3 tbsp butter

-1 3/4 cup shredded cheese

-3/4 cup grated carrots

-1/2 cup chopped celery

-salt & black pepper to taste

STEP BY STEP:

1. Peel and boil potatoes. Mash with butter and half the milk until soft and smooth (or close to it if you're making three other things at the same time and planning your week in your head).

2. Add cheese, carrots, celery, remaining milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix with a fork and spoon into a greased baking dish (don't ask me the size. I used a small one ^_^).

3. Press down with the back of a spoon and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown and firm when slightly shaken. Let cool and serve with practically anything. Goes well with a huge smile on your face and a lovely fork in your hand.

Happy Eating!

Vegetarian Wonton Soup [in 5 Easy Steps]

There are two versions to this soup. The first is the method I came up with and use as my numero uno. The second is a faster, easier version, which is pretty much standardized.


HOW I MADE IT

-Follow ingredient list & step by step instructions to fill and fold wontons here

-2 large pimientos/chilies chopped

-1 stalk finely chopped chives

-3 thin slices of fresh ginger

-1 bunch of chopped bakchoy spinach/patchoi

-2 tbsp sesame oil

-6 cups water

-dash of salt

*******************

1. Heat sesame oil in a deep saucepan on high heat until it starts to smoke. Add ginger, pimientos, and spinach and stir-fry for 2-3 mins.

2. Add water and a dash of salt and leave to boil. You can use this time to fill and fold the wontons (I used 12 for this recipe).

3. Picking up wontons by the ends, add them one by one to the boiling water, and cover for 15-20 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, stir, and re-cover, leaving to steam in the heat of the pan for five minutes.

5. Garnish with chopped chives and serve plain or with sauces like hot peppersauce and soy sauce.

Easy version (Haven't tried this way yet, so don't hold me to it!):

1. Boil 4-6 cups of hot water or vegetable broth/stock.

2. Add wontons and boil until cooked.

3. Remove from heat.

4. Garnish with chopped chives.

5. Dish out wontons with a slotted spoon, adding stock to serving bowls after.


Happy eating!

Deep-Fried Vegetarian Wontons

HOW I MADE IT

Makes 2 dozen wontons

I pack of eggless wonton skins

1/4 cup tofu/bean curd/soya chunks/ any vegetarian meat substitute finely chopped or blended(I used 5 vegetarian fried shrimp)

3 tbsp blended green seasoning (culantro, cilantro, etc.)

1/4 tsp minced garlic

2-3 large pimientos/chilies finely chopped

salt & pepper to taste

blended hot pepper to taste (optional)

saucer of water

floured surface

oil for deep frying

1. Combine shrimp or any vegetarian product, green seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper, and hot pepper (optional) in a medium sized bowl. Mix and leave to set in for ten minutes.

2. Place a wonton skin on a floured surface and add 1/2 to 1 tsp. of the mixture.

3. With your fingers or a brush, glaze the lengths of two adjacent sides with water.

4. Fold the wonton over the mixture diagonally (it should lap over in a triangular shape), pressing firmly along the sides to seal the mixture inside.

5. Firmly holding the two ends on either side of the widest length (where you folded it in half), pull them together, allowing the center to bunch up like a nurse's cap.

6. Wet the top of the tip of one of the ends, facing you, and firmly press the other end down on top of it.

7. Place on a floured tray or clean cloth while waiting for the oil to heat up.

8. Deep fry in a deep saucepan on high heat for 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown and place on paper towels to remove excess oil. Serve while hot with a dipping sauce of your choice or a ketchup, soy sauce, and blended peppersauce combo or sweet & sour sauce.

Happy eating!

Vegetarian Sloppy Joe

I spent most of my childhood growing up in Brooklyn. Of all the fond memories I have of those times, having fun with my friends in the school cafeteria provided me with some of the happiest times of my educational life. From winning the skelly competitions, eating contests, and chocolate milk drinking contests, to banging beats on the table for impromptu musical performances, lunchtime was always fun (unless the supervising people were being ridiculously mean us).

One meal I remember being an all-round favorite was Sloppy Joe. I have no idea why they call it Sloppy Joe, but every kid I knew loved it, and devoured it sloppily, though happily. Some would scoop it into their bread and have it sandwich style, others would dip their bread in pieces at a time, and others would eat the Sloppy Joe, and forget the bread. There were many ways to enjoy this meal.

Because of the way I was raised, I grew up eating different kinds of meat. One day I asked one of the lunch ladies if they would tell me some of the ingredients so I could ask my parents to try to make it. "Ground beef" was among their ingredients.

"What's that? Where does it come from?" I asked.

The sweet old ladies laughed and answered "From cows, sweetie."

I cried my heart out for days and never ate Sloppy Joe again. Yet, more than 14 years later, yesterday morning I woke up thinking about Sloppy Joe. What if I could make a veggie version? I told hubby about my idea and looked at me as if I had two heads. How could I tell him about something with meat in it that tasted so good and then tell him I was going to make a veggie version?

The carnivore had a point. I promised to make it as close to the real thing as I possibly could and started researching for veggie Sloppy Joes online. Surprisingly, there were quite a lot. However, most of them called for things I couldn't get my hands on down here, like TVP (textured vegetable protein), vegetarian ground meat, portabella mushrooms, and extra firm tofu.

So I decided to invent my own thing. Not only was I inventing something I hadn't eaten since my childhood, I wanted it to be edible, and even more daunting, pass the carnivore approval test. I had my work cut out for me.


HOW I MADE IT

1/4 cup chopped shiitake mushrooms
2 tbsp butter, margarine, or oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 medium - large cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, string beans, bell peppers)
1 whole stick of dried bean curd
3 tbsp tomato sauce/pasta sauce
5 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tbsp vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp freshly chopped green seasoning
2 medium - large pimientos,jalapenos
1 whole hot pepper (I used a Congo Pepper)
3 cups water


1. Put the bean curd stick, whole, in a pot of boiling water for about ten minutes. Remove from heat, cover the pot, and leave the bean curd to soak in the hot water for three hours. Wash the bean curd and squeeze out the moisture. Cut into strips and chop finely. Put into a bowl and season with 1 tbsp freshly chopped green seasoning, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp paprika, and salt & pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and set aside.

2. In a medium - low heated saucepan, add 2 tbsp of butter, margarine, or vegetable oil (you can also use cooking spray). Add the chopped shiitake mushrooms and leave for two minutes. Add chopped onion and minced garlic. Stir, and leave for another two minutes. Add seasoned bean curd and stir.

3. Blend the mixed vegetables for three fifteen second intervals and add to the saucepan. Stir, add 1/2 cup of water. Add tomato sauce/pasta sauce and add another 1/2 cup of water. Add the chopped pimientos/jalapenos and vinegar.

4. Stick the hot pepper on the end of a fork or skewer and roast it on the stove top for five minutes, turning consistently to roast evenly. Add it to the pot and cover. Turn the heat down to low and let simmer for ten minutes. [Note: the pepper loses most of its spiciness as it is softened through roasting and even more so throughout the cooking process.]

5. Once the sauce has thickened, add salt and pepper to taste and add the rest of the water and let it simmer until the sauce thickens again. Then add the tomato paste, stir, and remove from heat.

Serve and enjoy!


REVIEWS

Following the old tradition from the school cafeteria, I served this with bread. However, I made French bread to go with it rather than buns. I absolutely loved it! My first portion was just as I turned the heat down, and the flavor hit me like a wave. My personal taste isn't one for the slightest inkling of salt, so I enjoyed it better with my second, cooled down portion. After the second portion I almost proposed to myself. I offered hubby a sample, and later he agreed to try some on his own. As for the pepper, there's never enough pepper in anything for me, so I cut pieces of the pepper with every serving I had and relished in the juicy, soft flavor.

Hubby nodded and mmmmhmmmmmmed throughout his serving, but is now curious to try it with beef. Yay me and my big mouth. *pouts*

Quick Fix: 10 Minute Wedges in 5 Easy Steps

With all that's been going on, I lost a bit of my cooking zeal today. I didn't want to make any big meals, nor did I want to clean up the kitchen again (I go from compulsive cleaner to 'this'. Go figure.) Thankfully, hubby obliged by offering to provide today's meals. As he's still working on getting the car fixed and so on, this of course means food from *gulp* outside.

I don't know if I was brainwashed growing up, or if having really bad food-poisoning in my early-mid teens scarred me for life, but I just don't like buying food on the outside. It makes me cringe, it makes my blood crawl, and I feel all eeeeewwwwwwyyy just thinking about it.

There have, of course, been moments around other people where the only available choice (to them) was not to prepare beforehand and drop in to some random (or well-known) food spot. In such cases, I kept my cringes to myself. I'd usually be the only cringer anyway.

So hubby and I came to an arrangement, where he would gladly buy his own meal from *gulp* outside, and I'd prepare a quick-fix something for me. I have absolutely no idea what got me thinking about wedges, but all of a sudden I wanted them really bad. So, I did the only thing possible in this situation. I got to work.


HOW I MADE IT


1 medium-large Idaho or Irish potato per serving
2 cups of vegetable oil for deep frying
a deep-ish pot you can fry in with a proper fitting cover
a few sprinkles of salt and black pepper

**last minute sauce if you're really curious: (per serving)
three tbsp ketchup
one tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp spicy brown mustard (any mustard will do, you can leave it out if you like as well)
1/2 -1 tsp hot lime flavored peppersauce (I go for more because I like it super spicy. If you don't like anything spicy, just add a drop for flavor)
1/4 -1/2 tsp freshly chopped green seasoning (optional)

1. I used one large Idaho potato to make one serving for myself. Wash and scrub the potato thoroughly (I'd advise you to keep a scrubbing mechanism or toothbrush put aside just for food stuff.) and cut out any bad spots if you see any present. If any part of the potato is really soft, it's not good.

2. Put the 2 cups of oil into your pot. Make sure the pot is on medium-high heat. Cut the potato into wedges. the easiest way I can recommend is to slice the potato vertically three times, and then slice those three parts to your desired size. I usually just cut the potato in my hand, so I don't have an average size.

3. The oil should be hot by now. If you're not sure, drop in a small piece. If it bubbles up and makes a lot of noise, it's definitely ready. Throw all the wedges in, and cover for five minutes. If you're afraid of being splashed by oil, just remember not to jump. Grab a handful and carefully put it into the oil. Still afraid? Then put them in just a few, maybe two or three at a time.

4. This part is where you stop multitasking and focus on the pot. Once the five minutes are up, uncover the pot, turn the wedges so that the slightly browned sides are now facing the bottom of the pot, and re-cover the pot. Raise the heat to high for two minutes, then turn down to low as you turn the wedges again, re-cover, and leave for a remaining three minutes. The wedges should be a golden brown now. Drain the wedges with your frying spoon, and set them out on a paper towel or napkin laden dish and turn the stove off.

5. Fold the napkin or paper towel around the wedges and allow any remaining oil to drain out from the wedges. Discard any oily paper. Sprinkle some salt and black pepper to your taste, about a 1/4 tsp of salt, and half that amount of black pepper for most people. I made a quick-fix sauce that I mixed together with one of the wedges (see recipe above). Serve warm with or without sauce. Enjoy!

REVIEWS

I enjoyed these wedges so much, I told hubby forget about a normal dinner. I plan to make them again this evening. It was even better with the sauce! The wedges were a beautiful mix between a light golden brown and a slight honey brown, and the inside was soft; richly accentuated by the sauce.

Hubby had a taste as well and insisted that I make these the exact same way for his dinner tonight. There's one place that we both trust for buying food 'outside' and we always order wedges. After tasting these hubby assured me that we wouldn't be craving their wedges anytime soon!

Meat Substitutes? Get the REAL info.

By now you know that I'm a vegetarian from a family of meat-eaters and I'm married to a carnivore, right? Well you do now :). Of course, I hear a lot of negative opinions about vegetarian diets, but there are actually some people who say they would try if they had more options. Hello! Check out THIS blog, for instance! Sometimes all it takes is a little research, but with this blog post I'm not giving you any recipes; I'm rolling up my sleeves and getting into the "meat substitute" thing.

I was talking to my cousin, Min, last night, and although she loves vegetables, she wouldn't consider a vegetarian diet. Reasons? The same as many others who are reluctant to try going veggie. There aren't many options available for vegetarians, the meat substitutes don't taste the same, they miss the meat, the vegetarian options are tasteless, etc.

I won't pretend to have solutions to all those problems; I know I don't. After all, my husband still eats every animal he possibly can (it seems) despite the faces I make. As for the topic of meat substitutes, I can offer a bit of help there.

There is a vegetarian version of practically EVERYTHING. There are vegetarian hot dogs, shrimps, lamb, chicken breasts, chicken nuggets, fried shrimp, tuna rolls, sliced fish, smoke herring, chicken ham, and lots more that I'm forgetting to mention here and haven't heard of yet. This list excludes soya chunks and actual vegetable products like soya patties or peas loaves and so on. Soy milk is much healthier than any other type of milk I know and it tastes great! My husband and I are addicted to one type which is not only lactose-free, but very rich in iron, as in the highest level of iron I've ever seen in a soy product.

On a completely different note, women, you need to make sure that you're taking iron every single day. If you don't include iron in your diet, ask your doctor about supplements or multi-vitamins with iron in them (yes I know I said multi-vitamins but not all have adequate amounts of iron if they do have iron in them at all). Hmmm.....sounds like another blog topic! *hint hint, nudge nudge*

Back to meat substitutes. The most important thing I can say on that is although such products are advertised as "meat substitutes" don't go in with the frame of mind that it will actually substitute the taste and flavor of the meat. It won't. I personally think the products I've tried tastes better. As someone who has eaten some types of meat before, I know what I'm talking about. Sure everyone has different opinions, but this is mine.

VEGETARIAN FISH

I could not stand fish. I didn't care how it was made or what fancy or simple name it had. I didn't like it. Eel and salmon sushi? Surprisingly: YUM! Cooked fish, as in on my plate as food? Eeeewwwwwww. Then I tried vegetarian fish when I was staying with my uncle and taking care of his family some years ago.

"Um...what am I supposed to do with this?" I asked nervously.

"What do you do with food?" he laughed.

"Cook it?"

"Well go cook it then!"

"I really, really, really, really, don't like fish though," I said doubtfully.

"Just try it." He said as he waved me off and ended the conversation.

And so I did. The first thing I made with veggie fish was curried fish and peas. Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Ohmigod. YUM! I was in love with it! And I mean this was my first time as in I hadn't made curried fish before and I had never even seen veggie fish before. Even after my family forced me to return to seafood and then poultry, I still insisted on eating only veggie fish instead of real fish.

Advantages? First and foremost, no fishy smell! You can make this thing and not walk out of your house smelling like fish, not walk into your kitchen smelling like fish, and not have your niece run to hug you and pull away saying "Aunty, how come you smell like fish?" AND it tastes really, really, really good. Hubby the carnivore loves it, and if he loves it, you should definitely try it!

It's easy to prepare, no scaling the fish, no bleeding fish, no evil fish eye staring at you and following your every move, no tail reminding you of how much alive the fish once was, ohhh and the best part for me and all people who have ever swallowed those fine, little fish bones? NO BONE. YAY!!!

All you have to do is take it out of the packaging. If you want to slice it or cut it a certain way, do it. Season to your liking, cook to your liking, done. You will no longer have to hold your breath when you get your fish out to clean, because you don't have to clean veggie fish. YAY!!!

And veggie fish does not smell like the part of Chinatown with all the fish and seafood out there on ice. You know the part where all the little kids hold their noses and all the adults hold their breaths? That's right, don't pretend I was the only one.

VEGETARIAN LAMB

I've always been against eating four-legged animals since I was about 4-5 years old. Maybe it was because I had two pet goats when I was really little. When it comes to lamb, NO. I don't want it, and I don't want to look at you eating the killed, cooked BABY animal! Unfortunately, I did taste it once. I was somewhere around 12-14 and I was a vegetarian at the time. My aunt and uncle had invited us to a church Christmas dinner. My family was very accepting of other people's views and religions, so we said "sure!".

There were church members dishing out each person's meal after the service. I specifically told the woman carrying my plate that I was a vegetarian, so she bypassed the barbecued and roasted meats and whatnot. As I rejoined my family to eat. I bit into something soft and salty and asked my dad, the expert on meat stuff, what it was.

He laughed so hard his plate nearly fell of his lap. "Lamb" he answered.

"What?" I shrieked (and actually dropped my drink).

"Lamb, child, you didn't hear them talking about Jesus, the lamb of God? You're eating lamb."

I almost fainted.

We left early and I cried my heart out when I got home for the poor lamb (abortion is bad but eating baby animals is cool? WTH???) and for myself, breaking my vegetarianism. So from that heartbreaking experience I can tell you that vegetarian lamb tastes nothing like real lamb, but it tastes great!

You can either make it using it in the large chunks they're packaged in or chop them to your own preference. I almost always chop them to a size I prefer for each meal. Even hubby likes it, and that's a huge compliment! My favorite way to eat this is curried with coconut milk, but I've also tried them in empanadas and stir-fry and it's amazing!

Advantages? Same as the fish, no fresh animal blood or mess to clean up after, no reading about farm animals to kids and thinking about the lamb that went "baa" before it was killed, easy to prepare (take it out of the package, chop if you want, season how you want, cook how you want, and voila!), no bad smell, and great taste!

VEGETARIAN CHICKEN NUGGETS

I'll admit I used to like the chicken nuggets from either McDonald's of Burger King when I was younger (I was too young to remember). I wasn't a regular though and when I found out MacDonald's uses beef fat to fry their fries in (like that signature taste?) I boycotted them. But I also have to admit there was a certain taste about the chicken nuggets I had from a few different places, as if it changed taste the longer they kept in on their heating trays or something.

Surprisingly, hubby was the one who recommended I try vegetarian chicken nuggets. I fried them, microwaved them, and made my own version of "buffalo" nuggets. And I loved them!

I remembered eating chicken nuggets as a child; it was never fulling, and my brothers and I always needed more to feel full and would resort to another meal after to feel as though we had an actual meal all together. After two veggie nuggets, I felt as if I was in the middle of a meal! When I needed a light meal, two nuggets were all I needed!

I mixed and mingled many things with these veggie nuggets and both hubby and i loved it! Just take it out of the package and pop it on the microwave, of deep fry it, or steam them and slice them for a veggie caeser salad, the options are endless!

As an added bonus, if hubby the carnivore recommends it, you know it tastes good! It's incomparable to any other nugget or quick fix meal, it's just perfect!

VEGETARIAN SHRIMP

I used to like shrimps cooked certain ways when I was younger, but was turned off when I learned that shrimps are extremely high in cholesterol.

Hubby and I decided to try vegetarian shrimps recently and have since declared it another definite keeper! Everything you've made with real shrimps, try it with vegetarian shrimps; the biggest bonus is not having to clean them out of their shells and worry about de-veining them.

As with the other products, convenience is still a benefit, just take it out of the package, season depending on your meal, and cook. I've made these veggie shrimps deep fried, stir fried, in steamed rice, with pasta, as cocktail shrimp, and will curry them soon. Easy to prepare, easy to store, easy to keep (not if you're eating them!), and easy to choose! Oh, and no Chinatown fish place smell with this one either :)

CHICKEN HAM

I never liked processed meats as a kid. I would pull the stringy enclosure of my bologna and go "ewwwww" and trade it for a pack of wafers or something at lunch. I even gave away my lunches because I didn't like the smell many processed meats have when they're packed away all day (ewwwwww). Many times, the taste/smell would make me so nauseous I would feel dizzy and upset and would need to lie down or put my head on my knees. But that's just me.

Vegetarian chicken ham? YAY!!! It tastes so good. I made myself famous for my sandwiches in school when I made veggie chicken ham sandwiches for my friends. A big winner with everyone I know who has tried it! My absolute favorite way to make this is to toast some slices until golden brown on both sides, and put some gouda cheese over the toasted slices until it melts. Pop into two slices of bread and YUM!!!


Don't knock it 'til you try it

Bottom line: give it a try. Your taste may differ from mine and many others, so don't just take for granted when someone says they don't like it. You won't know if you like it or not until you try it. Give it a try! You may surprise yourself and your friends and family.

Also bear in mind that the way something is cooked plays a large part in how it will taste. One person may cook something a way you don't like, but someone else might make it your new favorite food. Stay open-minded, and don't knock it 'til you try it!

Curried Vegetarian Lamb & Veggies, Dhal, and easy Swiss Rice

I know, I know, I've been lazy. Bad AJ. Hear my excuse: busy schedule. That's all I have to say for myself. I still have a busy schedule, but I have a bit more free time at the moment than I did..during...the..last..entry...and I honestly don't know when that was O_o.

So I'm back because Anita requested some veggie recipes for an upcoming period of time and I thought ohmigod someone reads my food blog! and ohmigod a request from a real live person! and so I'm back here with a goofy smile on my face, ready to take on the heat (pun intended) once again.

Throughout this hectic month of May, I haven't stopped cooking, and so I decided I'll focus on the most outstanding meal of the month (hahaha that sounds like an award) first. Just last week I made an easy version of swiss rice, curried vegetarian lamb with veggies, red beans, and dhal (split peas). Here go my explanations.

There are different versions of different kinds of rice. I don't know where I first saw someone throw in some spice or the other into their boiling pot to make their rice swiss, but I've since alternated my spices with my own easy version. I wasn't too eager to try vegetarian lamb at first, but once cooked the right way, it does wonders. For example, with this meal. Red beans should be a no brainer (easy version: I usually drain out the water from the can - yes I get too lazy to soak them overnight - and saute some onions in a couple tbsp of oil, then throw in the beans, stir, simmer, add liquid and salt and pepper to my taste, simmer, and voila) but as my brain is quite tired at the moment, I'll leave the big, long process out of this one. Dhal is also called split pea soup by some. I just know it as dhal, a popular Trinidadian dish. It's also famous for being a prime meal as a soup in bars and as a hangover helper.


HOW I MADE IT

Rice: I put up about 3 1/4 cups of water to boil with a dash of salt and a drop of oil. Once the water was boiling, I threw in the 2 1/2 cups of washed rice and stirred in a tablespoon of ground ginger (fresh ginger works better) and a 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamon (elychee). About 12-15 minutes later, I strained the rice and it was ready to eat!

Curried Veg. Lamb & Veggies: I put about two tablespoons of oil in a hot pot and wait for it to heat up. I mix about 1 tablespoon of curry powder and 1/4 tablespoon of anchar massala powder together, and add it to the pot. Stirring up the curry mix, I wait until all the powder is somewhat grainy and add 1/2 cup of coconut milk and leave it to simmer. While this is simmering, I add 1-2 sliced hot peppers (omit if you don't like it spicy), 2 finely chopped pimientos, and 2 1/2 cups of mixed veggies ( I used corn, sweet peppers, peas, carrots, cauliflower, baby carrots,and string beans) and stir until the sauce thickens. Then add 2-3 cups of chopped veg. lamb (seasoned with salt, pepper, and chopped green seasoning to taste) and stir again. Once the sauce has thickened to the extent that it begins slowly sticking to the pot, I add four-five cups of coconut milk and let it simmer to the thickness I want. Once the sauce has achieved the consistency I want, I add a pinch of salt if necessary, and take off the stove. Done!

Dhal: I wash about 1 1/2 cups of dhal (split peas) first, and add 1 flat teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of saffron, 1 crushed clove of garlic, some chopped green seasoning, and stir. I add some hot water, just covering the top of the dhal, and leave it to soak for about 20 minutes or so, and add it to a pot of boiling water, where I leave it to boil for upwards of 15 minutes until the split peas are soft. Using a wooden swizel stick (ghutney), I swirl and mash the peas to increase the thickness. I leave it to simmer until it has the thickness I want, and take it off the stove. Then I put up a metal ladle (kalchul) on the stove burner, filling it just about half way with oil (I use a good sized one - that's about two tablespoons of oil). When the oil is hot, add about one tablespoon of geera (whole cumin). This process is called patching the geera in the oil. Once the geera browns, add one crushed, minced clove of garlic and 1/4 of an onion, finely sliced. I also add a whole pepper, slashed in the middle, but leave that out if you don't want it spicy. I usually turn this with a metal fork to ensure everything is browned (I love the onions all caramelized-y). Then lift the lid off of the dhal pot very slightly, and sneak the ladle/kalchul in there. That's right, just dunk it in and slam the cover on it (not loudly). The sizzly sound makes me giddy :) Stir it all up with your ladle/kalchul and get ready to serve. If you choose, you can do like my grandmother and boil the dhal with a whole pepper. For all the pepper lovers out there, it's heavenly.


REVIEWS
Best idea ever! I loved it, I loved it, and ohhhh how I loved it! There are no pictures to show you because it all finished very quickly due to greediness. Hopefully, the next time I make this (definitely a new fave!) I'll stop, clamp my watering mouth, and take a few pics to add later on. Right now, use your imagination. The rice was the perfect complement to the sweet, savoury, flavorful, in your face curry, and the dhal and red beans just enhanced it by that much extra. I wanted to drink the dhal alone...I wanted to sit down and eat the curry meal...I wanted to eat the rice and oh the beans and OMG...you must try it! It was HEAVENLY!!!!

As for hubby, Mr. I-automatically-hate-anything-vegetarian-or-healthy could not stop talking about how good it was! He can't wait for me to make it again and interrupted me mid-conversation a few times just to describe how much he loved it. Did I say best idea ever? I repeat: BEST IDEA EVER!!!!

I'm going out on a limb here, but have you heard of engagement chicken and so on? FORGET THAT!!! If you have vegetarian in-laws or new friends or soulmate hopeful or whatever, MAKE IT! They will love you, and they will love this. As a warning to people that advertise their cooking skills: people often expect you to become their personal cook. True story. But I repeat, this meal was THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!

Vegetarian Shrimps and Cocktail Sauce

Hubby and I bought some vegetarian shrimps yesterday, and this morning I was ready to think up a recipe and finally start cooking again. I couldn't remember anything about pepper shrimp, my original plan, and I started thinking about shrimp cocktail. I had veggie shrimp....I had made a sauce to go with fries last month that tasted similarly to cocktail sauce, so...why not?


HOW I MADE IT

I put 12 frozen veggie shrimps to boil in a pot of hot water, and pulled out a small bowl to start on my sauce. I put about a cup of ketchup, 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar, I minced clove of garlic, I teaspoon of green seasoning, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of hot peppersauce made with freshly squeezed lime juice. I mixed everything together, added some salt and black pepper to taste, and placed the thawed out shrimp in a metal strainer over the bot of boiling water and let it steam for ten-twelve minutes. Then I took off the stove, let my shrimps cool, and had my cocktail shrimp!


REVIEWS

I loved this! It reminded me of the cocktail shrimp I had in buffet more than ten years ago (before veggie time). Even hubby approved, surprisingly. However, the veggie shrimp does not taste the same as actual shrimp, and having already tasted real shrimp before, I can actually tell the difference. So I'm hoping to make some veggie shrimp in a batter, deep fried or something of that sort to try with the sauce, as the sauce is superb!

Guacamole on a Sick Day

So I'm finally back! For the majority of last month I was ill to the extent of retreating from the kitchen. When I could stomach food, hubby and I bought food. Then came the pivotal point yesterday.

Hubby woke up with all my symptoms of nausea, dizziness, weakness, lightheaded-ness, and vomiting. This seriously freaked me out because hubby hasn't been sick since January when relatives passed on a flu to both of us after returning from overseas, and rarely ever gets sick, especially not so severely.

So I dug my heels in, took charge, told my ughiness to get lost, and prayed all day long. We canceled one meeting, pushed another one forward while hubby was conscious, and carefully set off to meet Kim's mom as quickly as possible.

Kim's mom has always been a motherly figure to me,and welcomed hubby as her son-in-law when we got married, so it wasn't surprising after greeting each other with the traditional "Sita Ram" when she took me inside, gave me the once over and declared that something was clearly wrong and that I had lost way too much weight.

I admitted that I had been ill, and after some gentle coaxing, admitted I was throwing up everything I ate nearly every day for nearly a month, diminished the excited look in her eyes to assure her I was not "expecting", and then shut up in order to absorb her wise words.

She went from one end of the kitchen, organizing some watermelon that we should make sure to eat, some re-hydration salts we should mix and drink a certain way, and a purplish skinned avocado that she insisted I make that evening as zabooca chokha (similar to guacamole) and sada roti (similar to pita bread). She scolded me for not coming sooner and then instructed me to come back for some homemade medicine if we didn't get better soon.

Kim's dad repeated hubby's words from the night before (it felt like the twilight zone) and warned me to be wary of an ulcerated stomach, and insisted that we both go to the hospital soon. We left quickly as hubby seemed to be just on the verge of being okay enough to drive, and rushed home for hubby to get some more rest.

I fixed up the re-hydration fluids for hubby quickly and instructed him to drink it before eating the pepper chicken we bought (the only thing he felt he would be able to stomach). When hubby seemed to be able to eat without looking as if he was about to be sick, I snuck off to soak my head with some Limacol (similar to Bay rum) and had some of the re-hydratioin fluids myself.

After some more rest, hubby woke up before his football game, had some watermelon, and decided he was well enough to at least watch the game. I filled up the water bottle, hubby packed his shoes "just in case", and we set off.

By the time we got there and had sat on the sidelines for a few minutes, hubby had sipped away 1/4 of the water and was putting on his shoes, promising to return to the sidelines at the first sign of illness.

As it turns out, hubby played for nearly the entire duration of the game. We attended the meeting before heading back home and hanging out with a couple friends, and then headed back upstairs. I was so happy I felt more than well enough to prepare a home cooked meal for the first time in weeks.

I picked up the avocado and began preparing some guacamole for the first time in more than four years.


HOW I MADE IT

I cut the avocado in half and took out the seed. This was the first time I had seen a purple avocado, so I was relieved to find the inside green. I sliced the avocado into quarters, peeled off the skin, and cut each slice into a bowl. I finely sliced about two tablespoons of an onion and minced one clove of garlic and added it to the avocado. I crushed the avocado and these ingredients with a fork until it was totally mushed and somewhat creamy. I added salt, black pepper, and my homemade pepper-sauce to suit my taste, mixed, and spread one slice of store-bought sliced wholewheat bread rather thickly, covered it with another slice, and took a bite.


REVIEWS

I absolutely loved it! I gushed about its creamy, flavorful, luscious taste all night long (I even proposed to myself, and accepted my proposal, promising myself to make guacamole forever and ever as long as I had avocados at my disposal). I sealed it in an airtight container and left it in the fridge overnight, had another sandwich in the morning, and gushed about its extremely awesome taste all day long! So far I've made four thickly spread sandwiches and I still have quite a lot left over for one avocado. Also, as an avid fan of chocolate soy milk, I have to say, the perfect food couple has to be guacamole on whole wheat bread with a nice, tall glass of cold soy milk. It's heavenly.

I absolutely loved this and will make it many more times in the future. Hubby and I have both suddenly recovered from our illness as of yesterday evening to boot! I don't know if it was the praying, a mother's love, or both, but something worked somewhere and I'm very glad for it!

Plus, the guacamole would make anyone feel better I think! ^_^

Vegetarian Empanadas (healthier too)

During the previous week, one of hubby's friends, K, invited us to join him and his girlfriend, L, on a lime (basic hang out session in Trinidad) going up to Toco (a beautiful and famous beach higher up on the island, and quite far for most Trinis. We agreed to wait on a plan, and so, by yesterday morning, (Easter Sunday) hubby and I sat in the back galeria waiting for word of whether any such plan would happen, and where the change of plans would take us.

As the morning quickly turned into afternoon, we all finally agreed on going Mayaro instead, as it was much too late to even attempt the Toco drive, especially with just us four at such a late hour.

Throughout the anticipation though, I had a different plan to consider. As the only vegetarian on board, I and I alone would have to organize something entirely different for me if we were going to cook on the beach for three meat eaters.

As I got lost in my thoughts (once again), I reminisced upon the cuisine of Brooklyn, somewhere I had lived for seven years as a child. As a result of such thoughts, I began craving the old neighborhood food of different cultures. I thought of the big Italian pizza place down the street, the Italian icees sold by carts on every corner, the Spanish snow cones (mango flavored with condensed milk = yum!) on every other corner, and the Mexican empanadas.

Once I got to the subject of empanadas, my brain did something like this: Empanadas. Mmmmm. I want some. I need some. I should have some. Trinidad doesn't have empanadas. *sigh* *gasp* I could...MAKE...empanadas! But wait...I don't have a recipe...I don't have the slightest clue how they do it! Hmmm...the guy on the corner of Fabco shoes used to pat out his dough, fill it with chicken or beef, mark the edges, and dunk it in oil...it wouldn't take too long to fry too...oh yeah...I can do this!

And so I rushed over to the kitchen as I began processing my own way of creating these fried goodies.


HOW I MADE IT

I put some frozen vegetarian lamb and dried soya chunks to soak in hot water. While that soaked, I put about one cup of flour in a medium sized bowl, leaving some extra on hand to knead the dough. I added about 3/4 of a teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 cup of whole wheat bran, a dash of salt, a dash of sugar, and about 1/2 cup of cornmeal. I mixed all the dry ingredients together, and poured about a cup of lukewarm water as I began kneading it into a dough.

I put the dough aside and drained the water out of the soya chunks and veggie lamb with my hands before washing with flour and water and draining again about three times. I brought the bowl over to my cutting board and diced everything.

I got some pimiento peppers from my little garden (you can replace with jalapenos or any other flavorful pepper without a bitter taste), as well as some green seasoning like chive, podina, and culantro (any green seasoning you have on hand works). I finely chopped the pimientos and green seasoning and put a large saucepan on the stove on medium to high heat.

I started off with a roux once the pot was hot, adding two tablespoons of flour to about two tablespoon of melted butter already in the pan and began mixing with my wooden spoon. I added the pimientos, green seasoning, and 3/4 cup of mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, corn, string beans) followed by about a tablespoon each of chili powder, paprika, oregano, and maggi seasoning (or any bouillon cube). I mixed this together, threw in the soya and veggie lamb, and covered the pot for a minute. Then I uncovered the pot and mixed everything together as I added about a 1/4 cup of water. Then I added a large dash of salt, black pepper, and brown sugar.

I turned the heat down to medium to low, covered the pot, and put the dough on a floured counter as I began patting it down to a circle. I took a spoon and cut the circle into eight, and put the pieces aside. Each piece was now triangular shaped, so I took the three corners of each piece, and pushed it together, and then down, to begin forming a ball.

I patted each ball down to make a small to medium sized circle and took my filling off the stove. I gathered the filling to the center of the pot and then divided it into eight as well, and filled each circle with filling.

I then closed each circle over the filling, forming a semi-circle, and sealed the outer edges on both sides with a fork. I fried each empanada in a small frying pan with soyabean oil at medium to low heat once the oil was hot enough to start, and left them for one minute on each side.

Once taken out, I placed them on a paper towel to soak up any excess oil.


REVIEWS

K and L were kind enough to buy KFC for everyone once the plan to cook on the beach was squashed (mashed potatoes & gravy and fries for me), so the empanadas were not needed, especially as I was too excited taking pictures of the beautiful scenery as well as hubby and K playing football (soccer), to actually eat there.

I remembered the empanadas quite a while after we got home, and just around the time I was planning on going to bed. Remembering the empanadas made me so hungry I didn't bother reheating them and as I had taken up the most browned one, the crust had hardened as it cooled throughout the day and I ate everything but the crust. An hour later I ate from the rest of properly fried ones and ate most of the crust, but I think it would have been better if I microwaved it first. I remembered this morning that the empanada man used to serve his hot, straight out of the oil, onto a heating rack. Regardless, I loved it! The inside was juicy and packed with flavor, so I didn't need the oyster sauce I made to go with it.

Hubby tried one last night as well, and his eyebrows raised as he nodded in agreement and mumbled something that sounded like "mmmhmmmm this is good". He microwaved one this morning after it was refrigerated overnight and shared the same sentiments, with the exception of the crust beginning to harden once it cooled down.

I will definitely make these again, but next time I'll make sure everyone has it straight out of the frying pan, just like the empanada man does it in Brooklyn.

P.S. I returned to the area about a year and a half ago and he's still there. I'm guessing having them hot really does do wonders for the business ^_^

Vegan Cupcakes

I've been considering a cooking blog for a while now, but thought against it as I had started uploading cooking videos on youtube. Then the camera stopped working, and I was devastated. Shortly after this devastation, my mother-in-law sent us a phone that could take pictures and upload them to the computer. So I have since gotten over the devastation.

However, I really was pumped up for my cooking videos. And I had no recorder. So...I decided to channel all that excitement into finally starting a cooking blog! With lots of praise coming from hubby, Kim, Renuka, Amit, and Himlata, I'm ready!

My first entry is on the vegan cupcakes I invented last month. I was bored, and I had an immense craving for cupcakes, but being vegetarian, I couldn't find any eggless recipes that included items I actually had at home. To top that off, I had also just run out of milk. What's a veggie girl to do?

I headed over to the kitchen and proceeded to walk back and forth between every ingredient I had on every shelf in the kitchen, while taking five minute contemplation rest stops at each point. I thought of every vegetarian idea I had ever had, as well as dishes I had actually made, and especially, baked. Somehow, I came up with an idea and started zipping through the kitchen to grab a bowl, some spoons, a fork, and the ingredients I had miraculously thought to put to together.


HOW I MADE IT

This will be my "how I made it" section, because I don't really think there's any 'method' to what I do most of the time. So:

In my bowl, I put in about 1 1/3 cups of flour, a teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda, 1 cup and an extra sprinkle of sugar, a dash of cinnamon, about two tablespoons of whole wheat bran, and a small pinch of salt because a lot of other recipes say so. I mixed it all together to get the ingredients as evenly distributed as possible. I made a well in the center and added about a half cup of oil, a tablespoon of vinegar, a drop of vanilla essence, and some lukewarm water and began folding the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a fork. As soon as the water had mixed in with some of the dry mixture, I kept adding water before it got doughy, and ended up with something that looked like a regular cake batter :)

I don't have a cupcake tray, but I did have paper cupcake holders, so I lined about twenty-something of them on a flat rectangular tray, and began filling them as the oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I quickly realized I had to fill each holder only up to about half-way (because the first few started leaking out resulting in me removing everything from the tray, cleaning it all up, and replacing all cupcake holders as well as the sloppy first few, then diminishing my excitement tremendously as I pretended to be patient with the rest).

Once I was done, I put them in the oven for about 30 minutes or so. However, our oven is not the most youthful one out there, so I started checking from 20 minutes. To be safe, once you reach a 15-20 minute mark and the top looks firm, start checking with a toothpick. My toothpick came out clean around the 30 minute mark in an oven that is famous for taking longer than usual to bake.

While my cupcakes were cooling, I took out a container of white icing from the fridge I had previously made for my last eggless cake (most icings can last up to two weeks in an airtight container - my version actually lasts more). As it had been in the fridge, it was quite firm, so I finished cleaning up and had a cup of herbal tea while I waited for it to regain a usable consistency.

I took a portion of the icing and put it in a small bowl, adding about two tablespoons of cocoa powder, a dash of sugar, and mixed until I felt it was the right consistency. I now had two colors of icing because while I was having the tea, I came up with the brilliant idea of doing a yin-yang theme using chocolate and vanilla!

So my cupcakes had cooled, and I took the most lopsided one to get an idea of how exactly this concoction tasted = brilliant! It had a unique taste, and as I regularly have problems with low blood sugar, I found it notably sweet for my taste, but it was otherwise absolutely scrumptious!

I added a drop of lemon essence to my white frosting to challenge the taste of the sweeter chocolate one, and to give the cupcake itself a flavor of both frostings mingled. We had a knife with a blade bent at a 90 degree angle (hubby never remembers why and I don't think I want to know) that was perfect for use as a frosting spatula, and so I began frosting.

The design was fairly simple, the only difficulty was applying my very humbled art skills to actually give it the prominent curve of the yin-yang design. I pushed in a white sprinkle to the biggest curve of the chocolate frosting to represent the white dot, and a dot of cocoa powder on the opposite end of the white frosting for the darker dot. For the most misshapen ones, I tried to detract from the deformed design and attract to the overall pretty by throwing a bunch of sprinkles on it, simply put.

REVIEWS

My husband, the biggest carnivore I know, and biggest veggie critic that exists, actually loved these! He couldn't stop praising them, and continuously snuck off to secretly have more (adding to his unhealthy diet that he has no concern about). My compensation was knowing that he actually loved vegan cupcakes, and was not in any state of delirium or madness when so stated (repeatedly), and also, as much as he hates having anything to do with whole wheat, I made sure some bran was there in every bite (which he will find out when he reads this), which was probably the biggest reason why I was so shocked at his approval and apparent delight.

Kim, my adopted sister, and her family absolutely loved these! I returned a few hours after dropping a kit of cupcakes off and they were already done! I was then interrogated somewhat lovingly by Kim, her sister, and mom, for my super secret (that is now no longer secret) recipe and giggled with glee as they approvingly noted down each ingredient and then proceeded to [successfully] bribe me with huge bear hugs in return.

As stated above, I found the cupcakes notably sweet, but thoroughly enjoyed them. The tangy lemon flavored white frosting blended nicely with the sweeter chocolate frosting, prevented it from being too sweet with frosting, and totally enhanced the flavor of the cupcakes. I only had one at a time, and the most I had at once was two. It was even better with a cup of hot green tea. I have drawn the conclusion that this invention was indeed successful. ^_^