tomato

dal

Cold winter nights seem to conjure up the strangest, most delicious craving for warm and spicy Indian food. We’ve been to most restaurants in the city and have decided to make our own Dal. The result? You’d gladly pay for this meal at a restaurant, but now you don’t have to.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup red lentils
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 onion, diced/chopped
8 cloves garlic (we can never have too much)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon red chili powder
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup tomato sauce
salt to taste
1 cup water, or enough to make it the consistency you desire

Instructions
Cook the lentils separately. While lentils are cooking, chop 1 onion and garlic. Heat 2 tablespoons oil and cumin seeds in a medium stockpot. Saute onion, garlic, turmeric powder, chili powder, and sprinkle cayenne if you like spice. Reduce to simmer, chop tomato and add to pot – cook until soft. Add tomato sauce (we used our own home-made version), cooked lentils and water; bring to a boil for a few minutes, and salt to taste.

We are about to blow your minds: nori isn’t just for making sushi. In fact this seaweed can be used to make what is arguably one of the best wraps. Ever. Someone here loves this so much she ate it for lunch every single day last week and then again today. There is something about the blending of all these flavors and yet still being able to taste them separately that drives our taste buds wild. Hopefully it does the same for you.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4 (or two hungry people)

Ingredients
4 sheets of dried nori (typically found in the ethnic section of the grocery, or pick some up at your local Asian market)
4 big romaine or red leaf lettuce leaves
1.5 cups mung bean sprouts (we advise against canned; go for the fresh ones- we found some at Raisin Rack)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 radishes, sliced
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 cucumber sliced
1 tomato, diced
1 avocado, sliced
1 cup peanuts (optional)
Dressing:
2 Tbsp tamari (gluten-free soy sauce, or use regular if you’re not gluten-sensitive)
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tsp toasted sesame seed oil

Instructions

Chop all your veggies. Put each leaf of lettuce on a place and place nori sheet on top before filling with all the vegetables listed. For your dressing, mix the tamari, apple cider vineger, and toasted sesame seed oil all together in a small container and then pour over each open-faced veggie pile. Keep as-is to eat or roll up into a wrap. Caution: it’s a bit messy (mainly because we were devouring it) so keep a napkin or paper towel handy.