Look for my review of a packaged gluten-free, vegan kale chip company this Wednesday, and a recipe for an un-cheese dehydrated kale chip recipe this Friday. I plan on adding a “Mr. Linky” to Friday’s post, so get ready to share your favorite Kale recipes there!

Because there really aren’t enough days in the week, I thought I’d include my menu for the week as well.

Monday: Vegan
Roasted squash slices with vegan nutritional yeast gravy
Kale in tomato sauce
Gluten-free biscuits

Tuesday: Indian
Mongolian cauliflower and Chana masala
with rice and quinoa

Wednesday: Italian
Pasta with green pesto and broccoli

Thursday: Mexican
Tacos with refried beans, lettuce, homemade pico de gallo and guacamole
Kale with olives and capers

Friday: American
Arugula Salad with Portobella Mushrooms
Broccoli slaw
Baked potato wedges

Baked good of the week: chocolate cherry cake with frosting

This menu was shared with Org Junkie and Gluten-free Smiles. The recipe was shared with Diane with Real Food Weekly

Balsamic Sweet Onion Dehydrated Kale Chip Recipe Snacks  Side Dish  Vegetables  American

Ingredients 1/2 large bunch of kale, or 1 small bunch of kale, deveined 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar 2 tsp olive oil 1 medjool date, pitted 1/2 sweet onion, chopped 1/2 tsp. salt (or more, to taste) Needed equipment: dehydrator, food processor or blender Directions Rinse your kale leaves and spin dry in a salad spinner if you have it. Otherwise, pat dry with a paper towel. Combine vinegar, oil, date, and onion in small food processor bowl or sturdy blender. Blend until you have a smooth sauce. Put your kale leaves in a medium or large bowl and drizzle the sauce on your leaves. Massage it into them and then spread them out on two or three dehydrator trays. Sprinkle with salt. Dehydrate them on 115F for around 4 hours or until they are crunchy and dry, like delicious dried leaves. Yum Yum!

Rating:  8 Original Source:  The contents of my brain, please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1542 Added:  February 19, 2011 Last Modified:  February 19, 2011

Here’s a pictorial guide to making Dal Vada:

First soak chana dal overnight. Then drain, rinse, and grind it in a food processor with garlic and ginger until it’s a nice, smooth dough.

Then mix in all the other ingredients, including cilantro and red onion. Form into little balls, flatten, and deep fry until cooked all the way through and deep golden brown.

And, here’s a video for a similar recipe using combined dal:

And, if you want another video, here’s a great video showing in great detail how to make authentic dal vada

By the way, channa dal is a dal that I really enjoy. It’s a yellow lentil similar to yellow split pea, but a little larger. It almost looks like a dried corn kernel. It’s fantastically low on the glycemic index, and tasty too. You can do lots of things with channa dal. If you’ve got channa dal left in your pantry after making this yummy recipe, try one of these recipes:

Channa dal with Spinach Recipe
Sukhi Channa Dal Recipe
Another Channa Dal Recipe
Spicy Channa Dal Recipe

Enjoy!
You can also try my Mint Cilantro Chutney Recipe
with this dal pakora recipe
if you have some mint on hand. Enjoy!
And, here’s my post describing the dinner party in Bangalore where I first enjoyed this recipe.

*IMPORTANT REMINDER: The Adopt-a-gluten-free blogger deadline is July 7th. Please send me the URL of your post about your adopted blogger, photo, and description of the recipe NO LATER than this date, as I will be flying to Japan on the morning of July 9th. If you don’t get your entry in by this date, you may not be included in the roundup until (retroactively) in early August… You can email me at seamaiden399(at)gmail[dot]com. Thanks guys and can’t wait to see your posts!

Chana Dal Pakora or Dal Vada Recipe- revised Main Course  Alternative Grains  Indian

Ingredients 250 gm (8.8 oz) Bengal Gram (Channa/ Chana Dal) 1 1/2 medium red onions, finely chopped 1 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves 2-3 finely chopped green serrano chili 2-3 cloves (Loung?) 1 stick (1 inch) cinnamon bark (dalchini) salt to taste Cooking Oil for deep frying 50 gm.(1.75 oz( Ginger (finely crushed but Not paste) 1/2 or 1/4 head of garlic (finely crushed) Chutney to serve- mint or cilantro chutney is lovely. Mint AND cilantro chutney is also nice. A red tomato chutney or even ketchup offers a nice contrast. Directions Directions Soak 250 gm. (washed) Bengal gram for 5-6 hours. Strain the water and grind the strained dal along with crushed garlic, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon bark. It’s hard for the food processor to break up the cinnamon bark, so make sure to start with it. You may have to break up pieces by hand. Put the ground mixture in a bowl and mix finely chopped onions, fresh cilantro leaves, salt, and green chilies. Mix it well with spoon or by hand. Make round, flat patty shaped balls and deep fry on medium flame in oil heated on medium heat. If the oil is smoking, it’s too hot! I find that it is very easy to burn the first few while trying to get the temperature right, but you’re shooting for a cooking period of about 2.5 minutes, then turn for 2.5 minutes more. If you fry them too fast, the inside will be raw, so you really want that type of extended frying period. *Tip: Before you start frying, set up a cooling area with an (edged) cookie pan and a cooling rack. You can line the cookie pan with paper towels if you like, but place the fritters on the rack when they’re done. Then the oil can drip down but the fritter won’t get soggy like it would on a paper towel. Notes Notes This is a South Indian recipe that our friends (originally from Northern India) had been introduced to by their son’s caretaker. They liked it so much they adopted the recipe- and after weeks in India drooling over all the gluten containing fried snacks I couldn’t have, it was a thrill for me to enjoy this in their home. I begged them to make it again when we visited their house a second time- and it was just as wonderful as I remember! Probably my favorite thing I ate over the entire duration of our trip. :) I finally made this recipe in my own kitchen on the first day of summer because my local Celiac support group was having a potluck with an “indian foods” theme. I wanted to bring all my favorite recipes that I discovered while visiting India, so I made this recipe, as well as homemade rasgulla and aloo jeera. It was all sooo yummy! And everyone gobbled up the Dal Vada, because as DH put it- of course everybody wanted gluten-free fried goodness. :)

Rating:  10 Original Source:  Friends in India. THANK YOU! Recipe ID:  1253 Added:  June 20, 2008 Last Modified:  June 21, 2008

Cilantro Chutney Recipe Sauces & Condiments  Vegetables  Indian

Ingredients 1 1/2 chopped, de-seeded serrano chili 3 tbsp lemon or lime juice 3/4 inch ginger 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp cumin 2 tsp. oil dash of asafoetida/hing (use one made from Rice Flour, like Whole Foods) 1 very large bunch chopped cilantro or 2 medium bunches 1 tbsp sugar (or less, taste and adjust to your preference) Directions Combine everything in a food processor except for the cilantro and sugar. Add the cilantro a bunch at a time and combine. Add 1 1/2 tsp sugar, taste, and add more if you like. You can also add more salt or lemon juice if you prefer. Notes These are perfect frozen in ice cube trays and defrosted as needed. It’s best to freeze them as soon as possible after making the sauce to preserve color and flavor. Manjula suggests combining 1 part chutney to 3 parts yogurt for a dip, 1 part chutney and 2 parts cream cheese for a sandwich spread (Me: how about with cucumber slices? Yum!), or even as a component of a vinaigrette.

Rating:  8 Original Source:  Inspired by Manjula’s recipe but completely different proportions. Recipe ID:  1257 Added:  June 25, 2008 Last Modified:  June 26, 2008