Egg okra curry

Sounds weird, maybe gross. Right? Wrong, silly! On a recent trip to the grocery store i randomly decided that okra sounded delicious. m at forward to me staring at frozen okra sitting in my freezer that I had no idea what to do with. After
three minutes of extensive research I decided to just go for it. And “it” was magnificent.

Frozen okra
Tomato sauce
Diced tomatoes
Chili powder
Curry powder
Cayenne pepper
Black pepper
Ginger

I served it over quinoa, but you could easily eat it solo or add more veggies or grains to make it more gulash-y.

I was feelin extra protein so I added an egg on top! Illogical? Maybe. Delicious? Uhhhhmmm yes.

Black Bean Brownies

These are the black beans I used!

In my bouts of internet-surfing that occur way too frequently I discover all kinds of interesting recipes. Some of them look delicious, but the ingredient lists are simply too complicated for a poor college student like me to compile everything I would need! I came across this one on NoMeatAthlete.com and was happy to find how easy the recipe was.

I substituted the raw sugar for regular white sugar, but used less than the recipe listed because it calls for a lot! They were nice and moist – didn’t taste like black beans at all – but definitely were more filling than regular brownies.

If I were to take these somewhere for a party I would probably find a way to add more sweetness via dates, fruit, or maybe cacao chips.

Check out the recipe! I also found an interesting Chick Pea Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe on EyeItTryIt.com that is on my to-do list.

Watermelon-Lime Chicken Bowl

I had some leftover Watermelon from the 4th of July, and decided to mix it in!

1/2 c Watermelon, sliced

1/2 c  frozen peas

1/2 green pepper

1/4 c (dry) quinoa

1 filet (4oz?) chicken

2 Tbsp. Ortega Green Chile Taco Sauce

I started cooking the quinoa as my chicken was thawing, then sauteed my chicken with the green peppers and green chile sauce.

Mix and done!! Perfect quick summer dish.

Summery Yummery Salad

As an almost vegetarian with a sensitivity to lactose, I’m always on the hunt for yummy non-meat, non-dairy sources of protein. This week I bought some tofu!

Earlier in the week, I stir-fried some spagetti noodles, peas, carrots, and tofu with soy sauce – yum! I think if I had more patience I could have cooked the tofu until it was more firm and less gooshy – but it smelled so good I couldn’t wait!

Today, I had some kale that I bought in order to make kale chips (recipe here). Unfortunately the weather is so hot and humid today that I couldn’t bear to turn on the oven. Solution? A salad! I mixed ripped up kale, peas, bell peppers, black beans, sliced tofu, and a little bit of cheese.

Yum! So fresh and so green, green. ( If you don’t get that reference please watch this.)

Barley!

I cooked barley (pearled barley, to be specific) in my rice cooker. It came out perfectly. I just bought a bunch of fresh tomatoes from the farmer’s market today, so I used two of those (chopped) and some arugula I bought last week. I mixed together barley, tomatoes, arugula, mozzarella cheese, and a can of tuna for protein. Delicious. The thing that took the longest was the barley – but I think I’m just overly impatient (it probably only took about 20 minutes.)

Banana Pancakes (a.k.a. Kamikaze cakes)

I combined pancake mix, ripe bananas, and currents for breakfast today. Adding bananas is a great way to add sweetness (and substance) to pancakes – thus eliminating sugary, sticky, syrup. I had some currents left over from irish soda bread I make while visiting my parents (recipe to come later). The combo of the flavors reminds me of the Kamikaze cakes that I had at a restaurant here in

Minneapolis called Egg & I.

Banana Muffins for people who don’t buy milk

I made these in an effort to use up a ton of bananas that were about to go bad, as is usually the case when making banana-anything.

Found this recipe on Allrecipes.com (greatest food website ever) by sorting the recipes by rating (best way to search on that site). They call for only 1 egg and 1/2 cup plain yogurt. Besides that, its the general bananas, flour, sugar, etc. that you would expect to already have in the cupboards.

So easy, and they come out like cupcakes!! To improve the health of the recipe, you could use less sugar/more bananas, and switch a little of the white flour out for wheat.

Greek-style Goulash

My roommate and I got bored with our current pantry supply, and decided to run down to the Somali market to pick up random ingredients for dinner. After wandering through the store with nothing but growing curiousity, we settled on two cans of chick peas and fresh tomatoes. Although I was tempted to get some Tahini (ground sesame seed dressing), it was in a gigantic jar so we skipped it.

When I got home, I mixed the chick peas, green beans, cumin, parsley, and the remaining half of some lentil soup I had in the fridge. While those were simmering, I cooked some cous cous separately. Right before the cous cous was done, I mixed in some random croutons my roommate provided. We ended up eating this strange “goulash” with slices of fresh tomatoes, and sliced bananas for dessert. Completely random – but tasted fantastic!

Side note: The woman working at the market suggested this. Unfortunately I had few to none of the ingredients, but it’s on the to-do list:

Start cooking diced onions in a pan. Mix with a little bit of olive oil and water, and cook lentils into the mixture. Add garlic. Once the lentils are cooked, mix together with rice.

Vegan Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

I finally made these myself – my roommate has made them a few times – and YUM!!! Come out perfect every time.

Not only are these cookies absolutely delicious, but they 1)require very few , very common, ingredients 2) bake fast and 3)are healthy! (whole wheat flour, canola oil instead of butter, no refined sugar, contains fruit!)

I am not personally vegan, but I tend to not buy eggs, just out of habit. Not having eggs tends to be a problem in the baking world, so when I came across this little number, I was astonished at how sticky and moist they are! You can make all kinds of substitutions/add-ins depending on what you have in the house.

My roomie usually uses 2 bananas per batch. I added walnuts, and probably will attempt raisins instead of chocolate chips the next time I make these.

Here’s the link to the recipe.

Indicated by this glowing review, I highly recommend these puppies. Try them yourself, you won’t be dissapointed.

Lactose Intolerant? Try Almond Milk!

My mother is very much lactose intolerant. Unfortunately, I also have a sensitivity to milk (mainly whole milk, heavy cream, etc.). It’s not every dairy product that makes me feel sick, but out of habit I tend to stay away from milk and other dairy products often, especially in recipes that allow for easy substitutions.

If you haven’t yet – try cooking with Almond Milk. In the past I’ve tried soy milk, hemp milk, and rice milk, and I have found that almond is the closest thing – recipe wise – to dairy milk. It cooks the same – meaning it thickens recipes like dairy milk does – but it doesn’t contain any lactose!

I recommend getting Vanilla Unsweetened, because you can drink it plain or add it to things without getting such a strong almond flavor. Best part? Only 40 calories in an 8 oz glass (serving), but even more calcium than a glass of regular milk.

I just made some chocolate pudding on the stove with almond milk. Delicious! – And dairy free.

Other good things to try if you have a sensitivity to milk? Tofutti, Laughing Cow Cheese (pasteurized), and Rice Dream ice cream. Let me know if you have any fabulous dairy-free recipes!