Indian Potato Salad

I love potatoes and I love potato salad. Usually I go for a more traditional American salad with sweet pickles and plenty of mayo--perfect for summer. I also don't like too many crunchy bits in my salad (ixnae on the elerycae), a rule that I broke for this Indian inspired dish that is awesome warm or cold. This recipe also cuts back on the mayo by thinning it out with soy milk for a moist but not too runny potato salad.

INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb white potatoes, peeled and halved
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and halved
- 2 tbsp oil
- 15 pearl onion, peeled and halved
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 1/2 green chile, seeded and minced (I used jalapeno, the only thing around)
- 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp tumeric
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 cup vegan mayo (or use half yogurt)
- soy milk as needed
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- salt pepper to taste

METHOD
1. Get some salted water boiling and cook the potatoes. Since sweet potatoes cook faster than white, ad then in about 10 mins before the white potatoes are done cooking (they take 20-25 mins, usually).
2. While potatoes are cooking, heat oil over med-hi in a large frying pan. Add onions and saute for a few mins, letting the outsides get nice and brown. Keep stirring so they don't burn. Add garlic, ginger, and chile and mix well. Add mustard seeds and cook a few mins more (seeds should begin to pop). Add spices and mix well. Remove from heat.
3. Drain cooked potatoes and let cool until warm but not hot. Cut into cubes. Mix mayo into the onion mixture, then toss with the potatoes. Thin as needed with soy milk so potatoes are coated. Mix in cilantro, and season to taste.

Thai Chickpea Curry with Thai Basil

Sorry for the radio silence, kids. I was on vacation and was very committed to relaxing and doing as little as possible. Now I am back and ready to blog! Anyway, about a month ago I bought a thai basil plant from the farmer's market and planted it in the garden. That night, the earwigs and/or slugs decimated the plant. I'll admit that I cried. But, for some reason, I never pulled it out. To my great delight, the basil rallied and is now a healthy and thriving plant. So, I had to put all those leaves to good use. This recipe is based on a dish from True Thai.

INGREDIENTS
- 1 19 oz can chick peas, rinsed and drained
- 1 14 oz can coconut milk
- red curry paste to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 cup vegetable stock (more if needed)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 cups frozen mixed veggies (I used an Asian mix of carrots, beans, mini corn, edamame and snow peas)
- 1 cup Thai basil leaves
- salt and white pepper to taste
- cooked jasmine rice

METHOD
1. Pulse chickpeas in a food processor until they resemble very rough bread crumbs. Set aside.
2. Separate coconut cream from the watery part. Bring to bubbling in a large pot over medium high heat, then add pulsed chickpeas. Cook for 2 mins, stirring, then add curry paste and ginger, blending well.
3. Add the rest of the coconut milk and the stock and bring to bubbling. Add sugar, soy, and veggies and bring to bubbling again. Reduce heat and simmer until veggies are cooked. Add more stock if too thick. Season to taste.
4. Add basil and mix well. Let basil wilt a bit, but do not overcook. Serve over rice. I put the rice in a ring and pressed a depression in the centre so it could hold the sauce.

I Finally Try Daiya

So I am about a year late to all the foofarah over Daiya cheese, but better late than never, I suppose. On my recent trip to New York I purchased some Daiya and tried it out the other night. If you care, here are my thoughts. First, it is the best vegan cheese I have had. That being said, I am starting to wonder if I really care about vegan cheese anymore. Let's face it, it's not really cheese and even though it does have some stretchiness, it more goopy than stretchy. As you can see from the pic, I totally overdid it with the cheese. I should have just sprinkled it on sparingly rather than drowning the fresh zucchini, cherry tomatoes, onions, and basil from the garden. Still, if I could get it on a regular basis I would probably use it now and then, and I think it would go over well with non-vegan guests. My guess is that it would be pretty good in a lasagna, but that theory remains untested. I also have no delusions (as per the package) that this is some healthy cheese choice. Healthier than dairy cheese, I suppose, but it's still just salty fat. But, sometime I really like salty fat . . . .

Bahn Mi

I love all kinds of street food because it is clean, simple, and unpretentious. Ethnic food is pretty hard to come by here in the North, but you can get by. Although you can't get a tomatillo anywhere in the city, canned or fresh, the selection of Asian groceries is not too bad. I have never dabbled in Vietnamese food at all, but this recipe in Vegetarian Times looked simple enough and I had the ingredients on hand (though I did not make it very spicy for the kids). I like the idea of a pickle or slaw to ratchet up a sandwich a couple of notches and will have to explore this concept more in the future.

Potato Rosemary Bread: Baking Through the Bread Baker's Apprentice

This is one of my favourite new breads from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Potatoes make for a wonderfully soft bread with a chewy crust. The loaf has a beautiful golden colour (probably because I used Yukon Gold), and the rosemary is a nice addition because it is not overdone. In other words: perfection.

GENERAL NOTES
- none

VEGAN NOTES
- none