Chaat Inspired Salad

In order to make this delicious salad, you will need 2 things from an Indian Grocer. The Indian Grocery is one of my favorite spots to get alternative grain flours and snacks. The first thing you will need from there are the crunchy, spicy chick pea flour snack bits-- Bhel Puri. Any one of these, really. I think Haldiram's Kashmiri mixture is my favorite one so far.

The other thing you'll need is pani puri paste. Now, this is refrigerated, so it's hard to order online. The one we get is Deep brand and it looks like this. It also comes in a powder form (looks like this), but I like the paste better if you can find it. While you're there, pick up other stuff that is way cheaper here than at specialty stores like buckwheat flour (under the name kuttu flour) and seasonings.

And Now For the Recipe:

1 bag spicy snack mix bhel puri/kashmiri mixture/whatevs

3-4 T. Pani Puri Paste

1/2 c. plain vegan yogurt or vegan sour cream

1 bunch of spicy mustard greens, or spicy mix

Cilantro to taste (optional)

1 large potato

1 jalapeno, diced

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 cans of chick peas

Scrub the potato and cut it into small cubes. Boil in salted water until soft, then drain and rinse with cold water. Drain and rinse the chick peas. Wash the greens and chop into small pieces-- think fresh parsley sized. Chop the fresh cilantro as well. In a large bowl, mix together the greens, potato, chick peas. Add the jalapeno and the onion. Cover and let ruminate for a few hours and chill in the fridge. I guess you don't have to do this, but I think the flavors are better on the second day.

In a separate bowl, mix equal parts pani puri paste and yogurt/sour cream to make the dressing.

When it's time to eat, top each individual serving with dressing and crunchy snack bits. I like to mix it all up. Sam mixes the dressing in and then leaves the crunchy bits on top, unmixed, so they stay crunchy.

Once, Sam also deep fried some tofu cubes and threw those guys into the salad too. It was good.

Be prepared to never want to stop eating, and THEN be prepared for the best bowel movement of your life. Seriously. You're welcome.

Bánh Xèo and Sprouting

THESE WERE SO GOOD AND EASY.
VEGAN Bánh Xèo
We sprouted mung beans for the first time for these guys, and now we're into sprouting everything.

I fashioned an easy sprouter jar from a mason jar and an old mesh colander. Let the beans soak submerged in water overnight. Then rinse them every 3-6 hours/whenever you  remember, making sure there is moisture in the jar but most of the water is dumped out. In a few days you will have some wonderful sproutlings. Remember that raw sprouted anything is not advised in pregnancy, so if you are preggo, sautee those suckers for a few minutes.

YUM.

MINI PIES

THE PPK: Pecan Pie is the spot where I got the recipe for the filling for these little treasures. I used a cupcake pan and this pie crust recipe to make them.

Then, I made mini apple pies for a total bust of a dinner party that Sam and I went to and unknowingly were the only people who thought that there should be food at a dinner party/brought anything. And they made fun of my mini vegan apple pies because they were too cool for tiny, precious desserts.

Again, any old apple pie recipe will do, but because these guys are so small, i precook the filling on the stovetop, because the crusts don't take very long to cook. I didn't follow a recipe for the crusts, but I just eyeballed it with some all purpose flour, a little brown sugar, oil, water, and salt. The above recipe is my standard crust guide. If you choose not to do lattice, remember to vent the tops. You can also use dough scraps to decorate the tops with adorable shapes, like hearts. When you fill these guys try to squeeze out a little extra moisture, because they got pretty bubbly and there was some spillover that complicated the baking stone in my oven that I forgot to take out (just kidding I never take it out, ever. it's too heavy).

Crate and Barrel had a whole "mini pie" making section the last time I was there, including some wider/shallower mini-pie pans that I may eventually invest in-- despite the fact that I hate unifunctional kitchen items Because seriously look at this mini pie pan set it is amazing.

MINI PIE!

Steve's Peasant Bread

I learned how to make bread when I was overseas from a visiting anesthesiologist. He had visited before and taught our cooks to make Challah (until I heard this, I was so confused as to why our Christian cooks in the middle of a Muslim country were making Challah), but I don't like Challah that much and it uses egg. By far, the best/easiest/tastiest/most diverse bread he taught me to make was peasant bread.

4 c. all purpose flour (white, unbleached)
1 c. oats (quick or regular, makes no difference)
2 c. water (approximately)
1 T. yeast (double this if you plan to freeze the dough)
1 T. salt
3 - 4 ice cubes

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together well
3. Add water.
4. Rest for 30 minutes
5. Knead
6. Rest for 30 minutes
7. Knead
8. Repeat resting/kneading until dough is the right feel (strong and fluffy) usually 2-3 times.
9. Form into the shape you want (loaf, baguettes, buns, breadbowls)
10. Rest for 30 minutes
11. Smash it down
12. As you're throwing the bread into the (preheated) oven throw some ice cubes into the bottom. The steam makes the bread super crusty.
13. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-30 minutes-- until internal temp is 180-200 or until the outside seems done (brown and crusty).
14. Let it cool a little before you do anything with it! But not too much. Because it's SO GOOD warm.

Jackfruit "Pulled Pork" Sandwiches

WHOA! So, I'm back from overseas and I have been cooking up a storm, but not updating the foodblog. Trying to resume. Overseas, I was not vegan. I was too busy/isolated/infected with parasites not to eat whatever was put in front of me. I did manage to stay vegetarian. It's good to be back in the world of vegan.

I think our most recent "jackfruit pulled pork" sandwiches are a good recipe to get back with. Memphis Tap Room in Philadelphia had some pretty off the chain vegan jackfruit crabcakes, and I ate a fair amount of jackfruit when I was in Indonesia, but I hadn't thought about it in awhile. WHAT A MISTAKE. It's awesome.

Any Asian Grocer (i.e. H-Mart on Dequindre) will have canned jackfruit. Get the young/green kind in brine (not ripe or in syrup) because the ripe one is sweet.

I used 2 cans for the recipe. Start by prepping the jackfruit. Cut the center bits off leaving only the stringy part (where to cut will be self-evident on each piece). You can puree or finely chop the "waste" so you don't have to throw it away, or you can just throw it away. I threw it away the first time, but will probably try not to waste it next time.

You can veganize any BBQ pulled pork recipe with great ease, but the basics are:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sautee sliced jackfruit in pan with "dry rub" any combo of mustard seed, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt.

2. Let that cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often to get nice and flavorous. In a separate pan, sautee some red onions-- about half an onion finely chopped will do nicely, and about 5-6 cloves of garlic. Combine that with the dry-rubbed jackfruit and then add the "wet ingredients" that turn it into barbecue. Again, any recipe for pulled-pork barbecue sauce can be easily veganized but the basics are: tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup (or brown sugar), catsup, water and more seasonings to taste.

3. Let that simmer for about 30 minutes. I like my BBQ really vinegary and spicy, but make it how you like it. You can also add some raisins (as long as you don't have to share a room with my husband for the nest 18-24 hours), or a grated apple (granny smith will do nicely). Also, if you want to make a shortcut, you can just dump a bottle of premade bbq sauce over the jackfruit.  Most of them are vegan (just check on honey).

4. Once the flavors have melded, dump everything into a lightly greased pan, spread it out thinly, and bake if for about 20-30 minutes to let it dry up a little. I think this step makes it have a more meatlike consistency.

5. Serve it with pickles and vegan coleslaw if you like that (I don't) on a bun (see next recipe for peasant bread).

IT IS SERIOUSLY GOOD.