Sep 9, 2015

veganmofo - retro + cauliflower fricassee




Day 9 #vgnmf15 prompt is "most retro recipe."

I chose to revamp a fricasse, which has been documented to as far back as the 1300 - I'd say that's pretty retro.

Fricassee is a meat and vegetable braise in a white sauce of some such or another. While originally thought to be of French origin, fricassee has gone through a gamut of adaptations anywhere from Spain to the Caribbean Islands, a version that includes Scotch Bonnet peppers.

I've stuck as close to the original as possible because I have a type-A personality and things need to be as close to "perfect" as is veganly doable.

Replacing the typical chicken, this fricassee features roasted chickpeas (which are, btw, stunning all by themselves and make an excellent snack) and large pieces of cauliflower that are braised in an onion-thyme gravy.

I served these with retro green beans and corkscrew pasta.

If you haven't entered the contest to win Vegan Bowls (AmazonB&N) yet, head over to yesterday's post HERE. Good luck!








Cauliflower Fricassee
Serves 4 to 6

Marinade:
1 medium to large head cauliflower, cut into large florets
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 lemon, juiced 
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Fricassee:
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cups chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Sea salt and ground black pepper
2 medium carrots, cut into large chunks
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry or all-purpose flour 
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup unsweetened plain vegan milk

1. Marinade: Steam the cauliflower until par-tender. Combine the onions, garlic, lemon juice, thyme, paprika, salt, tarragon and cayenne in a large bowl. Add the par-cooked cauliflower and mix well. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and and cook the chickpeas until golden and crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and set aside in a medium bowl. Heat the other tablespoon of oil and add the cauliflower florets, leaving as much of the onion in the bowl as possible. Cook the cauliflower until golden, turning as needed. When browned, remove and set aside in the bowl with the chickpeas.
3. Add the marinade, including the onions, the carrots and bay leaf to the pot. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until golden, about 5 more minutes. Add the flour and stir until the flour is well incorporated. Add the broth and stir well. Add the milk and the reserved cauliflower and chickpeas and bring to boil. reduce to simmer and cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. 
4. Season to taste and serve with pasta and steamed green beans.


 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.


Sep 8, 2015

green and white chili bowl from "vegan bowls" + #3 + giveaway

There is a scant seven days left until the release of Vegan Bowls! The excitement is getting more and more real for me! I am super pumped to hear what you guys think of it!

These are a few of my favorite things...about Vegan Bowls:

Over the next few weeks, I will continue share with you my most favorite aspects of my new cookbook, Vegan Bowls (AmazonB&N).

{#1 is HERE, #2 is HERE, each with a sneak-peak recipe.}


From the Salad chapter.



#3.
My next most favorite aspect of Vegan Bowls is that this book has the option to make any of the bowl recipes within 30 to 40 minutes. How? Multi-tasking. If this generation knows anything better inside and out, it is multi-tasking.




While most other recipe books encourage mice en place (preparing all the ingredients before cooking), this cookbook utilizes chopping and mixing as the recipe progresses. This means that there is no wasted moment in the kitchen and you are never just standing around stirring and waiting for things to cook.


From the Grilled chapter.



You are actually actively cooking for the entire time, but the absolute best part is that at the end of the time you will have prepared a complete meal. 

All you have to do is to first pull all the necessary equipment out (bowls, if needed, pans and pots on the stove, peelers and strainer, if needed, etc.) and all the ingredients out before you start. And then, just follow the recipe as written, with some guidance along the way via the Quick Tips in each recipe.


From the Sauteed chapter.



Of course, if mice en place is where you're at, then by all means follow the recipe as you normally would from any cookbook. The only difference is that I offer you a way to prepare these bowls in the most streamlined way possible.


From the Grains chapter.



Now that Vegan Bowls is so close to release, I thought I'd share another of my favorite recipes with you, Green and White Chili Bowl (in fact, this is what we are having for dinner tonight). This one is in the Soups chapter and that calls for a peak into the chapter contents:





And since I am so excited about Vegan Bowls, let's have a giveaway of the book - winner will be chosen on the release date! Enter below for your chance to win a copy! To be eligible to win you must be following this blog via email or RSS feed (link). Contest is open to US residents only and ends at midnight on Monday, September 14. Good luck!

Now for the recipe of the Green and White Chili I promised earlier.










Green and White Chili Bowl
SERVES 4 TO 6
Red chili is all the rage, but its seldom-made cousin—green and white chili—is just as flavorful, perhaps more so. This chili is full of hominy (dried and treated maize), fresh green chiles, and two kinds of white beans. If you cannot find hominy, use thawed corn kernels instead. (Recipe from Vegan Bowls, copyright © 2015 by Zsu Dever. Used by permission from Vegan Heritage Press, LLC.)


BEANS
4 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups cooked cannellini beans
2 (15-ounce) cans white hominy, rinsed and drained
2 cups cooked chickpeas

VEGETABLES
4 Anaheim peppers, coarsely chopped
1 jalapeño, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
8 ounces fresh spinach, tough stems removed, coarsely chopped
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1 ripe Hass avocado, pitted, peeled, and coarsely chopped (optional)

BEANS: Combine the broth, oregano, salt, cannellini, hominy, and chickpeas in a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to simmer and cook until needed.

VEGETABLES: Add the peppers, onion, and garlic to a food processor. Pulse until minced. Heat the oil in a large pot over high heat. Add the minced vegetables and cumin and cook until the mixture is dry, about 8 minutes, stirring often. Add the broth and beans to the sautéed vegetables and simmer until the flavors combine, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until tender. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro. Serve with the avocado, if using.

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