If you haven’t caught wind of the theme, this week it’s definitely all about the Indian food as we lead up to Diwali. Earlier this week I shared my all-time favorite Indian recipe, bhindi masala (spiced okra in English). Today, I’m sharing another vegetable dish, green bean poriyal. You may remember, I’m not a big fan of green beans. A couple of years back my local nursery gave me a couple of free green bean plants, and I decided to make a green bean bhaji, which really turned me on to green beans for the first time in …well, ever. Fast forward a couple of years and I’m still growing green beans, and I decided I needed to find a different way to prepare them. So I tried poriyal, which I’ve had at my mother-in-law’s house and really loved. So long as you have some help stringing your beans (something I hate to do), this recipe is really quick and easy. It doesn’t require you to hang around too long sauteing vegetables and doesn’t really have much to chop, other than the beans. (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Indian, Quick and Easy, Side Dish, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

As a kid, the only time I had tried okra was in gumbo, where I admitted it was needed as a thickener but refused to ever actually eat the stuff upon tasting it, and once fried, which I also wasn’t a fan of. So one can imagine when my now husband brought home takeout Indian food, I certainly wasn’t chomping at the bit to try the bhindi masala he picked up for himself. However, I decided to, and it was this dish that made me like okra. Strike that, it made me LOVE okra. The recipe couldn’t be simpler, so I encourage you to give it a try while there’s still okra to be had! (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Indian, Side Dish, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

One of my favorite quick go-to pastas has been a beef and arugula pasta with a dijon vinaigrette dressing that I posted a few years back. The first time I made this pasta, I remember my husband saying, “This would be really good with portobellos!”. I was so sure it would that, at the time, I wrote the recipe up with that suggestion for vegetarian-izing (and, incidentally, veganizing) the recipe. A week ago, I had some leftover arugula, so I decided to give this version a go, and what do you know, it was a hit! Still as quick and easy as the original, and still as flavorful. (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

It always seems around this time of year I get a strong craving for Germanic foods. Cabbage, rich sausages, tart wines, sweet, sweet lager. While Oktoberfest is primarily celebrated in September in Germany, October is the perfect timing in California to start enjoying all of these treats. The weather cools down where mornings and evenings actually feel like crisp, fall days, and even the mid-day is a bit cooler. Last week I fed my craving first at our local Austrian restaurant, Naschmarkt, with kraut rouladen, or stuffed cabbage rolls. The next day when I strolled through the produce section of my local market, I saw the most beautiful heads of red cabbage – small, perfect, compact leaves, in a brilliant purple-ish-red – and I knew my craving hadn’t quite went away yet. (more…)

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Dinner, German, Gluten free, Side Dish, Vegetarian by Courtney

I’ve made oh-so-many of these pies over the years. As has my mom. And my grandmother. They’re what sustained me through the first half of college (and much of the second half). I lived off Mt. Dew and brownie pie. And while I personally wouldn’t recommend the diet (though I did stay skinny with my sugar tremors), I do highly recommend that you whip up one of these this instant! Two of the main reasons this became my go-to sweet: 1) all of the items were generally already in my pantry or refrigerator, 2) I could literally whip this up before the oven pre-heated. Twenty minutes plus pre-heat time, and I had instant sweetness gratification. (more…)

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Comfort food, Dessert, Gluten free, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian by Courtney