Super Fast Indian

I would never say that this compares to fragrant, homemade Indian food, the kind that simmers all afternoon and drives you crazy with the smell. But it is good and, sometimes even more important, it is fast and easy.
About a year ago I bought two jars of Indian sauces at Trader Joe's. There has never been a time I wanted to use them, guess I just thought they couldn't be that good. Finally, because we had some other leftover Indian, I decided to try one to round out the meal. It's really tasty! I took a pound of tofu, cubed it like paneer, and browned the pieces in a little oil. I poured the sauce over and let it simmer a few minutes then served it over rice. Tasty! This jar was Trader Joe's Masala sauce. I also have a jar of TJ's Korma sauce, which I'm now eager to try. Seems like these might be good shelf staples for last-minute meals.

Two good meals

Doesn't this photo look like a smiling, googly-eyed dinner? :)
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile -- I was out in California eating good food with J, and then there was one thing and another when I returned home. A couple days after I got back, I decided to try out the French Lentil Soup from Veganomicon that everyone has been talking about. Yum! It was quite tasty, not noticeably different from other basic lentil soups, but easy and good. The leftovers, which I served over rice left from another meal (below), were even better. We made a salad with leftover roasted veggies, included roasted paprika potatoes that V had made the night before (no recipe, just tossed salt and paprika with the chopped potatoes before baking). Since there's paprika in the soup, it was perfect. And we used Trader Joe's artichoke and hearts of palm topping with sliced red onion and a crumble of feta over multigrain bread to go with it. We were happy campers!
I was tearing recipes from some old cooking magazines so I could toss the rest in the recycling and came across a recipe for Saag Tofu in Eating Well (such a great magazine -- not vegetarian, but so much plant-food based stuff that I use many of their recipes). It was super! As you can see by comparing my photo to the one shown if you follow the link, mine looks less creamy. That's because the yogurt, which I had brought to room temp and stirred in over very low heat, separated. It's really hard to keep yogurt from separating. I think next time I'll just leave it out. This was such a good dish, I will definitely be making it again. Also, the sauteed tofu (cooked more slowly than I usually do) was really tasty with just a sprinkle of salt. I was thinking it would be fun to cut it into thin sticks and cook it like that, then serve it with some dipping sauces (kind of like the tofu fries at Zao's in Palo Alto, for those of you that have been there).
V made our usual cauliflower and potato dish (alu gobhi) to accompany this. SO GOOD! I think it was even better than usual -- I may just turn all the cooking over to V! The recipe comes from Lite and Luscious Cuisine of India by Madhu Gadia, who is a dietitian from India. Many of our favorites come from that book. In looking up the link on amazon, I see she has an Indian vegan cookbook coming out in October -- though this one is pretty much vegan. I'll have to get the new one anyhow! I couldn't find this recipe anywhere on the web, so I'll post it here:

Alu Gobhi (Potatoes with Cauliflower)

Heat in nonstick frying pan (that has a lid) over medium heat:
2 tsp oil

Add and cook for a few seconds:
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Stir in:
4 cups cauliflower flowerets
2 medium potatoes, peeled and
cut into 3/4” cubes

Add and stir well to coat:
1-1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
4 shakes cayenne pepper

Heat through, then cover, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for about 10 min, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender but still firm. Remove lid, increase heat, and stir in:
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp lemon juice

Drizzle around inside edge of pan and stir fry for a few more minutes:
2 tsp olive or canola oil

Before serving, top with (optional):
chopped fresh coriander