the curious chickpea • Page 2 of 6 • vegan food for everyone

Penne with Buffalo Cauliflower Cream Sauce

July 13, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

I have an unofficial countdown running in my head, as I wait for mid-August to arrive. What happens in mid-August? Well, my best friend from college is moving to DC! She’s going to be right across the street from us! I’m so excited I can’t wait for us to eat all the vegan pizza-I mean all the food-together (did I mention she’s vegan too?)!

She came to visit last month to scope out the area, and while she was here we went out to eat at DC’s newer vegan diner Fare Well. It’s run by the same people of Sticky Fingers and opened last fall. To be honest, I’ve had mixed experiences at the restaurant, while I think the food has been steadily improving, the service has been super hit or miss for us. Nevertheless, while my friend was in town we went there for dinner and ordered an INSANE amount of food for three people. We ordered my favorite appetizer, a house-made vegan burrata that comes with a delicious caper and pesto salad and grilled buttery bread. But we couldn’t help ourselves and ordered a second appetizer that I had been eyeing for months (I just couldn’t bring myself to ever order it over the burrata, ya know?): a whipped cauliflower and cashew buffalo dip. And guys. OMG. The dip was SO GOOD. It was served in this mini-cast iron dish and insanely smokey and deliciously buffalo-y. Like, I’m definitely going to have to take turns with my appetizer ordering in the future….

Stuffed Mediterranean Veggie Burgers with Greek Marinated Tomatoes

July 11, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea 2 Comments

I’m sitting here trying to think if my summer eating and cooking is actually any different than my wintertime eating. I know some people avoid the stove as much as possible, but hey even when it hits 90 ºF I’ll still turn on the oven (apparently). I probably make less casseroles, but like, they’re as convenient in the summer as they are in the winter! I will say that I get 1000% more inspired by summer produce and eat about 12x as much fruit (like the time I got 22 mangoes and ate approximately 90% of them by myself–though making these mango lassi’s definitely helped). Ok, so I love taking advantage of seasonal produce, and you see that with my recipes! Rhubarb took center stage for awhile and I made my almond rhubarb bundt cake, corn has made a small appearance in my sweet corn velouté, but it’s still early in the season, asparagus took over my produce drawer for awhile and it was delicious on this asparagus pizza.

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Vegan Roasted Jalapeño Poppers

July 6, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea 1 Comment

I think of jalapeño poppers and I think of greasy, deep fried bar food. It’s the sort of thing they regularly serve with ranch dressing, as if they needed more flavor or the extra calories! Well, as much as I love fried foods (and I do), I actually like these 1000x better! Plus they are certainly healthier when filled with a nut-based cheese and baked.

I love combination of mild and creamy almond cheese paired with the spicy, ultra-flavorful, roasted jalapeños. The two-step breading helps hold on the crispy panko bread crumbs to the otherwise slippery pepper skin. And the breading is lightly spiced, adding a little depth without overpowering that jalapeño flavor. These are so good! And a lot of fun to make! So go get a handful or two or three or ten of jalapeños and get on it! :)…

Creamy Vegan Almond Cheese

July 4, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea 1 Comment

This almond cheese is my go-to for an almost-instant, creamy, versatile spreadable cheese. It blends up in no time, has only 5 ingredients (+ water), and is great for immediate gratification! I spread it on toast, fill homemade ravioli with it, dollop it on pizza, and stuff jalapeños with it (recipe here)! It’s also great for when I’m having no luck with culturing my cashew cream cheese–which, by the way, seems to be a regular occurrence for me since moving to DC (anyone have any insight as to why DC hates my culturing attempts?)….

Vegan Sweet Corn Velouté

June 29, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

Monday was a very exciting day over here, as it marked 1 year of marriage. And to celebrate our anniversary, I made a mini-feast for dinner inspired by the food at our wedding. We got married last summer at the Sofitel in downtown Chicago, and the menu had a French Mediterranean theme, was 100% vegan, and 100% amazing. Honestly, we had so many people compliment the food! We especially heard a lot about how much people loved the soup served with the first course: corn velouté. It was dish I had never heard of before our menu tasting, but enjoyed it so much I knew I had to recreate it!

Velouté is apparently not usually a soup, but one of the five mother sauces of France. Traditionally it is made with as broth and roux based gravy then blended into a emulsion with unmelted butter. However, corn velouté appears to be a slightly different beast, with the corn itself supplying the body to the sauce. It is delicately flavored, so the pure sweet corn flavor shines through, and pureed in a blender before being poured through a fine mesh strainer to separate out any solids for the smoothest, richest texture….

Spaghetti with Sun Dried Tomato Cream and Chickpea Meatballs

June 27, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

This is comfort food at it’s best: spaghetti tossed in a creamy sun dried tomato sauce with chickpea-based meatballs on top. So delicious my husband recommend that we ‘test’ the recipe again ASAP. Can’t say I blame him for wanting more. There’s something so satisfying about twirling freshly cooked spaghetti around your fork and shoveling those slippery noodles into your mouth. And when those noodles are tossed in a ultra creamy, luscious sauce it’s 100% better.

The creamy sauce is packed with the richest flavors. Sweet sun dried tomatoes are incorporated two ways, blended into the nondairy milk to make a tomatoey cream and minced morsels are tossed at the end for extra bursts of that intense sun dried tomato flavor. Tomato paste adds some incredible depth of flavor and body to the sauce, as well as giving it a pink hue. Miso gives a slightly cheesy, umami-rich funk to the cream. And a hearty splash of wine is my favorite well-known secret of adding a lot of aged flavor to a creamy sauce. Thickened with an olive oil-based roux and topped with some chiffonade basil, this sauce is perfect on spaghetti….

Tamarind Glazed Tempeh with Stir Fried Vegetables and Rice Noodles

June 22, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

I love the fresh and vibrant flavors in this tamarind flavored dish. Tangy, sweet and sour tamarind is the perfect accompaniment to the nutty flavor of tempeh, which is enhanced with a spoonful of delicious almond butter. The tangy glaze is balanced with some sweet agave nectar, and a healthy dose of spicy heat. The best thing is you only need SIX ingredients to make this crazy flavorful glaze!

The vegetables are stir fried with a similar sauce to the glaze, requiring only eight ingredients! Tamarind ties the two components together, with extra tang brought to you by a bit of rice vinegar and freshly squeezed lime juice. Agave once again balances the any tartness and toasted sesame oil brings some toasty nutty goodness. Soy sauce has that perfect umami rich saltiness, garlic adds a sharp bite, and a small scoop of fiery hot fried chili paste (a version of this is certainly available at your local East Asian grocery store) for that spicy kick. The sauce is tossed over some red onion, red cabbage, and red bell pepper for the most beautifully colorful dish, which I believe makes it even more fun to eat! And the spicy, tangy, ultra-flavorful sauce is balanced by the sweetness of the onion and veggies. …

Vegan Almond Rhubarb Bundt Cake

June 20, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

vegan almond rhubarb bundt cake

Rhubarb is a favorite springtime plant of mine. The gorgeous red-hued stalks have such a mouthwatering lemony-tart flavor. In my experience, starting in early spring you can find them at the farmers markets, and by late spring they’re popping up in well stocked grocery stores. I typically bake pie with them, as I did a couple weeks ago with fresh rhubarb and early season strawberries from my local farmers market. But when I picked up another handful soon after finishing that pie I wanted to try something different. And so, this almond rhubarb bundt cake was born….

Cauliflower and French Lentils with Smokey Red Pepper Sauce

June 15, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

Pan roasted cauliflower rubbed with smoked paprika, french lentils simmered with thyme, chewy sweet and salty shiitakes, and the smokiest zippiest sauce to finish it off. This recipe is oh so delicious. It’s of the cuisine I’ve named Pan-European, with cauliflower being from the Mediterranean, smoked paprika being Eastern European, the lentils being French (duh), and the sauce inspired from the Catalan salbitxata (which really seems to be a version of romesco that also includes tomatoes). And the shiitakes, well, they don’t quite fit into my analogy, given that I’ve used a mushroom from East Asia for it’s preferable texture.

I really love this recipe. I love the smokey flavors and the contrast of textures from the different components. I love how it can be dressed up and plated beautifully for a fancy dinner, or tossed together in a bowl and brought to your weekend potluck. I love that it includes my favorite things: cauliflower, lentils, a flavor-packed creamy sauce. You’ll note I don’t mention mushrooms, because, to be honest I don’t love them and they are there for my husbands benefit (and yours)….

Vegan Mango Lassi

June 13, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

Mangoes and refreshing beverages, two of my favorite things on a hot summers day. They were practically made for each other, and it’s like mango lassis were invented just for me. Except everyone seems to really enjoy them too. It’s almost like drinking a milkshake, only way better for you. Filled with fruit and an unsweetened yogurt, I mean, you’re basically doing yourself a favor for having one. I see them on menus at Indian restaurants, and they taunt me, don’t they know I would so order one every time, if they just made them without the dairy??? Luckily for you, and me, they’re really very easy to make at home!…

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