Plethora of Panini: Delhi or Deli?

Although I find middle eastern and Indian food pretty delicious, I
do have to admit one qualm I have with it. Most of what I have tried
is-- overcooked-- for lack of a better word. I'm sure this is because I
haven't gotten to experience traveling in that region and haven't had
the advantage of befriending an outstanding traditional Indian chef.
Even with books, recipes, and restaurants most of what I've tried/seen
has been really heavily cooked dishes of (mainly) grains and legumes.
Not bad, but I always like to have something very raw and fresh with
my meals.

I know there are a lot of salads or cucumber dishes, but too often they
are submerged in dairy.

Another thing that I've found when using Indian recipes is needing to
really know the spices. That is usually the main draw of this region's
dishes-- the spices! So exotic and exciting, but if over done it gets
a heavy dusty taste. That is really the only way I can describe it.

If you don't agree with any of this, please feel free to call me on it.
I'm just describing my own experiences. When making an Indian
spiced Panini, I wanted the flavors you know and love with an added
freshness. This is into way traditional, just a delicious experiment.

When making Paninis I always try to consider what the sauce is going
to be. Sometimes it is a spread, a cheese (vegan please), or dressing.
It should be something that is still tasty when hot or melted, as you
will be grilling it. All that the sauce does is keeps the entire
sandwich from being super dry and crunchy. You want a hot, flavorful,
moist interior, with a crisp, crunchy crust.

You can do more than one. I used veganaise and mustard with the
balsamic vinegar panini for example. Sometimes the vegetables add
enough moisture on their own, but not always.

For this panini I did two. I had a hummus spread on one side and
vegan yogurt on the other. I added a little salt to the yogurt as
the Whole Soy brand, my brand of choice, is a little sweet sometimes.

For the vegetables I separated them and seasoned them differently, to
add variation and to avoid the over spiced taste that I spoke of earlier.

To the onions, garlic, peppers, and chilis I added some red chili
powder, cayenne, and black and white pepper. I sauteed them until the
onion was soft and tender. I just used water instead of oil whenever
they started to look dry. I added no more than 1/4-1 tsp of each spice.

It depends on how much you are making and how strong you want it.
I made enough for two sandwiches: 1/2 onion, 1/2 pepper, 3 cloves
garlic, 1 hot pepper with 1 tsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne, and
1/2 tsp of everything else.

Remove your veggies from the pan and get ready to cook the eggplant.
In a tablespoon of oil, quickly roast a tsp or so of cumin seeds. Add 1
tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp coriander, and 1/4 tsp ginger (opt). Cook briefly
and add about half an eggplant cut into 1/4 inch slices. These were
salted and rinsed beforehand to extract the bitterness. Cook each side
in the spices until the edges of the eggplant appear dark and soft.

Assemble the bread with all the ingredients so far... add some fresh
sliced tomatoes and some cilantro and grill! It may seem spicey, but
the coolness of the soygurt and fresh tomatoes balance it all out for
a perfect panini!

Pumpkin Patch Part Four: Pumpkin Chili

I'm pretty bummed that last week I made an awesome pumpkin curry
for a potluck and totally forgot to take a picture for you all.

That's why there was a gap of a couple days. However, last night
we made a version of Monkey-man's favorite meal ever-- or one of
them anyway! Chili with roasted potatoes and the best-est cheese
sauce!

Usually I like summer squash or zucchini in my chili, but instead
I used pumpkin. And we got these amazing vitelotte potatoes at our
local grocer. The skins were almost black, but the inside was a
rich, beautiful violet. At first I thought they were going to
taste like the purple sweet potatoes that I used to get in Hawaii,
but these were wonderful. They had the same texture as your run
of the mill potatoes, but had a deeper, earthier, rustic flavour.
Apparently they are native to Peru and Bolivia. Usually I think
of Europe and Ireland when I think of potatoes, but supposedly
Peru is the birthplace of more than 90% of potato varieties we
eat and love today.

I'm sorry, this wasn't meant to be a post about potatoes!
This is a post about pumpkin in Chili! So here you go!

Pumpkin Chili

2-3 cups fresh pumpkin, chopped largely
1 can or 4 large diced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup of corn
2 cups of beans, cooked (any kind you like)
1 small pepper
1/2 cup TSP or TVP (opt)
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 vegetable bouillon cube
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onions and garlic for about five minutes in a large
pot over medium heat in a few tablespoons of water or oil.

Add the pumpkin and a little bit more water an cover, cook for a
few minutes then add the tomato and seasonings. Cover and cook,
adding water if needed and cook until the pumpkin is starting to
get a little bit tender, but is not completely cooked-- about 10
minutes max.

Add the pepper, corn tvp and beans and cook/heat through. You may
need to add a little extra water or veg broth for the tvp. By the
time the tvp is plumped the pumpkin should be cooked through, but
not mushy.

Serve over roasted potatoes and topped with your favorite cheese or
cheese sauce. Monkey-man added daiya moz just for good measure.
If this isn't hot enough for you, throw in a diced hot pepper like
a habenero or some hot sauce if you're kinda lazy and don't want
to deal with chopping hot peppers...

Taste of Aloha Part Two: Manapua

Here is a popular snack you'll find in pretty much any Hawaiian
convenience store.

Manapua are a large steamed bun derived from Chinese cha siu baau.
I believe they were sucked into the local cuisine via the merging
of peoples in the plantation culture.

The traditional buns are made with lard filled with shredded
flesh and bbq sauce, etc. But there are popular vegetarian versions
that are either filled with purple sweet potatoes or red beans.

The red bean versions always reminded me of the Japanese Taiyaki
(red bean filled cakes in the shape of fish) that I used to get
in Little Tokyo or at Sumo tournaments. However those are made
with more of a waffle batter, where as Manapua have a light, sticky
steamed exterior.

These are easy to make and very very filling.
They will also puff up quite a bit when steaming, so don't be
surprised when you lift up that steamer lid.

Vegan Red Bean Manapua



2 cups of cooked azuki, red beans
2-3 tbsp agave syrup
2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsps powdered sugar
2 tbsps earthbalance or vegetable shortening
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Mash the cooked red beans with the agave syrup until it reaches
desired sweetness and is mostly smooth.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add the sugar and mix.
Add 2 tbsp earthbalance, cutting in until evenly distributed.

Add just enough water until it comes forms a firm mass.
Roll it into a ball. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Cut into 10-12 small pieces and flatten in to discs.
Put a spoonful of bean paste onto rolled out dough.
Pull the sides around the filling and pinch together.

You can place on a piece of parchment paper in your steamer
which will make it easier to handle, but it is not entirely necessary.

Brush the tops with vegetable oil.
Then steam the buns for about 15-20 minutes.
Immediately after removing dip tops into a scattering of sesame seeds.

These can even be frozen and reheated later for a nice snack!

Cool Summer Pasta

When it is hot, it takes a lot to get cooking. Sometimes you
don't even want to eat, but you can get all the veggies you
need by keeping it cool. I certainly needed a break from all
the bread I've been baking, but I still wanted my carbs.

I whipped up some simple summer pasta for a warm day that
really hit the spot. You can even shred some raw squash instead
of pasta. I briefly sautéed some zucchini and yellow squash just
enough to get rid of that raw flavor and add a little bit of
moisture. Other than that, all I had to do was cook some spaghetti.

Throwing in some chopped green beans, asparagus or even some
tofu-feta would be a nice touch too.

By adding some red chili you can get a little bit of a sweat
going, which is perfect for a hot day. Getting your body to
sweat will tell your body to cool down. Plus the dish itself is
chilled, so you get the meal to cool your mind too.

Chilled Summer Pasta



1 package of spaghetti or angel hair
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 zucchinis, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1/2 can artichoke hearts
1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans
3 cloves garlic, minced
a few green olives sliced
3 tbsp olive oil
juice from half a lemon
1 tsp salt
Red Chili Flakes to taste
black pepper

Cook the squash and zucchini over medium heat with a few
tablespoons of water for only a couple of minutes. Toss
together everything and chill for about an hour before
cooking (opt).

Mexican Roasted Taters

I looove me some roasted potatoes. Any seasonings... My favorite has
to be rosemary and sage. But these mexican seasoned potatoes were
pretty darn good too.

We had some left-over taco filling and beans from the tamales I made
the night before and we didn't want get overloaded with corn tortillas
or fattened up with chips.

You roast them at 450F, tossed in a little bit of olive oil with your
seasonings. Cook for about 10-15 minutes on one side and flip cooking
for about 5-8 minutes more. They get all crispy and soft in the middle.

I used some sea salt, chili powder, a wee bit of cayenne, pepper and
some lemon juice. We had some black beans, sweet corn, steamed
cauliflower, our taco mix, some sweet chillies and a nice salad.

Pizza Pizzaz Part Five: Rastafarian Pizza

You don't need dreadlocks or any smoke around da house to enjoy
something rasta, you need to just be jammin this pizza!


I wanted to mix it way up. This is an amazing dish to contrast a deep
natural sweetness with a light brush of spice. Yeah, I know I've already
used beans on another pizza in this series, but I had to go back for
one more version.

This time I used a black bean mix instead of the pintos. And here is
the break down of some basic Jamaican Black Beans...


3 cloves garlic
1/2 onion, minced
1/4 cup Orange Juice
1 can black beans
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
1 tsp red chili flakes
salt and pepper

First cook the onions and garlic over medium heat with a few
tablespoons of water until they appear slightly translucent.
Add the black beans and seasonings and continue to cook for
about 10 minutes, but be sure to keep adding water or more
orange juice if it appears that the beans are drying out.

Preheat the oven at 450F and roll out your prepared crust.

On the crust, spread out the black beans evenly. It is important
to make sure they pretty moist because they will lose a lot of
that moisture during the bake in the oven.

I topped with fresh sliced tomatoes, sliced green and yellow
bell peppers, black olives, and bananas. I originally though pineapple
because I wanted to add something sweet. But pineapple is tricky on
pizzas and can be very over powering. So bananas it was. They were
perfect. Soft, sweet, and yellow! Perfect for my colour scheme!




Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until the crust starts to turn
gold. I loved assembling it because it looks like a mandala!
Enjoy with some Marley, or be super naughty and pair it
up with some Sublime...

Pizza Pizzaz Part Two: Twisting the Tostada

When I was a teen the only way I would get to see a decent concert
was to fly to Honolulu from the Big Island. One time when I was on
Oahu to see The Ataris (when they were cool and before the age of
emo) we all hit up California Pizza Kitchen. It was before the
restaurants were really that big, so it was pretty exciting at the
time.

Ok, I'm done dating myself.

When we were there I got a vegetarian tostada pizza that really
kicked butt, but then was struck with the karma of eating cheese
and got a headache. Years down the road I realize that the majority
of my headaches came from eating cheese. Go figure.

Looking back though, it was a good pizza. And I especially liked
it because of how unusual it was. I love going out and trying things
that haven't dawned on me to make at home.

So, during my pizza making adventures I decided to pick my memories
and try to replicate it. First thing to go was their crappy lettuce.
I will never understand what the appeal of iceburg lettuce is to
people. Oh yeah, its cheap.

Next I used pinto beans instead of black and baked it with the
cheese, whereas they just throw it on cold. I used the chedder daiya,
but Follow My Heart pepperjack would be good too.

First you mash about a cup or more of beans with some garlic, 1 tbsp
chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, and a dash of cayenne. Roll the prepared
crust out nice and thin and spread the bean mash on top. Sprinkle
with cheese.



If you're using a pizza stone like we have here, make sure you
preheat it in the oven first at 500F and then turn it down to
450F when you actually bake your pizza.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the crust starts to brown nicely.
Before baked, prep your toppings.




Think of what you like on your tostadas... We had lettuce, salsa,
and corn tortillas. Then you're going to top it with some ranch
dressing.

Combine a couple tablespoons of veganaise and mustard, thinned out
with a little bit of non-dairy milk. Add garlic powder, onion powder,
a squirt of lemon juice, salt, pepper, and some italian seasonings.



Slice your pizza and top accordingly. Consensus? Awesome.
CPK, kiss mah butt.

Fit Falafel

Honestly, when is falafel not a good idea?
Probably when you don't wanna share. Good thing, I was
taught to share a lot or Monkey-man would be screwed, man-
Screwed!

Got my fine fillings from TJs and also picked up their
tahini dip. Apparently they don't sell just straight tahini.
But it was damn good anyway- thicker than I'm used to, but no
complaints. Nice and zingy and garlicy!





We tried out the pitas from Fresh and Easy and they were
surprisingly awesome. I hate it when the inside melds
together and they are more like a big soft cracker or
super thick wheat tortilla. But we had just got them
because they were on super cheap and they turned out
to be great.

This is about the extent of my pre-made food purchases
so don't judge me!



I call these 'fit falafel' because they are baked- not fried.
One of my Mom's favorites it became a staple in our house
when I was old enough to seriously cook. But it wasn't until
I started sneaking garlic and onions into the house that I
realized how fudging amazing real homemade falafel was!
So pass up that premade boxed stuff folks get your butts
in gear!

Ingredients

16 ounces chickpeas
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1-2 tbsp flour or potato starch (binding purposes)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
A squeeze of lemon
and salt and pepper
some wheat germ for rolling

Its so much easier if you actually have a food processor,
but I've always just mashed them by hand. So grab the
nearest fork or machine or potato masher and get to work.
You don't want hummus, so take it easy. Leave some lumpies
in there.

Throw in all your spices and stuff. If it needs some more
liquid to bind, add a little bit of water. Shape into small
patty/balls and roll in some wheat germ. Place on a 'lightly'
grease baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes at 375F or
until they start to brown.



After that- You know what to do. Stuff the buggers and
chow down!



A jaw dropping addition to the fabulous food that is falafel
is cucumber raita. And if you have never had raita before,
you have not lived. I posted this while ago.
Make it, eat it, love it. Now.

Juicer what?! Basically I'm getting at something raw

A short while ago I had the happy fortune to stumble upon
a juicer for $7 at a little tiny thrift store by my house.
Mwa ha ha, said I. Indeed.

A bit dusty, but I cleaned 'er up and she works like a charm.
(I love that expression)

I first just tried it out by making a little carrot juice
and was trying to think of how to use the remaining pulp.
So I whipped up these awesome raw-ish wraps that look
amazing as anything you'd see at a high caliber restaurant
and taste even better.

Ok they're not raw really at all, but the veg is pretty much
all raw inside and you feel so good after eating. Only raw
foods can make you feel that vibrant. Like coffee without the
crash or jitters. I also made an herbed tvp/soya crumble
by soaking it in vegetable broth and adding garlic salt
and Italian seasoning. In there as well were some black
beans, avocado, tomatoes, bell peppers, a wee bit of garlic
aioli and the carrot pulp left over from the juicer.

For the collards that they're wrapped in, I removed a slice
of the thick stem and soaked them in some warm water.
You don't even need to steam them or even cook them.
I just wanted it to absorb some of the warm water to
soften slightly-- easier to roll and bit. NARM!



To give the juice a kick and balance out the carrot a little,
I added an apple and a couple chunks of ginger! I don't know
why but this is so amazing to drink at breakfast.





To seal up the wraps I cut some strips off the edge of the
collard leaf and used it to tie a little package. So cute!
Plus, these are a great to use in packed lunches because
you can throw it all together and not have to worry about your
bread or tortilla getting soggy!

Catching up from the Holidays

Still stranded without my camera, I thought I'd show a
few pics the Monkey-man took with his phone up to Christmas
Eve.

We went up to the mountains and stayed with my Grandparents,
hoping to catch some snow. Then we headed out towards the
coast for a family gathering, vegan dishes in tow.

While we were cooking, we had to snack to prevent ourselves
from eating the dinner. Our munchies were satisfied by my
whole wheat bread with tofutti cream cheese and our pumpkin
butter!


Here is the thanksgiving dish my Papa and I always make. I didn't get
to make it this thanksgiving, so I made it for my Family for Christmas Eve!




It is basically a layered casserole, with all your favorite Thanksgiving flavours.
You start with a layer of my jazzed up stuffing and pile on the
sauce and a sliced vegan 'meat'.





The topping is made with layered phyllo dough, each sheet
brushed with melted earthbalance. At Thanksgiving I cut
some shapes into autumn leaves to place on top. My
Christmas version is topped with Christmas Trees and Stars.







We served the casserole with a herbed gravy and some gingered
cranberry sauce.



For our family gathering, we took some sweet potato and black
bean enchiladas. I added some of my modified cheese sauce
to keep that essential cheesey taste.




Aww! Mindy wants more celery treats!!

Cranky Papa Palooza

As I've been busy packing and more packing my Dad has been

doing a lot of the dinner cooking. If theres something Cranky

Papa makes best its stews, curries, and chili! Take a look...

Coney Island Chili with Soy Parmesean

Potato and Cauliflower Stew

Oh yeah, I did make some Bombdiggity Baked Beans