Tag: main dishes

Vegan Za’atar Lasagna

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This recipe was inspired by a Roasted Eggplant and Za’atar Lasagna recipe posted by Lottie + Doof. Za’atar is one of my favorite new spice blends, and I’ve been looking at using it lately in a wider context of flavors. How it would blend with traditional Italian seasonings was intriguing, and I’m glad to say it’s a good match. The za’atar isn’t super prevalent in this dish, but I think the nuttiness kind of rounds out the flavors going on here and gives good balance for the fatty “cheese” and sweet veggies.

Gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, vegan

Vegan Za’atar Lasagna

1 large Italian eggplant
Fat of choice
Head of garlic (about 10 cloves)
1 small onion
1 small butternut squash
400g (about 14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
3 Tbsp. za’atar
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne
Curry powder (I used madras)
Salt & pepper
1/4 c. sliced green olives
Nutritional yeast

For the Vegan Ricotta

1 c. raw cashews
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
2 small cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. onion powder
Salt & pepper

First, set your cashews to soak in warm water. You want these to soak for at least 20 minutes.

Next, set your oven to 200C and cover a baking sheet with foil. Cut the eggplant into roughly 1 inch cubes, sprinkle with oil, salt, pepper & curry and roast 20 – 25 minutes or until browning and soft.

While the eggplant is working, dice the onion and garlic and add to a large pan over medium – medium-low heat with a couple Tablespoons fat. Saute until translucent.

Add the tomatoes, za’atar, basil, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Crush the tomatoes with your stirring spoon if they are not already crushed and cook an additional 3 – 5 minutes to marry the flavors.

When the eggplant is done, make the ricotta by blending all ingredients with enough water to make the mixture go but not get too thin.

Slice the butternut squash width-wise into 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick rounds (remove the seeds of the seeded end and cut into moons).

To assemble, cover the bottom of a baking pan with a little sauce, a layer of squash, a later of ricotta, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, and a layer of eggplant. Repeat, ending with sauce.

Bake at 180C for 20 minutes or until the squash is soft. Serve sprinkled with olives.

Southabic Summer Fridge Salad

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Southabic? What’s a Southabic?

I was craving Southern-style tomato/cucumber/onion/vinegar salad, had a bunch of local tomatoes and cucumbers, and have a lot of Arabic-style spices on hand (plus: I have a whole literal drink cup full of pomegranate arils I have to use up before they go bad) – so, this salad was born.

And it was so freaking delicious I ate it for two dinners in a row with ground beef mixed in as a protein.

gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, keto

Southabic Summer Fridge Salad

2 medium tomatoes
2 – 4 cucumbers (I used Arabic cucumbers, which are smaller than the American or English varieties, with less large seeds)
1/4 red onion
1 clove garlic
1 slack hand full dill
1 slack hand full parsley
Red chili pepper
1/4 c. sliced green olives
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Sprinkle (about 1 Tbsp.) apple cider vinegar
Salt & pepper
Madras curry (or your favorite curry, really, I just went for the most generic)
Cumin powder
Optional garnishes: chopped pistachios and pomegranate arils
Optional bulk proteins: ground beef or rotisserie chicken

To prepare the salad, chop the cucumber and tomato and add to a large bowl. Mince the onion, dill, parsley, chili and garlic and add to the bowl. Add the olives.

Drizzle the olive oil over top. Sprinkle the vinegar and spices (I’d say I used about a teaspoon of curry and half a teaspoon cumin all told), and hit with salt & pepper.

Toss to combine and stick in the fridge a couple hours to let the flavors marry.

Serves 2 for dinner when bulked up by a protein

Cauliflower Bowl with Lime Miso Sauce

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This recipe was inspired by a really timely blog post in my inbox from Simply Recipes derailing a hand full of sauces she makes when bulk cooking meals for the week. This sauce is a riff on one of those and takes a simple roasted veg & rotisserie chicken bowl and elevates it to something special.

gluten-free, keto, vegan and vegetarian with substitutions

Cauliflower Bowl with Lime Miso Sauce

Fresh or frozen cauliflower or broccoli florets
Fat of choice
Salt & pepper
Rotisserie chicken (optional)
Pomegranate arils (optional)
Pepitas (optional)

For the sauce

1/2 cup tahini
2 Tbsp white or yellow miso
1 Tbsp honey or a few drops stevia
2 tsp sriracha
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tbsp water (or more)

Roast the brassica by placing the frozen florets on a baking sheet, drizzling with fat, and sprinkling with salt and pepper. Bake 25 – 35 minutes or until as browned as you like.

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a blender and add water until you have a thick and creamy dressing.

To serve, toss the cauliflower with a hand full of shredded rotisserie chicken per person in a large pan over medium-high heat with a teaspoon of oil. Cool until heated through and beginning to caramelize. Add a couple Tablespoons sauce and toss.

To serve, top with a hand full of pomegranate arils + a slack hand pepitas.

The sauce makes enough for 2 servings

Butternut Squash Pasta with Pistachio Crumble

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For some unknown reason, a lot of vegan-related content comes up in my YouTube feed (actually, I think it’s because of the intersection between vegan and minimalist content creators – for some reason, I follow a lot of them). I recently stumbled upon this really cool creator from Saudi Arabia – Sukkari Life. She is a young woman that vlogs about culture, veganism, yoga and minimalism – and is crazy inspirational. I absolutely love how she blends local culture and tastes with standard vegan fare – and if she can go zero waste in Saudi, I can certainly quit whining about the lack of options right next door.

Check her out if you haven’t already – Sukkari Life blog and YouTube – this recipe (and my next!) were inspired by her.

gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, vegan (with omissions)

Butternut Squash Pasta with Pistachio Crumble

Inspired by Butternut Squash Pasta & Garlic Crumble by Sukkari Life

1 small butternut squash
1/2 c. water (or more)
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1/2 tsp. dry oregano
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. lime juice
1 – 2 Tbsp. fat of choice (I used a combo of ghee and olive oil)
Hand full rotisserie chicken per person (optional)
Shiritaki noodles (I eat 1 package alone – the rest of this recipe serves 2, so if you want dinner for 2 and eat like I do, grab 2 packages)

Pistachio Crumble

2 Tbsp. pistachios
2 Tbsp. pecan halves
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1/4 tsp. cumin powder
Salt & pepper
Nutritional yeast (optional)

First, slice your squash down the middle length-wise, rub with oil, salt & pepper and bake on 200C until soft (mine took about 30 minutes). Remove and let cool.

When the squash is cool, scoop about half a cup into a food processor and blend with the garlic clove, ginger powder, oregano, turmeric and lime juice. Add water until you get a sauce consistency you like. Taste. Add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Set aside.

In a large pan over high heat, dry toast your nuts. Set aside.

Knock the heat back to medium-high and add your fat of choice. Drain and rinse your noodles and add to the pan. Hit with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has evaporated and the noodles begin to smell nutty.

While the pasta is working, add the crumble ingredients to your (washed and dried) food processor and turn into a crumble. This may be even better with a little fat added, but I just made a dry crumble.

When your pasta is where you want it, add the chicken if you’re doing chicken, let go a minute or two, and add the pasta sauce. Toss well and let cook an additional minute or two to combine properly. Dust with nutritional yeast if you are using. Hit with one last pass of salt and pepper.

Plate and top with the crumble. Some nice fresh parsley may also be nice.

Serves 2 for dinner 

Note: I ate the second half of this the next day for lunch with some leftover cabbage noodles cooked in ghee with rosemary/salt/pepper/garlic powder/onion powder, ground beef cooked with garlic powder/onion powder/salt/pepper and a few cloves roasted garlic and it was even better.

Curried Cabbage with Eggs

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I was not sure this dish was going to turn out how I’d planned it to. I’m still on a Sri Lankan / curry kick, wanted to make some noodly cabbage, and thought I remembered seeing eggs with cabbage somewhere on the Internets or on a menu. Maybe. I’m glad I took a chance. This turned out fabulous.

Gluten-free, paleo, keto, vegetarian

Curried Cabbage with Eggs

1/2 small head cabbage (about 3 cups when cut into thin ribbons)
1 Tbsp. ginger garlic paste
1/2 red onion (about 1/2 cup diced)
1 Tbsp. madras curry
Pinch turmeric
1/2 tsp. chili flakes
2 – 3 Tbsp. fat of choice (I used ghee)
Juice of 1/2 lime

Cut your cabbage into ribbons and dice the onion.

Heat 2 Tbsp. fat in a large pan over medium. Add the cabbage, salt, and sautee until slightly browned – about 5 – 7 minutes.

When the cabbage is browned, push to the side and add the remaining Tablespoon fat, onion, curry powder, ginger garlic paste, turmeric and a bit more salt. Stir together and let go 1 – 2 minutes.

Stir into the cabbage and cook an additional 4 or 5 minutes or until the onions are soft and the cabbage is to your liking.

Take off the heat, sprinkle with the chili and stir. Toss with a couple cranks salt and the lime juice.

Place in a bowl and set aside while you make your eggs.

For The Eggs

2 eggs
1 Tbsp. fat of choice (I used ghee)
1 tsp. ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp. yellow mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. madras curry

Put the pan over medium-low heat. Add the fat, ginger garlic paste, mustard seeds, turmeric and curry and cook 1 – 2 minutes or until bloomed (fragrant).

Break the eggs into the pan and softly scramble until almost dry. Cut the heat.

Add on top of the cabbage and serve.

Makes 1 dinner sized serving or can stretch for 2 for lunch

Low Carb Sushi Bowl

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Sushi is something I really miss when I’m cracking down on my carbs – a bowl like this helps in times like that. You can dress this up a million different ways: sub cauli rice tossed with a splash rice vinegar for the cucumber noodles, switch out the proteins, add your favorite ingredients … the sky’s the limit, really.

Gluten-free, paleo, keto

Low Carb Sushi Bowl

Bowl

Shrimp – I had 19kg or 18 medium
1.5 tsp. ginger garlic paste
1 Tbsp. your favorite oil
1/2 avocado
2 sheets nori
1 cucumber

Sauce

2 Tbsp. mayo
1 tsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce
1 tsp. sriracha or to taste
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. ginger garlic paste

Topper

2 tsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. sesame seeds
1 tsp. furikake

First, make your base by noodling the cucumber however it is that you prepare zucchini noodles. Cucumber noodles will be a bit wetter, so you will want to put them in a colander to drain. Salt if you want and let sit to drain while you prep everything else.

In a large pan over medium heat, add the neutral oil and large portion of ginger garlic paste. let cook until fragrant. Add the shrimp and sautee until pink and cooked through – about 4 minutes total for both sides. Cut the heat and move the pan aside.

While the shrimp is cooking, make the sauce by combining all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stirring.

To assemble, split the cucumber between two bowls. Cut the nori into thin strips and divide between the bowls. Cut the avocado into bite-sized pieces and divide. Divide the shrimp and add.

Top with a drizzle of the sauce and add sprinkle with the toppers.

Serves 2 for a light dinner

Sri Lankan Style Okra Curry

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Sri Lanka. Man, was that place full of good food. Home to many cultures, religions and ethnicities including: Sinhalese, Tamils, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Chinese and Vedda; this tiny nation off the southern coast of India has a mix of flavors and influences when it comes to food (and everything, really – it’s also a former British colony, so there’s that as well).

Most of what we ended up eating (and craving) was curry, and most of those tasted like a combination of Indian (luckily only a little British-Indian) and Chinese flavors. Yuuuuuuuuuum.

Pics, btw, of the trip coming shortly-ish – DH took some great landscape HDRs and I’m waiting on him to process those. Of course, he has some Photoshop-free travel coming up — so it might be awhile. Hold, please.

Back to the food. DROOL. And there’s more Sri Lanka-inspired goodness coming in the next few weeks. CUISINE, I WILL LEARN YOUR SECRETS.

gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, keto

Sri Lankan Style Okra Curry
inspired by Sri Lankan Lady’s Fingers (aka Okra, Bandakka) by Island Smile

1 lb. or so okra (3-4 cups when cut)
4 Tbsp. fat of choice (I used half neutral oil and half ghee)
1 medium tomato
1 medium onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. ground turmeric
1/2 – 1 tsp. cayenne powder
Juice 1/2 lime
Salt

First, prep your ingredients by slicing your okra on the diagonal, and chopping the tomato, onion, and garlic.

Put your okra in a large bowl, salt liberally, and sprinkle with turmeric. Toss to combine.

Heat your largest pan over medium heat. Cover the bottom of the pan with okra (you may have to do multiple batches) and dry fry 5-7 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Set aside. (note: my okra did not kick off much of the dreaded horrorslime. If yours is, and I’ve only really gotten okra to kick slime the first time I ever tried cooking it, cook until it’s is gone. Nobody wants that – slime wins no hearts and minds).

Raise the heat to medium-high and add the fat, onion, garlic, tomato and another hit of salt. Sautee until the onions are soft and start to brown.

Add the okra back to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, another 4-5 minutes. Taste for salt. Sprinkle the cayenne over top, stir to combine, and cook an additional minute or so.

Turn the heat off and hit with some lime and more spice if desired.

Serves 2 for dinner as a main course – great combined with leftover rotisserie chicken – or 4 as a side

Quick Keto Tuna Bowl

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This meal came about because I was too lazy to go grocery shopping after coming home from vacation, and had zero fresh food (but a lemon) in the house. I think I did pretty well for myself and was super sad that I didn’t have leftovers for lunch the next day.

gluten-free, keto

Quick Keto Tuna Bowl

2 ounces tuna in oil
1 tsp. white miso paste
1 tsp. soy sauce or coconut aminos
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. sriracha
1 Tbsp. shallot, minced
Squeeze lemon
1 cup roasted broccoli

In a small bowl, combine everything but the broccoli and mix well. Add the broccoli (or whatever vegetables you want) for a rounded meal.

Serves 1

Roasted Cauliflower with Shallot Oil

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This isn’t the least fussy thing I’ve ever made, but it’s ready in under an hour and is freaking delicious.

Inspired by this Instagram post by Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks. I’d forgotten just how inspiring I find her take on flavors. /swoon

gluten-free, paleo, keto, vegetarian, vegan

Roasted Cauliflower with Shallot Oil

1 small head cauliflower
Fat of choice
1/2 head garlic split into cloves
1/2 tsp. yellow mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. black cumin seeds
1 Tbsp. minced garlic & ginger
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1-2 large shallots
Salt & pepper
Optional: pulled rotisserie chicken

Preheat your oven to 400F/200C.

First, peel and finely slice the shallots. Add to a small pot with enough fat to cover the bottom. Place over med-high heat until simmering, lower to med-low, and let go until the shallots are crisped up.

Break your cauliflower up into florets and spread in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Add the garlic cloves on one end – it’s ok if they are still in the paper skins. Drizzle everything with a generous hit of the fat you’re using and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake 20 minutes or so or until the shallots are done and the cauliflower is to your desired brownness.

While those two are working, make some curry-ish paste by frying the mustard and cumin seeds in 2 Tbsp. fat over medium-high heat in a small pan. When the seeds start to pop, add the garlic & ginger and turmeric. Stir quickly until the mixture is very fragrant. Set aside.

To serve, scoop out some cauliflower and top with pulled chicken if desired, a couple garlic cloves (take out of the skin), a Tablespoon or so of the shallot oil, some fried shallots, and a Tablespoon of the spice mixture.

Serves 2 – 3, depending on the size of your cauliflower and whether you’re including meat – would also be delicious with golden raisins and/or toasted nuts (I’m thinking sliced almonds, pine nuts or pistachios)

Instant Pot Lamb with Gremolata

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I’ve been craving lamb a lot lately – not sure what’s behind that … maybe oncoming Spring? Is it possible to have Spring when one’s Winter doesn’t dip below 50 F?

Whatever it its, I’ve been wanting some slow cooked carnitas-style lamb in my life and recently found an electric pressure cooker — unfortunately not an Instant Pot since those don’t exist in this country yet, but it does the same thing.

gluten-free, keto, paleo

Instant Pot Lamb with Gremolata

3-5 lb. lamb roast
2 Tbsp. fat of choice
1/2 cup mixed shallots and garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 Tbsp. dried rosemary
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. cumin
2 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup wine (red would be best; I had zinfandel – optional)
Salt & pepper

Gremolata

Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. parsley
4 cloves garlic
Salt & pepper

Add 2 Tbsp. fat of choice to a large pan over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the lamb liberally on all sides. Add the lamb and brown on 3 out of 4 sides. While cooking, mince the shallots and garlic and add when you’re mostly done with the lamb. Sautee until the lamb is browned and the aromatics are soft. Hit with a little salt and pepper.

Add to your pressure cooker with the rest of the ingredients and set the timer for 50 minutes.

When your lamb is done cooking, release the pressure, pull the lamb, and shred with forks. You will have a lot of liquid left over – make a pan sauce by reducing in a saucepan by half or so if desired. I was too lazy and was really craving gremolata.

Chuck the shredded lamb under the broiler with 1-2 additional Tablespoons fat for 5 – 7 minutes or until browned and crisped up a bit like carnitas.

On to the gremolata. Blend all the ingredients together. Pour over the lamb.

This is fantastic served with leftover spaghetti squash reheated and fried a bit in a little butter, salt & pepper. Spaghetti squash can also be cooked in the pressure cooker – and quickly. I think it took 15 minutes? Nom Nom Paleo has an easy recipe.