Vegan cream of asparagus and dulse soup; gari foto with manioc cous cous simmered in coconut and chipotle

Vegan cream of asparagus and dulse soup (chili, vegetable stock, soy milk, coconut milk).

Gari foto (spinach, tomatoes, chili, carrots, mushrooms, vidalia onions, vegetable stock, palm oil, macadamia/cashew butter, cider vinegar, sea salt, liquid smoke) with manioc cous cous simmered in coconut milk and chipotle.

Traditionally, gari foto is made w/a peanut sauce and with manioc flour instead of cous cous.

Plantain, cassava greens and artichoke roti with red pepper and black bean salad.

Dinner 26 March 2007. Plantain, cassava greens and artichoke (roasted plantains, cassava greens, artichokes, white wine, turmeric, all spice, cumin, chipotle, garlic, sea salt, black pepper) roti (whole wheat flour, vegan margarine, spices) with red pepper and black bean salad (diced red peppers, black turtle beans, thin sliced onion, jalapeno, mint, lemon juice, black pepper, sea salt).

A Caribbean dish, roti is an excellent example of fusion cuisine wrapping spicy and sweet curry with a flat, pastry bread (somewhere between a pita and a tortilla). The dish combines some basic French and Indian pastry concepts, Indian and local spices and local ingredients (often fish, goat, potatoes, okra and so on).

Wine: Clos de los Siete. I thought this wine was particularly appropriate given Michel Rolland's transnational approach to oenology (the wine is primarily a combination of originally French grapes grown in Argentina).

Big hominy with cassava greens and vegan cheese sauce

Brunch 25 March 2007. Big hominy (whole kernel grits, also known as posole depending on the region) with cassava greens (lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper and palm oil) with vegan cheese sauce (sunflower oil, whole wheat flour, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, oregano, black pepper, sea salt, garlic, white wine, liquid smoke).

Hominy is common throughout the South (when I was a kid, you could get McGrits at McDonald's), as well as some areas of Latin America. Grits (which sometimes refers to ground corn -- the grits that are like polenta -- sometimes to whole kernel corn) and cheese is a common breakfast/brunch food not unlike oatmeal, cream of wheat or granola.

Cassava is a sweet leaf green (the root is usually referred to as manioc), a lot like spinach, common to Caribbean, Latin American and African cooking. The next time I make this, I'll probably slice some avocado and lay them on top for the presentation (and to add some fatty acids).