Category Archives: Dairy Free

100 Days Project, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Mains, Recipes, Vegan

Day 5 – Indian Curried Chickpeas with Fresh Ginger and Coriander

Day5

WOW . . . this dish packs quite a lot of flavor and spice. I like spicy food, and I had to keep my yogurt nearby.

book3Although the best part about this recipe is that it is made in a slow cooker. Slow cookers are one of my favorite pieces of kitchen equipment (that and my immersion/stick blender; both of which are used in this recipe). There is nothing better than coming home after a long day of work to a warm meal  that has been slowly bubbling away for hours cooking down and gaining flavor. Usually, most recipe books for slow cookers are very meat-centric, so usually I just make up my own concoctions, but it is always nice to get inspiration from somewhere. A couple years ago a friend gave me The Gourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker  cook book as a birthday present. This is literally one of the best birthday presents I have ever received!! The book is organized by country and it has so many amazing recipes for ways to use a slow cooker that I have never imagined.

Chickpeas or Chana are commonly found in Indian cooking, especially vegetarian Indian cooking. With this recipe there is still a bit of work to be done at the end; the spices and fresh ingredients are added last after the chickpeas have been simmering all day to preserve the flavor and the freshness of these elements. As I mentioned earlier this recipe is SPICY!! You can adjust it for your own spice tolerance by varying the amount of cayenne pepper used.

Indian Curried Chickpeas with Fresh Ginger and Coriander

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups dried chickpeas
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup sesame or vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 4 whole cloves
  • 4 green cardamon pods
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure chili powder
  • 30 mm  piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, or vary for your spice tolerance)
  • Salt to taste
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Yogurt for serving
  • 3 fresh serrano (or NZ green) chiles, seeded, deveined, and cut into julienne, for garnish
  • rough chopped coriander, for garnish

Thoroughly rinse the chickpeas and place them in the slow cooker insert along with the water. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hrs (pretty much while you are at work), until the chickpeas are tender.

In a large saute pan, brown the onion in the sesame oil until dark brown in colour, about 10 -15 min.

spicesNow the fun part . . . combine the cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, chile powder, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, and cayenne in an electric coffee mill or mortar and pestle and grind to a coarse powder/paste. If you do not have either an electric coffee mill or mortar and pestle then put spices into a heavy bowl and use the bottom of a glass  or jar to grind the spices down. I love the look and smell of all these beautiful spices combining together.

Add the coarsely ground spices to the onion and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, then add the onion and spices to the cooked chickpeas. Recover and continue cooking for another 30 – 60 minutes.

Using an immersion/stick blender, puree some of the chickpeas in the insert, and mix through to thicken the mixture.

Add salt to taste, then stir in the lemon juice. Ladle into bowls, add a dallop of yogurt, and garnish with chile slices and fresh coriander.

ENJOY!!

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Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Raw, Recipes, Salads, Side Dish, Vegan

Simple Raw Veggie Salad with Dill Dressing

dill dressing

This side salad is perfect for when you need something fresh and lite to go with you main meal.  I made it to go with the Creamy Leek and Brussels Sprout Soup in my Day 4 post, and the the crisp sweetness of the raw vegetables and fragrant dill nicely balance the creaminess and subtle spice of the soup.

I used cucumber, red capsicum, yellow capsicum, and avocado, but realistically that was just because those were the vegetables in my fridge. You can use any combination of vegetables you feel will go well together. Besides anything topped with this Dill Dressing will taste brilliant.

This does not take long at all to throw together, and can vary infinitely. You can also substitute other fresh herbs for the dill to make different types of dressing.

Simple Raw Salad with Dill Dressing

INGREDIENTS

for the salad

  • any assortment of raw vegetables (I used cucumber, red capsicum, yellow capsicum, and avocado)

for the dressing

  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (if you do not have white wine vinegar, you can use 1 tablespoon white vinegar with 1/2 teaspoon sugar)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill, or other fresh herb (you can also use dried herbs but it does not taste quite as nice)
  • 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced shallot (you can substitute minced garlic if you do not happen to have a shallot around)
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Place all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar and salt until the salt dissolves. Add dill, mustard and shallot and whisk to combine. Slowly drizzle in olive oil, whisking constantly, until dressing is smooth and emulsified.  You can also use an immersion/stick blender to emulsify the dressing, which will take less time. Place all ingredients into the tall plastic cup that comes with most immersion/stick blenders, and whizz until dressing takes on a creamy white look. Pour dressing over salad and toss until all ingredients are evenly coated.

Additional Notes

Salad will keep, dressed and refrigerated, for up to 6 hours. For longer storage, keep chopped and assembled salad ingredients covered in the refrigerator up to 1 day ahead and toss with dressing just before serving.

ENJOY!!

 

 

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Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Recipes, Side Dish, Vegan

Green Beans with Leek & Toasted Almonds

green beans

Hello Herbivores  . . . some people have been asking for the green beans recipe that was served along with the lentil sheppard’s pie in my Day 1 post. So, ask and you shall receive!!

This recipe originally came from Heidi Swanson of the 101 Cookbooks food blog. Her recipes are always simple, with minimal ingredients and packed full of flavor. I have to admit I have tweaked this recipe slightly myself (well then again, I tweak most recipes . . . that is half the fun of cooking).

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 large leeks, well washed, root end and tops trimmed, sliced lengthwise into quarters and then chopped into 15mm segments
  • 1/3 cup fresh dill, well chopped
  • 500g green beans, tops and tails trimmed and cut into 30mm segments
  • extra-virgin olive oil
  • fine-grain sea salt
  • slivered almonds

Toast the slivered Almonds in a dry skillet over a medium-high heat until they are nicely browned. Make sure you keep an eye on these as they can very quickly go from brown to burnt.

In a large thick-bottomed skillet of medium-high heat add a generous splash of olive oil, a generous pinch of salt and the leeks. Stir until the leeks are coated and glossy. Cook, stirring regularly until a lot of the leeks are golden and crispy. All in all it takes me roughly 7 – 10 minutes to brown the leeks.

At this point stir in the dill and almonds, and then stir in the green beans. Cook for a couple more minutes – just until the the beans brighten up and lose that raw
bite. Turn out into a bowl or onto a platter and serve immediately.

ENJOY!!

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