Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I currently need to use up the following:  four whole wheat hamburger buns, four whole wheat tortillas, four eggs, one heart of romaine, one avocado, and about a cup of fresh sliced white mushrooms.  Here is what I'm making:

Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayo and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip
This will use up the hamburger buns, or three of them at least, as well as the avocado.  I already have the burgers in the freezer, and I have provolone slices in the fridge.  It will also use up some of the romaine.  I really just need to buy a couple tomatoes for this meal, and maybe some fresh broccoli and carrots to go with the ranch.

Vegetable Biryani and Dal Makhani
I made the biryani with brown basmati rice last time, and I think I've almost mastered this recipe.  I used whole coriander though, and I'm changing the recipe because that is too much coriander in one bite.  If you break it up with a mortar and pestle, it would be fine, but the recipe doesn't say to do that, and the ground coriander tastes good and saves time in this instance.  I cut the ghee in half again on the dal makhani last time I made it.  I basically made each of the dishes with one tablespoon of ghee.  I'm not even sure it does much in the dal -- I only use it in the biryani because I don't like how spices taste when they've been fried in water, which would be the no-oil way to make that dish.  I used 1/2 cup of lite coconut milk in the dal last time and, while it tastes fine, I think a full cup would taste even better.  It's good without the milk at all, but it tastes better with it.

Vegan Pad Thai 
Sameer doesn't love pad thai, but I like this dish so much, and it's easy and cheap and relatively healthy.

Loaded Nachos
I find if I make homemade refried beans and put them under the cheese layer, these are less likely to make me feel sick from eating so much fat all at once.  Having a serving of vegetables beforehand helps too.  Someday I'll find a way to make nachos into a proper meal.

Veggie Omelets and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
I'll use up the sliced mushrooms on the omelets, which will also use up the eggs in the fridge.  I might make some Banana-Oat Muffins to go with this meal and throw the leftover muffins in the freezer for snacks and breakfasts (just take any muffin paper off them first and wrap them in wax paper so they don't all freeze together).  I'll need to write up what I do for my second attempt at them.  I think I already wrote my ideas in the comments for the first attempt.

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad
Since Simran can eat half a pizza on her own when she feels like it, I've taken to eating an entire dinner plate of green salad before I have pizza so that we have enough food for all three of us.  I give her salad too, of course, but she is less inclined to eat it.

Chilli-Garlic Noodles
I haven't made this in a month or so, so I'm going overboard with spicy noodle dishes this week.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I forgot to do this earlier and now I have to go to the store in a few minutes.

Seitan & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice  

Seven-Layer Tortilla Pie

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad  

Buttermilk Cornbread and Vegetarian Chili 

Pav Bhaji 

Fresh Veggie Tacos and Slow-Cooker Beans and Cilantro-Lime Rice

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  Simran and I went to Trader Joe's last week and got two packages of 100% whole wheat tortillas for making burritos, so I have some of those leftover to use up quickly.  I also have the following to use up:  an avocado, five whole wheat hamburger buns, a tomato.  Here is what I'm making:

Seitan & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice
  
Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayo and Crudites with Ranch Dip
I just made this last week, but I have a double batch of burgers in the freezer, and this will use up the leftover chipotle mayo from last week, plus the tomato, the avocado, some of the romaine in the fridge, and some of the whole wheat buns.

Vegetable Biryani and Dal Makhani
These were so good when I made them last week that I'm making them again.

Seven-Layer Tortilla Pie
This dish will use up the remaining whole wheat tortillas.  

Tofu Provencal and Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf and Sauteed Dill Carrots
I noticed the other day that I have two jars of capers in the fridge, so I'm making this meal to use up some of them.  I think I already have all the ingredients on hand.

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad

Vegetarian BLTs and Cinnamon Squash Chowder  
This should use up some of the cubed sweet potato and squash I've got in the freezer.  It will also use up some of the whole grain bread I bought at Trader Joe's that Simran doesn't seem to like in her lunches.

Vegetable Biryani

I made this dish for the first time last week, and it's really good.  I would make a couple changes from the original recipe, so I incorporated them below.  Fresh or frozen vegetables work equally well.  Go for ease of preparation.  I want to figure out precisely how much liquid is necessary to make this with brown basmati rice too.  Most basmati rice recipes that don't involve adding raisins and other stuff call for 1.5x as much water as rice.  Most brown basmati rice recipes call for 2x as much water as rice.  I think I would try initially using the same water to rice ratio as this recipe calls for, with the understanding that I might have to add a quarter cup of water and steam longer if the rice turns out crunchy the first time around.  Brown rice also takes about 50 minutes to cook, in comparison to 20 minutes for white rice.  I'll amend the amounts and directions when I've had a chance to try it with brown.  I also think the ghee could be reduced by at least a tablespoon without adversely affecting flavor.

Ingredients

For the rice:
3/4 cups basmati rice
1 tablespoon ghee
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
3 whole cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the vegetables: 2 tablespoons ghee
1/4 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon peeled, minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1 1/2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
3 ounces green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup peas

1/4 cup sweet corn
3 small new potatoes (about 6 ounces), peeled and quartered
1 medium carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons shredded coconut
2 tablespoons blanched, sliced almonds

Directions:

1.  Make the rice: Place the rice in a sieve and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear. Set aside.

2.  Toast the sliced almonds and shredded coconut in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Move them to a plate and set aside. 

 

3.  In a medium-sized pot with tight-fitting lid, melt ghee over medium heat. Add the golden raisins, turmeric, cumin seed, coriander seed, cardamom pods, and cinnamon stick and cook, stirring, until toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until toasted, about 1 minute more. Add the water and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, and steam until the rice is tender, 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.

4.  While the rice is cooking, make the vegetables. Melt the butter in the skillet used before with a tight-fitting lid, over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the golden raisins, coriander seed, cumin seed, and cardamom and cook, stirring, until toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining vegetables. Raise the heat to high, pour in the water, and cook, covered, for 4 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender and most of the water has evaporated, about 1 1/2 minutes more.

5.  Add the rice to the vegetable mixture and, using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. Season with salt to taste. Divide the vegetable-rice mixture among plates and top with some of the toasted coconut and almonds. Serve immediately.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  Here is what I'm making:

Buttermilk Cornbread and Vegetarian Chili 
I'm not a huge chili fan, but this recipe is the best I've ever had.  And I do love cornbread.

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad
I didn't end up making this last week, so I already have the dough in the freezer and the rest of the ingredients in the fridge.

Seitan & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice
I need to make a fresh batch of seitans as I just used up all the ones I had in the freezer.  

Vegan Pad Thai 

Stuffed Veggie Burritos and Cilantro-Lime Rice

Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayo and Green Salad
I made a fresh batch of black bean burgers yesterday and threw them in the freezer, so this should be relatively simple.  

Spinach Lasagna 
I have half a pound of fresh spinach to use up, so I'm making lasagna.  I already have all the other ingredients on hand.  I'll also be able to use some of the new seitans in this recipe.

Dal Makhani

I found this recipe for slow cooker dal makhani on novicehousewife.com.  I just made it for the first time today and wanted to jot down the changes I made (some by accident, some because I didn't have the called for ingredient) because I want to be able to recreate it again.  It is fantastic.  It takes hours and hours in the slow cooker, but it takes very little active work.  The original recipe is at the link.  The version below is what I did today.  The Indian groceries near our house aren't that well stocked or particularly cheap, so I got my dals from Amazon.  My comments are in italics.

I'm not sure how much it would affect the flavor, but if you skipped the ghee (and the milk, or substituted coconut milk), it would be both oil free and vegan.  I'm going to try it at some point since I forgot to include half the ghee in the original recipe the first time I made this and it tasted as good as any dal makhani I've ever had from a restaurant. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup urad saboot (whole unskinned black lentils, also called black matpe beans)
• ½ cup dry red kidney beans
• 2 tbsp channa dal
• 2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter -- optional, and I no longer include it)
• 1½ tsp salt, or to taste (I use closer to 1/2 tsp)
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup ready made tomato puree (I used my grocery store's canned organic tomato sauce)
• ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
• 1 tsp roasted cumin powder
• 2 tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves -- I only noticed as I started cooking that it calls for leaves and I only have dried methi seeds.  I substituted 1/2 tbs methi seeds and the finished product was great.)
• pinch garam masala
• ½ tsp amchur powder (raw mango powder -- can be found in Indian grocery stores)
• ½ tsp black salt (can be found in Indian grocery stores -- I ordered Hawaiian black lava salt from Amazon as that was all I could find.  If it's not the same thing, it doesn't seem to make a difference.)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp onion powder

Grind to paste (I just ran them through a food processor because I am lazy.)

• 2 dry, whole red chillies, preferably Kashmiri red chillies- deseeded and soaked for 10 minutes and then drained (I used dry "japones" from India that I found at my regular grocery store.  I also think it would be reasonable to use chili-ginger-garlic paste as a shortcut for all three ingredients)
• 1 inch piece ginger
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

To Add later

• ½ cup milk mixed with ½ cup cream (I would consider this optional.  I ate an entire bowl of the dal makhani before I got to this step and it was fantastic.  You could also substitute lite coconut milk for a tasty vegan option.)
• 2-3 tbs fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Directions

1. Boil the red kidney beans for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse.  
2. While the red kidney beans are boiling, rinse the channa dal and urad saboot.  Add them to the slow cooker.  When the red kidney beans have been boiled and rinsed, add them to the slow cooker too.  Add the ghee, salt, water, and chilli-ginger-garlic paste.  Give a stir, set slow cooker to "low," and cook overnight. 
3. The next morning, mash the lentils a bit and add the tomato puree, kasoori methi, cayenne pepper, roasted cumin powder, nutmeg powder, amchur powder, coriander powder, black salt, and onion powder and let cook on low for another 4-6 hours.  If it starts to dry out or overcook, change slow cooker to "warm" setting until you're ready to eat.
4. Just before serving, add the garam masala powder and if you like the cream and milk, or just milk.
5. Add the chopped cilantro and serve with rice, naan or roti.