Spicy In-Flight Veggies (Original Recipe)

2 lb fingerling potatoes, sliced
10oz bag of frozen riced broccoli
1 can butter beans, drained
1 Tbs harissa paste
3 Tbs tomato paste
1/2 cup water
salt to taste

1)  Preheat oven to 425F. Place potato slices on a greased baking sheet, with additional oil and salt drizzled over the top. Bake for 25 minutes.
2)  Maintain water in glass measuring cup, and mix in harissa paste and tomato paste until well blended.
3)  In a small saucepan, over medium heat, combine butter beans and sauce. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.
4)  When there is only five minutes left on the potatoes, cook the riced broccoli in the microwave.
5)  Layer the dish with potatoes on bottom, topped with broccoli, then butter beans. Serve hot.

Review: I recently vacationed in London. One of the perks to international flights is the in-flight meal. However, it's often tricky to get one to meet my needs. I tend to order vegan, but half the time it comes with pasta that I can't eat! On the way back from London, I had an AMAZING meal on the flight. It was diced, probably boiled, potatoes. Then topped with broccoli florets and butter beans. The red sauce was tasty, but I couldn't nail the flavors to reproduce it. Therefore, I had to make up my own for this dish. I actually prefer the variations used for this recipe. This was quick and easy to make, but yet ever so nutritional. It's spicy without being overwhelming. But most of all, it's a hearty meal on a cold, grey, rainy day. Perfection.

Cranberry Orange Sangria

750 ml red wine blend
1/2 cup cognac
1/4 cup Cointreau
1 cup cranberry juice
1 orange, sliced

1) Combine all the ingredients in a pitcher and let it sit overnight.

Review: Ah, this was tasty! The cranberry juice added just a bit of tartness, while the oranges added an essence of orange oil. The original recipe called for three oranges, which I felt was overkill. However, one orange seemed like it wasn't enough. I'd try it with two oranges for a good balance.

Adapted from:
https://www.wineandglue.com/cranberry-orange-sangria/

Green Dal (Original Recipe)

2 Tbs coconut oil
6 cloves of garlic, minced
6 cubes of frozen ginger
1 tsp fenugreek
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
2 cups dried lentils, rinsed and drained
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup brown basmati rice
13.5oz can coconut milk
1 lb frozen, chopped okra
salt to taste

1)  In a medium saucepan, add coconut milk. Fill can with water and add this water to the saucepan. Add rice and bring to a boil. Cover and cook until all fluid is absorbed.
2)  Meanwhile, in a large brazier (or Dutch oven), heat the coconut oil until melted. Add garlic, ginger, and all of the dry spices. Stir until fragrant.
3)  Add lentils and broth, bringing the mixture to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a fast simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.
4)  Add okra, and again cover. Cook at a high simmer for an additional ten minutes, until okra is fully cooked and mixture thickens.
5)  Serve lentil/okra mixture over the coconut rice.

Review: When I mention frozen cubes, I hope everyone knows of the magic of Dorot Gardens. They are so amazing to have on hand, and make cooking so much easier. I've had half a bag of green lentils in the cabinet for some time, along with a can of coconut milk. The last time I went grocery shopping, a bag of frozen okra caught my eye. All the pieces came together in my head, but still took a few days before I finally had time to do some cooking. It was well worth the effort. The okra was tender, but not slimy as the curry dish used the slime to thicken the whole dish. It makes for a far more desirable okra texture. I've always heard this regarding gumbo, but that's not a dish I tend to make. And, I've grown bored with my standard dal recipe. I'm so glad I ventured out of my rut to try something new!

NZ Breakfast

2 slices of bread, toasted
1/2 avocado, mashed
1 cup white vinegar, divided in half
2 eggs
salsa to taste
balsamic vinegar to taste

1)  Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Meanwhile, place each egg (separate bowls!) in 1/2 cup of white vinegar. This must set aside for at least five minutes.
2)  Place avocado on toast and add salsa to taste.
3)  Swirl the surface of the boiling water with a silicone spoon, creating a vortex in the center. Add one egg/vinegar mixture and continue swirling as the egg cooks. This should take between 3 and 5 minutes, depending on your preferences. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain. Repeat with egg #2.
4)  Place eggs on top of toast and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Review: I recently vacationed in New Zealand, where my favorite meal was this breakfast. It was so amazing, that I had to try it once I returned home. This involved researching how to poach eggs, as I had never done so before. The restaurant (EAT) made their poached eggs into the tallest, fluffiest, little clouds. Mine are not even close!! Mine were also a little under done. I'll certainly need more practice. This dish is incredibly tasty, as it's such a blend of savory, sweet, and exotic. So yum!!

Inspired by:
https://eat.net.nz

Black Bean Posole (crockpot recipe)

8 cups water
1 poblano chile, seeds removed and cut into large chunks
7oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, seeds removed from peppers
8 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup avocado oil
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1 lb dried black beans, rinsed and drained
2 15oz cans white hominy, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tsp salt

1)  Place poblano and chipotle peppers in a food processor. Pulse until well chopped.
2)  Combine all ingredients, except hominy, into a slow cooker. Cook on H for 3 hours, or L for 6 hours.
3)  Stir in hominy and return to cook (L) for another 30 minutes.
4)  Serve hot. If you'd like, it can be garnished with vegan sour cream, vegan cheese, or avocado.

Review: I've meant to make this for the past two weeks, but kept forgetting to buy key ingredients! Eventually I was close, but I only had one poblano chile when the recipe called for three. I had a can of chipotle peppers, however, and thought it would make for a wonderful, smoky posole. It was definitely smoky, but it was also pretty spicy. Leave out the chipotle if you don't like reallllly hot food. haha Otherwise, it was tasty and a great variation from my typical posole.

Adapted from:
https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/slow-cooker-black-bean-posole

Chocolate Coffee Cookies

1 cup gluten free flour
3 Tbs coffee flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 Tbs espresso powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup melted vegan butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips

1) Preheat the oven to 350F.
2) In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients. Whisk to blend.
3) In a small bowl, add all the wet ingredients. Whisk to blend.
4) Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.
5) Use a very small cookie scoop to drop cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
6) Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are done.

Review: I bought coffee flour and picked out some recipes, but then never made them! We planned a party for a colleague's departure tomorrow and I thought it'd be a great time to try out my coffee flour. I chose a tasty coconut cookie recipe, but then found my coconut was old. Oops. However, I had no back-up recipe prepared. So, I devised a plan to focus more on the coffee by adding espresso powder and adding chocolate chips. It made for a tasty cookie that was well received! My only complaint was how big and floppy these were. There were easily the size of my palm, despite using a small cookie scoop. I assumed it was because of the melted butter, so I refrigerated the dough until it was solid after the first batch baked. However, that made no difference in size or texture, despite the dough being quite firm. I'm at a loss on how to fix these.

Adapted from:
https://www.fearlessdining.com/gluten-free-coffee-flour-coconut-cookies/

Harissa Lentil Tacos

1 Tbs avocado oil
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 lb dried red lentils
29oz can tomato puree
6.7oz jar harissa
32oz vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
gluten free tortillas (4-6)
1 avocado, diced
vegan cream cheese 

1)  In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in lentils, tomatoes, harissa, and vegetable broth.
2)  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and let cook. Stir occasionally until the lentils have absorbed much of the liquid, about 45 minutes.
3)  Serve in a tortilla, with avocado and cream cheese topping each serving.

Review:  For the record, I cheat on avocados these days with individual serving cups. It's such an easy way to guarantee having a ripe avocado on hand! I've had a jar of harissa from Trader Joe's for several months now. I feel like I found a ton of recipes in Idaho that needed harissa, but then couldn't find said recipes. So, I found this one online and it helped use up a few other random items from the cupboard. I'm not sure how this was ever supposed to make tacos, however, as it was SO SOUPY. I may recommend using diced fresh tomatoes as garnish, versus a can of tomatoes while cooking. On the other hand, this was perfectly tasty without the taco shell and made a ton of leftovers for freezing!!

Adapted from:
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/moroccan-potato-lentil-tacos-with-harissa/