All Entries Tagged With: "Vegetarian"
Stir-Fried Bok Choy
Stir-Fried Bok Choy is a very common dish in Chinese family. In fact, you can stir-fried any green leaves vegetables simply with ginger and garlic and seasoned with salt or oyster sauce.
In the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors, Charlene selected Stir-Fried Bok Choy as one of the Chinese theme dishes. Charlene wanted to introduced various bok choy to members who are not familiar with such vegetables.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 12 baby bok choy, whole (trimmed)
- 2 tablespoons water
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
From right to left, Shanghai bok choy, milk bok choy, baby bok choy. When choosing baby bok choy, get the smallest ones you can find, ideally smaller than 3 inches. If they’re larger, cut them in half lengthwise.
Source: adapted from Vicki Fan
Prep time: 10 minutes; Cook time: 5 minutes; Serve 4
Frank, Marcel and Sydney made this dish.
Spinach And Chickpea Fritters
The second recipe demonstrated by Minoo in the South Arm Community Kitchen is an Indian recipe. It is Spinach and Chickpea Fritters. These vegetarian fritters can be served as an appetizer or snack.
Minoo served the Spinach and Chickpea Fritters with a store bought mango chutney. The fritters are fried to very crispy and they are great snacks with vegetables in it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpea flour (available at Middle Eastern, Indian or health food stores) or all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 cup canned chickpeas
- 1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger
- vegetable oil for frying
- mango chutney, for serving
Source: adapted from food network
Prep time: 30 minutes; Cook time: 20 minutes; Serve 6 to 8
Purity Vegetarian Restaurant on Cambie and Sexsmith, Richmond
We noticed this location being renovated into a vegetarian restaurant which was formerly Ellie Tropical Cuisine for a while. When we dined at the New Asia Deli in October, we could not help it but stop at the Purity Vegetarian Restaurant to look at the menu pasted on the shop front. While we were studying the menu, one of the server came out to greet us. She was very friendly and invited us to come back to try their food knowing that we just had lunch.
What captured my attention was the their dessert menu which has cheesecake, tiramisu, etc. I decided to check out their desserts with Polly for our cake meet.
The interior is clean and neat. The wall still has the huge paintings formerly found in the Ellie Tropical Cuisine.
Polly and I were quite disappointed when told that they do not have the cheesecake on that day. We went around the strip mall to try to find another dessert place to eat but were not able to find anything suitable. We returned to the Purity Vegetarian Restaurant to try out some of their snack items. The first item we ordered was the Crispy Veggie Oyster which costs $5.95. This crispy fried croquette is quite tasty. It is served with some pickled daikon and shredded cucumber and carrots.
This Baked Mushroom Escargots with cheese does not look appetizing due to the colour but More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Indian Cuisine: Lentil Soup (Khatti Daal)
I had just blogged about an Arabic Lentil Soup recently. Here is another version of Lentil Soup. Minoo made an Indian version of Lentil Soup at the Caring Place Community Kitchen. Lentil is comfort food in India and it is a daily diet as a lot of the population are vegetarian. Lentil is rich in fiber and protein. Indian Lentil Soup differs from others not only on the use of spices but the way the spices are added to the Lentil Soup. The sizzling action of adding the fried spices at the end of the cooking process makes the difference.
Ingredients
- 1 cup masoor (a brown skin lentil which are red inside)
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 5 sprigs of curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon tamarind paste
- salt and pepper to taste
- oil for frying spices
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 to 3 whole red chilies
Vania also did some research of the health benefits of some Indian spices. Vania, thank you for sharing.
Cumin Seeds:
- good for digestive disorder like diarrhea, nausea and morning sickness as cumin seeds help digestion
- rich in iron and help absorb nutrient into our body
- detox body by helping our liver
- reduce risk of cancer
- boost our immune system
Turmeric:
- If used with cauliflower, it prevents prostate cancer
- helps liver detox
- prevent or slow down Alzheimer disease
- is a natural anti-inflammatory drug
- is a natural pain killer
- helps loose weight
- used to prevent depression
- helps treat skin conditions
Cinnamon:
- lowers LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol)
- helps regulate sugar for diabetics
- reduces cancel cell production
- relieves pain from arthritis if combine with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of honey
- improves memory
- is a good source of manganese, fibre, iron and calcium
Star Anise:
- prevents flu
- cures stomach ache due to excessive gas
- prevents headache
The Naam on West 4th and MacDonald, Vancouver
From being a family who usually have light breakfasts at home, we find ourselves going out for breakfasts quite a number of times lately. All this started since we first went to Bon’s Off Broadway which serves one of the best $2.95 breakfast in town.
Frankly, Suanne and I are not big fans of breakfasts but we got to make it up to Nanzaro who was still mentioning about him missing the breakfast in Bon’s. So we woke up bright and early last weekend and went to The Naam. What we did not tell Nanzaro though is that Naam is a vegetarian restaurant.
Naam starts serving breakfast at 6AM. You might think, wow, it’s early but actually they are opened 24 hours. The Naam is located on West 4th Avenue near the intersection with Macdonald St.
The beauty of going there early at 7AM is the quietness. The place exudes that kind of morning calmness with people enjoying a big breakfast, hot cup of coffee with a book in hand. The wooden varnished tables and casual decor adds to the charm of this place.
It was not like that for long. By 8AM, this place was absolutely buzzing with customers and getting service from the waiters is a true test of patience.
You know, you can’t just build a restaurant with these kind of ambiance these days. The total mood, character and experience we see here is built over the 40 years that The Naam had been in existence in the core of the Kitsilano neighborhood.
The Naam has a big breakfast menu. You could probably imagine that it took us a while before we finally settle on our selection. Anyway, if you can’t read the menu above properly, click on it for a larger image.
Hot Coffee and Hot Chocolate was $2.50 with free refills of coffee. The hot chocolate cup had a paper napkin tied to it. We were wondering why they did that because this is the first time we had seen anyone doing it. Does anyone know if there is a practical reason for this?
The hot chocolate was pretty good. It tastes like it is made with cocoa powder and is unsweetened. We like it this way but knowing Nanzaro, he hates it. To him, hot chocolate is not supposed to taste this way and it has to be sweetened like those you find in Denny’s and IHOP.
The Naam describes themselves as a “Vancouver’s Oldest Natural Foods Restaurant”. They pride themselves as saying most of everything they serve are made in premises, using pure and fresh ingredients.
Nanzaro opted for the Breakfast Quesadilla ($9). It has red organic corn tortillas with scrambled eggs. You can opt for tofu instead of eggs.
You got to hand it to Naam. Their breakfasts are … More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Quinoa Salad with Mango and Black Beans
The last salad item in the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors salad cook off was Quinoa Salad with Mango and Black Bean. You can use quinoa as a substitute for rice, or mix it with chopped vegetables, nuts, or dried fruit for a salad. One thing to remember when using quinoa is to wash it thoroughly before cooking. This is because each grain has a naturally bitter coating called “saponin” that needs to be rinsed off.
Jane (also a new member of the cooking club) and Karen prepared this salad which serves 6.
This yellow and red high protein grain is easy to cook and has a moist, fluffy texture.
Ingredients
Quinoa:
- 1 1/2 cups quinoa
- 3 cups water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons rice, cider, or wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Salad:
- 5 cups cooked quinoa (see above)
- 2 mangoes, diced
- 1 large red pepper, diced
- 1/2 jalapeno, finely minced
- 1/2 cup green onions, finely sliced
- 1 can black beans
Marinated Lentil Salad
This is first salad for the salad theme in the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors. Sydney and Lorna made this salad besides the Island Pork Tenderloin. Lentil is a high in fiber and a great meat substitute for a vegetarian dish.
Cooking the lentils for only 15 minutes preserves their shape and texture. Tossed with a little vinaigrette, they make a tasty and satisfying salad. This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light and it serves 8.
Ingredients
Vinaigrette:
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salad:
- 1/2 cup chopped parsnip or turnip
- 1/2 cup chopped carrot
- 6 cups boiling water
- 1 1/2 cups dried lentils
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
