Recipes

Vegan fast food

Last nights dinner--falafel in pitas with salad--was a huge success.  Even though I call it fast food, it did take a little prep time. I sliced thin the eggplant and then roasted it with a drizzle of olive oil  at 400 for 15 minutes.  It was perfection.  I had to sneak in few bites of it by itself when no one else was looking.

While that was cooking I chopped the tomatoes and cucumbers and diced a red onion for a quick Mediteranean salad.  This one is very simple--mix tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, some parsley, and a little mint together.  I drizzled a little olive oil on this and squeezed a half of lemon on top.  Salt and spice to taste.  See, wasn't that easy.

Dinner is served

To finish off your dinner, open the pita and spread on some hummus, then layer in all the veggies you like.  I used sliced tomatoes, red onions, slivered carrots and shredded lettuce.  I topped all of that with the store bought "Veggie Patch" falafel.  I even managed to clean my plate.

 

Aug. 10
In order to save money this week, I vowed to use what I had to make meals.  This can be difficult with so many in the family.  Last night ended up being Indian night.  I had a few cans of chickpeas, so I made chana masala. This recipe makes about 5 grown up portions.

1 onion, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

2-4 T of olive oil

2 15 oz cans of chickpeas, with liquid

4T lemon juice

1 t coriander powder

1 t cumin

1 t curry powder

1 t garam masala

A few handfuls of spinach

This is the easy part.  Sautee the onions and garlic in oil until soft.  Add the chickpeas with liquid and all the other ingredients, except the spinach.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  I needed to thicken mine up at this point, for me it just seemed too runny, so I added a little cornstarch and simmered another 5 minutes or so. 

Right before serving, you can either add the spinach, roughly torn, to your chickpeas, or lay the spinach in your dish and ladle the chickpeas on top. 

Now, to be authentic, this should have had some tomato paste in it.  I didn't have any, so, oh well.  It was still great.

I served this dish on jasmine rice, with a side of potato and cauliflower curry and steamed kale.  It was a hit.

Saving money, using up food that could go bad and serving my family a great tasting and nutritious meal.  That is what I call a mom's job well done.  (Yes, I am patting myself on the back here.) Hope you enjoy it, too.