Tag: vegan recipes

Lemon millet

Empower yourself! Free yourself from meat dependency by switching to a diverse, plant-based diet. I propose here another quick and delicious recipe based on millet.

Sustainability tips:

Millet is a sustainable crop that is resilient to drought and climate stress. It is therefore considered a staple of sustainable agriculture. I suggest to buy organic millet that can be purchased in bulk at a relatively low cost. Millet is an important food in the Ayurvedic tradition where is celebrated for its nutrient contents and recommended for weight management. Another advantage of millet is that it can be prepared fairly quickly and used in a variety of dishes. In this recipe we use foxtail millet.

Useful things to have ready
  • For rinsing and draining the raw and cooked millet it is useful to have a fine mesh strainer.
  • It is a good practice to rinse the millet a few times, until the water is clear, and soak it 1 or 2 hours before using it. Soaking is not strictly necessary, but it helps improve the taste.
  • The spices suggested here are optional and can be replaced with something else, depending on personal preferences. Even just some olive oil, roasted garlic, and lemon will do!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (3-4 people)

  • 1 cup of dry millet
  • 1-2 garlic cloves
  • 2-3 curry leaves or bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
  • 1 green chili (optional)
  • Red crushed chili pepper (optional)
  • Peanuts (optional)
  • Salt
  • One table spoon of olive oil or other vegetable oil
  • Lemon
Raw millet

Procedure

  • After soaking and rinsing the millet, place it in a pot with water and little salt
  • Bring the water to a boil and cook the millet until soft (about 10 minutes)
  • Skim the foam that builds up while the millet is cooking to improve taste
  • Drain the cooked millet with a fine mesh strainer and cool it by rinsing it with cold water
  • In a pan heat the oil
  • Add cumin, mustard seeds, and red chilies
  • Add curry leaves, green chilies and garlic cloves
  • Sautee on low flame until garlic is lightly roasted
Add spices to a pan
  • Add millet and sautee for a few minutes
  • Turn off the heat and squeeze some fresh lemon on top
  • You can add some peanuts or other garnish if desired
Ready!

Enjoy!

Green split peas soup

Empower yourself! Free yourself from meat dependency by switching to a diverse, plant-based diet. This soup is one of my favorites, super easy to make, creamy and delicious it works as lunch or dinner. Only few ingredients are necessary.

Sustainability tips:

Green split peas, the main ingredient for this recipe, are a sustainable crop that is also low in calories, healthy and nutritious. Split peas are easily available in all grocery stores and can also be bought in bulk for a convenient price.

Useful things to have ready
  • I suggest to rinse and soak the green peas for about 6-8 hours before boiling, however is not required. Once soaked, green peas can be kept in the refrigerator for a day or two before cooking. As with all legumes, a pressure cooker greatly reduces the cooking time. If you don’t have a pressure cooker you can use a regular pot, nothing changes, it just takes longer.
  • You may peel the tomatoes especially if they are not organic.
Green peas rinsed and soaked, ready to be cooked

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients (3-4 people)

  • 2-3 fistful of dry green split peas per person
  • Half onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 tomato peeled and chopped (you can substitute this with 1 or 2 peeled tomatoes from a can or 2 spoons of tomato sauce)
  • 1 small potato (optional)
  • Red crushed chili pepper (optional)
  • Black pepper
  • Salt
  • One table spoon of olive oil or other vegetable oil

Procedure

  • Drain and rinse the soaked green peas
  • In the pressure cooker add the oil. When the oil is hot add onions
  • Sautee the onions for a few minutes until golden
  • Add red chili pepper
  • Add carrots and potatoes (optional) and sautee for a few minutes on medium heat
  • Add tomatoes and a spoon of tomato sauce (optional)
Sautee onions until golden
Add all other ingredients and cook for a few minutes

  • Add split peas
Add split peas
  • Add enough water to cover
  • Pressure cook for about 10-15 minutes depending on cooker
  • Once cooked make sure the soup has a creamy consistency, add salt and black pepper
Let the soup cool off for a few minutes

Enjoy!

Yellow lentils with spinach (dal palak)

Sustainability tips:

This recipe requires a few ingredients such as yellow lentils (toor dal), garam masala, and hing that can be found in Indian grocery stores. Yellow lentils can also be found at regular grocery stores depending on where you live. Hing (asafoetida) and garam masala can be skipped if they are not available where you live and replaced with available spices. You can adjust the ingredients to suit your taste. Spinach usually require a lot of pesticides, choosing organic spinach helps reducing the use of pesticides in agriculture. It is also better to avoid produce packaged in plastic bags.

I’ll be happy to send you entirely upcycled produce and grocery bags. Check them out here and let me know if you need any.

Useful things to have ready
  • I suggest to rinse and soak the yellow lentil for about 8 hours before boiling, however is not required. After soaking them they can be kept in the refrigerator for a day or two before cooking.
  • Washed and chopped spinach (click here to see how to wash fresh spinach)

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients (3-4 people)

  • Yellow lentils (toor dal, 1 fistful/person + 1 more)
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (optional)
  • Ginger (fresh or powder)
  • 1 green chili (optional)
  • red chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida-hing (optional)
  • One bunch of spinach or half bag of frozen spinach
  • Salt
  • One table spoon of vegetable oil

Procedure

  1. Drain and rinse the lentils
  2. Boil for 15-20 minute in little water, just enough to cover them
  3. Chop the spinach
  4. Smash the garlic clove
  5. In a wok heat the oil
  6. When the oil is hot add the cumin seeds
  7. Add red chili powder, ginger, garlic, green chili, hing
  • Add spinach and cook for 5 minutes
  • Add garam masala and turmeric powder
  • Add yellow lentils with some of the water
  • Add salt
  • Simmer for 10 minutes until it reaches desired consistency

This is usually accompanied to rice (white or brown), or whole wheat bread