Yesterday for my mid-morning snack I discovered my hummus complimented my tea exceptionally well. The tea enhanced the flavors of the hummus bringing out a sweet taste while the hummus did the same for the tea. It was a revelation for me as I hadn’t ever found a fantastic tea pairing. I’ll be posting the hummus recipe soon.. It’s a black bean hummus. The tea was a black tea flavored with orange and cinnamon. Now I’m excited about pairing tea with more dishes (especially savory dishes). Let me know if you have any pairings to suggest. I’d love to hear about them!
As I still don’t have an easy to access grill I am still finding ways to “grill” food inside. Instead of heating up the broiler, as for the “grilled” tuna, this technique utilizes your stove top. In this case a cast-iron skillet is needed so you can get the heat required to create those nice dark specks on the outside of your veggies. A non-stick skillet isn’t safe to heat to the high temperatures needed and I have a feeling the veggies would stick to a stainless steel skillet. Be forewarned this technique did create a bit of smoke in the house so be sure to have your stove hood on turbo speed while you’re cooking.
I highly recommend marinating the veggies before you cook them for some added flavor, however, they will be fine if you just season then with herbs & spices. It is best to slice the vegetables thinly. Good veggies for this technique include: summer squash, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, onions and okra.
- Marinate the veggies* for 5 minutes. Place a cast-iron plan over medium heat. When pan is heated brush with canola or safflower oil.
- Cook veggies in batches, approximately 5 minutes per side. Drizzle with marinade periodically. If things start to get too smoky add a few tablespoons of water to the pan to cool it down a little. Don’t add too much water else you’ll end up with “boiled” veggies. Make sure each vegetable is in contact with the bottom of the pan and not on top of the other vegetables. You’ll probably have to cook in batches.
*I used a Mexican-inspired marinade and these were some of the best vegetables I’ve had in a while! Combine 2/3 cup beer, 2 Tablespoons lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 grated or crushed clove garlic and 1/2 teaspoon ground chile powder.
I recently picked up a new cookbook, Viva Vegan! Though we aren’t vegan we are mostly vegetarian so I thought this book would help me make veggie versions of my favorite Latin dishes. I was right! This is an exceptional cookbook and everything I’ve made in it thus far has been phenomenal. With some weekend prep I was able to put together this version of arroz con pollo in about 40 minutes. This recipes uses sofrito, a mixture of sauteed green peppers, onions & garlic. If you are making the sofrito along with this dish it will take a little longer (20 min or so). You can also prepare the sofrito ahead of time or just buy some. It comes both frozen & in jars. I can never bring myself to buy the jarred version because it contains preservatives. I cannot remember if the frozen variety includes preservatives or not. Don’t like seitan but do like chicken? Just replace the seitan with 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Total time: 50 mins
Serves: 4
A vegan version of the very popular Latin dish Arroz con Pollo. This hearty dish is a weeknight one-pot meal if you have premade sofrito on hand. Otherwise, make your own via the directions below.
- 12 oz seitan, cut into strips
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- Large pinch oregano
- 1 cup sofrito
- 2/3 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup Mexican beer (e.g. Corona)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
- 1 1/4 cups water or veggie broth
- 1 cup frozen shelled edamame or peas
- 1 carrot, diced small
- 1/3 cup green olives, sliced
- 1/4 cup capers, drained
- 1/4 cup cilantro, minced
- Marinate seitan in lime juice, olive oil & oregano for 10 minutes. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat, lightly oil skillet, and sear seitan strips for 2 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.
- Add sofrito to pan to reheat. Add tomatoes, beer, spices and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add rice water (or broth), edamame (or peas) and carrot. Bring to a boil. Push seitan strips into mixture then sprinkle top with green olives & capers.
- Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until rice is cooked. Fluff rice and mix in minced cilantro.
To make sofrito: Combine 2 Tablespoons olive oil and 5 minced cloves garlic in your skillet over medium heat. Sauté until garlic begins to release its fragrance (approximately 30 seconds). Add 1/2 cup diced yellow onion and 1/2 cup diced green pepper to pan. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very soft and juice, approximately 15 minutes.
2.1.5
This cookbook is among my top 5 favorite cookbooks. The vegetarian dishes presented are bold, flavorful, and complete. A huge variety of foods, all presented originally, are covered – from Indian to American to Thai. And while you may hit a recipe gone bad, this book is invaluable for the ideas and resources it provides. For example, sidebars throughout the book provide instructions for making Mexican hot chocolate, reviews of vintage books, and other valuable information.
