This weekend, I made a birthday dinner for a very close friend consisting of naan, dal makhani and kheer. The kheer was, by far, our favorite part. I ate some for breakfast, even!

Kheer is a traditional South Asian/Indian sweet dish, made by boiling rice or broken wheat with milk and sugar, and flavored with cardamom, raisins, saffron, pistachios or almonds. Making this dish vegan was easy- substitute the milk or cream for almond milk. I actually like the almond milk version better than the milk versions I’ve had. Using vanilla almond milk adds a really nice flavor.

Almond Milk Kheer

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice

5-6 cups vanilla almond milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

1/2 cup almonds and pistachios chopped

Directions:

Heat the almond milk over medium heat until it boils, being careful not to scorch it. Once the almond milk boils, add the rice and sugar, return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes. You want the rice to be completely soft and the almond milk to have thickened some- though not too much because it will thicken as it stands. Stir in cinnamon and cardamom while still hot.

Let sit at room temperature until it cools some, then refrigerate until chilled. Top with chopped nuts and enjoy!

Vanilla Almond French Toast

Ingredients

14-oz container silken tofu, drained

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

6 Tbs almond butter

Fresh loaf of French bread (or other thick, slightly  more dense bread)

Maple syrup Balance

Earth Balance

Berries

Directions

Heat a large skillet on medium heat and spray with non-stick spray.

In a food processor or blender, combine tofu, milk, vanilla, and almond butter until smooth. Pour the mixture into a wide bowl or container. Cut bread into thick slices. Once the skillet is hot, dip both sides of each bread slice into the batter and fry on the skillet. Spray pan in between batches to prevent sticking.

The toast tastes best with a little Earth Balance and heated maple syrup on each slice. Top with fresh berries.

I don’t recommend using regular sliced bread for this recipe. I used both kinds and the thicker bread turned out much better than the thin.

Comfort food at its finest. There is nothing like a good, hot dish of curry and rice.

Butternut Squash Curry

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice

2 1/2 cups water

3/4 tsp fine sea salt, divided

2 Tbs refined coconut oil (I ended up using EVOO)

1 onion, cut into 3/4-in chunks

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes

1-1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander (I didn’t have ground, so i used crushed whole seeds)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/8 tsp cayenne

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cardamon

1 lb red potatoes cut into 3/4 inch chunks

3 cups (or so) of chopped butternut squash

1 1/2 Tbs lemon juice

1 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro or Italian parsley

Directions:

In a 2-quart saucepan over high heat, combine the rice, water and 1/4 tsp of the salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the rice stand, covered, at least 10 min.

While the rice is standing, make the curry: Heat the coconut oil in 10-12 inch skillet over medium high. Add the the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add the tomatoes, stock, spices and the rest of the salt. Bring to a boil and add the potatoes and squash. Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook- stirring occasionally until the potato and squash are tender- about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Serve over rice sprinkled with cilantro or parsley