2009 December « Vegan Eats

Archive for December, 2009

African Peanut-Coconut Stew

Published December 30, 2009 Uncategorized 6 Comments
Tags: african, coconut, peanut, stew, sweet potato

Last night was epic. My friend Brooks and I had a bunch of pals over to his house to celebrate both our friend Megan’s birthday as well as the end of 2009. This past summer, Brooks and I had these awesome monthly barbeques at his place. They were great. I’d show up at around 2 p.m., we’d go grocery shopping, and then spend the entire afternoon in his kitchen prepping the feast for the 20 or so friends that would come by later to hang out. Each cookout seems to be better than the last. We have a good little tradition going! Once it started to get a bit too chilly outside for the grill, we had a wicked taco night in September. It was set up buffet-style with three different kinds of fresh salsa, salsa verde, cashew sour cream, ground walnut taco ‘meat,’ re-fried black beans, and some other fixins’ I can’t remember of the top of my head. Basically, it ruled. Yesterday, I didn’t know how the hell we were going to top taco night! Especially since I really, really friggin’ love tacos! Well, we did pretty good!

I served this Peanut-Coconut Stew as the main course and people really liked it! For starters, I made a couple salads, including a roasted pear and butternut squash quinoa salad, which was probably my favourite dish of the night. Chili-spiced sweet potato fries (with homemade ketchup) and roasted garlic mashed potatoes rounded out the feast. Oh, and Shannon made a sweet vegan chocolate cake for the birthday girl. It was a total success. Happy birthday, Megaaaaannnnn! And thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate!

I made the dish last night with the marinated tofu recipe below. If you don’t want to put in the extra time, you don’t absolutely need to use the tofu for the stew; should still be good without it. I mean, it’s probably more authentic without the tofu, since I don’t really know how African soy-marinated tofu is! I definitely think it’s a tasty addition though!

For marinated tofu:
1/3 cup good quality soy sauce (Tamari or Kikkoman is good)
1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar (can also use regular rice vinegar)
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
8 oz. package extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/4″ thick triangles (should make 8 pieces)
2 teaspoons canola oil, for frying

1. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, water, and sugar. Whisk until sugar is mostly dissolved.
2. Add the tofu slices, cover, and let marinate in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
3. In a large skillet, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Add the tofu slices and fry on each side until crispy. About 5 minutes each side, depending on how hot the pan is.
4. Set aside for later (refrigerate once cooled if not using immediately).
Note: You can reuse the marinade for another few days if you want to put some extra tofu in it.

Peanut-Coconut Stew

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon peanut oil (can also use canola or olive oil)
1 medium-sized onion, diced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, sliced 1/4″ thick
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek (or your favourite hot sauce, to taste)
2 tablespoon good quality soy sauce
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts, ground in food processor with 1 tablespoon peanut oil*
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter*
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 bunch kale, chopped (about 7 or 8 cups)
3 cups green cabbage, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 cups low-sodium or homemade vegetable broth
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
1 19oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Cooked marinated tofu slices
1 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

Instructions:
1. In a stockpot or large saucepan, heat peanut oil over medium heat. Add the onions, ginger, garlic, carrots, and celery. Sauté for about 7 minutes, stirring often, until onions are translucent.
2. Add tomatoes, cumin, coriander, allspice, cinnamon, sambal oelek, soy sauce, ground peanuts, and peanut butter. Sauté for another 2 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add kale, cabbage, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring, until kale in beginning to wilt down.
4. Add vegetable broth, tomato sauce, and sugar. Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, immediately turn heat down to low, cover the pot and let simmer for about 35-40 minutes. Or until the root vegetable are tender.
5. Remove lid, stir in the chickpeas, tofu, and coconut milk. Heat through for about 5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice and cilantro. If needed, adjust seasonings to taste with more salt, lime juice or sugar.
Serves: 5 to 7

*If you don’t want to take the time to grind the peanuts, just substitute about 1/4 or 1/3 cup natural peanut butter.

Nada’s Easy Chickpeasy Salad!

Published December 27, 2009 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Tags: beans, chickpea, easy, gluten-free, salad

My dear friend, Nada Alic, who co-writes an awesome music blog called ‘Friends With Both Arms,’ is heading south for an indefinite period of time to live and work in The City of Angels. She will be missed. With whom will I listen to Coast to Coast on late night drives? Or argue with about the ethics of pornography? Or laugh with about the absurdity of mismatching socks?! It’s going to be tough. But hey, now I’ve got a pretty good reason to visit Southern California; a place I haven’t yet been. Imagine? Some pasty-white Canadian hoser trying to steady himself on a surfboard, but spending more time choking on salt water instead?! What a wonderfully hilarious sight that will be!

I knew Nada would like this super simple, easy-to-make bean salad, which is why this lil’ recipe is dedicated to her. Also, if you want to up the nutritional value to this dish, add a heaping tablespoon of flax seeds.

Ingredients:
19 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
12 cherry tomatoes, halved (or about a cup of diced tomatoes)
1/3 cup red onion, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of ground cumin
Juice of half a big lemon
Big handful of fresh herbs, chopped (I used a combination of cilantro and basil, but parsley or mint would be great too)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Intsructions:
1. Combine all the ingredients into a big bowl. Season to taste with a nice, big pinch of the salt and a few turns from your pepper mill.
2. Mix it all up real good and enjoy!

Serves: 3-5

Leek and Potato Soup

Published December 25, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: gluten-free, leek, potato, soup

Merry Christmas/Giftmas, friends! This soup is total comfort food, good for the holiday season. Sweet leeks, hearty potatoes, and the earthy flavour of thyme; this soup is especially warming on the coldest of winter evenings.

Leeks can be dirty, so make sure you clean them well. A lot of sand and soil gets caught in the all layers of leaves. Cut off and discard the dark green tops. Cut the light green and white leek in half lengthwise, then slice horizontally. Put the cut up leeks in a large bowl, fill it with water and slosh them around so the sand falls to the bottom. Remove leeks and drain the sandy water. If your leeks are super dirty, you might have to repeat the process.

The Wine Guy (a.k.a. my father) says that this soup is best enjoyed with a glass of either the Strewn VQA Sauvignon Blanc 2008 or Frogpond Farm VQA Organic Vidal 2008. Serve wine well chilled!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium-sized leeks, cleaned and sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used Yukon Golds)
1/2 cup white wine
3 cups low sodium or homemade vegetable broth
1 heaping tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced*
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, minced*

Instructions:
1. In a stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, leeks, celery, and carrot. Sauté for 7 or 8 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the sea salt, black pepper, and potatoes. Sauté for 2 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add the white wine and let cook for about a minute.
4. Add the vegetable broth and turn the heat up to high. Once boiling, turn the heat down to the lowest setting, cover the pot and simmer for about 25-30 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh thyme and rosemary. Add a tiny bit more olive oil for some extra richness. Using a handheld stick blender, purée the soup in the pot until smooth. If it’s too thick, add a bit of water. (If you don’t have a stick blender, use an upright blender and purée the soup in batches.)
6. Season to taste with more sea salt and black pepper.

*If you haven’t got any fresh herbs on hand or can’t be bothered to go out and buy them, substitute 1 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme and 1 teaspoon dried rosemary. Add the dried herbs with the garlic, leeks, celery and carrots at the beginning of the cooking.

Garlicky Refried Black Beans

Published December 23, 2009 Uncategorized 4 Comments
Tags: beans, mexican, rice

I friggin’ love rice n’ beans; it’s pretty much one of my top five ‘go to’ meals when I don’t feel like thinking too hard about what I want to cook. The ingredients are cheap and there’s so many different variations and ways to prepare it. But a real good rice and beans dish is pure comfort: simple, wholesome and soul-filling. Rice and beans have a pretty big cultural significance all throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and areas of the Southern States, where variations using the two ingredients serve as a important and affordable staples of the regions’ traditional diets. The late, great Louisianian jazzman, Louis Armstrong, had such an appreciation for the traditional Creole version using red beans that he signed his personal letters with the phrase “red beans and ricely yours.” I don’t know if ol’ Satchmo would approve of my version, but I know I sure liked it!

Now, I love Mexican food (side note: Torontonians check out Rancho Relaxo’s new vegan menu!), so I decided to go with some refried black beans for this one. You could also use pinto beans. The recipe is incredibly simple and you could easily serve the beans with just plain rice and it’d still be great, but I whipped up a simple parsnip brown rice pilaf that was super tasty and went well with the garlicky beans. I’ll include the recipe for the pilaf below.

Also, my dad is super into wine and has offered to help me with some suggested wine pairings on select blog entries. All wine recommendations will be VQA Niagara Peninsula and totally vegan-friendly according to the helpful online archive over at The Barnivore Vegan Alcohol Directory! For this recipe my dad has suggested either Strewn VQA Merlot 2006 or Inniskillin VQA Pinot Noir 2007 Varietal Series.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 19-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup low-sodium or homemade vegetable broth
Pinch ground cumin (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method:
1. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Sauté garlic, stirring often, until well fragrant. About 1 minute.
2. Add beans, stir through and season with optional cumin and a couple turns from your pepper mill. Cook for about 3 minutes until beans start to break apart a bit.
3. Add vegetable broth and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Turn heat up and bring to a boil. Immediately turn heat to low and let simmer until beans are softened, about 5 minutes.
4. Turn off heat and mash up the beans until smooth. Season to taste with more sea salt and pepper.
Makes: 2-4 servings

Simple Parsnip Brown Rice Pilaf
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 parsnip, cubed or diced
1 cup brown basmati rice, rinsed
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 3/4 cups water or vegetable broth
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and parsnip. Sauté for a couple minutes, stirring often, until the garlic is fragrant.
2. Add the brown rice and thyme. Sauté for another couple minutes, stirring often. This will toast the grains a little bit, so they’re tastier when they cook.
3. Add the water or vegetable broth and salt and pepper, to taste. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, immediately turn to low, cover the sauce pan and let simmer for about 30-40 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed practically all the liquid. Try not to lift the lid and peak before it’s done!
4. Remove from heat and let sit covered for another 5 minutes or so. Lift the lid, give it a little fluff with a fork, season with more salt if needed, and enjoy!
makes: 3-5 servings

Cajun-Spiced Potato Pancakes

Published December 21, 2009 Uncategorized 5 Comments
Tags: breakfast, brunch, cajun, potato

First post! Big thanks to everyone who helped me get this thing up: Nada for the wonderful introduction, Moose for the CSS code help, Chelsie for the beautiful header design, and Jay for the amazing photo on the header design. Alright friends, let’s eat!

I love this dish. For the past month or so, these potato cakes with a grapefruit on the side has been my number one weekend breakfast meal. The picture here really doesn’t do them justice! They’re a lot tastier in real life than through the lens of my Nikon Coolpix camera and shoddy picture-taking abilities. Side note: how absolutely ridiculous is the name ‘coolpix’ for a digital camera? And guess what colour it is? That’s right… ice blue.

Anyway, the chickpea flour in this recipe (also called gram flour) really makes the dish, so don’t skimp out and use all white flour. You should be able to find chickpea flour in most of the larger supermarkets if you look in the international food section. Although, I get it at Bulk Barn, or any other bulk mart, because it’s usually cheaper and you don’t have to buy a ton of it at once. When mixed with liquid, chickpea flour gets super sticky and heavy and is great for breading/frying food, which is primarily what it’s used for in Indian cuisine.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
1/4 teaspoon paprika (I used smoked paprika)
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Water, enough to make a thickish batter (about 1/3 cup)
1 or 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups potato, grated (about two medium potatoes)
1 or 2 shallots, minced (or alternatively use 2 tbsp minced onion)

Method:
1. Combine flours, thyme, paprika, cayenne, black pepper, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Mix well.
2. Add water, little by little, until a smooth, thick batter forms.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, add the grated potatoes and minced shallots (or onions) to the batter and mix up until everything is well coated.
4. Once the oil is nice and hot, spread the potato mixture all over the skillet and fry for about 4 or 5 minutes. The thinner the pancake, the better, so it gets crispy on the outside and not too soggy on the inside.
5. Once the frying side is browned up, flip over and fry for another 4 to 5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and cut into triangles. If you want, season with a teeny tiny pinch more salt.
Serves: 1-3

Vegan Eats

Archive for December, 2009

African Peanut-Coconut Stew

Nada’s Easy Chickpeasy Salad!

Leek and Potato Soup

Garlicky Refried Black Beans

Cajun-Spiced Potato Pancakes

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