Vegan chili (tomatoes, lentils, peas, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, coriander, cumin, and cheese (nutritional yeast) fries. Chili and cheese (usually nacho cheese) fries were very popular in Chicago when I was growing up. This is a vegan recreation of the dish.
Vegan cheese and pinto bean strata (yellow corn tortillas, vegan cheese, refried pinto beans, onions, garlic, sea salt, black pepper, coriander, cumin, tomatoes, red peppers) with collard greens (sea salt, lemon juice, evoo, liquid smoke).
Amaranth vegan cheese grits with sundried tomatoes.
1 cup of amaranth
1 cup of water
2 cups of vegetable stock
1/4 - 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon of evoo
1 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Vegan cheese risotto (short-grain brown rice, vegetable stock, white vinegar, nutritional yeast, garlic, sea salt, turmeric, mustard) with sundried tomatoes, kale and vidalia onions (sea salt, lemon juice, chili paste).
Sweet potato and vegan cheese empanada (spelt flour, yeast, sea salt; rice wine vinegar, chipotle, sea salt, cilantro, ginger, garlic, turmeric, evoo) with , tomato sauce (sea salt, chipotle, garlic) and roasted asparagus (sea salt, liquid smoke, evoo).
Peanut butter, mango and romano bean chili (garlic, cumin, paprika, coconut, liquid smoke, cremini mushrooms, vidalia onion, flat leaf parsley, spinach, jalapeno pepper, evoo/flax oil, tomato paste, lime juice, vegetable stock) and walnut cheese over brown rice.
Chili and cheese is a very popular combination in the midwest where I grew up. This dish had a great mouth feel and an excellent flavour. Coconut and mango add a rich undertone to anything spicy, and the walnut cheese added just the right richesse to the dish overall.
For the walnut cheese:
1/2 cup of walnuts ground until they start to get buttery
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons of plain soy yogurt
1 tablespoon of turmeric
Sea salt to taste
Spinach salad with artichokes, raisins and red peppers (lemon juice, black pepper, nutritional yeast, sea salt, liquid smoke).
Chick pea and pepita veggie burger (chick peas, pepitas, yellow split peas, allspice, five-spice powder, onion powder, cumin, garlic, vegetable stock), with artichoke/macadamia cheese (garlic, cilantro, sea salt, nutritional yeast) on a whole wheat beer bun (whole wheat flour, Heineken, sea salt, baking powder, evoo/flax oil).
Sweet potato mash with cilantro and chipotle (garlic, evoo/flax oil, sea salt).
The photo doesn't really capture it, but the burger was simply massive. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to eat it all. Against all reason and decorum, I decided to make a vegan version of the American superburger thing.
Pineapple and fig salad.
Strawberry, banana and orange smoothie (with dulse and flax seed).
Vegan sausage patties (Yves brand).
Spelt and soy milk biscuits.
Collards with liquid smoke, chili and sea salt.
Raw sunflower cheese (varied slightly from RAWVolution).
Dinner 29 April 2007
Warm salad w/black kale, red pepper and sundried tomato dressed with evoo and flax oil, wine vinegar, sea salt, black pepper and garlic.
Deep dish pizza (whole wheat flour, oregano, basil and evoo; crushed tomatoes, nutritional yeast, evoo and flax oil, oregano, basil, garlic, sea salt and black pepper) w/fyh vegan mozzerella, red pepper, vegan sausage (Tofurkey brand), mushrooms and scallions.
Brunch 31 March 2007. Teff and black bean pupusa (black beans, teff flour, whole wheat flour, sunflower oil), refried black beans, chipotle and pomegranate gomen (spinach, pomegranate juice, chipotle, cocoa, cumin, lemon juice, garlic, sea salt, tamari) and vegan jalapeno cheese sauce (nutritional yeast, vegan margarine, whole wheat flour, oregano, jalapeno, sea salt).
This brunch was inspired by the pupusa action at vegancookalong.blogspot.com. Pupusa is traditionally made with corn flour. Teff flour (the basis for Ethiopian injera) has a similar texture (although it doesn't hold together as well as corn flour). Continuing in the Ethiopian direction, I made gomen, normally collards w/yogurt and berbere, for which I subbed in chipotle and pomegranate. And since everything tastes better with cheese sauce, I went full on with it in a way that can only be called appropriate with brunch.
Dinner 30 March 2007. Fesenjen with grilled vegan chicken (Yves brand vegan chicken skewers, pomegranate juice, sea salt, garlic, onion, walnuts, chipotle, mint) and grilled broccoli and pear with vegan cheese sauce (vegan margarine, sea salt, rice wine vinegar, tabasco, nutritional yeast). Another vegan recipe for fesenjan (with actual measurements) is available at Vegan Eats and Treats.
Apertif: Pomtini at twilight (Grey Goose vodka cut with pomegranate juice).
Wine: Sonop Organic Terroir Shiraz
Digestif: Cognac and espresso.
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).
