Soulful Creations

This is a simple rice dish that I am submitting to this month's Monthly mingle event hosted at cooking and me . This event was started by Meeta . Ingredients 2 cups brown rice cooked in water with about 2 tbsp buttery spread (I used smart balance), salt and pepper (veg broth would have been amazing but did not have any on hand) 1 pack extra-firm tofu, cut into small pieces and fried (I used only about 5-6 tbsp oil) 1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage 1 cup thinly sliced carrots 1 cup frozen peas, thawed 1 bunch scallions (green and the white parts) 1 tbsp chilli-garlic paste a good dash of soy sauce salt and pepper Method Stir-fry the veggies with a bit of oil (carrots in first, then add the rest of the veggies). Season with salt and pepper. Add the tofu, the chilli-garlic paste, soy sauce. Mix well Stir the rice in, check seasoning. Heat it through and serve!

Madhuram is hosting a low-fat eggless baking event this month. I decided to put on my baking hat and made this vegan chocolate cupcake with a yummy greek yogurt frosting (which is not vegan). I will get straight to it guys, I got it from here and I have modified it significantly Ingredients 3/4 cup all-purpose flour and 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup light brown sugar 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp white vinegar 1/2 cup applesauce and 1/2 cup water Method 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin pan (the one for 12 muffins!) with baking cups. 2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, applesauce, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together until smooth. 3. Divide equally into the 12 cups. Place in the oven for a about 20 minutes (mine took exactly that time), bake until a knife comes out clean. Cool and frost I got the frosting recipe from here - Mix 1 cup of low-fat greek...

There it was, staring at me, its expiration date nearing- the pillsbury pizza dough had to be used and it was the perfect day for a pizza. Especially after what felt like ages of "ricedom". So I rolled it out, slathered some pasta sauce (Please do not ask me what kind, had tomato and something else in it), sliced up some mozzarella cheese on it. I roasted red peppers, sliced them to make up one topping. The other topping was sliced red onions. Layered the pizza with these, added salt, pepper, ajwain or caraway seeds (for my exquisite touch!) and dried oregano. Baked it at 400F, and voila we had a beautiful meal for the night and what more it tasted soooooppper! Ah the little joys in life....mmmm!

This is a very simple yet super delicious dessert. I saw the recipe here and immediately found a calling, I made it the same day. I thought I would submit to No croutons required edition of Berry soups but somehow did not manage to post it! Ingredients 1/4 cup tapioca (sabu dana) 1 cup water 4 tbsp sugar (2 tbsp add along with tapioca and reserve 2 tbsp to be added with the milk) 2 cups diced fruit (I used berries and mangoes) 2 cups coconut milk 1 tsp rose water Garnish- mandarin orange sections (but for the photo, I forgot to add them!) Method: Boil the tapioca stirring constantly until the pearls are translucent (this takes a while and make sure it is translucent!) . Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Bring back to the boil. Remove from heat immediately. Let the tapioca cool. I also just warmed the coconut milk, added the sugar in to ensure that the sugar dissolved Prepare your fruit- slice strawberries but leave other berries whole, dice other fruit...