Cheap, yummy and healthy

Here's a simple dish you can put together for just a few bucks. Be sure to take a gander at the rather impressive nutrition information I'm posting after the recipe!


Cauliflower Lentil Curry with Tomato-Cilantro Chutney
Makes 8 servings

1 1/2 cups lentils
3 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds cauliflower florets, chopped into bite size and smaller pieces
2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP coriander
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cups chopped cilantro

Rinse and drain lentils. Boil vegetable broth in a medium pan, then add lentils. Return to boil, cover, turn down heat and simmer until lentils are tender, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, saute the onion in the olive oil until tender and beginning to brown, then add spices and stir until fragrant, 1 minute or so. Add cauliflower and cook for a minute or two, then add a splash of water and cover to let steam until cauliflower is tender, not more than 3 minutes or so. Remove from heat, stir in lentils. In a small bowl stir together tomatoes and cilantro. Serve lentils with a small dallop of tomato-cilantro chutney.

200 calories per serving, 80% of your vitamin C RDA, 60% fiber RDA, 20% iron RDA, 10% vitamin A RDA, 4 grams of fat (all unsaturated) and 13 grams of protein

Broken Arm Bread

This bread owes it's name to the event that led to its inception. My daughter broke her arm falling off the monkey bars, and being confined to the house nursing her I had time to come up with new recipes. As always, simple is best. I used the herbs I had on hand in my garden, and I imagine this bread would be good with any number of herb combinations.

Broken Arm Bread

2 cups luke warm water
1 TBSP active dry yeast
1 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
fresh herbs by the handful - I used a generous handful each of basil, rosemary, dill, parsley and sage, but use what you have on hand. Pulse in a food processor or mince by hand.
12-20 pitted kalamata olives (depending on how olive-y you want the bread to taste), chopped
4 TBSP wheat gluten (optional)
4-5 cups whole wheat flour

Dissolve yeast in water in a large bowl. Whisk in salt, olive oil, herbs, olives and gluten. Add 3 cups of flour and stir with a spoon until a wet dough forms. Sprinkle 1/2 cup flour on kneading surface and turn dough out of bowl onto floured surface. Sprinkle 1/2 cup flour on top of dough and knead until flour is absorbed. Add more flour if/as needed until dough stops sticking to kneading surface. Your total flour should be somewhere between 4 and 5 cups. Place dough ball in oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Place in a warm spot and let rise for about an hour, until it's doubled in size and doesn't spring back when indented. Punch down and knead a few times, then form into a round loaf and place on a baking stone or inverted cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Place in oven and allow to rise another hour or so, then turn oven on to 375 and bake for 1 hour. Serve with butter or olive oil for dipping, or use for savory sandwiches!

Veggie Bean Burgers

I was happy with how these turned out. This recipe makes a lot of burgers, so you'll have leftovers for lunch the next day.

1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can black beans, drained
1 can navy beans, drained
1 TBSP ground coriander
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2-3 TBSP hummus
1 cup rolled oats
4 - 6 slices day old bread, pulsed in food processor to crumbs

Sautee onion through garlic until softened. Add onion mixture to food processor with beans, coriander, yeast, hummus, oats and half the bread crumbs. Pulse until well mixed. Place the rest of the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Form bean mixture into patties, dredge in bread crumbs and brown in a pan coated with cooking spray or a light coating of olive oil. Serve as you would any other burger. Makes 8-10 burgers.

Mediterranean Vegetable Bean Stew

I didn't know what to make for dinner tonight so I gathered up what I had lying around: carrots, leeks, red bells, canned canellini beans, artichoke hearts and tomatoes, and zucchini. Add a little garlic and Greek herb mix and voila!

Mediterranean Vegetable Bean Stew!
Olive oil
3 large or 6 small leeks, chopped and rinsed well
3-4 carrots, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 zucchini, diced
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans canellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes with liquid
1 T Greek herb mix

In large pot over medium heat, combine olive oil, leeks, carrots and red bells. Saute until softened. Add zucchini, artichoke hearts and garlic, continue cooking until lightly browned. Add beans, tomatoes and herb mix, stir, cover and simmer 10 minutes or so until cooked through. Serve with quinoa and freshly ground sea salt and pepper.

Coconut Lemongrass Soup

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 inch piece of ginger, sliced into 4-6 rounds
1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 2 inch rounds and lightly crushed with edge of knife
zest of one lime
2 cans lite coconut milk
juice of one lime
2 TBSP sugar
2 tsp roasted red chili paste (I use Thai Kitchen brand)
1 lb tofu, tilapia or chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

Place stock, ginger, lemongrass and lime zest in a large soup pot and bring to boil. Boil one minute, then add coconut milk and return to boil. Add lime juice, sugar and chili paste, then add tofu/tilapia/chicken and boil until tofu/meat is cooked through. Serve over a scoop of cooked brown rice.

Chickpeas Romesco!

This was so good I have to share it, even though I didn't make up the recipe myself. It's from Veganomicon, my current favorite cookbook.

Chickpeas Romesco

1/3 cup sliced almonds
1 28 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes
2 roasted red bell peppers (I used jarred from Trader Joe's)
olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (more if desired)
2 shallots, minced
1/4 cup white wine or vegetable broth
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste

Grind the almonds into a meal in a food processor, set aside. Next, puree the tomatoes and peppers together until smooth, set aside. Over medium heat, saute the garlic, shallots and crushed red pepper in oil until golden. Stir in the white wine and deglaze bottom of pan. Add tomato puree, vinegar, sugar, thyme and rosemary, bring to a near boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the ground almonds, then the chickpeas, and simmer another 25 minutes or so until sauce is slightly reduced. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with:

Saffron-Garlic Rice

2 cups hot vegetable broth
pinch of saffron threads
olive oil
5 cloved of garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 cup long grain brown rice
pinch of ground coriander
salt and pepper to taste

Add saffron threads to vegetable broth, let sit until ready to use. Saute the garlic and onion in the oil until golden. Add rice and stir to combine, sautee for about a minute. Pour in vegetable broth and stir in coriander, bring to a boil. Stir, then cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat a let stand a few minutes, fluff with fork. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bread, perfected.

I think I finally got my bread recipe down pat. This creates a fairly dense loaf. Don't make it if you're looking for fluffy bread. It's very tasty and toothsome though, especially toasted with butter. I don't use exact measurements of flour and additions (whole grains and flax meal), so am ball parking here on those. This recipe makes two good sized loaves, so you can freeze one for later.

Amber's Whole Wheat Bread

4 cups tepid water
2 Tbsp active dry yeast
2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
1 to 1.5 cups cooked wheat berries or barley
1 cup flaxseed meal
3-5 cups finely ground whole wheat flour

Let yeast dissolve in water in a large (very large) bowl for about 10 minutes. Then whisk in salt and gluten. Stir in cooked grains and flax meal, then start adding flour a half cup or so at a time, stirring with a spoon, until dough is too thick to stir any more. Make a mound of flour on a kneading surface, pour the dough onto the flour, and put more flour on top of dough. Start kneading with your hands, adding flour a bit at a time if needed until dough forms into a nice solid ball and doesn't stick to your hands any more. Stop adding flour now. Keep kneading for 5 or so minutes, then place dough ball in a large bowl coated with oil or cooking spray. Cover with a towel and set in a warm spot and let rise for about an hour. Roll dough out onto kneading surface, knead for a few minutes, then cut into two equal halves, form into loaves with a slit on the top and put in oiled/sprayed bread pans. Let rise for another 45 minutes to an hour. Place on middle rack in oven, turn oven on to 375 degrees. Bake at 375 for about 55 minutes.