Vegan MoFo Day 12 - Tidy-up Thursdays - Green Chili Stew

This Green Chili Stew posted on Tales of a Vegan Food Fetishist a couple of MoFos ago was initially supposed to be a part of my first MoFo Mondays post. After scanning through the recipe I realised that it was going to utilise two sorely neglected ingredients in my pantry - tinned tomatillos and hominy. It's safe to say they had been sitting there unloved for a couple of years and although I did go through a period of cooking with tomatillos a while back I had never eaten hominy before.

I made a few substitutions to Leigh's recipe to suit the vegetables I had on hand and included cooked black beans in place of crumbled tofu. I wasn't sure about the quantity of tomatillos that was used in her recipe as the tin size wasn't specified but I'm tipping it was larger than my small tin which meant that my stew didn't end up with a green colour. On the other hand I had more than enough hominy in my giant sized tin and after doubling the amount there was still plenty leftover.

The man loved the aroma of this meal when he arrived home from work and enquired what I was making for dinner. I warned him that the meal contained quinoa as he isn't the biggest fan and cleverly marketed it as a "Mexican meal" rather than a stew to keep him interested. Stews are one of his least favourite kinds of meals so I always keep the liquid to a minimum as he really doesn't enjoy soupy styled dishes. I adored the strong smoky flavours from the ancho chilli and smoked paprika throughout this dish and also enjoyed the mild corn flavour and chewy texture of the hominy. The only bothersome aspect was that the meal contained a slight metallic undertone which was most likely due to using such old tinned ingredients.

Susan from Kittens Gone Lentil posted about recipe testing for Leigh Drew's new cookbok "Veganissimo! Beautiful Vegan Food" last week, which will be released on the 15th of November and can be pre-ordered from booktopia now. I couldn't finish a post about one of Leigh's recipes without mentioning her book as I was also involved in some of the phases of recipe testing. As well as many of the curries and tandoori cauliflower cheese that Susan mentioned in her post, I was most excited by the above dish - Tostada Tofu Rancheros with Scrambled Tofu, Blackened Tofu and Roast Potatoes accompanied by Mint Salsa Verde and Guacamole. This meal was amazing! For a sneak peek of other delicious foods from Leigh's new cookbook, make sure you check out Susan's post.

Vegan MoFo - Stopover 8 - Lebanon

When the young man drew Lebanon out of the hat, he grinned and said to me, "I think you'll like this one". He was spot on, what's not to love about Lebanese food - falafels, hummus, baba ganoush, pita bread, tabbouleh, ful medames and mujaddara to name a few. The only problem with these foods is that I've made them all before so I searched further to find something new to try.

Kibbeh is a national Lebanese dish typically made of burghul, onions, ground meat and spices. It can be served in a number of ways, the most common form is stuffed and fried in the shape of mini footballs. I had more than enough fried foods last week so when I spotted a baked version in World Vegan Feast by Bryanna Clark Grogan I simply had to try it. Bryanna's version started with a layer of thinly sliced onions drizzled with olive oil which were covered with a bulgar and mashed potato mixture followed by a layer of lentils and topped off with the bulgar and mashed potato.

The most substantial change I made to the recipe was to use quinoa in place of bulgar as it's something I don't keep in the pantry. I loved that the recipe provided several options with regards to the fresh herbs that could be used and as I had mint and parsley on hand that's what I used. The spices in the dish were minuscule by my usual standards which made me wonder whether this meal was going to be flavoursome enough. I needn't have been worried as it turned out to be really lovely, the spices and mint were quite subtle although it was the onions throughout that really made the dish. Using quinoa may not have been the best substitute as the texture of the kibbeh turned out to be rather crumbly which made it impossible to cut squares neatly. I served the kibbeh with pita bread and leftover baked okra as it need to be used up.

During my research I came across a dip I hadn't heard of before called mutabbel before realising that it's a slightly spicier version of baba ganoush. Both of these eggplant dips are common to Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Kurdistan, Israel and Egypt even though their names and ingredients vary slightly between countries. I've made baba ganoush plenty of times before using different methods to cook the eggplant and this time I decided to initially blacken the eggplant over a gas flame, stuff it with garlic slivers and finish the cooking in the oven. I enjoy the smoky flavour that roasting eggplants over a flame brings although I find it time consuming and fiddly to completely cook the eggplant this way so I was much happier with the method I chose.

Mutabbel

1 large eggplant (about 750g)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons tahini
¼ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon smoked salt
olive oil, parsley and smoked paprika, for serving

Preheat oven to 200C.

Place the eggplant over a gas flame until the skin is mostly blackened (this step can be skipped if you like and the eggplant roasted a longer time. Make incisions in the flesh of the eggplant and insert slices of garlic in the cuts. Place the eggplant on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 30 minutes or until the eggplant is very tender and collapsing.

When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and discard. Roughly chop the eggplant flesh and place into a food processor bowl with the tahini, lemon juice, cumin, cayenne pepper and smoked salt. Process until it has a smooth texture then transfer to a serving bowl. Make a moat in the middle and fill with olive oil. Garnish with chopped parsley and smoked paprika.

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Did you know?

Lebanon is a unique country in the Middle East as it's the only country that doesn't have a desert.

Do you want to know where else I've been this month? Click here for the round up.

Marinated roasted mushrooms

This recipe had been sitting in my bookmarks for a while with good reason, the young man isn't very fond of mushrooms. He tolerates slices of mushrooms in calzones, pizzas, tofu scrambles and stir frys, however, whole baked mushrooms are a complete turn off for him. I understand they aren't for everyone and remember a time in my childhood when the smell of frying mushrooms that were freshly picked from my Nanna's farm was enough to make me feel ill.

When the young man was out with his friends and there was a decent amount of portobellos in the fridge I knew exactly what we would be having for dinner. I had loved the sound of these marinated roasted mushrooms when I saw the recipe posted on where's the beef as the ingredients in the marinade are my type of flavours. I didn't have quite as many mushrooms so I made a half batch of the marinade, swapped the white wine for red wine as that was what I had on hand and also reduced the amount of oil a smidgen, otherwise I stayed true to the recipe.

I served these tasty juicy mushrooms over quinoa to give the meal a protein boost and because it's something we don't eat very often. This was a cinch to put together, after the mushies and a few extra vegetables went into the oven all I had to worry about was cooking the quinoa just prior to serving. The remaining juices in the baking tray were really full of flavour so I ladled extra over the quinoa after snapping a photo. This is an easy and tasty recipe that I'll happily make again when it's tea for two. 


Marinated roasted mushrooms (Adapted from where's the beef, originally from a recipe on fungi.com)

450g portobello mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine
2 large cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 200C.

Brush the mushrooms to ensure they are free of dirt and place into a baking dish with their gills facing up. Whisk the olive oil, sesame oil, soy sauce and red wine together in a small bowl.

Pour the marinade over the mushrooms ensuring that the gills are completely covered, then scatter the garlic on top of the mushrooms. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

Vegan MoFo - Q is for Quinoa Stew (and an award)

This quinoa, lentil and vegetable stew has to be my favourite recipe from the Fat Free Vegan blog as it's the one I have repeated the most. It's from Susan's "Ridiculously Easy" category as she used frozen vegies and tinned lentils for convenience. I have blogged my adaptation of this recipe before which uses fresh vegetables and larger quantities of quinoa and smoked paprika.

It's a great recipe which is simple to prepare and you can throw in whatever vegetables you have around. This time I used pumpkin, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and added spinach right at the end. The flavours improve over time as it tastes even better the next day. I have also mixed a bit of harissa into the leftovers before and made quinoa stuffed peppers which were fantastic!

Click here to see my A - Z of Vegan MoFo posts.

I was both thrilled and extremely honoured to receive the Liebster award (German for favourite, beloved or dearest) from Mandee at Cupcake Kitteh. Mandee's blog is full of beautiful photos of the many things she has made from Viva Vegan which is what initially attracted me. I also find it inspiring how she manages to cook such amazing food with ease that doesn't contain any soy or gluten. Head over and take a look if you haven't been there already!

My job now is to hand out the Liebster award to 5 bloggers that have less than 200 followers if this can be judged from the site. I decided to give the award to bloggers I have discovered throughout Vegan MoFo 2011 that haven't already received this award to the best of my knowledge.

The bloggers (listed in alphabetical order to keep in line with my MoFo theme) I am awarding are:

• Dawn from Veg-am
• erinwyso from Olives for Dinner
• Jes from Eating Appalachia
• Jes from Your Mom's a Vegan
• Rachel from I Eat Grains

The winners can pass the award on if they feel inclined to by:

• Showing your thanks by linking to the person that gave you the award
• Choosing 5 bloggers to give the award to and leaving a comment on their blog to let them know 
• Post the award on your blog 
• Enjoy spreading the love around

Quinotto

Quinotto caught my eye in Viva Vegan for a few reasons. I liked the sound of the name (keen-otto) and the concept of cooking quinoa in the style of a risotto felt like it would work well. My son does not enjoy risotto at all and the reason he states for disliking it so intensely is that he hates arborio rice. I still can't get my head around that!

The recipe introduction states that quinotto is a common concept in South American countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, although the resulting meal is more like a pilaf than an actual risotto. The ingredients seemed a bit plain as it listed mushrooms as the only vegetable so I pinched a couple of the chorizo seitan sausages that I had prepared for our trip away and threw in some baby spinach leaves as well.  

I am pleased to say that my son was totally impressed with the quinotto although he did mention that it wasn't anything at all like risotto. I do agree with him as the taste and texture was totally different. The quinotto term suits the cooking process of slowly adding stock in batches and stirring frequently more than the actual dish. The man wasn't as enthused about this meal and preferred to sneak bites of a risoni based pasta salad I had been preparing for our plane trip the next day.

Pictured above is the Aji Amarillo chilli paste purchased from Casa Iberica which has a bit of a kick but is definitely not the hottest chilli paste going around. 

Quinotto (Adapted from Viva Vegan)

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup white quinoa, rinsed well 
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar + 1/2 cup water (or use 1/2 cup white wine)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon aji amarillo paste (or use another form of chilli paste/powder to taste) 
3 cups warm vegetable stock
1/6 quantity chorizo seitan recipe, cut into rounds 
4 large portobello mushrooms, sliced
100g baby spinach leaves
1 tablespoon lime juice
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh chopped parsley, for garnish 

Heat the olive oil in a large pot and fry the shallots and garlic for about 5 minutes, until golden. Add the rinsed quinoa and fry, stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes until it turns slightly golden. Stir through the white wine vinegar plus water (or white wine) and stir well to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Add the thyme, oregano and aji amarillo paste (or chilli) and simmer for a minute. 

Add about a cup of the vegetable stock and stir a little more frequently. When the stock has been absorbed, add a little more. Continue adding the stock bit by bit, stirring every so often until the quinoa is tender. This should take about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, spray a non-stick frying pan with olive oil spray and cook the chorizo seitan rounds until lightly browned on each side. Remove the chorizo from the frying pan, give it another spray with olive oil and fry the mushrooms until softened. 

Turn off the heat and stir through the cooked mushrooms, chorizo seitan and spinach. Cover the pot and let it rest for 10 minutes. Finally add the lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with fresh parsley.    

Quinoa, lentil and vegetable stew

When Susan V of the Fat Free Kitchen blog posted this delicious sounding lentil and vegetable stew last October I made it straight away (with a few tweaks) and loved it. It was full of flavour and extremely simple to prepare so I repeated it a few times last year. 

The first time I made it, the man thought it was a little bit like soup which he is quite partial to at lunchtime but doesn't really fancy for dinner. To combat the soupy texture I increased the amount of quinoa to soak up the juices and give it some more bulk.

It is a lovely warming meal for nights like we have been experiencing in Melbourne this week. The vegetables in the recipe below were what I had on hand, however, mushrooms, broccoli and spinach are some others that have also blended in well. Even my son commented that it is a perfect winter meal as it really warms up your belly. 

Quinoa, lentil and vegetable stew (Adapted from Fat Free Vegan)

1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaped teaspoon oregano
1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
200g pumpkin, chopped into bite-sized pieces
200g cauliflower, chopped into small florets
1 carrot, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 x 400g tin brown lentils 
1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
5 large silverbeet leaves, washed well and shredded 
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pot, add the onion and cook until it softens. Add the garlic and fry for another minute. Stir through the smoked paprika, cumin and oregano until fragrant then add the tinned tomatoes and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Add the pumpkin, cauliflower, carrots and zucchini as you chop them and then add the tin of lentils with their juices and quinoa. Simmer, covered for about 15-20 minutes until the vegetables and quinoa are almost tender then stir through the silverbeet and cook for another couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.  

Quinoa and black bean salad

An article on The Age directed me to this salad a while ago which I have brought along to BBQ's several times. It's a nice salad full of lovely flavours and packed full of protein. This time I changed it up a little by using red and white quinoa, modifying the spices a little and using less oil. It makes quite a decent quantity and the leftovers keep well for days in the fridge.

I also made a dip to bring to the BBQ which will be written up in another post soon...

Quinoa and black bean salad (Adapted from a recipe on aicr.org)

1/2 cup white quinoa
1/2 cup red quinoa
1 x 400g tin black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 x 310g tin corn kernels, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper, to taste
1 small red capsicum, seeded and chopped
4 spring onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped fine
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Rinse quinoa in a fine sieve. Place quinoa in a saucepan with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa is cooked. Fluff quinoa with a fork and transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool.

While quinoa is cooking, in a small bowl toss beans and corn with red wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

Add beans, corn, capsicum, spring onions, garlic, cayenne, smoked paprika and coriander to the quinoa. Mix thoroughly.

In a small bowl whisk together lime juice, salt, cumin and oil. Drizzle over salad and toss well. Salad may be made a day ahead and refrigerated, covered. Serve at room temperature.

Black Beans & Quinoa with Chipotle Raspberry Sauce

OK, this photo quality is pretty crappy (not that mine are ever great) and does not do the meal justice at all, however I still wanted to post this as it's such an unusual combination of ingredients and really must be tried to be believed.... I wanted to give this a go the moment it appeared in my RSS feeds!

The funny thing is when raspberries were spotted on the bench tonight, hubby and son had an immediate mindset that they weren't going to like their dinner and also tried to sneak a bite before it was served up with the sauce and toasted almonds. They were proved wrong pretty quickly when they tasted the finished result! I tried to explain that Isa really knows her stuff...

This was made as per the recipe in Isa's blog, no modifications at all. If you like the sound of it you should definitely try this too, it's a nice quick dinner with a difference!