Vegan and Awesome

Arepas de Caraotas Negras (Black Bean Arepas)

Sometimes, surrounded by the wonders of Mexican and Central-American cornmeal creations, I don’t think so much about some of the other creations of the wonderful Americas, birthplace of versatile maiz. But oh, there’s so much more! 

Arepas are Colombian/Venezuelan corn breads, tortillas more or less. But see, they’re made with the special masarepa flour which is NOT nixtamalized (treated with lime/alkali), unlike masa harina, the flour used in tortilla/tamale/pupusa making, and they come considerably thicker. Cool.

Here we have Venezuelan-style arepas, which are griddle cooked corn cakes that are then baked and split open, served stuffed with a simple black-bean/sofrito mixture. ¡Buen provecho!

Pão de Queijo Vegano / Vegan Brazilian Cheese Bread

Brazilian Cheese Bread (pão de queijo) is a great treat: gooey, warm little breads full of flavor. As their name suggests, they are full of cheese, and eggs, too, but the real secret to their unique texture is tapioca flour; this starchy flour creates all the texture in the bread. To create a vegan version, I followed the lovely recipe (and adorable video) from Vegetariano come o quê?, which is in Portuguese, and uses mashed potatoes instead of cheese to create texture. These are delicious, and I’ve provided an English/Americanized version of the recipe for you below.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of tapioca flour
• 2 cups of potatoes or yucca (your choice), cooked, and mashed
• Salt, to taste (1 tsp)
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder

*Preheat your oven to 350.

Boil the water and the oil together in a saucepan. Mix together the tapioca flour and salt in a separate bowl. When the water has boiled, add it to the dry mix, stirring rapidly. It is ok if it does not all come together. Then add the cooked, mashed potato and mix together until a smooth dough forms; if needed, add more hot water. Add the baking powder and mix well, until it has all incorporated in the dough.

Pat a little oil on the palms of your hands and shape the dough into small balls (whatever size you’d like). Place them on a cookie sheet and bake until golden, about 30-40 minutes. The pães de queijo (cheese breads!) may be frozen.

Grilled Eggplant and Pasta in Brussels Sprouts Sauce

Let’s be clear; I work with a loose definition of the word “sauce”. See, I actually really like pasta, but don’t even think to eat it often, which probably has something to do with how I don’t know, lame, typical pasta sauces are. Oh, there’s tons of creativity out there, but I’d rather something besides a standard red or white sauce to top my boiled semolina product, you know? And that something else is always gonna be vegetables.

So, by topping a whole wheat pasta with a well-seasoned blend of thinly cut vegetables, you can have a somewhat more exciting pasta, I think.

Brussels Sprouts Saucy Sauté- Ingredients:

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• Half (or a whole) onion, diced small
• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
• 2-3 cups of shredded brussels sprouts (I use a food processor for this, but horizontal slicing would work as well)
• 1 cup of red or green kale/chard leaves, torn up into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Dash of Asian hot sauce or chile flakes (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

Method:

1. Saute the onions and garlic in one tablespoon of oil, until soft.
2. Add in the shredded brussels sprouts and stir. Add the kale leaves.
3. Add in all seasonings and cook until the kale has wilted and the brussels sprouts are bright green and soft. Add additional water to deglaze the pan if needed.
4. Serve on top of boiled pasta; if desired, add the additional olive oil and salt and pepper to coat the noodles, but this is not necessary. The vegetables may also be eaten plain!

Black Bread

Recipe from 101 cookbooks, inspiration/suggestion from my friend Alisa.

It rained in LA today! It was weird, and I had to wear a jacket, and amidst all that confusion, I remembered that a benefit of sub-70 degree weather is the wealth of warm, cozy foods out there. Like lentil soup. And this bread. No, really, go bake this bread right now. I subbed fennel seeds for caraway; success.

Lemon-Lemon-Lemon Cake

I made this cake because I picked these lemons, and there were a lot of lemons. Perhaps a dessert this tart isn’t for all, but for lemon-lovers, it’s about the most perfect thing imaginable.

It’s a basic vegan lemon cake (with extra lemon) made into two layers, seamed with homemade lemon curd (with extra lemon. oh, and cornstarch), and covered with brown-sugar candied lemons (1 1/2 c. sugar, 2/3 c. water, 4 thinly sliced lemons, boiled until translucent). 

Grilled Eggplant and Portobello Sandwich

Sooooo…. you know when people have blogs and are really into them and then they stop updating them? I guess I just did that, BUT, I’m back! Reporting live from the land of unemployment and living with my parents (read: I have a lot of free time), I have no reason at all not to food blog.

Anyway, it’s homemade ciabatta that’s not very ciabatta-like (how do I keep the bubbles in the bread?? it was so promising until I shaped the loaves) with hummus, garden cherry tomatoes, red-leaf kale, and grilled eggplant and portobello mushroom seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, and lime.

Sao Paulo Dinner: Coconut Rice, Eggplant/Squash, and Pico de Gallo

Food is always one of the best parts of travel, and going to a new place and trying the local delicacies definitely shouldn’t be missed, but cooking in a new locale can also be so great. My friend Thomas and I recently had the luxury of staying in a friend’s apartment on our trip to Sao Paulo (obrigada Renan and Ricardo!), and we cooked some nice meals each night. Here was a mix of coconut milk rice with cilantro, a simple vegetable stir fry, and a really easy go-to pico de gallo, fresh salad-y thing, which is the best for adding quick flavor to whatever. It’s way beyond just mexican food!

Super Simple Pico de Gallo Thing:

• 2 or more fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 or more onion, cubed
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt, to taste
• Fistful of cilantro, chopped
• Optional/delicious: 1/2 cup of corn, 1 or 2 chopped fresh serrano chile peppers

Mix all ingredients well, muddling the tomatoes and lime. Lots of lime is pretty much the secret, but don’t skimp on salt either. Serve on crackers, on tacos, on rice, or eat as a salad.

Chuchu e Batata

The chuchu is a weird little vegetable that has about a million names. You should know it as chayote if you’re in the US or Mexico, perhaps pataste if you’re in Honduras, or according to the Spanish wikipedia page, any of these names: chayote, chayota ,cidra, guatilla, guatila, güisquil, papa de pobre, papa del aire,papa del moro, cidra papa, pataste, tayota, xuxú y chuchú. Still with me? Anyway, I’m a fan of this squashy guy, but it’s most commonly boiled, which I think leaves it a little bland. Here we have cubed, boiled potatoes and chuchus quickly fried in olive oil, salt, and chili flakes. Chayote away!