The Curious Chickpea • Page 2 of 11 • vegan food for everyone

Vegan Garlic White Sauce

March 20, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea 4 Comments

I’m completely enamored of this 8-ingredient, 15-minute vegan garlic white sauce. I first made this completely pantry friendly white sauce to use as a base for pizza. And given my love for pizza it’s such a big surprise, I know 😉 . It was a welcome break from my usual red sauce and so versatile and delicious that I’ve kept it stocked in the fridge ever since. Beyond being a delicious creamy base for your pizza toppings, it’s perfect when tossed in pasta, slathered on bread for a sandwich, or thinned slightly and drizzled as a dressing for a bowl. Let your imagination and your taste buds run wild!…

Vegan Chipotle Mac and Cheese with Spicy Tempeh Crumbles

March 15, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea 2 Comments

I think everyone needs at least 500 vegan mac and cheese recipes. This is possibly a conservative estimate, but you have to start somewhere! If you’ve been visiting my site for awhile, you’ve probably noticed that I make a lot of spicy food and have a particular love for chipotle, and so it’s probably unsurprising to hear that we’ve been making vegan chipotle mac and cheese for years. The smokey flavor of chipotles fits perfectly into the creamy mac sauce, which is made from a homemade cashew milk and thickened with a traditional roux. The mac and cheese itself is quick to make, ready in just about 15 minutes. The spicy tempeh crumbles take a bit longer, but that’s mostly hands off time in the oven where they bake into chewy flavorful bites. The smokey, spicy chipotle flavor of this dish pairs perfectly with scallion greens for this perfect vegan meal….

Easy Vegan Crepes with Strawberries and Chocolate Sauce

March 13, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea 2 Comments

Crepes are one of the more satisfying foods. I find the whole experience of making them enjoyable. I love spreading the batter into a thin pancake over a hot pan and stuffing it with all the sweet or savory things. Then there’s the fact that you can melt chocolate, jam, [vegan] butter, or [vegan] cheese on right onto it, I mean-HELLO. And I think folding it up and having layers of pure crepe-and-filling tastiness makes it so much more fun to eat. I love that can take it wrapped in some baking paper on the street or on the go because eating with my hands is my favorite, though going the more decadent it’s-a-meal (or it’s a dessert) route digging in with a knife and fork is pretty great too. But then maybe the satisfaction just boils down to how delicious they are any way you eat them!…

Vegan Potato Leek Soup

March 8, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea 2 Comments

I love this creamy, comforting, heart-warming potato leek soup. It’s so incredibly easy to make with only 12 pantry-friendly ingredients (and that’s including the garnish!) and it’s ready to eat in just over 30 minutes. There is something so satisfying about soup but I don’t make them very often, partly because we always eat leftovers for lunch and soups are harder to transport and reheat. But every time I do make soup I regret that we don’t eat them more often! They’re just so perfect. Especially this one. This potato leek soup blends up in the the most velvety, lusciously smooth texture and it is filling while not feeling too heavy or indulgent….

Vegan Malai Kofta: Indian Dumplings in Curry Tomato Cream Sauce

March 6, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea 15 Comments

If malai kofta isn’t one of your top 5 Indian dishes you probably fall into one of these categories: you’ve never been to an Indian restaurant*, you’ve been vegan or lactose intolerant your whole life, you don’t like rich foods, or you’re really bad at ordering. Kofta are meatballs, and there are variations of them from the Balkans and Middle East through South Asia. In this dish they are typically made with potatoes and paneer (a fresh farmer’s cheese). Malai simply means cream. In this recipe we make easy swaps for those two non-vegan ingredients for the most delicious, richest tasting, better-than-restaurant style malai kofta. Sound like dream? Because, it is, and you should be eating it already!…

Vegan Brown Butter Gnocchi

March 1, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea 2 Comments

Toasty gnocchi, crispy golden-browned outside and pillowy soft inside. Rich, nutty-tasting roasted pine nuts, thinly sliced garlic that caramelizes a golden brown, and dried rubbed sage pairs perfectly in this incredibly easy, 8-ingredient, 15-minute recipe for vegan brown butter gnocchi. That’s right, I said vegan brown butter. What, you thought that only cow’s milk based butter could brown? Not true! You just need some proteins in your fat so that the Maillard reaction can occur. That is, the amino acids (protein) react with the sugars in the butter (vegan or not) and you end up with these richly flavored, nutty tasting browned solids which separate from the rest of the fat. I know, super sexy sounding. But it’s quite delicious and has a much more complex flavor than plain butter!…

Easy Homemade Vegan Gnocchi Recipe

February 27, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea 2 Comments

Gnocchi was the first thing I ever cooked. I must have been 4 or 5, and I remember watching PBS (that’s the public television channel, for my non-US readers) and there was a cooking show on. And on that show they were making gnocchi. I watched raptly for long enough to know that I NEEDED to have gnocchi in my life immediately! So I ran over to my dad and told him they were cooking something on TV and we had to make it. My dad comes into the family room and probably catches the tail end of the episode and none of the instructions, but didn’t let that deter him. We immediately went into the kitchen and made some gnocchi, recipe-free. I’m positive it was his first time making gnocchi. The dumplings were probably 3x bigger than typical, and they were on the soft (and watery) side. We tossed them in some marinara sauce and called it done. And guys, I was smitten….

Vegan Chipotle Seitan and Cheese Tamale Skillet Pie

February 22, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea 2 Comments

If you love tamales like 100000000% but also don’t love the effort of making them even 10%, this recipe is for you. You guys know I love a good cooking project, I mean I’ll sit around for an afternoon shaping ganache and tempering chocolate for homemade truffles (and I highly recommend you do the same, even if you dip in regular melted chocolate) and I love making bread, but sometimes you want to enjoy a food regularly and just don’t have the patience to form a bunch of tamales then steam them for an hour–and did I mention in batches because your steamer basket is only so big? I mean, they’re worth it, but it’s certainly a labor of love. Now, this tamale skillet pie has everything a person could want. Rich and tender masa on the outside, spicy, flavorful chipotle seitan and melty gooey cheese on the inside. And it’s all ready to serve within a couple of (mostly hands off) hours….

Vegan Thai Green Curry with Tofu

February 20, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea 2 Comments

Meet my favorite green curry. It’s vegan (duh), green (also, duh), stuffed full of green veggies (yum), and has fried tofu tucked throughout (yessss!). It’s incredibly easy to make, ready in just over 30 minutes, less if you skip frying the tofu. Throw a pot of jasmine rice on the back burner when you start, and by the time your curry is done you’ll be all set to eat. It’s filling, as it’s full of all the important food groups: protein, vegetables, carbs, and healthy fats (some less healthy ones as well if you fry the tofu.. but, um, whatever). And did I mention how incredibly flavorful and fresh tasting it is? Cause, yum. I think some of the magic comes from using my homemade curry paste, but don’t worry store bought will also turn out some delicious curry (and let’s face it, most Thai restaurants use prepared curry pastes).

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Vegan Roasted Jalapeño Cheese

February 13, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea 8 Comments

This vegan roasted jalapeño cheese is one of my go-to recipes. It packs in a ton of flavor and is so simple to make. It melts and stretches, and makes the best quesadillas. Before going vegan, I would regularly eat quesadillas for lunch or dinner, and would always make those with pepper jack cheese. When I cut cheese out of my life I thought I would never enjoy a quesadilla again. I mean of course I tried all the commercial brands, and while I’m fine with them in certain applications, I did not enjoy them in quesadillas, where the flavor and texture of the cheese is upfront. And then of course the cultured nut cheeses came onto the market, but they weren’t the right fit for quesadillas either! Delicious, certainly, but they weren’t trying to emulate gooey, melty cheeses….

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