Chickpeas, Potatoes, and Green Beans in Cauliflower Sauce

One of my most recent cookbook acquisitions was Neelam Batra's The Indian Vegetarian. It contains a wealth of information about Indian cooking, and I've been meaning to cook a recipe from it ever since I got it, but something always stands in my way. Either I don't have all the ingredients or the recipe would take too long to prepare. (Yes, I know there's this little concept called planning, but it just hasn't caught on in my psyche yet!)

Anyway, I bought two cauliflowers thinking that I would make Whole Cauliflower Baked in Classic Curry Sauce. It didn't look to be that time-consuming, a little more than a half hour, until I took a look at the Classic Curry Sauce, secreted away in another recipe. It required at least another 50 minutes. So I gave up my dream of whole baked cauliflowers on a Thursday night and added the recipe to my Weekend-Only list.

But I did have those cauliflowers just sitting in my fridge, and I wanted to use at least one of them while they're fresh. So I scoured the book and found a recipe for Cauliflower Broth that Ms. Batra says can be a base for a sauce or a soup. I elected to use it as a sauce for chickpeas and potatoes, and I adapted it as I went along, using my Foolproof Recipe Adapting Technique (TM): I dip a little of the sauce out into a bowl, add a tiny pinch of whatever spice I'm considering throwing in, and taste. It's prevented me from making some big spicing mistakes in the past.

One more thing, before I show you the not-so-lovely photo: This is a great "sneaky mom" dish if your child (or spouse, for all I know) doesn't like cauliflower because the cauliflower is completely blended into the sauce. I figure, "What they don't know can nourish them."

Oh, one more one-more-thing: This is a very mild (not spicy) Indian dish, so that's another point in its Kid-Friendliness favor. I served this with Fiery Onion Relish, a recipe I originally got from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant. The photo below shows a little dollop of relish on top; I actually ate it with about three times that much. I like breathing fire! But my daughter E. enjoyed hers plain, and if you like complex yet delicately seasoned food, you should like this without any embellishment.

Chickpeas, Potatoes, and Green Beans in Cauliflower Sauce

Sauce:
1 small head cauliflower, cut into pieces
5 cups water
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
4 bay leaves
4 curry leaves (optional)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon garam masala (homemade, or find a brand you like)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

3 cups cooked chickpeas
4 medium red potatoes, chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups sliced green beans, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup plain soymilk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Place all the sauce ingredients into a large pot, bring to a boil, and cook, covered, over low heat until the cauliflower is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the bay and curry leaves, and puree everything else in a blender (I use my trusty Kitchen Aid hand blender right in the pot).

Return the sauce to the pot and add the chickpeas, potatoes, and green beans. Cook until the potatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes. Check the seasonings and add more as desired. Add the soymilk and lemon juice, stir, and cook for 5 more minutes. Serve over basmati rice topped, if you like, with Fiery Onion Relish.

Fiery Onion Relish

1 large onion, minced
4 teaspoons fresh lemon or lime juice
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients and allow to stand for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. It should be so spicy that a little goes a long way! It will keep refrigerated for several days.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free kid friendly

Creamy Mexican Chayote Soup

I made this light soup one night when my husband was out of town and I wanted something simple to serve with the bean burritos my daughter and I were having for dinner. Its delicate taste is hard to describe and may not be for everyone--E. declared it "yucky," but she's 8--but I actually liked it better each time I tried it--and I wound up eating the leftovers for lunch two days in a row.

Creamy Mexican Chayote Soup
(adapted from this recipe)

2 large chayotes, peeled and sliced
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 potato, peeled and shredded (I used a red butter potato)
3 cups fat-free vegetable stock
salt and white pepper to taste
Garnish: slices of green onion and fresh squeezes of lime.

Simmer chayote slices in 2 cups salted water in a medium saucepan until tender, about 20 minutes.

Sauté onion and garlic in a large, non-stick saucepan until the onion is soft. Add the shredded potato and stir for a minute. Pour in vegetable stock, bring to a boil, and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, until thickened.

Add the chayote and its cooking water to the stock, and using a hand (immersion) blender, puree the soup right in the pan. Stir and season to taste. Let simmer, uncovered, for about 5 more minutes. When ready to serve, ladle into bowls, sprinkle a few green onion slices on each and squeeze in some fresh lime.

Soup is an excellent way to start a meal, especially if you're trying to cut calories. This soup is very light, getting most of its calories from the one potato. It makes about 5 servings with 44 calories and 1 gram of fat per serving. If you'd like to make it richer, try substituting unsweetened soymilk for one of the cups of vegetable broth. And if you'd prefer a less delicately flavored soup, try sprinkling a little cumin on top.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Zucchini Stuffed with Pinenuts and Herbed Basmati Rice

I know it's finally Spring when my backyard shade garden becomes filled with mint plants. I decided to take advantage of my mint abundance and make a recipe I've been dreaming up ever since a photo in Paul Gayler's A Passion for Vegetables caught my eye: 4 young zucchini hollowed into tubes and filled with...something. Never mind what was inside Paul's zucchini--it wasn't vegan, anyway. I just liked the look of them, but it took the arrival of the Spring herbs to turn on the lightbulb over my head.



Zucchini Stuffed with Pinenuts and Herbed Basmati Rice

6 small zucchinis
olive oil or olive oil spray
1/2 large onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 cup cooked brown basmati rice
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano
2 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 tsp. grated Meyer lemon peel
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
grating fresh pepper

Trim the ends off the zucchini. Using an apple corer, remove the flesh from the zucchinis, being careful not to cut through the outer wall. Chop the zucchini flesh and measure out 1/2 cup; set the remaining zucchini flesh aside for another use (I added it to the Middle Eastern Red Lentil Soup I served with this).

Spray a non-stick pan with olive oil spray, or use a small bit of olive oil. Sauté the 1/2 cup chopped zucchini, onions, and garlic over medium-high heat until onion begins to turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the pine nuts and stir and cook another two minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the rice and remaining ingredients.

Use a small spoon to fill the hollowed zucchini with the rice mixture. Work from both ends, making sure zucchinis are completely filled. Brush or spray them quickly with a small amount of olive oil, and place them in a dish under a preheated broiler for 10-15 minutes, watching carefully and turning regularly, until tender and lightly charbroiled.

This recipe is geared toward what's fresh in my garden right now, so feel free to experiment with other herbs. I feel very fortunate that I have oregano that stays green year-round, parsley that never dies, and, most important of all, parents who grow Meyer lemons! If I were to make this recipe later in the summer, I would definitely choose to use plenty of basil and perhaps fresh tomatoes, and I would cook them on the barbecue grill. But that's something to look forward to in June.

If you have to make this with dried herbs, just use about 1/3 of the amount called for. And I have to say that the rice tastes wonderful on its own, so consider making it as a side dish if you don't feel like stuffing zucchini.

This is my (almost too late) entry in Sweetnicks' weekly round-up of antioxidant-rich recipes, ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Somen with Tofu and Asparagus in a Chinese Dressing

Once again, I'd fooled around too long reading about food and it'd gotten too late to cook any food! Or maybe I wasn't reading but enjoying some time with my husband or working in the yard. Whatever the reason, dinnertime on Saturday came, and I was totally unprepared for it.

But at least there was some food in the house. D. had grabbed asparagus at the store when he saw it was on sale, and I still had half a pound of tofu left over from making Wednesday night's Yin & Yang Tofu. And we always have pasta in the pantry, so I set a large pot of water on to boil while I pondered the possibilities. I decided to use our favorite asparagus recipe and just extend it to include tofu and to serve the whole thing over buckwheat somen, one of the fastest cooking pastas. The whole thing came together in under 30 minutes (including photography!)



Somen with Tofu and Asparagus in a Chinese Dressing
(the name takes longer to say than the dish does to cook)

4 tbsp soy sauce, divided
2 tsp. dark sesame oil, divided
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. mirin
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
8 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into cubes (or rectangles)
1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed, sliced into 1-inch pieces
8 ounces buckwheat somen or soba noodles

First off, don't throw anything away in this recipe! You're going to re-use the marinade as well as the asparagus cooking water.

Place a large pot of water on to boil. In a large bowl, mix together 2 tbsp. soy sauce and 1 tsp. sesame oil. Add the tofu and marinate as you heat a non-stick skillet lightly coated with oil or pan spray.

Trim and chop the asparagus. When the skillet is hot, lift the tofu out of the marinade with a slotted spoon and put it in the skillet. Cook, turning, until brown on all sides.

While the tofu is cooking, add 1 tbsp. soy sauce plus the sugar, mirin, red wine vinegar, and minced garlic to the marinade. When the tofu is done, add it to the marinade in the bowl, stir it, and set it aside.

By now the water should be boiling. Add the asparagus and cover. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove asparagus with a slotted spoon and toss it together with the tofu and marinade.

Return the water to a boil, add salt (optional), and add the somen. Cook until pasta is tender, about 4 minutes. Drain it, return it to the pan, and toss it with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tsp. of sesame oil. Serve immediately with asparagus and tofu mixture on top. Serves 3, if one of the 3 is small.

This was absolutely delicious and kid-friendly. The asparagus was tender yet still crisp, and the tofu was surprisingly flavorful for having marinated such a short time. Unfortunately, this recipe does not make a lot, so I recommend doubling it or serving it with some side dishes if you've got more than two hungry people to feed.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake

I got the urge to bake at about 9:30 last night, so I decided to make something we could eat for breakfast this morning. Of course, we wound up eating part of it last night because it smelled so good in the oven, but there was plenty left for a leisurely Sunday morning breakfast.



Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake

1 cup strong chai tea
1/3 cup uncooked quick (not instant) oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger (use more for a spicier cake)
3/4 cup vegan sugar (I used demerara)
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked coconut, 2 tbsp reserved

Prepare the chai ahead of time by steeping two teabags (I used decaffeinated Tazo Chai) in one cup of boiling water until cool.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Combine the dry ingredients (oatmeal through sugar) in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the chai, applesauce, vinegar, extracts, and all but 2 tablespoons of the coconut. Mix well, and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the reserved coconut and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This turned out lightly spiced, lightly sweet, and very dense. E. liked it so much that she asked for it to be her birthday cake. I think it works better as the equivalent of a coffee cake (a chai cake?) than as a birthday cake. It was actually perfect for breakfast. . . and for a midnight snack.

Here's the nutritional breakdown, based on 9 servings: 179 Calories; 2g Total Fat; (11% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 273mg Sodium; 3g Dietary Fiber; 3 Weight Watchers Points

UPDATE: Check out the new sugar-free version!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free kid-friendly

Lotus Root Chips

Okay, you know you can make potato chips in the microwave. But can you do the same thing with lotus root? I decided to find out after seeing these fried lotus root chips on the what the hell does a vegan eat anyway blog.

The answer is Yes! And how do they taste? Pretty much like potato chips, with holes. Then why should you make these instead of potato chips? Well, you shouldn't...unless you've got a spare lotus root or just like the happy-daisy look of them.

Lotus Root Chips

Peel the lotus root. Use a mandolin or other uniform slicing tool to very thinly slice the lotus root. You want all slices to be the same thickness, the thinner the better.

Rub a microwaveable plate with oil, and arrange the slices in a single layer, not touching or overlapping. Microwave until they become almost uniformly brown. Start with 2 minutes and add minutes until they are done. (Mine took about 7 minutes.) Be careful not to burn them, but don't under-cook them or they will not be crispy.

When they're brown, remove them from the microwave, sprinkle them with salt or other seasoning (I used a spicy Cajun blend), and allow them to cool. They will become crispy as they cool.

Enjoy! They're not very substantial because of all the holes. But the same technique will work with potatoes, so why not peel yourself a potato and enjoy some virtually fat-free potato chips. Or...hmmm...do you think this would work with parsnips?

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

My Favorite Lasagna

Last night I had the pleasure of having dinner with a group of people taking a Civil Rights Tour through the South. The menu for the night was barbecued pork sandwiches and pork-and-beans, the idea being to give them a little taste of local cuisine (which revolves around pork, apparently). The only problem: Several of the 30 participants were vegetarian. When the planners of the dinner realized this, a call went out for vegan dishes, and I was happy to oblige with my potluck standard, Easy Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna.

I've been making this recipe for years, and I can't bring myself to change it. I keep thinking I should do something to fancy it up, but it's my daughter's all-time favorite food, so I never want to risk ruining a batch. (This is a kid who has written several essays this year about her love for lasagna; her hero is Garfield.) Recipes for vegan lasagna abound, and I'm sure you can find fancier, richer tasting versions, but for sheer easiness of preparation and basic yumminess, this one can't be beat. You don't need to pre-cook the lasagna noodles, and you can make it super-easy by using jarred spaghetti sauce.

Easy Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna
(printer-friendly version)

1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp. chopped garlic
2 tbsp. water
2 26-oz jars of spaghetti sauce (or your favorite pasta sauce)
9 lasagna noodles (regular lasagna noodles, uncooked)
Soy Parmesan (optional)
Sliced black olives (optional)

Filling:

10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 lb tofu (firm, reduced-fat recommended--not silken!)
1 tsp. salt (optional)
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (adds a cheesy taste)
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. rosemary, crushed
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Sauté the mushrooms and garlic over medium heat in the 2 tbsp. water until tender; cover between stirring to keep them from drying out. Remove from heat and add the spaghetti sauce.

Place the tofu and thawed spinach in the food processor and process briefly. Add the remaining filling ingredients to the processor and blend until smooth. (You may do this without a food processor by using a potato masher on the tofu.)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spread half of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x12-inch pan. Place a layer of noodles over the sauce, using three dry noodles and leaving a little space in between them. Spread half of the tofu mixture on the noodles (I drop it by spoonfuls and then spread it). Cover with another layer of 3 noodles and then spread the remaining tofu mixture over them. Top with a final layer of noodles, and pour the remaining sauce over this. Cover the dish tightly with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with soy Parmesan and sliced black olives if you want. The lasagna will cut better if you allow it to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes about 9 servings. Nutritional breakdown will change depending on the exact ingredients you use. Using regular (not light) tofu and Classico Mushroom & Ripe Olive Pasta Sauce (with 60 calories and 1 gram of fat per 1/2 cup) and no optional ingredients, one serving provides 453 Calories (kcal); 5g Total Fat; (10% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 83g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 546mg Sodium; 9g Fiber. Weight Watchers Flex Points: 9.

The lasagna seemed to be a hit at last night's dinner. The pan returned home empty (and not just because E. ate 4 pieces!) I regret that I never got the opportunity to find out who the vegetarians in the group were, but it felt good just to know that they were there.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Yin & Yang Tofu with Bean Sprouts Salad

Dinner for One

I enjoy cooking for others, and I rarely go to much trouble on the rare occasions when I'm on my own for dinner. Last night, however, I went to a small bit of trouble and treated myself to a dish I'd been creating in my head for a couple of weeks: Yin & Yang Tofu.

I'd gotten the idea from a strange source, a mystery novel I picked up while on vacation called The Pearl Diver by Sujata Massey. Well, it was supposed to be a mystery, but to me it was all about food! Much of the action takes place in an Asian fusion restaurant in Washington, DC, and every time the discussion turned to food, I couldn't help thinking, "How can I veganize that?" There was a brief mention of a dish called Yin & Yang Shrimp--shrimp covered on one side in black sesame seeds and on the other with white, hence the name--and I could hardly focus on the rest of the book for trying to work out how, exactly, I was going to make this with tofu.

It turns out it wasn't too hard. I marinated the tofu, dredged each side in the different colored sesame seeds, and then tried to pan fry it. This attempt was a failure. The sesame seeds didn't stick, and the tofu didn't firm up to the proper dipping consistency; it remained disappointingly flaccid, the sesame seeds falling off as I attempted to maneuver it into the dipping sauce. My second attempt worked out much better:

Yin & Yang Tofu

2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. mirin
1 tsp. dark sesame oil
1 tsp. cornstarch
8 ounces extra firm tofu (sometimes called "hard" tofu in Asian markets), cut into 2 inch long x 1 inch wide x 1/2 inch thick strips
black sesame seeds
white sesame seeds
more cornstarch

Mix the soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and 1 tsp. cornstarch together. Add the sliced tofu and marinate for as long as you can, rearranging as necessary so that all surfaces of the tofu come in contact with the marinade. The longer you marinate the greater the flavor, but if you have only 15 minutes, that's fine.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Oil a non-stick cookie sheet. Put some black sesame seeds on one plate and white in the other and add cornstarch to each. (Sorry, I didn't measure here, but I'm guessing it was 1/4 cup seeds to 2 tsp. cornstarch.)

Drain the tofu. Carefully dredge one side of the tofu in the black sesame seeds, turn it over, and dredge the other in the white. Do this carefully so that your seeds don't fall off and become mixed. (A much easier solution is to do half the pieces in white and half in black.) Place each piece on the cookie sheet. Spray the tops lightly with oil, and then bake for 15 minutes. Turn carefully and bake for 10-15 more minutes, until browned on the sides. Allow them to cool before eating with dipping sauce.

I served them with two sauces. My overwhelming favorite was the Miang Kum sauce from a few nights ago (yes, I'm still obsessed with that sauce!) It was just the perfect combination of coconut sweetness and tamarind tartness. I also made a new sauce, which was good and very easy to make:

Apricot Duck Sauce

1/4 cup all-fruit apricot preserves
1/8 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp. grated peeled ginger
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. finely chopped green onion

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. Add chopped green onion and serve when cool.

Along with the tofu, I served (myself) Mung Bean Sprout Salad, but I cut the recipe in half and added a generous amount of cayenne pepper. Yes, when eating alone I can spice to my heart's content!

The tofu was good, and it was even better, cold, as breakfast this morning. But it wasn't that much better than regular baked tofu, so I doubt I'll go through the trouble again. But I will pick up another of Sujata Massey's novels. I hear the earlier ones are set in Japan, so I expect to be salivating my way through them, too.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Mirliton and White Bean Stew

One of my favorite Louisiana ingredients is mirliton. If the name doesn't sound familiar to you, perhaps you'll recognize it as chayote, vegetable pear, chouchou, choko, vilati vanga, or one of the other many names it goes by. It's a little hard to describe the flavor and texture because it really isn't like anything else. It's not starchy like a potato or winter squash, yet it's not as watery as a zucchini or cucumber. If you find nice, young ones, the taste is delicate and almost buttery. There really is no good substitute (but if you absolutely must substitute, try zucchini, and cook it for a shorter time).

My usual way to prepare mirliton is to stuff it. But I wanted to try something a little different this time, so I went looking for mirliton recipes. I did a google search on chayote and came up with more recipes than I would have imagined, including several enticing Indian ones. Chayotes are one of the most reasonably priced vegetables in my local supermarket, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to explore all the international possibilities for cooking them. Last night, I decided to stick with what I know and love, Cajun cooking, while trying something a little different.

Enter Emeril. Yes, that Emeril! I owe him a big thank you because his recipe for Crawfish and Mirliton Soup provided the inspiration and technique for this stew, which I have to count among my new favorites. He uses tomato paste as the basis for his soup instead of a roux made of fat and flour. Get this: It's naturally fat-free! And it lends a deep, tomato-y richness to the soup. I'm going to be using this trick more often.

I've made this less spicy than Emeril would have, but it still turned out too spicy for my daughter E. (who wound up eating rice with edamame instead). If you've got a jar of Emeril's seasoning or another cajun spice blend, feel free to use it instead of the combination of spices that I use. But do use the dulse or other seaweed, which gives it a slightly fishy taste.



Mirliton and White Bean Stew

1 large onion, finely chopped (tip: use the food processor for all the finely chopped ingredients)
1 finely chopped green bell pepper
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups vegetable broth
3 cups cooked white beans (Great Northern or Cannellini)
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dulse or other powdered seaweed (to taste)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon liquid crab boil
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 cups peeled, seeded and 1/2-inch diced mirlitons (about 2 large mirlitons)
16 ounces diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
freshly cooked rice, for serving

Heat a large non-stick pot over medium-high heat. (You may choose to give it a quick spray of olive oil before heating.) Add the onions, bell pepper, and celery, and cook, stirring, until the onions begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir for another minute.

Add the vegetable broth, beans, bay leaves, and next 10 ingredients. Stir well, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the mirliton and cook until it is just tender but not over-cooked, about 10-15 minutes. Add the tomatoes, fresh oregano, and parsley and cook for another 5 minutes. Check the seasonings, adding more if needed, and serve over rice.

It was good, really really good. I'm looking forward to leftovers for lunch.

More Louisiana recipes: Tofu Jambalaya, Stewed Okra and Tomatoes, Red Beans and Rice, Chickpea Gumbo (guest post at Veggie Venture) and Patty Pan Squash Stuffed with Cajun White Beans

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Beefless Stew

Yesterday was supposedly the first day of Spring, but you wouldn't know it from our weather. It's been raining for days and the temperature has been pretty chilly for Mississippi. So last night I resorted to a favorite family comfort-food: Beefless Stew.

I don't use a lot of processed soy products in my cooking, but every now and then a little TVP really adds some meaty texture to a dish. TVP stands for textured vegetable protein, and it's basically defatted soy flour that has been cooked and extruded into different shapes and sizes. If you're lucky, you can find it in your local natural food store, but if you're me, you have to order it online. My local co-op, though I cherish it greatly, has granular TVP and chicken-style TVP but never the chunk beef-style.



The basic recipe for Beefless Stew is endlessly adaptable; I never make it the same way twice, adding herbs to taste and varying amounts to fit the ingredients I have on-hand. For instance, that batch of stew you see in the photo above (which was taken by my budding photographer daughter) contained only about 2 ounces of mushrooms and they were baby portabellas, because that's all I had in the fridge. And I didn't use the millet this time around, so it's completely optional. And ditto for the wine: the red wine adds a great deal of flavor, but I didn't have any so I skipped it. And I had yukon gold potatoes instead of red.

Anyway, you get the picture. It's home-style cooking at its easiest--just toss it all in a pot and cook. If you make it and use any new ingredients, please drop me a comment and let me know. It's my mom's recipe, but I won't tell her you changed it!

Well, in the crazy, multiple-personality spirit of Spring in the South, today is a gorgeous, sunny miracle. I'm going to take my twisted ankle and my dog out for a little walk (hobble?) in the yard. I wish you all sunshine and blue skies, too!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Bean Sprouts and Broccoli Slaw Salad with Coconut-Ginger Dressing

The dipping sauce for the Miang Kum Rolls was still on my mind yesterday morning when I needed to throw together a couple of quick dishes for a potluck lunch. I'd decided to make the Thai-Style Vegetable Curry that I'd made the very first week of this blog; we'd loved it and planned to have it again, but the problem with writing a food blog is that you need to be cooking new dishes constantly so you have something to write about. Yesterday's potluck was a good excuse to make a dish that had already been tried and loved.

But it was also a good chance to try something new. I had a bag of mung bean sprouts that I needed to use before they went bad and an idea for the dressing. I decided to throw in some packaged broccoli slaw and sliced red pepper to create another delicious Thai-inspired dish:

Bean Sprouts and Broccoli Slaw Salad with Coconut-Ginger Dressing

Sauce:
1/4 cup plus one tablespoon toasted coconut (reserve 1 tbsp. for garnish)
1 tablespoon peeled and coarsely chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chopped green onion (shallots may also be used)
1 teaspoon light-colored miso
1/3 cup vegetable broth
1/8 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup dark vegan sugar (palm sugar, if available, but both turbinado and demerara work well)
1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate (or 1/8 cup tamarind liquid)
2 teaspoons soy sauce

Salad:
4 cups mung bean sprouts
4 cups broccoli slaw (shredded broccoli stems, cabbage, and carrots)
1/2 cup slivered red bell pepper

Toast the coconut and set one tablespoon of it aside. Place the other 1/4 cup of toasted coconut into the blender along with the other sauce ingredients. Blend until relatively smooth, scraping the sides of the blender as needed.

Bring a large pot of water to boil; once it's boiling, add the mung bean spouts, cover, and cook for 2 minutes after the water returns to a boil. Drain them immediately in a colander and rinse with cold water. Shake them dry.

Combine the sprouts, broccoli slaw, and red pepper in a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Refrigerate until ready to serve (the longer, the more flavorful). Garnish with reserved coconut just before serving.

This seems to have been a big hit at the potluck. It and the Thai curry were completely devoured (damn--no leftovers!) My husband said that both dishes received a lot of compliments. Unfortunately, I didn't get to hear them: While running back and forth to the car to bring in all the food, I twisted my ankle badly and spent the whole lunch elevating my foot and icing my ankle. I will be doing much of my cooking sitting down for the next few days! :-)

Since it seems to fit the category well, this recipe is my entry in Sweetnicks' ARF (Antioxidant Rich Food) 5-A-Day Tuesday event. Check out all the other healthy entries!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free ARF/5-A-Day

Korean Tofu and Vegetable Stew

I've been eager to use the new bowls I got from the Korean grocery store, so I looked around the internet until I found a stew that looked perfect at Vegetarian Times. I have to admit that I hardly changed anything about this recipe, just made a few substitutions for ingredients I didn't have. The result was great, but not spicy at all. I blame that on a jalapeño that was really mild. In the end, that was a good thing since I'm feeding a spice-hating child. But I suggest serving this with some spicy kimchee or hot sauce that can be added at the table.




Korean Tofu and Vegetable Stew

3 cups water
5 Tbs. red miso, or to taste
¼ lb. mushrooms, thinly sliced (shiitake preferred, but I used baby portabella)
5 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
14 ounces medium-firm tofu, sliced into 1x¼-inch pieces
1 lb. baby bok choy, cut into 1x1½-inch-long pieces
1 lb. daikon, peeled and sliced into 1x¼-inch pieces
½ lb. summer squash, sliced into 1x¼-inch pieces
2 large Korean green onions or 4 scallions, white and pale green parts only, cut diagonally into ¼-inch-long pieces
1 jalapeño, seeded, deribbed and cut diagonally into ¼-inch-long pieces
½ red bell pepper, seeded, deribbed and cut diagonally into ¼-inch-long pieces
2 tsp. sesame oil
kimchee or sriracha hot sauce, for serving

Pour water into a large deep skillet with a domed cover. Add miso, and stir to dissolve. Add the mushrooms and garlic and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Place the tofu, bok choy, daikon, and squash in the skillet in a pinwheel pattern. Cover, bring to a boil and cook about 10 minutes.

Place the green onions and peppers evenly between the other ingredients and cover again. Cook for a couple of minutes, or until green onions and peppers become fragrant and colors turn bright. Cook the stew no longer than 15 minutes total. Drizzle sesame oil over all just before removing from heat. Stir and serve immediately in heated bowls with steamed rice.



It's really a beautiful dish when the vegetables are all separated like this. That's the only reason I can think of to cook it this way--it makes a nice presentation until you stir all the ingredients together.

If you're counting calories, this is the recipe for you! Though it's supposed to serve 4-6 people, it came out to be more like 6-8 servings. At 8 servings (without rice), it breaks down to 105 calories, 4 grams fat, 12 grams total carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, and 7 grams protein. Eat up!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free Korean

Miang Kum Rolls

What do you get when you combine a Thai snack food with a Vietnamese spring roll wrapper: Miang Kum Rolls, of course!

Here's the back-story: I was thinking of making up a batch of Spring Rolls, to go with the Korean Stew I was planning for dinner last night. And I also had a craving for Miang Kum, the Thai appetizer that consists of spinach or lettuce leaves (or betel leaves, in Thailand) wrapped around spicy and sweet goodies, such as chopped ginger, chili peppers, and toasted coconut. Then it hit me: I could put all those ingredients, along with the spinach, into a rice paper wrapper! It'd be much easier to eat, and they could all be prepared ahead of time, instead of each diner preparing his or her own.

Of course, this way the work is all on the cook, so you may want to skip my wrapping idea and do it the traditional way. If that's the case, just prepare the filling ingredients and the sauce, set them out with some medium-large spinach leaves, and instruct your guests to place bites of the fillings on the leaves, drizzle them with sauce, pinch closed, and eat. Either way, it's delicious! And here's a Must-Try Alert: this sweet-and-gingery, practically raw sauce is INCREADIBLE! Even if you don't make the Miang Kum, make the sauce, even if all you have to dip in it is your fingers. I plan to make it my new salad dressing.

Miang Kum Rolls
(makes 8 rolls)

Before you begin: Dry toast 1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded dried coconut in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir constantly until it is mostly browned, and remove it to a plate to cool. You'll use half of it in the sauce, and half as one of the fillings.

Sauce:

1/4 cup toasted coconut
1 tablespoon peeled and coarsely chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chopped green onion (shallots may also be used)
1 teaspoon light-colored miso
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup dark vegan sugar (palm sugar, if available, but turbinado or demerara works well)
1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate (or 1/8 cup tamarind liquid)
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Fillings:

1/4 cup toasted coconut
1-2 tablespoons chopped, peeled ginger
2 tablespoons chopped limes, including peel
1-2 tablespoons chopped chili peppers (I used jalapeño)
1/2 cup peanuts, toasted and chopped (may use crushed dry-roasted peanuts)
baby spinach leaves, as needed

8 rice paper wrappers (these are dried sheets found in Asian markets)

Blend all sauce ingredients in a blender until smooth and set aside. Have your filling ingredients assembled before you start making the rolls.

Prepare a pot of warm water large enough to hold the spring roll wrappers. Place 2 wrappers into the water. Wait a minute or two until they are soft, and then remove them to a clean towel, being careful not to tear the wrapper. Place one wrapper on a plate or other work surface. Place a layer of spinach leaves in a horizontal line just below the center of the wrapper; top them with the fillings of your choice, and then cover the fillings with another layer of spinach leaves. Fold the bo