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Showing posts with label mixed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mixed. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Indian Mixed Dal

I first tried Indian cuisine a few years ago while my brother and sister-in-law were in town for Christmas.  They insisted that my nutritarian parents and I give it a try since many recipes are vegetarian and often rely heavily on beans and legumes.  Wow!  Fantastic!  We couldnt get enough.  Soon most dinners out with my parents were to our new favorite Indian restaurant.

Now, I know Indian restaurants arent necessarily Nutritarian friendly since they are generally higher in salt and often use ghee (clarified butter), but thats why Im bringing you a recipe today that can be made at home with no salt, oil, or ghee!  For other Indian recipes Ive done before including whole wheat naan bread, click here.

Indian Mixed Dal
Time: 5 minute prep, 8 minutes in a pressure cook or 30 minutes on the stovetop
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients:
    Saute:  
        1/2 large onion, chopped
        2 cups sliced mushrooms
        1/2 jalapeno pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped
        1 Tbsp minced garlic
        1 tsp minced ginger
        1 tsp cumin seeds

    Dal:      
        1/3 cup red lentils
        1/3 cup yellow split peas
        1/3 cup green split peas
        3 cups water

    Spices:
        1 Tbsp gram marsala
        2 tsp ground coriander
        1 tsp smoked paprika
        1/2 tsp ground cumin
        1/2 tsp cinnamon
        1/2 tsp turmeric
        1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes            /

Instructions:
1.)  Saute the first 6 ingredients over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, adding small amounts of water as needed to prevent sticking.
2.)  Add in the dal, water, and spices, and stir well to combine.
3.)  If using a pressure cooker, set the cooker to 8 minutes at high pressure.  When 8 minutes is up, release the remaining pressure and stir thoroughly to mash up the dal.
      If cooking on the stovetop, bring the pot to a boil, and then lower the heat to a simmer.  Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes stirring occasionally and adding additional water if it becomes too dry.
4.)    Serve hot over a whole grain or with steamed veggies.

Amys Notes:

Since doing the ETL 6-Week Challenge, Im trying to limit myself on whole grains, so instead of serving my dal with brown rice, I decided to cut up zucchini really small (like rice) and steam it.


Health and Happiness,

Amy
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Saturday, February 13, 2016

Mixed Potatoes with Kale

Hello!  Im pleased to announce that I have come back to blogging after my nearly 4 month hiatus!  Over the last couple of months Kevin and I have been getting settled into married life and the new habits and schedules that ensue.  While I was gone Ive seem to have a constant inner-battle about what foods I should be eating.  One week I would be spot-on Nutritarian with no added meats, dairy, sugars, or oils... then the next it was Thanksgiving dinner with temptations, or after Christmas with tons of goodies brought home.

All I can say is making the daily decision of what to put in your body is HARD!  Its hard for me to listen to my voice of reason (my Nutritarian voice), and silence my food-addicts taunts.  I think a good first step is to admit it... right?  Well, new readers and old, I hope you continue to follow me on my journey of trying to figure out what works for me, struggling with what doesnt... oh, and all of the awesome recipes that are produced in between!

Since Kevin and I got married last September, we have finally worked out a food and shopping budget to fit our recently-graduated-newly-wed-still-want-to-have-fun lives.  As a Nutritarian, my staples have become the bulk food section with dried grains and beans, as well as frozen and fresh vegetables when I find them on sale.  Some of Kevin and my favorite foods are potatoes (oh my gosh, we can actually agree on something food-wise!).  This weekend I decided to make a potato-based lunch for the both of us.  Kevin requested mashed potatoes, and while those were cooking, I came up with something a bit more nutritious for me.  Hope you enjoy :)


Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs. mixed potatoes, washed and cubed (peeled if desired)
  • 4 cups of chopped kale
  • 1/2 red onion finely chopped
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1/4 tsp celery seed


Directions:
  1. Prepare all ingredients.
  2. In a large skillet, bring a couple of tablespoons to a boil and add the onion and garlic.  Water saute these until fragerent, but not until the onion is translusent.
  3. Add all of the cubed potatoes and about 1/2 cup of water.  Cover and let it simmer/steam on medium heat, adding more water as necessary.
  4. Once the potatoes have softened so that you can fork them, stir in the dried basil, dried parsley, and celery seed.
  5. Next, place all of the kale on top of the potatoes and cover to steam.  Make sure that there is still a small amount of liquid at the bottom of the pan so that the potatoes dont stick and the kale has steaming water.
  6. After about 3 minutes, check to see if the kale has wilted to your liking, and remove the skillet from the stovetop.  Allow to cool with the cover off.
  7. Serve as a side dish for the family, or a main dish for up to 4 people.

Amys Notes
  • Feel free to use whatever potatoes you like.  I used two russets, a few red potatoes, and one yam/sweet potato.
  • While cooking make sure that all varieties of potatoes are soft enough to fork before you move on to the next step.  I know my yam took a bit longer to cook than the rest of the potatoes.
  • Please customize the spices to your liking.  This weekend I felt like basil, parsley and celery seed, but I bet this would be great with cumin, chili, cajun, or curry seasonings!
  • I served mine topped off with a homemade "Cheeze" sauce.  Im still perfecting this recipe, so I wont share it at this time, but there are many recipes you can find online that are anywhere from nut or tofu based, to bean or non-dairy milk based.
  • Other great toppings for this dish could be salsa, tabasco sauce, vegan sour cream, or vegan shredded cheese.

What voices do you hear in your head when you are making food decisions?  Who often wins, and why?
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