Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• One small butternut squash
• 3-4 green chillies
• 3 tablespoon coconut
• 1 tspn tamarind paste
• 1/2 tspn vegan mustard seeds
• a little jaggery/ vegan sugar
• turmeric and salt to taste
• A little vegan mustard seeds, fenugreek,
• red chilli, curry leaves and oil.

Directions:

1. Cut squash into inch square and 1/4 inch thick slices.
Wash and in about a cup and a half of water, add
tamarind paste and sliced squash.

2. Add turmeric, salt and cook on low heat till done.

3. Grind coconut, green chillies, 1/2 tspn mustard seeds and
stir into cooked squash. Can wash out blender and add
this water too.

4. Let mustard seeds splutter in oil, add fenugreek, red chilli,
curry leaves and in a couple of minutes pour onto pachadi.

5. Variations: Instead of tamarind paste can use yogurt at the
end. Can use cut okra or, okra and eggplant pieces, instead of squash.

Serves:

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 1 pound of tapioca starch (Thai food stores should have it)
• 1 packet of sweetened coconut flakes or grated fresh coconut
• non-hydrogenated vegan margarine or vegetable spread

Directions:

This is a tradional northern/northeastern Brazilian recipe
and it’s pronounced biju (bee-JOO) or tapioquinha
(tah-pee-oh-KI-nya). This is extremely cheap to make and
is served for breakfast or as an afternoon snack with a
strong cup of coffee. In many cities in Brazil you can
find these kind ladies all dressed in white, the Bahianas,
who will make it for you on the street in under 2 minutes.

Put all the starch in a deep bowl and cover it with water.
Mix it well with your hands making sure to break any lumps.
Let it sit for about 5 minutes and when it starts to
sediment, carefully pour the water out.
You want to get rid of as much water as possible and the
best way to do this is to go about it in stages, letting it rest
and then pouring more of the water out. This should be done
about 10 hours before you plan to prepare to cook (I suggest
you do it the night before).Leave the starch in the bowl
overnight or for whatever time it takes for the water to
evaporate. When the surface of the starch is hard to the
touch, you’re ready to cook

Now, to prepare the biju you’ll need a small or medium
non-stick skillet and a wire-mesh sieve that’s not terribly
fine.

Break off a piece of the starch: it should be solid by this
time so you can grab large chunks of it. Rub it against the
inner side of the sieve catching the small flakes in some
kind of container.

Put the skillet over medium to medium-high heat and let it
warm up. Now, grab a handful of starch flakes and toss
enough of them around over the skillet to form a thin layer
that covers the entire bottom – you’re making something that
will look like a crepe. The flakes will start to stick to
each other and after about 1 minute, when it looks like the
crepe is getting loose, sprinkle some coconut flakes over it
and fold in half. Optionally, you might not use coconut at
all; some people like it just plain. Turn it once and let it
cook for another minute; be careful not to let it burn !
Take it off the skillet and spread some margarine or
vegetable spread on top of your biju. Repeat to make as many
bijus as you like.

In case you don’t want to make it all at once, you can save
the starch for a later time. The secret is to keep some
moisture in it, so if you plan to use it again the next day,
sprinkle some water on it at night. If you grated too much
of the starch, mix the remaining flakes with the rest of the
starch before you add the water. If it becomes too dry, the
flakes will not coalesce to form the biju.

Serves: 15 or more

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 3 medium tomatoes quartered
• 2 green onions
• 1 small clove garlic minced
• 2 fresh basil leaves torn into pieces
• 1 rib celery
• 2 green and 1 red MINI bell peppers – remove top and seeds
• (if you don’t have access to mini peppers, use approx. 3/4 cup green bell pepper)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 medium sized cucumber- save 1/3

Directions:

Yummy use of those fresh garden veggies. This is a great
mid-summer meal when veggies are plentiful!

Cut off 1/3 of the cucumber and dice, set aside. Place all
other ingredients into a food processor and puree approx. 1
minute until well blended. Add diced cucumber and serve
cold. ENJOY!

Serves: 1-2 depends on how hungry you are!

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 2 packages vegan pesto sauce mix
• 1 red peppers (or more)
• 5 cloves garlic ( or more)
• 6 tablespoon olive oil (or other cooking oil)
• 2 cups uncooked brown rice
• grape leaves (a lot!)

Directions:

Cook the brown rice according to package directions. While
that is cooking chop the red pepper into small pieces and
mince the garlic. When the rice is about ten or fifteen
minutes from being done, heat the oil and saute the peppers
and garlic in it. Add the pesto sauce packages shortly
after the peppers and garlic. Let that cook for five
minutes or so, then add it to the brown rice and roll the
mixture up into the grape leaves.

Serves: approx. 15

Preparation time: approx.65 min. in all

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 1.5 cup canned hominy (most of a 29oz. can)
• 1.5 cup masa harina flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup hot water

Directions:

Puree hominy in a food processor with some of the water. Combine with
the remaining ingredients in a large bowl or the food processor. Mix
until the dough gathers into a soft ball. Divide dough into 18 or so
golf-ball-size pieces and cover with plastic wrap while rolling out
or pressing the tortillas (you can wrap all of the dough in plastic
wrap and refrigerate if you want to use it later). Form the tortillas
by placing between two peices of plastic wrap and pressing with a
tortilla press or rolling pin. Set aside until ready to cook.

To cook, heat a heavy frying pan or griddle over medium-high heat. Peel
off the plastic wrap and place in pan one at a time or as many as will
fit without overlapping. Cook 30 seconds, flip and cook for 1 minute,
flip and cook for an additional 30 seconds, or until the tortilla
puffs slightly but is still pliable. Remove and repeat for all tortillas.

**Note – I have found this recipe to be a bit on the runny side, so
you may have to experiment with the amount of flour to achieve the
right consistency for you. I have not had a problem with this since
I can cook it directly on my tortilla press. However, it should pose
no problems to add a little more flour if you need to thicken it up.

Serves: 15-20 tortillas

Preparation time: less than 1 hr.