Aloo Gobi (Cauliflower & Potato Curry)

This recipe looks like it contains an incredibly large amount of ingredients, but when it comes down to it, its actually a very quick dinner.  Most, if not all of the work, is prepping your ingredients. If you don't have all of the spices below, you can just substitute a pre-made curry powder along with fresh garlic and ginger.  For a spicier version, you may use tomatoes stewed with chilis or more red pepper flakes, but I found it to already be pretty spicy and a good balance of flavors.

1 tbsp. Canola Oil
1 Onion, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp. Ginger, grated
1 tbsp. Coriander
1 1/2 tsp. Cumin
3/4 tsp. Turmeric
1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

1 medium head Cauliflower, broken into bite size pieces
1/2 lb. Fingerling Potatoes, halved
7 oz. Extra-Firm Tofu, pressed and cubed
1 15 oz. can Stewed Tomatos
1/4 c. Vegetable Broth

1/2 c. Frozen Peas
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper

Begin by prepping (chopping) all of your ingredients.  Combine all of the spices in a small bowl with the juice from the stewed tomatoes and stir until it forms a paste (this will prevent the spices from burning).

Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add onion and saute 5 mins. over med-high heat (you may add a little salt if pan becomes too dry, as it will release moisture from the onions).  Lower heat slightly and add in the spice paste.  Stir constantly for 1 minute.  Add in vegetables, tofu, tomatos and broth.  Stir until completely combined.  Bring to a simmer, cover and lower heat.  Simmer for 20-25 mins. until vegetables are pretty tender.  Add in the peas, lemon, salt and pepper.  Re-cover and simmer another 5 minutes until vegetable are completely tender and heated through.

Raw Nori Roll

I served these rolls with FRIED tofu. You gotta have a balance... Raw and fried are like ying and yang ;). Okay, not really, but it was tasty!

Cauliflower "Rice" (recipe below)
Marinated Shiitake Mushrooms (recipe below)
Sprouts
Avocado, sliced
Cucumber, julienned
Red Bell Pepper, julienned
Basil

Nori (Seaweed) Sheets

Bamboo mat

To Assemble Rolls:
Cover your bamboo mat with plastic wrap and lay out one nori sheet (Nori sheets have divet lines on them to show where to cut. Make sure to lay these lines perpindicular to the bamboo, then lay the ingredients parallel the bamboo to ensure proper rolling). Cover nori with "rice" leaving out the first and last inch of the nori (start and finish rolling points). Lay out a line of each of the remaining ingredients at the start of where you will begin to roll. Brush the end of your roll with some water.

Begin to roll and tuck around the filling as you would a burrito. Continue to roll, ensuring even pressure along the length of the roll, and pulling away plastic wrap as needed (it may fall out of place). Continue to roll until all of the nori has been wrapped around itself. Be gentle with the roll, and remove from mat. Wet down a sharp knife and cut into 6-8 pieces. Wet down knife before each cut (this prevents the knife from sticking and ripping the roll into shreds, which you will then serve as salad, which I can't tell you vie done so many times! And it sucks!). Continue with remaining ingredients. I made 3 rolls with the amount of cauliflower "rice" this recipe provides.


CAULIFLOWER RICE
1 head of Cauliflower
1/4 c. Raw Almonds
2 Green Onions
1 1/2 tbsp. Soy Sauce
Juice of 1/2 large Lemon

Break cauliflower into small pieces and remove stems. Place in a food processor with almonds and green onions. Chop until broken into tiny pieces resembling rice. Stir in soy sauce and lemon juice until thoroughly combined. Easier than making real rice! Who'da thunk it?!

MARINATED SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS
2 c. Shiitake Mushrooms, 3/4" slice
3 tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 tbsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp. Mirin
2 cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
1/4 tsp. Ginger, grated

Combine all ingredients in a bowl except for mushrooms. Once combined, toss with mushrooms until thoroughly coated. Let marinate anywhere from 5 mins to an hour. Any longer and they may become too soggy.

Creamy Curried Split Pea Soup w/ Cauliflower

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 new (yukon gold) potato, 1" dice

1 c. yellow split peas

5 c. vegetable broth

3 c. cauliflower florets, broken into small pieces

Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic.  Saute' 5 minutes until vegetables are soft.  Add a pinch of salt if pot becomes too dry.  Add red pepper flakes and saute' another minute or two.  Add spices and saute' another minute, until fragrant. Add potato, peas and broth.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for an hour.  Cool slightly and puree' with either and immersion blender or regular blender (I live by my immersion blender, especally when it comes to soup.  Super cheap and totally worth every penny.)

While soup is simmering, bring a pot of water to a boil.  Place cauliflower in boiling water until almost done, 5-7 minutes (taste to check progress).  Once the cauliflower is almost ready, drain and add to blended soup.  Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.  Serve nice and hot with a piece of toasty bread for dipping!