Heinz Beans!

We always have this kind of dinner when I don't feel like cooking. I popped a couple of cans of Heinz Beans (made in England!) heated them up and served them alongside a baked potato, salad and corn on the cob. Yummay!

Nepalese Style Daal, Alu Matar and Achar

Yesterday I visited my dear cousin and her family. Her husband is Nepalese and he made the most beautiful lunch of lentil daal, vegetable curry and a fiery tomato achar which is a pickle that is served alongside the food. He packed for me a little container of achar to go. I was very excited to eat it again so I made a few things to eat with it.


This daal was based on this recipe that I found at Food-Nepal.com. I did not have any other kind of lentils like black lentils or yellow so I used green/brown. I could have used red but I wanted to see if the green lentil would work. I didn't have a couple of the spices like jimbu and asafetida either. I'm sure that the use of these would have made the daal more authentic. The step at the end where you fry the chiles, garlic and onions, I added a teaspoon of black mustard seed. I fried them in olive oil instead of ghee which is clarified butter which I do not eat.


This is the alu matar (potatoes and peas) from 'The Flavors of India' cookbook. I thought since a lot of the spices and flavors are similar to Nepalese cooking, I'd enjoy this with the daal and achar.


A beautiful feast. My cousin's achar is in the little bowl in front. I don't remember what's in it (except for roasted tomatoes!) but it's very special and very spicy! I have to ask for the recipe one day.

Edited to add: I found a tomato achar recipe here.
I don't know if it's the same as my cousin's recipe but a lot of the spices/flavors seem right.

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

I'm going to visit my 5 month pregnant cousin and her family today and I made these cupcakes for them. They are mexican chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. They are a basic chocolate cake with a hint of spicy cinnamon and cayenne. Hope they like them!


All ready to go in a makeshift cupcake travel box.

Shells n Cheez Please.

This was dinner. It's the "Instant Cheez It" sauce from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. You prepare it by making a dry mix of ingredients which you keep in a storage container and use 1/2 cup at a time that you whisk with water or nondairy milk over medium heat until it gets thick and bubbly. Then you can add it to your favorite pasta or as a topping for vegetables or anything at all. I had mine with shells. So creamy and much better than that Velveeta crap!

Edited to add: This is still considered "cooking out of the pantry"!

Pantry staples used:
pasta
nutritional yeast
flour
spices/herbs: paprika, turmeric, garlic powder, onion powder, dill, dry mustard, salt, pepper, sugar

Other ingredients:
plain soymilk
margarine
wet mustard

Ingredients I had to purchase: none

Ramen Noodle Comfort.

When you're having a rough day and doing your best yet nothing is going your way, it's nice to come home to a warm comforting meal such as this one. Well, I didn't actually come home to it, I had to make it myself but it was a pleasure to do so. It was like a warm hug, this bowl of steaming broth with filling noodles, soft vegetables and tofu. I felt better instantly.

Edited to add: This is still "cooking out of the pantry"!

Pantry staples used:
ramen noodles
soy sauce
mushroom soy sauce
black pepper

Other ingredients:
tofu
veggies

Ingredients I had to purchase: none

Rockin' Moroccan.

Zeilouk d'Aubergine. (Moroccan eggplant relish). I think I may have overdid it on the tomato paste because it's a lot redder than I think it's supposed to look. Looks aside, this was wonderful. A tangy relish of cooked eggplant, green bell pepper, onions and tomatoes. Recipe from Olive Trees and Honey cookbook.


Delicious meze platter: eggplant relish, baba ganouj (store bought), lavash bread and assorted olives.


Moroccan vegetable stew with couscous and onion-cinnamon raisin topping. Recipe also from Olive Trees and Honey cookbook.

Fool Nabed (Egyptian Fava Bean Soup)

On an impulse, I threw a bag of dry, skinned fava beans into the crockpot at 10pm last night. Had no idea what I was going to do with them nor how they would turn out the next morning. At about 8am, they were really overcooked and in tiny bits. Couldn't do much with them except make a soup.


Found this Egyptian Fava Bean soup recipe in my "Classic Vegetarian Cooking from The MIddle East & N. Africa" cookbook. I pureed the bean bits and heated them up with cumin, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. I had a little bowl for breakfast. Creamy and very flavorful! Will have this again at dinner with some whole wheat pita.

Here's the recipe: http://www.sudairy.com/mer/recipes/fulnabed.html
I used the skinned fava beans so I didn't need to skin them. Sometimes you'll find the brown fava beans which are the beans with the skin on.