Hey Pumpkin

You thought we were done with pumpkin, huh? Not a chance! With just a couple of days left in 2014, I'm sneaking in one of my absolute favorite foods: Pumpkin Curry.

I had never had pumpkin curry before I lived in Thailand a few years ago, and frankly I'm not sure how I lasted for over two decades on this earth without it. It's such a versatile dish - you can throw in meat or fish if you're cooking for omnivores, or leave out the coconut milk to make it light and spicier, or cut down on the chillies if you're looking for a milder, creamier curry. I used green beans, red peppers, and kale in this recipe, but mix and match your veggies at will.

The secret to good pumpkin curry, in my humble opinion: leave the skin on! This will help prevent your pumpkin chunks from dissolving into mush, and the skin will have a wonderful soft texture once it cooks for a bit. Heaven!

Pumpkin Curry with Tofu
veganized from Nigella Lawson

Serves 4

1 small buttercup or kabocha squash (so technically this is squash curry!)
1 can full-fat coconut milk
2 tablespoons red curry paste
2 cups vegetable stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3-5 red Thai chillies, crushed
3 stalks lemongrass, crushed
1 cup green beans
1 red pepper, roughly diced
1 block firm tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes
2 cups kale, roughly chopped
juice from 1 lime

The hardest part about making this curry is cutting up the pumpkin, so we're gonna go that first. Make sure you grab a large, very sharp knife and a stable cutting board, and perhaps a friend who wouldn't mind a quick trip to the ER if things go south. Carefully cut the squash into quarters, scoop out of the seeds and gunk, then chop each section up into large chunks. They should be big enough for two bites - with smaller pieces you run the risk of the pumpkin getting too soft as the curry simmers. Use a smaller knife to trim the stringy innards off the inside of each chunk, and you're done! That wasn't too bad, right?

Camouflage.

Chopped!

Grab a large pot and set it on the stove over medium-high heat. Skim the cream off the top of your can of coconut milk and dump it in the pot, then add the curry paste. Mix this all together until the bright red mixture is bubbly and fragrant, but not smoking.

The goods. 

Once the curry paste has had a chance to warm up and release its delicious flavors, pour in the rest of the coconut milk, along with the veggie stock, soy sauce, sugar, turmeric, chillies, and lemongrass stalks. Stir this all up and wait until the mixture starts to boil, then dump in the pumpkin chunks and cover the pot while the squash cooks. This will take about 10 minutes - you can check how the little nuggets are doing by stabbing them with a fork. The orange flesh should be easy to pierce, while the skin should still offer a bit of resistance. Don't worry, it'll keep softening up over the next couple of steps.

Bubble bubble. 

When you're happy with the pumpkin's texture, toss in the green beans and red pepper chunks. Cook for a about 5 minutes, then add the tofu and kale and simmer for another 5 minutes, until the kale has wilted down and become nice and tender.

Add the lime juice to your curry and give it a taste - you can also add sugar, salt, or chillies at this point depending on your preference. Once you're satisfied with your creation, sprinkle the curry with chopped cilantro, and serve over rice with extra chillies and lime on the side. Enjoy!

A Typical Wednesday Night

I had every intention of making a delicious lemony green bean risotto today for dinner, but my plan was thwarted when Safeway was completely out of arborio rice (or "weird rice", as K calls it). So, I went home and did what any self-respecting 27 year old would do: I made pancakes. 

Sometimes dinner is just too much work and pancakes at 7pm sound like an infinitely better option, ya know? Especially when they're giant, fluffy pancakes with a big fistful of chocolate chips and plenty of maple syrup and butter. MM. I like to sweeten the batter with maple syrup instead of sugar, which locks in that rich sweetness, and I use coconut oil to make these babies smell even more heavenly that regular pancakes. Perfect for any time of the day or night!

Vegan Pancakes

Adapted from About Food

Makes six 3-inch pancakes pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

a pinch of salt 

1 cup almond milk (or soy, coconut, etc)

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons coconut oil, plus extra to coat your pan

1/3 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk the almond milk, maple syrup, and coconut oil until it starts to get a little frothy around the edges. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until everything is evenly incorporated. If you're in an indulgent mood, this is where you'll add the chocolate chips. Your batter should be smooth and thick, almost like a brownie batter.

All you need!

Grab a non-stick pan, set it on a burner over medium heat, and pour in a little bit of coconut oil. Let this heat up for 20 seconds or so, then carefully pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan. Tilt the pan around to help the batter spread, then cook until you see little bubbles start to form on top.

My bubbles my bubbles!

Flip! If you're fancy you can fling your pancake up in the air. I'm uncoordinated and wary of accidentally destroying perfectly good food/my kitchen, so I use a spatula like a peasant. Toast your pancake until it's nice and golden brown on both sides. Serve with maple syrup, apple butter, cranberry sauce, or any other toppings your heart desires!

Warm Those Frozen Bones

Did you guys know that the "bomb cyclone" is apparently a thing? A thing that is due to bring horrendously cold weather and general misery to large parts of our fair country next week. UGH. I feel like winter just ended and I'm 100% not ready to face another several months of frozen toes. Luckily, today's Tortilla Soup is a perfect remedy to darkness and freezing rain!

The only thing better than the warm, complex flavors of this soup is how easy it is to make. While it does require a bit of chopping, there's nothing tricky about the recipe and it only takes about 30 minutes to come together. Toppings aren't just advisable here - they're pretty much mandatory. Customize your bowl with lots of goodies and pretend you're somewhere sunny and warm, far from a world where below-freezing temperatures exist!

Tortilla Soup
Adapted from Minimalist Baker and Oh She Glows

Serves 6

For the soup:
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 onion, diced
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 Anaheim peppers, chopped (you can also sub 1 bell pepper here!)
1 jalapeno, chopped
12 ounces tomato paste
1 cup salsa
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 cup corn
2 cans black beans, drained
1 avocado, cut into cubes
olive oil to coat your pot
salt and pepper to taste

For the garnish:
chopped cilantro
avocado slices
tortilla chips
lime juice
crushed red pepper
plain coconut milk yogurt

Pour a little olive oil into a large pot over medium heat, and toss in the garlic and onion. Toast these smelly little guys up until the onion starts to turn translucent - make sure you don't crank up the heat too high so that the garlic doesn't burn. Add the cumin and chili powder, stir for 30 seconds so that the spices all stick to those garlicky onions, then add the Anaheim peppers and the jalapeno and saute for another 2 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and stir until it evenly coats all your veggies, then pour in the salsa, veggie broth, and water. Turn the heat up a little bit to medium-high and cover the pot so that your soup comes to a rolling boil. In the meantime, prep your garnishes!

A study in green.

Once the soup is boiling, toss in the corn and black beans. Lower the heat to medium again and let all this simmer for 5 minutes. Do a quick taste test on a piece of Anaheim pepper - it should be nice and soft. Add salt and pepper to your little heart's desire. Once you're satisfied with your soup's spice level, throw in the cubed avocado, turn off the heat, and cover the pot until you're ready to eat. Pile on the cilantro, avocado, tortilla chips, lime, red pepper, and yogurt, and enjoy this hearty, warming meal!

Wok and Roll

For some reason, I've spent the past couple of months refusing to buy corn starch. I don't have any particular moral objection towards this powdery stuff - it's just that it comes in big boxes and you never need more than a couple of tablespoons and I didn't see the point. I finally ended up caving when I came across today's recipe for Kung Pao Sauce, and I'm so glad I did!

This sauce is incredible - the flavors are amazingly complex, the texture is thick and smooth, and the whole thing just soaks right up into any veggies you happen to throw into it. My sister just moved to DC and has access to a functional kitchen for the first time in years, so obviously we spent a good portion of her first weekend in town cooking up delicious noms.

The beginning of greatness. 

I need more cowbell chilies.

This lovely recipe comes to you courtesy of The View from Great Island - my only regret is that I neglected to account for the fact that my sister and K are two of the most spice-obsessed people I know, so this wasn't nearly enough heat for their seared-off tastebuds. Adjust accordingly and enjoy!

Ducks in a row. 

Two cutting boards for twice the fun. 

Not-So-Krabby Patties

Okay, let's talk about veggie burgers for a sec. Veggie burgers can be delicious and flavorful and full of nice things like beans and grains, or they can be horrendous processed little frisbees that are dry and crumby and blerhgh. Since we have a solid month of summer and grilling left this year, do your mouth a favor - skip the cardboard crap and try out these amazing Black Bean Burgers instead!

I'm actually surprised that we managed to capture photographic evidence of this nomtastic burger, because I  inhaled it within 5 minutes flat. It's super flavorful, and leaving half of the black beans whole and coating the outside of the patty with quinoa gives it a really great texture. The recipe looks a little complicated, but it's actually much easier than I expected - I'm going to make a big batch of these soon and freeze them, so that I have a quick and tasty meal on hand for busy weeknights. Or just so I can do this after my next long run:

Black Bean Burgers

adapted from the always incredible Love & Lemons

Makes 4 patties

½ onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 

¼ cup cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours
¼ cup grated carrot

1 tablespoon steak sauce

2 tablespoons Sriracha (for a more mellow burger, substitute with 1 tablespoon ketchup and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar)

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne

½ teaspoon mustard
¾ cup cooked quinoa
olive oil, to coat your pan and drizzle over the patties

salt and pepper, to taste

Toss the onion and garlic, along with a little bit of olive oil, into a pan set over medium heat. Cook these up until the onions are translucent and everything smells nice and garlicky. Add 1/2 cup of the black beans, the cashews, the grated carrots, and all your sauces and spices into the pan as well, and saute for about 3 minutes, until everything is heated through and the beans are getting pretty soft. 

Turn off the heat and let this mixture cool for a few minutes. In the meantime, grab a bowl and mix together the remaining 1/2 cup of black beans and 1/2 cup of the cooked quinoa. Take the rest of the quinoa and spread it out over a small plate - you'll need this for the last step!

Throw all the deliciousness you've cooked up in the saucepan into a blender or food processor. Whip it around until it comes together into a big mushy ball, stopping to scrape down the sides of your blender a couple of times to catch those errant beans. The mixture doesn't have to be completely smooth, but it should be fairly blended up and unappealing at this point (hence the lack of photos).

Dump the contents of your blender into the bowl of black beans and quinoa, and gently fold until everything is evenly distributed. Feel free to taste test the mixture and add salt and pepper as needed. Now for the fun part! Divide the patty mixture into four little balls, then roll each ball around in the plate of quinoa you set aside earlier. Once it's completely coated, smoosh it down with your hands to form a patty and set it on a plate. When you're done with all four patties, stick the plate into the fridge for half an hour to let everything cool down and set up. In the meantime, you can clean up and prep your burger fixings!

Preheat your oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Gently slide your patties onto the sheet and stick them in the oven for about 10 minutes. Then take them out, carefully flip them, and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the top of the patties feel dry and non-squishy. Toast your buns, slather on the ketchup and mustard, and enjoy!

Vinaigrette Nirvana

I just back from a fabulous trip to California, where I spent my time drinking wine, eating unreasonable quantities of avocado, and catching up with some incredibly lovely people. Now I'm back in DC, halfway moved into my new apartment, and my belly is full of Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chili Lime Vinaigrette...life is pretty damn great.

We've already established that sweet potatoes are a magical root, and of course we've covered the fact stuffing one delicious food into another delicious food is usually a good idea. What really takes this dish to another level, though, is the vinaigrette. Flavor explosion, guys!

The smoothness of the maple syrup, the bite of the chili, and the tang of the lime all perfectly complement the sweet potatoes and their stuffing. The result is an incredible combination of sweet, spicy, sour, and salty that can easily be adjusted as necessary to achieve your personal version of a perfect vinaigrette.

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chili Lime Vinaigrette 
Inspired by Maya at Alaska from Scratch

Serves 2 as a main dish, or 4 as an appetizer

2 medium sweet potatoes
¼ onion, diced
½ cup corn, rinsed and drained
½ cup black beans, rinsed and drained
juice from 1 lime
1 tablespoon maple syrup
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil, to coat your pan

Preheat your oven to 450 F and line a medium baking pan with aluminum foil. Wash your sweet potatoes really well, then prick them all over with a fork and grease them up with a little bit of olive oil. Then wrap them up in some more aluminum foil so that they look like lumpy mini burritos. Pop them onto the pan and into the oven for about 40 minutes, or until you can easily pierce the potato with a fork. When they're done, take the spuds out of the oven and open up their foil jackets so that they cool off a bit before you put your paws all over them.

Once the potatoes are cool, cut them in half and carefully scoop out their delicious orange innards, making sure to leave enough attached to the skin so that the whole potato half doesn't completely collapse. Toss the  into a bowl and mash up a bit so that there aren't any massive chunks. Put the skins back into the baking pan and set aside for a minute while you make the stuffing.

Grab a large saucepan, drizzle some olive oil on it, and cook the diced onions over medium heat for about 2 minutes. As soon as they start to smell nice and oniony, add the corn and black beans. Cook just until they're heated all the way through, then add the sweet potato flesh and stir everything around vigorously to make sure all the goodies are evenly spread through the mixture. You can add a little salt and pepper at this point if you'd like, but it's not necessary - the vinaigrette will provide plenty of flavor.

Use a large spoon to scoop  the stuffing into the waiting sweet potato skins, filling them all the way up until they look like little orange mountains. Back into the oven they go! Set your timer for 15 minutes. While your stuffed potatoes are roasting away, it's time to make the vinaigrette. Just pour the lime juice, maple syrup, chili powder, garlic powder, and chopped cilantro into a small bowl and whisk it all up. Add salt and pepper to taste. I tried to take a picture but there's literally no way to make this vinaigrette not look like bits of grass floating in muddy water...so if that's what you're looking at in your own kitchen, you're on the right track.

At this point your timer should have about 5 minutes left for the potatoes, right? Perfect. Drizzle that delicious vinaigrette over each potato half, then stick the pan back into the oven. Wait patiently for 5 more minutes, and then you're done! You can top your stuffed sweet potatoes with chopped green onions, more cilantro, or sliced avocado - enjoy!

Rock Out With Your Wok Out

Hello from California! I'm currently enjoying a mid-summer break from the DC heat here at my parents' house, where I can actually go outside without immediately turning into a sweaty mess. As I've already shared, I have an undying obsession with both chickpeas and eggplants, so this week I've combined this with my family's love of spicy food to make this magical Eggplant Curry with Chickpeas.

People. This is some seriously good curry, and I've eaten my fair share of curries so I feel like I can speak with some authority on this matter. The veggies are tender, the sauce is thick and smooth, and the blend of spices makes your kitchen smell unbelievable as this dish is simmering away. This recipe also contains 0% bullshit - it's packed with delicious, healthy whole foods that you'll feel good about eating.

I'm planning on making this for a dinner party in the very near future - the beautiful golden color and well-balanced flavors just beg to be shared! This recipe does involve a fair bit of chopping - enlist a friend or be sure to start cooking early so that you don't end up hangry before it's ready to devour!

Eggplant Curry with Chickpeas
Adapted from Heather's ridiculously beautiful blog, The Flourishing Foodie

Serves 4

½ teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 medium eggplant, diced and salted (click here if you need a refresher!)
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 can of chickpeas, drained and thoroughly rinsed
1 cup diced tomatoes
½ cup chopped bell pepper
1 can of coconut milk
olive oil, to coat your wok

Prep all your veggies first! My MO is normally to chop while I cook, but with this dish that'll be a recipe for burnt curry and/or a visit to the ER. Plus the ingredients all look so pretty sitting in their little bowls.

In a wok or a deep saucepan, heat the olive oil over a medium flame, then toss in the mustard and cumin seeds. Stir them around in the hot oil until they start to crackle and pop - that's the sound of them releasing their delicious spicy flavors! Add the eggplant, onion, garlic, and ginger, and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and the eggplant is a bit soft on the outside but still pretty firm in the center.

Mix your chili powder, turmeric, cumin, and coriander with a just enough water to make a watery paste. Don't stress out, just eyeball this - if you add too much water, it'll cook off anyway! Pour the spice mixture into your wok, along with the chickpeas, and stir to evenly distribute throughout your veggies.

Once everything is a lovely shade of reddish-gold, throw your tomatoes and bell pepper into the curry and top it off with the coconut milk. Lower the heat and cook, stirring every couple of minutes, until the liquid starts to bubble and thicken. That's it, you're done! Sprinkle some cilantro and green onions on top if you're feeling fancy, then serve with rice or hot naan bread.

The Mother Sauce

Several months ago, in the early days of spring, I shared my favorite pesto recipe with you. Today, with temperatures and humidity both soaring above 80, we're getting even more fancy with a Vegan White Sauce!

What's that? Why yes, I did get new plates! My dad hauled them all the way from Poland and I'm obsessed with them, thank you very much. And yes, those are fake chicken nuggets. What of it?

The fancy name for white sauce is bechamel - the vast fount of knowledge (aka Wikipedia) tells me that this is one of the five "mother sauces" of French cooking, a term which will never not be funny to me. Given that white sauce is basically butter and full-fat milk, you'd think it would be hard to recreate this sophisticated-sounding gem in a vegan kitchen. But you'd be wrong!

This dairy-free white sauce is smooth and thick, with all of the delicious creaminess of it's non-vegan cousin. Bechamel is perfect on pasta, and is also pretty damn good as a substitution for tomato sauce on pizza. You could probably go wild and use this on lasagne or in some sort of quiche situation - I have yet to experiment with this, but plan on trying it out!

Bechamel Sauce 
slightly adapted from the adorable Veggieful

Makes 2 cups

2 tablespoons Earth Balance
¼ cup tightly packed minced yellow onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup non-dairy milk (make sure you use unsweetened and unflavored)
2 tablespoons vegetable stock
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
salt, pepper, and paprika, to taste

Throw your Earth Balance, onions, and garlic into a medium saucepan and sauté over medium-low heat until the butter has melted and the onions are starting to get a tiny bit golden. Dump your flour in and stir vigorously - this is going to be the first of many times that you'll worry you did something horribly wrong, as the mixture will get all kinds of clumpy and weird-looking. Have no fear!

Buttah. 

Add your milk, vegetable stock, and lemon juice to this mess and whisk until everything is smooth. Now you're going to panic because your "sauce" essentially looks like curdled milk - trust me, just keep whisking. Pretty soon the mixture will start to thicken up and smell delicious. At this point, add your nutritional yeast, as well as your salt, pepper, and paprika. Make sure you're cooking at low heat, or your sauce will start to burn!

Have no fear, it'll be okay!

Once your sauce has thickened up, it's ready to serve - you can thin it out a bit by stirring in a couple of extra drops of veggie stock if it's looking a little too much like pudding. I poured my bechamel over pasta with zucchini and tomatoes (homegrown, courtesy of Mama LBV). Bon appétit!

Spice Spice Baby

I think the beginning of DC's muggy summer is making me nostalgic for Southeast Asia, because curries, noodle soups, and stir fries have all been in particularly heavy rotation recently. While today's Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles are not what you'd call traditional Asian cuisine, they are a quick and tasty solution to hot nights when you don't feel like sweating over the stove for hours!

Peanut butter and Sriracha are both indisputably awesome in their own right, so it should come as no surprise that combining them makes them twice as nice. I like marinating my tofu/tempeh/seitan in the sauce while I prep my vegetables, which infuses each little nugget with spicy, nutty flavor.

Feel free to go crazy with your vegetables here; my go-to combination includes broccoli, bell peppers, baby corn, and bamboo shoots (because apparently I love alliteration?), but mix and match to your heart's content. Just stir fry those suckers up with a little sesame oil and soy sauce - the sauce is super flavorful, so you're not going to need too much seasoning on the veggies.

Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles
(adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen)

Serves 4

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons vegetable stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons peanut butter (the hippie natural kind with no added sugar is best here!)
2 tablespoons Sriracha
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 green chili, thinly sliced

1 pound of your favorite meat substitute (I used tempeh but extra firm tofu or seitan are also delicious)
1 pound of noodles (rice noodles, soba, udon - whatever you have on hand!)

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the sauce. Get aggressive with your whisk if the peanut butter is clumpy - you want everything to be nice and smooth. Slice up your fake meat into bite-sized pieces and toss them into the spicy sauce bath to marinate.

In the meantime, chop up your veggies and sauté them for 3-5 minutes in a large saucepan or wok. Once they're done - tender but not limp - cover the pan with a lid and set aside until you're ready to eat.

Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil for the noodles. While you wait, heat a little bit of sesame oil in a medium pan, then use a slotted spoon to fish your tempeh pieces out of the sauce and carefully set them on the skillet. Keep the heat on medium-low and flip your non-meat frequently! The sugar in the sauce will burn quickly if you wander off. Your tempeh will be done when the sauce has thickened up and started to bubble - take the pan off the heat and cover, just like you did with the veggies.

Last step! Cook your noodles according to the instructions on the package - this should only take a couple of minutes. Once they're done, drain the noodles over the sink and throw them back into the empty pot. Pour in the remaining sauce, then toss with a pair of tongs until the noodles are evenly coating with spicy peanut butter goodness.

To serve, just throw the saucy noodles onto a plate, pile on a scoop of veggies, and top with tempeh. Garnish with sliced green onions, extra Sriracha, and voila - a fancy, delicious dinner in 30 minutes or less!

Say Cheez!

I have a confession to make - in addition to being a sexual deviant and a hippie tree-hugger, I'm also one of those freaks who runs stupidly long distances and calls it "fun". I ran my first marathon in October 2013, and as soon as my toenails grew back, I promptly signed up for another one. Running makes me feel peaceful, happy, and strong...but more than anything, it makes me huuuungry. So as summer training and the corresponding long runs through DC's many parks draw closer, I've been on the lookout for tasty new meals that will provide maximum fuel for minimum effort. Fortunately, there are things like Chili Mac n' Cheez to fill the gaping void in my stomach.

This mac n' cheez...I don't even know where to start. It's super easy, requires minimal standing over a hot stove when it's 80 F outside, and is SO tasty. Whenever I tell someone that I'm vegan, the response is almost invariably, "But what about CHEESE??", accompanied by a look normally reserved for people who wax their armpits or didn't like Frozen. This cheez is made from cashews, but I swear you wouldn't know it based on how creamy and thick it gets when you cook it up. Plus, this dish apparently has 19 grams of protein per serving! 19!! That's almost half the recommended minimum in one delicious bowl of pasta - vegan pasta, no less. Take that, haters.

Minimalist Baker is one of my favorite food blogs ever - I'm 100% onboard with their quick and wallet-friendly philosophy, the photography is impeccable, and I have yet to try a dish that I'm not completely obsessed with - so I'm going to go ahead and send you their way for this incredible recipe. Check out the photos below, then click your way to cheezy nirvana!

Spices and cilantro - we're off to a good start. 

Homemade fritos NOM.  

Ooh yeah.