Marinaded Baked Tofu and Beetroot Salad Bowl

A quickie post today. No backstory for you. hehe It's so yummy, I had to share! The recipe isn't written out, it's on video. But here's a handy ingredients list:

Marinade Sauce

• Dried Orange Peel Powder
• Freshly Crushed Black Pepper
• Bhut Jholokia Hot Sauce
• Tamari Soy Sauce
• Nutritional Yeast Flakes
• Condensed Almond Mylk (from Jus’Amazin)
• Soy Curds (from Carrots)

Main Ingredients

• Tofu Cubes
• Beetroot Slices
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Watercress
• Green Lettuce
• Salt
• Pepper
• Lemon Juice

 Video

 

 

Enjoy! :)

Beet Avocado Wasabi Salad

 🥑 I wanted to make guacamole today to have with chapathi. But when I halved the avocado, it was so firm, I just didn’t have the heart to mash it!

So I peeled and cubed it, and stared at it lovingly, waiting for inspiration to flow.

The image of a fabulous salad rose up in my mind. It would be slightly on the sweet side, and carry a complex flavour profile that was worthy of this perfect avocado.

I didn’t know what flavours yet, but I knew without a doubt that steamed beetroot had to be in there! 😄

So I scrubbed, cubed and put the beets for steaming. They were organic, so I didn’t even need to peel them.

Then the dressing ingredients dropped into my head. Tak. Tak. Tak.

Balsamic Vinegar

Wasabi

Miso Paste

Oh my! 🤤♥️

I carefully mixed them with the avocados. And as soon as the beets were nice and soft, I put them in and quickly tossed everything together one last time.

The avos held their shape well for the most part. Some of the edges got mashed, but that worked out well, adding a creamy coating to the beets.

I tasted it.

😲🤤

It was everything I imagined it would be.

So of course I had to tell you all about it! 😄 Try it.

Here are the approximate ingredient quantities:

1 medium sized Avocado

2 small Beets

1 heaping tsp Miso Paste

1/2 tsp Wasabi

2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

Notes:

📝 Instead of Miso, you can use some Soy Sauce if you like.

📝 And Balsamic Vinegar can be replaced with a combination of Apple Cider Vinegar and a bit of Jaggery/Date Syrup.

📝  But there’s absolutely nothing that can replace the nose watering goodness of Wasabi!

Herbed Couscous Bean Salad

Salads are excellent during summer but once the colder months begin, my hand quickly loses its inclination to reach for raw vegetables. There's a need for more filling, cooked foods. This is why I love salads that include cooked ingredients in them. It's a great way to get those fresh vegetables in along with some hearty components.

If you look through my blog's Recipe Hub, you'll know that I loooooooove pulses of all kinds. There is nothing more satisfying than a big bowl of cooked beans. If I could, I'd just cook beans and eat them plain every single day. And yes, I am well aware of the consequences, as the people of Portlandia have demonstrated so tastefully in the video below. :P



Since we don't have any "designated areas" at our home, I stick to cooking with beans often but not everyday. :D



In the recipe below, I've thrown couscous into the bean and vegetables mix to turn this dish into a complete meal. Even my hubby, who doesn't consider salads a whole meal, was satisfied with this one.

I created this recipe for Global Graynz. They have put together recipe boxes which include the ingredients you will need to make this Herbed Couscous Bean Salad at home.





You can visit the links below to purchase the three kinds of ingredients boxes for this recipe:

1. Rare/Exotic Ingredients (home delivery to anywhere in India)
2. All Packaged Ingredients (home delivery to anywhere in India)
3. All Ingredients Including Fresh/Perishable Ones (available in Chennai only)




Herbed Couscous Bean Salad

1 C Instant Couscous
2 C Cooked or Canned Beans - I used Pink Rajma (Kidney Beans) but others will work too
1 C Fresh Herbs - I used Parsley, Basil, Mint and Cilantro
1 Head Romaine Lettuce
1 Cucumber (it's best to use a tender one)
3 Small Tomatoes (preferably the tart, local/naati ones)
1 Small Onion (preferably white)
2 T Sriracha Sauce
1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil (optional)
1/4 C Lime Juice
1/4 tsp Chilli Powder
Salt - to taste
Whole Black Pepper Corns - for crushing on top

Boil 1 1/2 C of lightly salted water.
Turn off the heat, add couscous, stir, cover and keep aside for 5-6 minutes.
Fluff with a fork and allow to cool down to room temperature.

If you've freshly cooked the beans, allow them to cool down.
They need to be at room temperature or lightly chilled but not hot/warm.
If you're using canned beans, rinse them and keep aside.

Chiffonade or chop the herbs.
Tear the lettuce into pieces.
Make thin half circles of the cucumber.
Finely chop the tomatoes and onion.

Now mix all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.
Freshly crush pepper on top and serve.
Enjoy! :)

Cool, Summery Chickpea Salad

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, tomorrow is my vegan cooking demo at Soul Kadhi. Right now I've come to Soul Kadhi to do a quick discussion about the event but their generator decided to act up and spew ash during the peak lunch time and that has kept Nirmala very occupied for over an hour. So while I wait, I thought I'd start a blog post (and finish it after I get home).

Poor Nirmala hasn't had a moment's respite. She came to speak to me in the middle but something came up again and she had to go attend to it. It's nice that her mom is around to help out everyday but despite that, Nirmala is constantly on her feet. I have no idea how she manages to run three restaurants full time on the same premises and stay sane!

A lot of my friends who have tasted my cooking/baking and even a few people who follow my blog have asked me why I haven't started a vegan café or restaurant yet. I really want to, hubby and I even keep talking about it, but I keep procrastinating and the main reason is that I don't know if I'll be able to handle all the stress that goes into running a food establishment.

I like my work related life to be slow paced. When I create my jewellery, I need to be relaxed and in the zone to come up with beautiful designs which carry positive energy. Similarly, I feel that some of my tastiest and most creative dishes are made when I am taking it easy. I'm afraid of what my cooking will taste like if I am constantly under pressure.

So if I do take steps to make my dream of a vegan café come true, I know for a fact that all the administration work will have to be done by someone else! My restaurant will be part of the slow food movement. That means, people need to come there with the intention to relax and enjoy the meal at a slow pace. People in a big huff to be served their food will not be allowed. :oP

Amusingly, my recipe today does not belong to the slow food movement. It can be put together in a breeze and wolfed down in the blink of an eye. hehe

Cool, Summery Chickpea Salad

I've used small, Indian Chickpeas aka Gulabi Gram in this salad but even the larger Garbanzo Beans aka Kabuli Channa will taste yummy in this recipe. For that matter, any kind of bean will work, doesn't even have to be Chickpeas.

I like eating this salad plain or as a side dish with chapathies.



1 C Indian Chickpeas (Gulabi Gram)
3 Large Tomatoes
1 Small European Cucumber (regular Cucumber is fine too)
3 Small Carrots
1 heaping tsp Peanut Butter (I used the Chia Peanut Butter that my friend Somera> sent me)
1-2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar (it's okay to use lime juice, tamarind water or any other vinegar instead)
1/2 tsp Liquid Jaggery (or other sweetener)
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
Salt

Soak the chickpeas overnight.
Drain, rinse and pressure cook in fresh water for 3-4 whistles.
Cool, drain (cooking water can be saved and used to cook something else) and keep aside.
Finely dice the tomatoes and cucumber.
Grate the carrots.
Toss all the ingredients together and mix well (using your fingers if required to spread the peanut butter well).
Cover and chill for a short while.
Enjoy! :)

Creamy Tabbouleh Salad Lettuce Wraps

These Creamy Tabbouleh Salad Lettuce Wraps are herb rich and full of flavour. They make for a nutritious and refreshing lunch on a sultry afternoon.

I have developed a whole new level of love for salads. And here's why...

There's a new healthy vegan restaurant in town, Carrots. I spoke about it in an earlier blog post. Since it's the first of its kind in Bangalore, it's a matter of great excitement in the local vegan community. And vegans from other Indian cities have been telling us how very jealous they are. Hehe

In India, it's extremely easy to be vegetarian. Ours is a largely vegetarian culture. More than half our restaurants are vegetarian. Even people who consume meat don't usually do so every single day, and definitely not three times a day. Eggs aren't considered vegetarian and they won't be found in any vegetarian restaurant.

When you go to a grocery store, each and every product has a symbol to indicate whether it is vegetarian or not. All vegetarian products are marked with a green dot and all non vegetarian products, including those with eggs, are marked with a red dot.

For vegans here, the big pain in the ass is dairy! Animal milk (usually from cows and buffaloes) and its derivatives are put into all kinds of foods. A non vegan person who isn't in the habit of reading labels would be surprised to hear about the innumerable ways dairy sneaks into their system.

So you can imagine what it means for us to finally have a place in town where we can order any item from the menu without the need to explain and shoot off a long list of taboo dairy products to the waiter. :)

Just before the launch of Carrots, hubby and I were invited there for a few tasting sessions by Krishna, the owner of the restaurant. Since the chef isn't vegan, he felt a need for inputs about his vegan cooking and pointers on making desserts. For a non vegan, Chef Anantha makes really delicious vegan food! He is a master of soups, salads and starters. His main dishes are really tasty and he's been making an extremely good effort at vegan desserts.

Among all the things we ate, hubby and I would say that the Greek Salad was hands down our favourite dish!!! Bursting with colourful veggies and pumped with flavourful, lemon soaked tofu, every bite of the salad was mind blowing!

Ever since we ate that Greek Salad at Carrots, hubby and I have been craving big salads like that one. And I've been ordering lettuce from Towness more regularly than I used to.

Thanks to the amazing Greek Salad at Carrots, we'll be eating a lot more salad at home this summer. :)

Creamy Tabbouleh Salad Lettuce Wraps



1/2 C Broken Wheat
10 large Romaine Lettuce Leaves
2 baby Apples (crunchy Mishri variety) - chopped
3 medium Plum Tomatoes - diced
1 C Fresh Mint - roughly chopped
1 C Fresh Parsley - roughly chopped
1 C Fresh Cilantro - roughly chopped
1/2 C Cashews
1/4 C Lime Juice
1 inch Ginger - grated
Black Salt
Black Pepper - freshly crushed

Soak the broken wheat in water for about 15-20 minutes and drain.

Blend together cashews and lime juice using a little water to get a sour cream.

Add the herbs and pulse a few times (but don't blend them completely).

Toss together all ingredients, except lettuce, cover and keep aside. You have your creamy tabbouleh.

Separate the lettuce leaves and clean them.

Spread a leaf on a flat surface and spoon some of the tabbouleh mixture in the centre of the leaf. Wrap and place seam side down on a plate.

Continue doing the same with the remaining lettuce leaves.

These nutritious, flavourful salad wraps are great for lunch, especially now since it's gotten so hot here.

Enjoy! :)

Masala Mandakki Vegan MoFo day 9

Isn't it awesome when you think you're indulging in a mid morning snack, except the snack just happens to be really healthy? Today's recipe is a salad that's under the guise of a snack. We have a huge variety of street cart foods in India and most of them are vegan. Masala Mandakki aka Churmuri happens to be one of them.

It's a salad made of some basic fresh veggies and Masalas (spices) tossed together with Mandakki (puffed rice). Since the puffed rice plays a key role in the dish, it's called Masala/Masalé Mandakki. It's very common to find it being sold on food carts outside schools, in public parks or even on streets with a lot of pedestrian traffic. The food cart guy tosses it together in a big steel mixing bowl right in front of you. It's usually served in a sheet of newspaper that's been rolled up into a cone and lined with a banana leaf to protect the food (at least most of it) from touching the paper directly. Masala Mandakki has to be eaten as soon as it's made because if left to sit around, the puffed rice gets soggy.

Masala Mandakki carts are more common in South India, especially in our state of Karnataka, than they are elsewhere. They are different from Chaat carts which sell things like Bhel Puri, Masala Puri, Paani Puri, Samosa Chaat etc...

Firstly there is no cooking or heating done on the Masala Mandakki carts. Secondly, each dish has a higher quantity of fresh vegetables (carrot, onion, tomato, cilantro..). Thirdly, the number of deep fried elements involved is lower.

I wanted to go out today and grab some pictures of my favourite Masala Mandakki cart but I wasn't able to get out because I've been feeling kind of zombie-fied all day. Maybe at some point in the future I'll do a special blog post about them and all the other goodies that they make, like Tikki Puri, Tomato Masala, Nippat Masala, Mango-Pineapple Masala etc...

For now, I thought I'd share the recipe for the version I make at home whenever I don't feel like going out. I hadn't planned on this being today's MoFo post but late this morning I had a craving for Masala Mandakki and the moment I made it, I realized it goes with this week's theme and since it's one of my favourite salads to begin with, it just made total sense to make it my recipe for today.

Masala Mandakki aka Masalé Mandakki aka Churmuri

Note: If you can't get your hands on puffed rice, then you can use any rice crispies style cereal, in which case, eliminate the sugar from the recipe.

1 C Puffed Rice
1 Tomato - chopped
1 Onion - chopped fine
1 Carrot - grated
1 T Fresh Cilantro - chopped
2 Green Chillies - crushed
1/8 tsp Sugar
1/8 tsp Sambar Powder or Red Chilli Powder
1/4 tsp Tamarind Paste
Lime Juice
Salt

In a big bowl mix everything, except the puffed rice (use your hand and fingers to mix for best results).
Add the puffed rice and mix quickly.
Serve immediately.
Enjoy! :)

Nalli Kai Salad Vegan MoFo day 7

And so the uphill climb of Vegan MoFo has finally begun for me. Last week went super smoothly because most of my Dessert posts had been in various stages of blog readiness before time. But this week I'm not as prepared as I was. That means I need to think up and make something each day from scratch and then share it here with you all and also on my Veganosaurus Page on Facebook.

It'll be a challenge and probably a good one at that. Besides, I signed up for Vegan MoFo being fully aware of what it would mean for my daily life. Thankfully, my crisper is full of fresh veggies and greens so I have no lack of inspiration. Now all we need to do is wait till Friday to see if my sanity is preserved until the end of the week. :oP

Until then, here for your pleasure is today's recipe in this week's ongoing theme on my blog - Soups and Salads.

In today's Salad, I've featured one of my favourite fruits in the world, the West Indian Gooseberry, known as Nalli Kai in my language, Kannada. These super tart local fruits (not to be confused with the regular Indian Gooseberry/Amla/Bettada Nalli Kai) are usually sold on street-side carts outside schools, tossed with salt and chilli powder. However, the tastiest ones are always found on old trees in people's backyards.

Last week, when we were at someone's place, my sister spied a Nalli Kai tree in their garden with big, ripe, irresistible fruits that made us drool uncontrollably. Our hosts were really nice and asked one of their staff to climb onto the roof and pluck some Nalli Kais for us. And this kind soul hand picked and filled a big bag with the fattest, juiciest fruits which we brought back home.

Most of the loot was handed over to my mom so she could make her delicious Nalli Kai Uppinkai (pickle) for all of us. But a portion was kept aside to be enjoyed straight, dipped in salt. Chew on each sour fruit and then spit out the seed, such a relaxing way to spend time. :)

I also concocted a Nalli Kai Salad as a MoFo special. I just tossed a bunch of random things together - spiced peanuts, veggies from my crisper, herbs from my kitchen garden... and there is was, this gorgeous salad!

This is a very flexible recipes, the variety and quantity of ingredients can be adjusted to suit your taste buds. Just remember that Nalli Kais are very rich in vitamin C, so iron heavy greens and herbs make a very good combination with them.

I've used Congress Kadlekai from Veena Stores in Malleshwaram. If you want to make some of your own, here's a nice recipe by Deesha of Vegetable Platter. But you could also just use peanuts which have been roasted plain or with salt. In that case, a pinch of turmeric and some spice, like red chilly powder or green chilly paste would make a good addition.

Nalli Kai Salad

Nalli Kai - seeds removed and roughly chopped
Congress Kadlekai
Spinach
Mint
Tulsi (Indian Holy Basil)
Capsicum Tomato
Sesame Seeds
Salt

Toss everything together in an airtight box.
Chill in the fridge for a few hours (can also be left to marinade overnight).
Serve over lettuce leaves.
Enjoy! :)

What kind of super sour berries do you get in your part of the world and do you like them?

Carrot Hesarubele Kosumbari - Vegan MoFo day 6

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful, drool-alicious weekend visiting various MoFo-ers blogs and also coming up with more delicious vegan food posts for your own. I'm really looking forward to blog hopping and seeing what you all come up with for week two of Vegan MoFo! :)

My last week's theme was Desserts. This week it's Soups and Salads. I'll start off with a traditional, South India Kosumbari - a salad that is topped with a basic Indian tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida that have been heated in oil. Kosumbaris can be made with different combinations of veggies and soaked/sprouted lentils/beans.

They are one of the first few things which are served on the Banana Leaf 'plates' during meals at traditional events like festivals, weddings etc...

Today I'll be sharing a quick and simple Carrot Hesarubele Kosumbari. Hesarubele is the Kannada word for Moong Dal (Split Mung Beans). It a lentil that can be enjoyed raw. It's healthy and tasty.

Carrot Hesarubele Kosumbari

For the salad:

1/4 C Moong Dal (soaked for at least 2 hours and drained)
3 large Carrots (grated)
2 Green Chillies (crushed)
Salt
Lime Juice
A pinch of Turmeric

For the tempering:

2 tsp Coconut Oil
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 T fresh Curry Leaves
1/8 tsp Asafoetida Powder

Mix all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.
Use your hand and squeeze everything lightly as you mix to get the spice, salt and lime juice into the carrots.

In a small pan, heat the coconut oil on high for 30 seconds.
Add the mustard seeds and cover the pan immediately (with a small gap to let the steam escape).
When the mustard seeds almost stop crackling, add the asafoetida powder and mix for a few seconds.
Add the curry leaves and stir for another 30 seconds or so.
Turn off the heat.

Now pour the tempered ingredients over the salad and mix lightly.

Serve immediately and enjoy! :)

Macaroni Potato Salad

I love eating fresh, vegetable salads as a meal in themselves but hubby prefers to have some carbs involved. He says that if he eats just a salad for lunch, it fills him up quickly, but then he gets hungry again very soon. So I've started adding a bit of pasta into my salads to add body to them and that's been a nice compromise.

I used macaroni here because I'd run out of penne but it worked out nicely enough for me to try again even when I have regular pasta around. The texture of the macaroni goes well with this soft and filling salad.

Macaroni Potato Salad

Here are the ingredients, the quantities are completely up to you.

Macaroni - cooked, drained and rinsed in cold water.
Potatoes - boiled and cubed
Fresh Mint - chopped
Carrots - scrubbed clean and grated
Green Chillies - crushed to a paste
Red Chilli Powder
Lime Juice
Agave
Salt

Toss everything together and serve with freshly crushed pepper and nutritional yeast sprinkled over it.

Enjoy! :)

Nice Big Salad - Vegan MoFo post 11

So I spent the last hour editing pictures for the burritos I made on Sunday so I could make today's post all about them. But... I woke up early this morning (9am gaaah!) to meet up with a few of my dear Reiki friends (I wouldn't start off my days so early for just anyone, so you can appreciate how important these people are to me) and therefore I am extremely sleepy right now.

How shameful is that? It isn't even midnight yet! *Tsk Tsk*

Anyways, long story short, if you've been following my blog to get recipes for your daily cooking, today you won't be eating burritos. Here's a healthy and super delicious salad instead.



Organic lettuce, organic cherry tomatoes, organic cucumber, pecans, apricots all tossed in olive oil, lemon juice, black salt and chilli powder. Optionally Tamari, Balsamic Vinegar and Nooch can be added too.

Done.

This must be my shortest Vegan Mofo post eva!

Refreshing Spicy Chickpea Salad

This vegan salad is delicious and filling. And apart from the chick pea cooking process, quite a jiffy to put together.




2 C Cooked Chickpeas (I always recommend the quick soak method to cook beans of any kind)
4 Tomatoes (diced)
1 Small, Tender Cucumber (sliced into tiny pieces)
1 Green Bell Pepper (sliced into small pieces)
3-4 Carrots (grated)
1 Medium Onion (chopped finely)
2 Spicy Green Chillies
1 Garlic Clove
Salt (Black Salt tastes yummiest but some people might not like the smell)
Turmeric (small pinch)
Red chilli powder
Asafoetida
Juice of 1 large Lime/Lemon


Crush together the green chillies, garlic, salt, turmeric and asafoetida. Mix in with the rest of the ingredients. Toss everything together well. Serve and enjoy! :)

This salad tastes delicious when freshly made but on hot days it makes an amazingly refreshing lunch or mid-morning treat after being chilled in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Hesaru Kaalu Sprouts - The BEST vegan snack ever!!

Mom used to make these often when we were in school and we used to carry dabba fulls to eat during our snack break. Of course long before the 11 am bell rang the little boxes were sneakily opened under the desk and handfuls were passed around. Surreptitiously munching on Hesaru Kaalu (Mung Bean) Sprouts made even the most boring class pleasurable! :)

When there are little kids at home a certain magic exists which makes all kinds of yummy treats appear constantly without anyone having to ask for them. No adult 'child' can make that happen! LOL So naturally after the school years were over, as all other snacks, these also became rare. Mom still made us anything we asked for but the asking in itself reduced. We got busy with our lives - tiffin breaks and special evening snacks receded to the background of our priorities.

The Mung Bean Sprout resurfaced only during certain festivals or wedding feasts in the form of the molike kosumbari - a sprout salad of sorts.

Last week I went into a health food trip because I had just recovered from being sick and figured I needed to replenish my body's nutrient content. In between the raw carrots & cucumbers and the fresh fruits & juices I suddenly remembered the Mung Bean Sprout! I just had to make a batch!!

Contrary to common belief, these sprouts are not difficult to make at all!

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HESARU KAALU MOLIKE
Mung Bean Sprouts

Take a cupful of dry Mung Beans and wash well.
Soak in about thrice the quantity of water for 8 hours or so (overnight is a good idea).
Drain completely and put in a container and close the lid.
Leave in a dark place for a day (not in the fridge).
Open the lid... Voila Sprouts!!
Store in fridge and consume as soon as possible - an effortless task I might add :)

It's as easy as that! :)
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Each mouthful of sprouts is a delicious mix of fresh flavor and mild sweetness. I might be able to stop myself from munching on chips after a single mouthful, but Hesaru Kaalu Sprouts.. IMPOSSIBLE!!

The whole batch I made got polished off in no time. Some of it was eaten plan, some of it was turned into Kosumbari. Either way, it was yummy. And the amount of nutrition it contains makes it a perfect healthy snack!

In the hope that more people will choose this often over the regular junk food, here is the Kosumbari recipe.

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HESARU KAALU MOLIKE KOSUMBARI
Mung Bean Sprout Salad - A South Indian speciality.

Ingredients:
1 C Sprouts
1/2 C Chopped Cucumber
1/2 C Grated Fresh Coconut
1/4 C Grated Carrot
1/2 t Fresh Green Chilly Paste (adjust quantity according to how much spice you can handle)
1/4 Cup Chopped Fresh Cilantro
1 pinch Hing (Asafoteida)
Salt (preferably seas salt) to taste
Juice of 1 lime or lemon

Put everything in a bowl and mix together with your hand using a light squeezing motion to get the flavors to blend well.