March 2006 | Good Food Issue 2006
Fundamental Flair
Imagination in cooking doesn’t have to mean fancy. Here are some twists on old favorites among vegetarians
By Andrew Mulholland
One particular joy of our city’s annual Vegfest is the vast array of food samples. More than 500 different sorts of food items will be served up during the March 10 and 11 event at Seattle Center, totaling some 300,000 samples and, well, millions of individual bites.
Pretty impressive numbers.
Experienced Vegfest goers head straight for the cooking demonstrations each year. They know the demos as a terrific resource for creative vegetarian cuisine.
But “creative” doesn’t have to translate to “gourmet” or “novelle cuisine.” Sometimes the best type of creativity comes in refreshing old standbys and staples of the diet. With the basics in mind, here are recipes from Vegfest and “The Veg-Feasting Cookbook,” the excellent book from the Vegetarians of Washington organization (check out www.vegofwa.org, call 206-706-2635 or look for your copy at the upcoming Vegfest).
Soul-Full Chili
This recipe comes from Dreena Burton, a chef, Vegfest presenter and author of “The Everyday Vegan (Arsenal Pulp Press, www.everydayvegan.com)
She calls it a stick-to-your-ribs stew and suggest adding “extra layers of flavor” by choosing ingredients such as spicy or garlic-flavored tomato paste, fire-roasted canned tomatoes or chipotle-flavored hot sauce. You can additionally choose organic items to further distinguish the “soul” in your chili.
While Burton appreciates cooking beans from scratch as much as the next vegetarian, she okays the use of canned beans here. A dish that is easy to make often becomes a household favorite. The recipe calls for kidney beans and black beans, but Burton is non-partisan enough to suggest you can use your favorites. The recipe serves eight to 10.
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large red onions, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped fine
8-10 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional0
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 pound red/green/yellow bell peppers, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 cup cooked kidney beans
1 cup cooked black beans
2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (5 1/2-ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce or tamari
1 teaspoon sugar
Heat the oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, cover and saute for two to three minutes (lift cover and stir occasionally). Add the celery and carrots, cook covered for another two to three minutes, then add the garlic, chili powder, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flakes if using, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste.
Stir and cook for three to four minutes. Important: If the ingredients are dry, add a few tablespoons of water. Add the peppers and corn, cook another three to four minutes as you cover and open to stir occasionally. Add the beans, diced tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, hot sauce, soy sauce and sugar.
Turn the heat to high and let the chili come to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Add salt if you think it is needed.
Vegetable Korma
This dish comes from the chefs at Mayuri Indian Cuisine in Bellevue (www.mayuriseattle.com). Its freshly ground spice blend adds a special touch to garden-variety frozen veggies (or go fresh when it is market-season). It’s easy to make and serves up nicely with basmati rice and a whole-grain flatbread. The recipe serves four to six.
Vegetables
1 (16-ounce) package mixed frozen vegetables or 1 pound of fresh mixed vegetables, such as cauliflower, carrots, peas, green beans, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 cups water
Masala paste
1/4 cup grated coconut
2 tablespoons chopped cashew nuts
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
4 cloves garlic
4 dry red chiles
2 cardamom pods, broken open, outer layer discarded, black seeds reserved
2 cloves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1 cup water
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
In a large saucepan, bring eight cups of water to a boil, add the mixed vegetables and boil for 2 to 3 minutes, drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and saute for five minutes. Then add the tomato and saute for an additional five to 10 minutes. Add the cooked vegetables, salt, chili powder and water, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the coconut, nuts, fennel, garlic, chiles, black cardamom seeds, cloves, ginger and water in a blender. Puree to form a paste. Add this masala paste to the vegetables in the saucepan and cook for five more minutes, adding more water if necessary to achieve a sauce-like consistency. Remove from heat, sprinkle with lemon juice and cilantro, and serve.
Ginger Asparagus
Asparagus lovers always anticipate these early gifts from the gardens and fields. Our friendly farmer sources inform us that asparagus requires some patience in early years of planting—sort of the same waiting applied to grapes in the vineyard nascent years—but the outcome is delicious.
Here’s a tip from one asparagus lover to another. When you trim the tough ends of your stalks, look to snap them at the natural break point marked by a notch of sorts toward the bottom. You also look for the notches throughout each stalk and snap it into pieces that way, rather than cutting into one-inch pieces. Your choice.
This recipe is a favorite at Tawon Thai in the Fremont neighborhood (www.tawonthai.com). It serves four.
2 medium cloves garlic, chopped (about 2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound asparagus, touch ends trimmed, cut on the diagonal in 1-inch pieces
4 scallions, white parts only, sliced thin
1 small onion, sliced
2 medium celery ribs, sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut crosswise
12 white mushrooms, sliced
1 small red bell pepper, sliced
1 small green or yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon black bean garlic sauce (available at Asian markets)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until the garlic turns brown. Add all of the vegetables, the ginger and the black bean garlic sauce. Stir-fry until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about three minutes. Season with the sugar and soy sauce and serve.
Surprise Fruit Smoothie
The surprise here is that the smoothie includes tofu, which not all vegetarians love equally. Vegfest presenter and registered dietitian Marilyn Joyce includes this recipe in her book, “I Can’t Believe It’s Tofu!” (www.marilynjoyce.com).
This version calls for frozen strawberries but let your farmer’s market or favorite natural foods store dictate your flavors as the harvest season unfolds. Joyce says the smoothie works just as deliciously with peaches, pineapple, nectarines, mango, papaya, kiwi, pears and melon. Buy organic when you can and be adventurous. The recipe serves one.
4 ounces or 1/2 cup of silken tofu
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1 large banana
Place the soymilk and tofu in the blender first. Add the strawberries and banana. Puree until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately.
Andrew Mulholland loves to cook. He says it clears his head from his day job writing for Conscious Choice and other magazines.
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