Kiki and Gregg's

Back in June 2012 I had the honor of writing a guest blog on Kiki and Greg Webb's Blogsite. Now they have returned the favor by posting for my readers a wonderful vegan dish that I will be trying out for myself asap! What a Valentine's Day for all of us! These two talented people not only write about food and are constantly coming up with new vegetarian as well as vegan delights. They are also very talented musicians as well, among other things.

Recipe for Besan Chilla with Greg's Special Sauce

Kiki & Greg Webb

Greg's Special Sauce

     This sauce looks delicious, healthy and easily-made. It could easily become your next fave sauce for almost ANY dish.

Ingredients

1 fresh red bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

1/3 cup raw almonds

juice of a lemon or a lime (about 4T or 1/4 cup)

1/2 teaspoon of your favorite mineral-rich salt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

I large clove of garlic

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Put all ingredients in a blender, except the olive oil and cilantro.  Blend until smooth.  With blender running, slowly drizzle olive oil and blend until sauce is thick.  Stop blender and unplug.  Stir in chopped cilantro with a long wooden spoon.  Pour into serving container.

Kiki's Besan Chilla (Vegan Veggie Omelette)

(makes 8 - 10)

     Besan is another word for garbanzo flour, a naturally gluten-free and high-protein flour that is popular in many places around the world. As one example, it is made into "Socca", a crispy thin crepe that is a common street food in France. In Italy it is called "Farinata" and is sold in bakeries. In Argentina, "Faina" is served atop pizza. As an Indian breakfast food, "Chilla" or "Puda" is often served as a vegan type of "omelette". Previous to Kiki and Gregg's recipe, my own experience with garbanzo flour was as an important ingredient in Samosas, an Indian version of Japanese Vegetable Tempura. 

     What Kiki says about her Besan Omelette: "One is plenty for me.  The boys like two or three!"

Ingredients

2 cups of garbanzo flour

2-3 cups of water, depending upon water content of veggies

1 T oil

1/2 cup grated zucchini

1/2 cup grated summer squash

1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/3 cup finely chopped sweet onion

3/4 cup chopped fresh spinach

1/4 cup of grated carrot

1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed well

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 tsp. mineral rich salt (or to taste)

add crushed red pepper for heat, if desired

fresh avocado slices

your favorite sprouts

Olive oil or Earth Balance spread for skillet

In a medium bowl, whisk garbanzo flour with salt, turmeric and optional crushed red pepper flakes.  Add olive oil and 2 cups of the water and stir until well-blended. Add zucchini, squash, bell pepper, onion, spinach, carrot, black beans and stir gently to combine.  Let sit for 10 - 15 minutes.  Add more water to achieve the consistency of a thin pancake batter.

Heat large skillet to the temperature you would for pancakes.  On our current electric stove we set the largest burner to one setting shy of medium.  Add 1 tablespoon of oil or Earth Balance buttery spread.  When the skillet is hot (but not smoking) add 1/2 cup of your veggie/garbanzo batter and spread it out into a 5-6 inch circle.  Allow the edges to dry out and bubbles to form on the pancake.  When the top is almost dry, flip it over with a pancake turner, and cook the other side.  The second side will cook much faster than the first.  When both sides are golden (garbanzo flour browns SO nicely) remove the pancake from the pan to a large plate.  Add avocado slices to one half of the pancake and salt the avocado.  Drizzle Greg's Special Sauce on top of the avocado.  Fold the other half of the "omelette" over the avocado and sauce.  Top with sprouts and more sauce, if desired.

 

          I now realize that all of my life I have been a “foodie”, although that word wasn’t even in use when I was growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s. For many of us, food is closely linked to positive memories, and therefore evokes within us emotional responses. This was certainly true in my case, as most of my fondest memories centered around, or else somehow involved FOOD! Perhaps it was just the unconditional love that I was almost always given by two sets of loving grandparents as well as my own parents, aunts, uncles, etc.

          As one example, when I was three years old and spending my summers at the Jersey shore, my Granny Goose loved to set me up outside on sunny days with my own tea party. My Pop Pop, a carpenter/contractor had created a little table for me out of scraps of leftover wood. I had my own tiny tea set and willingly “shared” the little red packets of raisins with my “babies”, the dolls and stuffies I was so fond of taking care of.

          During the winter my other set of grandparents lived in a big old house with my family, including my cousin, who had been orphaned. Since we were the same ages, we became like sisters. This grandmother (the one I dedicated my cookbook to, “Lady Virginia”) loved to eat and to cook for others. She was also a night owl who enjoyed staying up until the late show went off the air around 2 am. One night when we were four years old, she surprised Cousin Lynne and me by waking us in the wee hours and asking us: “Would like some warm cherry pie with vanilla ice cream?”  Did we ever! Leaping out of bed and entering her inner sanctum, that cheery yellow kitchen she was almost always in, we three enjoyed clandestine moments of sheer happiness together, laughing and chattering amid bites of sweet bliss, while my Grandpa snored away. Grandma was an example of someone who liked to cook and create in the kitchen, and just HAD to share her latest creation with someone, even if it was four am!

          By contrast, my Granny Goose at the Jersey shore had a lot of common sense, and served healthful food that kept me healthy and happy. She bought whole-grain bread right off the bread truck and lots of fresh fruits and veggies in season from the farm stand. My favorite was blueberries, which I could never seem to eat enough of!  Although we indulged in such delights as ice cream, dessert at her house was often “a poor man’s dessert”, consisting of a slice of whole-grain bread and butter. It would never have occurred to her to bake a pie at 2 am and then wake me to eat it in the middle of the night!

           My uncles nurtured my early interest in cooking and baking by gifting me with an E-Z Bake oven when I was eight. All too soon, however, I outgrew this in favor of creating dishes using my mom’s real stove and oven. 

          I was an avid reader and later realized that almost all my favorite scenes from books somehow revolved around FOOD as a theme. I vividly remember Heidi telling us about The Grandfather up in the little hut in the Swiss Alps where they lived. He would take fresh apples, freshly-made goat cheese and a stick, and roast them over the hut’s little fireplace. These they would spread on freshly-baked bread from the Village mill.

          In THE SECRET GARDEN, little Miss Mary feasted on Colin’s mother’s biscuits and potatoes from their humble cottage garden, and it became part of the reason for her return to health, along with time out of doors in the fresh moor air with her cousin and friend, tending their secret garden together and exercising.

          Movies’ greatest moments also seem to involve food in one way or another. The most often remembered scene from “Lady & the Tramp” is the sharing by Tramp of his treasured Italian restaurant back-door spaghetti & meat balls with his new love, Lady.

          “It’s a Wonderful Life” shares with us the simple ritual house blessing involving salt, bread and wine.

          “Moonstruck” is fraught with food themes, from a restaurant public after-dinner proposal to a morning breakfast table proposal at the end of the film.

          After Michael, the battling angel, returns to heaven in “Michael”, his traveling companions adopt his habit of putting a kazillion sugar cubes into their tea and coffee.

          One of the most meaningful moments for me in “Brother Sun, Sister Moon”, is when Claire comes out into the cold rain with a loaf of homemade bread to offer to Francesco and his followers.

          I could go on, but I’m pretty sure you all have your fave food-themed moments if you stop to think about it.   

          Just because I’m a vegan does not mean that I can’t appreciate film’s greatest food moments as well as pages from a beloved book. Some of the food is vegan but even if it is not, that doesn’t stop me from appreciating this ritual that most of us are fortunate enough to share with others three times a day. The sharing of food in the United States even has its own special holiday, Thanksgiving. Among the vegan community, we also celebrate this important Day of Thanks by creating a “gentle Thanksgiving”, in which no animals are sacrificed. See you next month when I promise to share a recipe.  

THANKSGIVING WITH THE THREE SISTERS

            This is a lovely Native American legend for old and young alike, recorded from an Iroquois storyteller by Lois Thomas of Cornwall Island, Canada. Telling the story this Thanksgiving may inspire even the youngest child to try a few bites of Succotash, a traditional dish the settlers learned from the Native Americans. It usually consists of the staples of maize (or corn, as we call it) squash (whose family includes the pumpkin) and beans, which might be lima beans or any other variety of green bean or pea. Try it with Edamame, or green soybeans. Below this tale is a recipe for zingy SOUTHWESTERN SUCCOTASH.

THE THREE SISTERS* LEGEND

            "Three sisters lived together in a field. One sister, dressed in green, was so young she could only crawl. The second sister wore a bright yellow frock. The third sister was the oldest. She wore a pale green shawl and had yellow hair that blew in the wind. She stood straight and tall above the others and protected them.

            One day, the sisters chanced upon a young Indian boy as fearless as the eagle that circles the sky. Each of them was curious about his home and the way he lived. They watched him fit his arrow into his bow; saw him carve a bowl with his stone knife, and wondered where he went at night. First, the youngest sister followed him home. Then the second sister dressed in yellow followed her younger sister. The eldest sister grew sad because she could not live alone. Finally, she too followed the boy. The three sisters were so happy to be reunited and felt so welcome in the boy's home that they decided to stay.

            Everyone knows these three sisters and needs them just as much as the little boy did: for the little sister in green is the BEAN; her older sister in yellow is the SQUASH; and the eldest sister with the green shawl and yellow hair is the MAIZE or CORN."

   

              *The CORN, which is planted first, gives the bean vines support as they begin to grow; the SQUASH is planted next and helps to suffocate intruding weeds, thus protecting the young beans as they grow; the BEANS are planted last, and as they mature, produce nitrogen to feed the soil and fertilize the corn. Thus, the Three Sisters live in a symbiotic relationship, helping each other to thrive.

SOUTHWESTERN SUCCOTASH

            I found this easy recipe in a magazine, created by Sam Arnold, owner of The Fort, a restaurant near Denver, Colorado that is a full-size adobe replica of the first permanent trading post in Colorado. I like to make it with the superfood green soybean, also known as Edamame. It is a wonderfully zingy new way to incorporate the "three sisters" of corn, beans and squash into your Thanksgiving holiday.

INGREDIENTS:

2 packages frozen Edamame (shelled soy beans) OR baby Lima beans

1 package frozen corn

2 zucchini and 2 yellow squash*, steamed

1/2 c. roasted salted sunflower seeds

4 oz. pimento OR 1 red bell pepper, minced

1-2 fresh jalapeno peppers, minced**

2 T. olive oil

Cumin, chipotle powder and sea salt to taste

Cilantro for garnish    

DIRECTIONS:

            1. Steam the corn and lima beans together just until tender.

            2. Steam the zucchini and yellow squash together just until tender.

            3. Sauté the jalapeno peppers and red bells together in olive oil for several

                minutes.

            4. Add to the steamed veggies, along with the sunflower seeds and seasonings,

                mixing well and  adjusting any seasonings.

            5. Garnish with the fresh cilantro and serve.

*You could also use pumpkin, acorn squash or another type of winter squash.

**Wear latex gloves when handling hot peppers.

May you feel Especially Blessed on this special day of the year for Giving Thanks.

QUINOA TABBOULEH (Continued from Sept. blog)

            October is traditionally a month of change. In Florida, the long hot summer is finally winding down, and with the children now back in school, it’s time to think about serving heartier meals, full of extra protein and nutrition to help power their brains and bodies. In the South, however, the hot weather may continue for at least another month, so that we continue to crave cooling foods.

            This year I discovered a recipe on the back of a package of Bob’s Red Mill Organic Quinoa that led me to ask myself: “Why didn’t I think of this before?” It combines the wonderfully healthy elements of Tabbouleh (“Taboule”, “Tabouli”), a traditional Middle-Eastern grain salad that is created with bulghur, a type of steamed whole wheat. The difference in this recipe is that the bulghur is now replaced with the highly nutritive QUINOA. (See my Sept. blog for details on its nutritive properties).

            The other raw or minimally-processed ingredients that turn it into a salad (tomatoes, cucumber, garlic, green onions, fresh parsley, basil, mint, lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil) are here in this new version of Tabbouleh. Feel free to add even more of the fresh herbs and veggies to turn it into an even greener type of salad. As the cooler Florida weather sets in, this Tabbouleh may also be gently heated and served as a delightful side dish to accompany an entrée. As in many other dishes containing garlic and pungent herbs, QUINOA TABBOULEH becomes even more flavorful if served the next day.

QUINOA TABBOULEH

           

INGREDIENTS FOR PREPARING THE QUINOA:

The easy directions for washing and cooking quinoa, and then transforming it into QUINOA TABBOULEH are listed below.

1 c. natural quinoa, washed* (see WASHING DIRECTIONS below)

1 ½ c water

1 medium-small heavy saucepan, such as a rice pan

*WASHING DIRECTIONS (takes an extra minute):

1.      Pour 1 cup of quinoa into a medium-sized bowl. Add enough water to cover the quinoa.

2.  Using the palms of your hands, gather handfuls of the quinoa in your

     palms and lightly scrub to wash off the outer coating.

     3.   Using a fine-holed strainer, pour the quinoa from the bowl into

           the strainer, rinsing well under running water until the water runs clear.

4.      Repeat steps #1 through #3.

5.      Your quinoa is now ready for cooking.

COOKING DIRECTIONS:

1.  Pour the washed quinoa into the saucepan.

2.  Add 1½ cups water, and bring to a boil, just as you would brown rice.

3.  Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover with a lid, and simmer for 20 minutes,

     until the water is absorbed and the coverings on the quinoa seeds unfurl

     into little curlicues.

4.  Cooling the quinoa in the pan allows it to become fluffier.

5.  While the quinoa is cooling, prepare the rest of the ingredients to make the

     QUINOA  TABBOULEH.

QUINOA TABBOULEH INGREDIENTS:

Pan of cooked and cooled quinoa (see above)

6 green onions, finely sliced

1 c. tomatoes (1 large tomato or 2 medium), minced

1 cucumber, peeled and grated

2 T. lemon juice (about ½ lemon)

3 (or more) T. extra virgin olive oil

¾ c. fresh Italian parsley, minced

¼ c. fresh mint, minced

2 T. fresh basil, minced (optional but delicious)

3-4 large cloves garlic, crushed

Cayenne or black pepper to taste

Sea salt to taste

QUINOA TABBOULEH DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium-large bowl, combine all of the ingredients, stirring until well-

    mixed.

2. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more if necessary.

3. Store in the fridge in a covered container.

4. This is an excellent side dish* when served chilled as a grain salad OR

    heated gently and served hot.

*You can also serve this as a main dish by adding 1 can chickpeas, 1 c. frozen peas or edamame, or 1 c. firm marinated tofu or tempeh to give it even more protein and substance. ENJOY!

SPECIAL POST: MIYOKO SCHINNER’S VEGAN ARTISAN CHEESES

             How fortunate we all are that Miyoko Schinner is a vegan genius who has delighted in spending countless hours in the kitchen learning how to duplicate dairy-based gourmet cheeses. Obviously her endeavors have met with success, and her new book, ARTISAN VEGAN CHEESE, is her testimony. The latest “VegNews” magazine issue (Sept. /Oct. 2012) features a gorgeous photo of Ms. Schinner’s “Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella” vegan cheese on the cover, and beginning on page 64, you will find a six-page spread featuring photos and recipes of six of the luscious cheese recipes from her book.

            I KNOW that they are indeed luscious because I have just spent this week making all six recipes to take to a local vegan Wine & Cheese party. I am so excited about how they turned out that I am creating a special post highlighting my own experiences as I worked my way through the six recipes. Although of course I cannot reprint the recipes themselves (they rightfully belong to Ms. Schinner, who worked so hard on their creation) I do hope that this blog and my experiences help to spur you on to buy her book to have on hand whenever you wish to have homemade gourmet cheeses for that vegan Wine-and-Cheese-tasting party or just to gift to your favorite vegan friend. You might even want to start by buying the current newsstand edition of “VegNews”- (“The Cheese Issue” -Sept. / Oct. 2012) and trying out her recipes. After creating these six recipes you may be inspired to purchase the book!

 

            The first recipe I tried was FRESH BUFFALO MOZZARELLA. It used cashews and soy yogurt (“soygurt”) as the two main ingredients. I had not yet made the Rejuvelac, or sprout-soaking water that is used in three of the recipes. (Five recipes use either soy yogurt or Rejuvelac as the culturing medium and the Swiss cheese uses both). Also, all of the recipes use soaked, drained and blended cashews except for the Swiss cheese, which uses blanched and soaked almonds for the base. If you can purchase your raw cashews and almonds in bulk, they will be fresher and so much less expensive. When I saw the picture of the stacks of fresh Buffalo Mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil on the cover, I said “Mamma Mia. This has to be the first cheese to try!”

            This is the only recipe of the six which calls for DRAINING a 24-oz. container of soygurt for at least 24 hours, until it leaves about a cup of thickened soygurt behind. I was fortunate the second time I made it because the soygurt was a little thicker and left behind almost TWO cups of soygurt, yielding almost DOUBLE the amount of this ambrosial cheese! This is a most fun cheese to work with, because the last step is to scoop up the hot cheese into balls with an ice cream scoop (with a releasing mechanism if you have one) and to plunge it into a bowl of ice water. Thus you end up with fresh Mozzarella balls immersed in water-filled tubs like the ones you see in delis and gourmet counters of grocery stores.

           

While I was soaking the seeds to make the Rejuvelac, I tried my hand at CREAM CHEESE, which also did not use Rejuvelac. This proved to be quite easy, though I should warn the reader to be careful about not letting it age too long. The first time I made it, the air conditioner was on, and a month later when I made my second batch, the windows were open in response to the slightly cooler September weather. I should have made the adjustment and aged it for a shorter time, as it turned out to be a little “bitey” for cream cheese. However, all was not lost as I simply turned it into three tasty cream cheese spreads to serve with toasted bagles: Chipotle, Tuscan Pesto/Olive and Cream Cheese with Dates.

           

Next I made FROMAGE de BRIE, a buttery soft French cheese that is good served warm heated in a baguette. The last stage to this recipe requires air-drying and aging on a wire rack for a couple of days. Now I was really starting to feel like a “fromagier” (if there is such a word) with cheeses aging on racks in cottages as I imagine they might in the French countryside. This is one of the two cheeses (the other is Cheddar) that can be frozen with good results.

            Now my Rejuvelac was ready and I proceeded with the rest of my cheese-making.

My SHARP CHEDDAR did not turn out as yellow as the one in the magazine photo, perhaps because I used the lighter Shiro miso, which I prefer, to the darker brown, saltier miso. However, the taste was superb and I simply renamed it SHARP WHITE CHEDDAR, reflecting its color. It is excellent served with autumn red and green apples and grapes. 

            The SWISS CHEESE looked nothing like the Swiss cheese I had eaten as a child, but the taste was familiar. I thought about making little holes in it to remind me of that other dairy cheese, but when I saw the photo of it on page 67 in VegNews, I realized that theirs didn’t resemble the holey cheese either! It is good made into sandwiches with Tofurky, mustard and Veganaise on rye. Next time I will try it on Seitan Reubens as well.

            Last but not least I attempted the most intriguing-looking cheese of all: AGED CHEVRE WITH HERBES de PROVENCE. Although you can buy pre-made dried mixtures of Herbes de Provence, I decided to make my own. Different references list different herbs grown in the Provence region of Northern France, such as summer savory, tarragon, fennel seeds, lavender flowers, oregano, basil, rosemary and thyme. The recipe called for 2 T. of the dried mixture. I settled for the following six herbs, so that I would use 1 t. of each to create 2 T. of the mix: rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, fennel seeds and lavender flowers. The lavender was the most unusual ingredient to me and I knew of a local natural foods store that carried it in bulk. After the initial aging step, the Chevre is rolled in the herbs and sea salt and allowed to air dry on a wire rack for 2 to 4 days. The end result is absolutely gorgeous, and can be served with fruit for an exotic dessert.

FURTHER NOTES ON CHEESE INGREDIENTS:

            Rejuvelac was commonly made and drunk in the 1970’s, after the recipe appeared in Victor Kulvinskas’s book, SURVIVAL INTO THE 21^ST CENTURY. It contains healthy enzymes and non-dairy probiotics. The same can be said for Soy yogurt (“soygurt”).

            “Telephone”-brand is one of the best forms of Agar powder on the market and is available in Asian stores. It is made without additives and comes in little packets. It is usually the least expensive way to purchase it.

            Tapioca starch, Miso and Umeboshi Paste can also be found inexpensively in Asian stores.

            Nutritional yeast is found in natural foods stores and co-ops, usually in bulk.

            I hope that this blog inspires you to reach for new vegan heights, perhaps inspiring vegetarian friends to give up dairy after tasting these artisan vegan cheeses.

Here’s a link to the VegNews website:   http://vegnews.com/pages/page.do?pageId=3

And here’s a link to Miyoko Schinner’s website: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570672830/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_Wj5xqb1YRDXDZ

And here’s a link to my website:

www.earthangelkitchen.com

QUINOA—THE MOTHER OF GRAINS

“The bounty shines in autumn unconfined and spreads a common feast for all that live.”   --James Thompson

 

            The name Quinoa (“Chenopodium quinoa”) literally means “the Mother of Grains” for good reason. Quinoa, a member of the goosefoot family, is not a true grain but is used like one. It easily replaces rice, millet or couscous in any recipe. For example, quinoa can be used like brown rice in rice pudding, made into a hot cereal on winter days, or even turned into a delightful “fried rice” to serve with Stir-fry. According to the UN World Health Organization, it is highest in usable protein of all the grains (16 %) with the entire spectrum of essential amino acids. It is also a good source of iron, B-vitamins, vitamin E and phosphorus. It actually contains MORE calcium than cow’s milk, and is high in lysine (an amino acid that is scarce in the plant kingdom).     

            The ancient Incans valued Quinoa, the “mother grain”, for its strength-giving characteristics. It cooks up to become a light and fluffy side dish in only twenty minutes. There is a simple double-step process (similar to the method used by the Incans who grew the ancient grain in the mountains of Peru), of washing away the naturally-occurring outer coating, known as saponin (which has a bitter taste) from the quinoa seeds before cooking.

            If you are fortunate enough to buy it in bulk from your local co-op or natural foods stores, you will enjoy the lower price. You can purchase the pre-washed variety in packages, but the harsher commercial process used to pre-wash the quinoa does strip away more of its outer layers of nutrients than the simple hand washing method used at home.

            Quinoa was first sold in the United States around 1984, and this rediscovered ancient grain has grown in popularity since then. It is naturally gluten-free and easy to prepare. Because of its easy digestibility, it makes a good first grain to serve to your toddler.

            This blog entry was meant as an introduction to the enchanting world of QUINOA. Be sure to return to this blog next month for my recipe for QUINOA TABBOULEH SALAD, my very favorite way to serve this versatile super food!