My first foray into the pumpkin korma yielded something more akin to an aloo gobi. Very tasty, but not a korma. After revisiting the recipe again, and adding more So Delicious Plain Greek-Style Coconut Yogurt is what finally made this recipe exactly what I wanted it to be: a satisfying, rich, warming korma!

Despite the rich taste of this dish, a cup serving has only 1 gram of saturated fat, is high in fiber, loaded in vitamins, and is gluten-free too! Enjoy it as an appetizer, a compliment a homemade, Indian feast, or a fabulous, creative addition to your Thanksgiving celebration!

Since this was a dish I envisioned the first time I got to try out some of the the Greek-Style yogurt from So Delicious, I’m delighted that it was selected for the second week of the So Delicious® Dairy Free “SO Much to Love” recipe contest happening on Facebook!

You can vote for my Pumpkin Korma recipe on So Delicious’ Facebook page during the week of May 14, 2012! Voting for the first week ends on Sunday, May 20th at 11:59 PM (pacific time). Fans can vote each day for their favorite recipes and get coupons to try out So Delicious and be entered into the drawing for a fantastic Grand Prize!

The Stuff

• 6 cups diced pumpkin
• 1/2 medium head of cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 medium zucchini, 1″ dice
• 1 large yellow bell pepper, 1″ dice
• 1″ of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 15oz canned, diced tomatoes
• 1 large onion, diced small
• 2 8oz containers of So Delicious, Greek-style, plain coconut yogurt
• 1/2 t whole cumin seed
• 1 T ground turmeric
• 6 whole cardamom pods
• 1 c water
• High heat spray canola oil

The Making

Heat a 6 qt sauce pan to medium heat. Lightly spray the bottom of the pot and add the cumin seeds. Toast seeds for 30-60 seconds, until they are browned and fragrant.

Add onion and saute 5 minutes, add minced ginger and garlic. Sprinkle ground turmeric over all ingredients, add in cardamom pods and mix in. Continue to saute, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 more minutes. Onions should be beginning to brown and caramelize. Add diced pumpkin, reduce heat to medium-low, and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cauliflower and stir in.

Combine yogurt and tomatoes in blender. Process until smooth and creamy. Add mixture to pot. Rinse blender container out with the 1 cup of water, and pour into the pot. Mix everything together well.

Cover pot with lid. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 25-40 minutes, until pumpkin is tender.

Serve by itself, with rice, or along with some dahl. Just watch out for those cardamom pods, they’re quite shocking to get whole.

Makes 8-9 1-cup servings, depending upon the size of your head of cauliflower.

Nutrition Details

Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 85
Total Fat: 1g
Saturated fat: 1g
Sodium: 49 mg
Carbohydrates: 17g
Dietary Fiber: 4g
Sugars: 5g
Protein: 3g

I’m so excited that Vegan Nosh has been selected to participate in the So Delicious® Dairy Free “SO Much to Love” recipe contest happening on Facebook! For the next 4 weeks there will be 64 fantastic new recipes posted, with three brand-new recipes coming from Vegan Nosh!

Each week there will great prizes for fans who vote during the “SO Much to Love” contest. Fans are eligible to vote once each day and once they cast their vote will be entered to win a prize a day and one grand prize per week. The authors of favorite recipes will receive the truly fabulous prize of a cooking equipment shopping spree!

This week I’m kicking off the deliciousness with a hearty, hot breakfast. You can vote for my wonderful Spiced Oats & Figs as a new favorite breakfast recipe on So Delicious’ Facebook page during the week of May 7, 2012! Voting for the first week ends on Sunday, May 13th at 11:59 PM (pacific time).

On weekends I have a little more time to make breakfast, so it is often something special. This delicious variation on an old favorite of ours, steel-cut oatmeal, makes use of dried figs and the wonderful Vanilla Almond Plus milk from So Delicious and makes for a mildly sweet, healthy breakfast to start your day.

If you happen to have a “fuzzy logic” rice cooker with a porridge setting this recipe becomes even easier since you can just toss all the ingredients in and wait for your breakfast to be done. Our rice cooker also boasts a timer which lets me put in all the ingredients the night before and we awake to the tantalizing smell of a breakfast already completed.

The Stuff

• 3/4 cup steel-cut oatmeal, dry
• 3/4 cup So Delicious Vanilla Almond Plus Milk
• 1 1/4 cups + 1 Tablespoon water
• 5 dried figs
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

The Making

Slice of any stems or dry ends off the figs. Slice in half, then cut halves into thin ribbons.

Rice Cooker Method: Place all ingredients into rice cooker bowl and cook on “Porridge” setting. After the cooker has completed, open and stir together everything with a rice paddle.

OR

Stove-top Method: Add the water and almond milk to a large, heavy saucepan (1 1/2 quart) and bring to a boil. Add the oats in while stirring, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Mix in the dried figs and spices, cover, and continue to simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent the oats from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Garnish with chopped raw walnuts or almonds and a drizzle of almond milk.

Makes 2-3 servings

Nutritional Info (1/3 of recipe)

Calories: 222
Total Fat: 4 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 29 mg
Carbohydrates: 40 g
Dietary Fiber: 6 g
Sugars: 9 g
Protein: 9 g

While shopping at Uwajimaya recently Christie spotted a fresh lemon relish made with very thinly sliced lemon, sea salt, sugar and rice vinegar. Some was out to sample and it was delicious. Sweet, salty, sour, tangy. I had to get some.

The result was another Japanese-inspired feast! No recipes yet, this is nothing but Food P0rn, but I am working on a recipe for my own version of the fabulous, fresh lemon relish!

By the time I was done cooking, prepping and plating we were too hungry to take photos with the Nikon and the light tent, but I’ve decided that phone-taken photos with our kitchen’s lousy light are better than none at all.

Of course, there was a roll!

Shiso, Avocado, and Lemon Relish Roll

But the rice ball with avocado and the lemon relish was my favorite!

Don't you love the little rose of preserved lemon!

There also was miso-tangerine glazed, grilled tofu, snow peas and asparagus.

Thus Begins the 2012 Grilling Season!

Plus a simple carrot and daikon salad.

Hurrah for the Plum Blossom Food Cutter!

I already am a fan of products from So Delicious and that was before they gave me a great t-shirt at Vida Vegan Con last year. We buy two brands of vegan creamers because our opinions are pretty distinct and I prefer the plain variety from So Delicious. So you when someone from the company asked if I wanted to test some of their new products made with almond milk I was pretty excited.

Special arrangements were made so I’d be home the day the shipment, on dry ice, would be delivered. Two boxes, one containing new almond milk products, and the other filled with 5 pints of new almond milk ice cream and two boxes of dark chocolate covered almond milk ice cream bars.

First, let me say that we ate the bars pretty much immediately. The Mocha Almond Fudge, dipped in dark chocolate and covered with almonds, was a real fave. That said, the vanilla almond milk bars, also dipped in dark chocolate, were also delicious.

Honestly, they arrived while Christie was in Mountain View and it was a real challenge to not eat them all by myself. Christie, upon finishing the last one off, asked me, “When can I get this at the store.”

The five pints I saved to share with the current planning team for Open Source Bridge 2012. I figured we could end a meeting with a little ice cream party.

All Meetings are Better with Ice Cream!

The team dug into the pints:

Gimmie the Ice Cream!

We all went back and did our best to “test” the ice cream thoroughly.

Woohoo Ice Cream!

In the end, we were unable to finish all five pints off. We left them in the freezer for other folks at Collective Agency to enjoy.

We Couldn't Finish!

You can see that the Butter Pecan, Mocha Almond Fudge, and Cherry Amaretto were the big favorites. That isn’t to say that the chocolate and vanilla aren’t great, but we were just so full from all the other ice cream we couldn’t eat anymore!

So Delicious, thank you so much! You made our planning meeting awesome with ice cream. We can’t wait to our local store starts to stock this fantastic choice for dessert!

**Update: April 28, 2012*

This past weekend we spotted both pints and bars of the new Almond Milk ice cream at a couple New Seasons markets (Arbor Lodge and Mountain Park specifically). We’ve already consumed a box of the Mocha Almond Fudge bars!

Mocha Almond Joy!

This recipe is really an on-going quest for the best chickpea soup, with or without noodles. With my innate ability to make stews in big pots, this Provence inspired version is just what a wet, February night needs. This can easily be served over a grain or with pasta, but it is very nice all on it’s own.

I was inspired by two different recipes in coming up with this. The first being the Chickpea Noodle Soup in Veganomicon. The second being the Cabbage “Noodle” Soup from the Fat Free Vegan, Susan Voisin. This recipe falls somewhere in between the two and I add kale to thicken it into a hearty stew. It is absolutely packed with vitamins A, C and K!

The Stuff

• 1 large shallot, cut in quarters and sliced thin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 medium carrots, diced small
• 4 medium stalks celery, diced small
• 3 leeks, white part, sliced into thin rounds
• 1/4 c mirin
• 3 cups cooked chickpeas (2 15oz. cans drained & rinsed)
• 2 small bay leaves
• 1/2 t thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 t herbes du Provence
• 1 t poultry seasoning
• black pepper to taste
• 10 cups water
• 1/2 medium head white or savoy-style cabbage cut in half, cored and shredded
• 8 cups kale, stemmed and shredded
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
• 1/4 c white miso
• 1/4 c fresh Italian parsley, chopped

The Making

Heat an 8-quart stock pot to medium high and lightly spray with high-heat Canola oil. Add in shallot and garlic, sauteing for 5 minutes, or until becoming translucent and just beginning to brown. Add in carrot and celery. Saute for 3-5 minutes, until carrots are glistening. Add in leeks and saute 5-7 minutes, until leeks begin to brown and rings come apart.

Reduce heat to medium-low and deglaze pan with mirin. Stir wine and sauteed veggies together for 30 seconds.

Add in chickpeas, water, and dried herbs. Bring just to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add nutritional yeast, freshly ground black pepper,  cabbage and kale. Stir together and simmer for 10 minutes, until greens are softened.

Remove pot from heat and add fresh parsley. Remove a cup of the broth and in a bowl whisk miso into broth and add mixture into stew. Mix well and let stand 5 minutes, at least, before serving.

Makes 10 servings

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 2 cups
Calories: 193
Total Fat: 3 g
Sodium: 385 mg
Carbohydrates: 36 g
Dietary Fiber: 9 g
Sugars: 8 g
Protein: 11 g

This winter it seems like we’ve always got a few yams on hand. So far they’ve inspired the Golden Provence Winter Stew, which has become a quick favorite, but I recently had several chilies on hand as well as a large quantity of black beans we’ve been trying to find more uses for. With these ingredients on hand I came up with this delicious, warm stew inspired by Cuban flavors.

The Stuff

• 2 medium yams, diced small
• 3 cups cooked black beans
• 1 large yellow onion, 1/4″ dice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium green bell pepper, 1/4 dice
• 1 Ancho/Pasilla pepper, 1/4″ dice
• 1/2 t cumin seed
• 1 15oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 2.5 T tomato paste
• 5 cups water
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 t cayenne
• 1/4 t ground coriander
• 1/2 t sweet smoked paprika
• 1 bunch collards, cut up small
• 1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice

The Making

Heat a 8-quart stock-pot to medium-high heat and then lightly spray with Canola oil. Add cumin seeds and toast until fragrant, about 2 minutes or less. Add onion into the pot, lightly spritz with oil and saute 5 minutes, until onions become translucent. Add garlic and saute with onions another 5 minutes before adding all of the diced chilies. Saute all together another 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes, yams, dried herbs & spices and water to the pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 35 minutes, or until yams are tender. Add collards and tomato paste and stir in. Simmer for 15 minutes before adding in the fresh herbs and lime juice. Simmer for 5 more minutes before serving.

10 Servings

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 2 cups
Calories: 191
Total Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 81 mg
Carbohydrates: 41g
Dietary Fiber: 8 g
Sugars: 3 g
Protein: 7 g

This dish can be served hot or at room temperature as a kind of warm salad. The combination of the sweetness of the cabbage, the green chili, mustard and the earthiness of the turmeric is so satisfying. It makes a great side dish along with some rice and dal.

The Stuff

• 1 small head of green cabbage
• 1 small shallot
• 1 small green chili (jalapeno)
• 1/2 t brown mustard seeds
• 1/4 t ground turmeric
• salt, to taste

The Making

Quarter the head of cabbage and cut out the core. Shred into thin ribbons.

Slice shallot in half and cut into very thin ribbons.

Cut off top and end of green chili, split in half. Remove all seeds and white core. Slice chili halves into very small ribbons.

Heat a skillet to medium-high heat and spray with high-heat canola oil. Add shallot and saute for 3 minutes, add in green chili and continue to saute another 3-4 minutes, until shallot is caramelized. Add mustard seeds to pan, saute another minute or until the seeds begin to pop.

Add the cabbage to the saute pan and turn  well to mix in shallots and chili slices. Continue to saute 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is fully wilted. Sprinkle turmeric over the top and keep tossing cabbage to distribute the turmeric.

Once the cabbage is fully wilted and evenly coated with the turmeric, remove from heat. Either serve immediately or let cool to room temperature before serving.

Serves 4

On Christmas Day friends of ours brought us a pint jar with 2 halves of Meyer lemon preserved in salt. I’ve been kicking around the idea of a pulao using slices of of the lemon. The result was absolutely fantastic.

This dish could be made without the preserved lemon, but it adds such an amazing flavor to the rice that it is worth finding it, making them, or befriending people who make them and give you some!

The Stuff

• 2 cups* brown basmati rice
• Juice and grated rind from a large lemon
• 8 green cardamom pods
• 1 small shallot, cut in half, then into very thin slices
• 2 T Earth Balance (or your preferred vegan margarine)
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1/2 t amchur
• 2 T cashew halves
• 4 cups* water
• 2 1/4″ slices of preserved lemon, salt dusted off and any seeds removed
• Additional salt, to taste (preferably the salt from the lemon if you have it)
• 3 T chopped, fresh coriander

The Making

Rinse rise and soak in water 10-15 minutes. Drain well.

Bring a skillet to medium-high heat, add Earth Balance and bring up to heat. Add shallot and saute 5 minutes, until the shallot beings to caramelize. Add in the cashews and continue to saute another 3 minutes before carefully adding in the well-drained rice. Saute the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring often, until rice begins to brown, then sprinkle ground spices over the top and mix in evenly.

Add rice into cooker pot along with lemon rind, lemon juice, cardamom and slices of preserved lemon. Add water in to the 2 cup mark f0r brown rice, close lid and set to cook.

After rice finishes cooking open lid, remove lemon slices, and stir. Remove any remaining lemon from the rind, cut up and return to pot. Slice rind into small pieces and add them back to pot. Stir in sliced up lemon and add salt to taste. Stir in fresh coriander.

*When I mention “cup” here it is referring to the measuring cup that come with the rice cooker. I also don’t measure the water with the same cup, I use the lines inside the cooker pot to get the right amount of water.

Yes, you can totally make this on the stove. Just saute shallot and rice in a 3-quart stock pot, add water, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until rice is tender.

Serves 6-8

** This Recipe is Only a Test and is Still in Progress **

This recipe was inspired by a recipe we found in Kathy Hester’s book, The Vegan Slow Cooker. Her recipe calls for a slow cooked dal featuring a sweet potato, yellow split peas and chard. Check out this cookbook, by the bye, it is given us a lot of ideas for new ways to use our slow cooker.

During our first year of produce delivery we received enormous piles of it from Organics to You. We also had volunteers of it coming up all over the garden. We steamed it, braised it, baked it, put it in soups, stir-fried it…. and by the end of that season we had come to the rather embarrassing decision that we really don’t like chard. Beet greens too, for that matter. Mustard greens aren’t entirely a fave either, although I like them more than Christie.

So that was the first thing we wanted to change. No chard, but we did have collards on hand and decided to use those instead for our green.I thought this was a good choice since classical saags often feature mustard greens or spinach. Collards have such a great combination of that mustard note with a green sweetness, that they’d be perfect against the rich, earthy dal.

Two reasons we changed out the pulse used. Kathy Hester calls for yellow split peas, which are easy to find and tasty. We happened to be out of them, but I’d just picked up a bag of channa dal when we were at a Desi market shopping for spices. Channa dal are split black chickpeas (really just a very dark brown) and they have a wonderful texture. You could just use yellow split peas, but if you happened to have a pan-Asian or Desi market, it is totally worth the trip to use the more authentic channa dal. You can find all the spices I mentioned while you’re shopping for this particular dal.

We go out fairly often for Indian food at family restaurants. One of our favorite places features various Southern India specialties, which are usually far spicier. With this palate we found the mix of spices used in Kathy’s recipe to be far too mild and tame to bear much resemblance to the richly spiced dals we’re accustomed to. Christie asked me to change up the spices to something closer to our favorite restaurant dishes.

The resulting dal still owes inspiration to Kathy Hester’s, particularly with the inclusion of a large sweet potato that eventually melts into a thick gravy for the dal. Her cookbook has been inspiring us to find more slow cooker recipes, this dal being one of the first.

The Stuff

• 1 small onion, medium dice
• 1″ fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 1/2 cup channa dal, picked over and washed
• 1 large sweet potato, diced
• 2 bunches of collard greens or kale, de-stemed, washed and sliced up small
• 4 cups water
• 2 t garam masala
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t hing
• 1/2 t amchur
• 1/2 t ground cayenne pepper
• 1/4 t cumin seeds
• 1/4 t panch poran
• 1/4 t brown mustard seeds
• salt, to taste

The Making

Heat a saute pan and spray a little canola oil, add onions and saute 5 minutes. Onions should be translucent. Add the seeds and saute for a minute. Sprinkle in the powdered spices, and stir everything to coat the onions, being careful to not burn any of the spices. Saute for a minute, stirring constantly and heat all the spices. You will have a very dry mixture at this point with the onions well coated. I recommend a cast iron skillet for the kind of dry frying of spices this step takes.

Add sauteed onions and spices to the slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients. Cook on high for 9 hours. After 8 hours of cooking add the washed, chopped greens and let them cook into the dal. Stir occasionally to help the greens cook in evenly.

If you want to make this with yellow split peas you will want to cook on low setting and for less time, 6-8 hours.

You could make this a lot spicier by throwing in some dried, red chili pods. A channa dal we’re served at the South Indian place has little hot chili pods floating in it and the flavor is pretty awesome. A green chile, chopped small, would also add a pleasant spice.

Serves 6-8

I love green tea sweets and these shortbread are a perfect mix of the green, sharp taste of the matcha with the buttery shortbread. During the holidays I chill the dough overnight and roll out to cut into tree shapes.

The Stuff

• 2 Earth Balance Buttery Sticks (this is 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1-3 Tablespoons *Matcha (see note)

The Making

Heat oven to 325 degrees (F).

Sift the flour, salt and matcha together into a bowl.

In a mixing bowl beat together the Earth Balance and powdered sugar until fluffy. Add in sifted mixture and mix slowly until the dough just comes together.

If you are planning to roll out dough for cutting ships, put dough in bowl, cover and refrigerate until chilled and firm to touch, at least 30 minutes. Overnight is even better.

If you’re planning to slice rounds, roll the dough into a log, wrap in plastic, waxed paper or parchment paper. Refrigerate until chilled and firm to the touch. Again, at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Slice dough into 1/4 inch rounds or roll to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with your preferred cookie shape. Place cookies on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, approximately 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies for 16-18 minutes until they are just beginning to brown around the edges. Turn your pan around halfway through the  cooking time.

Remove baked cookies from cookie sheet immediately and cool on wire rack

Makes 3-4 dozen, depending upon if you make cut cookies or sliced

*A comment about your matcha – don’t skimp on your tea. Use quality matcha, not any kind of drink mix. Green tea cannot be substituted for matcha. We use a matcha called Liquid Jade from Tao of Tea and it provides a marvelous flavor.