Coconut and Lentil Curry

When I posted my first curry recipe a while back, I said that I’d post more of them in the future, but I don’t know what took me so long because curry is freaking delicious. Coconut milk makes all the difference, giving this lentil curry a creamy texture and great flavour. It does take about 30 minutes to cook, but once you’ve prepped everything you kind of just throw it in the pot and let it do its thing, so it’s really easy. I like to serve this curry with quinoa, avocado and cilantro, but white rice or any other grain would work just as well. And you bet that I’m freezing the leftovers for later!

Coconut and Lentil Curry

Serves: 2-3

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 white onion, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp dried basil
  • 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
  • 1 can light coconut milk
  • 1 1/2 cups green lentils, rinsed
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Cooked grains for serving

Directions:

  1. In a large pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Dump in the onions and cook until translucent, about 6-8 minutes.
  2. Add in the garlic and all of the spices, cooking for an additional 2 minutes, until the mixture is aromatic.
  3. Next, put the tomatoes, coconut milk, and lentils in the pot. Stir, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
  4. Let the curry simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the lentils are soft. At this point, you can taste the curry and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  5. Serve with avocado and grains of your choice.
  6. Enjoy!

Hope you like this curry recipe! Have a great weekend;)

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;)))

Creamy Mushroom and Hummus Pasta

Hello! I saw the idea for using hummus as a pasta sauce on Instagram, and it legit changed my life. In this recipe, the hummus is added in with fried onions, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes, then diluted with a little bit of water to give the sauce a creamy texture. The beauty is that you can use any kind of hummus that you want, and if you pick some up from the store, you can have a quick and easy dinner. However, I did include a hummus recipe in this post, which only takes about 10 minutes to make. You can also switch around the kind of pasta that you want to use- I used spaghetti made from lentil flour, but any kind works. I hope that you enjoy this delicious dish!

Creamy Mushroom and Hummus Pasta

Serves: 1

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Hummus (makes more than what you’ll need for the pasta):

  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tbs tahini
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

For the Pasta:

  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1/4 of an onion, sliced into thin strips
  • 5 cherry tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
  • 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (I used portobello)
  • 1 serving cooked pasta, about 85g
  • 1/2 cup hummus
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Blend all of the hummus ingredients, except for the olive oil, in a blender. Once the chickpeas have started break down, stream in the olive oil and continue to blend until a smooth consistency is reached.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add in the mushrooms and onions, and cook for about 6 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the mushrooms are soft.
  3. Add the tomatoes into the pan and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
  4. Next, the hummus and water get dumped into the pan. Stir to combine the two ingredients.
  5. Add in the cooked pasta and coat it and the vegetables with the hummus and water mixture. The sauce should be creamy, so if it’s too thick add more water, and if it’s too thin add more hummus.
  6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mmmmm! I’d love to try this recipe with a roasted red pepper or lemon and herb hummus. This simple garlicky one pairs wonderfully with the mushrooms though;) Have fun making and getting creative with this pasta!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked

Veggie Tacos

Let me start off by saying that these Veggie Tacos are the thebomb.com. I for one am a huge taco lover, so this delicious combination of peppers, zucchini, and lentils is right up my alley. Theses tacos take about a half hour to whip up, assuming you’re using pre-cooked lentils. For this recipe, I used canned lentils, because they’re ready to use and have a texture that lends itself well to tacos. Add in some zucchini, peppers and Mexican spices, and top it off with some guacamole and Mango Salsa, and you’ve got yourself a killer meal.

Veggie Tacos

Serves: l4-6

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 a red onion, diced
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 bell pepper (any colour) diced
  • 1 medium sized zucchini, chopped into half inch cubes
  • 1 can of lentils, drained and rinsed, or about 2 cups cooked green lentils
  • 1/2 tbs cumin
  • 1/2 tbs paprika
  • 1/2 tbs Chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne powder
  • 1/2 tbs oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add in the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
  2. Add in the zucchini, bell peppers, and lentils and stir. Next, measure out the spices and put them in the pan as well. Mix together all of the ingredients and let cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until the veggies are soft, and any liquid has evaporated.
  3. Place the veggie mixture in a tortilla with guacamole and mango salsa. Enjoy!

Hope you enjoy this delicious taco recipe! It’s great for hot summer days;)

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;))

Greek Pasta Salad

Hi there! When I think of summer I think of barbecues and potlucks, and at these gatherings there’s often a pasta salad. But it’s usually covered in a heavier mayo based dressing, and contains little to no veggies. This Greek Pasta Salad is full of different textures and flavours, while being super healthy at the same time. Crispy chickpeas, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, and pasta all get tossed together with a delicious greek dressing. You can even toss in some feta and red onion if you’d like. This is the perfect recipe to bring to a barbecue, or to enjoy as a light lunch;)

Greek Pasta Salad

Serves: 4 as a meal, 6-8 as a side

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Roasted Chickpeas:

  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 tbs cumin
  • 1/2 tbs Chilli powder
  • 1/2 tbs paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 two allspice
  • 1/2 the garlic powder

For the Dressing:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 2 tbs red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1 tbs dried oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad:

  • 2 1/2 cups cooked rotini ( I used pasta made from chickpea flour)
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1/2 a cucumber, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 a can of black olives, sliced

Directions:

  1. In a medium sized bowl, toss the chickpeas with the olive oil and spices. Place them on a lined baking sheet and bake in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.
  2. Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients with the roasted chickpeas. Add in the dressing and toss until everything is coated.
  4. Enjoy!

I hope you like this summer recipe! I’ve posted a video of myself making it on Instagram if you need extra directions. See you Wednesday!

Your Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;)))

Neapolitan Nice Cream

Hello everyone! Summer is here and I’m craving some sweet treats! So I brought out my blender and made some delicious Neapolitan Nice Cream😋. Nice Cream has a texture and taste similar to ice cream, but it’s generally made with frozen bananas. It’s light and refreshing, perfect for a hot summer day! This Nice Cream is super easy to make, and only requires 4 ingredients (not including water) to make all three flavours; vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. Make sure you give yourself time before serving to freeze your ingredients, as well as the final product. Here’s the recipe!

Neapolitan Nice Cream

Serves: 3-4

Total Time: 4 hours

Ingredients:

  • 6 medium bananas
  • 6 strawberries, washed
  • 1 tbs vanilla extract
  • 2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Water

Directions:

  1. Chop up the bananas into round slices, keeping each banana separate. Split them evenly into three ziploc bags; two chopped bananas per bag. This is so that you can make each flavour of Nice Cream separately.
  2. Remove the stems from the strawberries and cut them into small slices. Put them in with one of the bags of bananas. This bag will be for the strawberry Nice Cream.
  3. Place all of the bags in the freezer, and freeze for at least 3 hours, or until all of the fruit is completely frozen.
  4. Once the strawberries and bananas are frozen, remove the bags from the freezer.
  5. Empty one bag of just bananas into your blender, along with the 1 tbs of vanilla and one tbs of water. This is for the vanilla Nice Cream. Blend until a smooth texture forms. It should look something like this:
  6. Scoop out the Nice Cream from the blender and use it to fill up one third of a lined loaf pan. Put the loaf pan in the freezer while blending up the other flavours.
  7. For the strawberry flavour, empty the bag with the bananas and strawberries into the blender and blend until you reach the same consistency as the vanilla. Scoop it into the loaf pan to fill another third of it, then put it back into the freezer.
  8. Now it’s time for chocolate! Put the last bag full of bananas into the blender with the 2 tbs of cocoa powder and 1 tbs of water, and again blend until you reach that perfect consistency. Fill up the last third of the loaf pan with the chocolate Nice Cream.
  9. Place the loaf pan in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes before serving, to get the perfect texture. If your Nice Cream gets to hard, let it thaw on the counter for a bit before digging in. Enjoy!
  • I hope you like this healthy summer treat! To be honest, I think chocolate was my favourite flavour, but the other ones were great too:) I gave my dog a little scoop of the strawberry and he loved it! Have an awesome week😊😊🍦🍦

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;)