This is an easy, quick dish that you can prepare and put in the oven while going about your day. Serving size for two; double or triple for more!
 
Ingredients:
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1/3 to 1/2 head cauliflower
Spices: pinch of cumin, asafetida, paprika, salt & pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Fresh herbs of choice
 
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into a lightly oiled baking pan and cook at 400 F (205 C) for 30 minutes. Lightly sprinkle with fresh herbs. Serve with your favorite hummus, chickpea spread or salsa. 

Теплый ноябрь. Запеченная цветная капуста с картофелем
​Представляем вам легкое и быстрое в приготовлении блюдо, которое Вы сможете приготовить, пока готовитесь к началу дня. Рецепт рассчитан на двух человек, поэтому если Вас больше, умножайте исходя из того, сколько вас.
 
Ингредиенты:
1 большая картофелина, очищенная от кожуры и нарезанная на кубики размеров 2 см на 2 см
1/3  - 1/2 соцветия цветной капусты
Специи: щепотка кумина, асафетида, паприка, соль и перец
1 столовая ложка оливкового масла
свежая зелень по Вашему вкусу
 
Смешайте все ингредиенты в миске. Высыпьте в емкость для выпечки, предварительно смазанную маслом и готовьте при температуре 205С (400F) на протяжении 30 минут. Добавьте сверху свежей зелени. Подавайте с хумусом, перетертым нутом или сальсой. 

A delicious twist on the popular chana masala dish - quite fast, easy, and nutritious! 
Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed, or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup chopped kale
1/4 an onion, chopped (optional), sliver of ginger
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1-2 tablespoons cooking oil
Pinch of turmeric and cinnamon
Salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste
Fresh herbs to garnish
1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional) 
Pinch of cinnamon 
Method:
This is the easy way to make a flavorful chana dish. Mix the onion, ginger, cumin seeds, sugar and tomatoes in a blender or magic bullet. Heat your oil in a skillet and once hot, pour the tomato mixture over the oil. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes, then add chickpeas, turmeric and cinnamon. Let the mixture cook another 5-10 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated, fold in kale and cook another few minutes. Add salt and pepper. Once you've turned off the heat, squeeze lemon juice and garnish with fresh herbs such as cilantro and/or mint. Serve with rice. 
NOTE: if no kale available, substitute spinach for an equally delicious experience!

This pasta dish is so delicious and so easy to make it's almost embarrassing to post the recipe! Total preparation time is literally 15 minutes. Here goes:

Ingredients:

Your favorite pasta
Juice from 1/3 a lemon
1 large ripe avocado
10 almonds, soaked for at least 4 hours
1/3 a cup of water
Handful of fresh basil
Salt/pepper to taste 
A few cherry tomatoes for garnish

​Method:

Boil your pasta for 10 minutes. While pasta is boiling, put the lemon juice, almonds and water in a blender, blend until smooth. Mix in the avocado and basil, salt and pepper, pulse a few more times until smooth.  Once your pasta is boiled, drain the pasta and then just mix in the avocado sauce. Serve with a bit of chopped basil and cherry tomatoes on the side. If you like your dishes spicy, feel free to add some chili sauce or adjika. Bon appetite! Note: this recipe makes enough for two - double or triple as necessary! 

Ingredients:

2 potatoes
1 medium zucchini
1 carrot
1 small onion (optional)
1/2 cup all purpose flour (use brown rice flour for gluten-free version)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper
2 teaspoons ground flax seeds

Method:

Grate the potatoes, zucchini and carrot and onion finely into a large mixing bowl. Drain excess liquid. Add the flour, flax seeds, salt and pepper.

Lightly cover a pan with non-stick cooking spray and use a spoon or your hands to form the potato pancake 'patties.' Put in oven at 400 F for at least 40 minutes (I cooked mine for 45), flipping them over after 20 minutes. Sprinkle with dill to serve, or serve with applesauce on the side!

I spent the Central Asian holiday 'Nauryz' with my dear friends Slava and Vika this year, who happen to be currently based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. They greeted me with a literal feast on my first of three days in town. We started by eating tofu cutlets, which they served with chopped radishes, lettuce, soba noodles, and spicy Korean pepper sauce.  They got the idea for the cutlets from a Japanese restaurant in Bishkek and created them at home; the side dishes were already a sort of Korean fusion as their own inspiration. I decided to try the cutlets myself upon returning home. They were easy to make, quick to cook, and taste absolutely delicious! Here's my version:



Tofu cutlets (serves 4)

Ingredients:
1 small block of tofu, preferably the silken or soft kind
1/2 a carrot and 1/2 a small zucchini, grated finely
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated finely
1/4 cup celery, chopped finely 
2 tablespoons each of chickpea flour and regular wholewheat flour 
Fresh herbs to taste - dill, cilantro, parsley 
Spices to taste - I used black pepper, salt, coriander, red pepper and a pinch of asafetida
1 teaspoon ground chia seeds mixed with 3 teaspoons hot water; let sit for 2-3 minutes to gel (this acts as a vegan way to bind ingredients!)

Method: 
Just mix all the ingredients in a bowl until the tofu is well blended with everything else, then form small cutlets with your hands. Fry in olive oil for about 2-3 minutes on each side. For people averse to deep fried dishes, you could probably cook these in the oven as well. That will be my next experiment.

I served the cutlets with sliced tomatoes and shredded spinach. They'd go very well next to soba noodles or rice too.  Use your favorite sauce as a side. Enjoy! 

Thank you to Vika and Slava for the inspiration! 

Healthy and Easy Vegan 'Pie'
Здоровый и легкий в приготовлении веганский пирог

We have started experimenting with more and more easy vegan recipes and this one is a hit!  All you need is a few ingredients and you're set.  Here they are:

3 potatoes, sliced thinly (by hand through a grater)
1/2 a head of cauliflower, sliced thinly
1/2 can of green or black olives, chopped finely
1/2 cup of chopped pumpkin (we buy already cut from Green Bazaar) 
2 large ripe tomatoes 
Your favorite fresh herbs - basil, dill, cilantro, mint
Salt, pepper, olive oil

Directions:

Brush the bottom of a pie pan with olive oil.  Coat the potatoes very lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper, and make them the bottom layer of your pie.  Next, add the cauliflower, olives and pumpkin.  Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of olive oil over this section of the pie.  Finally, in a blender, mix together the tomatoes with some of your favorite herbs, salt and pepper.  Coat the pie with the tomato layer.  Cook for at least 30 minutes on 180 C (350 F).  Once out of the over, add more fresh herbs to the top - your pie will look like a pizza!  This dish is perfect for a weekend brunch. Enjoy! 

Здоровый и легкий в приготовлении веганский пирог!

Мы начали экспериментировать с более и более простыми веганскими 
рецептами и этот рецепт стал хитом! Все, что Вам необходимо - это 
небольшой набор ингредиентов и можно начинать. Вот они:

3 картофелины, тонко порезанные (вручную, с помощью терки)
1⁄2 качана цветной капусты, тоже тонко порезанной
1⁄2 консервных банки черных или зеленых оливок, порезанных на кусочки
1⁄2 порезанной тыквы, можно взять готовую на Зеленом Базаре (Алматы)
2 больших созревших помидора
Ваши любимые свежие травы - базилик, укроп, кинза и мята
Соль, перец, оливковое масло.

Процесс:

Смажьте дно емкости для запекания пирога оливковым маслом. Смажьте 
тонким слоем масла порезанный картофель, добавьте туда соли и перца и 
выложите на дно посуды. Затем, добавьте цветную капусту, оливки и тыкву. 
Сверху побрызгайте оливковым маслом над новым слоем. Не больше 1 
столовой ложки. Последнии слой, в блендере смешайте вместе помидоры 
и травы, соль и перец. Запекайте как минимум 30 минут при температуре 
180 градусов по Цельсию. Как только достанете из духовки, добавьте 
больше трав сверху. Вам пирок будет выглядеть как пицца. Такое блюдо 
замечательно подойдет к бранчам на выходных. Приятного аппетита!

While this looks like quite a few ingredients, it's actually a very easy dish to make. The key is to follow the steps involved. Feel free to experiment and add other vegetables as well. That said, this combination is a good hit!  

Ingredients:

1 zucchini
1 red pepper
1 cup pumpkin
1.5 cups chickpeas (soak overnight then boil for 90 minutes before using in the recipe)
3-4 medium sized tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1/2 cup of nuts - peanuts, almonds, cashews all work well (or any mix of them) 
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
Pinch of asafetida
Salt to taste
Squeeze of lemon juice

Directions:

Chop the zucchini, red pepper and pumpkin into small chunks. Heat the oil in a large pan, then add the asafetida, cumin and coriander. Sauté for 30 seconds.  then add ginger and sauté another 30 seconds.  Add the zucchini, red pepper, and pumpkin, and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Next, add the tomato paste and sauté another 3 minutes. 

Finally, blend the tomatoes, sugar and nuts in a blender. If the consistency is very thick, add a bit of water. Pour into the pan.  Add chickpeas and salt.  Stir occasionally. Once the tomato sauce is boiling, reduce to a low heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.   Before serving, squeeze a bit of lemon juice.  Optionally add fresh herbs to garnish. Enjoy!