Vegan Peanut and Sweet Potato Thai-style Curry

Back at home with my parents, and away from the yummy curries of Sydney, I've decided that's exactly what I wanted to eat for dinner :)  Instead of the typical Indian inspired curries we've done before, this one is Thai inspired, and so so satisfying.  It's getting colder here in southern Indiana and it really hits the spot.  My parents do not eat anything remotely spicy so I omitted any chili, but I imagine this would be beautiful with your favorite chilies minced and thrown in as well :)

BTW, I miss you and love you Kasey!

Vegan Peanut and Sweet Potato Curry

1 Sweet Potato, medium sized, diced (bigger chunks should be okay, but adjust the cooking time accordingly)
1 Onion, chopped, I used a sweet onion
2-3 Tablespoons of chunky Peanut Butter
3/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons of Tomato Puree
Zest and juice of 1 Lime
Handful of Coriander, chopped fine
3-4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon, Ginger, minced
1/4 of a Red Pepper, chopped fine
1 tin of Coconut Milk
2 tablespoons of oil (I used olive oil, since it was all I had on hand, but I bet coconut oil would be nice if you had it!)

Chilies, minced (Optional)

First, bring a pot of water to the boil and add the sweet potato.  You don't want to completely cook the sweet potato just yet, I only did this because I was concerned about cooking the sweet potato through.  Remove it from the heat after 5 minutes or so.  Then, in a separate bowl, combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, tomato puree, lime juice and zest, with the hot water.  Stir to combine.

I chopped up the ginger, garlic, pepper, and coriander and put them aside in a separate bowl.

Next, heat the oil and onions in a large skillet.  Let the onions cook until they soften, then add the sweet potato.  Saute for a couple of minutes, then add the coriander, garlic, ginger, and red pepper.  Stir for about a minute.

Finally, stir in the coconut milk.  I turned down the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.  Serve with quinoa or rice, add a sprig of coriander and enjoy!!  I hope you love it as much as I did <3

Vegan Summer Stew

We had family fun night and one of our activities was to make a dinner together.  We added some serious love to this stew.  It was definitely a meaningful and loving meal we all shared.  My mom, dad and I enjoyed this stew one evening last week and it was one of the best ever.  YUM!

First cut up 2 cups of broccoli and 1 large thinly sliced sweet potato.  Boil for a few minutes in about 5 cups of purified water (we used reverse osmosis) in a large pot and reduce heat to medium and cook for about 25 minutes.

In another large pot, combine cut up garlic, onions, and olive oil in high heat.  Add in carrots after garlic and onions have browned.  Let cook for a few minutes.  After carrots are browning, add in vegan stock.  Mix in 1 cup of quinoa.  Cook for twenty minutes.  Then drain pot of broccoli and sweet potatoes.  Combine into the same large pot.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes and add one can of organic diced tomatoes.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups of fresh organic broccoli cut up smallish
1 large organic sweet potato sliced thinly
as many bulbs of garlic as you want lol (i think we used 4)
1 medium organic onion
3 large organic carrots sliced thinly
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of organic quinoa
1 can organic diced tomatoes (you could easily replace this with fresh)
2 cups of organic vegan stock
Sea salt
Fresh herbs (you could use thyme, rosemary or cilantro, etc)

Notice the tea rose and the Kangaroo?

Simple Vegan Carrot and Sweet Potato Stew

This is a dish to make when you want something healthy, filling and easy to prepare.

I am back to having no fancy kitchen equipment, lol.  I don't have a food processor, vitamix or any blender for that matter.  So its just a basic kitchen knife :)  I like this though...it is showing me how I can eat healthy without needing any fancy equipment.  I also am learning how to efficiently and deliciously use all the ingredients I have on hand, and combine them in ways that enhance flavors effectively!  Take risks and see what evolves.  Eating vegan can be so YUMMY and no one has to go hungry!

I had an extra big bag of organic carrots, some local organic garlic and a sweet potato that were calling my name all week.  So without Bethany here, I have been wondering how to make a yummy stew.  I finally just did it.  I didn't use a recipe...I just winged it LOL.  It turned out pretty nicely.  I wasn't even planning on using it for the blog until I tried it and was like WOW.  This is good, and it was surprising how simple it was to make.

First.  Wash off carrots and cut the long ones in half.  Throw them in a medium sized pot with four cloves of garlic.  Fill up the pot 2/3 the way with spring or filtered water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium.  Cook for 20 minutes and then add in cubed sweet potato.  I scrubbed the potato before adding it in.  I allowed the veggies to cook for one more hour over medium heat.  Adding extra veggies at this point would be a fun and creative idea, (but I didn't have too much on hand right now).  Next, drain water and remove garlic.  lol I ate a piece of garlic just for fun.

In a large bowl, combine vegan stock with cooked veggies, sea salt and dried herbs.  You could also use fresh herbs.  I found a blend of Italian Seasoning at Big Lots.  YAAAAAY.  Have you checked out your local Big Lots, Marshalls or TJ Maxx recently for discount health foods?  I find great deals on things like organic coconut oil, flax seed powder, raw vegan kale chips, salsa, herbs, and sea salt.  At Big Lots I checked the ingredient list of the herb blend and there were no nasties so I was happy.  Straight up dried herbs with nothing else added.  Side note:  there are reasons to double check all ingredient lists...I used garlic salt on some popcorn last night to find out later that TCP was added.  I googled it and it comes from cow's milk.  FYI.

As I stirred it together, the carrots and sweet potato naturally broke apart and mixed together quite nicely :)

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb regular carrots
1 large sweet potato cut up into squares
4 cloves of fresh garlic
1 tsp each of dried marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano and basil (or get creative with your own favorites!!)
Sea salt to taste