Vegan with a Vengeance

although you can stick with green peas if you’re all about tradition. Serve with Coconut-Mint Chutney (recipe follows).
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    FOR THE DOUGH:
    Â¾ cup rice or soy milk
    Â¼ cup vegetable oil
    1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (any mild vinegar will do)
    About 3 cups all-purpose flour
    Â¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
    Â¼ teaspoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon salt
    FOR THE FILLING:
    3 medium-size russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
    2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus extra for brushing
    1 teaspoon cumin seeds
    2 teaspoons mustard seeds
    1 medium-size yellow onion, very finely chopped
    1 cup finely diced carrots,
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
    1 teaspoon ground coriander
    Â½ teaspoon ground turmeric
    Pinch of cayenne pepper
    1 teaspoon salt
    Juice of 1 lemon
    Â¾ cup shelled frozen edamame or green peas
    In a saucepan, boil the potatoes until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. When they are ready, drain and set aside.
    Preheat oven to 400°F. Meanwhile, prepare the dough.
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    To make the dough:
    Pour the wet dough ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of the flour, and the turmeric, baking powder, and salt. Begin kneading the mixture, adding the rest of the flour gradually until a smooth not sticky dough is formed, about 10 minutes.
    Set the dough aside, cover with a wet cloth or wrap in plastic wrap, and begin preparing the filling.
    To prepare the filling:
    In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds. The seeds will begin to pop. You may want to employ a lid to keep from getting hit with any popping seeds. Let them pop for about a minute, then add the onions and carrots. Raise the heat to medium-high and sauté for 7 to 10 minutes, till the onions begin to brown. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and lemon juice, and sauté a minute more. Add the potatoes, mashing the potatoes with the spatula or a potato masher as you go along. When potatoes are mashed well and heated through, add the edamame and mix well.
    Divide the dough in half and on a floured surface roll the dough out thinly. Now comes the fun part (or, the pain in the ass depending on your temperament). Let’s form the little cutie pies. Have a small bowl of water ready. With a 4-inch cookie cutter (or something with a 4-inch circumference) cut out eight circles.
    For small samosas:
    Cut the dough circles in half, creating semi-circles. Gently pull the dough to stretch it a bit. With your fingertips, brush the cut edge with water, then fold it over, corner to corner, and seal along the straight edge with your thumb and forefinger. You should now have a cone. Stuff 1½ to 2 teaspoons of filling into the cone, then dab the open edges with water and again seal with your fingers. Repeat until you have thirty-six samosas.
    For larger samosas:
    Instead of slicing the dough circles in half, place 1½ tablespoons into the center of an entire circle, then dab the circumference with water, fold over the filling to form a pillowlike semicircle, and seal with your thumb and forefinger.
    To bake:
    Brush each side of the samosas lightly with oil and place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray or very lightly brushed with oil. For large samosas: Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the samosas over, bake for 10 more minutes, or until lightly browned. For small samosas: Bake for 12 minutes, flip over and bake for 8 minutes, or until lightly browned. I like to let them sit for at
least 5 minutes, to let the crust flake just right. These freeze well; to reheat bake small ones at 350 for 20 minutes, larger ones for 25 to 30 minutes.
Coconut-Mint Chutney
    Â½ cup coconut milk
    â…“ cup finely chopped fresh mint
    â…“ cup finely chopped fresh coriander
    1 clove garlic, minced
    1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
    1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
    Â¼ teaspoon salt
    PUNK POINTS
    To make frozen peas taste like peas and not like freezer, run them under cool water to remove the icy freezer stuff, then drain.
    Mix together all the ingredients in a medium-size bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve at room temperature.

Black Bean, Mushroom, and Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers
    MAKES 4 LARGE STUFFED PEPPERS
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    Again, this is a recipe inspired by my mom. She’s been making stuffed peppers for years from a recipe off of a veggie crumbles package. She bugged me pretty much daily to put this recipe in the cookbook and I had to remind her,