East Meets West Veg

Vegan Gajar Halwa

Right now there are more than a billion happy people celebrating the Indian holiday Diwali. Diwali is kind of like a combination of Christmas and New Years. Homes throughout India are adorned with colorful decorations and earthen lamps (which are kind of like candles in clay bases) and fireworks are going off all around. People are dressing up in new clothes, getting together with family and friends and exchanging sweets, dried fruits and nuts. Sweets are always such an important part of Indian festivals and holidays, and I am so excited that my friend Anjali has decided to share a recipe with us just in time for this mother of Indian festivals!

Diwali decorations from Anjali's place in Michigan

(This ancient Indian symbol is used to decorate many homes throughout India. The Swastika is an auspicious symbol, not to be confused with the Nazi Swastika which Hitler stole from the Indians and perverted. Most of the people of India are of Aryan origin and preserved this ancient Aryan symbol as a part of their culture. In his quest to find a symbol of Aryan pride, Hitler took this symbol from the Indians and completely changed it's meaning.)

Vegan Campfire Dinner

This is one of my most favorite dinners ever! It's always a big hit. Campfire dinner is a combination of potatoes, veggies, and veggie sausage cooked in a foil packet. The name came from the old days when there was not yet a barbecue grill at our cabin and we cooked over an open fire in the fire pit. My grandpa started by cooking potatoes wrapped in foil, but then later it evolved into putting everything right in there together to make a whole meal. I think my mom is the one who came up with the idea of putting everything together in the packet, but I'm not sure. At any rate, my mom who gets credit for the version I am sharing here (except for my additions to make it more spicy, of course).

Campfire dinner is a great way to use up what you have left in the fridge, in your CSA (community supported agriculture) box or from a farmer's market haul. When we first got a CSA share from our local farmer and I didn't know what some of the vegetables were or what to do with them, I found this to be an excellent way of combining them all together.

One of the great things about this meal is that you can easily customize it for each person since each person gets their own individual packet. I like a lot of greens, so I usually put extra swiss chard, spinach, kale, or whatever greens I have available in my campfire dinner. In my husbands, I put chilies, jalapenos, poblanos, etc to make his more spicy. If we are totally out of peppers, I use ground cayenne or crushed red pepper on his. If you are really on a budget, this can be a great recipe because you can use whatever vegetables are on sale or cheap at the time.

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray (or oil)
Potatoes, sliced
Onions, sliced
Diced Vegetables of your choice (bell peppers, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, green beans, zucchini, root vegetables, greens, cabbage, herbs . . .)
hot peppers, optional
Vegetarian Sausages, Sliced or Chopped (my favorite for this are Field Roast or Tofurky Italian), optional but recommended
Earth Balance Buttery Spread (or oil or cooking spray)

Seasonings
Salt
Pepper
Curry Masala for chicken (it's vegetarian - available at an indian store) or garam masala, curry powder or your favorite seasoning, optional
Cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper, optional

Method:
1. Get two sheets of foil paper, about 2 feet long each and place one over the other in the shape of a plus (+) sign. (This is for each dinner so if you are making 4, you'll need 4 of these.)

Lay out your foil.

2. Spray the foil with cooking spray (or drizzle with a little oil) so that the food doesn't burn.

3. Put a layer of sliced potatoes and sliced onions. Season. Put a little cooking spray (if using).

4. Add on your veggies, a couple pieces of the sausage. Season. Spray with cooking spray.

Layer potatoes, onions, vegetables, and sausage slices

5. Add more potatoes and onions. Season. Spray. Repeat steps 4 and 5 as needed.

6. The top layer should be the veggie sausages, some of the hot peppers, more seasoning and some Earth Balance buttery spread or a drizzle of oil. The sausage infuses a lot of flavor into the dinner. If you decide to skip it, you might want to add more seasoning.

Add more seasoning, cooking spray, vegetables, and seasoning.

7. Seal up your foil packet. See pictures below.

Grab the long sides of the inner foil.

Pinch together.

Fold a small flap, then keep folding all the way down.

Now take the open sides and fold them up like you are wrapping a gift.

This is how it will look after you fold up both of the remaining sides.

Now repeat for the outer layer of foil.

Use a marker to label the finished packets if they are different.

8. Cook on the barbecue or on the embers or hot coals of a campfire for approximately 45 minutes. OR cook in a 400 F oven (205 C) for about 45 minutes - 1 hour. When you start to smell them, they are probably done. If the potatoes are tender, it's done. Be careful opening! Steam might burn your hands.

I am so excited for the debut post from my sister from another mother (also my husband's cousin), Shriya. I am always thinking about the time she stayed with us for two weeks and we had so much fun sharing laughs and cooking together. She knows a lot of great tips because she studied Hotel Management in India. In India the word hotel means both restaurant and the place you stay when you are on vacation, so she learned a lot about cooking and catering in her classes. Without further ado, here is a little background and a great tutorial from one of my favorite people in the world!!


This is one of my favorite Indian desserts. Shrikhand always takes me to my childhood and I remember the golden time I spent with my family, my uncles, aunts and wonderful cousins! Shrikhand is also special to me because it is the first Indian dessert I made for my husband the first time after we got married (when I was trying to learn to cook.)

This recipe requires some preparation in advance, but it is simple to make. It is a dessert popular in Marathi and Gujarati cuisine, made of strained yogurt. It can also be eaten as a side dish with Indian breads like poori. This is a lighter, healthier, dairy-free version of the typical Shrikhand. It has no cholesterol and is low fat.

Ingredients: