Butternut Coconut Red Lentil Dal

I cheated. The picture above is the nicest picture I think I’ve taken of dal/lentil soup. It’s actually not the dal for the recipe, but… it’s lentils and squash, you get the idea. It’ll look similar. Dal is really hard to photograph nicely, so this is what you get, at least for now.

This recipe makes about 3 to 3.5 quarts of dal. I usually store it in quart mason jars, and put two in the freezer right away. Cut the recipe in half or a third if you don’t want a lot of leftovers. As written, it uses the whole squash, though.

Bits

  • 1 large sweet winter squash, such as butternut or kabocha, about 4.4 lbs or 2 kg
  • 3 cups dry red lentils
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp salt, more to taste
  • Coconut oil for pan-frying, optional
  • 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
  • 20 to 25 curry leaves – You can get these on Amazon in big bags, but they freeze really well in air-tight jars, and if you have some frozen, you can add them to recipes straight from the freezer. Dried curry leaves have so little flavor compared to fresh or frozen, I don’t think they’re worth it.
  • 2 serrano peppers, if you want a little spice; omit if not!
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 ½ – 2 Tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp Berbere spice mix, if you want some more spice, or a little spice and don’t have serrano peppers. If you don’t have Berbere spice, use chile powder to taste
  • ½ can lite coconut milk (or if tolerated, use regular coconut milk and use the whole can)

Algorithm

  • Roast the squash – This can be done up to a few days ahead. If you roasted your squash and it’s been a few days and you’re still not ready to make dal, just put the squash in an airtight container in the freezer until you’re ready to use it.
    • Preheat the oven to 425
    • Cut the top stem and any bottom knob off the squash, and then slice in half from top to bottom
    • Scoop out the seeds and strings from the middle and discard them
    • Place each half of the squash open side down in a large baking dish (such as a 9×13” glass dish)
    • Add about an inch of water to the dish.
    • Place the dish in the oven and let bake about 30 minutes, until the squash is baked all the way through, and there is almost no resistance when you push on the top with your finger or a spoon
    • Dump out the water, turn the squash halves over in the dish so the flesh is facing up, and let sit until cool enough to handle.
    • When cool, use a spoon to scoop out the flesh. You should have between 3 and 4 cups.
    • If you’re using a kabocha squash, the skin is edible and delicious. Discard any of the skin that has hard bits / “scars” but the rest is good to eat. Optionally, you could slice it up into small squares and add to your dal when it’s finished.
  • Clean the lentils. If you don’t wash them, your dal may taste gross!
    • Add the lentils to a deep bowl.
    • While filling the bowl with cold water, swish the lentils with your fingers to help clean them faster. When the bowl is full, skim off the bubbles/froth. Then use a strainer to drain the water. Repeat until the water in the bowl is clear and there is minimal froth.
  • Cook the lentils
    • Add the cleaned lentils to a large stock pot
    • Add 9 cups of water to the stock pot, and bring to a simmer
    • When the lentils start simmering, they’ll generate some foam; scoop out as much of the foam as you can, but don’t worry about getting it all.
    • Add the turmeric and salt, and let the lentils simmer while you do the next steps
  • Pan-frying
    • If you’re using it, add about a teaspoon of coconut oil to a small frying pan over medium heat. Otherwise, just put a small frying pan over medium heat.
    • Add the mustard seeds to the frying pan
    • After a few minutes when the mustard seeds start to pop, put a lid on the pan and take it off the heat.
    • Once the mustard seeds stop popping, add them to the stockpot with the lentils
    • If you’re using it, add more oil to the frying pan and add the curry leaves and serranos (if you’re using them).
    • Stir fry the curry leaves and serranos a few minutes until they become fragrant. Then add them to the stock pot with the lentils as well.
  • Finish the dal
    • After about 10 minutes of simmering, the lentils should start to fall apart. When they’re just starting to fall apart, add the roasted squash flesh and the coconut milk.
    • Once all the ingredients have been added to the stock pot, let everything simmer together for about 15 more minutes. Be sure to keep the heat low, and stir every few minutes, to prevent the dal from burning on the bottom. Have a lid ready to partially cover the pot if the dal starts to sputter (that’s probably a sign it needs a good stir, too). Add more water if it’s starting to look too thick, and sputtering a lot.
  • Serve and enjoy! Some totally optional things I sometimes like to top my dal with are:

Chickpea Flour Roasted Red Pepper Loaf

This is a fully grain-free, low-fat, robot-friendly loaf, that is still nice and sliceable and portable. Perfect for a picnic, or (my favorite) topped with a thick slice of tomato and an over-medium egg for breakfast in the morning.

Bits:

  • Dry
    • 1+ Tbsp mustard seeds (and optionally a little oil for frying)
    • 200 g chickpea flour
    • 2 Tbsp corn flour (it’s finer than corn meal, but coarser than corn starch)
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp baking powder
    • 2 tsp salt
    • 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
    • 1/2 tsp berbere spice mix (optional, but recommended if you can find it. I put it in everything.)
    • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
    • 1/2 tsp cumin powder
    • 1/2 tsp zatar
    • ~1 Tbsp black and white sesame seeds
  • Wet
    • 5 roasted red peppers (from a jar. I think this is about 200 g)
    • 175 g carrots
    • 1/4 cup / 70 g roasted mashed yam/winter squash/pumpkin
    • 1 egg
    • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
    • 1-2 Tbsp date syrup (about 20-40 g)
    • 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Algorithm:

  1. Heat oven to 300F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and lay roasted red peppers flat on the parchment. Optionally, blot them dry with a paper towel. Put the tray in the oven to dry out the peppers while you prep the other ingredients, about 20 minutes.
  2. Line a 9”x5” standard size loaf pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease paper with butter.
  3. Peel and grate the carrots. Set aside.
  4. Add about ¼ tsp – ½ tsp oil to a small frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start popping, put a lid or plate over the top and move the pan off the heat.
  5. Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl (sift chickpea flour as it tends to clump!).
  6. Add wet ingredients except the roasted red peppers and carrots to a small mixing bowl and stir until pretty much smooth.
  7. Take roasted red peppers out of the oven. Chop into roughly ¾” square bits. Set aside. Turn the oven heat up to 350F.
  8. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients except the carrots and roasted red peppers.. Fold with rubber spatula until almost combined.
  9. Gently stir the carrots and roasted red peppers into the mixture until just combined.
  10. The mixture will be thick, more like a rough cookie dough, than a runny batter. Smooth the mixture into the prepared bread pan and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
  11. Bake 45-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out *almost* clean. Check after 20 minutes and put a foil hat over the top when it starts to look darker on top.
  12. Enjoy warm or at room temperature. Wrap any leftovers tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Cauliflower Tofu Curry with Sugar Snap Peas

Bits:

  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • Seeds from about 6 cardamom pods (or 1 – 1 1/2 tsp whole cardamom seeds if your using the kind that come already de-podded in a spice bottle and had a “best by” date from about a year ago so they’ve lost some of their flavor… I won’t judge you if you don’t judge me)
  • 1 large yellow/white/sweet onion, halved and sliced
  • 1-2 serrano peppers or 1/2 tsp chili powder or 1 tsp Berbere seasoning (my preference)
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced (or garlic scapes if you can get them, which are low FODMAP!)
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 2 1/2 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp ras al hanout spice mix (I use Frontier Co-op, but use your favorite if you have one)
  • 1 head of cauliflower (about 2 lbs with stalk and leaves, about 1.75 lbs without)
  • 21-28 oz firm or extra-firm tofu, cut into ~1″ cubes, depending on how much tofu you like.
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cups total of lite coconut milk and/or milk alternative (e.g. soy milk)
  • 2 med-large zucchinis (I’ve also used green bell peppers here, which I can recommend as a substitute if you prefer)
  • 1 lb. sugar snap peas (use frozen peas to make up for however many fresh peas you don’t have)
  • To serve: cubed roasted potatoes (or rice, chapati, naan, or grain of choice)
  • Optional garnish: Greek yogurt (non-fat works great), Dal Mix

Algorithm

  1. Put a large frying / sauté pan or wide stock pot on medium heat.
  2. Add the cumin and cardamom seeds a couple of minutes until the cumin seeds get a shade darker and they start to smell fragrant. Add the chopped onion and sauté until golden, 5-10 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, peppers if you’re using them, and spices to the pan. Stir and let cook about 1 minute until they just start to smell fragrant.
  4. Add the cauliflower and tofu to the pan, and stir to mix with the onion and spices. Add the 1/2 cup water and the coconut milk; stir to combine. Put the lid on the pan and let simmer for 5 minutes, until the cauliflower has softened slightly.
  5. Meanwhile bring a small sauce pot of water to a boil. Add any frozen peas you’re using, let them come back to a boil and boil for about a minute. Add sugar snap peas, let them come back to a boil, and boil for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and strain from the water. Set aside
  6. Add in the zucchini (and/or green bell peppers) and stir. Let simmer for a couple minutes until the cauliflower is softened and cooked to your liking (shouldn’t take too long).
  7. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the peas.
  8. Serve with grain or starch of choice. Optionally, pass around Greek yogurt and Dal Mix to top each dish.

Green Mung Dosas

A stack of green mung bean dosas. Ready to go!

Low fat && Vegan && Grain-free

If you are grain-free, or grain-challenged, being able to have a “wrap” for a meal is a huge treat! (To be fair these contain a little fine corn meal, and I think corn can count as a whole grain depending on the context. I’ve omitted the corn meal from these before, it still works, so that’s an option if you need it!) These dosas are delicious with any number of fillings; pick your favorite wrap or sandwich filling, or even a mishmash of roasted veggies and a protein of your choice, and you are good to go. There’s one filling in particular I’ve been kind of obsessed with, so I’ll definitely be making a separate post for that one. I’ve got a couple other recipes in mind, that have made excellent dosa fillings in the past, so will probably also be making an appearance here eventually.

I’m not going to lie, making these dosas takes a little thinking ahead, but other than that there’s almost no prep required; after you’ve soaked the mung beans, everything goes into a blender and gets blitzed. It takes some time to make each dosa one at a time in a big frying pan, but fortunately the actual active time required from the cook is not too much; there is quite a bit of down time while each side of each dosa cooks. These dosas also freeze and reheat beautifully, so once you’ve made a batch, they can make putting together a meal pretty quick and easy. I recommend making a bunch whenever you have time and energy (and anytime you have extra greens that need to be used up!), whether or not you’re going to eat them right away. Then stick a few in the fridge in an airtight container and put the rest in the freezer (also in an airtight container, with parchment or wax paper between the container and between individual dosas) for later.

Probably the most important thing to know before diving into this recipe, is that you have to soak your dried mung beans for about 8 hours at room temperature, and you can safely leave them soaking at room temperature for up to 24 hours. So it helps if you can commit to making these a day in advance, and start soaking your beans right then. Fortunately, if you start soaking your beans and it turns out you’re not able to make dosas the day you planned to, just pop the soaking mung beans (still in their soaking water) into the fridge, where they’ll be fine to wait for you, up to a few days, until you’re ready to cook. I soak the beans in a mason jar with a lid; then if I’m not able to make the dosas when the beans have soaked, I just move the whole thing to the fridge.

If you give these a try, I’d love to hear how you eat them, and what you fill them with! Let me know in the comments!

Green Mung Dosas

Makes about eight 12-inch dosas / wraps — freeze and reheat *very well*

Bits:

  • 225 g (1 1/3 cups) whole dried mung beans, soaked at room temp for 8 to 24 hours
  • 14 oz cold water
  • 1 serrano pepper, roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp 1 tsp
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 2 Tbsp 1 tsp fine corn flour
  • 3-4 cups spinach or mixed hearty greens (I use Organic Girl Super Greens salad mix)
  • Butter, ghee, or oil to grease the frying pan, if needed

Algorithm:

  1. Heat a 12-inch frying pan or skillet on the stove on medium heat. (The larger the pan, the more filling you can stuff in the dosa! But don’t worry too much if you only have smaller frying pans; the dosas will be smaller, but you’ll of course get more of them).
  2. Add all ingredients to a large blender (use a high-speed / high power blender like a Vitamix if you have one). Blend just until the consistency is smooth and uniform.
  3. If your pan is not non-stick, grease it lightly with ghee, butter, or oil
  4. Pour 1/8th of the batter onto the hot pan and quickly tip the pan so the batter coats the whole bottom evenly. Let the dosa cook for a few minutes until the edges look dry and start pulling away from the pan.
  5. Flip the dosa and let it cook for two more minutes on the other side. TBH, I find it easiest to pull it up and flip it over with my fingers, but you can give it a try with spatulas if you like. Be careful when you are pulling the dosa up to flip it; if it starts to come apart in the middle, it’s not ready to flip yet! Try turning the heat down a nudge, and giving it another minute if this happens.
  6. Lift the dosa from the pan and set it on a plate to cool.
  7. Repeat until you’ve used up all the batter.

    * Notes about freezing and reheating: If you’d like to freeze some dosas for later, be sure to put some parchment or wax paper down on the bottom of a freezer-proof, airtight container. Fold each dosa on itself, however it will fit in the container. Put squares of parchment or wax paper between each dosa. If you don’t do this, the dosas may stick to each other and the container when you try to take them out (unless you want to reheat them all at once; I take them out of the freezer and use them one at a time, personally). When you want to eat one of your freezer dosas, take it straight out of the freezer but don’t try to unfold it yet. Put it in whatever shape its in on a large plate, and microwave it for 1 minute (full blast, no need to wait around for “defrost”). Once it’s warmed up, unfold it and put it back laid flat on the dinner plate. Microwave it for another minute, or until hot. (Careful not to over-microwave it, or it will shrink up a little and get chewy).

Savory Tomato Chickpea Flour Pancakes with Tomato Ginger Chutney

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Grain-free    &&    Low-fat    &&    Vegan

I can’t even try to pretend; I’m a bit obsessed with pancakes. These savory pancakes are the perfect excuse to have pancakes for lunch or dinner without feeling too weird about it (honestly, I wouldn’t judge either way). Like my breakfast pancakes, these are made with only chickpea flour, and are also secretly packed with shredded carrots. So there’s your protein and your vegetable, check and check! You can also change it up by using shredded zucchini, hearty greens, onions, or whatever you fancy, instead of, or in addition to, the carrots.

Instead of syrup, these are topped with a bright, flavorful tomato ginger chutney. If you’re not vegan, I’d also suggest adding a dollop of yogurt and/or an over-easy egg to these to really round out the meal.

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Savory Tomato Chickpea Flour Pancakes with Tomato Ginger Chutney

Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s Vegetarian India

Bits:

For the tomato ginger chutney:

  • 3-4 large (24 oz total) tomatoes, finely diced
  • 4 tsp peeled and minced (or grated) fresh ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder (such as cayenne)
  • 1 tsp whole yellow mustard seeds
  • 6-8 fresh curry leaves, finely chopped

For the pancakes:

  • 150 g chickpea flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp rasam powder spice mix (substitute curry powder if you don’t have rasam)
  • 1/4 tsp garam masala
  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing)
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 1 large tomato, finely diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 jalapeño, finely diced (ribs and seeds discarded for milder heat)
  • Butter, ghee, or oil for greasing the pan

Algorithm:

  • Start by making the chutney:
    • Put a medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves.
    • When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the remaining ingredients to the pan, and bring to a low simmer. Stir every minute or so for about 10 minutes, until some of the juices have evaporated off and the chutney has thickened slightly. Keep over low heat, stirring occasionally when needed, to keep warm.
  • Make the pancakes:
    • Preheat a large frying pan on the stove over medium heat.
    • Sift the chickpea flour into a bowl. Add the salt and spices through asafoetida, and stir to combine. Slowly add the water, mixing with a fork continuously to maintain a smooth consistency, until you have a thin, smooth batter.
    • Add the tomato, onion, and jalapeño to the batter and stir to mix.
    • When your frying pan is hot, add the minimal amount of low-fat butter to coat the bottom of the pan (or more if you can tolerate it in your diet). Use a 1/4 cup or 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter into separate blops in the frying pan to make the pancakes. Cook until the edges look dry and bubbles form on the surface of the pancakes before flipping the with a spatula; cook for two to three minutes on the other side. When done, remove the pancakes to a plate and set aside. Repeat with remaining batter
  • Top pancakes with the tomato ginger chutney. (If you’re not vegan, the pancakes and chutney are extra tasty with an added dollop of yogurt or topped with an egg!)

Everyday Red Lentil Dal

Everyday Red Lentil Dal with pickled carrots and peppers and a boiled egg. YUM.

Vegan && Very Low Fat && Oil-Free && Grain-Free

I called this “Everyday” dal not because it’s mundane; actually the opposite, I love it so much I am excited to eat it almost every day. Like most dals I’ve ever met, it’s filling, satisfying, and (perhaps strangely?) soothing. It feels almost like a cheat to call it a recipe and make a post about it because it’s so simple and essential, it feels a little like making a recipe post about corn flakes in milk.

One thing I love about this recipe is that it’s extremely adaptable. It’s hard to make it taste bad if you are just adding ingredients you like, or omitting ones you don’t. This is the combination of my favorites, but I also frequently change things depending on what spices strike my fancy at the time, or what green vegetables have been sitting neglected in my fridge longest.

This recipe also has the benefit that the cooking part has enough hands-off downtime between adding ingredients, that you can prep while you cook, which I think saves time and energy. Making a big batch, as written, usually takes me 30 minutes or less from start to finish (including cleaning up my mess while it finishes simmering on the stove), so I feel like that’s pretty time and energy efficient, especially for so many servings.

The other great part about this dal (there are so many great parts!) is all the options for toppings. I try to make and keep a jar of picked carrots and hot peppers handy at all times to eat with my dal (I’ll make a separate recipe post for that; they are good on lots of other dishes too)! I also love adding a soft/medium boiled egg. Depending on the day, I may add a handful of cubed roasted potato or sweet potato. And DO NOT get me started on Dal Mix from Indianlife, that stuff is crack. It’s pretty low-ish fat, and grain free (yay!), so I enjoy small portions on *many* dishes, most especially this dal.

Dal is really hard to photograph. Also I am not a food stylist. But, trust me, this dal tastes way more amazing than any photo could convey.

Everyday Red Lentil Dal

Makes about 13-14 cups (about 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 quarts) — *freezes and reheats very well*

Depending how hungry you are and what else you’re eating at the time, one serving is one to two cups.

Hardware:

  • Deep bowl or mixing bowl that’s easy to pour from
  • Sieve for straining water from the lentils
  • Stock pot with at least 5.5 quarts capacity
  • Wooden spoon

Bits:

  • 3 1/4 cups red lentils
  • 1 (human) thumb of fresh ginger
  • 2 serrano peppers
  • 2-3 tsp salt (start with 2 tsp and add salt at the end to taste)
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • optional: 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek seeds
  • optional: 20 fresh or frozen curry leaves, chopped into small bits
  • optional: 1/2 tsp Berbere Ethiopian spice mix (for added spice)
  • 4-5 large roma tomatoes
  • 1-2 bunches of lacinato kale (or collard greens)

To serve: pickled carrots and peppers, pickled okra, boiled egg, hot sauce, cubed roasted sweet potato, Indianlife Dal Mix

Algorithm:

  1. Wash the lentils (do not skip this step or your dal will taste gross!): Measure out the lentils into a mixing bowl that’s easy to pour from. Fill the bowl with cold water, swishing the lentils around with a spoon or your clean fingers. Skim the foam off the top, and then pour into a large sieve to drain the water. Dump the lentils back into the bowl and repeat until the water running through the sieve is clear, usually after 4 or 5 changes of water. This method is more effective and wastes less water than just putting the lentils in a sieve and running tap water over them.
  2. Put the lentils in a large stock pot. Add 10 cups water and turn the heat onto high. When the water gets near a boil, skim off the foam that bubble up; don’t worry about getting it all, but try to get most of it. Once water comes fully to a boil, reduce heat to medium, enough to maintain a gentle simmer.
  3. While you’re waiting for the water to come to foam and boil, mince the fresh ginger and serranos. If you’re using them, chop up the curry leaves.
  4. After the water boils, add minced ginger, serranos, salt, spices, and chopped fresh/frozen curry leaves if you’re using them. Give everything a good couple of stirs.
  5. Dice the tomatoes. When they are all diced, add them to the pot. Stir again to make sure the lentils are cooking evenly and nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.
  6. Slice the kale leaves off the stems, and chop into 1- to 2-inch squares/strips. When they are all chopped, add them to the pot. Stir to incorporate the kale, and again make sure the lentils aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pot.
  7. Leave the dal to simmer uncovered for at least 5 minutes, until the kale is cooked and soft. Add water if the dal to achieve your desired consistency. Optionally, let the dal simmer up to 10 minutes more to let the flavors meld further, stirring occasionally. (This is a good time to clean up any mess remaining in the kitchen).
  8. Take off the dal off the burner. Optionally, add more salt to taste.
  9. Enjoy as is, or garnished with pickled veggies, egg, Dal Mix, or any toppings you like!

POTS-ade

Well, after a false start, I’m back. At least for a little while. I’ve already got some more recipe posts queued up, so I will at least give you some new recipes before disappearing again. Even after that false start and very long unplanned absence, I’m surprised, happy, and humbled to see that during that time some of you out there have continued to find your way here nonetheless. Your views and likes on my recipe posts have warmed my cold metallic robot heart (J/k it’s still only my stomach that’s robotic, not my heart… yet). Thank you!

In the spirit of openness and community and whatnot, here’s the story. In mid-2018 I started feeling constantly fatigued, and eventually my gastroparesis symptoms came back and wouldn’t subside. I got the first appointment I could with my gastroenterologist, who agreed to turn my stomach robot (aka gastric neurostimulator) up a notch. Within a few weeks my stomach symptoms were better, but not the fatigue. I had gone to my primary care doctor about the fatigue, who thankfully is awesome; she took it seriously, ran tests, and referred me to cardiology, rheumatology, neurology, but nothing turned up. The neurologist referred me to another neurologist outside the hospital system I usually go to, but I left two messages and his office still didn’t call me back for an appointment. Fast forward to March 2019, one morning while in a meeting at work the room suddenly started spinning and I nearly passed out (not embarrassing AT ALL). One ambulance ride later I was in the hospital’s emergency department; they did tests and discharged me at the end of the day. I landed back in the ED a few days later for similar symptoms (which occurred while at home, thank goodness), and they called the elusive neurologist for me to get me an appointment with him asap. Thankfully it didn’t take him too long to figure out I have POTS.

POTS stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. The website my neurologist pointed me to for more info about my diagnosis was this one, which I will refer you to now: http://www.dysautonomiainternational.org/page.php?ID=30. (Since I have become an established patient, his office has been much better at returning my calls.) Basically, because of POTS, I am prone to fatigue, lightheadedness, dizziness, pain, and brain fog (which, turns out, is an actual real thing, studied and documented in the literature. In medical terms, “it sucks”). Even when I’m not particularly symptomatic, I seem to be pretty light-sensitive, get tired easily and randomly, and, you guessed it, I’ve got ANOTHER food sensitivity! I am sensitive to anything with a high glycemic index. It’s not typical for me to be quite that sensitive all the time, but sugars are definitely now another thing to add to the food sensitivity list. Like I needed more.

In 2019 almost no one had heard about POTS. It may be ringing a tiny bell for some of you now, as COVID can induce POTS long-term (or permanently?) in rare cases. “Long-COVID” also shares quite a lot of the same symptoms as POTS as well, so much so, that I’m not even sure what the differences are. But, I totally got POTS before it was cool. Just so you know ;P

In retrospect it is little to no surprise that my POTS is caused by dysfunction of the same nerve group, the vagus nerve, that causes my gastroparesis. While POTS and gastroparesis can occur in some people from other causes, there is apparently a big overlap of people who have idiopathic gastroparesis and idiopathic POTS as a result of the same idiotic vagus nerve. (Anyone else out there? Anyone in Seattle want to start a Dr. Zia / Dr. Armitano fan club? Holler at me in the comments! Comisery loves company!)

So after I got diagnosed, I also did the FODMAP elimination diet, mainly as some of my more annoying, but less debilitating, gastroparesis symptoms seemed to be much more frequent and uncomfortable and there seemed to be evidence to suggest a low-FODMAP diet could help. Long story short, I learned all about FODMAPs, and found a few new foods I don’t tolerate well, like garlic, which is one of the highest FODMAP foods. (But also, cassava and camomile?! Dear stomach, you are a freak). Thankfully, it turns out I am ok with most FODMAP foods (and I have since had a real nutritionist, referred by my gastroenterologist, who recommended I NOT avoid all FODMAP foods). The thing is, with all the health stuff going on and the food restrictions in play, I was feeling really down about food. For a while I just physically wasn’t able to do much of anything, and after I had recovered some, it sounds strange, but I was kind of mad at food in general and the trouble it has caused me, and was still causing me. Fortunately, about three years later, I am now in a better place – both with what I can eat, now that I’m NOT avoiding most/all high-FODMAP foods in addition to avoiding fats and most grains for my gastroparesis, and meat for my conscience. Also, I’ve just been slowly finding my passion for food again. Only now I have to be more strategic about how I spend my limited energy. Though when I do spend it cooking or baking, it means that much more to me; I hope others that I cook and bake for recognize that as well.

So now that I’m back, here are my terms for Robot Recipes 2.0: I will continue to share vegetarian food I love to eat and/or love to cook. I am still not very good at food styling, or food photography, and I don’t have the spoons to care about that, especially when I usually just want to eat the yummy thing I made. I am not trying to make money or a career off of food blogging, so my pictures of food CAN, and WILL, be mediocre. The actual taste of the dish once you’ve made it is going to have to speak for itself. Given that this is not my day-job and that I have limited energy, I’m going to go at my own pace with making and publishing recipe posts. (P.S. These terms are mostly meant to set expectations for me about myself. Everyone else will have to take or leave them. That said, I’d love it if you, dear reader, wanted to post more in the comments section with positive messages / constructive criticisms / life observations / contemplations of the meaning of the universe and interpretations of the ramifications that time is just an emergent property of quantum entanglement / pictures of your kitchen timers shaped like hedgehogs and other cute animals.)

You may notice eventually, dear blog reader, that POTS has changed the way I cook a little bit. I now unapologetically tend to make large batches of everything, so I can have leftovers and freeze some for later (for “food-mergencies”). Cooking larger batches also minimizes the time and energy I have to spend standing around prepping and cooking per meal eaten. My experience being temporarily low-FODMAP made me wary of excessive alliums, even though I think I can tolerate them pretty well. Even so, I omit onions and garlic from quite a few recipes where they might normally be found, and keep them to what I consider a minimum in others. (Pro-tip: sautéed carrots with a pinch of hing (a.k.a. asafoetida) is a pretty decent substitute for sautéed onions and garlic in terms of volume and flavor.) Increasing salt intake can also help prevent and relieve POTS symptoms, as it helps keep blood pressure up; since POTS, I have definitely noticed I have an enhanced affinity for salt as well, so you may find my recipes these days to be on the saltier side of normal. Fortunately salt is an easy one to cut back, and/or adjust to taste at the end of most recipes, so this is my note of caution and I leave it to you, dear reader, to use however much salt you’re comfortable with.

And now the recipe! With POTS it’s important to stay hydrated, increase salt intake, and keep electrolytes up, and that’s exactly what this drink does. Also, it tastes good and doesn’t have weird dyes or any sugar, and doesn’t cost 2 bucks for a single-serve plastic bottle that will spend the next 10,000 years in a landfill leaching toxins as it struggles and fails to decompose. I have used this drink in order to help prevent POTS symptoms, and also when that brick wall of symptoms starts hitting it has helped me feel noticeably a little better within minutes. It’s not a magic cure of course, and it doesn’t do enough to make me feel perfect, just gives me a much-appreciated push back towards functional. It’s not much of a recipe, but I wanted to share it particularly in case it helps anyone else who has POTS (is there a name for us… other than spoonies or sickies? POTSies? POTSheads? No?), or even anyone who wants a good, light, super hydrating drink after a workout, or whatever you normies do.

POTS-ade

(Like lemonade, or a certain sports drink whose name ends in “ade”… but for POTS)
Makes one 12 fl. oz. serving

Bits:

  • 1 cup (8 fl. oz.) water
  • 1/2 cup (4 fl. oz.) Uncle Matt’s sugar-free lemonade (can sub 2 Tbsp lemon juice + 6 Tbsp water + 1/8 tsp stevia, but try to find Uncle Matt’s if possible)
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 – 1/2 tsp sea salt, depending on how much salt you want and how salty tasting your salt is

Algorithm:

Combine all ingredients in a glass and stir to dissolve the salt. Drink whenever you need extra hydration, salt, and electrolytes.

Robot Pizza with Roasted Garlic Sauce

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Grain-free    &&    Low Fat    &&    Vegan Option

Hey. So, I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus. I will catch you up later. But I’ve been thinking a lot about resuming my food blogging! Also, I just saw this perfectly good post I wrote up **PRE-PANDEMIC** sitting here. I didn’t post it right away for reasons, which I will include in the catch-up post. For now, I’ll just say: Thanks for sticking with me. I plan to be back soon. In the meantime, please enjoy some pizza!

Original post:

This was a bit of a project, but so worth it when you want to kick back with some comfort food (and possibly your spouse has been making you super jealous with real pizza that comes in a cardboard box with a tiny plastic table in the middle and is delivered by a guy wearing a cap who inevitably rings the doorbell when the husband’s in the bathroom, leaving you to get the door. Ahh, the true American pizza experience).

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Robot Pizza with Roasted Garlic Sauce

Makes two 11″ pies; serves 3 to 4

60 minutes (including about 45 minutes for roasting garlic. Use extra between-time to cook a vegetable, or throw together a salad to make a complete meal! Let’s be honest, a few leaves of basil on a pizza does not count as a serving of vegetables.)

Bits

– For the crust

  • Corn flour for dusting
  • 315g chickpea flour
  • 65g Greek yogurt (or substitute vegan yogurt for vegan option)
  • 20 g yam
  • 1+ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • pinch of asafoetida (or garlic powder)
  • 4-5 Tbsp water

– For the roasted garlic sauce:

    Dry:

  • ¼ cup chickpea flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp dried thyme (or Italian seasoning or ground sage)
  • ¼ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp nutritional yeast

    Wet:

  • 1 head garlic
  • ½ cup water
  • ¾ cup milk of choice (skim cow milk to keep the dish nearly non-fat, or alternative plant-based milk for vegan option)
  • 1 tsp of Dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp tamari

– Suggestions for the topping (or use toppings of choice):

  • 2 medium slicing tomatoes
  • 4 sliced peppadew peppers
  • Handful of basil leaves
  • ¾ cup low fat cottage cheese, strained/drained of excess liquid (omit to make vegan)

Algorithm:

  • Adjust oven racks to top and bottom thirds of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 450ºF. Sprinkle a couple good pinches of corn flour over two baking sheets.
  • Slice the top off of your head of garlic and wrap it tight in aluminum foil. Bake it in the pre-heated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until garlic is browning and soft throughout.
  • Combine the crust ingredients except the water in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add 4 Tbsp of water and stir to bring it together into a rough dough. Knead with your hands, and add the remaining little by little until the dough just comes together, but is still dry and kneadable. Knead a few times in the bowl until the dough is smooth. Set aside.
  • Put the dry ingredients for the garlic sauce in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
  • Prep your pizza toppings of choice: slice fresh tomatoes, tear some basil leaves, slice some peppers, put some cottage cheese in a cheese cloth and squeeze out the excess liquid… etc.
  • When the garlic is done roasting, use a knife to remove the soft garlic cloves from the papery encasements in the bulb, and place in a small food processor or blender. Add ½ cup water, and blend until smooth.
  • Add the blended garlic to a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining wet ingredients for the sauce to the saucepan and stir to combine.
  • When the contents of the saucepan are hot but not boiling, pour a small amount into the bowl with the dry ingredients to make a paste. Continue pouring the wet ingredients little by little into the mixing bowl holding the dry ingredients, stirring in between additions, until you get a thin sauce. When most of the wet ingredient mixture has been incorporated, pour the contents of the mixing bowl back into the saucepan and warm over medium heat, stirring continuously for about 3 minutes until the sauce thickens noticeably. Remove from heat and set aside to cool until ready to use.
  • Split ball of dough in half. Spread a pinch of cornflour on a smooth surface or cutting board and use a rolling pin to roll one of the halves into a flat circle (or a rough approximation of a circle) of desired thickness. I rolled mine pretty thin, about ¼-inch thick. Repeat with other half of the dough.
  • Divide the garlic sauce between the two pizzas and spread into a smooth layer. Add other toppings of choice (except basil; that’s best added after baking). Bake pizzas in the oven and bake for about 12-15 minutes until the edges of the crust start to brown.
  • Remove baking sheet from oven and let pizzas cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet. Scatter reserved basil leaves on top of the pizzas. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and/or chili flakes as desired. Cut into slices and serve!

Banana Bread Recipe for COVID

Ingredients:

  • Vegan butter or coconut oil for greasing
  • 10 oz flour, plus extra for dusting 
  • 5.25 oz sugar (vegan)
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • ¾ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • 4 large peeled overripe bananas (about 1 ¾ cups)
  • 6 Tbsp / ¾ stick vegan butter (such as Earth Balance) or coconut oil, melted and cooled
  • ¼ cup vegan yogurt
  • ¼ cup vegan sour cream
  • 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed, mixed with 2 Tbsp cool water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ¾ cups chocolate chips (vegan)

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Your heating bill is already sky high from having to heat the whole house all day every day while you work hunched over your computer at your desk wrapped in a blanket on weekdays, and while you sit hunched over the news on your tablet wrapped in a blanket while slowly rocking back and forth on weekends, so the inefficiency of warming up a big oven to bake a single little loaf of banana bread won’t even register.
  2. Use vegan butter or coconut oil to grease a 9”x5”x3” loaf tin.
  3. Keep thinking that Americans don’t call it a tin, but loaf “pan” just sounds wrong now, especially after having binge-watched every season of The Great British Bake Off (all the ones they released in America, anyway). Dust with flour and tap out the excess.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, sift in 10 oz of flour, because you don’t measure flour in volume anymore, perish the thought. Since you’ve been doing a lot more cooking in the past year than you expected, naturally you now have a reliable kitchen scale and wonder how you ever survived without it.
  5. Sift in the sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cloves, and stir to combine. Set aside.
  6. In a medium mixing bowl, add the peeled bananas and mash with a fork. Mash, and mash, pulverize those suckers until they’re destroyed, until they’re nothing but an unrecognizable lumpy goo, just like 2020 pulverized your now gooey heart.
  7. Realize you didn’t already melt and cool the butter, in fact you haven’t even gotten it out of the fridge yet, and kick yourself because you know about mise en place, and you’ve made this recipe a hundred times before, but you never remember to prep the butter ahead of time. But why should this time be any different. Put the butter in a dish in the microwave and nuke it until it’s melted. Probably didn’t need to microwave it for quite as long as you did, now it’s pretty hot. Set it aside, and try to remember it at the end when it’s hopefully a little cooler.
  8. Add the vegan yogurt, sour cream, flax eggs… damn. Ok, grind up some flax seeds in the coffee grinder, measure out two tablespoons of meal, and combine with water. Stir for a minute, and wonder if it needs to sit and thicken for a while. It looks pretty thick, so it’s probably good enough. Add them to the bowl, along with the vanilla. Stir everything to combine.
  9. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Fold with a rubber spatula until just mixed. Suddenly remember the butter is still cooling on the counter, and pour it in now. No one will know. Mix to combine.
  10. Stir in the chocolate chips. It’s been a rough year. There should be chocolate chips stirred into two, if not three, foods you consume daily. Pour some extra chocolate chips into your hand and eat them straight. You’ve survived this long, and you deserve some chocolate chips for your trouble.
  11. With a spatula scrape the batter into the prepared baking tin. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Set on the counter to cool for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
  12. Wash your hands while counting to 20-mississippi for the 1000th time today. Carefully wrap the banana bread in plastic wrap and thank fuck for the one measley consolation that it’s still safe to give food to your family who only live ten minutes down the road, because it’s an excuse to see them in person even for just two minutes while wearing masks, standing six feet apart, outside in the cold, since you usually only see them on Zoom anymore and they might as well be living on the other side of the country, and you miss them in a long-distance way. Hope that a little loaf of banana bread can make their winter just slightly less dark and lonely, and feel a little better because you were still able to reach out and show them you care in a small way.
  13. Go back home and do your dishes, because they haven’t been clean all at once since last March. Keep doing dishes, because they are somehow all dirty again now, all the time. Long for the day when the dishes will once again all be clean.

Baked Vegetable Pancakes with Tangy Sauce

Grain-free    &&    Low-fat    &&    Pancakes

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In this edition of Pancakes Today… er, I mean, Robot Recipes…

More savory pancakes! Have them for dinner! Pack them for lunch! Have them for breakfast to get a jump start on your veggie quota for the day!

These pancakes are mostly vegetables, with some protein to help them stick together, but not enough protein (in my humble opinion) to be really filling, particularly if you’re super hungry. If you have these for a meal, I recommend serving them alongside something else that will help satisfy a hearty appetite. To make a more filling meal, you could have some spiced/garlic cauliflower rice on the side and serve the pancakes topped with an over-easy egg (or egg whites). There’s also time to rummage through the fridge and throw something together that suits your fancy while these are baking.

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There is a bit of vegetable prep involved, but it’s definitely worth it. These pancakes are tastier than a stack of vegetables has any right to be.

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Baked Vegetable Pancakes with Tangy Sauce

This recipe is an adaptation (a more flavorful one, if I may be so bold) of Smitten Kitchen’s Japanese Cabbage and Vegetable Pancakes.

Bits:

For the Pancakes:

  • About 7 large lacinato kale (cavalo nero) leaves, de-stemmed and chopped (about 90g after de-stemming, about 3 cups chopped)
  • 4 medium carrots, peeled and grated (about 250g, or 2 ¼ cups grated)
  • 1 medium beet, peeled and grated (about 80g, or about 1 cup grated)
  • ½ head green or red cabbage, shredded (about 330g, or 4 cups after shredding)
  • 5-6 scallions (50 g after slicing)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp rasam powder (or substitute your favorite curry powder)
  • 1 cup (120 g) chickpea flour
  • 1 cup egg whites (equivalent of 5 large eggs)

For the sauce:

Algorithm:

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower thirds of your oven. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In your largest mixing bowl, toss together the prepared vegetables. Add the salt, cumin, coriander, rasam (or curry) powder, and chickpea flour. Toss again to evenly coat the vegetables. Pour the egg whites into the bowl and stir with a big wooden spoon until everything is evenly coated.

Scoop a scant 1 cup of the vegetable mixture and place it on one of the parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten into a disk about 5 inches / 13 cm in diameter. Repeat 10 or 11 more times until you run out of batter. Bake pancakes for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges start to brown and the vegetables look fairly roasty. When the pancakes are done, remove baking sheets from oven and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

While the vegetable pancakes are baking, make the sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine all the sauce ingredients, stir together and bring to a boil. Lower heat and keep at a gentle simmer for at least five minute. I usually leave the sauce on the stove on low after that until the pancakes are ready.

Now make any optional sides or garnishes (cauliflower rice, over easy egg, etc). Serve the pancakes alongside the sauce for dipping or spreading over as desired.