Harissa Kissed Hummus

1 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

2 handfuls of almonds

1 clove garlic

juice and zest of 1 lemon

handful of fresh flat leaf parsley

2 tblsp. olive oil

1/2 c. hot H2O

1/4 tsp. harissa

Put this all into a food processor and whirl until smooth and creamy, scraping down sides. You may have to use more water for a creamy consistency. Serve as I did with previous Yum Yam Phyllo Torte recipe or serve with whole wheat pitas or as a dip for crudite.

Yum Yam Phyllo Torte

This is a recipe from Leanne Kitchen's (her real name, I swear) The Produce Bible on pg. 229 which I have altered and completely veganized. Her version had yogurt in it which I replaced with a pine nut cream. I also made it in my paella pan (mine is 12" in diameter) that I brought back from Spain when I last visited in 1998. It is a decidedly unique way to use a paella pan I believe and the finished product looked really pretty. So pretty that I wished that I had invited people over for dinner. I ate this for dinner tonight but it would make a great lunch and could be paired with a salad. This recipe looks complicated but I promise you that it is not!

11/2 lbs. yams peeled and chopped into cubes

6 big shallots peeled and quartered

2 medium red potatoes peeled and chopped into cubes

1/3 c. olive oil and H2O to fill up to 1/2 c.

1 tsp. fresh ginger chopped fine

1 tsp. smoked paprika

2 tsp. cumin

salt and pepper to taste

4 c. baby spinach

1/3 c. dried currants

2/3 c. raw almonds toasted

1/3 c. pecans toasted

large handful flat leaf Italian parsley finely chopped

1/2 pkg. phyllo dough (whole wheat or spelt preferably)

olive oil and a pastry brush

Pine Nut Cream

2 handfuls pine nuts

4 cloves of garlic

1/4 c. cocounut milk

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400. Put yams, potatoes, and shallots on a cookie sheet. Mix ginger, paprika, cumin, olive oil, and H2O in a glass and stir to combine. Pour over yams, potatoes, and shallots, and mix to coat. Bake for 30 minutes and then scrape veggies around and bake for another 10 minutes. Take veggies out to cool, put into a large bowl, and decrease heat to 350.

Add currants and spinach to veggie mix, and add the parsley and nuts. Make the pine nut cream by combining all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy. Add to the veggie mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put phyllo sheets on the counter and cover with a damp paper towel to keep from drying out. Carefully lift 1 phyllo sheet and place on a cookie sheet that has olive oil brushed on the bottom. Brush the top of the phyllo dough with olive oil. I put two layers (8 sheets) on the bottom of the paella pan with each sheet starting at the middle and hanging over the edges, or however you choose to do it.

Put the veggie mixture on top of the phyllo dough in the paella pan. Bring the hanging pieces of phyllo dough over the mixture to cover it. Brush the remaining phyllo dough sheets with olive oil and place them over the veggie mixture. Bake for approx. 25-30 minutes until a beautiful golden brown. Let sit before for a few min. before serving. Serve in wedges.

*The original recipe also called for chickpeas to be mixed in and baked in the torte with the rest of the veggies. I completely forgot about them as I put them back in my kitchen cabinet. I am going to make harissa kissed hummus tomorrow to serve on top of the torte tomorrow!

Double Chocolate Truffle Mousse Pie

My husband is totally addicted to chocolate. When we first started dating I would make him dark chocolate truffles with dark chocolate, cream, and butter. He loved them and still does. Over the past two years, I have moved from being a lacto-ovo (milk and eggs) vegetarian to a vegan. For me this means that I no longer consume animal products (dairy and eggs too). He is a true omnivore and not entirely embracing of my apparently suspicious vegan ways. This made me determined to concoct a vegan recipe combining two of his favorite desert items: chocolate truffles and mousse. The object was to make it so delicious that he wouldn't be able to tell the difference until I told him. This recipe will also give your food processor a workout!

Raw Chocolate Crust

adapted from The Balanced Plate by Renee Loux pg. 356

For the crust I combined coconut oil, pecans, agave nectar, cocoa powder, and sea salt in a food processor and whizzed it until it was sticky and crumbly. I greased a springform pan with coconut oil and presses the crust into the pan and put it into the fridge to chill and firm.

Chocolate Truffle Layer

adapted from The Balanced Plate by Renee Loux pg. 356

For this layer I combined cashew butter, coconut butter, agave nectar, pure vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and sea salt and blitzed it in the food processor until creamy. I then spread this into the pre prepared crustand smoothed it with a spatula. I put it back in the fridge to keep chilling.

Chocolate Mousse Layer (my recipe)

1/2 c. coconut milk

2 c. dairy free chocolate chips (melt these in double boiler over low heat and cool)
1/2 c. cocoa powder

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

12 oz. silken soft tofu (drained and patted dry)

Put all ingredients into the food processor and run till smooth and creamy. You could also add a tblsp of the liqueur of your choice. Spread on top of the truffle layer, smooth, and place in the fridge to chill for at leas 2 hrs. before serving. Unmold from the spring form pan.

The photograph above is the recipe above but with a vegan graham cracker crust but this crust is much better. Also, abovementioned husband is very happy with the pie and can't believe that it is vegan!

Red Split Lentil Masoor Dal

I purchased Madhur Jaffrey's 1982 BBC/Barron's published cookbook Indian Cooking at a now defunct but much loved thrift shop in Bay Shore, NY called Pandora's Box about 8 years ago. I still remember finding it like it was yesterday. I was rummaging through the cookbook section and the title jumped out at me. I had spent 6 months in London studying Textile Design at the London Institute (Chelsea College of Art and Design in Shepherd's Bush) in 1998. No sooner had I unpacked, I bolted to the Tube for my first of many visits to London's East End to experience heavenly Indian and other savory South East Asian food. I bought fresh spices and broke dorm rules by cooking on an illicit electric skillet using recipes written down while grilling the Indian men and women who ran the markets while munching on freshly made samosas and pakoras.

Dal was one of the things I would make frequently as it is a lentil based dish (thrifty and filling) and I could sop it up in a bowl with freshly baked naan bread hot off the tandoor ovens in the East End.

Madhur Jaffrey is a celebrated authority on Indian food and has written many books since this one. Again, I am not publishing the recipes until I figure out how to go about it properly! I can always email the exact recipe to whoever may request it.

Masoor dal calls for the salmon colored (red) split lentils commonly found in supermarkets. They turn a lovely butter yellow color during cooking and are delicious.

This recipe called for red split lentils, ground coriander, ground cumin, tumeric, cayenne pepper, H2O, vegetable oil (I used coconut oil), and salt. First I picked over and washed the lentils and rinsed them in a few changes of H2O. I put them in a bowl and covered them with H2O and let them sit for 4 hrs. I then combined all the dry spices in a bowl with a spoonful of H2O and stirred it into a paste. Then I heated the coconut oil in a heavy pot over medium heat and poured the spice mixture in and stirred it once. Then I put in the soaked and DRAINED lentils an gave it a stir, added the salt, and added the H2O, brought it to a boil, reduced the heat to very low, covered, and let it cook for about 15 minutes. I adjusted the seasonings and added a bit more cumin and salt but do this to your liking. I served it with a dollop of homemade tahini (1/2 c. sesame paste, 2 tblsp. olive oil, 3 garlic cloves, juice of 1 lemon, and whizzed in the food processor) on top and toasted whole wheat pita bread on the side. It was delicious and my meat eating husband was thoroughly satisfied (I topped his with a dollop of Greek yogurt).

My picture of the actual finished dish did not come out at all and I barely got to take it anyway since the Mr. was starving and needed to eat right away as we had both come from the gym (I had an 8 mile day). I did take a picture of the dry lentils and they do look pretty!

Vegan Blueberry Stained Cornbread

So, after much procrastination and "bloggers fear", I am publishing my first post. I am not so sure what I am so afraid of! Am I afraid of people seeing or not seeing my blog? In any case, here it is.

After wimping out of my daily run (it's starting to get cold in Long Island) this morning, I started to go through Fran Costigan's More Great Good Dairy Free Desserts book, looking to make something where I had all the ingredients in my pantry and where I could use the blueberry compote I had made earlier this week. It is a vegan baking/desserts book. I was pleasantly surprised when I came across her recipe for Good Cornbread (pgs. 106-107) as it fit my time and self-imposed ingredient constraints.

The recipe calls for yellow cornmeal, whole wheat pastry flour, unbleached white flour (I used all whole wheat pastry flour/wwpf), baking flour, salt, soymilk (I used coconut milk), H2O, maple syrup (I used agave), canola oil (I used coconut oil), and vanilla extract. I am not printing the recipe because of copyright laws that I am not entirely familiar with, but feel free to find the book at your local library/bookstore and make it yourself!

I sifted and mixed the dry ingredients in a large bowl and proceeded to mix the wet ingredients in another bowl. Then I added the wet ingredients to the dry and whisked until the batter was just smooth (don't overmix, your cornbread will be tough like a shoe). I dumped this all into a 9x9 inch greased (with coconut oil) Pyrex dish and put it in the oven for 15 minutes. Not wanting to let my blueberry compote go to waste, I pulled my cornbread out of the oven after 8min. had gone by and glopped spoonfulls of blueberry goodness all over the cornbread. I used to spoon to press the blueberries down gently and popped it back into the oven for 10 min. (total cooking time=18 min.) and took it out when my knife came out clean with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. It smelled and looked heavenly and I had to restrain myself from helping myself to a molten piece.

It tasted as good as it smelled and will be enjoyed as a quick breakfast or snack for the rest of my week. I will be posting a photo of it tomorrow (if there is any left!)