Vegan Is Good: Easy Vegan Recipes

December 14, 2012
by Diana
1 Comment

Easy Sambhar with Red Lentils

Indian food provides a diversity of vegan meals, filled with good proteins and yummi veges. And are suitable for improvisation. The truth is all you need is some Indian spices and your imagination. So, here I am, making my favourite walk along the vegetable-abundant nearby farmer’s market, thinking: ” How about trying something with that Sambhar masala my friend brought from India? Oh, let’s get those eggplants, and carrots. And yes, definitely some string beans and radish…” In the end I found myself with more luggage that I could possibly carry home on my own, but the result was worth it and spicy.

Here’s how it goes – just make sure you’ve prepared all the ingredients in advance, as it cooks quite quickly once started:

What you need for 2-3 hungry people (40 minutes):

1 tea cup of red lentils

1 large eggplant cut into long slices

1 average carrot, diced

300 g of pumpkin, peeled and cut into large cubes

1 average white radish, dices

1 onion, minced

some garlic, minced

2 red chilis

2 tbsp of sambhar masala

2 teacups of water

3 tbsp vegetable oil

Heat the oil in a large pan with cover. Add the Sambhar masala and let the oil absorb its divine taste for 30 seconds.

Put in the garlic and the onions and mix. now add the carrot, the radish, the pumpkin, mix well, cover and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.

Next – add the chilis, the aubergine slices, and again – mix and cover for another 2 minutes.

Then add the lentils and the water, lower the heat. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes until the lentils are soft and the liquid is almost absorbed.

Serve with flat bread or rice.

Vegan is Good!

October 4, 2012
by Diana
0 comments

Rainbow Quinoa

Beautiful colours all around, beautiful colours in my plate.

This very easy recipe has much more than the good looks to give. Combines a bunch of seasonal vegs, has both quinoa AND spinach in it (!!!), it’s gluten free and in the end is quite healthy. How about that, he-he.

Ingredients for 2:

1 teacup quinoa

150 g squash, peeled, washed and diced

150 g beet, peeled, washed and diced

300 g spinach, washed and chopped

1 tomato, diced

1 small onion, chopped

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried coriander

the juice of 1/2 lemon

paprika and ground pepper

2 1/2 teacups water (to boil the quinoa)

Three very easy steps:

Boil the diced squash and the beet separately (to keep their bright colours) for about 15 minutes each, until soft. Pour the water out and put aside.

Put the quinoa, the onions, the cumin, the oil, the pepper, the paprika and the water in a large pot, bring to boiling, then lower the heat. After 5-7 minutes add the spinach, mix well and cook until the water evaporates. When ready, move it to a large bowl.

Add the squash, the beet and the tomato. Then the coriander, the lemon juice and mix. Served both warm and cold.

Vegan is Good!

P.S. Ideas for blue coloured vegs?

August 31, 2012
by Diana
1 Comment

New Way New Life*

Dearest readers,

Vegan Is Good has been around for sometime now, with its highs and lows, and I feel it’s time for a change.

Observation during the last several months made me realize, that the current format has used up its potential to a level where no matter what, the results seem to be same. So, I need a radical change and the new looks will be just the beginning. New challenges, new topics and everything around the idea that the simple things in life are part of the journey called happiness.

Change is good (as is vegan, hehe) and there’re times in life when we have to let go the old ways and take an unexplored path.

So here it is: all the tasty vegan experiments will go on and will be published here. But, I want to make the site more interesting, helpful and discussion raising. What comes to my mind is sharing some travel stories and impressions, experience, thoughts and other interesting related stuff.

But tell me, what else would you like to read about here?

Cheers,

* One of my favourite Asian Dub Foundation tracks

photo credit: Shermeee

May 17, 2012
by Diana
0 comments

Curry Stuffed Eggplants

What you need is an hour and the following:

1 large eggplant

100g red lentils

100g organic green soybeans (boiled)

1 can of peeled tomatoes

1 glass of water

5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon of each of the these: cumin, paprika, chili, dried coriander, cinnamon, dried ginger, white mustard seeds, cardamom, turmeric, grounded black pepper

Cut the eggplant in two, carefully carve the halves with a spoon to 1.5 cm thickness. Salt both the carved halves and the … flesh (wasn’t sure which word to use here, “flesh” sounds almost dirty in a vegan cooking blog) and put aside for 20 minutes. Then wash well with water and put aside. We’ll use later the halves as recipients for the curry.

Preparing the curry – heat the oil in a large pan and add first the mustard seeds and once they start to pop – the rest of the spices. When mixed well in the pan, put in the carved eggplant flesh and mih well. Cover and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.

Now add the tomatoes, the soy beans, the lentils and the water, use a wooden spoon to mix well and lower the heat. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until almost all the water has evaporated and the lentils are cooked.

Meanwhile, cover the inside of the eggplant carved halves with a thin layer of olive oil, sprinkle with grounded black pepper and bake in a preheated (180C) oven for 10 minutes. Then take them out and let them cool.

Divide the curry in two and stuff the egg plants. Put in the oven for another 15 minutes. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Vegan is Good!

May 12, 2012
by Diana
0 comments

On Benefits of Basil and a Vegan Pesto Recipe

To all basil lovers! Basil, king of herbs, the sacred plant, is back in the menu. Check out how much more there is about it, except the obvious good looks.

Mr. Basil has it all.

Health* – Anti-bacterial properties, not only for the digestion track, but also used as an extracted oil, for example. Good source of vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin B6, calcium, iron, dietary fiber, manganese, magnesium, vitamin C and potassium. Makes nice tea and has a slight relieving effect on nausia.

*this is not to be used to diagnose health problems or for treatment purposes, but as general information.

Beauty – Because of its anti-inflammatory effect, basil may have positive effect on skin problems such as acne and other skin infections. Nice additive to any homemade vegan cosmetics.

Food – Combines well with any tomato based dishes, from pasta sauce to salad, olives and pretty much everything typical for the sub-tropical areas. Good seasoning for pasta or bread dough. It is best to add it in the end of cooking as it’s aroma evaporates very quickly when heated. Can be stored frozen and this is a better way to keep its taste and aroma properties than drying. I prefer it fresh (or frozen when fresh is not available).

Other – Rumor has it basil is an efficient mosquito repellent if grown by a window, because of its strong scent.

Is there a better way to enjoy the flavour of fresh basil than make a pesto and put it on everything? Here’s how:

Ingredients of the Vegan Pesto Recipe (one small jar):

6-7 stems of fresh basil

3-4 cloves of garlic

30g walnuts

4 tbsp olive oil

a pinch of salt

Remove the basil leaves from the stems and put with the garlic, the walnuts, the salt and two tbsp of the olive oil in a food processor and reduce to a paste. Move the paste in a small jar where you’ll be keeping it and pour the remaining olive oil for conservation. Keep refrigerated, it will last long enough to eat it all.

Vegan is Good!