Chick Pea Curry

Having lived in Britain a long time, I took a liking to Indian food. Luckily here in Toronto you can get Sharwood's Curry Powder imported from England, which is the one I use. You can add garlic and fresh ginger in, also potatoes, but I had to omit them as my husband can't eat them, so I cook some brown rice instead. I have tried making curry from scratch using all the fresh herbs and spices but it was never successful. Now I play it safe and use a ready mix curry powder.

2 cans of chick peas almost drained, just save a bit of juice
1 large chopped onion
2 tablespoons of Sharwoods Mild Madras Curry Powder or what ever curry powder you like
Salt and pepper
Oil
Serves 4

Fry the onion in oil until soft then add the curry powder and cook for another minute.
Add the chick peas and cook for another minute or two.
Serve with rice.
If you want to use fresh ginger and garlic, cut into very small pieces and add them when you cook the onions.
If you like potatoes use four medium sized ones cut into cubes and save the juice from one can and cover with and cook until potates are soft.

Mexican Tortillas

Toronto Animal Rights Society (TARS) has a bi-weekly potluck dinner and a show or guest speaker after the dinner. The first one I ever attended was a cooking demonstration. Three people came from Mexico to show and tell us about Mexican, vegan food, and what they eat in southern Mexico which is a lot of tortillas made with Maseca flour, a type of corn flour. I saw it as another dinner idea that my husband could eat. I enjoyed the tortillas I sampled, so a few days later I went especially to Perola's in Kensington Market to get some maseca flour. All it needs is salt and water, just follow the instructions on the packet. I like them with black beans, guacamole, tomatoes and hot sauce or salsa.
The tortilla dough is very fragile so you have to be gentle with it. A friend of mine, Antione told me you can also add 50% wheat flour and it makes the dough more robust. The Mexican's use their hands to spread the dough, however I use a rolling pin. Just cook the tortillas on a dry frying pan for approximately 50 seconds before turning over and cooking the other side.

Satay Stir Fry

I cheat on this recipe and use Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay Sauce. I've not yet tried to make satay sauce from scratch but intend to one day. If anyone has a recipe that tastes similar to Thai Kitchen please let me know.

1 packet of firm tofu
1 jar of Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay Sauce
1 a can of coconut milk (the other half can be frozen if not used)
1 large onion
Carrots cut into long, thin strips
Bunch of broccoli cut into florets
Or any vegetables you wish to use
Oil
Salt and pepper
Serves 4 portions

Cut the tofu into quarters then cut each quarter into nine pieces and fry with a little oil in a frying pan turing occaisionally until brown and even crispy if you wish.
Fry onions in a wok or cooking pot until almost cooked.
Add other veggies and cook for a few minutes but still crunchy.
Add the peanut satay sauce.
Pour some of the coconut milk into the empty jar of sauce and shake well to get all of the sauce.
Cook until simmering.
Alternatively you can omit the satay sauce and coconut milk and add fresh garlic, ginger and pineapple sauce instead, that's also a good, tasty stir fry.

Quinoa Apple Salad

I just threw this together and my husband gave me kudos for it, so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

Cooked quinoa
1 sliced red onion
1 chopped apple
Walnuts (or what ever nuts you like or have in your cupboard)

Dressing
Oil
Orange Juice
Lemon Juice
Sugar to sweeten

I served this with salad greens and chopped peaches
The dressing for the green salad is the same as above, only adding some powdered ginger to spice it up.

Chili

During the winter I went to a vegan chili competition. Before then I used to make chili with Club House chili seasoning. After tasting some of the chili's there I was spoilt. They had fresh jalapenos, chilis, chipoltes, garlic and coriander. Some had ingredients such as chocolate, cocoa, coffee, even Jack Daniels whiskey! That prompted me to experiment and get this recipe. Obviously you should experiment yourself as well! This recipe makes six portions if you serve it with rice.

1 packet of Yves Veggie Ground Beef
1 large chopped onion
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of red kidney beans drained and rinsed
2 finely chopped jalapenos
2 finely chopped chilis
1 clove of finely chopped or minced garlic
1 bunch of chopped coriander (or cilantro as it's also known)
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 tblspn of cornstarch
1 tblspn of oil
Salt and pepper

Note; The chilis and jalapenos can vary in their heat, depending on how ripe they are. If they are over ripe or slightly wrinkled they aren't as pungent. Sometimes I've added three chilis and there are times when I've got everything perfect but, the last time it was far too spicy. So in future I will add some chipolte powder. It also gives it a smokey flavour.

Fry the onion, garlic, chili and jalapeno until soft.
Add the veggie beef and mix together.
Add the tomatoes with the juice and bring to the boil.
Add the kidney beans and heat until they're warm.
Mix the cornstarch with some water and add to the pan to thicken the chili.
Last of all add the coriander.

Spinach Bacon and Peach Salad

1 packet of Yves Veggie Bacon chopped
2 peaches skinned and sliced
1 bag of baby spinach
Oil or margarine for frying
Creamy poppyseed dressing (for non vegans)
Fry bacon for five minutes
Add peaches and fry until soft
Add spinach and fry until wilted
Season to taste
Add poppyseed dressing if required

Cranberry Lentil Salad

I tasted this salad at a potluck dinner and got the recipe but adapted it slightly.

Just mix together;
Cooked brown rice
Chopped tomato
Cooked green lentils
One sliced red onion
Dried cranberries
Rind and juice of one lemon
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper