Quality living styles- Quick and Easy Quality Vegetarian Recipes

Learn to cook quick quality meals with easy to follow Recipes

Unlock your hidden potential as a good cook. These recipes are informative, interesting, and quick and easy to make.
[Photographer: Shyam Pather]

Cooking can be fun and creative. Your cooking skills, like most things, will improve with practice. These tried and tested recipes with attractive pictures are meant not just to whet your appetite, but to illustrate that it is possible to easily create tasty vegetarian meals. The links on the top will lead you to a variety of recipes which you can cook in any combination, to make a gourmet meal or just an addition to your repertoire.

Food is an essential component of socializing, celebrations and traditions in every culture. Sharing meals at social events is a good ice-breaker as the sight and aroma of a good spread lends itself to safe opening lines of conversation. Even with people we have not met before, it does not feel like intrusion when curiosity or compliments about the meal are expressed. For that time the meal is the link that generates conviviality. As recipes and other details are shared, a jolly, relaxed atmosphere eases the flow of conversation and opens the gateway to other topics of conversation.

Dinner preparations at home can be similar too. With busy lifestyles this may be hard to do everyday, but do give these recipes a try for a few days of the week. Cooking quick and easy nutritious meals that you can share together will help to enhance health, quality time together and family well-being.

Be adventurous, vegetables can be cooked in myriads of ways. With these recipes you will create tasty, nutritious and very quick meals. Typically, daily Indian dinners do not have courses and are laid out at the same time, like a buffet. Desserts are up to the individuals and may not be served every day. They range from fruit to exotic tasty treats. The recipe collection will include Indian and sprinklings of Mexican, Thai, Greek, Mediterranean and Italian foods. You can access the first in a series of recipes by using the navigation on the top.

“Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start- - - ”

And that place is -- A Basic Curry Mixture-- The basic curry mixture recipe that follows will take the mystery out of making good curries.
For most dishes, all you need to do is simply add vegetables or lentils of your choice, once you have made this basic mixture.

Stir and allow the new additions to cook and blend in with the basic curry mixture. The amount of spices, garnishes and herbs that are used, will make your curry a unique one. You will also learn how spices are used in curries.
TIP: Use fresh or frozen vegetables, dried or canned lentils, either Canola or Olive oils.
Cook on a medium to low heat.

A Basic Curry Mixture
The easy first stages of making a curry.
The spices are blended and tomato is not quite mushy.

Ingredients

4 tbls.oil
½cup finely sliced onion
1 cup chopped tomato
3 teaspoons ground garlic
¼tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. coriander powder
½ tsp.cumin
I tsp. salt or to taste

Method

Heat oil on medium heat
Sauté onions
Add tomato and spices when onion is still transparent
Stir a few times
Simmer on low heat with the lid on for about 2 min.
The basic curry mixture is done
It is now ready for the addition of vegetables or lentils

Masala or Curry Powder
Ground chilies, coriander, cumin, anise, turmeric, ginger and other spices and herbs are blended together.
This mixture, called Masala or Curry Powder, adds flavor to curries.
This is depicted in the image.

What is Curry?

Curry is often referred to as an ingredient by many who are not familiar with Indian food. A common inquiry when eating an Indian dish is, “Is there curry in there? ” To clarify this point: Spices, add color and "heat" and are used to flavor food.The end result, a blending and cooking of the ingredients, and aromatic spices, is Curry.

Gharam Masala is a blend of spices without chillies and is generally sprinkled at the end to heighten flavors. The spices that are used in Gharam Masala can vary.

Curries differ in taste from cook to cook, as spices are used in varying amounts. Some may prefer more of a flavor, such as coriander, and others may skip this entirely. For a mild curry, very little chili powder is used or it can be left out entirely. Whole red dry chilies or fresh green chilies lend different flavors, yet add "heat. " There are no strict measurements of spices, either, use just enough to suit your palate. The amounts of spices mentioned in these recipes are guidelines. Experiment and decide the combination that works the best for you.

Curry may be served with rice, bread and Indian breads such as roti, naan or puri.
Besides masala that flavor curries, there are masalas for tea or chai, which generally consists of powdered cardommon, ginger, all spice, anise , cloves or white pepper.

Spices also have healing properties, aid in digestion and have antiseptic properties. You will see this in greater detail as you scroll down to Interesting Spice Stories.

Quick and Easy Recipes

There are a range of lentils, meat substitutes, vegetables, pasta dishes and other foods that make it possible for vegetarians to have varied and interesting meals. They are easy to prepare and will encourage you to eat vegetables.

For details on what foods are recommended and calorie intakes, check out web sites that describe the Food Pyramid. They provide useful information on vegetables to eat, the recommended quantities, based on age and level of activity, amongst other tips. The web address is www.my pyramid.gov/

One Food Pyramid recommendation that caught my eye, was that, adults should have at least 2½ cups of vegetables every day. The recipes here may help you to comply with this recommendation.

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Interesting Spice Stories

According to information provided by The American Spice Trade Association, using and trading in spices go back to a time before recorded history. Theories abound on how man came to use spices including the possibility that primitive men may have wrapped meat in leaves with the intention of keeping it free from dirt and ashes. After removing it from the pit, they may have been surprised and delighted to experience a new flavor, probably leading to experimenting and discovering the value of seasonings. Another tale is that the smoke and from the barbeque pit may also have resulted in the tears from the cooks eyes, spilling onto the meat and adding the flavor of salt.

Centuries ago explorers set out to the Orient to trade in spices. These sailors endured long journeys in ships that were prone to mishaps in stormy weather, and were often at the mercy of pirates who regularly looted these trading vessels. The search for spices also led to discoveries of new land, and subsequently new settlements. Spices which come from the bark, leaves, seeds and roots of plants were grown and harvested in many continents. The word “aroma ” is said to be the ancient Greek word for“spices.” For more information on the history of spices, check out, The American Spice Trade Association

The Spice Table
Spice	Health Benefit	Source	Uses
Ginger	Helps Digestion: Inhibits nausea	Root	Curries & marinades: Food Preservative
Garlic	Helps digestion, colds & sinus headaches, Lowers blood pressure & cholestrol levels. May prevent some form of cancer	Bulb	Curries marinades medication
Cayenne Pepper	Increases Metabolism	Seed	Adds "heat"
Coriander	Anti-Inflammatory	Seeds leaves roots	Flavor
Cumin	Anti-Oxidants: anti-inflammatory	Seeds	Flavor: medicinal
Cardommom	Anti-Oxidant	Seeds	Flavors savory and sweet dishes

It seems that introducing spices to the preparation of food was a very thoughtful and intelligent process as it not only improves the flavor, but many spices aid in digestion, and in preserving food. You can enjoy reading more about the wonderful world of spices in the literature available on the internet.

A study by the USDA found that, gram for gram, oregano has the highest antioxidant activity of 27 fresh culinary herbs.
Capsaican is found in Paprika, Cayenne and Red Chili Peppers and is said to aid in lowering the risk of cancer

For most of us who like our food spicy, we even sprinkle crushed chili peppers on pizza and pasta dishes. Most of the spices mentioned here are available in regular supermarkets. Visiting ethnic grocery stores is not only interesting but I have found that they have fresher spices and they are cheaper as well. It is a good idea to store the left over spices in the freezer in order to maintain freshness.

If you are having problems accessing these products or have any questions at all, email me, Nirmala at pather@qualitylivingstyles.com. I will be happy to help in any way I can. The site will be regularly updated with tasty recipes and hints and tips. I hope you have enjoy the information here as much as I have enjoyed putting this together. Keep in touch. You will find my contact information at Contact

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