Whole Wheat Naan

I wanted naan to go with the Dal Indian Stew/Black Lentil Stew I was making. Since I am on a whole food plant based diet, I wanted a recipe that didn't use white flour or refined sugar. I found this recipe from www.cheekykitchen.com. They turned out fantastic, and really pretty thanks to the griddle pan that I have. I have decided that naan is to be a regular staple in my diet. A double batch should be sufficient for one batch of the stew.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 tsp of yeast (yeast does not need to be doubled if the recipe is doubled)
• 1.5 cups warm water
• 1.5-2 tbs maple syrup (I used about 2 tbs in a double batch)
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

Directions:
Mix the first three ingredients in a large bowl and let sit for about 5 minutes. Add the salt and the flour. Stir until combined. Add more flour if necessary and lightly knead until a ball forms. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (30 minutes to an hour). Once the dough has risen, deflate and form the dough into dough the size of one or two golf balls (I used larger size dough balls to fit my larger griddle pan). Flour your surface if necessary and roll the balls with a rolling pin until about 1/4 of an inch thick- mine looked like rectangles with rounded edges. If you can get them thinner than that, I think that would be good too. The naan I have had in Indian restaurants is usually pretty thin. Heat a non-stick pan to medium or medium high heat and place the sheet of dough on the pan. The dough will begin to bubble. Flip over with a spatula or tongs after about a minute and cook for a minute more (I had a better time with the spatula, mine wanted to tear with the tongs). There should be some nice grill marks if you used a griddle pan or some dark spots if you used a regular pan. Do not squish the bread while it is cooking. Serve with Indian food or hummus. I thought about using these to make naan pizza or paninis as well.

Dal Stew/Black Lentil Stew

I was at an international market the other day and saw a bean I have never seen before. It was only $1.69 for a 2 pound bag, so I decided I would buy it and if they weren't good it's not like it would be a huge loss. They were matpe beans, aka black lentils. They look like super mini black beans and are packed with protein, calcium, fiber and several other good things. Since I am currently on a whole food plant based diet, they looked to be nutrient dense winners to me. When I got home I Googled "matpe bean recipes" and only a few Indian stew recipes came up. There was this Lentil Stew recipe from Cookstr and this Punjabi Dal Makhani from food.com. Both were similar and different at the same time. I couldn't decide on which one to make, so I came up with my own combination of things. The end result was super delicious and I served it with brown rice and homemade whole wheat naan.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup dried matpe beans, soaked overnight
• 1/2 cup dried kidney beans, soaked overnight
• 1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp garam masala (I made my own, but I do not have the spice combo readily available)
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 6 tsp ground fresh ginger root
• 32- 40 ounces water/broth
• 1 15 ounce can coconut milk (not coconut drink)
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except for coconut milk and cilantro in a crock pot or pan. Cook for about 8 hours or until the beans are tender and the stew has thickened in a crock pot. Add coconut milk at about hour 7 and add the cilantro right before serving. If cooking on a stove, bring to a boil and then cook over medium heat until the beans are tender. This may take 2-3 hours, and additional liquid may need to be added during cooking. Add the coconut milk about 30 minutes to an hour before it is ready and the cilantro right before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with brown rice or naan or both.

Tofu Sour Cream

I looked up several vegan sour cream recipes and they were all very similar. These are the proportions I ended up using in the end, I think. As I've mentioned before I'm not much for measuring, except for when it comes to baked goods and then I'm all about using a scale. I made this today to go with some vegan/vegetarian chili and vegetarian cornbread (check out The Post Punk Kitchen web site and the corn bread recipe- I used honey nulling the vegan aspect, white whole wheat instead of AP flour and tossed in some frozen corn. It turned out great). I think I used a little too much vinegar this time, solely based on the reaction of my brother when he tasted the sour cream, but it was still edible. Feel free to add or subtract ingredients when making a recipe. Cooking is about experimentation.

Ingredients:
1 package mori-nu silken tofu
1 tablespoon canola oil, or another lightly flavored oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice (or just the juice of one small lemon)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Blend all ingredients until super smooth in a blender or food processor. Refrigerate for at least an hour before using.

Hemp Milk

Yay! I just made hemp milk. It was super easy, and is much cheaper than the quart size containers at the store ($4.50 US). I think this cost about $1.92 for around a quart (I paid around $29.00 US for a 3 pound bag of Nutiva Hemp Seeds). Still not cheap, but much less expensive and better for me since there was nothing added. Some recipes call for sweetener, but I don't like sweet milk, and buy all milks from the store in their unsweetened versions. Although, I do think that vanilla flavored milks are acceptable in some cases. Which leads me to the point- making your own non-dairy milk is the best choice. 100% customizable to suit your personal taste(s)! If you like your milk sweet, go ahead and add some agave or maple syrup. My plan is to make some chocolate hemp milk. I'll be sure to post how that goes.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup hemp seeds
3-4 cups filtered water (or more if you desire a lower fat version, but remember that waters down the nutrients, so you're just going to have to consume more in the end)
1 pinch of salt

Directions:
Blend in your high powered blender for about 90 seconds. Store in a glass container in the refrigerator and use within 3-5 days. Shake well before using because settling will occur. Some people use nut milk bags or cheese cloth to filter the milk, but if I'm paying that much for hemp seeds I want to consume them in their entirety (and of course benefit from all the nutrients and fiber as well)!

Additions:
Agave
Maple Syrup
Chocolate
Vanilla
Cinnamon/nutmeg/vanilla (kind of like horchata?)