Spiced Teff Cakes with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

With my latest forays into Ethiopian cooking, I've emerge as involved again in revisiting teff for the first time in lots of years.

Teff has been the staple grain of Ethiopian cooking for thousands of years but is relatively unknown to the rest of the world except through the sourdoughed teff flour flat bread called "injera" that is served in every Ethiopian restaurant. But it is available in larger grocers and in health food stores from brands such as Bob's Red Mill. And its obscurity certainly doesn't hide its unique qualities. So very tiny that its name actually translates as "lost", it has a rich brown color and a much more robust earthy and nutty flavor than any other grain. And it's a nutritional gluten-free powerhouse of protein, calcium, iron and fiber.

Teff has a thick, chewy and gritty polenta-like consistency while cooked up and makes for a exclusive ? And wholesome ? Breakfast porridge. But on the dinner table, its strong flavor makes it less a platform for seasonings and vegetables than other grains and greater of the starring flavor. So teff is a really perfect vehicle for making savory desserts like the sort I like a lot. Combined with Ethiopian spices, chilies, sun-dried tomatoes and a uncooked cashew paste, this thick cooked grain molds into burger-size patties that can be baked or fried for a bold tasting side dish that could just flip out as a substitute to hog the spotlight on your dinner desk.

Other patties and burgers to experience from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:

Potato Patties Stuffed with Spiced Green Peas (Aloo Matar Tikki)

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Patties with Avocado and Tomato Salsa

Chickpea Patties Smothered in Vegetable Gravy

Nigerian Black-Eyed Pea Patties with Pilipili Sauce

On the top of the studying stack: The Chickpea Flour Cookbook: Healthy Gluten-Free and Grain-Free Recipes to Power Every Meal of the Day

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas with Avocado Cream Sauce

Much like famous Italian baked pasta dishes including cannelloni or lasagna, this vegan Mexican baked tortilla dish is splendidly rich despite the whole absence of meat and dairy. There is handiest one disadvantage to this meal ? It is so absurdly delicious and wholesome that it affords a mission to the cook to give you some thing that has as plenty aptitude and finesse for the next dinner. Thankfully there have been leftovers.

Honestly, these need to be the best enchiladas I actually have ever made and enjoyed. If you fancy meat or cheesy dishes, you might not omit either right here despite the fact that these are absolutely vegan. And pretty filling too. A spiced filling of black beans, sweet potato, brown rice, spinach and black olives are wrapped in corn tortillas and baked in a thick, wealthy and zesty homemade tomato sauce. Topped with a colorful creamy avocado and cilantro cream sauce with sparkling lime juice this is drizzled on just earlier than serving, that is a whole meal. Everything you want to nourish is protected and these enchiladas are an excellent choice in case you appear to be pleasing guests.

The enchilada sauce can be made the day before and the sweet potato roasted ahead of time as properly in order that the whole lot comes together readily while it is time to prepare dinner.

Other Mexican-fashion dishes to revel in from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:

Cornmeal-Crusted Kidney Bean and Black Bean Chili

Refried Beans with Pumpkin

Mexican-Style Mung Bean Tostadas

Pinto Bean and Avocado Burritos

Essentially Raw Pumpkin Bites

Every autumn whilst pumpkins are in season, I ensure to make some journeys to buy some small pie pumpkins and roast them so I even have pumpkin pur?E all yr long. I preserve 1 cup quantities inside the freezer in small sealed bags that I can genuinely thaw before I need to use pur?E in a recipe. The small pie pumpkins have a sweeter flavor and keep less moisture than huge pumpkins which can be sincerely more for decorative functions around Halloween than for cooking or baking. And recollect to reap those pumpkin seeds ? When roasted they are a remarkable salty but wholesome treat.

And as regards to treats, as pumpkin occurs to be in abundance, a truthful amount of it is used in my kitchen even earlier than freezing it. Healthy treats containing nuts and dried fruit are pretty a great deal a staple in my kitchen and here I've topped a chocolaty base of evidently candy dates and prunes with a topping of protein rich cashews, pumpkin pur?E, a small amount of maple syrup and aromatic spicing. These squares are exceedingly reminiscent of a layer cake or an upside down cheesecake because the top layer has the crunch while the lowest layer is moister with that melt-in-your-mouth detail. No baking is required both, simply a piece of endurance with the meals processor.

Other vegan treats to strive from Lisa's Kitchen:

Raw Peanut Butter Chocolate Nut Squares

Raw Peanut Butter Cocoa Maple Squares

Mini Tahini Cups with a Creamy Coffee Date Filling

No-Bake Coconut Oil Fudge

On the top of the reading stack: The Chickpea Flour Cookbook: Healthy Gluten-Free and Grain-Free Recipes to Power Every Meal of the Day

Baked Mini Vegetable Chickpea Samosas

I've added many diners to Indian food and I've usually observed that one of the nice approaches to initiate those surprising with Indian cuisine is to provide up some appetizers.

Of all Indian appetizers, samosas are possibly the most popular. Fried savory pastries stuffed with a spicy vegetable filling, or sometimes a meat filling, samosas may be determined at the menu in every North Indian eating place. A aggregate of potatoes, cauliflower, carrots or green peas is regularly the fave choice for the filling. Typically served as an appetizer in conjunction with coriander or tamarind chutneys, samosas also can make for a great small entr?E.

It's surely been pretty a number of years in view that I've long past to the trouble of making selfmade samosas, but I desired to indulge one in all my frequent cravings for Indian appetizers with a baked version. I admit to enjoying many eating place samosas, however I'm much less willing to want to devour greasy foods than I was once. I'm also much less willing to eat big portions before dinner too, and a number of the eating place samosas are a chunk more samosa than I need before dinner. I'm partial to little bites ? They're a exceptional manner to serve an appetizer without stuffing your diners before the primary entr?E.

So arising with baked mini samosas become just the manner to fulfill both my appetite and my interest in experimenting within the kitchen. I don't forget potatoes and inexperienced peas to be the traditional vegetable ingredients for a samosa stuffing, but I stuffed out this aggregate with a few diced carrot and plump tender chickpeas further to the Indian spices. Served with a conventional eating place-fashion tamarind chutney, those had been a large hit.

These did take some time to make, I admit. The filling is a snap and the dough is simple to work with, however it's a chunk of a fussy method to form the samosas. But the method will become quicker with a little practice, and by means of the cease of the batch the samosa were flying on to the baking sheet. The effort turned into really worth every bite.

Variations on a theme:

Indian-Style Samosa Potpie

Vegetarian Samosa Cakes with Tamarind Chutney

Samosa-Style Stuffed Baked Potatoes

On the pinnacle of the studying stack: Food52 Vegan: 60 Vegetable-Driven Recipes for Any Kitchen

Kidney Bean Pumpkin Chili

When it's miles bloodless outside, there's nothing higher than a spicy chili to warm up and nourish a soul. It also happens to be pumpkin season and I constantly make sure I actually have a few fresh ones available whilst they're available to roast and enjoy. Not best are the seeds a delicious autumn deal with when roasted in the oven, I bag some of the pur?E and freeze it in order that I have a few handy for the the rest of the yr. And I've nonetheless were given a few more small pie length pumpkins ready around for my attention due to the fact sparkling roasted pumpkin is continually tastier than canned pur?E.

Before sending most of the pumpkin pur?E to the freezer for another day, I used some in a pumpkin chili with plump pink kidney beans, succulent mushrooms and tangy tomatoes, all completed off with a piece of lime juice and a dash of balsamic vinegar. Simple, however colourful, warming and hearty, the pumpkin sincerely provides a depth of taste to the chili making it wealthy and scrumptious.

Other chili recipes to enjoy from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:

Vegetarian Chili with Kidney Beans, Black Beans and Rye Berries

Vegetarian Three Bean Chili with a Cashew-Pistachio Sauce

Black Bean and Quinoa Chili Casserole

Spicy Portobello Mushroom Chili

Raw Cocoa Gingerbread Brownies

The reputation of uncooked treats in recent times would not simply owe to the wholesome nourishment supplied through uncooked healthy ingredients or to the simplicity of creating candies without having to prepare dinner. The fact is that uncooked treats are every bit as delicious ? Or even more so ? Than the baked delights we grew up with. It's quite extraordinary what you can do without flour, eggs, milk or a stove or oven.

Take these uncooked cocoa muffins as an example ? So wealthy, fudgy and appealing that no one could ever bet that they didn't come out of a bakery. Or that they're filled with protein and fiber. These no-cook tarts with warming highly spiced undertones of clean ginger and cinnamon topped with a candy maple syrup and nutty pecan smothering of goodness are each bit as decadent tasting as sugar-weighted down treats from a bakery, but without the guilt.

Still they are very rich, and simply one square will suffice most diners even though the urge to eat more than one may be difficult to withstand!

Note: Coconut butter is a easy spread made from the flesh of coconuts, thicker and greater coconut-tasting than coconut oil. You could make it yourself at home if you have the time and endurance, however it's miles readily to be had in natural meals shops and large grocers where you may find it beneath the name of coconut manna.

Other raw treats to experience from Lisa's Kitchen:

Raw Avocado Coconut Nanaimo Bars

Raw Peanut Butter Truffles

Raw Peanut Butter Cocoa Maple Squares

Raw Peanut Butter Fudge

Khara Bread (Indian Spiced Bakery-Style Bread)

There is not anything quite like the irresistible aroma of sparkling baked bread, particularly for the duration of the chillier months because the kitchen gets all warm and toasty too. For hours, my whole space became packed with the heavenly fragrance from this spiced bread. I may want to hardly ever wait for it to calm down earlier than I become able to slice it and experience. If you are seeking out an urge for food stimulant, you can not do a great deal higher than selfmade bread.

I don't usually make yeast breads. Generally I prefer to make brief breads that require little kneading. At the same time, I even have fond memories of my mother's selfmade white bread that rose to large heights. It turned into a unique childhood deal with. Armed with that reminiscence, and stimulated via a traditional bakery bread from Bangalore, I become curious and ambitious enough to strive my own version. There are a plethora of recipes for this spiced and herbed bread and it took some time for me to draft a recipe. Never having been to India, or fortunate enough to know someone who makes this bread, I ought to best imagine the flavors based totally on my enjoy with Indian delicacies. Usually I am extra a cook dinner than a baker, however I do experience baking and I turned into as much as the venture of patience because yeast breads usually require lots of kneading and resting time.

Considering this bread changed into really devoured in little time at all through my husband and exceptional friend Basil, I could say it turned into a quite successful attempt. With the exception of a few air bubbles close to the pinnacle of the loaf, the texture was tender and chewy with a delightful browned crust. The spices and herbs brought a whole new depth to my enjoy with yeast breads. It's delicious served warm with a pat of butter, however keeps properly for an afternoon or . With just a hint of warmth, the cumin, onion and chilies are well balanced by the herbs.

Other breads you could experience from my kitchen:

Kalamata Olive Bread with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Irish Soda Bread

Chocolate Quinoa Ricotta Bread

Jalape?O Spoon Bread