Pasanda Tofu Curry / Broccoli Parathas

You can put broccoli in bread?? Count me in.

Also, the filling was so good that I just ate some of it on its own while I was making the parathas.

I had these with a curry recipe from Vegan Richa (oh man am I excited for her cookbook to come out!) that featured tofu in a spicy tomato gravy (here's another one, also good).

Broccoli Paratha recipe
(from rak's kitchen--check out their page for step-by-step photos)

Ingredients
1 c wheat flour
1 tsp cayenne
1 TB oil (+ as needed)
salt to taste
*
1 1/2 c broccoli, grated
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp ginger minced
3/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp garam masala
pinch turmeric
salt to taste
2 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seed

Instructions
1. Prepare dough with approx. 1/2 cup water (plus or minus as needed) using the first table ingredients. Keep aside while you prepare stuffing and make equal sized balls out of it at the time of rolling.
2. Wash and tap the excess water from broccoli. You can either grate or run it in a food processor. I actually just chopped the heck out of it.
3. Heat oil in large skillet and add cumin; cook a minute or two. Add ginger and onion, fry till onion turns transparent. Add grated broccoli and mix for a minute. Add turmeric, salt, red chilli and garam masala powder. Mix and cook covered for 2 minutes in medium flame. Once done, transfer to a bowl. Spread the dough ball into thick circle as shown in the picture and stuff with 3 tblsp of the prepared broccoli.
4. Pinch the dough towards centre to close and make a pocket. Dust generously and start rolling our into thick parathas. Reverse the paratha while rolling in between and dust with flour if needed. Heat large frying pan until hot and cook the rolled out paratha both sides in medium flame.

*

Tofu Pasanda Curry
(from vegan richa)

Roasted Tomato Soup

My grandma Shirley often asked--what seemed like nearly every time I saw her--if I liked tomatoes yet, and I was always indignant at her knowing implication that some day I would. Tomato soup sounded like the stupidest food ever--not only is it made of a hateful vegetable; it also has no substance--what's the point?

A decade or two later, I'm obviously eating my words. But in my defense, I think it also had to do with the quality of store-bought tomatoes. Someday I will have a garden and grow the best tomatoes in the world.

The First Mess is such a beautiful blog, both in terms of its recipes and in terms of their presentation. This recipe for roasted tomato soup was no exception. I halved the recipe and added a roasted red pepper.

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup 
(from the first mess)

Ingredients
1 red bell pepper, fire roasted on a gas stove (black parts peeled off, seeded and de-stemmed, etc)
2-ish pounds of tomatoes
2 shallots, peeled
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped from stems
olive oil
salt + pepper
1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2hours + drained
1/2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup basil leaves, packed
1-2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Instructions
1. Roast pepper; when cooled, prepare and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Cut any large tomatoes into quarters. Cut medium Tomatoes into halves and leave any cherry or grape tomatoes whole. Spread them out in a single layer on the baking sheet with any cut sides facing up. Cut peeled shallots into quarters and nestle amongst tomatoes. Stick garlic cloves into juicy spots of tomatoes or nestle them between cut tomatoes like the shallots (just to avoid burnt + bitter garlic).
4. Scatter thyme leaves on top of tomatoes. Drizzle some olive oil on top of everything, using no more than 1 tablespoon. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper and slide the tray into the oven. Roast for about an hour, or until the tomatoes have shrivelled up a bit and the shallots are soft. Let cool slightly.
5. In batches, blend the roasted tomatoes with the soaked cashews, tomato paste, basil, and vegetable stock until you have a smooth purée. Pour blended soup into a large pot. Once you’ve blended everything, including the accumulated juices in the baking sheet, add the balsamic vinegar to the pot. Bring the soup to a boil, check it for seasoning + adjust, and serve hot with extra basil and olive oil drizzles.

Hash Brown Waffle (Kartwoffel!)

This was the first thing I made with my birthday waffle maker. Actually, it's probably the reason I got a waffle maker. And it is amazing. Fool proof. Impossible to burn them. Perfectly crisp. Nonstick. The real question is why anyone ever makes hash browns NOT in a waffle iron.

You just need a lot of oil.

Waffle Maker Hash Browns
(from macheesmo)

Ingredients
2 medium Yukon potatoes, grated
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Instructions
1. Grate potatoes and add to a bowl of cold water. Then drain and lay out on paper towels. Pat very dry. Add to bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix so that the potatoes are all lightly coated with oil.
2. Heat up the waffle iron. When it's hot add the potatoes--they will grow smaller as they cook so really load up the iron. Cook for about 8 minutes. You can check on them after the first five, but checking too soon may cause the waffle to stick.