The Pantry Pocket

peanut stew over rice. recipe from theveganstoner.

Spicy African Sweet Potato Soup

Okay, it’s been a few days since any of us have posted anything and this is the reason why. I made this recipe but doubled it and I ended up with SO MUCH FOOD. My roommate and I have been eating soup for days now but it is exceptionally delicious! If you’re trying to make some for just you just make it how it is or maybe half it because it makes so much for so little money. The only thing I omitted was the celery and I added a little extra spice but this makes some perfect fall weather food to curl up with.

Vegan Potato Curry

I’ve been on a curry kick recently. I used this recipe but doubled everything except I used extra spices because I like mine very flavorful and spicy. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour including prep time. The longer you let it simmer, the thicker and better it gets. What I made yielded six large bowls of delicious curry and probably cost a total between $12 and $14. That’s just a little over $2 a meal!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cornflake No Bake Cookies

I’ve been craving something sweet all day, so I wanted something really easy to make and these hit the spot.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cup corn flakes (crushed)
• 1/4 cup vegan margarine (melted)
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup unbleached raw sugar (maybe use a little less, these were pretty sweet)
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Crush your corn flakes, melt the margarine, then combine everything in a bowl and mix until its thickened. I put mine on parchment paper and set them in the freezer for about an hour and they came out awesome and tasty. Really fast to make and fairly cheap. I think the next time I may add some fruit like raisins or a banana into the mix to see how that tastes.

Vegan Tomato, Portobello Mushroom and Seitan Garam Masala and Quesadilla-style Samosas

Most Indian dishes are vegan or easy to make vegan. This is a really cheap, easy and quick to make meal for you heat freaks, a touch of sweet and lots of spice that I make at least once a week. These are two variations of recipes I came across on VegWeb and taste amazing together. I don’t do any measurements for spices because I’m a firm believer in you can’t use too many spices. So, I’m posting ingredients and you have to do trial and error until you get things how you like it.

For the masala: portobello mushrooms, 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, 2 15 oz cans of chick peas, 1/2 6 oz can of tomato paste (or you can use ketchup which I think tastes better), curry powder, garlic salt, ground red pepper, chopped onion, cilantro, ginger, cinnamon, Sriracha sauce, lemon juice, black pepper, paprika, olive oil.

Basically, this cooks itself. First, add some olive oil to a large pan on medium to high heat (I have a large wok that works perfectly so nothing spills out). Next, you want to add the mushrooms and seitan, otherwise the mushrooms won’t cook and will be harder than you want them. Let that cook for a minute or two then add your canned items. Drain the chick peas at least 2/3 of the way. You’ll want some of that juice in to simmer it. Then add everything else. You just need a little cinnamon and ginger, I sprinkle the rest to cover everything. Lots of curry is a good thing in Indian dishes. I let this cook for a minute then turn it down to a low heat and simmer while I make the samosa mix.

For the samosas: 2 large flour tortillas, instant potato mix, a vegan buttery spread, almond milk, garlic salt, curry powder, black pepper, water, olive oil.

You can actually boil potatoes and mash them for this but this way is much quicker. Get a microwaveable safe bowl and add about a cup and a half of instant potato mix and spices. Then add some buttery spread and a half cup of almond milk and microwave for two minutes. Add some olive oil to a large pan and turn it on to medium to high heat. When your potato mix is done, about a fourth of a cup of water and start mixing until everything isn’t lumpy and is smooth like mashed potatoes should be. You should have enough curry in the mix to have it look green or brownish (depending on your curry powder). If it’s too thick, add more water. If you’ve added too much water, add more potato mix. Put about half into each tortilla and fold it in half so that the mix spreads evenly inside then toss them into your pan. You’re going to want to let them cook on one side for about 2 minutes then flip them and let them cook on the other side. The first few times I had the heat turned up too high and burned them but they’re still edible when they’re a little blackened. Take a pizza cutter and cut them into slices and place them next to your finished masala.

The masala yields about 4 meals and the samosas, about 2. If you’re cooking for four people double the samosa mix. This would probably make more if you put the masala over some basmati rice.