Mix ‘n Match Cake (Healthy AND Low-Calorie)

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A Veggie Sandwich to Make Hardcore Carnivores Convert

When I first became a vegetarian (way back before it was cool), I had a really hard time finding animal-friendly lunches (especially sandwiches). Dinner was easy because I could cook anything I wanted. But, lunch…lunch had to packable and, preferably, not something that needed to be served hot. (I was never the kind of person who could eat lukewarm spaghetti).

Everything changed the day I discovered hummus. It was exactly what I had asked for and more. Not only was it low calorie enough that I didn’t have to measure every teaspoon as with peanut butter, but it tasted good with everything. And I do mean everything (including things like cheese, that peanut butter couldn’t even touch).

I know I’ve written extensively about my love for hummus, but I simply cannot help doing it again. Yes, peanut butter was my first great love, but I have long since divorced it’s nutty goodness in favor of hummus’ tangy charm that pairs nicely with sweets and sours and savories all at once.

I feel I should stop now and just get on with the recipe. For fear I may remove the hummus from its resting place in my fridge and, lick by lick, devour the whole container.

You can even toast the wrap and do it as a pizza!

Broccoli, Hummus and Cheddar Cheese–in a Wrap
serves 1

• Tortilla, wrap, bread, etc of choice
• Hummus (try my homemade recipe here)
• Chopped broccoli, steamed, baked or stir-fried
• Fat-free (or regular) cheddar cheese, shredded

→Lay the wrap on a flat surface.

Spread hummus on top.

Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.

Dump the broccoli on. I like lots of broccoli so my sandwich is always overflowing.

See how I tried to make that seem as hard as a real recipe?

 

My friend went to Korea and all I got was pictures of food

Ok, well, that’s not entirely true. But aren’t there T-shirts that say something like that?

All of the pictures and descriptions in the slideshow were taken by my good friend, Susannah Hope. All I did was “enhance” them in iPhoto and crop some of them to remove background. Since this is a vegetarian blog, I removed all the photos of meat. (Sorry, Susannah, I love you, but I can’t approve of you eating animals!)

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I’m actually a little jealous because, judging by these pictures, she has a much better camera than my puny cell phone one.

Curried Lentil Loaf with Chatpata Butternut Sabzi

It’s been so long since I’ve written. I wish I could say it’s because I haven’t felt much like cooking; because I haven’t been able to find the words; because I’m lost in other (more fascinating) endeavors. If only that were the case.

If only…

I actually made this loaf awhile ago but its posting has been overcome by the myriad of cookie recipes I am so in love with. In some sense, I am glad I waited for this particular recipe takes the contradictions I hate about myself and makes it delicious. The comforting heaviness of the lentils, the plain-ness of the tomatoes, and the sweetness of the squash are all perfectly complimented by the bite of chat masala, the fire of garam masala and the wit of meyer lemon.

If only such qualities were appreciated in a person as well as in a food.

Indian-Spiced Lentil Loaf
makes 1 loaf

• 3/4 c. mashed Fiber One Original Bran (mash it till it has the consistency of breadcrumbs)
• 1/4 c. toasted wheat germ (or bran, if you prefer)
• 2 c. cooked lentils
• 1/4 c. egg or egg substitute
• 1-15 oz. can of tomato sauce
• 2 T. light butter, melted
• spoonful of minced (or chopped) garlic
• handful of frozen chopped onion (or fresh, doesn’t matter)
• a few pinches of the following: turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, cinnamon
• a small pinch or two garam masala
• salt and pepper to taste

→Preheat the oven to 350*F. Grease a standard loaf pan.

Mash the lentils with a spoon. You can puree them if you want but I decided to leave some chunks. Mix in the fiber one, wheat germ and egg. Add the tomatoes. (See note for a vegan option)

Saute the onion and garlic in some cooking spray until they are fragrant and onion is lightly browned. Add to the lentil mix.

Add in spices and mix well. At this point, mine looked something like this:

Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours, checking with a toothpick for doneness. This loaf comes out a little wet at first but, after a day in the fridge, it REALLY firms up to normal meatloaf consistency.

NOTE: For a vegan twist, leave out the butter (or swap it with any mild-flavored oil) and swap the eggs with 3T. lentils + 2t. baking powder + a little water.

Sweet, Sour and Spicy Butternut Squash Sabzi
makes as much as you want

• Butternut squash (I used the bag I had left from the freezer clean-out)
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1/2 bag frozen 3 pepper and onion blend
• a teaspoonful of minced/chopped/mashed garlic
• 1/2 teaspoonful grated ginger
• 1-3 packets sugar or sugar substitute
• Juice of 1-1.5 meyer lemons
• a few good pinches of the following: turmeric, garam masala
• a small pinch or two of: cumin and cinnamon
• 1-2 palmfuls (or large pinches) chat masala, which lends this sabzi its tangy punch
• salt and pepper to taste

→Saute the frozen pepper and onion blend, garlic and ginger in some cooking spray. You can do it in the same pot you mixed the lentil loaf in.

Add butternut squash, tomato and spices. Stir well.

Cook until squash is soft, stirring continuously (or almost continuously). Mash the squash till it’s almost a paste.

Cover and leave on low-medium heat so the sabzi can absorb the spices. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn. It should take about 10 minutes for the spices to meld together.

Serve with loaf.

If you’re careful, you can do the entire thing using only one pot. You’ll have to use a few bowls/other dishes to hold the lentil mix while you’re sauteing, etc but it’ll still only be one pot.

Indian-Spiced Quinoa Edamame Cutlets (and some ramblings on life)

I went and saw my advisor today. I think I was hoping for him to give me the answers–tell me what to do with the rest of my life. The bureaucratic nightmare that was the posting of my transfer credits is finally over, which means I did indeed graduate this past semester. Yay, yipee, right? Not so much.

What I didn’t realize is that graduating from one degree meant picking another. When my advisor told me that I needed to pick another major, it was like he was telling me to pick the rest of my life.

“What should I choose?” I asked him.

“Well, for med school, you could go human bio or physiology or something along those lines. Most people go with human bio.”

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “I got my 3.5 in anatomy but, as I was sitting there studying for the final, I realized it didn’t even really matter. I didn’t even care about medicine. How am I supposed to be a doctor if, even now, as an undergraduate, I know deep down I’m only studying because getting good grades gives me a modicum of self esteem?”

It was like I had thrown him a curve ball. Hell! I threw myself one! I didn’t even realize until I said it that, even today, after everything I’ve been through during AND after high school, I have absolutely NO clue what to do with the rest of my life.

As far as my advisor goes, he asked the obvious questions after that: Well what do you want to do? What interests you?….the expected. I mean, he’s an academic advisor–that’s his job. What’s more important is that I couldn’t answer any of those. What do I WANT to do? Since when has that mattered?

I WANT to spend my days cooking and eating or writing a book full of novel and altogether fascinating concepts or creating beautiful pieces of art for the whole world to see. But, as I am constantly reminded, those things aren’t real…they’re dreams and, like every other dream of mine, they only exist when there are stars in the sky.

Not everyone can be J.K. Rowling.

I’ve been surrounded by people that have known what they wanted to do since they were in the womb. I mean, I’m indian, right? Be a doctor or an engineer…that’s what indian people do, right? That’s probably the only reason I ever even considered going to med school.

I guess, if I sat down and thought about it, I could TOLERATE being a doctor: given the many perks the job comes with (huge paycheck anyone?), I would be able to find plenty of ways to distract myself enough to make it through the next 50 years or whatever. I think some part of me keeps hoping though that, maybe, one day, I’ll actually be able to have MORE than just a distraction…I’ll be able to be happy.

I won’t have to fake it anymore.

But then the stars go away and I wake up. And I go to my anatomy class and I get my perfect grades and I come home, pet my cat and turn on the TV (or eat myself into a food coma) until it’s dark outside. Then, every night, no matter how bitter the cold is or how sodden the grass, I go outside and look for a star. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to find one through the clouds…

And then I close my eyes and make a wish– the same wish–the only wish I’ve ever had.

And then I go inside and close my eyes and wait for the rays of the sun to burn through my dreams once again.

Sadly, Michigan winters beautiful pictures do not make

Chatpata Quinoa and Soybean Cutlets
makes 16 patties

• 1.25 c. cooked edamame (measured after cooking)
• 1.5 c. cooked quinoa (measured after cooking)
• 1/4c. wheat bran (feel free to sub with oat bran or other floury stuff of choice)
• about 1/2c.-1c. frozen 3 pepper and onion blend
• 1-2 tsp. minced garlic
• 3/4 large egg (or equivalent egg substitute)
• juice of 1/2 a small lemon (I used a new breed of lemon my mom sent me called Meyer lemons)
• salt and pepper to taste
• chat masala (a spice available at most ethnic food stores)

→Process the edamame in a food processor/blender (or just mash it by hand) until it looks like this:

edamame

Then, mix in the quinoa and the wheat bran.

Spray a medium to large size pan with cooking spray (or use oil if you’re not calorie-phobic) and saute the 3 pepper/onion blend with the garlic until onions are lightly browned and garlic is fragrant. Process this in the food processor/blender until it looks like this:

3 pepper and onion blend

Then, add it to the quinoa/edamame mixture, followed by the egg, the lemon juice and the salt/pepper.

Now would probably be a good time to fire up the oven/toaster oven to 395* F. (Why 395? I thought it was set to 400* but realized later that it actually said 395. I doubt it matters though.)

Spray a foil-lined baking pan with nonstick spray (or oil it).

Form the mixture into patties and bake for 20-30 min, flipping patties over half way and rotating the pan. (I stayed in the kitchen after about 15 minutes had passed and started checking them every 5 minutes or so. Some heat was probably lost during this process).

When patties are lightly browned on both sides, take them out of the oven, top them with a liberal helping of chat masala (to taste) and serve with some sweetened yogurt (or, if you have it, mango chutney + yogurt would be even better).

Do dishes and wash pan.

My lovely taste tester, Emma, who found the patties quite delicious

 

 

Chocolate Whoopie Pie

edamame cookies and cream cheese frosting

chocolate + healthy...it's like magic!

Good news: after watching me spend a painstaking amount of time photographing these (Michigan winters do not make for good photography), my friend/sous chef/taste tester that happened to be over at the time decided they were quite delectable. (She did agree with me on the point that they were more like cookie-shaped cakes, but was adamant about them being delicious).

Bad news: I forgot how I made them. I know the only ingredients were edamame, peanut butter, low calorie “butter” spread, eggbeaters, calorie-free maple syrup, splenda, cocoa and baking powder. I just can’t remember the proportions. Ah well, I suppose I’ll just have to be more careful next time.

The Ghosts of Christmas Present

Yes, I realize it’s no longer Christmas, but inventing entirely new recipes from scratch takes time!! And I’ve been out of practice

Anyway, enough with the excuses…

So far, we have…

Carrot Squash Pudding

Look at the pretty snowmen!

Topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edamame Cookies: Version 1 (yes, I’m serious)

Topped with a bit of splenda

Look at the moist, tender inside. This is more of a cake-y cookie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s see what today’s cooking streak holds….

A Christmas Carol: The Foodie Version

I had a whole thing planned out. Each ghost would show a tale more morbid than the last (just like the in the story), but, instead of ending happily, the lesson at the end would be that nothing changes. It was really all quite poignant. Unfortunately, it was also quite depressing (in the most existential of ways).

Fear not, though! You’re all in luck because, instead of sitting around and mourning the fact that it’s Christmas (again), I’m all alone (again), and I’m fat (again), I, in the utter OCD-ness that is me, decided to clean out my freezer. Having very little “on hand” food, I seriously considered going to the grocery store yesterday. I’ll buy some peanut butter, bananas, lettuce, hummus and then at least I’ll have SOMETHING to eat, I thought to myself. I think it was sheer laziness that stopped me but, just to make me feel better, let’s call it willpower (can’t eat if there’s no food, right?).

Of course, as we all know, not eating leads to (even more than normal) OCD-ness over food. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, yadda, yadda, I took it out on my freezer. I have to say I was a little shocked at the two ingredients I seemed in surplus of. So, here it is, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, revamped for the foodies.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

The Typically "Sweet" Ingredients

The Typically "Savory" Ingredients

 

I’m really craving cookies…so perhaps some of those?

Who is that?

More often than not these days I find myself staring into the mirror wondering who that is I see. There must be a human there somewhere: a human with real thoughts, real emotions, real dreams, a human with a modicum of talent.

As the weather gets colder, the smell of dying leaves in the wind makes me nostalgic for things I never even knew. Every time I smell it, I feel a deep emptiness for something my subconscious seems to remember, but almost quite doesn’t.

The numbers on the scale continue to grow and with each new digit I lose another part of me. Or another part of that me I want to be. Maybe it is these transitions that throw me off: the transition between seasons, the transition between two different people, the transition between hope and fear…

Perhaps the problem is simple: like the masks we all love to wear on halloween, the face in the mirror never was mine. Perhaps this is why it’s so hated. My life is one incongruence after another: medical problems without any evidence, red ant infestations in the middle of the night, and, now, a person that’s not a person-a person without a daemon.

It's a fiesta in a bowl!

Taco Salad makes one quite sizable taco salad

• 1/2 can of fat free refried beans
• 28g (1/4c) fat free shredded cheddar cheese
• A spoonful of fat free greek yogurt
• 1/4c. salsa
• 1c. frozen 3 pepper and onion blend (optional)
• shredded lettuce and chopped tomato
• ground veggie beef (optional)

→Spray a small nonstick pan with nonstick spray. Add frozen pepper and onion blend. Saute a few minutes until browned. Toss the beans in the microwave. Once they’re heated to your liking, top with the shredded lettuce, sauteed peppers, chopped tomato, and shredded cheese. Finish off with the salsa and a dollop of greek yogurt.
Enjoy.

Note: without the veggie beef, this recipe comes out to about 275 calories for the entire thing. That is, of course, dependent on the brands you choose to use.

Veggie…Stuff

Did you know the police can ticket you for being one inch out of a metered parking space? I had to go downtown today for an interview and this meant that I also had to park along the street.

Now, since I don’t really DO parallel parking (I’m barely coordinated enough to do regular parking!), I drove around looking for a spot where I wouldn’t have to parallel park (i.e. the last/first spot in a row). I found one and, apparently, made the grave mistake of going up a WHOLE inch over the lines that mark a space. A WHOLE INCH.

Yes, that’s really worth a $15.00 fine.

How sad is it that we pay taxes so police officers can spend all day driving around giving us tickets for being a little out of a parking space. They have people whose SOLE job it is to do that.
I feel so bad for them.

Anyway, in other news, I did actually decide to get off of my butt this past weekend and cook something. I don’t really know what to call it but, after that hummus fiasco last week, something with no name that tastes good is probably a lot better than something with a name that I had to throw away.

I went out and bought all these vegetables (basically every vegetable Kroger had) and was standing at the checkout thinking, Am I crazy? I haven’t even cooked anything in weeks–what am I going to do with all of these! I came home, cut everything up into chunks, picked out my favorite spices (lemon, garlic and, ummm, some other stuff I randomly threw in), and put it all in a pan. Just for good measure, I threw in some chickpeas as well. Gotta have protein, right?

I don’t really know what I was hoping to make. I do know it wasn’t a stew. Stews bother me a little because if you eat them with a spoon, you have trouble getting the veggie chunks and, if you eat them with a fork, the juice with all the yumminess ends up in the dish. It wasn’t a stir-fry either because, when I think “stir-fry,” I think of something that has crisp veggies and I really wasn’t in the mood for that.

Basically, after half an hour, I ended up with something that can only be termed “glop”. But, seeing as how “glop” isn’t really something I can imagine anyone wanting to eat, I’m going to have to think of a different name. Mush? Thick Stewy Veggies? Veggie Palooza?

I don’t really know what a “palooza” is or if it’s even a word but, hey, why not?

Veggie Stuff (w/falafel)

Veggie Palooza

• garlic (fresh, minced, frozen, whatever)
• lemon juice
• frozen 3 pepper and onion blend
• sliced mushrooms
• eggplant
• chickpeas, canned
• chopped tomatoes (or diced in a can)
• cumin, cinnamon and salt

→Lightly saute the garlic and onion/pepper blend (I used Pam for this). Chop the eggplant into chunks and add it to the pan. Stir until eggplant is starting to get mushy. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas (make sure to drain them first). Add lemon juice and other spices to taste. Feel good that you’re eating so many veggies.