When I was growing up, “Chinese Food” meant gelatinous, hot pink chicken and pineapple balls, chop suey (bean sprouts, frozen peas and carrots and some white rice in soy sauce), and egg rolls as greasy as Elvis’s pompadour. It wasn’t until my undergraduate years at the University of Windsor that I first tasted authentic Chinese food.
I know, Windsor, Ontario doesn’t exactly strike one as the hub of all things Oriental. In those days, though, Windsor was (and for all I know, may still be) the Canadian college with the largest percentage of Chinese students (at about 45%). Why? There were many theories (such as “ it’s a great way to get into the States, being so close”; or “it has the lowest standard for English-as-a-second-language requirements”), but my favorite was “it’s the southernmost city in Canada (further south than its American cousin, Detroit), so when potential students consulted a map, they likely decided it must also be the warmest city and chose it before all others.
(All I can say is, it’s been winter since the end of October. So, how do you like Windsor now?)
Perhaps surprisingly, my entrée into the world of authentic Chinese dining was facilitated not by a Chinese person, but a native (Caucasian) Windsorite.
RB, a fellow undergraduate English major, was much taller than I at 5 feet 7 inches (just over 170 cm) and had what we call “big-bones.” Yet she also somehow always struck me as fragile. With impeccable posture, she trailed a mane of undulating, naturally auburn hair; and her skin was so pale, smooth and translucent it reminded me of my mom’s antique teacups. While not classically “pretty,” RB was certainly uniquely attractive. Even her voice, quiet and steady like a breeze in autumn, seemed too soft for the heft of her body. When she spoke it was barely above a whisper.
But it wasn’t her physical attributes of which I was envious; it was her mind. You see, RB was another protégé of my mentor, Dr. Ditsky, and he frequently called on her in class to “save us” when no one volunteered to answer his question (when he called on me for the same purpose, my cheeks usually flushed red and I stammered something unintelligible). But RB always rose to the challenge, fairly offering a lecture of her own on occasion.
RB was, quite simply, brilliant. Like, Bill Gates brilliant. Mozart brilliant. Marilyn Vos Savant brilliant. A Beautiful Mindbrilliant (well, without the encrypted magazine articles and hallucinatory FBI agents, of course).
I will never forget her final essay for our Faulkner course: a 50-odd page treatise on “Deconstructing The Sound and the Fury: Parallels and Pedantry in Godel, Escher, Bach.” Well, I, too, had purchased Godel, Escher, Bach out of curiosity (like the rest of the academic population in the 1980s) and could barely get through the first 10 pages (even that took me a couple of hours). Yet here was RB, composing an entire essay (which, presumably, she actually understood!) that used it as a basis for comparison.
RB also had the ability to acquire information–particularly languages–as easily as I acquired cookbooks. She loved the fact that Windsor was an “international” city welcoming people from all over the world. One day, she decided that she loved Chinese culture the most. Within a couple of months, she was teaching herself Cantonese with the aid of tapes and a book. I’d notice her hunched over a table in the cafeteria, madly scribbling little curlicues and pictograms across her notebooks. She’d emit guttural sounds in the back of her throat as she walked by in the hallways. After another couple of months, her gorgeous auburn hair had been shorn in a tight pageboy and dyed jet black. If there had existed a counterpart to gender reassignment surgery called “Cultural Reassignment surgery,”her name would have been at the top of the list.
Eventually, RB married a man from Hong Kong whom she’d met at a dim sum restaurant. (She was writing a postcard–in Chinese–to a friend as he walked by; he glanced at the card, asked, “Do you actually understand that stuff?” and when she nodded, he sat down to join her. Less than a year later they were married.)
[It may not be a whole lotus bean inside, but it's still delicious.]
Given her affinity for all things Chinese, it’s no wonder that RB eventually took me to her favorite spot for Dim Sum. Right there on Wyandotte Street, just steps from the university dormitory, was a fantastic dim sum restaurant. It was so authentic, in fact, that none of the servers really spoke English, and orders were given by patrons who wrote their choices (in Chinese) on little slips of paper. Of course, RB was proficient in the language, so she served as translator and placed the order.
I won’t dwell on the meal itself, which involved various steamed buns, pan-fried dumplings, noodles and RB’s favorite–chicken feet. (The image of her sucking on their splayed, pointy tips will forever be branded in my memory). But it was the dessert that proved to be a revelation. That day was the first time I tried steamed lotus seed buns, and I ate them every time I could after that. The white, spongey and barely sweet buns encased a whole lotus bean, cooked until soft and squishy. Imagine, if you will, a medjool date that’s even softer and sweeter than normal, served slightly warm and caramelized–that’s what the lotus bean tasted like. I loved them instantly. When I moved to Toronto with its three Chinatowns, I anticipated more of the same, and was sadly disappointed to learn that the buns made here, while tasty, contained red bean paste instead of lotus seeds.
Well, today’s SOS offering is my take on that pastry. I had actually attempted a steamed bun first (based on this recipe–which, I later realized, is Japanese), but steaming instead of frying resulted in a mess of white and red goo, a little too reminiscent of the goo splattered all over Tommy Lee Jones when Will Smith shoots the alien at the end of Men in Black. Attempt number two involved actually frying the balls as directed–I was going to beg your forgiveness if they worked out–but those, alas, were also fairly gooey inside, very greasy on the outside, and clearly not orb-like.
So, I went back to what I do better: cookies! In keeping with the Asian theme, I used rice flour (two types) filled with red bean paste. The cookie itself is crisp and light, while the dense paste inside provides a pleasant surprise with its textural contrast. And while they’re not authentic, they were delicious. I bet even RB would approve.
Chinese-Style Bean Pastry Cookies (ACD Stage 3 and beyond)
These cookies provide a little pocket of smooth, sweet bean paste inside a crisp, light cookie casing. To make them this small may seem too fussy for everyday cookies; if you’d rather, place a layer of dough in a parchment-lined loaf pan, spread with paste, then more dough; bake and cut in squares for an easier treat.
For the bean filling:
1 cup (240 ml) cooked adzuki beans, well drained
1/4 cup (60 ml) agave nectar or vegetable glycerin
1/4 cup (60 ml) water
10-20 drops vanilla or plain stevia liquid, to your taste
1/4 cup (60 ml) unsweetened plain or vanilla soy, almond or rice milk
1/4 tsp (1 ml) pure stevia powder or 15-20 drops liquid, to your taste
2 tsp (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp (20 ml) ground chia seeds or meal (if you grind your own, use 2 tsp/10 ml whole seeds)
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup (60 ml) coconut oil, preferably organic, soft (I prefer refined for this as it is tasteless; but unrefined is nice, too)
1/2 cup (70 g) brown rice flour
1/4 cup (30 g) sweet rice flour
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) baking powder
1/4 tsp (1 ml) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) xanthan gum
1/4 tsp (1 ml) fine sea salt
Topping:
2 Tbsp (30 ml) sesame seeds, optional
Make the filling:
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Turn the mixture into a small pot and heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Add the coconut oil, stir well to combine evenly, and keep stirring until you have a thick paste that begins to look slightly glossy. Remove from heat and allow to cool. NOTE: This makes about twice as much filling as you’ll need. You can try halving the recipe, but when I did so, it didn’t cook up quite the same way. Instead, you can form the filling into a disk, freeze it, and use it for cookies later on. Or, form into balls, coat in melted unsweetened chocolate, and enjoy red bean truffles!
Make the dough:
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment or spray with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, mix the coconut sugar, soymilk, stevia, vanilla, chia and vinegar. Stir for 30 seconds or so to allow the sugar to begin to dissolve. Add the coconut oil and cream well. Sift in the remaining ingredients and stir to form a fairly firm dough (you may need to knead it with your hands). It should be moist but fairly firm.
Assemble the cookies:
Roll out the dough until it is very thin, about 1/8 inch (3 mm). Cut into small circles about 1-1/2 inches (3.75 cm) big. You should have about 32 circles.
Place about 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) of the paste in the center of one circle of dough; top with another circle. Pinch edges all around to seal in the bean paste (be sure there are no openings or your cookies will leak when they bake!). Gently form into a round disk. Dip one side of the disk in the seeds; place seed side up on cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes, until bottoms are deep golden brown and cookies are firm. Remove from oven and cool completely before transferring to a covered container. Makes 16 pastries. May be frozen.
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I’ve submitted this recipe to Amy’s weekly Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays event. Check out all the healthier recipes there!
Merry March to you! A new month brings a new SOS Kitchen Challenge, the monthly recipe event hosted by Kim and me celebrating vegan, sugar-free, natural recipes using a featured ingredient.
Rather than focus on something obvious like oats, cabbage, or potatoes this month (the blogosphere loves St. Patrick’s Day!), we’ve gone in a different direction entirely. This month’s food goes by multiple names, has multiple sweet and savory applications, and can either be eaten cooked or raw and sprouted.
Did you guess correctly? This month’s SOS Kitchen Challenge features none other than the adzuki bean, also known as azuki, aduki, asuki, adsuki, field pea, red bean, Teinsin red bean, or feijao. No matter what name you prefer, one thing is certain: the adzuki bean is marvelously versatile, nutritious, and delicious.
A Bit About The Bean
Adzuki beans are thought to originate in China, and are prized in Asian cuisine, used in sweet and savory applications, and often used for celebratory and festival dishes. These dark red beans are relatively small, with a distinctive white ridge on one side. They cook quickly and are more easily digested than many other beans.
The most common use of adzuki beans in Asian cuisines–especially Japanese–is in sweet drinks, dessert soups, and various buns and pastries stuffed with sweetened red bean paste. Western cuisine has adopted the adzuki bean most commonly in savory applications, such as soups, stews, casseroles, and burritos. Adzuki beans are excellent in vegan dishes, as their texture is hearty and somewhat “meat-like”. Adzuki beans are also very delicious when soaked and left to sprout – azuki bean sprouts are crunchy and absolutely delicious in salads, stir fries, and wraps.
Adzuki beans have a rich, earthy, nutty, and sweet flavor and rich red color when cooked. They are complimented by warm spices such as ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, or chile powder, and go well with other ingredients such as tamari, miso, onion, coconut milk, rice, yam, sweet potato, squash or pumpkin.
Nutritional Benefits
Adzuki beans, like all legumes, are an excellent source of nutrition. The website Knowing Food has a great write up about the adzuki bean, featuring this information:
Adzuki beans are a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc copper, manganese and B vitamins. As a high-potassium, low-sodium food they can help reduce blood pressure and act as a natural diuretic. When combined with grains, beans supply high quality protein, which provides a healthy alternative to meat or other animal protein.
Like most beans, adzuki beans are rich in soluble fibre. This type of fibre provides bulk to the stool and binds to toxins and cholesterol aiding in their elimination from the body.
In Japan adzuki beans are known for their healing properties and are used to support kidney and bladder function. Gillian McKeith is a huge fan of the adzuki bean and refers to it as the ‘weight loss’ bean as it low in calories and fat but high in nutrients. [source]
Additionally, the The Ayurvedic Cookbookby U. Desai and Amadea Morningstar states that adzuki beans have excellent ability to rebuild adrenal function and kidney energy.
Cooking dry adzuki beans is easy and economical. It is also often a necessity, as canned adzuki beans are not always readily available. Eden Foods makes organic canned adzuki beans that are cooked with kombu and packed in BPA-free cans, so if you can’t cook your own beans, those are a great option. But if you have access to dry adzuki beans and have the time to plan ahead, I’d recommend simply cooking your own.
To cook beans, you must soak them first to rehydrate. Soak 1 part beans overnight in ample water. Drain and simmer on the stovetop in 4 parts water for 40 minutes to an hour, until tender but still intact (if adding salt, add at end of cooking). If you have a pressure cooker, follow instructions in your pressure cooker instruction manual. Then drain beans and use as desired, rinsing as necessary. Reserve bean cooking liquid to use as a broth or nourishing warm drink (it is loaded with vitamins and minerals!).
How To Enter The Challenge
If you are interested in trying your hand at cooking or baking with the adzuki bean this month, join us in this month’s challenge! To enter, simply cook up a new recipe–either sweet OR savory (or both)–using adzuki beans, following the usual SOS guidelinesfor ingredients and submission requirements. It can be your own recipe or one you found on a website or blog (even one of ours!). Then submit it by linking up to your blog post with the linky tool, below. Be sure to add a link to this page on your post, and if you wish, include the SOS logo.
Your recipe will be displayed on both Kim’s and my blog in the Linky, and will be featured in a recipe roundup at the end of this month. We look forward to more of your delicious, creative, enthusiastic entries this month!
Thanks to everyone who submitted a stevia-based recipe for February’s SOS Kitchen Challenge! As always, we received a stellar collection of recipes.
Here’s the “Sweet”:
Kim and I were blown away by the creativity in the “sweet” section of the event this past month. While I have added every single recipe to my “to try” list, some that stood out as particularly enticing were
We also had a submission from reader Jess, who made my Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles for her sweetie on Valentine’s Day. Check out the amazing presentation:
Aren’t they beautiful? I bet they’d win anyone’s heart!
And now, for the “Savory”. . . .
Um. . . well, er. . . what the–HUH??
It appears that there was only one savory recipe in the list apart from my own Crunchy Green Salad! I guess most people consider stevia a “sweet-only” ingredient, but if you think about all the savory recipes made with a dash of sugar or honey, you’ll begin to understand the wide range of recipes that can include stevia. I hope you’ll try out some savory variations in the future!
Like the new logo? Kim designed it and I just love it! We thought it was time for an update, something a little more playful and fun to fit the spirit of the challenge.
January’s Sweet or Savory Kitchen Challengewas an exciting one, featuring none other than coconut oil. Health promoting and versatile, coconut oil is perfect for everyday use, functioning equally well in everything from raw desserts to savory curries. You exhibited your love for coconut oil in full force, presenting a wide array of delicious looking recipes. Every recipe in the roundup looked delectable – even the Coconut Oil Body Lotion from The Mommy Bowllooked good enough to eat! That said, we want to highlight a handful of recipes that particularly caught our eyes…
Be sure to check out all the great recipes in the Linky for delicious, creative, and health-conscious ways to incorporate coconut oil in your diet.
Speaking of coconut oil, January’s challenge featured a great giveaway for one lucky cook: a 32-oz jar of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions. We randomly picked a winner from all the submissions and qualifying comments.
Congratulations! Please contact us at soskitchenchallenge@gmail.com with your shipping information.
A big thankyou to everyone who participated. You continue to impress us with your creativity and raise the bar with every challenge. Tomorrow we’re announcing the February SOS Kitchen Challenge ingredient (and another giveaway) so get your aprons washed, your measuring cups poised for action, and stay tuned for the details!
We couldn’t be more pleased with the incredible array of entries we received for this month’s SOS Kitchen Challenge on sesame seeds! As always, your creativity and versatility in the kitchen are awe-inspiring.
Thanks to everyone for participating this month. For the first time, we also offered prizes–and you definitely rose to the challenge!
The ten winners of the bags of sesame seeds are:
Saveur from The Taste Space
Megan from Maid in Alaska
Valerie from City Life Eats
Deanna from The Mommy Bowl
Noelle from Singer in the Kitchen
Andrea from Andrea’s Easy Vegan Cooking
Megha from Live to Eat
Bellwookie from B & the Boy
A-K from Swell Vegan, and
Claire from Chez Cayenne
And the winner of the $50 iHerb shopping spree is:
K from Tale of Two Vegans!
Congrats to all the winners!
TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZES, YOU MUST DO THE FOLLOWING:
Email us BEFORE this Friday, NOVEMBER 5, 2010, at soskitchenchallenge@gmail.com with your full (real) name and email address. REMEMBER, you must sign up for an account at iHerb to be eligible for the prize!
If we don’t hear from you by then, we will select new winner(s) until all prizes are awarded.
Please let us know if you’ve enjoyed the SOS Challenge with this new sponsored twist–it’s something we’re considering for future SOS Challenges, too.
We can’t wait to see what you all cook up for next month! We’re both crazy about this next ingredient, and we’re pretty sure that most of you will be, too. :) The reveal post is coming up in just a couple of days!
And here’s a bonus recipe from Tamara Ellis, for a delicious-sounding Turkish Sesame-Lentil Pate. Thanks, Tamara!
TURKISH SESAME LENTIL PATE
This is an allergy free version of a traditional Turkish delicacy called “Mercimek Koftesi”
1 cup red lentils
1 cup quinoa
1/2 cup raw sesame seeds (reserve a few for garnish)
1/4 cup currants
1 large red onion, finely minced
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TBLS cumin
2 TBLS ground corriander
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup chopped parsley (reserve a bit for garnish)
Cook the red lentils in 2 1/2 cups of salted water on low heat. When most of the water has evaporated, add the quinoa and raw sesame seeds. Continue to stir until the quinoa is cooked and the water has evaporated. Add the currants and stir once more. Cover with a lid and set this pot aside.
In a non-stick skillet, saute the minced onion in the sesame and olive oils. Add the cumin, corriander, vinegar and salt. When the onions are wilted, add the lentil-sesame-quinoa-currant mixture. Stir to incorporate. Cook over low heat until the mixture becomes doughy and starts to pull away from the edges of the pan. This takes about 10-15 minutes. When done, add most of the chopped parsley, reserving a small amount for garnish. Cover with a lid and set aside for half an hour.
The finished product should be in the shape of a cigar. Here’s an easy way to create this shape: lay a large piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper on your counter. (I think plastic wrap works better.) Spoon a “log” shape down the length of the plastic wrap. Lift both top and bottom edges (on either side of the “dough”) and shape into a log. Merely pulling on the two sides alternately will form a solid log. Cut the log into sections that are 3-4″ long and arrange on a plate. Alternately, you can just form patties by spooning the dough into the desired shape.
Once plated, drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Top with the reserved sesame seeds and parsley. Serve at room temperature.
How did it get to be August 4th already?? To coin a cliché, the summer has flown by. It’s three quarters over and I’ve only had about three days off. What the–??
Some days, I feel like I’m living in that old Calgon commerical. Well, with shorter hair. And better music. And hey, who has time for a bath, anyway? Still, my life does feel that out of focus at times.
Yep, things around here have been verging on “too much chaos” for quite some time now. Did you know that North Americans enjoy fewer statutory holidays and routinely work longer hours than people in any other Western countries? Never mind my gray hairs. Never mind my IBS (almost always associated with stress). Never mind those computer and twitter malfunctions (oooh, I sorely miss my tweetdeck! Hoping to fix it soon!). No, the sign that you are truly and verily overworked is when even meditating stresses you out.
And so, what to do to help soothe the savage breast (and the rest of me, too)–or, as Andrew Denton calls it, “the common cold of the psyche”? Well, music is fine, but for me–and for this month’s SOS Kitchen Challenge–the choice is
MINT!
Yes, the SOS Kitchen Challenge is back! Kim and I challenge you all to create either sweet or savory dishes (or both, if you’re really adventurous–though of course, that’s not required) to submit to the event! Full rules are posted here. And please note a few changes to the event’s structure, also mentioned below.
Of course, mint is great for those times when you need a respite from the crazy-making work, boss, kids, traffic, neighbors, dogs, baby, etc. And aside from its incredible health-promoting qualities (it’s a great tonic for indigestion, nausea, headache or even congestion; it has antioxidant and antimicrobial qualities; and it’s actually an excellent source of vitamins A and C), mint just plain tastes great. And, as I discovered a couple of years ago, it’s an almost indestructible perennial plant (as evidenced by the photo in this post).
You see, when the HH and I moved into this house almost three years ago, the previous tenants has left us a teeny, tiny patch of mint alongside the house. Within a couple of months, the green sea of swaying leaves threatened to take over the entire space between our house and the neighbor’s. I learned quickly to use mint in many different ways.
Mint originated in Europe and the Mediterranean, and is now cultivated around the world. With over thirty varieties of mint (mostly peppermint and spearmint), each with its own distinct properties and heady aroma courtesy of the menthol they contain, mint is a useful and versatile herb.
Mint is appropriate in both sweet or savory dishes, from classics like peppermint candies or chocolates to mint chutneys and curries. It makes a soothing, cooling beverage as well, as we witnessed when Daisy, Gatsby et al sipped on their refreshing mint juleps (or you could try my ACD-friendly Ginger Mint Iced Tea).
I’m going to opt for a sweet recipe first this month. This is also a sneak peek at a recipe from my upcoming ACD friendly dessert ebook, available in just two weeks!
If you’d like to participate in the challenge, all you need to do is create a new recipe and submit it through a link form below (no more emailing!). Please be sure to link up to this page and mention the SOS Challenge in your blog post. And feel free to use the SOS badge, too!
Then just add your name and a title for your recipe to the form below. Your link will automatically display a photo and will direct readers to your blog. We’ll leave the form open until the end of the month, just in time for the next SOS Challenge!
Please remember to follow the rules – vegan, no refined sugars, and natural, whole foods ingredients only – or at the very least, make sure you offer reliable substitutions for those things in your recipe if you use something else. Entries that don’t meet these requirements will be removed from the linky list.
We look forward to seeing what you create this month, and check back often to see all the great submissions to this month’s SOS challenge!
Note: We appreciate your submissions and would like to include them all, but sometimes have to remove an entry from the list. The most common reasons are:
No link to this post. Even if you mention the SOS Challenge in your post, without a live link to this post, the entry doesn’t qualify.
You link to an old recipe. We only accept recipes that are created for the challenge.
You include ingredients that aren’t part of the challenge. Most often, the inclusion of cane sugar (UNrefined evaporated cane juice is okay, but not regular sugars), eggs, cow’s milk, or other animal products will disqualify an entry.
If none of these applies to you and your entry was removed, please contact me in case a mistake has been made! Thanks, eveyone.
Now that May has arrived, it’s time for the second SOS Kitchen Challenge from Kim at Affairs of Living and me! Thanks, again, to everyone who participated last time. You helped to make the inaugural event a huge success!
This month, Kim and I decided to go with another versatile vegetable that can be used in a host of different ways. Are you ready to exercise your kitchen creativity and cook up some Sweet or Savory dishes that contain. . .
SPINACH?!
Did you know that, of all vegetables, leafy greens contain the most nutrients? No wonder they’re considered the royalty of the vegetable world! And when it comes to spinach, Popeye knew what he was talking about: this veggie really is a nutritional superhero. With a light, delicate texture and mild flavor, it’s no surprise that spinach is the most popular of all the leafy greens.
Besides offering up ten times your daily requirement of Vitamin K (essential for healthy blood formation), three times the daily Vitamin A, and almost 100% of the daily manganese and folate, a cup of boiled spinach also provides a host of other minerals, vitamins, the amino acid tryptophan, and some heart-healthy Omega 3 fatty acids. The anti-cancer properties of spinach (and all leafy greens) are well-known; this delicate leaf can combat prostate and ovarian cancers, improve bone and cardiovascular health, keep your mind sharp and your eyes healthy (the latter mostly due to the carotenoid lutein, which has been proven to help prevent macular degeneration, a common cause of blindness as people age).
According to Paul Pitchford in his classic tome, Healing with Whole Foods, spinach is also a considered cooling food within the traditions of Chinese medicine; it “has a ‘sliding’ nature, which facilitates internal body movements such as bowel action and urination, and thus is treatment for constipation and urinary difficulty.” Moreover, the high chlorophyll and iron content help to build blood. (Beware, however, which spinach you buy; according to the Environmental Working Group, spinach ranks number eight in the top twelve fruits and vegetables most sprayed with pesticides. With spinach, if you can afford it, it’s best to buy organic).
To enter this month’s SOS challenge, simply create and post a recipe using spinach before the deadline of midnight, May 20, 2010, CST, and send it to soskitchenchallengeATgmailDOTcom (note: you don’t have to cook up an original recipe–any recipe that uses the ingredient is just fine, even if you found it somewhere else!).
For full details on what kinds of ingredients to use and how to enter the challenge, see this page. I’ll post the roundup (as will Kim, on her blog) a week after the deadline so you can take your time browsing through the amazing collection of recipes before the next challenge!
My first contribution to the challenge this month is this quiche that’s been a staple in our house for as long as the HH and I have been together (that’s more than a dozen years now–yikes!). In fact, it’s such a standby recipe that I was sure I’d already posted it–but couldn’t find it in the archives.
I first tasted quiche as a callow undergrad at the University of Windsor, one weekend when my room mate’s friend (who hailed from the booming metropolis of Toronto) came to visit. Ildiko (why is it all the good cooks I encountered as a university student had unusual names?) arrived with backpack in tow, from which she withdrew in quick succession, a bag of flour, a pound of butter, a carton of cream, various zip-loc bags of chopped vegetables, and, ultimately, a wooden rolling pin. It was like watching the Grinch and his bottomless bag of gifts at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas--every time she pulled out another item, I assumed it would be the last, but there was always one more to follow.
Right there in our dorm room, Ildiko mixed up a pie crust, deftly rolled it out on a piece of wax paper on my desktop, then transferred it, seamlessly, to the pie plate. Next she whipped together the eggs and cream, a few seasonings, and sprinkled in the chopped veggies. We baked the quiche in a toast-r-oven we had in the room, and as the scent began to fill the air, I suspected that quiche was something I was going to enjoy. Later, as we devoured slice after slice, the three of us polishing off the entire thing in no time, I learned that quiche came in infinite varieties–you could add pretty much any fillers you liked, but it was the custard that really defined it.
I can’t say I craved quiche over the years, but I did occasionally notice it on restaurant menus and think, “hmm, it would be nice to have a slice of that.” As with that first quiche back as an undergrad, though, it was the custardy texture that most appealed to me.
And then, I discovered silken tofu–and this recipe. This classic vegan quiche is one I found online and adapted (sorry, I can’t recall the source; so if the recipe looks familiar, please let me know!). To my palate, it reproduces almost exactly the same smooth-yet-firm, moist and creamy custardy filling. I’ve upped the veggies considerably compared to that first pie, but the general idea is remarkably similar to the “real thing.” In fact, this is one of my go-to recipes at home, and a regular feature when I teach gluten-free cooking classes.
With limitless possibilities for the vegetables in the filling, this quiche can be altered to your tastes and the occasion at hand. I use a handy millet crust, but again, feel free to change it up; if you’ve got a nice pastry crust that you think will go well with this, go ahead and use it.
To see Kim’s first spinach recipe (a creamy spinach and celeriac soup), check this post.
“Mum, real dogs do eat quiche, you know. As long as you pick out the onions, that is. And we like that custardy texture, too.”
Classic Tofu Quiche (ACD-friendly, Phase I and beyond)
The real beauty of this recipe is its versatility–as long as the volumes stay the same, you can use pretty much any vegetables in place of those listed.
For the crust:
1/2 cup (115 g) dry millet
1-1/4 cups (300 ml) vegetable broth or stock
pinch of fine sea salt
For the filling:
1 Tbsp (15 ml) extra virgin olive oil, preferably organic
1 onion, diced
2 roasted red peppers or 1 fresh, sliced into thin strips
1 carrot, grated
1 cup very firmly packed spinach or chard leaves, stems removed, chopped
2 cups (700 g) firm or extra firm silken tofu, or soft tofu
1 Tbsp (15 ml) white miso (for ACD Phase I, use extra tahini)
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease a pie plate, or line with parchment paper.
Prepare the crust: Pour millet into a small pot and add the broth. Bring to boil over high heat, then lower heat to simmer, cover, and let simmer for 25 minutes, or until almost all the liquid is absorbed and the millet is soft and beginning to fall apart (if necessary, add extra stock until the millet reaches this consistency). Stir well, then immediately pour the millet into the pie pan and, using the back of a spoon or wet hands (and being careful not to burn yourself!), press the millet into the pie plate to create a “crust.” (Dipping the spoon or your hands in water helps). Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes until slightly dry.
Prepare the filling: Heat oil in a large frypan and sauté onions for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent and soft. Add the pepper, carrot, and spinach, and sauté for another 5 minutes, until the spinach is wilted and other ingredients begin to soften. Cover and turn off heat.
In a food processor or blender, mix the tofu, miso, tahini and Bragg’s until very smooth. Pour the mixture over the vegetables in the pan and stir to combine well. Turn into the crust in the pie pan, and smooth the top. If desired, sprinkle with a little paprika.
Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until the top is light golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes to set before serving. May be eaten hot, at room temperature, or cold. Makes 8 servings. May be frozen.
It’s time for the very first SOS (Sweet or Savory) Kitchen Challenge Roundup!
When Kim and I first introduced the first SOS Kitchen Challenge last month, we decided to choose an ingredient that we both liked and that would suit both our specialized diets. But we had no idea so many of you also adored the ruby root as much as we do!
We were also blown away by the immense originality, innovation and culinary creativity in so many of the recipes we received. And so many beet based dessert recipes–you folks sure know the way to this girl’s heart.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this, our first, event. We’re looking forward to many more great roundups of your recipes!
And so, let’s get right to it. Feast your eyes on these amazing beet-based dishes:
The Sweet:
Chaya from The Comfy Cook (New York) has created a stunning sweet Beet Nut Bread with grated beets that look like little ruby gems in each slice. The bread is gluten free and easily made vegan.
Claire from Bok Choy Bohemia created an innovative, colorful Golden Beet Dessert Lasagna. The briliant gold, red and yellow of this dish really do evoke thoughts of summer sunshine and sunsets. Claire’s naturally-sweetened dessert is also gluten free, vegan, and sugar free.
Another sweet invention comes from Alchemille of Alchemille’s Secret Garden (California). She created a Super Natural Beet and Lavender Sorbet, which she then froze into popsicles for a sweet beety treat! These are grain free, dairy free, nut free, egg free, and sugar free.
Shayne of Eat a Vegan (Illinois) offers us another incredibly inventive sweet treat using our favorite root: Beet Snowballs! These yummy bites are a coconut-covered orbs filled with nutritional goodness and the flavor of a sweet. What could be better? Vegan, sugar free and gluten free.
Here’s an inventive Peanutty-Beet Soufflé from Gaby of La Reina Batata (Houston). Gaby combined a classic nut butter and the brilliance of beets for one yummy dessert (even if it isn’t bright purple, as she hoped).
Aubree Cherie of Living Free (Kennet Square, PA) contributed a visually stunning, sweet raw beet slaw. A newbie to beets, Aubree declares her love of the raw veg–and created this masterpiece. This sweet slaw is gluten free, dairy free, vegan, and sugar free.
My co-host Kim’s take on a sweet beet recipe are these amazing Dairy Free Beet and Cherry Creamsicles. The color is stunning and they sound like just the thing for the warm weather that’s around the corner! They’re gluten free, vegan, and ACD-friendly.
My own sweet contribution is my Brilliantly Beet Smoothie, a quick and easy breakfast (or any time) magenta beverage that’s refreshingly delicious. Vegan, nut free, gluten free and ACD-friendly.
And the Savory:
Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe (Melbourne) was our first entrant for this challenge with Beetroot, Greens and Chickpea Curry. This mild curry sounds like a perfect dinner with chickpeas, beet greens, coconut milk and tomatoes plus some aromatic spices. As Johanna says, this savory curry is also “effortlessly vegan and gluten free,” and goes well with brown rice.
Scrumptious from In My Box (California) submitted this Russian Beet Salad, or Vinegret, based on a salad she used to eat as a student in Russia. The addition of potato and peas (plus another secret ingredient) makes this particularly intriguing. The sweet-savory recipe is gluten-free, nut-free and vegan.
Aubree also cooked up a batch of yummy Burgers that Can’t Be Beet, an adaptation of the beet burgers that kicked off this event. Aubree’s use amaranth, rice flakes and a bunch of interesting seasonings to make the burgers her own. They’re gluten free, vegan, dairy free and sugar free.
Hannah from Bittersweet offered up this amazing Golden Carrot Soup. Doesn’t it look incredibly rich and creamy, even without added cream? Hannah’s soup is sweet enough to suggest dessert–but would be a great savory addition to your meal. The soup is gluten free, vegan and sugar free.
Alisa from One Frugal Foodie cooked up a clever Pepperoni Beet Rice and Greens. Alisa thinks the beet greens in this dish confer a mild flavor, like spinach. And the beet “pepperoni” smells just like the real thing as it cooks! Her savory dish is vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free and low sugar.
These Tarragon Pickled Beets from Mom of Gluten-Free Edge are both sweet and savory. Based on a Harvard-style recipe, the beets would make a great accompaniment to just about anything. This sweet and savory dish is gluten free, nut free, soy free and sugar free.
Chaya (New York) from My Sweet or Savory (gotta love that blog name!) contributed a second recipe in this dish of Orange Beets with Almonds, which can be either sweet or savory, depending on seasonings. And this is perfect for those quick dinners at home–a single-serving recipe! It’as also gluten free and sugar free, easily vegan (use vegan butter).
Ellen from I Am Gluten Free sent in this wonderful savory Curried Beet Salad, a medley of contrasting flavors, textures and colors that sounds divine. It’s gluten free, sugar free and dairy free and vegan.
Lindsay from Kitchen Operas (Toronto) welcomes spring with this vibrant Magenta Beet and Lentil Salad inspired by a recipe from Mark Bittman. Thes salad is very versatile and allows for many variations. It’s also gluten free, nut free, and vegan.
Rachel from My Munchable Musings (Sammamish, WA) brings us not one, but two incredible beet dishes, both with roasted beets: the first is a savory Beets with Pistachio Butter (does that not sound divine?) that’s gluten free, vegan, and sugar free:
Alexa from Lexie’s Kitchen (Cheyenne) mixed this Roasted Pignoli Beet Salad for garlic lovers. . . not to mention pine nut lovers! The color is stunning as well. It’s also corn free, gluten free, nut free and easily ACD-adaptable.
Lisa, the voice behind the blog Vegan Cookbook Critic (Toronto), submitted this Beautiful Borscht Salad, a wonderful melding of Russian borscht and Lisa’s raw foods diet. And it truly is beautiful: just look at the color palette on this salad! It’s also vegan, gluten free, raw and sugar free.
Kim went for a Caramelized Onion, Beet and Rhubarb Compote that’s both a little savory and a little sweet. Try this over waffles, as Kim did, or instead of chutney with an Indian meal–yum! It’s gluten free, nut free, vegan, with an ACD-friendly variation.
My own savory contribution was the Beet Burger recipe I used to kick off the challenge. These burgers are easy to make and really tasty on their own or with all the fixins. They’re also gluten free, vegan, and ACD-friendly.
Even Kim’s Dad got in on the fun, with this recipe for Beet Burgers adapted from Greg Stagbouer! These are gluten free and vegan, with Dad’s own “secret” ingredient–his own seasoning mix!
(Adaption of a recipe from Greg Stagbouer, “Beet This Burger”)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon finely grated raw beet
½ cup cooked oats (quick or regular rolled oats)
1 cup uncooked oats (quick or regular rolled oats)
½ cup walnuts, coarsely ground
¼ cup almonds, coarsely ground
2 tablespoons chopped pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon Vegix seasoning or instant vegetable bouillon
¼ cup minced carrot shreds
¼ cup minced celery
¼ cup minced onion
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon Dad’s Seasoning Original Blend
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried rubbed sage
¼ teaspoon dried minced garlic
¼ teaspoon mustard powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari (gluten-free)
1 tablespoon water
Mix all dry ingredients well in one bowl, then add all vegetables, cooked oatmeal, and liquids.
Blend well until it has the look and consistency of ground beef. Form into patties and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to allow the burgers to firm up.
Cook carefully on a grill or saute in a pan with some olive oil until crispy brown and heated through.
Serve on whole wheat buns (or gluten-free buns) with your choice of condiments and toppings. Makes 6-8 burgers depending on size.
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Thanks, everyone, for contributing such an impressive array of recipes and making this inaugural SOS Challenge such a success! Stay tuned for the announcement of next month’s ingredient at the beginning of May.
