today I'm showing you how to take some
everyday pantry staples and turn them
into the most delicious vegan meals
these recipes are gonna be easy but
they're definitely not gonna be bland
basic or boring I'm not gonna show you
how to take a can of beans and mix it
with a can of corn and a jar of salsa
and just like dump it over some rice I
think we can do a little bit better than
that so instead I'm gonna show you how
to transform everyday ingredients you
might already have in your pantry into
the most delicious meals that are so
flavorful and so exciting
you could serve them at a dinner party
so this first pantry recipe is for chana
masala and if you're thinking neasha how
are we gonna make a complicated Indian
recipe with just pantry staples well let
me tell ya chana masala is actually
usually made with just pantry
ingredients mostly pantry ingredients
you of course do need some Indians
places but in my opinion a well-stocked
spice cabinet is essential in any
healthy kitchen so I encourage you to
expand your spice collection if you
haven't already done so it's a great
healthy way to add flavour to your
dishes but also all of the main spices
the essential spices in this dish can be
found at most grocery stores these days
so you don't have to seek anything super
exotic out a couple other pantry staples
in this recipe our onions and garlic and
technically some people might not think
of onions and garlic as pantry items but
I saw them in the pantry they have a
long shelf life I think of them as
pantry staples I think a lot of people
think of them as pantry staples so we're
calling them pantry staples we're gonna
use two yellow onions that we're gonna
dice and then we'll use about six cloves
of garlic that will mince after you
finely diced up two onions start by
heating a large deep frying pan with a
bit of oil and once it's hot add some
mustard seeds and cumin seeds and toast
them until they start to sizzle in the
pan if you don't have mustard seeds you
can omit them add the diced onions and
saute until they're softened and golden
brown and next add in the garlic cloves
I also usually add fresh ginger and
serrano peppers at this stage but I
omitted them today since they're
technically not pantry staples of course
if you have them at home go ahead and
use them then add in the ground Indian
spices gota masala turmeric coriander
and Indian red chili powder
stir those into the onions for about 30
seconds next we'll dump in three cans of
chickpeas or you could use a little over
five cups of cooked chickpeas from
scratch cook those undisturbed for a few
minutes before you toss them so that I
can get a bit browned and crispy and
this will infuse them with more flavor
after that pour in your canned tomatoes
I'm using one can of crushed and one can
of diced but you could use a larger can
of either and then season with salt
pepper and bay leaves and finally just a
bit of water bring to a gentle boil and
then reduce the heat and simmer for 20
to 25 minutes until you've got a really
thick stew like consistency
[Music]
if you made any of my curries or soups
there students before you know that I
like to finish them at the end with a
little bit of acid an acidic ingredients
not acid the drugged acid adding a
little lemon juice at the end it just
freshens up the flavors especially when
you're making something Hardy like this
technically a lemon like garlic and
onions are perishable but I feel like
they're essential gradient in any
kitchen so I always have lemons lemons
[Music]
all right this next recipe is the most
delicious pasta recipe and it's a
caramelized onion pasta inspired by the
caramelized shallot pasta from Allison
Roman at the New York Times our version
has anchovies so it's not vegan so I
wanted to create something that was just
as flavorful but 100% vegan so to
replicate those bold salty flavors from
the anchovies all that Mommy we've got
three vegan superstar pantry ingredients
tamari or gluten-free soy sauce regular
soy sauce is also fine if you're not
gluten-free nutritional yeast it's gonna
add that cheesy mouthfeel and like the
glutamate II flavor glutamate II is not
a word but I think you know what I mean
and finally sun-dried tomatoes they're
chewy they're delicious they're
flavorful and they're gonna really take
this pasta over the top first slice to
medium yellow onions as thinly as you
can and add them to a hot pan with some
olive oil and season generously with
salt and pepper
typically you caramelized onions at low
heat but that can take up to an hour so
to keep it quick I use medium high to
high heat the trick is to deglaze the
pan every few minutes with a few
tablespoons of water picking up that
sticky brown fond on the bottom of the
pan after 15 minutes the onions should
be deeply golden then you'll add some
thinly sliced garlic cloves reduce the
heat to medium to prevent burning and
cook another 5 to 10 minutes
season with oregano and red pepper
flakes followed by an entire tube of
tomato paste this is what brings the
sauce together I'm cooking it down for a
few minutes
caramelizes it and unleashes this
amazing umami packed concentrated tomato
flavor finally the three pantry
ingredients I mentioned earlier tamari
nutritional yeast and chopped sun-dried
tomatoes stir everything together until
it's well combined while the onions are
caramelizing bring a large saucepan of
salted water to a boil cook some
spaghetti until it's just al dente but
do not overcook it and before draining
reserve at least 1 cups of the water
over low heat ladle in some of that
cooking water to the onions and stir
to thin out but you still want it to be
quite thick almost like a kapa nod not
like a marinara sauce add the hot pasta
directly to the pan and twirl the pasta
with some tongs as you go if it's too
thick add some more pasta water as
needed
[Music]
[Music]
this next smells kind of a smorgasbord
smorgasbord
miss Morgan smorgasbord smorgasbord of
Mediterranean flavors it's kind of a
mix-and-match meal that's great for meal
prep and you can make all of the
components are just a few the first part
of the recipe is to pickle some red
onions and if that sounds too bougie or
artisanal slow cooking for you just let
me show you how easy it is to make the
pickling liquid I'm using apple cider
vinegar because I always have it in my
pantry white vinegar also works some
maple syrup or you can use sugar and to
season black peppercorns salt and red
pepper flakes
then mix in some hot water I just heated
it in a kettle and you'll also need to
very thinly sliced 1 red onion pack the
sliced onions into a glass jar and then
pour the warm pickling liquid on top to
cover you can enjoy the onions once they
cool to room temperature but I think
their best ones they've been
refrigerated while the onions are
pickling let me tell you a little bit
about this dish it's gonna be kind of a
Mediterranean green Bowl the base is
going to be farro
farro is my absolute favorite grain it's
chewy and texture and nutty and taste
overall amazing it is a
gluten-containing grain but you could
use this cooking method for
any kind of grain including gluten free
grain so use whichever grains you've got
in your pantry bring some salted water
to a boil in a saucepan and flavor it
with some garlic black pepper and bay
leaves
add the farro and bring it to a boil
then reduce to a simmer until it's al
dente and still chewy my fire took about
20 minutes but the exact time will
depend on whether your farro is pearled
or semi pearled so be sure to check your
package instructions the protein for
this grain bowl is going to be lentils
their staple on my diet so I always have
at least a few varieties in my pantry
today I've got French green lentils
these stay a little bit firm they retain
a bite so I really like them but if you
can't find them you can use regular
green or brown lentils and they're
really easy to make but I do want to
show you how to flavor them because I
want you to actually really really enjoy
lentils and not just think of them as
some sort of like healthy food they can
be really
indulgent tasting if you know how to
cook them to infuse some Mediterranean
flavor in the lentils I'm sauteing
chopped garlic and cumin seeds and extra
virgin olive oil and once it's fragrant
deglaze the pan with some vegetable
broth followed by the lentils bring the
mixture to a boil then reduce the heat
to maintain a rapid simmer for 25 to 30
minutes until the lentils are all done
taste once the lentils are cooked and
the liquid has evaporated it's time to
add even more flavor with some tamari or
soy sauce which brings the salty umami
notes and tahini which makes the lentils
creamy rich and indulgent tasting the
last thing for this meal we're going to
make is hummus to get the smoothest
hummus that's not grainy
I recommend gently rubbing the chickpeas
in a paper towels or a clean dish towel
to remove the skins they'll slip right
off and it takes just a few extra
minutes that I'm using chickpeas cooked
from scratch which is about 1 can of
chickpeas for the tahini you want a mic
you are using a pretty good quality one
that's pretty smooth and not too bitter
I'm not using any oil in this recipe
like olive oil so it's really important
to use good team I'm also adding the
juice of one medium lemon about three
tablespoons or so I don't really measure
it out too lazy' got two chopped garlic
cloves and then got some kosher salt as
well as some ground cumin I think cumin
is one of those spices that's essential
and hummus finally some black pepper
blend the hummus in the food processor
and with the motor running drizzle in a
few spoons of ice water ice water makes
the hummus extra creamy and fluffy and
now it's time to assemble the bowls with
the farro lentils pickled onions and
hummus there is a free PDF guide that's
linked in the description bag it has all
the recipes in this video plus my
favorite pantry essentials and how I use
them in my diet and if you want even
more easy at flavorful vegan meals I've
made a short little playlist for you -
what
Learn how to transform everyday pantry staples into flavorful, delicious vegan meals that are fancy enough to serve at a dinner party! FREE PDF GUIDE with (1) my pantry staples + how to use them, and (2) all recipes featured in this video: http://bit.ly/pantry-staples-PDF CHANA MASALA RECIPE (stovetop or Instant Pot): http://bit.ly/chanamasala-blog CARAMELIZED ONION PASTA: http://bit.ly/caramelized-pasta MEDITERRANEAN GRAIN & LENTIL BOWLS: http://bit.ly/grain-lentil-bowls ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ORDER MY COOKBOOK: The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook: Wholesome, Indulgent Plant-Based Recipes! ORDER ON AMAZON: https://amzn.to/2liT4lZ MORE COOKBOOK INFO: https://www.rainbowplantlife.com/blog/vegan-instant-pot-cookbook ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *IN THIS VIDEO* Spice tin: https://amzn.to/2HIzcAL Large, deep frying pan: https://amzn.to/2TEIdQE Tongs: https://amzn.to/2VT5NMz *MY KITCHEN ESSENTIALS* Food Processor: https://amzn.to/38L8Aub Le Creuset Dutch Oven: https://amzn.to/3aRN3lm Instant Pot 6 quart: https://amzn.to/3aQY1aQ My Favorite Knife: http://bit.ly/favorite-knife Vitamix: https://amzn.to/36xtZFN Large Cutting Board: https://amzn.to/2RYa0L8 Saucepan: https://amzn.to/36C6RGa Immersion Blender: https://amzn.to/3aOnbHd All Other Kitchen Equipment: http://bit.ly/kitchen-equipment-shop Film & Photography Equipment: http://bit.ly/photo-gear-shop ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE for new videos every week! http://bit.ly/rainbowplantlife-subscribe Learn more about veganism, healthy eating, food photography, social media, and happiness. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WANT MORE DELICIOUS VEGAN RECIPES & INSPIRATION? http://instagram.com/rainbowplantlife http://rainbowplantlife.com https://www.pinterest.com/rainbowplantlife/