Indian-style lentils over rice and barley

Main ingredients:

Rice and Barley (or 2 kinds of rice)
Can of crushed tomatoes
Madras Masala powder
(Alternatively, use jar of any Indian style sauce)

About the ingredients:

This is a filling meal. Grains and legumes are a great combination for getting complete protein. Two types of grain and legumes is even better. Lentils are high in protein and, unlike other legumes, cook fast. Making your own sauce is a healthier alternative to store-bought sauces. I bought my spices at the Vegetarian Fair (Toronto) recently and love them: http://www.arvindas.com

Directions:

1. Boil rice and barley in any proportion and drain

At the same time:

2. Bring 1/2 cup of water to boil in a pot
3. Boil lentils until very tender and drain
4. Heat the crushed tomatoes in a pot on medium heat
5. Mix 1-2 tbsp of spice with 1 tsp of vinegar and mix into crushed tomatoes
6. Put lentils into the tomato sauce
7. Serve the lentils in sauce over the grains

Cool and freeze remaining sauce.

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Eggplant pasta with peas and edamame

Recommended ingredients:

Frozen edamame soy beans
Frozen green peas
Pasta (I used the bow-shaped Farfalle pasta)
Chinese or regular eggplant
Simple spaghetti sauce

About the recipe:

Very quick to make and a great combination of carbs and protein. Both soy beans and peas are legumes rich in vitamins and proteins, but they have different protein and vitamin profiles.

Directions:

1. Boil water, salt, and put in pasta
2. Slice eggplant into medium sized pieces about 1/2cm thick.
3. Pan fry the eggplant on medium heat until most pieces are a light brown on both sides (it may take some manual turning of the slices)
4. When the eggplant is almost done, put in a few spoons of peas and edamame

Tip: Use plenty of oil when frying eggplant, as some of the eggplant absorbs the oil leaving the rest to start burning. Olive oil is good, but grape seed is more neutral and holds up better at high temperatures.

5. Fry until the legumes have thawed and browned slightly
6. Drain the pasta and mix with sauce (don't make it too runny - the oil from the eggplant will be enough)
7. Mix the legumes and eggplant with the pasta
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