Vegan Cashew Curry Sitr Fry

You know those days where you eat at like 3:30 in the afternoon and when supper comes along you don’t feel hungry but you still feel like you should eat something? That is what happened the night I made this. It was 8:00 and I was searching the kitchen for something to eat and was coming up with nothing. Not that we didn’t have any food in the house, I just was being indecisive about what I wanted. So I walked back into the living room and started to watch You Gotta Eat Here and what came on has changed my life forever!

It was a recipe for Cashew Curry sauce that was vegan! Holy Moly it looked amazing and really easy to make. I was super intrigued and it even caught the eye of Devon, the curry hater. So now I was torn, because it was 8:20 and kind of late to be making supper but I really, really, really wanted to make this… sooo I did! We decided to serve it over rice, and we were kind of pumped because we found white rice in the cupboard, something we haven’t had in a long time.

The whole meal only took around 35 minutes to make and it was well worth it. My thoughts of eating so late were silenced by the amazing flavours this supper had. I think I said “I love this” about 8 times while eating it, and now as I type this I am thinking about making it again for supper tonight. The sauce is creamy, thick, FULL of rich flavor and its not that high in fat which is a HUGE bonus. Aside from the oil there is only the cashews in the sauce which add fat, there is no milk or cream, the usual culprits in fatty sauces.

The only changes I made to the sauce from the show was that I reduced the cashews from one cup to ½, I didn’t put in cinnamon and nutmeg, and she used 2 large onions and no spinach. As I was making it I thought that 2 onions was a bit much, so what would be a good substitute for it? I didn’t want to add more cashews and I didn’t want to add something that would drastically change the flavor of the dish. That’s why spinach works so well, it adds great color, nutrients and body to the sauce without having to sacrifice any flavour or add any extra fat. It’s really a win, win here!

If you are a curry fan or are someone who is interested in trying it, I would say you NEED to try this! It wont disappoint you or your family and friends. Enjoy!  

Ingredients: 2 - 4 people

Cashew Curry Sauce

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 large yellow onion

½ cup of cashews, soaked overnight or for at least 4 hours

1 sm can of tomato paste

1 ½ cups of water

2 cups fresh spinach

2 tbsp curry powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

Red pepper flakes to taste

Heat up large frying pan, add oil. Sauté onions until they are golden brown, about 15 minutes on med heat. In a bowl whisk together the tomato paste and water until well blended, add to frying pan and stir in. Add in all spices, spinach and cashews cook for 10 minutes. Pour into a high speed blender and blend until smooth.

Stir Fry Vegetables and Rice

1 cup of rice

2 cups of water

2 tsp of oil

1 head broccoli

½ head cauliflower

4 stalks celery

½ sm. container white mushrooms

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup water

While the onions are cooking, I chopped up all of my vegetable and cooked my rice. Sauté the vegetables and garlic until fork tender, about 10 minutes. You could have these cooking in a separate frying pan while the cashew sauce is cooking, to save on time.

Add sauce to the vegetables in the frying pan, and stir in. I try not to waste anything, so after I am done pouring the sauce out, I take ½ cup of water and add it back into the blender, turn it on high to get all the sauce off the sides and pour it back into the pan. Just to make sure its all in!

Serve over rice, quinoa or noodles! Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo -N

Quinoa Pizza Bake, Vegan Gluten Free

I wont lie, I have already tried making this before, but last time I made them I put them into a cupcake pan. They didn’t turn out that well. Not that they didn’t taste good, they just didn’t hold their shape and they were hard to get out. I think if I had a mini cupcake pan, it would have worked a bit better, but all I have is a regular one.

Devon then suggested that we put it on a baking sheet instead, mainly because he likes it when the cheesy edges get all crispy. Also the last time I didn’t put in the ground flax, which really helps bind things together. If you need an egg replacer, ground flax is an easy substitute. For one egg its 1 tbsp of flax and 3 tbsp of water, mixed well and let sit for 10 mins. For my recipe I just put the flax into the pot with the quinoa right before its done cooking, that way I eliminate adding more water to the quinoa after its done cooking, and why not save a step.

The ingredients I have listed at the bottom are only guidelines to what could be put into this. If you like pineapple, olives, hot peppers, go for it. You don’t have to mix them in either, you could top the quinoa mixture with the olives and pineapple too. The possibilities are endless!

Ingredients
1 cup of uncooked quinoa
2 heaping tbsp ground flax seed
2 cups of water
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 red pepper
1 small can tomato paste
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 pkg of shredded Daiya cheese

If your quinoa is not pre washed, you will need to run it under cold water to remove the extra starch. Then add one cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water and cook until almost all of the water has evaporated (it cooks just like rice!), then add the 2 tbsps of ground flax and mix until well blended.  

Pre heat a large frying pan on med/high heat and add the oil. Saute the onions and garlic first until browned. Chop up all of your vegetables into tiny pieces and sauté them for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl combine quinoa/flax mixture with the vegetables, tomato paste, seasonings, and Daiya Cheese and stir until well combined. 

Grease a cookie sheet with coconut oil. Pour the mixture onto the pan and using your hands or the back of a spoon spread out until even. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve! 

Thanks for reading!
xoxo -N