Texas Tandoori

I’m not sure if that’s proper nomenclature, but we grilled Indian spiced veggies and tofu for one of the best meals ever. I used the marinade for "Mixed Grill" from World Vegetarian and it was fabulous. We had our first grilled broccoli and cauliflower, along with onions, portobellos, peppers, potatoes, zucchini, and tofu.

One mishap. I must have thought this pepper was from the farmers market, but it had a grocery store sticker I didn’t see.

I had so much fun making chutneys. Chase found the elusive curry leaves for me at our neighborhood Gandhi Bazar and I am completely in love with the flavor they impart.

I made a cooked tomato chutney, using my favorite parts of many different recipes, which was perfect with all the grilled veggies, and added great color.

I also made a cilantro chutney, which tasted just like my favorite jarred chutney from Gandhi, so I just added it to my near empty store bought jar. Chase made a tamarind “yogurt” chutney, but wasn’t happy with it. The BEST chutney recipe came from this week’s food section in our local paper. It’s made with ridged gourds which I buy frequently from my neighborhood grocer. (They’re called Chinese okra there and I buy them because they look like star shaped zucchinis!) The article was entitled “Vegan Chutney Wins Our Hearts.” One of the editors had just become a father and his in-laws from India came to help out with the baby and household chores. One day he brought a chutney (which he called “Indian guacamole”) to work for his colleagues to enjoy on toasted bread. The food editor was so impressed she asked for the recipe and the opportunity to watch it being made. Here’s the link to this wonderful article with the recipe and excellent ingredient tips. And here’s how mine turned out.

We also made "Lentils with Spinach" from World Vegetarian.

And "Coconut Milk Rice" from Rice and Spice which was like risotto and fabulous.

My plate.



I needed a colorful cool salad, so I tossed together one with greens, slaw, cilantro, chickpeas, radish, mango, and tomatoes – yum!

Peanut Butter cookies were our treats. I made Isa’s big soft cookies from this recipe on ppk. These were OMG fantastic! I made the whole batch of 40. I substituted spelt flour for the whole wheat. I added chocolate chips to one third, craisins to another third, and the other third were plain. The ones with craisins were my fave.

The cookies were also a great snack while we prepared dinner.

Chase starts classes tomorrow and has a full load this semester, so we’re going to do family feasts on Saturdays instead of Sundays. The only thing I dread about school starting is the 50,000 students who return to UT and create a traffic nightmare. My commute time will now double and that makes for a dreadfully long work week. I'm going to try to post more frequently with make-ahead and portable type meals for my hard working student, and I also need to get more creative for myself. My diet seems so limited without tofu and wheat (seitan) and although I've been enjoying lots of salads and steamed veggies, I've really gone into a summer slump.