My favorite type of noodles for this summer without a doubt are glass noodles. They are light, tasty, take exactly 4 minutes to make and are great to eat hot or cold. For that (and much more), they are ideal to use in a salad. Glass noodle salad in a delicious peanut butter sauce. It has in it lots of crunchy vegetables, sliced as thinly as possible, all wrapped in a gorgeous sauce inspired by thai cuisine.

Glass noodles (also called cellophane noodles) name so because they get transparent after cooking. It usually made from mixing mung bean starch (or other starch) with water. Glass noodles can be prepared either by cooking or simply soaking. If cooking – 3 minutes in boiling water is enough. After that, immediately rinse in cold water (so that the cooking process stops) and strain excess water. If soaking – soak in a bowl with boiling water for about 5 minutes, and immediately afterwards rinse and strain excess water.

How to make?

The vegetables used in this glass noodle salad with peanut butter sauce are mostly hard vegetables. I used carrots, kohlrabi, red cabbage, radishes, scallions and red chili. In addition, the salad has cilantro and basil, as well as coarsely chopped peanuts. That’s a crunchy salad for you! Slice the vegetables as finely and as thinly as possible. It’s more pleasant to eat and also lets the sauce be well absorbed. Ideally you should slice the vegetables using a mandoline slicer. However, if you don’t have one – a good knife will do the job. Just be careful with your fingers.

The salad dressing is important and dominant. I like making salad dressing in a jar with a lid. Place in a jar the peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, lemon juice, sesame oil and finely grated ginger. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, close the lid and shake until a thick and smooth sauce is obtained. Pour the sauce over the salad and mix well until all the ingredients are covered and well wrapped in the sauce. The salad is kept well in the refrigerator for two to three days. Enjoy!

Looking for more great recipes?

• Quinoa Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Carrots
• Green Curry with Charred Tofu, Green Vegetables and Coconut Cream
• Sautéed Green Beans with Mushrooms
• White Corn and Miso Soup with Chili Oil

Print Recipe

Glass Noodle Salad with Peanut Butter Sauce

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Salad, Side Dish

serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 125 gr/ 5-oz glass noodles
• 2 medium size carrots
• 1 kohlrabi
• ¼ small red cabbage
• 2-3 radishes
• 3 green onion springs
• 1 red chili pepper, more or less to taste
• ½ cup peanuts
• ¼ cup basil, leaves only
• ½ cup cilantro, leaves only

For the sauce –

• 3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger root (about 5 cm/ 2-inch)
• A pinch of salt, a pinch of black pepper

Instructions:

• Rinse well all the vegetables, peel the carrots and kohlrabi. Slice the vegetables as thinly as possible with a mandoline slicer or a knife. The carrots, kohlrabi and radishes are sliced ​​into thin sticks. The red cabbage into thin strips. The green onion and chili pepper into thin rings. The peanuts are chopped very coarsely. The basil and coriander leaves can be left whole or very coarsely chopped.
• Cook the glass noodles either using the stoves or by soaking.

  If cooking on the stoves – place the glass noodles in a pot with plenty of boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. At the end of cooking, rinse the glass noodles in cold water (to stop the cooking process) and strain off the excess water.

  If by soaking – place the glass noodles in a wide bowl filled with boiling water. Allow the glass noodles in the boiling water for 5 minutes and then rinse the noodles with cold water and strain the excess water.
• Prepare the sauce – in a jar with a lid, place all the sauce ingredients: peanut butter, soy, maple syrup, lemon juice, sesame oil, finely grated ginger, a pinch of salt and a pinch of black pepper. Mix well until a thick and smooth sauce is obtained.
• Place the cooked glass noodles in a large mixing bowl. Add the chopped vegetables on top (carrots, kohlrabi, red cabbage, radishes, scallions, chili peppers, basil and cilantro) and the chopped peanuts. Pour over the peanut butter sauce and mix well until all the ingredients are covered in the sauce. Enjoy!

Notes:

 

• For a gluten-free version, make sure to buy gluten-free ingredients (eg GF glass noodles, GF soy sauce, etc.)
• You can vary the hard vegetables that are added to the salad and change according to your personal taste. Try using peppers of different colors, white cabbage, cucumber, green beans and beets.
• Adjust the amount of chili pepper depending on the degree of spiciness you like.
• Glass noodles often come in large packages. It is easiest to disassemble the package using sizers.

 

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הפוסט Glass Noodle Salad with Peanut Butter Sauce הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

There is a wonderful salad, originally from North African cuisine, called Mechouia salad (mashwiya). This salad has in it tomatoes, bell peppers and chili peppers, roasted until practically burned on the grill. It has the most wonderful and spicy flavors, which are enhanced with the (good!) taste coming from the vegetables’ charred peel. This wheat salad is based on it. This is a perfect recipe if you are having a BBQ. Simply pre-cook the wheat at home, and than toss the vegetables on the grill. If you want to make it at home, just bake the vegetables in the oven until perfectly roasted.

How to make?

Cooking the wheat berries –

The first part for the wheat salad is cooking the wheat berries. I used regular wheat, but you can also use farro (spelled wheat). Other good options are coarse bulgur (burghul) or freekeh. For a gluten-free version use rice, preferably whole. Firstly rinse the wheat well and drain the water. Some soak the wheat, from an hour to half a day, in plenty of water. This of course shortens the cooking time of the wheat, which is relatively long. The wheat is cooked in plenty of water, similar to pasta. About 45 minutes after boiling. When finished, strain off the excess water and allow the cooked wheat to cool.

Roasting the vegetables –

The next step is roasting the vegetables. Use ripe tomatoes, bell peppers and chili peppers (traditionally green chili). The amount of chili peppers depends on how much you want it hot. There are 3 ways to roast the vegetables: on a grill, on a griddle pan or in the oven. The vegetables are roasted until they are completely cooked and the peel is burnt, even very burnt. If preparing on the grill or in a griddle pan then turn the vegetables from side to side every few minutes until the vegetables are nicely burnt on all sides. In the oven there is no need to turn because the heat is received from all sides. The tomatoes and chili peppers will be ready before the bell peppers so remove them from the heat before or add them later. After finished, transfer the vegetables to a bowl and let them cool slightly.

After the vegetables have cooled, you can use a kitchen towel or clean hands to roughly peel off parts of the peel. However, make sure to leave some of the burnt peel. It adds the burnt taste we’re looking for. Transfer the vegetables to a cutting board and chop them coarsely together.

The last step is assembling the wheat salad. In a large mixing bowl, place the cooked wheat berries and top it with the roasted tomatoes and peppers. Don’t forget to add all the juices of the vegetables left on the board, they have so much flavor in them. Add 4-5 cloves of crushed garlic and chopped parsley. Season with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir gently until all the wheat is covered in the wonderful juices. Enjoy.

Looking for some more wonderful salad recipes?

• Quinoa Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Carrots
• Lentils and Roasted Beets Salad
• Farro Salad with Cauliflower, Fennel and Tahini Dressing
• Antipasto Brown Rice Salad

Print Recipe

Wheat Berry Salad with Roasted Tomatoes and Peppers

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course: Salad, Side Dish

serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 cup wheat berries, well washed and drained
• 4-5 ripe tomatoes, medium size
• 2 bell peppers
• 1-2 chili peppers (traditionally green) , use more or less depending on how spicy you prefer
• ½ cup parsely, chopped
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• juice from half a lemon (2-3 tablespoons)
• ½ teaspoon salt, or more to taste + a teaspoon of salt for cooking the wheat
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

• Cooking the wheat berries – place the wheat berries in a pot with plenty of water and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and continue to cook over a medium heat until the wheat is ready, about 45 minutes. If during cooking the water evaporates – add more boiling water. At the end of cooking, drain the wheat from the excess water and allow to cool. If you choose to soak the wheat before cooking, the cooking time will be shorter (see notes at the end of the recipe).
• Cooking and charring the vegetables – can be done on the grill, in a griddle pan or in the oven.

  On the grill or in a griddle pan: make sure that the grill / griddle pan is very hot. Place the tomatoes, bell peppers and chili peppers on the grates/ pan and roast them well until the vegetables are tender and the peel is burnt. Rotate the vegetables every few minutes so that the burn is done on all sides. The tomatoes and chili will take about 15 minutes, the sweet peppers about 25 minutes in total. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

  In the oven: preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Cut the bell peppers lengthwise in half and get rid of the sting and seeds. Place in a pan with the part of the peel facing up and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, add the tomatoes and chili pepper to the pan and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before the next step.
• Roughly peel off some of the vegetables' burnt peel using a clean kitchen towel / kitchen paper or just very clean hands. Make sure not to completely peel the vegetables and leave some of the burnt peel, it has lots of good flavors in it. Remove and discard the stings of the peppers, as well as the seeds. The seeds of the chili pepper can be left, keep in mind that they are spicy of course.
• Transfer the charred vegetables to a cutting board and chop them coarsely. Keep all the wonderful fluids that come from the vegetables, they have plenty of flavors and we'll add it later to the salad.
• In a large mixing bowl place the cooked wheat, burnt and chopped vegetables and all the juices drained from them. Add chopped parsley, crushed garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir gently until all the ingredients are evenly coated. Taste and add salt if necessary. Enjoy!

Notes:

 

• Instead of wheat you can use farro (spelled wheat), freekeh or coarse bulgur. For a gluten-free version, you can use rice, preferably whole rice. Cooking time will vary accordingly.
• Some people prefer to soak the wheat before cooking. Soaking wheat can be from a minimum of an hour to half a day. The cooking time of the wheat will vary accordingly, and can also be 25-30 minutes for wheat that has undergone long soaking.

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Please let me know how it turned out!
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הפוסט Wheat Berry Salad with Roasted Tomatoes and Peppers הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

This pasta recipe is all about the umami. That fifth flavor that is a bit salty and a bit sour, and mostly is simply umami. There’s no other way to describe it. This recipe combines pasta with mushrooms, sautéed in vegetable oil, along with a miso-based sauce. The miso is mixed with butter, which greatly refines the strong miso flavors. The result is a delicious miso mushroom pasta, simple to make, special, and one that you just can’t stop eating.

Miso is a seasoning paste that comes from Japanese cuisine. It is (mostly) based on soybeans that are fermented together with koji mushrooms. In Japanese cuisine miso is very common and is used for seasoning almost any type of dish. There are many types of miso, but you can roughly divide them into two – the light miso and the dark miso. The light miso (white / yellow) ferments less time than the dark (red), and therefor less salty. In today’s recipe I use dark miso.

How to make this miso mushroom pasta?

The first step is mixing butter with miso. The butter should be soft (but not liquid), so you should take the butter out of the fridge before starting to prepare the recipe. If it is hot outside – a few minutes will do. However, in the winter, take out the butter about half an hour before start. Beat the butter with the miso until a smooth, uniform mixture is obtained. Set aside.

The next step for the miso mushroom pasta is to sauté the mushrooms. I used portabella mushrooms and shimji. You can use any type of mushrooms that are suitable for sautéing, including button mushrooms. Roughly slice the mushrooms. Grease a wide pan with some vegetable oil (neutral in flavors). Than, sauté the mushrooms for a few minutes while stirring. After a few minutes, add about 3 cloves of crushed garlic and continue to cook for another minute, just until you start to smell the garlic. Transfer the mushrooms from the pan to a separate plate.

Cooking the pasta –

Now you can start cooking the pasta. An important pasta rule is that pasta should be transferred immediately after cooking into an already ready sauce. Pasta can’t wait for the sauce, because it almost certainly will leave us with overcooked pasta. In the recipe I use dry pasta. You can use any type of pasta, just pay attention to the cooking time which varies depending on the type of pasta. Cook the pasta one minute less than the cooking time recommended by the manufacturer. That is because the pasta will continue to be cooked in the sauce for another minute.

The last part of preparing the sauce should take only 3-4 minutes. Time to start cooking the pasta accordingly. You can definitely start the next step about 5 minutes before the end of the pasta’s cooking time, and if you have to wait for the pasta to be ready – lower the flame to minimum heat and wait.

Transfer the miso and butter mixture to the same wide pan in which we sautéed the mushrooms. Add one cup of the pasta’s cooking water to the miso mixture. Mix until a smooth, uniform sauce is obtained. Bring the sauce to a boil and add the mushrooms we sautéed and kept aside. Lower the heat and wait until the cooking time of the pasta is over. Add the cooked pasta into the sauce, stir and continue to cook for another minute. Turn off the heat, stir in chopped green onions and serve immediately.

Looking for more great recipes?

• Wild Rice with Red Cabbage
• Lentils and Roasted Beets Salad
• Sautéed Green Beans with Mushrooms
• Vegan Cherry Crumb Bars

Print Recipe

Miso Mushroom Pasta

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: pasta

serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 250 gr/ 9-oz dry pasta
• 2 tablespoons red miso paste
• 3 tablespoons soft butter (40 gr / 1½-oz), regular or vegan
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil (eg canola, grape seeds)
• 400 gr / 13-oz mushrooms , clean and coarsely chopped. use any kind of mushroom suitable for sautéing (button, portabella, shimji, carmine etc.)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• pinch of salt
• 2-3 springs of green onions, chopped
• for cooking the pasta – a pot with plenty of boiling and well-salted water

Instructions:

• Place the miso paste and soft butter in a small mixing bowl. Whisk the miso and butter together until a uniform paste is obtained. Keep aside.
• Heat a wide skillet with vegetable oil. Add the chopped mushrooms, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of black pepper, and sauté while stirring for 2-3 minutes. Add the crushed garlic and continue sautéing, while stirring, for another minute and no more. Transfer the prepared mushrooms to a separate plate and set aside.
• Cook the pasta in a pot with plenty of boiling and well-salted water (at least one teaspoon of salt). The cooking time depends on the pasta you have chosen to use, but in any case the pasta should be cooked one minute less than the cooking time recommended by the manufacturer. Start preparing the next step 5 minutes before the end of the pasta's cooking time.
• Heat a wide pan, the same pan in which we made the mushrooms. Place in it the miso and butter mixture and add one cup of the pasta's cooking water. Mix well until a uniform mixture is obtained and bring to a boil. Add the sautéed mushrooms that we kept aside and mix. If you have to wait until the pasta is ready – then lower to minimum heat and wait until the pasta is done cooking.
• Strain the cooked pasta and transfer it to the prepared miso and mushrooms sauce. Mix well so that all the pasta is covered in the sauce and continue to cook for another 1 minute. Turn off the heat and add chopped green onions. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

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הפוסט Miso Mushroom Pasta הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

A very delicious quinoa salad, with sweet potatoes, carrots and red onions, which are baked in the oven. The quinoa and baked vegetables are wrapped in a wonderful dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and date syrup (silan), which compliments the sweetness from the baked vegetables. This is the kind of salad that holds up well. You can definitely make it in one day and enjoy it 3-4 days later. If you want to turn this salad into a meal on its own – add cooked chickpeas (protein!)

How to make?

Firstly, preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Peel the sweet potatoes and carrots and slice into cubes. Slice the sweet potatoes into cubes of about 0.5-inch/1.5 cm, and the carrots into smaller cubes – about 0.25-inch/1 cm. Peel the red onion and than cut lengthwise into eighths. Place the vegetables on a baking sheet, drizzle over olive oil and season with a pinch of salt. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.

While the vegetables are in the oven, cook the quinoa. There are two main methods for cooking quinoa. The first is similar to cooking rice and the second is similar to cooking pasta. I like to cook quinoa like rice – in a suitable pot heat olive oil. Add the quinoa and salt to the pot, and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add water in a ratio of 1: 2. That is, for every cup of quinoa – 2 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil. After boiling, lower to a low heat and cook until all the water is absorbed into the quinoa, about 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the pot covered for at least another 5 minutes.

The salad dressing has in it olive oil, lemon juice, date syrup (silan), salt and black pepper. I love silan – date syrup. It has the sweetness of dates and deep flavors. However, if you don’t have silan on hand, you can replace it with maple syrup. There is a bit of sweetness in the dressing that compliments very well with the light sweetness of the baked vegetables. I like to make dressings in a jar – put all the ingredients in, place the lid and shake until well combined.

After that, the final step in the quinoa salad is to assemble it. Place all the ingredients in a bowl: cooked quinoa, baked cubes of sweet potatoes and carrots, baked red onion and chopped parsley. Pour over the dressing and mix well. Enjoy!

Here are some more great recipes for salads :

• Green Salad with Charred Broccoli and Avocado
• Farro Salad with Cauliflower, Fennel and Tahini Dressing
• Antipasto Brown Rice Salad
• Winter Green Salad

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Quinoa Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Salad, Side Dish

serves: 4

Ingredients:

For cooking the quinoa –

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the baked vegetables –

• 1 sweet potato, medium to larg
• 2 carrots
• 1 red onion
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the dressing –

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoon date syrup (silan) or maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• pinch of salt
• pinch of black pepper
• ½ cup finely chopped parsley

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C. Prepare a pan lined with baking paper or a silicone mat.
• Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into 0.5-inch/1.5-2 cm long cubes. Peel and slice the carrots into 0.25-inch/1 cm long cubes. Slice the red onion ​​lengthwise into eighths. Place the chopped vegetables on the baking pan, drizzle over olive oil and season with salt. Mix gently so that all the vegetables are covered in oil and flatten them into one layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the vegetables are ready and lightly golden.
• At the same time, cook the quinoa. In a small pot, heat olive oil. Add the quinoa and salt, and sauté for 2-3 minutes while stirring. Add 2 cups of water, stir and cover with a lid. Bring to a boil, then lower to a low heat and cook until all the water is absorbed into the quinoa, about 25 minutes. Leave the quinoa pot covered for at least 5 more minutes after the end of cooking.
• Prepare the dressing – in a jar with a lid, place all the dressing ingredients. Close the jar and shake until a smooth dressing is obtained.
• Place all the salad ingredients in a suitable bowl – cooked quinoa, baked sweet potato and carrot cubes, baked red onion and chopped parsley. Pour over the dressing and mix gently. Enjoy!

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Please let me know how it turned out!
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הפוסט Quinoa Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Carrots הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

This recipe is one of those recipes that have it all. It’s delicious (that’s the main thing right?), simple, quick to prepare and good for our body – sautéed green beans with mushrooms. The beans in the recipe are frozen, the kind I always keep in my freezer. The mushrooms are sautéed with red onions, garlic and spices. Than adding the green beans, that are cooked shortly in boiling water prior to that. The preparation of the whole recipe takes 10 minutes.

A quick word about cleaning the mushrooms. A well-known rule is that you shouldn’t wash mushrooms in water. Rinsing mushrooms means the mushrooms will absorb water into it and damage their texture. As a rule, most edible mushrooms are grown in a sterile environment and do not need to be cleaned at all before use. But, admit I always clean mushrooms by wiping it with clean paper towel or a very clean kitchen towel. I also pluck the tip of their foot.

How to make sautéed green beans with mushrooms?

Start with the sautéing of the mushrooms. In a wide pan, wide enough to later also contain the beans, heat olive oil. Add finely chopped red onion, a pinch of salt and black pepper and sauté while stirring for 2 minutes. After that, add coarsely chopped mushrooms and sauté for another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to sweat. Add chopped garlic, and lots of it, and cook for just one more minute, until you start to smell the garlic.

At the same time, prepare the green beans. In the recipe I use frozen green beans, which have a short cooking time. The green beans are cooked in boiling water with half a teaspoon of salt, for 3 minutes. Start counting the time after the second boil. Then, strain the beans and add it to the mushroom mixture.

Along with the green beans, add to the mushroom mixture soy sauce, sesame oil and lots and lots of black pepper. In my opinion there is no need to add salt beyond what we added, and the soy sauce is salty enough, but taste and check according to your personal taste. If necessary – add of course. If you don’t have sesame oil at home – buy it. Really. It’s a great product. Despite its name, it’s usually not used as an oil but as a spice, and it brings great Asian flavors. A small bottle will last you for loads and loads of time.

Stir the mixture gently for a couple of minutes till evenly covered and that’s it. Already ready. You can eat it hot or cold. See the accurate recipe below.

Here are some more side dish you’ll enjoy:

• Baked Acorn Squash with Harissa and Date Honey
• Cauliflower Rice with Mushrooms
• Kale Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato, Spiced Chickpeas and Yogurt Dressing
• Wild Rice with Red Cabbage

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Sautéed Green Beans with Mushrooms

Prep Time2 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time12 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 10 oz / 250 gr frozen green beans
• 7 oz / 200 gr button or cremini mushrooms, clean and coarsely chopped
• 1 small or ½ big red onion, finely chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce, for GF please use GF soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon sesame oil, for GF please use GF sesame oil
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• for cooking the green beans – a pot with boiling water and ½ a teaspoon of salt

Instructions:

• Clean the mushrooms with paper towel or a very clean kitchen towel, and slice them roughly.
• Heat a wide skillet with olive oil. Add finely chopped red onion, a pinch of salt and a pinch of black pepper and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.
• Add coarsely chopped mushrooms and sauté for another 2 minutes while stirring. Add chopped garlic and cook for another minute until you can smell the garlic.
• At the same time, cook the green beans. Place the green beans in a pot filled with boiling water and ½ a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes from the moment of boiling. Strain.
• Transfer the cooked green beans to the pan with the mushroom mixture. Season with soy sauce, sesame oil and black pepper. Mix carefully until the green beans and mushrooms are evenly coated with the seasoning, and cook for another one minute. Turn off the heat and serve. Enjoy!

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Please let me know how it turned out!
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הפוסט Sautéed Green Beans with Mushrooms הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

Dreamy and VEGAN shepherd’s pie with green lentils and chestnuts as the base. I replaced the traditional potato puree with sweet potato puree and it’s soooo good. Delicious, comforting and sweet – a real celebration. This recipe has a few steps in it, but trust me – it’s so worthy.

How to make Vegan Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

This vegan sweet potato shepherd’s pie has 2 layers in it – the lentils layer as the base, and the sweet potato layer on top.

The sweet potato layer:

The first step will be cooking the sweet potatoes. There are lots of ways to cook sweet potatoes. One of my favorite methods is to roast it on a bed of coarse salt. That way, there’s no added liquid to the sweet potatoes, and all the sweet and wonderful flavors are highlighted and concentrated. The method is very simple – after thoroughly washing the sweet potatoes, brush it with some olive oil and poke it with a fork or a knife a few times. Prepare a suitable baking pan, and sprinkle cover it with coarse salt. It should be about 1/4-inch (or 0.5 cm) thick. Place the sweet potatoes on the coarse salt bed. Bake on high heat for about an hour, until very soft.

After the sweet potatoes are cooked, cool and then pill off its skin. The sweet potatoes’ skin should come off pretty easily. Place the cooked and pilled sweet potatoes in a bowl and mash them. Since they are so soft, you can easily mash them using a fork. You can also use a potato masher. To the sweet potato puree add olive oil, finely chopped parsley and season according to the recipe.

The lentils’ base:

While the sweet potatoes are in the oven, you can start making the lentils’ layer that is the base of the shepherds pie. Regarding the lentils – I always soak green (and also black) lentils for at least two hours. Soaking lentils is not mandatory, so it’s absolutely your choice whether to soak it or not. Start by briefly sautéing diced onions and celery. Add raw and finely grated sweet potato, and then the rest of the ingredients as listed in the recipe, like chestnuts, oregano, rosemary and crushed tomatoes. As for the chestnuts, I use ready to use peeled and roasted chestnuts.

Cook the lentil mixture over medium-low heat for about half an hour, with the lid closed . During cooking, the lentils will absorb all the liquids and soften. At the end of cooking, leave the lid on for a few more minutes, before moving on to the next step.

Assembling the dish :

Prepare your 8X12-inch (20X30 cm), or similar size, oven safe baking dish and grease it lightly with olive oil. Place the lentils’ layer at the bottom and smooth it. After that, layer the sweet potato puree over. You can use a fork to smooth down the puree and gently score the top a bit.

Bake the vegan sweet potato shepherd’s pie in the oven for one hour. If you desire to get a golden crush on top (and trust me – you do!), carefully take out the shepherd’s pie from the oven after 50 minutes, drizzle some olive oil on top, and return the dish to the oven for the last 10 minutes of baking.

Enjoy!

Looking for more recipes with sweet potatoes?

• Vegan Adzuki Bean, Kale and Sweet Potato Soup
• Lentils and Kale Stuffed Baked Sweet Potato
• Kale Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato, Spiced Chickpeas and Yogurt Dressing

Print Recipe

Vegan Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

serves: 1 8X12-inch (20X30 cm), or similar size, baking dish

Ingredients:

for the sweet potatoes puree –

• 3 medium size sweet potatoes – about 2.2 pounds/ 1 kg, well washed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

for baking the sweet potatoes –

• 1 pound/ ½ kg coarse salt
• olive oil for brushing the sweet potatoes

for the lentil layer –

• 1 cup green lentils, washed well and drained. although not mandatory – I prefer soaking the lentils for at least 2 hours
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs of celery (1 cup), chopped
• 1 small sweet potato (1 cup), pilled and grated finely
• 3½-oz / 100 gr peeled and roasted chestnuts, coarsely chopped
• 14-oz / 400 gr crushed tomatoes ot tomato puree
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 springs of fresh oregano, chopped, or 1 tablespoon dry oregano
• 1 sprig rosemary (1 tablespoon), chopped
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup water

Instructions:

• starting with baking the potatoes – preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Prepare a baking pan lined with baking paper or silicone mat and sprinkle a thick layer of coarse salt on it, which will serve as a base for the sweet potatoes. Brush the sweet potatoes with some olive oil and prick them all over using a fork. Place them on the coarse salt bed, and bake for about an hour, until the sweet potatoes are very soft. Allow to cool.
• While the sweet potatoes are baking, start preparing the lentils' layer. In a wide, deep pan, heat olive oil. Add chopped onions and celery and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add finely grated sweet potatoes and chopped garlic and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients – coarsely chopped chestnuts, crushed tomatoes (or tomato puree), oregano, rosemary, sweet paprika, salt, black pepper and one cup of water. Mix well, cover and bring to a boil. After boiling, lower to medium-low heat and cook for 25-30 minutes, until all the liquid evaporates and the lentils are soft. Leave covered for a few more minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, lightly grease a 8X12-inch (20X30 cm, or similar size) baking dish with a little olive oil.
• Prepare the sweet potato puree – remove the peel from the sweet potatoes, it should peels off quite easily. Transfer the sweet potatoes to a bowl and mash the sweet potatoes with a fork or a potato masher. Add to the mixture 2 tablespoons of olive oil, finely chopped parsley, salt and pepper and mix well.
• Assembling the dish: place the lentil stew on the bottom of the baking pan and flatten it using a fork or a spoon. Place the sweet potato puree on top of the lentils' layer and flatten it evenly. If desired, you can move a fork over the top layer and create a nice shape. Bake uncovered for an hour. If you want a nice brown crust of the top layer, carefully take the dish out of the oven after 50 minutes of baking, drizzle over some olive oil and return to the oven for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Enjoy!

Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out!
comment below or share it on instagram and tag #thehappylentils

הפוסט Vegan Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

Today’s recipe is all about wild rice. The first thing you need to know about wild rice is that it’s not really rice. It looks a bit like rice, and that is where it got the name wild rice, but it doesn’t belong to the same family. It is considered a healthy grain, and the bonus is that it’s also super tasty.

Wild rice looks a bit like twigs, but after cooking it opens and swells slightly and the its white inside is revealed. You should always make sure to buy it from stores you trust since it’s critical that it would be kept in cool and dry environment.

Its cooking is very simple – heat a little olive oil in a saucepan, add the wild rice and saute for about a minute while stirring. Add water in a ratio of 1: 3 (for every cup of wild rice 3 cups of water), cover and bring to a boil. Lower to low heat and cook for about 50 minutes plus or minus.

In the following recipe I paired the wild rice to the purple cabbage. Both wild rice and cooked cabbage have deep and earthy flavors and they truly compliment each other, not to mention the purple cabbage gives the dish the most amazing color. Because the cabbage itself contains liquids, the recipe calls for less water then the usually needed for cooking wild rice.

If you like this dish you will love:

• Stuffed Cabbage with Freekeh, Dried Fruits and Pine Nuts
• Antipasto Brown Rice Salad

Print Recipe

Wild rice with red cabbage

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 cup wild rice, well washed and drained
• 1/4 red cabbage
• 2 medium onions or one very large one
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons wine vinegar or balsamic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2½ cups of water
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

Instructions:

• Cut out the core of the cabbage. Then thinly slice the cabbage into thin ribbons or strips. Peel the onions, slice in half and then thinly slice the onions into strips as well.
• Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Add the finely sliced ​​onion and sauté until transparent for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the sliced ​​cabbage, coarsely chopped walnuts, chopped garlic, salt and pepper and continue to cook while stirring for another 5 minutes, until the cabbage is slightly reduced in volume.
• Add the washed wild rice, vinegar and water. Mix well, cover and bring to a boil. Lower to low heat (but not the minimum heat – just low heat) and cook for 50-60 minutes. While cooking, stir the dish occasionally – if at some point the liquids run out, then you can add water up to a maximum of an additional half a cup of water. The stew is ready when the wild rice kernels are burst open and the water evaporate completely. Leave the pot covered for an additional 5 minutes after the end of cooking.
• Sprinkle on the chopped parsley and serve. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out!
comment below or share it on instagram and tag #thehappylentils

הפוסט Wild Rice with Red Cabbage הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

When it comes to stuffed dishes, I really don’t know what I love the most- eating it or preparing it… There is something relaxing, almost therapeutic in their preparation, like all of a sudden a kind of calmness takes over me and I am all aimed at the end result of a fancy stuffed dish pot.

Stuffed food. What a glorious phrase. Always so beautiful, inviting, as if it holds a promise of delicious, warm, family food. When preparing stuffed food, you should come with a muse. Yes, yes, a muse. After all, you’re about to spend the next hour preparing the dish, and that’s before you even start cooking, so a muse will help. I look at it as a quality time with myself 🙂

So there’s a muse, and time too, and now that winter is at full force, spending hours in the kitchen seems like a legitimate activity. And this time I wanted to fill cabbage. I was thinking about this stuffed cabbage long before I actually made it. I thought about what to fill it with, what size of stuffed cabbage I wanted to make, the nuts and dried fruits I would use. I swear I already knew exactly what it would look like and how it would taste like long before I bought cabbage.

And let me tell you – the actual “event” didn’t disappoint. Bowls and pots were scattered all over my kitchen, music in the background, my hair is pulled up in a messy pony tale and I’m floating between the cabbage leaves and the freekeh mixture, imagining Eyal Shani (an israeli chef known for his poetic descriptions of food) doing commentary in the background. And when I saw my pot getting fuller one stuffed cabbage after another, I thought to myself again how beautiful stuffed food looks, and I remembered how my grandmother would fill the smallest zucchinis, I have no idea how she managed to find such small zucchinis at all, and what she would think about me stuffing cabbage leaves, and even without meat

So… as I implied before, you should approach the preparation of the stuffed cabbage with lots of patience and, of course love. The first step will be to boil the cabbage in water, so that the leaves will soften and ready to be rolled. As for size – I like to make them full and plump, but you can make them as you prefer.

I chose to fill the cabbage with freekeh (durum wheat which is roasted or smoked), along with lots of other goodies like pine nuts, prunes and dried cranberries, sauteed onions, lots of parsley and silan (date syrup), which adds another layer of sweetness to the dish. A real treat.

Print Recipe

Stuffed Cabbage with Freekeh, Dried Fruits and Pine Nuts

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time2 hours hrs

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

serves: 8

Ingredients:

• 1 medium size cabbage

for the freekeh filling-

• 1½ cups freekeh, washed and drained
• 2 medium size onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup wall nuts
• 1/2 cup natural dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup prunes, pitted and chopped
• 1½ cups parsley, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons natural silan (date syrup)
• 1 teaspoon baharat (see notes)
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• boiling water for the softening of the cabbage and for soaking the freekeh

for the sauce-

• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons natural silan (date syrup)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

• Saute the onions- heat a pan or a skillet over medium-low heat with one tablespoon of olive oil. add the onions, a pinch of slat and a pinch of black pepper and saute it while stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes till nice and golden. set aside to chill.
• Preparing the cabbage for stuffing – using a sharp knife, carefully remove the cabbage core by creating a kind of cone around it with the knife. Prepare a large pot, big enough to hold the cabbage, place the cabbage in it and carefully pour over boiling water till the water cover half of the cabbage. cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes on one side, then turn and cook 10 more minutes on the other side. Drain carefully. There are other methods for softening the cabbage – please see notes.
• Once the cabbage has softened, the cabbage leaves can be easily separated by hand- simply peel them and place it aside on a clean plate. Continue separating the cabbage leaves until you reach the leaves that are too small to fill. Keep what is left of the cabbage – we will use it as a bedding for the bottom of the pot.
• Place the freekeh in a medium bowl. Fill the bowl with boiling water, till the water will pass the freekeh by about 2 cm/ ¾-inch. Soak the freekeh in the boiling water for 10 minutes then strain.
• In a large mixing bowl place the strained freekeh, saute onions, pine nuts, dried cranberries, pitted and chopped prunes, chopped parsley, date syrup (silan), bahert, salt and pepper. Stir well.
• Prepare a wide pot or a saute pan that has a lid. Grease the bottom of the pot with a tablespoon of olive oil. Chop the leftover cabbage coarsely and use it to cover the bottom of the pot. If not enough, chop some onions so that the bottom of the pot is covered completely.
• Fill the cabbage – take one cabbage leaf. Each leaf has a central stem that is too thick to roll, so using a knife either remove the central stem completely or polish the stem enough so that the leaf can be rolled (I polish it). Place the cabbage leaf on a clean surface and put about 2 generous tablespoon of the filling in the center of the leaf. Next, fold both sides of the cabbage leaf to the center and then roll it from the bottom up. Place the cabbage leaf in the pot / saute pan, with the seam facing down. Repeat for all cabbage leaves. If there is any filling left at the end, I like to place it in the gaps between all the stuffed cabbages.
• Make the sauce – mix water, silan (date syrup) and salt and pour carefully on the stuffed cabbage leaves. The liquid should cover the cabbage leaves up to about 3/4 of their height.
• Cover the pot / saute pan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Lower to medium-low heat and cook for about an hour. Enjoy:)

Notes:

• There are other methods for softening the cabbage leaves – my mother, for example, puts the cabbage in the freezer over night, and then the leaves are softened and easily separated. You can also soften the cabbage in the microwave – put it in a closed dish suitable for microwave and cook for about 10 minutes.
• Baharat is a spice blend that has in it cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom, salt and pepper (it may contain other ingredients too). If you don’t have baharat you can use allspice or a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg.

הפוסט Stuffed Cabbage with Freekeh, Dried Fruits and Pine Nuts הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

Everyone has these dishes he or she makes almost automatically, dishes you cook / prepare without even thinking about it and that the hands kind of “know” what to do. Sometimes these dishes are the ones we make regularly, and then usually we have all the ingredients at home, or at least on the fixed shopping list. For me at this point in life, the dish I make most automatically is… israeli couscous (can you even call israeli couscous a dish? I think you can!) But it’s without a doubt because of my kids, who could eat israeli couscous for breakfast, lunch and dinner if it depended on them. By the way, along with the israeli couscous, and in the same category, is of course simple white rice.

There are dishes that your hands can make automatically because of a certain cooking style. That is, the ingredients can change but the seasoning and the way you cook them remain the same. Like the Moroccan seasoning paprika-cumin-turmeric or the French onion-celery-carrots or something similar. Sometimes the cooking style comes from home, sometimes it’s something we fell in love with on the way and adopted, it really doesn’t matter.

And than there are the dishes that we do automatically even if we haven’t done them for a long time, simply because they are part of who we are. Just like we will always remember the way to our childhood home or our best friend from school’s phone number. If I had to choose one such dish for me, it’ll probably be vegetable soup, but the classic one, like the Jewish chicken soup without the chicken. This soup, even if I wouldn’t make for two years or even ten years, I’ll know automatically- without any recipe, but with lots of love, to bring together the most amazing vegetable soup. It probably won’t be exactly the same as the one I made before (they never are…), but it sure will be from the same family, and that’s exactly the point.

Here is a dish that really didn’t automatically come to me. I don’t usually buy or cook with corn, but I saw these beautiful white corns at my local vegetables store and I just had to buy them. Cooking the corn with the miso creates an interesting combination (I think miso is general has a genius flavor) and all the other additions – roasted corn, chili oil, green onions and coriander are an integral part of the soup and you shouldn’t give up any of them.

One last thing (which is also in the recipe’s notes) – you don’t have to make chili oil. It is possible to buy or use your favorite spicy sauce (including Tabasco), but I wouldn’t give up a little spice in the soup completely since it gives a good balance to the sweetness of the corn.

Print Recipe

White Corn and Miso Soup with Chili Oil

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course: Soup

serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 3 cups white corn (I used 4 cobs for it)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup miso paste
• 4 cups water
• 2 springs green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1½ tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

for the chili oil-

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1-2 dried chili peppers

Instructions:

• In a suitable pot on a medium heat warm up a tablespoon of olive oil. Add chopped onions, salt and black pepper, stir and cook while stirring for about 3 minutes, until the onions are softened and golden.
• Add the miso paste and 4 cups of water. Stir well until the miso is melted completely in the liquid.
• Keep aside for later about 1/4 cup of corn. Add the remaining corn to the pot, stir and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for 40 minutes.
• During this time, roast the corn we kept aside in a small pan with ½ tablespoon of olive oil for about two minutes while stirring. Keep aside.
• Make the chili oil (see notes) – In a small pot, add olive oil and dried chili pepper. Cook on a minimal heat for 20-25 minutes. Minimal heat is required so that the dried chili pepper won't burn or be fried but only allow its flavors to season the oil. Strain if you like (I do).
• Blend the prepared soup either using an immersion blender or a regular blender. Before serving, stir in the roasted corn, green onions and cilantro and drizzle over 2-3 tablespoons of the chili oil. Enjoy 🙂

Notes:

• Chili oil – as I said, you don’t have to make chili oil. You can buy ready made chili oil or use your preferred chili sauce (including Tabasco). It’s also possible to use chili flakes instead. If you choose to prepare the chili oil then of course the dried chilies you choose to use will affect the taste of the oil. There are many types of dried chilies. There are the bigger ones, which are usually less spicy – in this case I would use two. There are the little ones that are usually very spicy, and then I would use one. Feel free to use any chili oil that is left for any other stews.

הפוסט White Corn and Miso Soup with Chili Oil הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

What a crazy life we live here.

I woke up yesterday morning earlier than usual. Not because of any prophetic feeling, Tamar was supposed to go on her class annual trip to Jerusalem so I got up early to arrange all the things she’ll need. When I opened my phone and got updated on the mess in the south of Israel (at that point it was only there) my heart started pounding hard. Missiles on the south again. An hour later, it was already clear that there was not going to be any school trip or school day, and in general all other plans made for this day were just irrelevant.

What a crazy reality we live here.

Shifting to automatic mode. I know exactly what to do and how to behave. Not to be too stressed, not to be too relaxed. Ready, primed. One side of the brain plays with the children, the other side makes sure there is some open window to hear what’s going on outside, if by chance… telling everyone that “everything is fine” but in my mind I can’t avoid so many question marks. Such a surreal life we live sometimes.

I go into my kitchen. It feels like I have to cook, has to put some normality into everything that’s going on outside. Next week we will all forget again that all this has happened, or at least we will try to pretend so. That, too, is part of our life here.

I love squash. any kind. Squashes are so comforting and satisfying. Roasting the acorn squash,which is relatively sweet, along with the sweet date syrup (silan), combined with the spicy harissa, gives a kind of “kick” to the dish and you get this exciting side dish you just can’t stop to eat.

Print Recipe

Baked Acorn Squash with Harissa and Date Honey (Silan)

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 units acorn squash
• 2 tablespoons Silan (date honey syrup), natural
• 1 tablespoon harissa – I always use spicy harissa
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and prepare a large oven tray lined with baking paper or silicone roasting mat.
• Slice the acorn squashes horizontally into slices about ½-inch/ 1-cm thick. Using a spoon, remove the acorn seeds from the center of the slices.
• In a mixing bowl, put silan (date syrup), harissa, olive oil, salt and pepper, and mix to combine. Pour the mixture over the acorn squash slices and mix so that all the slices are evenly coated.
• Spread the acorn squash slices in a single-layer over your baking sheet/mat. Sprinkle over thyme branches and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the acorn squash is golden and soft.

הפוסט Baked Acorn Squash with Harissa and Date Honey הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

I came to India for the first time almost 20 years ago. It took me less than two hours to decide that it was a huge mistake and to book a plane ticket (!) for the next day to Nepal. Something about the hustle and bustle of Delhi couldn’t connect with me at the beginning, It was almost frightening. After a month in Nepal, I came back to India, and this time I fell in love, and stayed. I stayed a little over six months to be exact. I returned to India twice more since then.

India is like nothing I’ve known before It is colorful and monotonous, noisy and quiet, green and yellow, India is so huge, so different, and for me, it allowed me to be who I wanted to be. There was no other place (or time) where I was so free and self-centered, and probably never will be.

I wish I could tell about all the amazing flavors of the Indian cuisine and how I would watch Indian men and women cook all kinds of things at dahbas along the way, but the truth is that I don’t have much of such stories. Maybe because the experience I was in was different, but too many times I just found myself eating some omelette sandwich, and at that time, for me, the Indian cuisine was limited to only a few dishes.

It was only when I came back home that I fell in love with Indian food in particular and asian food in general. It started out from missing that time and place, but of course it continued because of the excellent cuisine. Obviously there are million types of asian cuisines, even only in India, but for me there is a thread that connects between all of them, spices and herbs that appear again and again and characterize these dishes in taste, smell and appearance. And above all, as always, this wonderful thing called food is much more than just a collection of flavors, it can, in a second, awake and ignite experiences, remind us of places and smells, and almost take us to a completely different time and location than we are at.

This particular curry is more Thai curry than Indian one, just saying. I built this curry from scratch, and although there are so many store-bought curry pastes, and even pretty good ones, it’s fun to sometimes make your own curry and to be able to control exactly the flavors in it, not to mention it’s really super easy 🙂

Print Recipe

Green Curry with Charred Tofu, Green Vegetables and Coconut Cream

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

serves: 4

Ingredients:

for the curry paste-

• 1 red onion
• 1 cup fresh coriander (about a half of a nice bunch)
• 2 green or red chili peppers (please see notes)
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 5 cm / 2 inch piece of ginger
• 2 stalks lemongrass
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (please use GF if needed)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

the rest of the ingredients-

• 300 gr / 11 oz firm tofu
• 400 ml / 14 oz coconut cream
• 300 gr / 11 oz broccoli florets, cut into medium size florets
• 150 gr / 6 oz green bean, cut into bite size
• 150 gr / 6 oz peas (about 1 cup), I used frozen peas
• 1/2 bunch coriander, chopped
• 2 stems green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup basil

Instructions:

• Tofu – slice the tofu into medium cubes and place them on a clean towel or a few paper towels. place another clean towel (or a few papers towels) on top of the cubed tofu and press it down gently in order to squeeze the liquids out of the tofu. This is probably the most important thing in the preparation of a good charred tofu. Heat a non-stick pan for 3-4 minutes (if you don't have one- add to the pan one tablespoon of vegetable oil), when the pan is really hot gently place the tofu cubes in it. Let the tofu char well for 2-3 minutes on each side, keep aside.
• – Before starting to prepare the paste, gently crush the cumin and coriander seeds to release their flavors using a mortar and pestle. If you don't have one (buy!) you can use a spice grinder or even a rolling pin. Cut the lemongrass, remove all the tough and woody outer leaves and chop roughly.
• Preparing the curry paste – In a food processor, place all the curry paste ingredients – red onion, coriander, chili pepper, crushed cumin and coriander seeds, ginger, chopped lemongrass, garlic, soy sauce and brown sugar. Feel free to roughly chop the ingredients before placing them in the food processor (see notes). Turn on the processor and grind all the ingredients for a few minutes until you get a uniform curry paste. Make sure to stop the food processor from time to time so you could scrape the sides of the food processor. That's it, you made a curry paste 🙂
• In a deep and wide sauté pan, or a large pan, place the curry paste and heat it for 2-3 minutes while stirring. Add coconut cream, mix well and bring to a boil. Continue to cook for another 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add to the pan the broccoli florets and charred tofu, stir and cook for 5-7 minutes on a medium heat. Add the peas and green beans and cook for another 4 minutes. Stir occasionally.
• Before serving, sprinkle generously with coriander leaves, basil leaves and chopped green onions. Serve alongside rice. Bon appetit!

Notes:

• As mentioned, most of the sauce is observed in the vegetables. If you want extra sauce, you can add 1 cup of water or another cup of coconut cream to the pan when adding the coconut cream.
• Chili Pepper – you can use either green or red. The dish is spicy to a medium degree, feel free to add or reduce one chili if you’d like. If you don’t like spicy food you can add the chili without the seeds in it and if you really don’t like spicy food then don’t put any chili in it. 
• Food processor – preparing the curry paste in a food processor makes it really easy. Each food processor has a different strength and there’s no one who knows your food processor better than you so chop and slice the ingredients before placing them in the food processor as needed. You can use a pole blender, but then the ingredients need to be chopped really well, including crushing the garlic and grating the ginger.
• You can use frozen beans.
• Don’t try to taste the curry paste before you add it to the coconut cream. I mean, you can try, but the paste is of course concentrated on its flavors. It will balance in the dish.

הפוסט Green Curry with Charred Tofu, Green Vegetables and Coconut Cream הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.