Simple Gluten Free Kitchen

Vegetarian

Daal Palak / Chana Daal (split bengal gram) with Spinach

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The spiced, soupy dish referred to as daal is just so satisfying and nourishing that can give comfort all year round. In general, daal is completely a blank slate. It’s the spices, herbs, and vegetables you add that pack flavor and give it different personalities. This particular recipe is made with Chana daal, prized in Punjabi kitchens for its low levels of glycemic index and wonderful taste. Furthermore, adding spinach raises the nutrient quotient of this daal.

Not only is this recipe vegetarian and gluten-free but it’s vegan and diabetic friendly, too.

Okra Curry-Low Carb and Diabetic Friendly

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A low-carb dish is not all bacon, steak, fish or chicken. There are several low carb veggies out there that are great to eat and okra is one of them. Okra not only promotes good digestive health but also good cholesterol levels and keep diabetes at bay due to its high fiber content. Okra is one of my favorite vegetables. I didn’t plant enough this year, but the ones I planted steadily produced enough for my family to feed every few days. Today’s recipe is a south Indian preparation with the last of the okra from my garden.

Garden Vegetable Soba Recipe

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I’m all about making real meals simple and convenient enough for weekdays. The easier it is, the more likely you are to cook it and eat it. This delicious recipe is a great way to use up a lot of odds and ends from the fridge or vegetable basket. It makes a great option for packed lunch as it tastes equally good warm, cold, or at room temperature. I usually serve this garden vegetable soba noodles with a piece of oven baked fish or chicken for a more substantial meal.

No Egg Eggplant Rollatini

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Since the majority of my recipes on my blog are photographed on the weekend, I already had a post planned for today. But when I picked this homegrown bounty on Saturday morning I changed my mind. We are blessed with so much amazing produce at the moment that each meal has turned into a celebration of the harvest. The eggplants are doing really well and I think I am going to have lots of them this year. In honor of this beautiful veg, I’m sharing with you a soul food recipe that we really adore.

Grilled Okra

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Okra is a summertime culinary pleasure and grilling turns into something super special and irresistible. It takes away all the sliminess and adds a delicious toasty flavor. Tossed with salt, pepper, and sumac okra makes a perfect finger food or a hearty side with meat instead of French fries.
This is what I making these days with my home grown okra because it is the best!

Wadi wali Lauki/ Bottlegourd cooked with Sundried lentil cakes

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Bottle gourd is highly appreciated vegetables in Indian cuisine though it is not very familiar to the western world (yet!) as an edible. It is rich in minerals and high in water therefore considered extremely light on the digestive system. It is used in stir fries, curries, with lentils, in desserts, soups and a lot more. This is a super simple and homey dish, but the flavors are tremendous. We Punjabis particularly love to add wadis in it. They add a lot of flavor and make the dish enjoyably spicy.

Vegan Black Bean Burger with Mango Salsa

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We eat a lot of beans but I’ve often resisted making “bean burgers”. It’s not that I don’t like them, It’s just that, most bean burgers have the texture of mush which I do not find appealing at all. A while ago I tried the bean burger recipe from the Food lab of Serious Eats. It was a win at first try! The tips given in the post gave a perfect burger that was not mushy at all. My family loved it and after that I tried it with different combination and spices. These burgers have a firm crust on the outside and still moist on the inside. They don’t fall apart when cooked and don’t squish out the back of the bun when you bite down. What more do you want? With the right ingredients, a little time, and the technique of dehydrating the cooked black beans, I perfected my recipe for vegan black bean burgers.