Vegan Indian Stew

Any root vegetables, cleaned and chopped
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 T minced garlic
1 cup of lentils
1-2 cups of garbanzo beans
1 cup of brown rice or wild rice
6 cups of water
2- 3 cubes of vegetable (for vegan), chicken or beef boullion
2 cans of diced tomatoes
chopped kale
curry
turmeric
cayenne pepper
celery salt
salt and pepper

Dump everything in the crock pot, and cook on high for at least 6 hours or until vegetables are done. Serve with toasted bread. All measurements are approximate.

Veggie Burgers

1 can of garbanzo beans (low-sodium)
onion, chopped finely
minced garlic
any kind of peppers, chopped finely (red, green, yellow, orange, jalapeno, banana)
fresh mushrooms, chopped finely
1 cup oat flour (approximately)
1 egg
salt & pepper
smoked paprika
cayenne pepper
cumin
chili powder
cheese slice (optional)
butter  (or oil)
iron skillet (for crispiness)


Place butter (or oil) in an iron skillet and heat on medium-high. Sauté chopped onion, minced garlic, peppers, and mushrooms until soft. Remove skillet from heat. Remove vegetable mixture from skillet and pat dry with towel (removing excess butter). Food process oats until a flour consistency. Dump into mixing bowl. Drain and rinse garbanzo beans. Food process (or mash well) until fairly smooth and no single bean is noticeable.  Add vegetable mixture, beans, egg, and all seasonings to oats and mix until firm enough to make patties (not sticky). Add more oat flour, if necessary. Heat more butter (or oil) to the iron skillet and fry patties until crispy brown on both sides. Don't be afraid to season liberally. Add slice of cheese if desired.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Experience

I have had some successful recipes and not so successful. The ones that flop are really more entertaining to write about, so here is my latest flop. I use the word flop loosely. If it is edible, it is okay.  However, I have higher standards than "edible".

Last week I made sweet and sour chicken. Everything started out great. I only had brown rice on hand (supposed to be healthier, right?). This is not the minute rice that you pop in the microwave and BOOM! it's fluffy. Brown rice has to cook on the stove for 45 minutes or so. I started the rice first. Then, cooked the bite-sized chicken in olive oil in the skillet. I added the cut green, yellow, and red sweet peppers with onions. Oh, did it smell delicious!

Then, I started the sweet and sour sauce. I used Martha Stewart's recipe for sweet and sour sauce minus the Tabasco sauce and adding pineapple juice. Everything went fine with that, except the orange marmalade had orange strips or rinds in it and the final sauce was very runny. I strained the sauce to get rid of the tiny orange rinds.

Meanwhile, the rice was getting thick so I kept adding more water. It began to burn just a bit on the bottom of the pot. The rice ended up looking like oatmeal, which is not very appetizing when wanting to eat with sweet and sour chicken. Maybe I stirred it too much or had too much rice in a pot that was too small. I'm wondering if I should get a rice cooker (if only I had room for an extra kitchen gadget).

I tried to thicken the sweet and sour sauce with cornstarch, but it still wasn't think enough. I poured all of the sauce into the chicken and pepper mixture. It was still not thick enough. I added some chunk pineapple and then added more cornstarch to the pineapple juice to try to thicken more. It FINALLY thickened up nice, but the amount of sauce to chicken and pepper ratio was a little too much. It was swimming in sauce, but tasted really good.

It was edible. Next time, I'll have to do something different with the rice or use minute rice in the microwave. I was trying to be a little healthier, though, and avoid white rice. Also, I'll gauge how much sauce to put in with the chicken, realizing that I don't HAVE to use all of it.

I'll try it again. I think there is potential for a tastier, healthier, and cheaper Chinese meal without having to order from a Chinese restaurant.