Pumpkin Chili and White Sage Whip

Pumpkin Chipotle Chili with polenta, yogurt and roasted pumpkin seeds

It comes as no surprise that different cultures have different ideas of what is healthy. In the Balkans, people think strong coffee several times daily is good for the digestion. Turks sprinkle fresh parsley on everything and drink herb teas but are generous with the oil and dairy. And in Germany, many people chain smoke continuously but make sure to buy certified organic produce. I've realized that my specialized quirk as an American is that I think pretty much everything is unhealthy except for vegetables. 

Not that I don't eat sugar, flour, caffeine, alcohol, etc, its just that I make sure to feel guilty while I consume them, like a good American.  Which is pretty much the opposite of my husband, who thinks that everything is healthy except for McDonalds and any form of medicine. (Just trying to get this man to take an aspirin generally leads to a rant about American pharma ending in "pills instead of feelings!")

So when we decided to both try to start eating healthier, I knew this was going to be a piece of cake. Everything I eat is already not a cheeseburger so it should be easy to satisfy his demands. To satisfy his desire for healthy lunch type stuff, we've been cranking out various types of aufstrich- aka, spreads. This white bean, sage, and roasted almond spread ("White Sage Whip") from Hot Knives fit the bill awesomely and is just decadent enough to glam up brown bread and veggies.

As for dinner, my traditional Chili packed with beans and pumpkin and spiked with chocolate, beer and chipotle goes awesomely with (healthy!) polenta and soy yogurt. Its not exactly rabbit food, but neither is it a cheeseburger. (You can find various approximate recipes here and here.)

Hot Knives' White Sage Whip

Song of the Day: Arcade Fire- Reflektor

Red Wine Stew with Leek Dumplings

Not to sound complainy or anything, but I have never lived anywhere with such gleefully bad weather as Berlin. (And I've lived in Brussels, where it rains approximately 363 days a year.) Wintertime is really a struggle- no one wants to leave the house, everyone is getting sick or getting over being sick, and the few hours of daylight are dominated by bone-chilling temps and gloomy gray skies. Plus your bike freezes all the time, and all the stores close early because they think you ought to be inside anyways. (They are correct.)

HOWEVER. I am in an oddly upbeat mood and it annoys me deeply that the weather won't bother to even try matching me. (The Secret is bullshit people. You do not manifest your own reality.) Luckily, bitching about the weather only takes up, like, 50% of my mental energy. The rest is dedicated to devouring new books about alchemy, Yugoslavia, Victorian female authors, or whatever else peaks my promiscuous curiosity, and thinking about what to eat for dinner.

Yesterday I decided to create a thick, wintry stew containing three things that cheer me up in these dark times: lots of red wine, crispy leeks, and plenty of herbs. And why not some easy dumplings? It was excellent, and I'll give you the "recipe" but its gonna be pretty fast and loose and should be more of a idea-sparker because a) it was quite improvisational and b) might have drank a bit of the wine myself....


Red Wine Stew with Leek Dumplings
Stew:
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, white and white-ish parts, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
circa 2 c. mushrooms of any sort, sliced
4 medium potatoes, loosely chopped (about 2 cups)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds 
3-4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/2 or 1 teaspoon each of the following (that you have handy):
      -smoked paprika
      -thyme
      -sage
      -rosemary
2 cups drinkable red wine
2 cups veg broth (or water and a veg bouillon cube) 
1 T. white miso
 1 14oz. can white beans
3 T. flour

Dumplings:
1 leek, white and inner green parts, chopped
1 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
pinch salt
3/4 c. soymilk

1.) Set up your stove with one frying pan and one large pot or Dutch oven. Set the frying pan to medium-low and drizzle with olive oil. When hot, add in leeks and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are wilted and some are browning a bit. Season with salt and remove from heat.

2.) While leeks are cooking you can already get going on the stew. Set large pot to medium heat and drizzle with olive oil. When hot, add in onions and the other leek, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for a few minutes more before adding in mushrooms. Let the mushrooms brown for a bit (5-7 min.) and then add in the carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and herbs. Season with salt and pepper, and stir to coat vegetables with spices. Add in wine, broth, and miso paste. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let cook, stirring ocassionally for about 30 minutes.

3.) After stew has reduced, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. In a small bowl, spoon out a bit of the broth and mix together with flour until no lumps remain. Add back into stew, and cook for 5-10 minutes while you prepare dumplings.

4.) For dumplings, mix flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl. Add in about a cups worth of leeks (eyeball it- you can reserve the rest of the leeks for garnish) and stir to coat with flour. Add in soymilk and stir together until "just mixed." Dough should not be too wet- add in more flour if necessary to make it sticky but not liquidy.

5.) Drop tablespoons-full of leek dough into simmering stew. (No need to be too precise, they won't turn out pretty anyways.) Cover, and cook for another 15 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through.

Serve a bowl of stew with a few leek dumplings and some extra crispy leeks as garnish. Oh yeah, and wine. Lotsa wine.

Song of the Day: Passion pit- Take a Walk

Vegan Mofo: Trendy Chile w/ Chipotles, Sweet Potatoes and Chocolate

If you've browsed through recipe pages at all (and yes Mofoer, I know you have) you may have noticed that there are more Vegan Chile Recipes than there are vegans. Everyone has a slight variation with a wild weird ingredient that catches on like wildfire for a bit. For the last few years, you could say these were:

• Chipotles
• Chocolate
• Beer 
• Brussel Sprouts
• Tomatillos
• Sweet potatoes

 Well, I love trying new things and I'm not really married to any special recipe of my own, so whenever I make chile, I go for broke. This time was no different. This chile contained 3-4 chipotles, a handful of dark chocolate chunks, sweet potatoes, and a sip of beer, among other, standard chile ingredients. I served it over soft polenta with some chopped onions and cool yogurt. It was outstanding, if almost a little too trendy.

I would post the recipe, but I don't want to add to the clutter of the online vegan chile world. Just go experiment kids, its hard to mess something so essentially and innocently good!

Song of the Day: Basement Jaxx- Do your thing

Vegan Mofo: Anxiety Reducing Tamarind Coconut Curry

Oh my Gosh you guys, I went to the doctor yesterday and I was so freaked out. No idea why, but the idea of going to the doctor in a foreign country always freaks me out. What if he or she doesn't understand what you are asking for and removes a rib or something? Or what if they totally miss any problems because you don't understand the question? I once went to a doctor in Budapest complaining of a stomach ache and they gave me a sonogram. True story.

But then I remember that my German is much better now, and because everyone here is way into holistic medicine the only risk of going to a doctor is likely to be a lecture about doing yoga and taking magnesium supplements. Yes, my doctor ended up being super chill. She even wrote in my prescription that I should get a hula-hoop to reduce menstrual cramps. What American doctor (who wasn't insane) would prescribe a hula-hoop? No, they would hand you a bottle of painkillers. Oh America, how I miss you.

Anyways, despite kind of being in love with my new German doctor, I was still a little shaky from the morning of predicting horribles. And what better thing to eat to calm you down than a big, spicy curry? For some reason curries always calm me down- the spicier the better. Maybe curry powder has a secret calming effect. Or its just the appeal of standing in the kitchen chopping vegetables for big aromatic stew- definitely takes your mind off you problems.

Either way, for me curries are the ultimate soulful comfort food- plus a good excuse to get rid of any veggies remaining in your fridge. Its not really an authentic recipe (I mean, obviously), but lemme give you the equation for how I do it. Its hard to screw up, it gets the job done, and coconut milk is pretty forgiving if you need to add in more curry or spice.

Tamarind Coconut Curry
 1 onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1" ginger root, peeled and chopped
[Lots of veggies]
1.5 T curry powder
Cayenne pepper
1 T Tamarind paste (if ya got it)
1 14 oz can Coconut Milk (light is fine)

Tomato/ Tomato paste
Agave nectar (optional)

1.) While a pot or wok is heating up to medium with a few tablespoons of oil, chop up an onion, 3-4 cloves garlic, and  ginger. When oil is hot, throw them in.
2.) While they are cooking, chop up whatever veggies are lying around, eg., carrots, leeks, peppers, zucchini, broccoli, bok choi, mushrooms, ect.
3.) Throw those in to the pot, and saute a few more minutes. Next, sprinkle over everything 1 and 1/2 tablespoons curry powder, plus 1 tablespoon tamarind paste and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Stir to coat.
4.) Finally, add in a 14 oz. can of coconut milk, plus a squirt of agave nectar (to counteract the sour tamarind.) Throw in some chopped tomato if you have some, or a squirt of tomato paste.
5.) Cook for 15-20 minutes and taste to adjust seasonings.

Serve with rice, cashews, chopped herbs, ect.

Song of the Day: Ben Folds Five- Do it anyway

Vegan Mofo: Black Eyed Pea Stew and Battered Okra

Hey guys! Its day 3 of Mofo and so far I made something Southern, something Latino, and today I continue my journey of soulfood with a dish from Carribean Vegan, the Black Eyed Pea Stew. The author, Taymer Mason, specifically mentions that this is a good dish for recovering from a cold because its hearty and nearly fat-free. Since I'm recovering from a cold, that really spoke to me. Its even extra perfect because I have a special love for black-eyed peas. Who wouldn't love a bean that is tasty, renowned for bringing good luck, and much faster to cook from scratch than your average bean? In this stew its also souped up with some carrots, tomato, and bajan seasoning- a must for cooking from this cookbook that I will demonstrate in a later post.

On the side I decided to have something fatty after all- battered okra. I know some people are totally icked out by Okra but ever since I discovered its wondrous properties in gumbo I'm all about it. For this I soaked it for a minute in soymilk, then dredged in a mixture of cornmeal, flour, salt and pepper and garlic powder. Then I fried it in a couple inches of oil. (I was kind of thinking about hush puppies.) Worked like a charm!

All in all, a totally soulful and satisfying Wednesday supper. Now it would only be more delicious if I could eat it alongside the Presidential Debate tonight in the US, but alas, I will have to enjoy that event with my morning coffee here in Gerrrrrmany.

Song of the Day: Portugal, the Man- So American

Birthday Lecsó

If there's anything you take away from this blog, I want you to be able to look at this photo and think: Lecsó! That is, I want you to face the inevitable onslaught of late summer tomatoes and peppers armed with this delicious Hungarian dish, which combines those two ingredients with a soy sausage of some sort and spices for a saucy, rich, homey stew that is perfect to serve to a big gang of friends.

Which is exactly what I did, this weekend! It was my birthday and I decided to go low-key and have some friends over to sit on our rooftop, listen to music, and eat a bunch of Lecsó (pronounced Lecho) with some good Turkish bread. As a condolence to some of the more militant meat-eaters I let S. make a batch with German sausage, while mine was made with soy-rizo from the local Bio-markt. Interestingly, though, mine turned out better and when both were empty, people passed around the vegan lecso pot to soak up the sauce with leftover bread. :)

You can find my recipe for vegan here, but I don't mind repeating it for those of you who don't feel like going through the archives. I also sometimes add a pinch of cayenne pepper, because I am a heat monster.
************
Lecsó ("Leh-cho")
(Note: this is an approximation, just keep to the rule of thumb of twice as many peppers as tomatoes and you'll be fine. Also, you can sub other peppers for Hungarian yellow paprika, but you may want to adjust the flavorings .)

-olive oil
-1 big onion (or two small) diced
-1 Hungarian-style vegan sausage (or sub about 3/4 cup some other type of crumbly sausage or even soy hot dogs and add 1 tablespoon smoked or sweet paprika as it cooks with the onion)
-8 Hungarian yellow peppers, cut into chunky dice
-4 tomatoes, diced
-salt and pepper, sugar (optional)

1.) In a large non-stick pan, saute onion and sausage in a little olive oil over medium heat until onion is soft and flavored by sausage. (If using paprika powder, add it now.)
2.) Add in peppers and cook for 10 minutes. Then add in tomatoes, salt and pepper (and an optional pinch of sugar.) Cook for 20-30 minutes, or until saucy and peppers are cooked to desired "done-ness."

Serve w/ rice or crusty bread.
****************

All in all, it was a lovely birthday celebration with my good German friends, who as you can see above, are starting to get the hang of American English. :)

Song of the Day: Ben Folds Five- Where's Summer B.?

Scenes from Serbia

Hotel Moscow on Terazije

Republic Square

Snow wrecked streets, near Slavija

Dobre Dan, comrades! Greetings from Belgrade Serbia, where East meets West and past meets present!

I am serious. I am living a block away from a square where the Turkish invaders used to display the heads of Serbian warriors on spikes centuries ago!  Further along we have buildings that were (quite recently) bombed by NATO, alongside Byzantine, Roman and Turkish ruins, plus statues depicting famous communists, Yugoslavs, and world War 2 heroes. Belgrade has been purportedly been destroyed 40 times throughout history, and yet they didn't manage to remove the evidence of the many phases this city has seen. In this city, the ghosts of the past are always with us. 

A rogue, giant snow storm kept me huddled inside for a majority of the first weeks, eating the various incarnations of cabbage stew offered by my more than gracious hosts. (See below.) But now that the snow has melted I'm starting to venture out to kafanas (old-school cafes) and order the several vegan options- broiled mushrooms with rice, salads, stuffed or pickled peppers, and thick crusted bread. The food here tends to rely on the freshness of the produce rather than on elaborate sauces or herbs.

My daily meal lunch is obtained from a hole-in-the-wall cafeteria down the street from Slavia (a central roundabout.) Here, every day, you can get some form of fried vegetables, rice, and grated beet salad. Occasionally they have peppers stuffed with rice or stuffed cabbage. I can get a ginormous plate of all of this for circa 2 euros, which seems laughably cheap for such big portions and fresh food. As a result, I haven't ventured to test many of the other places in the area.

One way in which I have truly gone native is to start every day with a mug of thick Turkish coffee the consistency of mud.  Every Belgrader has a different method of making it ("the correct way") but my technique works suitably well and I will demonstrate in a future post in case you wish to try it yourself.

All in all, I can't see I'm really comfortably settled in this city yet, and I certainly haven't uncovered the secret to eating regularly and healthily. But I've picked up a few more words, I'm getting lost less often, and the sun is out every day now, and I've bought a bottle of Tabasco, so things are looking up.

Vegan Brazilian Feijoada, quickly

On a cold and rainy day, there's nothing quite as comforting as a big warm pot of feijoada. Since Brussels is often cold and rainy, I first learned about this miracle cure when I lived above a group of Brazilian guys in Belgium. Every Saturday, a smokey, rich cooking smell would drift up to my apartment during the morning, and continue all day. In the late afternoon, I would hear them playing guitars and singing in Portuguese, clearly having an awesome party while I shivered in my apartment. Finally, I got invited one day, when I happened to be walking by the open door. I learned that the all-day dish was feijoada, Brazil's national dish. Its a combination of slow simmered black beans, various types of meat, bay leaves and other spices, with wine or beer. The vegan way, of course, involves some substitutions, but its still incredibly rich, comforting and delicious, especially with sides of orange rice, braised kale, and roasted plantains, the traditional accoutrements to the rich stew.

The real, "from scratch" recipe takes several hours, given that you use dried beans to get a luscious broth. But sometimes I do a short-cut recipe for weeknights that captures most of the appeal of the original without the many hours of stirring. I definitely recommend trying the traditional recipe, however- both Viva Vegan and Color Me Vegan offer awesome versions (and you can't get that perfectly thick bean broth with canned beans, alas.) However, once you've mastered those, you may find yourself craving the dish on non-special occasions, such as a particularly gross rainy day. In that case, I think my version holds up fairly decently, and my feijoada-obsessed boyfriend agrees.

*****
Brazilliant Feijoada serves 4

2 16 oz cans black (turtle) beans, drained and rinsed
2 medium onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
2 cups mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 cup deuhydrated soy curls or similar (I use "soja schnetzel")
1 cup red wine
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. soy sauce
4 cups vegetable broth (or water + veg bouillon)
1 sprig fresh thyme, or 1 tsp. dried
1 bay leaf
1 and 1/2 Tbs. cumin
1and 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1.) Reconstitute soy curls by pouring boiling veg broth (about 2 cups) over them (enough to cover) and soaking for about 5 minutes. Then drain, squeezing against colander gently to release excess water, and set aside.
2.) In a large, sturdy pot, heat a few good glugs of oil over medium low heat. When hot, add in onions and stir to coat. After 1-2 minutes, add in garlic. When garlic and onions are soft, season well with salt and pepper and pour in red wine to deglaze, cooking a few minutes more.
3.) Add in mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes, then add in soy curls, beans, remaining two cups veg broth, and remaining ingredients. Bring mixture to a boil, then lower heat to low. Let stew simmer for 30 minutes, stirring ocassionally. Meanwhile, prepare accoutrements (ie, roasted plantains, greens of your choosing, orange rice.)
4.) After stew has boiled down and sauce has become thick, taste and adjust seasonings. (I usually add a bit more soy sauce and balsamic at this point.) Let cook a bit longer until plenty thick, and serve hot with plenty of rice and hot sauce. Leftovers are even better the next day.
 *****

For more on roasting plantains, see here. For more on cooking dried beans, which I fully encourage despite the above recipe, see here.


Song of the Day: Aguas de Marco- Cibo Matto

Cold Comfort

Winter time, and the living is easy.

The weather is extremely mild (for Berlin), I've got a little money for once, and I have lots of fun parties and meet-ups to attend before heading back to the USA for the holidays. With all of this good luck, I've been cooking up a storm of comfort food.

Above are potato and spinach enchiladas with a side of avocado. Enchiladas are really just the greatest. Once you've got a standard recipe, you can substitute whatever you have on hand to make a simple dinner. I used my normal recipe for Chipotle Plantain enchiladas, but subbed the filling out for a simple mash of boiled potatoes and spinach (with a bit of salt and pepper and soymilk) With frozen spinach anbd potatoes it doesn't get much cheaper than this recipe. I also subbed out the chipotle in the sauce, getting the heat instead from a tablespoon of cayenne pepper. Spicy and delicious.

Next I made the Mac and Cheeze from the archives of the mysteriously disappeared Veganyumyum. Its a great recipe because if you have a decently stocked vegan cupboard, you likely have most of the ingredients on hand. (Tahini, miso, soy sauce, nooch, lemon juice, ect.) The dish itself is extremely satisfying and even somewhat cheeselike. Hmmm, maybe I should whip up another batch today...

Last but not least, we have a boring (read: easy and delicious) curry with potatoes, carrots, zucchini, tofu, and tons of garlic and ginger. The curry is coconut based with tomatoes thrown in too. Topped with a little sriracha, its the kind of thing I like to make a big batch of then eat all week for lunch.

Ah, winter... if you keep behaving, you can stay a little longer.

Song of the day: Spandau Ballet- True

Okra Gumbo from Heaven

There is this little "Afro-Asia" Lebensmittel Laden down the street from where I live, and I'm there almost every day. The front is plastered with Bollywood posters, and on the inside little kids buy ginger beer and gummies from the bored shop girl, who spends most of her time on the phone. Its a modest, kind of dusty little spot, but for me, its heaven. Its my local source of plantains, chipotles, mirin, sriracha, silken tofu, masa harina... you name it, they've got it. Along with every spice and flour on the planet, bags full of frozen crustaceans still in their shells, strange looking spice mixes (like, for sugar cane broth? what do you use that for?) And best of all,  in a small and crowded refrigerator they also offer up fresh thai basil, habanero peppers and... okra.

Believe it or not, I've never cooked with okra before! Its a standby in good old Virginia, but I usuallu come across the canned version and I never felt compelled to experiment with it. But when I saw box of fresh okra at Afro-Asia, I became curious. Luckily, Isa posted a recipe for Okra Gumbo w/ Chickpeas and Kidney Beans on the PPK a few weeks back, and I made a mental note to try it out. That ended up being a really good idea.

Isa's version is a lot quicker than most versions, even if you make a darker roux like I opted to. The end result is complete comfort food, toothy and creamy and a little sour from the okra, and the perfect receptacle for a bit of hot sauce. With some white rice and a beer you can pretend you're in steamy Louisiana (even if you're in freezing Berlin.)

Song of the day: Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell

Vegan Mofo: Skills- Cooking beans from scratch

Today's essential vegan skill is cooking beans from scratch- that is, transforming them from their dried state on the bottom shelf of the grocery store aisle into a big pot of saucy deliciousness. Why should you bother to learn this?
 1.) Buying a big bag of dried beans is cheaper than buying as many cans of beans! (And that's saying something, because canned beans are already kind of cheap.)
2.) You have more control over the flavor. Ever noticed all the gross salty water they pack in there?
3.) You get to have cred! Like, look! I took something that could take about ten seconds with a can opener, and stretched it over 2 days!

Ok, maybe I'm not selling this correctly. The truth is, if they had canned black beans in Europe readily available, maybe I would never have learned this "skill." But I still think people should try it once, because it can make a huge difference in the taste, and also, don't you want to know that you COULD make beans from dried if you needed to? If you were shipped off to war somewhere with no canned beans? And besides, you might find out that the taste is so much better that you always want to do it this way. And here's how!

Skill two: Cooking beans from scratch!
1.) Take your beans and spill 'em out somewhere to sort through them. My technique is to pour them about 1/4 a cup at a time onto a kitchen towel on the counter, sort them for rocks and broken pieces, then gather the towel at the top and dump it into my soaking container. (In this way, you can avoid spilling beans all over your kitchen at 11 o'clock at night like I always do.)

2.) Now for the soaking. As I demonstrated yesterday, you just need some kind of big container in which you place you beans and fill it with cold water. The best thing is to do this before you go to bed, stick it in the fridge, then it gets to sit the next day and they should be really ready by the time you want to cook them. (If you are making black beans, why not soak some cashews too and make cashew sour cream?)

3.) Alright now comes the rigorous part. After you beans have soaked as long as you can bear it (10-12 hours is usual for me) then you can start you cooking. Drain the beans in a colander than cover them with a few cups of fresh water in a large pot and bring that baby to a boil. Then reduce to simmer and cover, with a little room for steam to escape. (If you get some white foam at first you can skim it off with a spoon, though it won't hurt you.) How long you let it sit and simmer depends on many things: what quantity of beans you are cooking, how long they soaked, what phase the moon is in, and most of all, whether or not you have dinner guests. But I have found that the most common length of time is between 2 and 2 and 1/2 hours for 1 cup beans. You will have to keep adding more water periodically. (But don't add salt until the end!)

4.) In the meantime, you fry a bunch of stuff to put in them when they are done! (Terry Hope Romero calls this, "sofrito!") This is where your creativity comes in.  Good combos:
-Simplicity: garlic, onions and peppers
-mushrooms, garlic and onions
-potatoes, carrots, onions
-small tempeh pieces, peppers, onions
Last night I fried up some quartered plantains first of all, then setting them aside, used the same hot pan to cook a bunch of onions and garlic. It doesn't matter whether they stay hot because you are just going to add them into your beans.

5.) Now that you've done that, painted your nails, replied to all of your emails, and whatever else you can accomplish is 2 and 1/2 hours, you can check on your beans. When they are perfect, it won't be huge effort to chew one and they will be easily mashable with a fork. At that time, you can add in your "sofrito", as well as some canned or fresh diced tomatoes (1/2 cup per cup of beans is good, but add more for saucier beans), and some cumin. I also add in cayenne pepper at this point, and a pinch of paprika. Beans eat up spices so you need not be stingy, and feel free to be creative. (Like if you are one of those cilantro types.)

6) Let the beans cook another 10-15 minutes with all the new ingredients folded in, or as long as it takes to cook some rice. Taste and adjust salt and spices. Serve with rice and some cashew sour cream, or if you're in the mood, with hot sauce, pickled onions, avocados and mango... whatever you have on hand!

It may not be the most gorgeous dish, but its so delicious.

Q: "But T, this is just for black beans! Is it the same for other kinds of beans?"

A: Kind of! You can use a similar process for other types of beans (except for lentils), but they take different amounts of time and go better with other flavors. Red beans take about 1 and 1/2 hours, and go great with just garlic and onions and a tons of spices (served with coconut rice, yum!) Adzuki beans take less time, chickpeas take more. But once you've experimented with dried beans you will find that the process doesn't vary much and there is a big reward to cooking them this way- namely, the taste.

What do you prefer, canned or dried?

Song of the Day: MGMT- It's working

Butternut Squash and Spinach Curry

Its my last few days in Budapest and everything is crazy-go-nuts!

I'm teaching an LSAT prep class at the Central European University, I'm going to Belgrade, Serbia for a conference on Wednesday through Saturday, and I still have to sell my bike, move and say goodbye to all the nice folks I have met. However, I'm not all that stressed! I think being busy is the secret to happiness and success, and my problem on the whole, as an unemployed person, has rather been too much of the opposite. So I'm taking advantage of this nice busy back-to-school feeling and hoping it can hold over when I arrive back in Berlin.

I'm also trying to take advantage of my last few days in Budapest to admire the awesome fall weather and even awesomer fall produce.

One of the very rad things about Budapest (or at least my neighborhood) is the availability of local produce. Little stands or hole-in-the-wall stores stock whatever fruits and vegetables currently in season in Hungary, plus homemade pickles or other extras like herbs or eggs.

Unlike in Berlin, or DC for that matter, most of the produce comes from within the country and not from, say, Italy or Chile. As a result its not so often that I stumble across avocados, or sweet potatoes. (They are, naturally, available at specialty or big grocery stores.) However, this sort of local eating has its benefits. First, the produce I do get is always perfectly in season and awesome. I can't get cherries now, sure, but in the beginning of the summer there were cherries everywhere and they were incredible- and now we have pears. The second thing is, having limits on what's available to eat makes me try to develop simple ways to enjoy what's available. For example, when there are gorgeous peppers and tomatoes everyone you know you had better cook up some lecso.

Or now, when butternut squash has appeared along with some rare handfuls of spinach, I can tempt myself and my nosy Hungarian neighbors with this awesome and incredibly simple butternut squash curry. Even with my limited travel spice rack I could make it, and for those of you with more advanced curry techniques, just add'em on in. It was super easy and the butternut squash basically melts, making this excellent fall comfort food.


Butternut Squash and Spinach Curry (serves 2)

-1 big onion, diced
-3 garlic cloves, diced
-1 T ginger (about 1/2" peeled and diced small)
-2 T good quality curry powder
-1 medium butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded, and cut into 1" cubes
-3 cups Spinach, washed
-1 16 oz can coconut milk (or lite coconut milk)

1.) In a large saute pan, cook onion with a pinch of salt over medium low heat for 2-3 minutes. Then add in garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant and soft, then add in butternut squash. Sprinkle with curry powder and cook for 10-15 minutes, until squash pieces are slightly browned on the outside and softer.
2.) Add in coconut milk and raise heat to medium/ medium high. Add in spinach on top, then stir into mixture as it starts to wilt. When coconut milk comes to a boil, lower heat to low and cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust for salt and curry powder and cook a few minutes more if necessary.

Serve over basmati rice, with pumpkin seeds for garnish.
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In addition to all the other craziness, did you guys know that its practically Vegan MoFo? The cut-off date is Wednesday, so if you want to sign up, or have no idea what I'm talking about, head on over to Mofo HQ to get the business.


Song of the Day: Paperdoll- You can't stop it

Hungarian Vegan: Lecsó

You can tell a lot about a country's priorities by what kind of vegan food they have. At home in America, for instance, we've got delightfully rubbery soy hot dogs, veganaise, sliced cheese, and hundreds of different kinds of veggie burgers. (Are we a barbeque-oriented country or what?) Go to France and Belgium and you will find delicious soy yogurt in every variety and flavor, as well as thick vegan chocolate-hazelnut spread to die for and soy creamer that puts US versions to shame. (They like their breakfasts creamy and sweet.) Germany has vegan quark, a sort of thick yogurty-cream cheese beloved by German frauen, as well as seitan curry wurst to enjoy with spicy ketchup. And Austria? Welcome to vegan wiener schnitzel country. With a side of lemony potato salad, bitte! (see at right)

But here in Hungary, folks are wild about paprika in its every incarnation. So enter a bio-market in Budapest and you will find the most amazing paprika-spiked vegan sausages, and lots of varieties of them. Sweet, smoky, and spicy, but always with plenty of red paprika that bleeds into whatever else you're cooking. Since I can't read Hungarian (YET) I've been stocking up on these sausages when I have some extra cash, and they make a great surprise addition to whatever else I'm cooking, since I never know what spices will appear. Greens, beans, and corn all get a texture and taste boost from these sausages.

Enter my Hungarian flatmate, K, who has an even better idea. "Lecsó" is a dish made with Hungarian superstars peppers, tomatoes and onions. Its a simple dish, the only rule is, there has to be twice as many peppers as tomatoes, or it will be too bitter. You can also use up your not-so-fresh peppers and tomatoes here, it will still be great. It's very versatile- add eggplant and you've got Serbia djuvece, add a little broth or water and you have a saucier dish that would be nice over pasta. People often use bacon or sausage for a little fat, or add a fried egg on top (a dollop of soy sour cream wouldn't be out of place either). But served just with a little bread, you have a cheap and delicious Hungarian summer classic.

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Lecsó ("Leh-cho")
(Note: this is an approximation, just keep to the rule of thumb of twice as many peppers as tomatoes and you'll be fine. Also, you can sub other peppers for Hungarian yellow paprika, but you may want to adjust the flavorings .)

-olive oil
-1 big onion (or two small) diced
-1 Hungarian-style vegetarian sausage (or sub about 3/4 cup some other type of crumbly sausage and add 1 tablespoon smoked or sweet paprika as it cooks with the onion)
-8 Hungarian yellow peppers, cut into chunky dice
-4 tomatoes, diced
-salt and pepper, sugar (optional)

1.) In a large non-stick pan, saute onion and sausage in a little olive oil over medium heat until onion is soft and flavored by sausage. (If using paprika spice, add it now.)
2.) Add in peppers and cook for 10 minutes. Then add in tomatoes, salt and pepper (and an optional pinch of sugar.) Cook for 20 minutes, or until saucy and peppers are cooked to desired "done-ness."

Serve w/ rice or crusty bread.
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What vegetarian specialties does your country or region have?


Song of the Day: Gogol Bordello- Start Wearing Purple

Gumbo Z from Vegan Soul Kitchen

I did something kind of exciting today! (Read: not real world exciting, like base jumping, but kitchen exciting, like canning or reconstituting dried mushrooms.) Ahem. I made my own stock! And a roux! I've neither done either before, but hey, its Vegan MOFO, the perfect time for trying new (nerdy) things!

Both of these endeavors were for the purpose of making "Gumbo Z" from Vegan Soul Kitchen, by Bryant Terry. (Yeah, like I wouldn't own THAT cookbook. Come on.) Aside from the brilliant title I really love this cookbook, not just as a cookbook but also as a sort of inspirational scrapbook with cool ideas, photos, songs, and stories. And the recipes are just my style: they always have something that *snaps*, like caramelized grapefruit or hot apple cider vinegar. I sometimes read it just for fun. (And as a side note, I once SAW Bryant Terry. I was having a glass of wine at the end of a long day of Bar Exam prep at Busboys and Poets, a bar/ cafe/radical bookstore in DC and he had just finished giving a book signing, which I didn't realize until I saw him walk right by. But I was too shy to approach him as my mind was too Bar Exam-addled to say anything other than "Uhmmm, so....I like your cookbook" so I just sat there staring at him like a weirdo with my glass of pinot. So that is my Bryant Terry story.)

Anyways. When I first got the book I thought, wow, does this guy know how to complicate simple things. Like, who makes homemade broth and then spends another 2 hours making Gumbo? But you know, it was worth it! Homemade broth smells amazing and doesn't taste as salty/ carroty as store-bought, and the process of making roux is a bit of transfixing kitchen magic that every foodie should try for themselves. Every element of the recipe smelled and tasted so good, that it was actually really fun to cook although it took a while.

I fed my version (with spinach and cabbage rather than the prescribed Southern greens that I can't find in 'Schland) to my hungry and picky boyfriend and he loved it, I loved it, it was just a big Gumbo lovefest. Its not so pretty to look at, but if you've been hesitating before cooking a long or seemingly complicated recipe like this, I would reccommend that you try it! You might learn something new and surprise yourself.


Song of the Day: Janelle Monae- Tightrope

Hungarian Chickpea Paprikash and Spaetzle

There are two things that I am completely obsessed with right now: cooking, and sunshine. The cooking is a possibility since I have a little cash and a ton of cheap recipes (thank you awesome new cookbooks) but the sunshine is a bit more of a problem, this being Brussels and all. So when there is a day like this saturday, when I get to cook for people AND the sun is out, I'm pretty much ecstatic.

I decided to walk down to Place Flagey to check out their market and take a few photos. I saw this little girl defending her self-made snowman from the sun's rays. Noting a few hungarian wax peppers on sale, I realized that I probably had all of the ingredients to make the Chickpea paprikash from The Urban Vegan cookbook, and to serve it up over some homemade spaetzle.


I love Budapest more than almost all other cities in Europe, and was so impressed by the dramatic city-scape, the warm people, and the tongue-twisting language. However, I was never too in love with the food, mostly because it seemed to consist of nothing more than various types of meat simmered in cream sauces. (And don't get me started on the vegetarian food: cherry soup, with frozen cherries floating in yogurt?) But I figured I would give Chickpea paprikash a try, out of respect, and also because I've been wanting to try spaetzle to impress my German boyfriend.

Paprikash is usually a dish where meat is simmered in a paprika-spiked sauce, then gets a creamy kick from sour cream and is served over rich noodles or anything else. Spaetzle are basically really simple noodles that are very soft and comfort food-esque- almost like dumplings. You have to make a simple dough and then drop little pieces into boiling water, a bit like gnocchi. Well, although I was skeptical about how both items would come out (especially since I have no spaetzle-press) they were both AMAZING. My friends came over and gobbled up the lot of it, leaving me with no leftovers, and a promise to buy me a spaetzle-press so I can make them all the time.


I was really excited by how good everything came out, because not only is Urban Vegan's version rich, warming and delicious, but its also extremely cheap. The most expensive thing on the menu is probably the soy yogurt or sour cream used at the end. And spaetzle is practically free, granted you have flour around. I will definitely be making this again. And the spaetzle has a million different topping ideas, though I'm captivated by the thought of a apple-cabbage cream sauce....

Another food-related development this weekend was a new topping for pancakes that I created on the fly when my friends were over: Maple ginger apples!

Its very simple and delicious: slice 1/2 or 1 apple thinly and place in a pan over medium heat with a good dollop of earth balance. Then grate some ginger (to taste, I used a 1/2" piece) directly over the pan using a microplane grater. Cook until lightly browned, then drizzle over a tablespoon or so of maple syrup. Cook 2-3 minutes longer, then serve over oatmeal pancakes! Soo amazing.

Song of the Day: ELO- MR. Blue Sky

More on Budapest: Budapest Inspired Strudel
More from Urban Vegan: Bangin' Havana Beans and Rice

La propriété, c'est le vol!

There is no time that I am more fervently anti-property than when its time to move. (Reading all the Proudhon lately probably doesn't help, either.) Not only do I get irritated by all the stupid useless shit I've acquired, but I grow disgusted with the concept of property altogether. We are not equipped as a society to deal with the bountiful and often unrecyclable clutter, not to mention thousands upon thousands of wire hangers, that results from our materialism. Well, I am not equipped as a society. I'm about ready to throw it all in the dumpster.

Yet, while I would think nothing at the moment of giving away my favorite books, clothes, jewelry to anyone who will take them, I have to admit that the materialistic side of me finally flares up when it comes to parting with kitchen supplies. I have tablecloths and home-made aprons from college, pastry-cutters and rolling pins, mismatched measuring tools of all kind, and at least two french presses. So now, the question becomes: what essentials from all of this excess shall I bring to Brussels?

I'm also agonizing over which of my 10,000 cookbooks to bring (and the fact that I can't buy Vegan Brunch or Vegan Lunch Box: Around the World is killing me.) I'm getting to the point where its going to be more spices, gadgets and books than clothes. And we can't be having that in fashionable Bxl. I'd love some advice, internet pals!

Tell me: If you were moving to a foreign country, unsure of what kitchen scenario you would be living in for the next year, what essential kitchen accessories would you pack? Keep in mind I'm limited to 100 lbs over too bags, so my food processor is out. :(

In the meantime, amidst the chaos, I've been making whatever I can throw together to empty my cupboards. A huge curry to get rid of coconut milk, diced tomatoes, chickpeas, and every veg in the crisper. Muffins to get rid of the bananas and flour. Wraps to get rid of frozen corn and the rest of the veg. Etc, etc, etc. Of course, the chocolate hazelnut spread, peanut butter, and pistachios from the cupboard were all finished off at once, with a spoon. :)

And despite being a big bag of nerves over moving and trying to get last minute visa stuff together, I'm incredibly excited to explore Brussels more. I can't wait to discover the vegan cooking scene beyond pommes frites, and try all the belgian ales I can... while of course staying on track with the development of my career. (Of course.) If I can really get everything done on time it will be such a miracle...

Song of the Day: Grizzly Bear- Two Weeks

Oldies but Goodies

I so dearly love reading cookbooks. Ever since I was a child, I loved to browse through my mother's collection while I sat and ate my Special K at the kitchen table. Flat bound bread machine cookbooks, thick Good Housekeeping compilations, glossy Martha Stewart tomes... I read them all cover to cover, even (especially!) the recipes I would never think of trying, like liver and onions. I loved to find the secret ingredients to big stews, or the kneading technique to the author's pizza dough. Similar to biographies (my other favorite reading material), cookbooks often tell you more about the author than the subject matter. How could you not wonder about the woman who drew the whimsical illustrations for the Moosewood Cookbook? Or the serene goddess who had time to whip up a loaf of cocoa nut bread for the kids, then wrap it in a towel as they head to the beach? Cookbooks, a lot like blogs, are a window into someone else's day- not the exciting love affairs or professional accomplishments, but the mundane stuff that fills in the gaps... which is also where a lot of life's small, personal pleasures derive from.

At any rate, I sometimes forget that cookbooks are also instructional, not just aspirational! I thought this week I would dig up some dog-eared recipes I have never tried from my treasure trove and see what I've been missing.

First up was Dreena Burton's The Everyday Vegan. Burton has come out with another cookbook at this point, but this is still my favorite. The tone is encouraging, not preachy, and she makes sure to point out that some people are simply looking to incorporate more healthy food into their diet, not defend animal rights, and that's also a perfectly valid reason for cooking vegan. She also includes a list of pantry essentials and health information for new vegans (all the hotspots- vitamin b, protein, ect.) And better still, she is oriented towards entertaining- she has menus and party ideas, along with quick meal tips. (I imagine this book is especially useful for people with small children.)

I've made a lot from this book but haven't checked it out in a while. This time, the Spicy Thai Stew was calling my name. Yams, carrots, peppers and onions in a spicy peanut sauce. Rather than add the chard into the stew, I wrapped it around it so I could tear off little pieces and make roll-ups... This was so good that my roomate was pissed at me for making a half-portion. Also, this recipe was super versatile- I could imagine using the same sauce with green beans, cauliflower, ect. If you have a jar of peanut butter and few veggies, you can make this. Yum.

The next cookbook I dusted off was my all-time favorite, The Garden of Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard. This cookbook, like its predecessor, How it All Vegan is more like an all-around vegan handbook, packed with tips, crafts, and inspirational stories. There's even a section on college meals- when your only kitchen might be a dirty microwave down the hall from your dormroom. The recipes are generally pretty simple, but the carefully measured ingredients and spices ensure things come out suspiciously terrific.

I made the Dinner Crepes, thin delicate pancakes around a heady mixture of shallots, lentils, veggies and walnuts. This dinner, friends, was a glamorous affair. The filling was not at all difficult to put together, despite containing my achilles heel, lentils, and was so aromatic and satisfying. It seemed like just the thing you would eat at a cute french bistro with a glass of wine and a cute guy named Jacque.


The best part? Leftover crepes... to fill with bananas and sour cream, faux nutella, butter, brown sugar and almonds... have I mentioned I love crepes?

I plan to continue on my cookbook revival all week... I've still got some I've never ever cooked one thing from!

Song of the Day: Animal Collective- Daily Routine

Two-bean Cinnamon Soul Power Chili!

Everyone and their vegan blogger mother has a recipe for chili. And with good reason: just a little variation (sweet potatoes, zuchinni, chocolate?! ect) changes the taste totally. Its also a good clean-out-the-cupboard dish- and that was the plan tonight. I've been meaning to try some of the awesome looking variations from the vegan blogosphere, but I ended up just tossing a bunch of things in and hoping for the best. But here were some of my inspirations:

*Chipotle sweet potato and black bean chili from Swell Vegan
*Red Bean and Lager Chili from Veggie Meal Plans
*Chocolate Chipotle Chili from The Urban Vegan
*Black Bean and Pumpkin Chili from Vegan Visitor

So I took the idea to use sweet potatoes and cinnamon, and the rest all came together based on what I had around (beer! tomato puree! corn!) And actually, it turned out super-fabulous. So here it is, my very own...

Two Bean Cinnamon Soul Power Chili!

1 big ole onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
1 sweet potato, you guessed it, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1-2 jalapenos, sliced and seeded
1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can tomato puree
1 can diced tomatoes
3/4 c. frozen corn
1 bottle of vegan Lager
Varying amounts of the following: salt, pepper, sugar, cinnamon, smoked paprika, chili powder, habanero sauce

1. Toss your onion and garlic in a big ole pot with your choice of oil at medium heat. After a few minutes, add in the sweet potato, red pepper and jalapeno, and sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, smoked paprika and cinnamon. Stir and cover for 5 minutes.
2. Pour in about 1/3 of the beer and cover again- checking occassionally to see if the sweet potatoes are tender (about 5 minutes). Once they are, add in the beans, tomatoes and sauce. Add a few pinches of sugar to cut the acidity.
3. Now comes the spicing. People have different ideas of whats spicy, so start out with 1 tsp. of chili powder and a few dashes of habanero sauce, and add more depending on how spicy you're feeling. ( I probably ended up with about 2 tsp. and 8 dashes and it was spicy but not too much for my Mom.) Add in the rest of the beer, frozen corn, and more water as needed to make it saucier. Bring to a simmer then lower the heat and cover until ready to serve.

Serve over sliced and lightly fried store-bought polenta.

*And for dessert I had "vegan" muffins that my little brother made with soymilk. How freaking cute is that!?*

B.'s Eggplant and Chickpea Tagine

Ok, so I know I've been talking about cooking something 'merican lately to make up for all my international experiments. But Troopers, (as my trust and estates prof would say) I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Not when the stars aligned to let me make this awesome Tagine. You see, I've been begging my ex-roomate B. to send me some of her recipes ever since I moved out. Other than her proclivity to scoop cottage cheese or plain yogurt on everything, B. is an awesome cook and is particularly adept with two things: vegan chili over mashed potatoes (*drool*) and Eggplant and Chickpea Tagine. So I finally got her to send me the latter recipe, and coincidentally, this month'sBon Appetit had a set of Morroccan recipes as well!

So what is a Tagine? Its a North African dish that is slow cooked and often contains dried fruit, ginger, garlic, cumin, cinnamon and peppers. The word also refers to the awesome cooking vessel that rich people register for when they get married. :) Basically, the dish is cooked in such a way that the meat (or whatever) has a chance to braise in the spices and slow cook into a stew. Sounds good, right?

Well this recipe is a slight twist- I used the method from B.'s dish and the spices from the Bon Appetit recipe. I served the whole thing over 5-minute pine-nut couscous and with a side of mint tea- oh man was this a satisfying meal. And as usual, my reliably picky family gobbled it up.

This isn't really a labor intensive meal despite the large amount of ingredients- the only ish I had with the this recipe was that the potatoes weren't fully cooked when I finished. I'm not totally sure how to remedy this, I guess put them in earlier and cook them for longer before deglazing w/ the tomato sauce. Enjoy!

Eggplant and Chickpea Tagine

-1 Large Eggplant
-2 zucchinis (or one large one)
-3 shallots (or 1 yellow onion) diced
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 T. grated peeled ginger
-4-5 small boiling potatoes (or sweet potatoes) diced
-1/4 tsp. turmeric
-1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
-1/2 T. cumin
-1 can tomato sauce
-1 T. tomato paste
-2 T blood-orange preserves or bitter-orange marmalade
-1 1/2 cans chickpeas, drained
-1/2 c. dried apricots, chopped
-1 T. chili sauce or powder
-1 cinnamon stick
-1 thyme sprig

1. Slice up the eggplant and zucchinis and salt them liberally in a collander. Let them hang out there while you cut up the potatoes and onions.
2. Rinse off the eggplant and zucch and toss in some EVOO. Broil on a baking sheet, tossing once, for about 20 minutes or until browned.
3. In a large (I mean, huge) pot, heat 2 T EVOO over medium and add in the shallots (or onions), garlic and ginger. Cook until translucent, then add in the mushrooms. Cook for a few more minutes, then add in the potatoes. Now, add in the turmeric, paprika and cumin.
4. Once the potatoes are softened, add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and 2/3 c. water. Bring to a boil and partially cover for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat back to medium. Add in the eggplant and zucch, chickpeas, and the rest of the ingredients.
5. Simmer for 15-20 more minutes, stirring. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4-6, w/ leftover. Serve w/ instant couscous and mint tea. Also excellent for leftovers with pita or tortilla chips.

Thanks B! Now, send me your chili recipe!

Spicy Peanut Stew

If you hang out on Epicurious at all, you will start to notice that every recipe has about 24 comments. I always read these, not just because they tell you if the recipe is any good, but also because they are hilarious. The two most common types are over-shares ("I tried making this for my little darlings, Albert and Geoffrey, but they simply won't touch lettuce because it reminds them of Oscar the Grouch...") and chronic alterers ("This dish is great with a few changes- eggplant instead of chicken, and pesto instead of garlic-lemon sauce".) I guess I'm sort of a little of each. I can't follow a recipe all the way through, whether because of a stupid problem or an overactive imagination.

You see, I had every intention of making this recipe from the May issue of Vegetarian Times. But problem after problem prevented me from following the recipe, to the extent that I made a whole new- but excellent- variation. The recipe calls for celery, cauliflower, butternut squash and sweet potato. I used chickpeas, green beans, butternut squash and kale. I also used extra ginger and garlic. :)

I eyeballed the recipe, headed to the store, and promptly forgot the celery and sweet potato (although, to be fair, I usually have those on hand.) I did remember the butternut squash and cauliflower. But when I got to cutting up the cauliflower, I noticed these tiny little bugs all over it. Not wanting to toss the thing, I did a little googling and found out that soaking it in salted ice water for 10 minutes will usually do the trick. Um, not so much. So it had to go. :( Luckily, I had some kale and green beans handy. Add a can of chickpeas for the sweet potato, and I was back in business. So I will reprint the recipe here with my little variations. I highly suspect that with the spicy, garlicky, gingery, peanut sauce, any combo of veggies would work.


Spicy Peanut Stew, a la T
2 tbs EVOO
1 diced, medium sized onion
1 1/2 T grated fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with chiles
1 lb/ 3 c. butternut squash, cut into smallish cubes
1 handful green beans (about 1/2 c.)
1 bunch kale, washed and chopped
1/4 c. peanut butter
3 c. cooked brown rice

1. Heat EVOO over medium well and throw in the onions, cooking until they are translucent. After that, throw in the garlic and ginger. Cook a few minutes longer, then stir in the tomatoes and chickpeas and raise the heat to medium.
2. After sauce has thickened, add 2 c. of water and season well with salt and pepper. Cover partially and simmer for 10 minutes, then add in the squash. Cook for five more minutes, then add in the green beans and kale. Cook the whole thing partially covered for about 10 more minutes.
3. Whisk 1/2 c. warm water in with the peanut butter. Add that into the stew, stirring well. Reduce the heat and let it thicken a few more minutes before serving over the brown rice.