Well it is time to remember recipes for my favorite vegan. People sometimes get the idea that folks who don't eat meat don't like to eat hearty. Well not in my house! I married a man who loves to eat, so how do I feed him when I can't use meat? Ya'll know how I love a challenge so the goal is to put together hearty meals, without sacrificing flavor? Well the first thing to remember is that there are no rules. There are guidelines but no rules. I was raised by a southern grandma so I'm not going to abandon my southern roots just cuz I can't use meat. So this is what I did. My dear husband (henceforth to be known as "my favorite vegan") loves spice and heat. Those two factors open up a world of possibilities for my creativity. Also, and it just gets gooder and gooder here; he loves beans, peas, and Farm Food. You know, the kind of food where you just make it steaming hot and flavorful, and slap it over rice or potatoes. Shoot! give me something hard to do! I know I can do this. Here's a few of my ideas:
I went to my favorite Indian food site about.com and read up on spices. Don't laugh if you want to know about anything you can find it on this site. I wanted to know the basics of what made Indian food taste Indian. Instead of Americanized Indian. Thank you Patrina Verma Sarkar. ( She runs the site) It's like how to cook Indian food for dummies.
I went at this like a detective, I learned all about lentils (daal) which are similar to peas but not exactly the same. Once I got my list together I looked on the web for an Indian market near my area. Found one, yay! Not only that but I found a spice website just in case I couldn't find what I needed. Here's a tip: When you're getting ready to venture into home cooking from another culture, stay away from your local grocery store. Ask your friends, check the web and shop in culture as much as possible. I went into the Indian market with my list, and everyone was so nice. And yes, I stuck out but I knew I was in the right place. I focused on the food of North India mostly because of the focus on dairy, as soon as I found out that ghee (clarified butter) was one of the main components I was sold. Ok, on to the food.
Yellow Lentils (Moong Daal)
- 1 cup split yellow lentils
-1 onion/1 tsp garlic fried in ghee (or oil)
- 2 cups chicken broth (my favorite vegan likes more of a soup texture but you can use less broth.)
-1/2 tsp Garam Masala- a basic Indian seasoning, this is hot so I only use a little. Remember this is my version not traditional. You can add more, this is just guideline.
-1/8 tsp tumeric
-1/8 tsp cardamom
-sprinkle of cumin-to taste. (for me, too much gives it a latin flavor)
-1/4 tsp of ginger/garlic paste. (a wonderful little find from my Indian Market)
-salt ( to taste)
-chili powder- just a few shakes (once again, this is to taste. This is indian chili powder so it is stinkin hot and bright red (not dark brown like for making chili) I only use enough to give it a kick.
-1/2 tsp onion powder
-Coconut milk
Put all of this in a rice cooker and go watch a movie. Get one with an automatic shut off and you can do this. If you don't have a rice cooker...get one. They cost 25-35 dollars and you can get them at Shop Rite, Target, Walmart. You can get them almost anywhere. If you are really serious about cooking you need tools right? and a rice cooker is multi-purpose tool you have to have. Really. You'll thank me the first time you want to go shopping and cook rice at the same time.
Ok once this is done cooking, about 20 minutes. Turn it off and run it through with your hand blender. You know the one that looks like a wand. Sigh...I know..here it comes YES you need this. And no they are not expensive about 25 dollars. Why do you need one? Tomato pieces in your soup? Blend them away! Gravy lumpy? Blend it away! The nice thing is you can stick the blender in the pot and whisk it around the liquid and it is smooth as silk in no time. No lumps.
So I blend all the lumps away correct the seasoning and add about 1/4-1/2 cup of coconut milk. This adds a nice flavor to the finished product. No, coconut milk is not sweet, it's not even overly coconutty. (my word..obviously)
In fact, on it's own it's quite nursty! Definitely an aquired taste. BUT it is perfect for spicy foods because it cools the pot but still lets the food retain it's character. Add it a little at a time. You can always add more but once you add too much you have ruined the integrity of the dish and it begins to taste like something else.
Soup done! Now, I fry up a good handful of medium cooked shrimp in some ghee, garlic, salt, and a little pepper. Once they are done, no more than 6 minutes total I throw them in a bowlful of yellow lentil soup and serve this with some whole wheat bread and watch my favorite vegan munch away. (I'll show you how to make whole wheat bread in another post, but for now regular wheat bread will do)
Ideas:
Empty your rice cooker -don't wash it- and put in 2 cups of basmati rice (and only basmati rice, ) and 4 cups of chicken broth and a little Ghee and a sprinkle of Garam Masala. (yay, more ghee)
Hit the cook button and go watch your favorite 1/2 hr sitcom.
Serve the shrimp and soup over the rice with wheat bread and feed your vegan hearty! Ha!
Serve the soup/shrimp over mashed potatoes seasoned with salt and ghee. ( no rules remember?)
Mix the shrimp and the rice and the soup (yellow lentils) together almost like a cajun gumbo. Total freedom to do whatever you want. Make this more hearty by adding sauteed scallops in with the shrimp. Use your imagination and go for it.
Things you must have:
Hand Blender
Rice Cooker
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