It was a casserole type of night

I was searching for something quick to make one evening recently. There wasn't much fresh produce on hand, but I did have one large sweet potato and an onion, plus some ginger root. After checking my cupboards and verifying we had a can of garbanzo beans, I realized I could make this casserole, from Dreena Burton's cookbook Vive Le Vegan!

It was quick to put together (gotta love the recipes that say "mix everything together and cook it), smelled wonderful, and satisfied the whole family (savory enough for the mama, sweet enough for the daddy, beans for the three year old, and sweet potatoes for the nine month old). An absolute win.

Sweet Curry Chickpea Casserole

• 2 1/2 - 3 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1 13.5-oz can light coconut milk*
• 3/4 cup red onion [I used yellow]
• 1 1/2 cups celery, chopped*
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups apple, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 Tbls freshly grated ginger
• 1 - 1 1/2 Tbls mild curry paste [I used curry powder]
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 tsp allspice

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large, deep casserole dish, combine all ingredients. Stir through until well combined. Cover and bake for 30 mins. Stir through, cover, and bake for another 30-40 mins, until the vegetables are tender (stir through again once or twice throughout).
Makes 4-5 servings, depending upon accompaniments.

*I had neither coconut milk nor celery,  but I did have a can of cream-of-celery soup and substituted that with grand results. I would like to try the coconut milk version at some point, though. I love coconut curries.

Let them eat cake!

I hesitate to even type this one out.  I did make this cake, so I might as well share the info, but unfortunately, we didn't get to eat it.

There was so much food on Thanksgiving that after I'd frosted this cake I covered it and put it in the fridge and forgot about it. Ack!  By the time we were hungry and could have been ready to enjoy some cake, days and days had passed and, lacking a proper covering in the refrigerator, the cake was a dried-out and hard as a rock. Sadness.

Here's what I think would have been my declaration about the recipe: While the cake itself was tasty, I didn't enjoy the frosting.

Both my husband and I sampled the frosting before I put it on the cake, but while he said it was okay (though he admitted he could taste the tofu), I thought it was sour and rather yucky. I only frosted the cake with it because I hoped that once on the cake the tofu-y-ness wouldn't be as obvious as it was when snacking on the frosting alone, but I think I might actually have felt led to grab the cake out and slice it up if I hadn't been so apprehensive about the frosting I'd slathered on it.

Apple Cardamom Cake with Lemon-Maple Frosting
from Vive le Vegan! by Dreena Burton

Cake
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ground oats
1/4 cup unrefined sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup vanilla or plain non-dairy milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 350F. In a lg bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, sifting in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce, non-dairy milk, vanilla, and oil. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir through, mixing until just well combined (do no overmix). Pour into two lightly oiled cake pans and bake for 22-24 minutes, until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in teh center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting (since I didn't really like the frosting I'm just listing the ingredients, not the actual measurements nor instructions on how to make it):
silken firm tofu
vanilla extract
canola oil
maple syrup
unrefined sugar
sea salt
freshly squeezed lemon juice
lemon rind
plain non-dairy milk
agar powder

Frost your cake and refrigerate for at least a few hours to set. Serve cake slices with some vanilla or chocolate ice-cream.

It was easy to make and smelled delish. I really do wish I'd had a taste. Oh well. I'll just have to make it again.  {smile} And I'm making a promise to myself:  the next time I bake a cake and am concerned about the frosting I'll just sprinkle some powdered sugar on top of the crumb or make a quick sugar glaze to drizzle over it. I will NOT risk ruining the entire cake with gross frosting.

Promise.

More Thanksgiving Recaps, More Dreena

I don't know if you noticed, but I basically made my entire Thanksgiving Day meal from Dreena Burton's cookbooks. Because she's awesome. Or, at least, her blog is awesome and now that I'm finally cooking from her books instead of simply drooling over them, I'm finding that her recipes are awesome too.

I made several desserts, but this one, from Vive le Vegan! was my favorite:

Gingered Pear Crisp ---hit the hyperlink for the wheat-free version

Pear base: 
3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp arrowroot powder
5 fresh pears, peeled, cored and cut into chunks (roughly 4 1/2 cups)
3 Tbsp dried cranberries
2 - 2 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 - 1/4 ground cardamom
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp allspice

Topping: 
1/2 quick oats
1/4 ground oats (grind oats in the food processor)
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 almond slivers (optional)
1/4 unrefined sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 F. For the pear base: in a large bowl, combine the maple syrup with the arrowroot and stir until arrowroot is dissolved. Add the remaining pear base ingredients and toss throughly until well combined. Transfer to a lightly oiled 8x8 baking dish. In another bowl, combine all the topping ingredients, and use your fingers to work the mixture until just crumbly. Sprinkle the topping over the pear mixture, distributing evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden and a little bubbly. Serve hot or warm.

I made a few alterations to our crisp: I left out the almond slivers, I used raisins instead of dried cranberries, and I used grapeseed oil instead of canola. Also, I prepared this dish the day before, cutting up the pears, measuring-out the dry ingredients, and then didn't combine the wet/dry and base/topping until the next day. It was really easy to mix everything together and pop the dish right into the oven as we sat down to eat so that after dinner we had a warm, fresh-from-the-oven dessert to eat, topped with scoops of vanilla ice cream. Yum!!

How 'bout some Hummus?

 Here's a new-to-me recipe, made on Thanksgiving (or, actually, the day before, but for Thanksgiving) that was wonderful!

Dreena Burton's Cannellini Bean Yam Hummus from Vive le Vegan!

1 1/2 cups cooked cannellini beans
3/4 cup cooked yam
3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small clove garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 - 1 tsp chipotle hot sauce
1/2 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (garnish)

Combine all ingredients except pine nuts and cilantro into a food processor and puree until very smoothe, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times throughout. Once smooth, add the pine nuts and puree just a little, leaving some texture (or blend smooth if you like it that way). Season to taste with extra sea salt and pepper and chipotle sauce, if desired.

I didn't use any pine nuts, so I imagine my finished hummus was a bit different than it was supposed to be, but it didn't need the pine nuts for texture and the taste was great: creamy and only mildly beany (cannellini beans aren't as POW as chickpeas are) with a bit of heat from the chipotle sauce.

A great dip for pita chips or crackers!!

I'm More "Moron" Than "Moroccan"

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a quiet family gathering with just one extra setting at the table, making prep very calm and relaxing. Perhaps that was the reason I decided to go against the grain.

You know how they say to never never never try a new recipe on a big day? Well, I am so stupid awesomely confident that I was sure only good things (versus complete and total failure) were in store for me. Ahem.

Well, hello there, Complete and Total Failure! Fancy seeing you here. How are your kids:  Embarrassment and Egg-on-Face?

I cooked several new recipes for this year's table, and I'll blog about each individually, but I figured I'd get the worst result out into the open first thing. It was our main course. I know, I know.

I need to say right up front that I'm sure it wasn't the recipe. It was me. I know where and when I went wrong,  and I'll point it out. 

From Dreena Burton's Vive le Vegan!

Moroccan Chickpea Patties served with Ginger Dipping Sauce

Sauce 
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
4-5 Tbsp pure maple syrup
2 1/2- 3 Tbsp tamari
1-1 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)


Combine all ingredients in bowl and stir to mix well.

 

Patties
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium fennel bulb, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 medium clove garlic, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil (for puree)
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp paprika
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
3 Tbsp sesame seeds 
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil (for frying)


In a skillet over med heat, heat the oil. Add the fennel, salt and pepper and cook for 5-6 minutes. Add the red pepper and cook for another 5 mins. Remove from heat. In a food processor, combine the chickpeas with the garlic, vinegar, olive oil, ginger, salt, cumin, paprika, and cinnamon and puree until the mixture becomes smooth (scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed). If still a little chunky, add a touch more oil or water and puree again until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the fennel/red pepper mixture and green onions. Stir through to combine well. If you have the time, refrigerate for at least an hour (the mixture will firm up and be easier to shape). Mix the breadcrumbs, sesame seeds, and sea salt and pour onto a plate. Take a mound of the chickpea mixture (roughly 1/3 cup) and form patties, then dip both sides in the breadcrumb mixture. In a skillet over medium heat, heat the oil and fry the patties for about 7-9 minutes on each side, until lightly browned (flip only once or twice). 

And here's where I went wrong:  I added just a tad too much of each of the liquid ingredients (rather than a scant amount I let the measuring spoons overflow a bit) and then, even though the mixture in the food processor seemed quite smooth I went ahead and added additional oil anyway. I don't know why, because she mentioned it, I guess. And then, because I'd mismanaged my time (we were less than an hour from dinner time) I was not able to leave the mixture in the fridge for an hour as recommended but only about 10 minutes. 


The result? I was trying to form, coat, and fry patties out of a chickpea & fennel mixture the consistency of really soupy mashed potatoes. REALLY soupy mashed potatoes. It didn't work well. Nevertheless, I fried up the mush as best I could and served them at our table: in a heap of random fried pieces versus the golden browned patties I had been imagining. They looked, well, they looked gross. But they tasted good (if you could manage to scoop them up onto your fork). And the dipping sauce (which, of course, became a pour-over-the-food sauce since the "patties" weren't about to be dipped into anything) was very tasty.  I will attempt this recipe again on another day, being careful to measure correctly and leaving myself enough time for the mixture to firm up in the refrigerator.



Lesson learned. I will not try and cook a new recipe--at least not for our main course!--on a holiday ever again. (Wait... is my husband's birthday considered a holiday?)