I love to cook and every now and again I feel like sharing recipes. I've put together self-published cookbooks in the past. The most memorable of these being "KITCHEN GYPSY" when I was still a carnivore, the premise being, of course, that one could travel around the world and stay in the kitchen. This was and still is my approach to cooking.
I am a vegetarian now, more precisely what is called a lacto-vegetarian meaning that I consume dairy products but do not eat eggs. Being a lacto-vegetarian steers me in the direction of the Vegan Universe because Vegans do not consume any animal products and normal vegetarians are always "slipping in" an egg here and there. And baking from time to time as I do, I have found two of my favorite recipes for desert/treats in Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. On the cover of her book underneath her name it states "America's Most Awesome Vegan Chef and cohost of the Post-Punk Kitchen". I have prepared about 60% of the recipes in this book and can say that she knows what she's talking about. If you'd like to buy the book right this second without even reading further, you can!
Also, my new favorite dish to prepare is not even a desert...but it IS a treat and its from this book, too! I make a big pot of it and eat it all week. It's ........
Chickpea and Spinach Curry
1 12 oz can whole tomatoes in juice - not puree
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 large onion cut into 1/4 inch dice (about 2 cups)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
3 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (optional)
3 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon salt
10 cups of fresh spinach, well rinsed and chopped
4 cups chickpeas, cooked and drained OR 2 15 oz cans drained and rinsed
Prepare the tomatoes by removing them one at a time from the can and squeezing out the juice and tearing them in bite size pieces. Place the prepared tomatoes in a bowl and reserve the juice in the can. Preheat a medium size saucepan over moderate heat; pour in the vegetable oil and then the mustard seeds. Let the seeds pop for about a minute - you may want to cover the pot so that the seeds can't escape. then add the onion, turn up the heat to med high and saute for 7-10 minutes until the onion begins to brown. Add garlic and ginger (YAY TRINITY ROOTS) and saute for 2 more minutes. Add spices and salt and 1/4 cup of the reserved tomato juice; saute one minute more. Add tomatoes and heat through. Add handfuls of spinach mixing each addition until wilted. When all the spinach has completely wilted and the mixture is liquid-y, add the chick peas, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes more stirring occasionally. Taste, adjust the spices if necessary. and simmer another 10 minutes uncovered....or until it turns into a thick stew-like consistency.
A bunch of us yogi-types got together to chant Japji a few months back and everyone came to my house and it was a potluck kind of affair. I made one of the treats which was the Chocolate Thumbprint Cookie from Chandra's book, but I renamed it so it would be Kundalini Yoga relevant and added my own comments.
EGO BUSTERS
What better way to get rid of your Ego than to press your thumb into these little cookies, fill em up with jam, and offer them to your friends to gobble up! You won't believe how fast these little cookies will disappear...you'll be Ego-less in no time. Ego-less AND Egg-less, these cocoa cookies are quick, easy, and VEGAN!
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup peanut oil
1/3 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2/3 cup sugar
6 teaspoons jam*
Preheat oven to 350 F. either line two cookie sheet with parchment paper, or oil them or use teflon pans.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder salt and baking soda. (i throw them in the food processor and let them spin together for a bit)
in a large bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients (except the jam) plus the sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and incorporate well.
With damp hands, roll 1 tbsp of dough into a ball and press between your palms into a disc...then place on the prepared cookie sheet. ITS IMPORTANT TO THE TEXTURE OF THE COOKIE THAT YOUR HANDS ARE DAMP TO PREVENT CRACKING AT THE EDGES. If your dough is too dry, add a tablespoon of maple syrup and that should do it!
Bake the cookies for five minutes, then remove from the oven.
PRESS YOUR THUMB (EGO) INTO EACH COOKIE TO MAKE A DENT. They will be hot, so proceed with caution.
Place about 1/4 teaspoon of jam in each indentation.
Bake another 6 minutes, remove from the oven and let sit for a few minutes and then cool.
* I used Trader Joe's organic superfruit spread (morello cherry, red grape, blueberry and pomergranate) which balances nicely with the chocolate flavor. Raspberry, apricot works, too.
also, no need to use super expensive cocoa here, Hersheys does just fine.
