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Deliciously quick & easy vegetarian/
​vegan recipes
 

5th Anniversary Recipe - 5min Vegan Creamy Mushroom Pasta!

11/21/2019

1 Comment

 
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American Moments Turns 5!

Yes, it was on a cold dark pre-winter November evening (Nov 14th to be precise) in 2014 in  Bluebell, Pennsylvania when the idea for American Moments was born. Now, 5 years later and after more than 222 recipes, its still going strong. I must confess, it has been an absolute challenge to find time to try new recipes, take beautiful well laid out Instagram worthy photos and post them, but I promise they will be posted more regularly. I now make a resolution for the upcoming 2020 to post at least 2 recipes per month? If I falter, please give me a jolt?

I came across this super easy mushroom pasta which looked so creamy without any cheese. How incredible! Just by using flour and coconut milk, a creamy base was created. Packed with mushrooms, it is a perfect weeknight meal. Inspired by mushroom stroganaff, I had to try it and see if my vegan daughters would love it! Yes, its unbelievably quick and easy to make this pasta dish! Girls loved it !! Hv your ingredients all ready and on medium to high heat, this only takes 5 mins!
The recipe below serves 4. 

Ingredients 
250gm (3 cups) large Penne Pasta, cooked al dente
3 tbsps vegan butter 
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
500gm white button mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
4 tbsps plain all purpose flour
200ml thin coconut or any other non dairy milk
100ml veg stock
1 tsp dijon mustard (optional)
Salt and pepper per preference
A sprig of thyme for garnish and a dash of black pepper/chilli flakes

Method
1) Cook the penne pasta till al dente, drain and set aside.


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2) Heat the vegan butter in another pot and fry the chopped onions until softened.
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3) Then, add the crushed garlic, oregano and the sliced mushrooms. Fry till the mushrooms are cooked and softened.
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4) Add the all purpose flour and stir fry for around 1 min. 
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5) Then, add in the coconut or any other non dairy milk you are using and vegetable stock. Keep on stirring till it reaches a simmer. It should be perfectly thick and creamy by now.
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6) Add in the salt, pepper and dijon mustard together with the cooked pasta. Toss well.
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7) Garnish with thyme and serve warm. If it thickens up after some time, add 1/2 cup hot water, stir and warm it up. It should loosen up and be creamy. 
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(223rd Recipe Credit :  LovingItVegan)
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15 min Chinese Vegetable Soup!

11/16/2019

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Now that autumn is giving way to cold wintery days, this Chinese  Vegetable soup will come in handy. Yes, it can be whipped up in 15 mins if you have all the ingredients ready. Quick and easy! Vegan and gluten free, this soup is pretty versatile too in that you can just throw in any vegetables you have in your fridge. Serve it with a small serving of brown rice or even quinoa and you have a protein-packed (tofu, peanuts) belly-filling meal. This is quite a straighforward recipe which doesn't require step by step photos. 

Ingredients (Serves 4 as a side soup or 2 as a main meal)
  • 1 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 heaped tsp ginger, minced or pounded
  • 2 heaped tsps mushroom powder (See pic below)
  • 1 tsp sambal oelek  (see pic below) or sirarcha sauce
  • 3 cups of water
  • 1/4 of a large zucchini, cut into chunks
  • 6 snow peas deveined and cut into 2
  • 1/4 of a green/ yellow capsicum, cut into large chunks
  • 10 heads of shimeji mushrooms
  • 8 cherry tomatoes cut into 2
  • 1 cup boiled peanuts
  • 1 block of silken tofu, cubed
  • 1 tbsp corn flour mixed with 1/2 cup water
  • some sesame seeds and a sprig of coriander leaves to garnish
  • a small serving of sliced bird's eye chilli in soy sauce and green chilli in vinegar on the side ​
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Method
1. Heat a medium sized saucepot and fry the pounded ginger.
2) Add in the mushroom powder and sambal oelek.
3) Now, pour in 3 cups of water and add the hardier vegetables like zucchini, snow peas and capsicum first. Let the soup boil then reduce fire and let it simmer for 5 mins.
4) After 5 mins, add in the cherry tomatoes, shimeji mushrooms and peanuts. Boil again for another 5 mins. 
5) Lastly add in the silken tofu and stir. Cook for another 2-3mins on low heat. 
6) ​Add the corn flour mix and let the soup thicken. This will happen instantly.
7) Serve warm garnished with sesame seeds and coriander leaves. 
(222nd Recipe) 
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Grilled Tofu Steaks with Quinoa

11/15/2019

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I recently tried this delicious Grilled Tofu on Quinoa at the Food For Thought Cafe at the National Museum of Singapore. I'm not usually a fan of quinoa but to be honest, this was quite delicious. Quinoa was not cooked plain but with veg stock and it was topped with a vegetable tomato gravy and again topped with the grilled tofu.  Its vegan and gluten free too! The portion size was quite small for a whopping $16 but its a good take away recipe to try at home. The ingredients below serves 1.

Ingredients (For Flavoured Quinoa)
  • 1/2 cup quinoa
  • 2 cups vegetable stock (low salt)
  • Salt if required

Ingredients (Vegetable Tomato Gravy)
  • 2 tbsps canola oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped small
  • 3 garlic cloves, pounded 
  • 1/2 can of Hunts diced tomatoes/1 large tomato cut into medium sized cubes
  • 1 tsp garlic herb salt (see picture below)
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1/4 of a large zucchini cut into strips
  • 1/2 of red capsicum, cut into strips
  • 1/2 cup of shimeji mushroom (10 heads), rinsed
  • Salt per preference
  • 1 block of firm tofu, cut into 4 rectangle steaks

Method 
1) Firstly, rinse and cook the quinoa in the vegetable stock till all the liquid has evaporated.
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2) Next, grill the tofus in shallow oil. Remove them when slightly golden brown and leave them on kitchen paper to absorb the oil. 
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3) Start getting the ingredients of the vegetable tomato gravy ready. Add 2 tbsps of canola oil to medium sized pot and start frying the chopped yellow onion and garlic.
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4) Next add the garlic herb blend spice powder and chilli flakes.  
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5) Add the sliced zucchini, red capsicum and shimeji mushrooms. Let them cook on medium heat for 5 mins.
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6) Afterwhich, add the diced tomatoes from the can or chopped tomatoes. 
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7) Let the whole gravy cook on medium heat for 10 mins. Check for seasonings and add more salt or garlic herb salt, if required.
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8) These are the ingredients I used for this recipe.
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9) Serve the tomato vegetable stew on top of a bed of quinoa and top this with the grilled tofu steaks. Garnish with a sprig of coriander leaf.
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    Hi guys! I'm Nilofar Iyer and I have shared my dishes here for you to cook for your own family and friends with love and most importantly with their long term good health in mind. 

    Bon Appetit!

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