VeggieBytes

Chef Veggie's blog

Recipes

Dessert

Full Moon Orbs

Today is Friday the 13th and a full moon in Pisces. You could be feeling all kinds of emotions today. I haven’t subscribed to the thought that this day is unlucky for a long time. I think the beauty of the full moon aligns with the beauty of women, motherhood and the feminine in general. Many cultures have celebrated their Goddess associated with the Harvest Moon.
It’s all about mooncakes, dancing, harvesting the fruits of the gardens and farms, singing, chanting and more.

So I’m here to celebrate with little moon-like orbs sprinkled with moon dust! The Mindful Hapa shared the recipe for Funfetti Donuts in the latest issue of Thrive Magazine #23. This magazine is one of my favorite ways to find inspiration for fun and healthy recipes. Go pick up a copy because I’m not sharing her recipe, just my take on it.

You can basically take any tan bliss ball recipe you have and dip in a mixture of coconut oil and maple syrup. The trick to making the orbs look frosted is freezing your orb for 30 minutes. When you dip, the coconut oil will harden.

I painted mine with a little Tru Color SPARKLE SHINE. This gives it a pearlescent glow. Tru Color is a completely natural mica and food-based color decorating company that I love. Check out the geode cookies I made before using the purple shine.

moon meditation time!

Dhyana - from The Yogic Path oracle deck

I went to a meditation group this morning and then came back to check out this new oracle deck I recently got called The Yogic Path by my favorite millennial soul sister, Sahara Rose. I pulled the Dhyana card and that is one of the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, concentration and meditation. Look at all the beautiful moon imagery. So perfect for today!

If you are into spirituality, esoteric thoughts, yoga, Vedic philosophy, Ayurveda, Jyotish and astrology, crystals, celebrating the feminine, plant medicine/plant-based eating, conscious business, sustainability, and being in a group of women who encourage each other to be their best, check out Rose Gold Goddesses.
The doors to the group close September 15th and may not open again until next year. See you in there soul sister!

Anyway, I hope you take time to gaze up at the wonder that is the Moon.
I’m going to take a hop in Barton Springs and relish being the water while dreaming.

Dessert

Cherry Blackberry Shortcake

I’ve made Strawberry Shortcake lots of times for the summer holidays.
I wanted to try something different this year with other seasonal fruit.

Organic cherries and blackberries were on sale so I made this version for July 4th. I’ve been making the shortcakes from Minimalist Baker for a couple months because the are gluten-free and use no palm oil.

I also just use chilled coconut cream. I don’t add any additional sugar.

Check out the recipe from Minimalist Baker and use cherries and blackberries. Happy Summer and America’s Independence Day!

Save this to your Pinterest Board!

Dessert

Double Chocolate Donuts

Vegan Double Chocolate Donuts

Happy National Donut Day!

Are donuts your favorite baked good? For me, they are tied with a good cobbler!

Here’s an easy recipe that is a bit healthier than your standard cake donut.
It is gluten-free and contains no white sugar, white flour, or polyunsaturated vegetable oils.

Vegan Double Chocolate Donuts
Print Recipe

Vegan Double Chocolate Donuts

Gluten-free, refined sugar-free donut
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chocolate, donut, gluten-free, vegan desserts
Servings: 6 donuts
Author: Cristina Carolan

Equipment

  • donut pan

Ingredients

Liquid Ingredients

  • 2 TBSP flax meal
  • 6 TBSP coconut milk canned, full fat
  • 1/3 cup apple sauce unsweetened
  • 2 TBSP avocado oil
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup rolled oats processed into flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder non-aluminum
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/3 cup cacao powder
  • 3 TBSP coconut sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 TBSP vegan chocolate chips I like Lily's or Enjoy Life

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil your donut pan with avocado oil.
  • In a mixing bowl, add flax and coconut milk and leave for 5 minutes.
  • Put rolled oats in food processor or blender and grind into flour.
  • In another bowl, add the oat flour, cacao, baking powder and soda, coconut sugar and cinnamon and mix together.
  • Add the apple cider vinegar, oil, apple sauce, and vanilla to the coconut/flax mixture and combine. Pour this liquid into the dry ingredients and scrape bowl and mix well.
  • Add batter evenly into your donut pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
  • Bake for 14-18 minutes. Check with cake tester to check for doneness.
  • Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Remove from pans using a spatula if necessary.
Vegan Double Chocolate Vegan Donuts

If you get to travel this summer, check out these shops!

Favorite donuts

Wheatsville Coop, Austin, TX – Get the Austin Cream Pie! You will thank me!
Voodoo Doughnut, Portland OR – The little voodoo doughnut is creepy but tastes great with pretzel and raspberry jam!
Dun-Well Doughnuts, NYC – The first vegan doughnut shop in NYC.
Donatsu, Los Angeles – In Little Tokyo, you’ll find artisan donuts that are oishii!
The Cinnamon Snail, NYC – Highly original fun flavors! The Cinnamon Snail cookbook has good donut recipes.
Peaceful Provisions, Peekskill, NY -No palm oil used! Unique square shape!
Mighty-O Donuts, Seattle – Organic cake donuts! To make a rainy day or any day better!
Devi’s Donuts, Long Beach – A friendly family makes these donuts and serves LBC farmer’s markets. Haribol!
Beet Box Bakery, Denver – Get one with beet pink icing!
Donut Friend, Los Angeles – The Polar Berry Club and Jets To Basil are some of the prettiest donuts out there! This donut shop will make custom ones for you too!

Let me know in the comments if you try the donut recipe!
Also, how do you like to spell this sweet confection?

Donut or Doughnut?



Ingredients

Eclipse Burger

Who is excited about the US total solar eclipse that will happen on Monday?

For those of you who aren’t able to travel to that narrow strip path the cuts diagonally across the US, I have a way for you to experience a special eclipse at home. This is an Eclipse Burger with a Totality Bun, Sunny Chickpea Patty and Corona Sauce.  The burger is surrounded with Purple Galaxy Sweet Potato Fries!

I had been planning on making an eclipse burger after I learned about the 2017 eclipse this past Spring.  I saw a gluten-free charcoal bun in a Japanese vegetarian magazine called veggy.  I translated the recipe using my mad Katakana reading skills and with the help of Google Translate! I changed some of the components and converted all of the metric units to standard ones, thanks to my handy kitchen scale.

The gluten-free charcoal bun is little more like a black English muffin. The texture was surprisingly chewy and not crumbly and dry like other gluten-free items I’ve tried and it held up quite well with the other ingredients.  I also made my regular wheat bun recipe but added activated charcoal to make it black.

There are many kinds of activated charcoal.  I haven’t found a big difference but it’s great if you find one that is vegan, gelatin capsule free, and food-grade.  I was about to use my charcoal tooth powder but then remembered there was also mint essential oil.  I like this coconut shell powder: Activated Charcoal Powder – Coconut Shell Derived Food Grade (1.5 oz glass jar)

 

Here are the recipes to the 2 different TOTALITY BUNS!

 

Print

Totality Bun – Gluten-Free

Yield 4 buns

Ingredients

  • Dry Ingredients

    1 cup rice flour

    2/3 cup oatmeal powder

    3 TBSP tapioca flour

    3 TBSP potato starch

    3 tsp psyllium husk powder

    1 tsp activated charcoal powder

    1/2 tsp sea salt

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 cup or 225 mL lukewarm water
  • 2 tsp coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp dry yeast
  • 2 TBSP neutral oil (I like avocado)

Topping

2 tsp black poppy seeds

Instructions

  1. Put lukewarm water in a glass measuring cup and the sugar and yeast.
  2. Stir to mix and leave for 5 – 10 minutes.
  3. Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and sift together.
  4. Add contents of measuring cup and oil to the dry ingredient bowl and mix with a spatula until a ball forms.
  5. Cover the bowl and place in a warm place for at least 30 minutes to rise.
  6. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, make in to flat, circular shapes.
  7. Place on an oiled,large ceramic non-stick skillet or a well-oiled cast iron skillet.
  8. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top and let rise for another hour.
  9. Heat skillet to medium high and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium, them switch to low for another 10 minutes.
  10. Flip with a spatula, and cook the other side for another 10 minutes on low.
  11. Then bun is done with the sides are no longer sticky or have any moisture.  
  12. The bun should feel firm.

 

Print

Totality Bun – Wheat

Yield 8 buns

You would think that this bun would have a weird flavor on account of the charcoal, but it actually tastes great and can be just as fluffy as a white bun.

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 TBSP dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm water
  • 2 TBSP coconut sugar
  • 2/3 cup almond or soy milk
  • 1 TBSP  golden flax meal
  • 2 TBSP neutral oil (I like avocado)

Dry Ingredients

  • 3 cups organic all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp activated charcoal powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt

Topping

  • 2 tsp vegan butter
  • 2 tsp poppy seeds

Instructions

  1. Using a stand mixer, put on the kneading hook, and add the water, yeast, and sugar to the mixer bowl and wait 5-10 minutes.
  2. In a liquid measuring cup, mix together the milk, flax, and oil and then add to the yeast liquid in the mixer bowl.
  3. In a metal bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and charcoal powder.
  4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the liquid in the mixer bowl and mix on low speed.
  5. Knead for about 10 minutes and then cover the dough and let rise for about 1 hour in a warm area.
  6. Place a silicon mat on a baking pan or oil a baking pan for the buns to bake on.
  7. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and pull the dough under each piece to make a round ball.
  8. Place each ball of the baking pan, cover, and let rise for 30-45 minutes.10 minutes before the rise is done, begin preheating your oven to 375 degrees.
  9. Brush melted vegan butter on the tops and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
  10. Bake for 15-20 minutes.  You will not be able to tell if they are browning because they will be black!
  11. Let the buns cool and then slice them in half and serve with your favorite patty.For an Eclipse burger, use the Sunny Chickpea Patty.

I wanted the patty to be a bright yellow color.  The ingredients I chose were either naturally tan or yellow and combined created a bright flavor.
Combined with a mottled red and yellow tomato, a super hot homemade Corona sauce (see recipe below), and a slice of Parmela’s Pepper Jack Cheese, you can imagine the fiery sun beneath the black shadow of the Totality Bun.

Here is the recipe for the Sunny Chickpea Patty!

 

Print

Sunny Chickpea Patty

Yield 6 patties

This bright yellow patty will really shine with its sunny flavors.

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 2 cups finely chopped cauliflower or one 12 oz bag frozen riced cauliflower
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 can chickpeas, drained
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
  2. Place parchment paper on a large baking pan and add the cauliflower, olive oil and salt. 
  3. Mix cauliflower until well coated with oil.Bake for at least 20 minutes or until the cauliflower has browned on edges.
  4. Add the cauliflower and remaining ingredients to the bowl of the food processor and process until it is well mixed and there are no longer whole chickpeas.
  5. Form the mixture into patties that fit your hamburger buns.
  6. Cook the patties in a large cast iron or non-stick skillet with a little olive oil on medium heat, about 5 minutes on each side.
  7. Serve on a bun of your choice, but a Totality Bun would be even better!

Notes

These patties can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for 3-4 days.

 

Here is the recipe for Corona Sauce!  Get ready for some heat from habanero.  No eclipse glasses can shield you from it’s power!

 

Print

Corona Sauce

Yield 2 cups

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 3 medium carrots
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 habanero
  • 2 limes, juiced
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Instructions

  1. Cut carrots in to 1/2 inch coins and them steam for 8-10 minutes until they are fork tender.
  2. Saute the chopped onion in a little water until cooked but not brown.
  3. Add the carrots, onions, and all the other ingredients to a blender and blend on high until smooth.  
  4. Add more water if needed, 1 TBSP at a time.If it is too hot for your liking, reduce the habanero or add more carrots!

Let me know if you try making this burger!  I suggest making the patties the day before and making the buns in the morning.
Enjoy the US Total Eclipse wherever you are.  If you feel like you missed out, the total eclipse to hit the US will be in 2024 and will pass through Texas.  Start planning and have this out-of-this-world burger in the meantime!

Appetizers

TexaSweet Rio Star Grapefruit Recipes

Grapefruit was not one of my favorite fruits and I always thought of them primarily as something people ate with their breakfasts. I have eaten quite a few bitter grapefruits and never felt quite right putting extra sugar on them. My opinion has changed since I received beautiful and juicy Rio Star grapefruits from TexaSweet. These sweet red grapefruits are just about the best grapefruits out there! Amidst all the comfort food that people eat once them temperatures drop, these grapefruits brighten festive plates with a crisp and fresh flavor that reminds me of summer.  Rio Star grapefruits are high in Vitamin A & C and a nutritious alternative to processed treats available this time of year.  Of course, they can also be incorporated in your favorite dessert recipes that call for citrus.

Half of a Rio Star Grapefruit

These delicious red Rio Star grapefruits have made me into a grapefruit lover!  Along with other citrus, these grapefruit are in season and are grown in Texas! I would add these happy globes to your holiday shopping list!

Grapefruit from TexaSweetOrganic Rio Star Grapefruit

When I received my box, I started thinking about how I was going to use them creatively. TexaSweet also sent some other gifts including a grapefruit-size juicer and some spoons. I didn’t realize how what a difference a juicer makes, I was under the impression that it was all the same, blender, juicer, whatever. Here are some comparisons between juicers and blenders for those under the same spell I was, get informed!

Grapefruit Kombucha
A friend of mine who is also into fermenting, gave me a kombucha SCOBY and I thought to make some grapefruit kombucha.
I have made kombucha in this glass cookie jar with no problem.

Kombucha with SCOBYTrader's Joes Bottles

Cultures For Health has an awesome PDF file on their website that I recommend that explains how to make kombucha.  You can also buy a SCOBY from them, but it’s a lot easier to get a SCOBY from a friend. When I bottled mine, I used 80% kombucha and 20% Rio Star Grapefruit Juice (even some pulp got in).  The secondary fermentation process makes it fizzy! If you are looking for the glass flip top bottles, you can find these green glass Ginger Brew bottles at Trader Joe’s for $2.99.  I think they are seasonal, so I’m going to stock up on them!

Candied Grapefruit & Cocktails
There are lots of recipes online on how to make candied grapefruit.  If you are going to take the time to supreme your grapefruits for recipes, make sure to save the peels to make candied grapefruit.  You can also save the simple syrup if you strain the syrup after simmering your peels in it. Candied Grapefruit is like a natural gum drop, can be used in baked goods and as garnishes in cocktails.

Making Candied GrapefruitHow to supreme grapefruit
Making Candied GrapefruitGrapefruit Simple Syrup

Candied Grapefruit

Here are a couple cocktail recipes using Rio Star grapefruit!

Paloma
2 oz tequila
2 oz Rio Star grapefruit juice
4 oz sparkling water
juice of 1/2 a lime
Mix together in a tall glass.
*candied ginger as a garnish

Old Fashioned
2 oz whiskey
1 oz grapefruit simple syrup
2 dashes of bitters
lump of ice
Mix in a small glass.
*candied ginger as a garnish

Grapefruit-Avocado Bites with Bergamot Olive Oil
This is a very simple recipe for an appetizer or even an open faced sandwich. The first time I had bergamot olive oil was at Bi-Rite in San Franscisco. Sam’s Sundae has chocolate ice cream with this fragrant oil on top.  It was such an interesting combo!
The base for this appetizer could be anything: bread, cracker, rice ball, beet slice.  Make it special and fit everyone’s dietary restrictions by changing it up!
I brought these to a ladies clothing swap and the women liked the melding of different flavors.

Rio Star Grapefruit Appetizer

Print

Grapefruit Avocado Bites with Bergamot Olive Oil

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg Puff Pastry or bread of your choice
  • 1 Rio Star grapefruit
  • 1 ripe, but firm avocado
  • 1 bottle Bergamot flavored extra virgin olive oil (Etruria is the best!)
  • -OR- 1 drop organic bergamot oil in 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
  • sea salt

Instructions

  1. Thaw puff pastry according to instructions.
  2. Cut puff pastry into bite size squares, place on baking sheet with parchment paper and bake in preheated 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
  3. Cool puff pastry squares. Place on serving tray.
  4. Supreme the grapefruit and cut the segments into small pieces for placing on the puff pastry. You will have more grapefruit than you need, so save the rest for a salad or snack.
  5. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and slice the avocado into 1/3 inch slices.
  6. Cut bite size pieces of avocado and place on puff pastry squares.
  7. Place the grapefruit slivers on top of the avocado.
  8. Drizzle the bergamot olive oil on top and sprinkle with sea salt.

Thanks again to TexaSweet for the lovely gifts and inspiring me to find new ways to enjoy sweet grapefruit!

Fermentation

Fermentation Friday – Fire Cider and More

It’s Fermentation Friday again!  We have just about finished all of our fermented items from late September and it’s time to ferm up a bunch of new things. I still have a bit of kimchi left and lots of different brines – red onion, sauerkraut, kimchi. I made a killer simple ramen with just kimchi brine added after my final boil.

In my search for more local places for fermentation finds, I found out about SoCo Homebrew on S. Congress near Stassney.  They are a relatively new store. They have a small fermentation area near the front and offer some crocks and an airlock system.

SoCo Homebrew Fermentation supplies

They have various cultures from Cultures of Health.  I purchased a San Francisco Sourdough culture and I’m hoping to make bread again soon.
Remember that bread is a fermented product…you just happen to kill off the cultures when you bake it.

Cultures of Health

Finally I got some pickle weights.  I needed a few after my green bean failure in September.  There are lots of different ones online but they seems quite pricey.  I did like some of the hand-stamped ceramic ones I saw on Etsy. Cultures of Health also has ceramic pickle weights which I picked up for a decent price – $4.99 each.

Cultures of Health Pickle Weight
If you are into beer and fermented beverages and live below the river, this will be a convenient South Austin location.  They have lots of rubber stoppers, airlocks, growlers, bottles etc. The staff is super helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable.  Thanks guys…I’ll be back for water kefir grains!

So here is what I have started this week:
You would think that pepper season was long gone, but in Central Texas they are still growing.  We have lots of jalapenos, Thai bird chilies, and Tabasco in our garden. Tecolote Farm has been sending beautiful red Italian sweet peppers, habaneros, pecan smoked New Mexican chilis (What a treat!!!) and much more! I am so thankful for this farm!

Nov 2014 Ferments

Giardiniera – Organic cauliflower, carrots, celery,  garlic, cayenne peppers from local farm, basil from our garden.
To keep the small bits from floating up, I put larger cauliflower pieces at the top, held down by 2 celery sticks wedged in in a cross formation.

Escabeche – Jalapenos from our garden, Toro red bell peppers from Tecolote Farm, organic onion, garlic and a white carrot.  I am using my new pickle weight here!

Escabeche

Mustard – I’m trying out black mustard seeds to see how the flavor compares to brown and yellow.  Right now the seeds are soaking in sauerkraut brine.
After the seeds are soft, I will blend it with some fresh turmeric and let is sit another couple days.

Fire Cider – fresh turmeric, ginger, garlic, bottled shredded horseradish, local cayenne peppers, and apple cider vinegar.
This is an old folk remedy.  The strained liquid is then mixed with honey for an immune system tonic.  My goal is to let it sit until the end of December.
Maybe it will be a holiday gift to me!

Fire Cider Ingredients

Fire Cider

Doesn’t that look like it’s full of some potent goodness!  Fresh turmeric is such a gorgeous color!

What are you fermenting lately?
Warm Wishes,
Cristina

Appetizers

Goblin Fingers

Halloween is almost here and I hope you have your costume planned and almost finished!
I’m just going as Marceline again this year.  She’s just so moody and funny at the same time.
See my post from last year about how to make the best oven fries with ghost pepper salt.

On to this year’s recipe! GOBLIN FINGERS!

Goblin Fingers - Veggiebytes.com

I have been dehydrating lots of tasty morsels for our camping trip to the Smokey Mountains in November. My goal is to not use any prepackaged meals from REI or camping stores. Tecolote Farm’s CSA also started at the beginning of October so I will have ample produce to make our meals special while on the trail. Last week we got a happy surprise in our basket: the last OKRA of the season! I love, love, love Okra!  Have you ever seen an Okra flower?  It is stunning!

So instead of cooking it up for our regular Indian night, I decided to dehydrate them. I’m so glad that I cut them in half lengthwise because when they dried, they became these creepy curls. I’ve had to keep my daughter’s fingers out of this stash.  They are that tasty!

goblin fingers

Speaking of fingers, okra pods are sometimes called lady fingers.  Maybe a green lady like Elphaba from Wicked!  When they are dried they look like little goblin fingers to me.  My daughter wanted to call them sea monster tentacles.  I’ll let you decide! They make a great edible decoration on the side of a bowl. I made an easy Indian-inspired dip for them. The okra would also taste good tossed in a little coconut oil and some Chaat Masala.

Since I’m working on my Indian pickle recipes I still like to buy pickle occasionally. I really enjoy the Ashoka brand as they have a line of pickle made with olive oil instead of weird vegetable oil blends that contain cottonseed oil. Cottonseed oil is a byproduct of the cotton industry and may have a lot of pesticide residues. You can find the Ashoka line of pickles online or at Man Pasand and Gandhi Bazaar in Austin.

Goblin Fingers & Dip - Veggiebytes.com

Print

Goblin Fingers

Prep

Total

Yield 40 fingers

Ingredients

  • Okra
  • Your choice of white dip (Non-Dairy Yogurt (coconut is good), Vegan Mayo, Cashew Creme etc)
  • Indian Pickle (Mixed, Lime, Mango, Red Chili)

Instructions

  1. Wash and dry as much okra as you like!
  2. Cut off top and slice in half lengthwise.
  3. Place on dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 130 degrees 6-12 hours until crisp.
  4. Store in an airtight container.
  5. Make a dip for your goblin fingers with 5 parts yogurt/creme and 1 part pickle.
  6. Take a bowl and put in your dip and place “fingers” all around the edge!

Courses Snack

Cuisine Indian

I hope you have some savory food planned for Halloween before the sugar fest begins. I know it’s better to have a belly full of healthy food to keep away the creepy crankies! If your kids are young and you want to start a new tradition of keeping only some candy, you can always mention that the Pumpkin Fairy will take it and leave them a little surprise instead.  Lots of dentist offices will take candy and send it off to military troops too.

Have a Happy Halloween!
Cristina

Entree

Bisi Bele Bhath

Vegan MoFo 2014

I love South Indian food!  The coconut, spices, rice, dal, tropical veggies, and tamarind make for magnificent combinations.
I started making my own sambar powder 10 years ago and I like that I can customize the spices, amount of chilies, and know the freshness of the powder.
My curry leaf plant has to survive the winter and I’m growing a drumstick tree (Moringa) in hopes that I will have my homegrown drumstick in sambar some day.

Bisi Bhele Bhath is a yummy all-in-one dish that comes from Karnataka. It is rice and lentils cooked together and is much like a South Indian kichidi, but with a sambar-like flavor. I’m an advocate of using a pressure cooker. If you are vegan and cook lots of beans and grains at home, you HAVE to get one.  I have 4. *wink*

I’ve seen lots of people like to use the red or masoor lentils in Indian dishes to save time, but they just aren’t the same texture.  Go to an Indian store and buy these dals: split mung (peeled), split urad dal (peeled), split chana dal, and toor dal (non-oily). You’ll have the 4 most common dals!  Gandhi Bazar here in Austin even carries organic dals by 24 Mantra from India.
There are a couple steps in making the dish, but I believe it’s part of the fun.
I love to mix up spice blends and also make the chaunk (Hindi for tempering of the spices).
You know you make a lot of Indian food if you find random mustard seeds that have popped from your chaunk.

 

Bisi Bele Bhath

Print

Bisi Bele Bhath

Ingredients

  • Spice Paste
  • 1 TBSP coconut oil
  • 1 TBSP chana dal
  • 1 TBSP urad dal
  • 5 Indian red chilies
  • 2 TBSP coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 in cinnamon stick
  • 1/4 cup coconut flakes, dry
  • Dal/Rice/Veggies
  • 1 TBSP coconut oil
  • 3 cups chopped vegetables (potatoes, red bell peppers, green beans, drumsticks!!!, carrots, winter squash)
  • 1 roma tomato, chopped
  • 1 cup basmati rice (soaked in water for 15 minutes, drain)
  • 3/4 cup toor dal (soaked for in water for 15 minutes, drain)
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 TBSP tamarind concentrate (find one with sugar or preservatives)
  • 1/2 TBSP or salt to taste
  • Tempering
  • 1 TBSP coconut oil
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 red chili
  • Curry Leaves (1 sprig – 6-8 leaves)
  • Cilantro for garnishing

Instructions

Making the Paste

  1. Take a small pan and heat the oil on medium and slowly cook the dal until it has changed several shades darker. Add the remaining items and cook until all are well toasted.
  2. Set aside to cool and then grind in a blender or better, a coffee grinder used just for spices.

Dal & Rice & Veggies

  1. In a large pressure cooker pot, heat the oil and add the vegetables, and soaked dal and lentils. Add the turmeric, tamarind paste and 1/2 the spice paste.
  2. Add 5 cups of water.
  3. Lock on your pressure cooker lid, cook at high pressure for 12 minutes.
  4. Turn off the heat and let cook under pressure 10 more minutes, then release pressure. (I use a Fagor pressure cooker, so i am not familiar with whistles 🙂
  5. Mix the in the remaining spice paste.

Tempering

  1. In a small pan, add the oil and temper the spices until the mustard seeds pop.
  2. Add chaunk to the dal/rice/veggie mixture.
  3. Also add salt to taste.
  4. Mix thoroughly and garnish with cilantro leaves

The coconut okra recipe I made a couple weeks ago would be a great complement.

See you on Friday for my last fermentation post during Vegan MoFo.  I’m going to keep with that theme for Fridays but it won’t be officially Vegan MoFo anymore!

 

Entree

Vegan MoFo – Hot & Sour Soup

Happy Recipe Wednesday!  It’s about halfway through the month and Vegan MoFo.

Did the weather change at all in your area?  We received some much needed rain and the temperature was in the lower 60’s.
It’s back in the 90’s again.  I think the atmospheric pressure changing and some late night dancing all sweaty in air conditioning, lowered my immunity. So I was a little off my game and missed my Monday blog post.

The good thing is that I’ve been making lots of soup.  I was even able to make this particular soup for one of my personal chef clients yesterday.

It’s full of wonderful stuff and is very flavorful but low in fat.  It’s a vegan soup that doesn’t require any non-dairy milk or nuts or noodles. I find the ample amount of garlic and ginger makes it soothing for any respiratory illness.  It’s also super fast to cook!  Full of fun ingredients like young bamboo shoots and woodear fungus, this is not a boring soup!  You can find dried woodear fungus in Asian markets.  Young bamboo can be found in the refrigerated or frozen section. Since it is fresh frozen, these shoots do not have the metallic taste like the rectangles you find in cans.  The shape is also very satisfying to eat.

Hot and Sour Soup

Print

Vegan MoFo – Hot & Sour Soup

Ingredients

  • 3 wood ear fungus (sliced, soaked in water for 20 minutes, remove hard part that attaches to a tree)
  • 1/2 cup fresh shitake mushrooms
  • (or 1/4 cup dried, soaked in water for 20 minutes)
  • 1 carrot (sliced on the bias then sliced in to strips)
  • 1 cup Napa Cabbage (sliced in to strips)
  • 2 young bamboo shoots (sliced into rounds)
  • 1/2 pkg of extra-firm tofu (cut into long strips)
  • 1 TBSP sesame oil (can be omitted for oil-free)
  • 4 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 1 inch ginger, shredded (I like to use a ceramic ginger grater or microplane zester)
  • 7 cups vegetable broth (or 7 cups water with 1 1/2 TBSP Better Than Bouillion -not chicken flavor)
  • 2 TBSP shoyu or tamari
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 1/2 tsp Szechuan pepper
  • 1 tsp dried chili flakes
  • 1/4 cup Non-Gmo Cornstarch or Potato Starch
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • Garnish: Chopped scallions, cilantro, mung bean sprouts, baby corn, more pepper

Instructions

  1. Soak the woodears and dried shitake.
  2. Cut up all of your veggies, garlic and ginger, and tofu.
  3. In a soup pot, heat sesame oil on medium and add garlic and ginger.
  4. When heated through, quickly add the broth.
  5. Then add the shoyu, vinegar, and both pepper.
  6. Add the vegetables and mushrooms. Cook until carrots are tender.
  7. Bring soup to a boil and dissolve the starch in water in a large liquid measuring cup.
  8. Pour the starch in the soup and stir. It should thicken.
  9. Ladle soup into individual bowls and add your desired garnishes.

fresh bamboo ring

Doesn’t that bamboo shoot look fun to eat!

See you back on Fermentation Friday!  I have 3 new things that are ready to come out of jars!

Entree

Muffaletta with Fermented Giardiniera

Vegan MoFo 2014

 

It’s Fermentation Friday!  I have a recipe that’s over 4 weeks in the making!

In my first post last Friday about kimchi, you see a jar of rainbow colored veggies.  That’s my giardiniera hanging out on my counter for about 4 weeks of time.  Here’s the layering: basil, small sweet red pepper, purple carrots, cauliflower, garlic, yellow carrots, broccoli, orange carrots and red onion.
You can see that the color from the red onions and purple carrots has made the cauliflower turn pink!
I got the recipe from the Farm Curious Fermenting Kit.  You basically cut up your veggies, layer them in a very clean glass mason jar, and add a 2.5% brine.
I put a small cabbage leaf on top to keep the onions from floating above the brine. Having a fermentation airlock is helpful.
The number of tablespoons you use can vary due to the kind of salt you are using. Generally, stay away from iodized salt and any salt with chemical additives.  Kosher salt, Sea Salt, Real Salt from Utah, and Himalayan salt are great choices. Figuring out how much salt to add is a great way to remember some math skills and also use your kitchen scale.
I like the Probiotic Jar’s Himalayan Salt info sheet and also Pickle-It’s online calculator.

giardiniera

So what can you do with these Italian pickles beside including them in antipasti platters or in a salad.  Use them in a Vegan Muffaletta!

If you haven’t had a muffaletta, you are missing out on this New Orlean’s favorite.  Vegans have lots of options with roasted veggies, mushrooms, vegan substitutes like Tofurkey Italian slices and Daiya provolone.  One important aspect of the sandwich is the BREAD.  You need a large, round and somewhat flat loaf.  I have used bakery breads before like a round country French or even a round Italian loaf.  However, I wanted my sandwich to be more special this time so I made the bread myself.
Here is a simple recipe that makes 2 beautiful breads.  It uses one of my favorite flours: Einkorn (an older non-hybridized wheat from Italy).
The flour is a lovely buff color so the inside of the bread is not stark white.  Making bread is fermentation too as the yeast creates all the expansion when it respirates. You just happen to kill off the yeasts when you bake it.

Mbread1Mbread2
mbread3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mbread5Mbread4

Print

Muffaletta Bread

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups warm filtered water
  • 1 packet yeast
  • 1 TBSP sugar (I used coconut sugar)
  • 1/2 TBSP sea salt
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 4.5 cups Einkorn flour (or 2 cups bread and 2.5 cups all-purpose)
  • (1 TBSP vital wheat gluten if using Einkorn flour)
  • sesame seeds
  • more olive oil for coating

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl (or bowl in a stand mixer), add water and yeast and sugar.
  2. When yeast is frothy, add salt, oil, and flours.
  3. Knead on medium until dough pulls away from side of the bowl but is still a bit sticky. Add 1 TBSP of flour at a time to help.
  4. Coat bowl and dough with olive oil and let rest covered with towel for over 1 hour or until doubled in size
  5. Flour your kneading surface and knead the ball for 1 minute and then split into 2 balls.
  6. Take each ball and flatten into a disk about 7 inches in diameter.
  7. Brush on more olive oil on the tops and press sesame seeds into the dough
  8. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place each disk on.
  9. Let rise covered for another hour or until doubled in height.
  10. Preheat oven to 400 and bake for 20-25 minutes.
  11. Cool completely before slicing and assembling your sandwich.

Muffaletta Veggies

Here’s how I made the sandwich:

I stove-flamed a bell pepper and cooked some eggplant and  zucchini slices in a cast iron skillet.

MpepperMeggplant

Mroastedveggies

I took 1 cup of the giardiniera and chopped it up and added some kalamata and green olives and capers.
I put them in a bowl and added a couple glugs of olive oil.

Molivebread

Then I sliced the bread, add the olive salad, and then the fillings.

Mtwoopen
One sandwich is all veggies and the other looks like a traditional Italian meat and cheese muffaletta, with some fresh heirloom tomato.

After assembly, carefully put the tops on and press the sandwich.  Some people like to wrap and press for an hour.
I was too hungry to wait.  Since my bread was soft and not like a hard sourdough or ciabatta, I didn’t think it was necessary.

Mitaliancheese

We enjoyed the veggie one the most, so if you have to pick one sandwich I would stick with vegetables.  I don’t think we liked the Daiya provolone very much.
Veggie Muffaletta

I hope that you will try making either the giardiniera or the bread if not both.  The sandwiches pack well for picnics if you wrap them tightly.  They taste wonderful the next day and there was no problem with sogginess.

See you back on Monday for my latest Vegan MoFo finds!