Ruby Chard Barley Pilaf

When autumn arrived, ruby chard was one of the last crops still growing in my garden.  I managed to get one last harvest of this nutritious vegetable before everything got covered by snow. When cooked, the ruby chard gives away some of its burgundy colour to the barley and with the deep green leaves, we get an ensemble of green and red colours that fits perfectly with the holiday season.

As I tend not to write anything down as I’m inventing recipes (which I immediately forget), this time I asked my dearest husband to help. And being true to himself, he could’t help but to include a horrible dad-joke. So here is the recipe, proudly offered to you by Shane:

Zesty Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

 I’ve recently discovered that the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver offers many vegan recipes on his website. This one caught my attention straight away and I wasn’t disappointed.

It is a hearty vegetable, lentil and chickpea stew topped with a thick layer of mashed sweet potatoes. The whole thing is then covered with breadcrumbs and… lemon zest! I definitely was sceptical about adding lemon zest to a shepherd’s pie recipe, but it turned to be brilliantly. The lemon zest adds just the right je ne sais quoi that make this shepherd’s pie really unique.

Link to the recipe: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/vegan-shepherd-s-pie/

As always… bon appétit

A

Ethiopian Feast: Atakilt Wat and Kik Alicha on Injera

First of all, let’s translate the title shall we…

Atakilt Wat is a cabbage, carrot and potato stew and this one is out of this world! I am literally in love with this dish. It is sooooo flavourful. The veggies are perfectly seasoned and melt in your mouth. And on top of it all it is such a simple and easy meal to make. Full marks on this one VeganRicha, wonderfull! I strongly recommend vegan butter (earth balance) over olive oil for this recipe. It enhances the comforting and heartiness of the dish.

Kik Alicha is a split pea stew. Very simple, very reliable and very tasty. Shane loves split peas so this meal hit the spot with him too. It takes a  bit longer to cook than the vegetables so start it first if you are planning on making these recipes together.

Finally the Injera. Injera is a flat bread made from fermented teff flour. Injera is a must when it comes to ethiopian cuisine, but teff flour can be hard to find and quite pricy, so you can always replace the injera with a nice flat bread or some rice. I have to admit baking the injera wasn’t easy. I was trying to use as little oil as possible and it would just keep on sticking to the pan (I’m definitely in need of a new nonstick pan). It is the same technique as cooking french crêpes, so if you can handle crêpes, injera is within your reach.

So three recipes in one this week! here are the links:

• Atakilt Wat (cabbage, carrot and potato stew)
• Kik Alicha (split pea stew)
• Injera (teff flat bread)

I hope you will enjoy this meal as much as I did.

Bon appétit

A

 

 

 

Tofu and vegetables stew with satay sauce

I had almost completely forgotten about this delicious dish until a friend asked for a recipe that can be made in great quantities that lasts a long time. Whether you’re planning on feeding an army or you just want to have a great meal on hand, this recipe is perfect. We like making it in double (or even triple!) quantities.

Ingredients :

• marinated tofu :
  • 375g of firm tofu diced
  • 60ml of soy sauce
  • 1 tblsp of sugar
  • 1 tsp of lemon zest
  • 2 tsp of lemon juice
• 2 tsp of vegetable oil
• 1 red onion minced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 tsp of lemongrass finely cut (optional)
• 1 tsp of sambal oelek
• 1 tsp of  ground curcuma
• 1 tsp of ground cumin
• 1 tsp of paprika
• 2 carrots cut in 1/4 of an inch slices or in small sticks
• 1 red capsicum diced
• 1 zucchini cut in 1/4 of an inch slices or in small sticks
• ½ cauliflower cut in florets
• 180ml of coconut milk (or a soy cream like belsoy)
• 250ml of vegetable broth
• 85g of all natural peanut butter (I use the crunchy type)
• crushed roasted nuts for garnish

The night before, combine all the ingredients from the marinade in a container, give it a good shake and let it rest in the fridge for 12 hours.

In a large pot on medium heat, cook the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Add the lemongrass, the sambal oelek and the dry spices. Stir for a minute and then add the broth, the coconut milk and the peanut butter. Stir until all the peanut butter is incorporated and all the lumps have dissolved. Add the carrots and the cauliflower florets, bring to a boil and let simmer for 3 minutes. Add the capsicum and zucchini and let simmer for an additional 10 minutes. When the vegetables are cooked but still slightly firm (the vegetable equivalent of al dente), add the tofu and all of the marinade. Keep it on medium heat until the tofu is heated through (3 to 5 minutes).

Serve with rice (organic black rice featured on the picture) or a good pita or turkish bread.

To give you an idea of the portions size, a double recipe fills up about 2/3 of my biggest cooking pot, so it’s a lot of food.

So simple and delicious, I hope this recipe will also become a classic in your home too.

Bon appétit

A

 

Broad Beans and Vegetables Tajine

We do our grocery shopping at a Lebanese grocery store and whenever there are fresh broad beans, there is always a huge crowd of people buying them by the (rather large) bag-full. So I followed the movement and bought some too (I’m such a sheep). The thing is, I had no idea what to do with them… so I came up with this tajine recipe and it turned out great.

The secret when cooking a tajine is to not be in a rush. Let it cook on low heat for a while and don’t turn the heat up, even though the amazing smell that will fill your house will make you want to speed up the process to devourer it faster. It is worth the wait.

Ingredients:

• 1 tblsp of olive oil
• 1 big or 2 small onions
• 2 tomatoes diced
• 2 carrots cut in fingers
• 2 potatoes cut in wedges
• about a 1/3 of a butternut squash cut in wedges
• 10 to 12 fresh broad beans, cut open to use only the inside beans
• 2 pinches of saffron
• 1and1/2 tsp of ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp of ground dry ginger
• 1 tsp of ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp of paprika
• 1 pinch of ground cloves
• 1/4 cup of fresh coriander (cilantro)
• 3 branches of fresh thyme
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of vegetable broth
• some fresh parsley or coriander for garnish

Put the bottom plate of the tajine on low heat and add the oil. Cook the onions in the oil, stirring now and then until they are soft but not brown. Add the tomatoes to the onions and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. While the onions and tomatoes are cooking, add all the spices to the broth and stir.

When the onions and tomatoes are both soft, place the vegetables in a circle creating a kind of a tipi shape (or tajine shape!). Add the broad beans, fresh coriander and thyme on top of your vegetable sculpture and poor the broth over everything. Cover and cook until the vegetables and beans are well tender, which can take anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes. Every 10 minutes, using a baster, pour some of the broth at the bottom of the tajine onto the vegetables. If the tajine overflows (happens to me a lot!), remove some broth and if the bottom gets dry (has never happened to me yet), add more broth.

Voilà

Bon appétit

xxx

A

Vegetable Chow Mein

Now this is an easy recipe filled with veggies. I though it was nice but husband dearest thought it was absolutely amazing, so it deserves a place on the blog. To me it tasted a bit too much like those saucy noodle dishes you get at the shopping mall (I always find those too sweet), but I know lots of you will love it.

The link to the recipe is here. Check out the rest of the blog… it’s awesome.

Bon appétit

A

African bean soup

This recipe is so easy, so healthy and yet super delicious. We like to make a huge pot of it for a perfect on-the-go healthy and complete meal. My husband can’t get enough of it, and neither can I.

xxx

A

link to the recipe

 

New England Glam Chowder

This soup is simply the best soup ever created. Its the heartiest thing you’ll ever have. There is nothing like it when it is freezing outside. Isa you are a genius and I love you.

Please try this recipe, it’s the best.

Here is the link to her recipe:

http://foodthinkers.com/2013/11/new-england-glam-chowder/

Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits

 

Another deliciously creamy comfort food recipe (what can I say, it’s so cold over here). Basically it is a bean and vegetables bake on which you place homemade bread dough and the bread cooks as is on top of the veggies.

This recipe is from the best vegan cook book ever (my ultimate cooking bible), the on and only Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. For only 20$ this 300 pages cookbook is worth every penny, here is a link for purchase if you are interested (I’ll will be referring to this book over and over again, as not a week goes by without me going through it).

http://www.amazon.ca/Veganomicon-The-Ultimate-Vegan-Cookbook/dp/156924264X

Bon appétit

xxx

A