LOOK AT ME, I'M ETHNIC!!! 3 Lentil Daal

Awkward fact about me, whenever I hear the name of famous children's book author Roald Dahl, I have to quietly pat up my drool because his name is a homophone for the fragrant, spicy lentil dish daal native to India. Yeah, I'm a sucker for Indian food-on the last day of school while most people went to pool parties and cookouts, my friends and I wandered into an all-you-can-eat buffet at local Indian joint, Cafe Taj. I mean, $10 a person for fancy plates piled high with your favorite rice, pokoras, and assorted goop?! HOW COULD WE SAY NO?! So when my mom suggested that I make daal for dinner one night, I was like, "YES PLEASE!"
Now, a warning-this stuff takes FOREVER to make, like over an hour. You should really be in the kitchen for the whole process as the fire department sorta-kinda suggests that you don't leave stoves unattended but if you have a fully charged iPhone (or a Droid or a Samsung Ikea Illuminate or whatever, I really don't care) and some friends ready to keep you virtual company, you're good to go! Personally, I used my extra time to add more hashtags to my Instagram (FOLLOW ME- @romaare) to get more likes cuz I'm an attention wh-erm-lover.
So, without further  ado, here is the recipe to some amazing homemade daal of not one, not two, but THREE lentils!

The final smush!

-serves 6 hungry, HUNRGY people-

You will need the following: 
1/2 cup green lentils
1/2 cup brown lentils
3 cups water
salt (to taste)
1/2 cup red lentils
2 tbsp canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
3-4 tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 scant tbs hot or mild curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cayanne
1 (15 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

The Procedure
Soak the green and brown lentils in separate bowls of hot water for 45min (seriously, don't skip this step)
Drain the GREEN lentils and place in sauce pan with the 3c water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10minutes
Drain the BROWN lentils and add to the simmering green lentils with a little bit of salt. Simmer partially covered for 20min, stirring occasionally. Add RED lentils and simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens and the lentils become very soft.

Just after adding the raw red lentils

a rainbow of mouth tingles!

I found it necessary to add extra water at some points to keep the lentils from burning and drying out. This process should take about 25 minutes but make sure you keep checking!
In a large skillet (I prefer cast iron), heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cover, cook until soft for about 10 minutes, but keep checking and stirring! If you leave them unattended, they'll probably burn to the bottom of your pan.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds)
Add the spices and tomatoes and stir constantly for about 1 minute.

These are spices. You're welcome.

Add the tomato mixture to the lentils and stir to mix well. Cook together another 10 minutes until all the flavors are incorperated. Taste for salt-I found that I needed to grind in quite a bit more salt and a dash of pepper to make the flavors really stand out. Serve immediately over rice or plain.

Happy Eating!!! xoxo

RAW Vegan Mango Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

I've been meaning to make raw, vegan cheesecake for literally months and last night I finally got to try it out. This recipe's debut did NOT dissapoint. As I wasn't feeling that much like a base vanilla, I decided to add mango for a splotch of summer in this frigid January. When my friend tasted the cake, she spent a good 2 minutes raving and then she paused and said, "mmm you know what this'd be good with? Like a BERRY sauce." That was when shit got fancy.

*moans*

You will need the following:

Crust

3/4 cups almonds

3/4 cups pecans (you are welcome to use only almonds but I don't recommend using only pecans just because they have such a distinct flavor that could clash with the mango)

1 cup fresh medjool dates, pitted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried unsweetened coconut shreds

1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling

2 1/2 cups raw cashews (I got mine in the bulk nut section at Whole Foods) soaked for 24 hours, 18 is ok but 24 makes a noticeable difference

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups chopped, peeled mango (I thawed some frozen ones in the microwave)

3/4 cups coconut oil

1/2 cup maple syrup

Sauce

2 cups frozen raspberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

To make the crust, blend the nuts in your Vita Mix (or blender) until they resemble crumbs, be careful not to make them into nut butter!

Transfer the nut crumbs into your food processor and incorporate the rest of the crust ingredients, leave the processor on for a few minutes until the mixture becomes relatively uniform. I put the nuts in the Vita Mix first so as not to break the food processor, they get worn down very quickly with grinding nuts.

Line a cake pan (you can try a classic spring form but I wasn't sure about putting it in the freezer) with parchment paper and press the "crust" into the pan.

To make the filling, strain and rinse the soaked cashews and then put them into the Vita Mix (or food processor or blender, but keep in mind you'll have to leave it on for 5+ minutes to get that real creaminess). Blend until the mixture feels creamy with NO LITTLE BITS OF NUT, sometimes you'll think it's ok if it's a little grainy, but trust me, it's best when the mixture is perfectly creamy and impossible to tell there are nuts in it at all. Pour the filling into the crust and freeze for 3 hours. After it's frozen, you can eat it and put the rest in the fridge, the freezer is just for the original setting.

Food porn right here

See? Uniform and creamier than...cream ;)

While the cake is setting in the freezer, you can make the raspberry sauce. Put the frozen raspberries, lemon juice, and sugar into a pan over medium-high heat and stir constantly. The raspberries will give up their water and break down. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved-the raspberries don't need to be completely broken down. 

If that doesn't say summer-in-winter 

then you need someone to write you a prescription for EYES

Press the mixture through a sieve by using the flat of a spoon to smush the berries through the mesh and into a bowl. Put the sauce into the fridge to cool.

When it's time to serve, spoon the sauce over a slice of cheesecake and people will think you are one classy mofo. 

xoxo

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Coconut Pancakes

I don't usually eat what you'd call a 'conventional' breakfast. I dig left-overs and sometimes all I really want is a piece of fruit. Waking up past noon when I can usually means that breakfast and lunch are one big BRUNCH and I usually consume the capacity of both meals in a single sitting (classic fat kid). However, sometimes I stumble downstairs really feeling in the mood for some scones or some biscuits or some form of rich carb.
Now, here's my food mentality: "how much extra shit can I put in this?" or "what most offers itself to being jacked up?" Usually I choose quinoa as my victim, adding sauteed eggplant, spinach, pine nuts, oats, avocado, tomato, olives, seeds of the flax, chia, and hemp variety, artichoke hearts, walnuts, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and whatever else I find that'd be yummy. (Fun Fact: The ancient Incas of Machu Picchu ate a BUTTLOAD of quinoa and by my personal reasoning...that must mean it's good for you).
(I didn't know where to put the period, just now-I think I chose well but I'll switch it up just to be sure.)
So with this "how can I make it better?" element in mind, I set about making pancakes. Here's how to be just like me :)

YUM!

You will need the following:

1 cup bisquick

1/2 cup vanilla or chocolate soymilk (if you don't used flavored, then I suggest adding 1 tbsp agave or vegan sugar per 1 cup bisquick)

1/8 to 1/4 Special Dark Cocoa Powder/Dutch Process Cocoa Powder

1/3 cup unsweetened coconut shreds

3 tbsp peanut butter

*Margarine for frying

OPTIONAL:

1 vegan egg substitute (with bisquick you can leave it out)

1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped banana

The Procedure

First, turn on your griddle to 375 degrees Fahrenheit OR put a low-sided sauce pan over medium heat but only when you start cooking, the griddle needs to warm up and the pan doesn't.

While the griddle heats, mix together the bisquick, cocoa powder, and coconut shreds. Once properly mixed, add the peanut butter and soymilk-be sure not to over mix but definitely make sure the peanut butter is well-distrubuted. 

Drop 2-3 tablespoons margarine onto griddle/pan and wait until it melts, as the process goes on you'll want to add more to keep the pancakes tasting buttery and from sticking to the pan. Once the margarine is melted, add the pancake batter in pools spaced 2-3 inches apart and with a diameter of about 4-5 inches. If you make the pancakes too big not only will they be hard to filp, but they could get rubbery, fall apart, and not rise as well. 

The back three have been flipped

YUM!

When the pancakes look a little dry and the edges seem to have almost a "popped bubble" sort of look, flip them. It's fine if you flip a little too early, you can always flip them back over. Remember that the second side will cook faster than the first, time accordingly.

When the second side is dry and browned as well (it'll be hard to tell with the dark chocolate so I recommend eviscerating one to see if the inside is cooked to your liking), stack the pancakes on a plate and serve warm with a dusting of vegan powdered sugar, berries, or bananas. (Maple syrup makes these too sweet in my opinion).

Happy MLK/Inaugural Weekend!