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/

Falafel Scones with Harissa Yogurt Sauce

1 cup falafel mix (from Trader Joe's)
1 cup gluten free flour
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
3 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs and 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup coconut milk (from a can, not from the milk aisle)
4oz cashewgurt
1/2 cup coconut milk (from the same can)
2 Tbs harissa sauce

1)  Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a scone pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
2)  In a large bowl, combine the falafel mix, flour, xanthan gum, sugar and baking powder. Using an electric mixer on the lowest setting, add the butter and blend until crumbly with pea-sized chunks of butter.
3)  In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and 1 cup of coconut milk. Make a well in the dry mixture and add egg mixture. Again using the lowest setting on an electric mixer, combine until well-blended.
4)  Bake 17 to 20 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and place on a wire cooling rack for five minutes.
5)  Combine cashewgurt, 1/2 cup coconut milk and harissa sauce. Use sauce for drizzling or dipping when served.

Review:  I bought falafel mix awhile back, but then never made it as the instructions indicated it was a multi-hour process (soak for an hour, bake for an hour, etc.). Then, Trader Joe's published this recipe and it seemed like a great idea. I just lacked an occasion until today. I have a coworker leaving tomorrow and we tend to use our early morning meeting for celebrations. Time for savory scones (my favorite), I figured. So, I made these tonight and decided to have a few for dinner. I worried that my coworkers wouldn't like them, so I didn't want to take all of them. Unfortunately, I loved these so much that I ate nearly half of them, along with all of the sauce. Oops. These have a great falafel flavor, but not in an overwhelming way. They're also oddly fluffy for a scone made with falafel! The sauce added a bit of creaminess and additional flavor, but was largely bland. I'm not sure how I'd fix that, other than adding salt. I will definitely be making these again, especially since I still have so much falafel mix left (maybe 4-5 batches of scones?).

Adapted from:
https://www.traderjoes.com/recipes/appetizers-sides/falafel-scones-with-harissa-yogurt

Spicy Tuna Rice Casserole

13oz can vegan tuna, drained
12oz shelled edamame
0.35oz roasted seaweed, sesame flavor
1 cup rice
1/4 cup soy sauce
4oz plain cashewgurt
1/4 cup rice vinegar
4 tsp sriracha sauce
1 large avocado
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds

1)  In a large pot, bring 2 1/4 cups water to a boil. Add the vegan tuna, edamame, roasted seaweed, rice, and soy sauce. Return to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to simmer 25 to 30 minutes - until liquid has all been absorbed.
2)  In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, cashewgurt, and sriracha to make a creamy sauce. Refrigerate until the rice mixture has completed cooking.
3)  Mix creamy sauce into completed rice mixture, stirring until well blended and heated throughout.
4)  Serve topped with avocado and sesame seeds.

Review:  Over the years, I've tried many mock meats. However, there are very few seafood options. I found a can of tuna and thought I'd love to make a tuna noodle casserole. I failed to realize (until researching recipes) how difficult that would be to make in a gluten-free, non-dairy manner. I found this recipe instead and fell in love with it. I'm not sure how tuna like this really is (it's been more than twenty years since I've had tuna!), but it's a great, earthy yet tangy recipe. I really liked it, despite my version being soupier than I had planned. The creamy sauce really finishes it out.

Adapted from:
https://www.foodfaithfitness.com/spicy-tuna-rice-casserole/