Tag Archives: cayenne pepper

Lahmucan (Turkish Pizza)

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Ingredients:lahmucan
3 Eggplants, roasted
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon tamari (or light soy sauce)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon kirmizi biber, or combination sweet paprika and cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Dough
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon agave nectar (or other sweetener)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup spelt flour
1 yeast packet

Directions:
Rinse and dry each eggplant and slice them in half. Score each half in a diamond, cross-hatch pattern. Place all 6 halves on wire roasting rack. Heat oven to 400 degrees and cook for 40 minutes.

While the oven is heating up combine all ingredients in order, in a mixing bowl. Using a mixer on a low setting mix dough until it forms a ball. Cover and set dough aside for 40 minutes while the eggplant roasts.

Let the eggplant cool for about 10 minutes. Add the onion and red pepper along with some water, curry powder and tamari and saute for about 10 minutes. Once the eggplant has cool scoop the inside and place in a food processor along with the tomato paste and kirmizi biber. Puree until ingredients are combined. Add the sauteed onion, red pepper and parsley and pulse to break down. The vegetables shouldn’t be completely broken down, but have some minor chucks.

Once the dough as risen, roll it out and divide into 4 separate pieces. With a rolling pin, roll out each piece of dough to resemble a single serving pizza. Top each piece of dough with the eggplant mixture. Cook each Lahmucan for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Serving Size: 4

Nutritional Facts: 1 Lahmucan
Calories: 463
Total Fat: 2.4 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 588.9 mg
Potassium: 1287.8 mg
Total Carbs: 91.8 g
Protein: 16.5 g

Notes: This was also the second time I made Lahmucan, the first time time from Vegan Magic, which I think lacked flavor. I continued reading other sites and saw a pureed eggplant mixture using assorted spices. Not sure the tamari was needed when sauteing the onion and red pepper. If you are not a curry fan, you could probably do without the powder and not lose much flavor.

You can adjust the amounts of flours to your liking. I do want to try spelt and besan. Lahmucan can be eaten folded up, but with the dough recipe above it was not very pliable and the dough ended up tearing as I ate away.

Source: I pulled this recipe together referencing a few different website including Vegan Magic and Food Network. In the ended I combined what I read into my own recipe.

Potacos (Potato Tacos)

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Ingredients:Potacos or Potato tacos
4 Russet potatoes, cubed
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
corn tortillas (I used store brand from Mi Pueblo)
shredded lettuce or cabbage
pico de Gallo
chipotle nayonaise

Directions:
In a small bowl mix the whole wheat flour and spices together and set aside. Peel the Russet potatoes and chop into small, bite size pieces. Drop chopped potatoes in a pan of cold water. Boil the potatoes for 5-7 minutes, remove from stove and drain water. Add the potatoes back to the pain and shake the dry mix over the potatoes. Cover the pan and shack to coat the potatoes with the dry mixture.

Heat the over to 450 degrees. Place the potato pieces on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake potato pieces for 35 minutes. At 17-18 minutes using a spatula oven the oven and turn the potatoes pieces to get a nice even browning.

Take 2 corn tortillas and gently fold them and place them in your toaster (not toaster oven) and push the toaster down. When the time is up, you will have quick and simple taco shells. Fill shells with lettuce or cabbage, drip chipotle nayonaise, added potato chunks and top with fresh pico de Gallo.

Serving Size: 12 tacos

Nutritional Facts: (1 corn tortilla with potato filling)
Calories: 104.3
Total Fat: 1.6 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 54.5 mg
Potassium: 222.9 mg
Total Carbs: 23.1 g
Protein: 2.3 g

Notes: You could simplify this recipe by substituting 1 tablespoon of taco season, instead of mixing your own, but this will add a bit of sodium to the recipe. The potatoes were actually a tater tot recipe from Fifteen Spatulas (see link below), adapted to be spiced up and served as taco filling. I am still working on a oil free version of a chipotle nayonaise. The store bought brands all contain oil in their adobo sauce. Recipe will be posted as soon.

You can also substitute 4 cups of hashed brown potatoes for the Russet potatoes. This saves a bit of time. If you do this, then use 1 tablespoon of whole wheat flour (not 2 TBSP) and mix with your taco seasoning. I also reduced the temperature to 350 for 15 minutes, as these are smaller potato chunks. I think these work better than the larger chucks, but both are tasty.

Source: Fifteen Spatulas

Lentil Tacos

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Ingredients:Lentil Tacos
1 cup lentils, uncooked
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 green pepper
2 1/4 cups vegetable broth
4 teaspoons minced onion (dried)
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 Teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:
In a pan saute the onion, garlic and green pepper unlike soft and onions translucent. In a mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients and mix. Once the onions are done, add the dry mix and lentils. Once the mixture is combined add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 30 minutes. When the lentils are done cooking transfer the mixture to a food processor and pulse a few times.

Serve in corn tortillas with lettuce (or cabbage), pico de Gallo or your favorite toppings. I made some low fat vegan nacho cheese (from Happy Herbivore) as well as a chipotle nayonaise sauce.

Serving Size: 12 – 1/4 cup servings

Nutritional Facts: (mixture only)
Calories: 26.8
Total Fat: 0.1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 130 mg
Potassium: 89.7 mg
Total Carbs: 5.7 g
Protein: 1.6 g

Notes: This was the first time I made lentil tacos, but not the first time cooking an eating lentils. After some discussion with other cooks and individuals who eat a plant based diet, this was the recipe I came up with. Looking back on the recipe, it was recommended to use mushrooms and/or salsa in the mix.

Source: Varies individuals from the Dr. McDougall Discussion Board.

Tofu Tikka Masala

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INGREDIENTS:
Marinade
1 block of tofu
Juice of ½ lemon
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp garam masala
1 clove of garlic crushed
½” piece of ginger crushed
Salt and pepper to season

Gravy
1 medium onion preferably red, chopped
½ a can of crushed tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 inch piece of ginger minced
1 small stick cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala
½ cup almond milk (plain)
2 tbsp almond butter (optional)
Lemon juice to make the gravy tart
Salt and pepper (if necessary)

DIRECTIONS:
Drain tofu and chop into squares. Combine spices and lemon juice in a bowl. Add tofu, stir around and let marinate. I let it sit for about 20 minutes and warmed the oven to 350. Transfer the tofu to a cooking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Move them around after about 15 minutes. Remove and let cool.

In a skillet, heat water. Next add the whole spices and warm for a few minutes. I made it a bit more than paste by adding a bit more water. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and cook till the onions are translucent.

Next, add the crushed tomatoes. Cooking the tomatoes is the KEY step in this gravy. If the tomatoes stay undercooked, the taste of the final product will suffer. So how do you know, well add the tomatoes and the spices and cook till you see the edges of the tomatoes separating from the pan (never saw this with my tomatoes).

Next add the almond butter, ½ cup of water and almond milk. Mix and let it come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, add lemon juice and season to taste. Finally add the tofu and let it go for another 5 minutes, so that the tofu can soak the liquid and spices.

NOTES: I omitted ALL of the olive oil, it wasn’t needed to saute the onion and didn’t want to load the dish with unnecessary fat. I might use the juice of 1 lemon for the marinade since I omitted the olive oil. All the tofu was well coated when it went into the oven.

I also wish I had used some more crushed tomatoes in the recipe, possibly a 1/4 cup more would have made for a more consistent gravy.

SOURCE: The Healthy Diary

Baked Falafel

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Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups chickpeas
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon tahini
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper
5 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop the onion and cilantro. Add all ingredients except the cilantro and parsley into a food processor until mixed. Transfer mix to a bowl and add the cilantro and parsley. Roll mixture into 1 1/2″ balls or 2″ patties about 1/2″ think. Place onto baking pan covered with parchment paper.

Bake for 12 minutes on each side, until nicely browned (since it’s baked, only the part actually touching the pan will be browned and crispy).

Serve in pita pockets, with hummus, tahini sauce, tomatoes, lettuce and/or cucumber.

Serving Size: 16-20 balls/patties (depending on size)

Nutritional Facts:
Calories: 61
Total Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 147 mg
Potassium: 91 mg
Total Carbs: 11 mg
Protein: 2 g

Notes: I have changed this recipe a few times now, using the link below as the base. I have used a small onion and I have used dried, minced onion. The difference being when I added the small, chopped onion to the food processor it did require more whole wheat flour since there was a fair amount of liquid in the onion.

I have also soaked and cooked dry chickpeas and used canned, both yield similar results. I prefer the cooking my own chickpeas, to reduce the sodium level, even after I rinse and drained the canned chickpeas. This does some advance planning, I usually soak the chickpeas for 6-8 hours and then boil them for about 75-90 minutes.

Source: Chow Vegan