Vegetable Curry and Cream Cheese Brownies

Mixed Vegetable Curry! This is one of my boyfriend's fav dinners. It's spicy (for me, *almost* to the point of being too spicy) but you can calm it by not adding as much spice or adding more coconut milk.



Brownies! If you are like me, you like the very center of every pan of baked goods. Gooey and no crust. If you don't like gooey, these brownies aren't for you, because they won't get firm unless you add more flour or something. Recipe below.





Vegetable Curry
This vegetable curry came with a little help from Shan Vegetable Curry Mix. You get a lot of servings from one pack of spices, which are about $1/box (I fed 5 people with less than half of the spice pack when curry was served with rice). This dish can be stretched even further by using less, or by serving with breads and salad.

Here is the (loose) recipe that I made the vegetable curry with. You can use whatever vegetables you have around!

4-5 medium tomatoes (I de-seeded, you don't have to)
2 small-med red potatoes, peeled and chopped small*
2-3 zucchini, unpeeled, chopped small*
1 1/2 onions, diced
5-6 baby portobello or other mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thick
Handful cauliflower florets, chopped into chunks
1 lb tofu, cut into 1/8ths and pressed, then each 1/8th cut in half
1/2 regular (13-14oz) can coconut milk
1 box Shan Vegetable Curry Mix
*About 1 cm cubes, zucchini can be larger since it is a quicker-cooking vegetable

In a large saute pan with high sides, pour 1-2 Tbsp. peanut oil and cook tofu until golden (on each side). Empty pan, cut each piece of tofu into even 4 pieces. Set aside.

In same pan, heat a generous 1-2 Tbsp. margarine, and fry onions and potatoes for roughly 5 minutes or a little longer, until almost done (If you have any carrots or other long-cooking vegetables, add them here with the onion and potato). Add the rest of the vegetables, several Tbsp (3-5) Shan spices, and the coconut milk. Cook the vegetables until tender but not mushy. Tomato will pretty much dissolve and become part of the sauce. This takes about 10 minutes. Stir fairly often, as this is a lot to make at once and you want even cooking.

Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and reduce the coconut milk until it makes a fairly thick sauce (coats the back of a spoon, but isn't thick enough to hold a shape).

Return vegetables (and tofu) to pan and coat with sauce. Serve with cooked basmati rice and any Indian breads/chutneys. We kept it simple.


Here is what the packet looks like if you don't want to shop from the internet. I found mine at a local Indian grocer!



Gooey Cream Cheese Brownies
(Based off a Vegweb.com recipe, modified slightly)

2 cups flour
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 cup oil - preferably vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli)
3/4 8oz. container Tofutti Cream Cheese (so use 6oz or just estimate)

*Boil water and 1/2 cup of the flour over low heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches the consistency of a thin gluey paste. Remove from heat and let cool completely. MUST cool completely.
*Mix sugar, salt, vanilla, cocoa and oil. Then add the rest flour-water mixture. Mix well.
*Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour, baking powder.
*Spoon out about 1/4-1/3 cup batter, and beat well with cream cheese, adding a little soy milk to thin.
*Add the nuts or chocolate chips to the large bowl of batter, if you choose to add those.
*Spread mixture into a greased 11 x 7 pan (I used 8x8 or 9x9). Pour cream cheese mixture on top of brownie mixture and swirl. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife can be inserted and come out (somewhat)clean.