teabowl

I can trace my recent improvements on the vegetarian cooking front to one insight in particular (thanks to the stir fry section in Heidi Swanson’s book, credited/linked below): that almost every stove-top vegetarian dish is vastly enhanced with vegetable stock cubes.

Stock cubes are magical, easy-to-apply, highly compressed morsels of savoury goodness. They can add flavour and balance to almost any vegetable stir fry, sauce/gravy or pasta dish. They can elevate what would otherwise just be a side dish of bland-ish veggies to a surprising little main event.

My cooking now routinely includes quickly preparing a coffee mug full of dense vegetable stock. I let one or two cubes dissolve while I prep the vegetables, and it’s ready to go when I need it to keep things moist, after the initial sautéing/browning. If I want to add some extra flavour (say, for a little Indian spice or Chinese sweetness), the hot broth is a perfect delivery vehicle for curry powder, vegetarian oyster sauce, black bean sauce, and the like. Just dissolve the other spices or sauces in it before applying.

In practical terms, here are a few ideas where stock cubes can make or break a dish:

• Green asparagus, in season right now (or maybe just out of season…), quickly sautéd with some onion, then cooked in veggie stock for 5-8 minutes at medium heat until soft-ish.
• The same thing, only with green beans (they require slightly less time – 3-5 minutes – and should still be slightly crunchy when served).
• Any vegetable stir fry, flash fried, then cooked in half a cup of vegetable stock with a table spoon of Indonesian yellow curry powder over brown rice.
• Vegetable fried rice cooked in a cup of vegetable broth in which some black bean sauce has been dissolved.
• The delicious veggie bake previously described (which, incidentally, also benefits tremendously from asparagus tips).

In the higher heat stir fries, the vegetable stock will reduce while cooking, become slightly thick and form a kind of sauce. You can certainly add salt, pepper and other spices or herbs, but be cautious with the salt because stock cubes can be quite salty. When in doubt, skip the additional salt. Another word of caution is for fried rice dishes – adding too much stock too late in the process results in a soggy mess that might taste delicous but whose appearance and mouth feel are more like a strange risotto.

Heidi Swanson’s book unfortunately seems to be more or less out of print, but it’s a fabulous work – sort of a ’structuralist’ approach to preparing vegetarian dishes. In it, instead of presenting recipes in the traditional way, she finds structural similarities between similar dishes, establishes the ‘archetype’ and helps you understand the concept behind what you’re making rather than letting you puzzle out the mysteries of each preparation style yourself. It’s a very empowering read for those of us who gain confidence from intellectually understanding something, and worth any amount of money you can find it for.

Cook 1.0

Heidi Swanson. Stewart, Tabori and Chang 2004, Hardcover, 192 pages, $75.00

When you don’t feel like assembling a whole lasagna, or change your mind at the last minute – this is a very tasty and healthy vegetarian pasta bake. For us, it feels a bit ‘festive’ each time we make it; as if we’re treating ourselves.

1.5 bags brown rice pasta (spirals or penne; Tinkyada is a good brand)
1 small onion, cubed
2 red peppers, chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced into small pieces
1 zuchini, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch spinach, washed and chopped into 1″ pieces
2+ cups vegetarian stock
Oregano, salt, pepper to taste
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2 cups of grated aged white cheddar
Quarter cup of grated parmesan

Pour olive oil into a large lidded frying pan, add all the vegetables (excepting spinach), and sauté until they begin to soften. Add the stock, oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, on medium heat, about 10 minutes. Add spinach to wilt, stirring occasionally. Recover, and cook another 2-5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Prepare the rice pasta as per the manufacturer’s description. (It makes sense to try one occasionally while it’s cooking – rice pasta should be ‘al dente’ and not too soft, and it turns too soft very quickly). When it’s cooked, drain and rinse well using hot tap water. Once the excess water has dripped off, add the pasta to the vegetables, and fold together so that the veggies are evenly distributed and the pasta is fully coated by the sauce. The key to this recipe is that the veggies aren’t dry; they need quite a lot of sauce. So if you’re thinking your veggie mix is too wet – it’s actually just right.

Rub or spray a very light coat of olive oil onto the inner surface of a large lasagna baking pan. Pour pasta & veggie mixture into it. Distribute cheddar evenly on top and then sprinkle with parmesan. Add salt and pepper if desired.

Briefly bake at 350°F (5 minutes at the most) until the cheese starts to melt. Then, briefly broil it (2-3 minutes) on high to brown the cheese slightly. Remove from oven and let cool down slightly before serving. Serves 4 very hungry people or 6 if you’re also serving a salad and dessert.

If you’re like me and are always looking for low-fuss lunch food that can be pre-cooked and stored in the fridge for a few days, this is a nice recipe. I use a rice cooker for it. You can definitely make this in a regular stovetop pot, but the steps are slightly different (sweat the onions first, then add the grains and stock).

3 measures short grain brown rice
1 measure black beluga lentils
2 measures vegetarian stock
4 measures water
1 yellow cooking onion
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
1 small can of corn niblets

Get your rice cooker ready. Chop the onion into small-ish pieces. Add olive oil to bottom of rice cooker and add the onion. Add rice and lentis, stock, water and salt. Stir a few times. Start the rice cooker.

After 50 minutes (of whenever your rice cooker thinks it’s done), open the lid, stir the pilaf and add the corn (drain liquid from the can first!).

That’s it. Ridiculously easy! It makes a large amount, and it keeps well for about a week in the fridge. You can warm it up or eat it cold.

Red kale is an interesting discovery. Not something I see very often in any of the grocery stores I frequent, even the organic ones. Our desire to include more greens in our meals often results in very ‘earthy’ tasting food – green kale, for example, is very sturdy and can be a little tough, even if steamed for 20 minutes. Red kale, on the other hand, is soft and sweetly fragrant. As greens go, it’s as innocent as spinach (and tastes slightly better).

Last night, I made a colourful vegan pasta dish that’s a variation on a stir fry principle and uses red kale, zucchini, red pepper, black olives and onion. Here’s the recipe. As always, my recipes aren’t super precise, so you should trust your instincts and approach it with caution the first time!

Medium red onion
Half a bunch of red kale (4-5 large leaves)
Half a red pepper
Medium zucchini
One stalk celery
One cup sliced, pitted black lives
8-10 basil leaves
One cup vegetarian stock (from cube)
Olive oil
Four vegetarian sausages (Italian flavour)
Salt to taste
One pack of brown rice fusilli (or other substantial shaped rice pasta)

Chop onion into thin half rings. Cut out centre stems from red kale and wash it well by soaking it briefly in a bowl of water. Cut red kale into small chunks (quarter inch by one inch pieces, more or less). Cut red pepper and zucchini into small cubes. Cut celery stalk into thin slices. Chop basil leaves into small pieces. Prepare vegetarian stock in a cup of hot water.

Cut vegetarian sausages into half inch slices and fry them, on both sides, in a small frying pan with some olive oil until quite crisp and a little dry. Set aside.

In a larger frying pan or wok, heat up olive oil at high heat, and add onion, red pepper, zucchini and celery. Fry until the onion is soft (glassy) and add half the stock and a little salt. Cover, and let simmer for 5-10 minutes (depends on how soft you like your veggies). Add red kale, olives and basil as well as the second half cup of stock, re-cover and cook for another 5 minutes to soften the kale. Remove from heat and stir in the sausages.

Serve over al dente rice pasta (cook according to instructions on package). Add grated cheese (parmesan or aged cheddar) to serve if desired. Serves 2-3 hungry people, 3-4 if you have a starter and dessert. Add a clove or two of garlic during the original frying stage for even more flavour.

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4-6 medium yellow potatoes, diced (no need to peel)
1 pound (450g bag) green lentils, picked over and rinsed
4 vegetarian stock cubes (low-salt if possible)
6-8 cups water (you may need more – I used about 150% of the volume of the lentils)
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons parsley (fresh is better)
3 tablespoons yellow curry powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar, sucanat, agave juice or honey

In a large pot, heat olive oil and fry onions, celery, garlic and potatoes until the onions and celery are soft. Add lentils, stock cubes, water and salt. Stir and bring to a boil at a high temperature, then boil at medium heat for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are soft and the lentils are tender. Add curry and parsley, continue to boil at medium heat for another 5 minutes.

Using a hand blender (if you have one), puree about 30% of the soup to get a softer, smoother consistency. Take off the heat source and stir in your preferred sweetener.

The quantities are approximations – they should work, but lentil soup isn’t an exact science :) What you’re aiming for is something thinner than daal and thicker than a regular soup – it’s really a ’stew’ you’re making.

This is highly recommended. Great food and amazing pictures. For those who, like me, enjoy their cookbooks well illustrated, this is definitely worth buying.

World Food Caf,

Chris Caldicott. Frances Lincoln 2006, Paperback, 192 pages, $14.71

(Amazon, apparently, cannot reliably display accented characters, like ‘é.’)

(Direct URL: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0711217513/)

I was served this delicious and very rich vegetarian dish tonight. It stems from an out-of-print cook book by Mary S. Atwood called Adventures in Indian Cooking (1972). Well worth making. Tonight, it was served with basmati rice, spiced green beans in tomato sauce and home-made naan.

4 eggs
4 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon clarified butter
2 medium potatoes, cooked and cut in half-inch slices
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves

2 tablespoons ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
pinch each of turmeric and cinnamon
1/2 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime juice

Beat eggs, milk and salt together. Melt butter and make an omelet. Fold in half and cut into 1/2-inch strips. Heat oil and brown onions. Remove half of them and set aside for garnishing. To the remaining onions in pan, add cloves, coriander, ginger, chili powder, turmeric, cinnamon and bay leaf. Fry for a minute or two. Put in coconut milk and salt; simmer for 5 minutes. Add potato slices and omelet strips and continue simmering until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat. Stir in lime juice. Garnish with reserved browned onion.

Variation: Instead of omelet strips, poached eggs can be added just before serving.