Curried Split Pea Soup

When I left school I battled traffic, fought for a parking spot at Target, made my way through the crowds, and made it home incredibly exhausted. I am fighting off a cold and the weather was so dreary. I decided to make soup for dinner. I bought fresh ginger a while back and decided to make a Curried Split Pea soup with homemade croutons and oven roasted asparagus.

Curried Split Pea Soup

Compliments of Vegan with a Vengeance

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a stockpot

Add one small onion and 3 cloves of garlic and saute for five minutes

Mix together 2 teaspoons curry powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon coriander powder

A pinch of cinnamon 

2 tablespoons fresh garlic minced

Add mixture to onion and garlic

Saute for additional minutes

Add 8 cups water and bring to a boil

Add 1 pound rinsed and dried split peas

Turn soup down to medium heat and cook for 60 minutes

Oven Roasted Asparagus

Preheat oven to 275

Cut off rough ends of asparagus

Rinse tops of asparagus and cut in half

Add to glass baking sheet

Mince 2-3 cloves garlic

Add pepper and salt to taste

Drizzle mixture with olive oil

Bake until asparagus is tender

Homemade Croutons 

Cut french bread (not crusty) into cubes

Add to a skillet

Drizzle with olive oil

Cook over medium low heat and turn often

Add any seasonings you wish-I added curry to compliment the soup. You could add pasta sprinkles, garlic powder, etc

The End Products....

I didn't add exactly 2 tablespoons of ginger because I was lazy and didn't want to peel it. I would have like some more in the final product, but John said it was good with the 1 1/2 tablespoons I added. He isn't that big on ginger, so skimping was good. The soup was a bit watery due to the fact I didn't have exactly 16 oz of split peas. Nonetheless, it was tasty and hit the spot. My cat Handel even tried to get the leftovers while we were rinsing dishes. Tonight's meal gets two thumbs up from John and two paws up from Handel.

Happy Cooking!

Super Quick Meal

John and I have been very busy with work and school. Both of us have been staying late at work. When I mean stay late, John would be at work until 10 or 11. So, needless to say, I ate a few meals alone this week.

I wanted a super easy meal that wouldn't take a lot of time to make. I had a Grand Masala patty from Trader Joe's in the freezer and decided to use it for my meal. I LOVE these patties! They are made with no soy and have so many wonderful flavors. I made one patty topped with cilantro and avocado infused olive oil, salad, and potatoes from Dominicks that had cannelloni beans, basil, olive oil, and some other yummy things.

Grand Masala Burger

Cook each side on medium high heat for 2 minutes on each side  

Cilantro/Avocado Infused Olive Oil

In a small bowl add 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro that has been diced

Add 2 slices of fresh avocado

You can add garlic if you like

Add desired amount of olive oil (4-5 tablespoons)

Mix all together until the avocado is creamed 

Potatoes

I used a brand from Dominick's Grocery with basil, olive oil, white beans, garlic, and other vegetables. I simply had to heat it in a skillet. If I wasn't lazy, I would make my own my roasted potatoes.

Salad

I used fresh romaine

Topped it with the rest of the avocado and tomatoes

Added the extra infused oil as the dressing

Happy Cooking!

Smoky Tempeh

I can't believe how quickly Christmas is approaching. I have been extremely busy with school and preparing for Christmas. John and I will return to Indy to spend time with our families for the holidays. I'm excited for some time home to just relax and not think about school for a couple of days. My students are so excited for Christmas. I really hope I don't have "that one kid" that says Santa isn't real; it is never fun trying to tip-toe around that elephant in the classroom.

I have struggled to figure out what to make for dinner recently. I haven't had too many things on hand. My wallet was stolen and I really didn't have an easy way to buy food. I had to get cash from ATMs if I wanted money. I basically had to use what I had on hand this week until I receive my new debit and credit cards. I had to open brand new accounts, replace everything, get a new ID....no fun! Ladies, watch your purses! Do not hang them on your chair in a crowed Starbucks!

I had a block of tempeh I needed to use. I decided to make a smoky tempeh sandwich on a whole wheat tortilla with garlic aioli, salad, and oven roasted pub chips. This was actually a very simple meal.

Smoky Tempeh

1 package of tempeh cut into strips 

Soak tempeh in 3-4 tablespoons of liquid smoke for 20 minutes

When ready to assemble, cook on medium high heat for 2 minutes on each side

Before the Liquid Smoke soak

Garlic Aioli

1 can of white kidney beans

3 cloves of garlic

pepper to taste

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro

Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor adding olive oil until you reach a creamy consistency. 

Pub Chips

Wash 2 russet potatoes

Slice into very thin pieces

Spray cookie sheet with olive oil spray

Drizzle chips with olive oil

Sprinkle with whatever seasonings you wish- I simply used seasoned salt this time. I have used garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, etc.

Cook on 425 degrees (I don't really time them, when I seem them starting to brown, I flip them and back a bit longer)

Sandwich Assembly

Spread garlic aioli on a tortilla (a pita pocket would also work)

Add fresh lettuce

Add sliced tomatoes

Add smoky tempeh

Wrap and enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

Christmas Cookies

For some reason it just doesn't seem like Christmas yet. I don't know if the weather has just been better than usual or that I am in the same place as John for once and not looking forward to Christmas which was always our longest time together. Regardless of the reasons, I realized, John and I needed some of our own traditions. We decided to put up the tree (I should get him some ornaments considering every last one on the tree is music, teacher, or cat themed), drink wine, watch the Sunday Night Lineup on Fox, and bake Christmas Sugar Cookies. I found several recipes online and decided to give them a whirl.

http://www.chezbettay.com/pages/desserts1/drts_sugarcookie1.html

Festive with the bamboo is behind the tree.

I made sugar cookies with frosting. I stopped by our local grocery around the corner and was sad to see they didn't carry festive cookie cutters. Our cookies, thus, look a little sad.

Vegan Icing

Cream together: 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup vegan butter:Earth Balance

You can add more of each as you go along

I then added food coloring

Sugar Cookie recipe

Cream together: 13 oz vegan butter and 2 cups sugar

Add 4 teaspoons baking powder

Add 1/2 cup almond/soy milk

Add 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Add 5 cups flour gradually while mixing

My mixture came out dry so I added more milk

Roll into logs (I had enough batter for three logs)

Wrap and refrigerate for an hour

Slice into circles or use a cookie cutter

Bake at 350 10-12 minutes

I over baked mine because they still seemed gooey....TAKE THEM OUT after the 12 minutes!

John said they were a bit crunchy..oops. He really liked the icing and noted that the cookies were very rich.

Yes, there are 2 cat cookies. We decided if we decorated two pumpkins for Max and Handel during Halloween, we had to decorate cookies for them.