Aloo Gobhi

This recipe is for Kristen, a friend of us who lives in Connecticut. She's not tolerant at all with spicy food but would like to try a curry/Indian dish. This dish is not too spicy, and is very forgiving with the amount of chillies used. Aloo Gobhi literally means potato (Aloo) and cauliflower (Gobhi) in Hindi. This dish is really a spiced potato and cauliflower dish, not SPICY potato and cauliflower dish. So, for those that can't stand the heat of curry or Indian food this is the dish for you. This dish is good with chappati, naan, rice or even toast.


1 medium sized cauliflower, cut into florets
5 medium sized potatoes
1 green chili, sliced (adjust to taste)
1 cup frozen green pea, thawed
2 cup cherry tomato or 1 cup chopped tomato
1 medium sized onion, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon cumin seed
2 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup water
1 cup chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

Boil potatoes with skin on in a pot. When potatoes are cooked, peel skin and cut into bite size pieces. Set aside. Boil cauliflower for 3 minutes, or until al dente. Set aside.

Heat oil on medium heat. Add cumin seeds and fry for a few seconds. Add onions, garlic, ginger and green chillies. Fry until onions are translucent. Add curry powder and turmeric powder. Fry for 1 minute and then add potatoes, cauliflower and tomatoes. Add water. Stir and cook for about 10 minutes. Add green peas. Cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in coriander leaves. Serve.

Easy Strawberry and Cream Tartlets

I bought 2 boxes of strawberries last week and it seems like they are not gonna make it in a few days. So, I chopped them up and use them to make a filling. It's less forgiving than slicing them and using them on top pies. You can make the tartlet shells from scratch but then it wouldn't be "Easy Strawberry and Cream Tartlets". The tartlets came out a bit browner than I would have loved it to be but nonetheless, tasty.


24 frozen tart shells
Whipped cream for topping

For strawberry filling:
3 cups strawberries, roughly chopped
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 lime, for zests and juice

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until filling thickens, about 20 minutes. Set aside and let filling cool. This makes about 2 cups of filling.

Bake frozen tart shells according to instructions. Remove from oven when shells starts to turn brownish, usually about 15-20 minutes. Fill shells with a tablespoon of strawberry filling.

Turn oven to 375 °F and return the tartlets into the oven for another 10 minutes. Let tartlets cool. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Mushroom Gravy

This is my favorite gravy recipe for meatless meatloaf, mashed potato or anything that calls for gravy! It is thicken by roux, a French sauce thickening technique where you fry flour with lard or oil to create a thickening base. Some people are afraid to make roux sauces but trust me, it is easy. Two tips to remember: Always keep the flame low so you don't burn the flour and stir constantly. If you remember to do both then you will have no problem making roux sauces. Here's my recipe for Mushroom Gravy. To make this a vegan recipe, simply omit milk and use 3 cups of water instead of 2 cups.

1 box baby Bella mushrooms (10 oz.), sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoon chopped garlic
5 tablespoon olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon paprika
1 can (14 oz.) vegetable broth or chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a saucepan. Sauté onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Add bay leaves. Cook until onion starts to brown in the edges. Add in flour. Lower the heat. Stir constantly until it turns into a paste consistency.


Keep stirring constantly and fry the flour paste until it turns brown and smells nutty (it should have the same color as a pie crust and smell like one). Set the roux aside.


Using the same saucepan, add in sliced mushrooms. Sweat mushrooms until they are soft. Moisture from the mushroom will deglaze the saucepan, so don't worry about bits of roux stuck in the saucepan. Add broth and let it boil. Return the roux into the saucepan. Stir and combine the roux with the broth. Add water and milk. Keep stirring so the sauce doesn't burn. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with Meatless meatloaf or mashed potato.

Meatless Meatloaf

I’ve been making this vegetarian meatloaf for Thanksgiving substituting a turkey for the past 2 years now and everyone loves it. Of course you don’t have to wait till Thanksgiving to make this tasty and easy dish. Don’t be scared by the list of ingredients either, all you need is to assemble them and the rest is mix and bake! What's easier than recipe with pictures, right?

This can be modified into a vegan recipe by substituting eggs with cornstarch. You can make this for dinner and use the leftovers for sandwich with ketchup and mustard. It keeps for about a week.

Ingredients (A)

2 cups celery, chopped
2 cups green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups baby Bella mushroom, chopped
2 cups carrot, shredded
2 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
½ tablespoon dried pepper flakes
2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients (B)

2 boxes silk tofu (19 oz. each), mashed
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 cups instant mashed potato flakes
2 eggs, slightly beaten (for vegan recipe: substitute eggs by mixing 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 2 tablespoon of water)
1 packet Lipton Onion soup and dip mix
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Heat oil and sauté onion and garlic. When onion looks translucent, add basil, oregano and pepper flakes. Fry for a few seconds and then add celery, green pepper and mushroom. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrot and fry until the mixture is dry. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside and let it cool.


Combine Ingredient (B) in a large mixing bowl. If your mashed tofu is lumpy, you can whisk it for a few seconds until it smooths out.


Fold in Ingredient (A). Preheat oven to 380 ºF. Grease two loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Fold mixture into the loaf pans and bake for an hour or when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve with gravy or ketchup and mustard.

Kabocha Curry

Vance once had kabocha curry before in a Chinese Vegetarian Restaurant in Chinatown and has been craving them ever since. The restaurant is no longer in business and I have never tasted the dish before so recreating it is rather difficult. Here is my version of the kabocha curry. I don't want to make it too spicy so you can actually taste the sweetness of the kabocha. Vance hates Japanese curry because it is thickened by "roux" instead of coconut milk and he doesn't like the consistency. So, this is a modified Japanese curry that's thickened by coconut milk instead of roux.


1 small kabocha, leave the skin on and cut into cubes.
2 cups baby carrots.
1 cup celery, chopped.
2 cups frozen green peas, thawed.
1 medium sized onion, quartered and chopped.
2 cloves garlic, chopped.
2 cups water.
1 can coconut milk (480 mL).
3 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon sugar.
salt to taste.

Ingredients (A)
1/2 cup water.
1/2 cup curry powder.
2 tablespoon red chili powder.

Heat oil on high heat. Add onion and garlic, fry until onion is translucent. Combine ingredients (A) into a curry paste. Lower the heat to medium and add curry paste. Fry for a few minutes until aromatic. Add kabocha, carrots, celery and 2 cups of water. Cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Add coconut milk, sugar and salt. Cook for another 15 minutes. Add green peas and cook for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Serve warm with white rice.