There’s a great little dish in Persian cuisine called Baghali Polo (i.e., lima bean rice). It’s quick, flavorful, and easy AF to veganize because it basically already is.
Mark Bittman posted this recipe in the NYT, which is slightly different from Ash’s version (namely, we don’t use butter and use more lima beans). Here is what you’ll need:
2 cups of extra-long Basmati rice
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped fresh dill (or quarter cup dried)
quarter teaspoon garlic powder
8-12 ounces of lima beans (cooked/canned/previously cooked)
Combine all of the above in a rice cooker, mixing occasionally so the ingredients don’t settle at the bottom. Most rice makers are automatic, so follow the standard instructions for time. Ours takes about 45 minutes for this dish.
That rice isn’t quite ready yet. Hey, while you’re reading this- you should really get a rice maker. They make life infinitely easier if you’re thinking about a plant-based diet.
As you can see, we topped this with Gardein’s Seven Grain “Chicken” Tenders, which we cooked in the oven per the instructions while the rice was going. The specific product we used is at this link, but you can use any analog product that tickles your fancy. Only recommendation is that you choose something that isn’t going to come in conflict with the dill flavoring.
I’m constantly amazed by all of the vegnews that passes by on a daily basis. So, let me distill some-a that (hyperlinks). This week:
NY Times covers Tesla‘s vegan interiors and highlights more, shall we say, accessible brands that are already giving vegans a choice. “In the case of Tesla, whose brand represents a kind of sustainable luxe, many vegans have complained that it makes no sense for an eco-friendly car to include animal products, given the significant amount of greenhouse gases the industrial agriculture sector emits. Even Nikola Tesla, the inventor for whom the car is named, they point out, was a vegetarian.”
I’d only been to Brooklyn once before (in college, mostly by accident), always foregoing New York’s most populous borough in favor of her glitzy cousin across the bridge. Over the past year, however, my interest piqued from hearing about Brooklyn’s many vegan ventures.
In particular, lore surrounding an all-vegan fromagerie caught my attention. This place was called (quite lore-erly) Riverdel. So, a pilgrimage was born.
First of all, for non-locals, Brooklyn isn’t small. I had naively envisioned a Dorothy-like skip over a bridge (possibly made from a rainbow), directly through the front door of Riverdel. In reality, a cab from Midtown Manhattan to the Crown Heights neighborhood where Riverdel sits takes 30 minutes.
Once you arrive though, you’re home free. The staff at Riverdel are knowledgeable, welcoming and passionate, which is important because there is so much to choose from and they really want to help you. The shop is a cozy, comfortable space but the variety of cheese and other specialty products (e.g. ‘faux gras’, pulled seitan, coconut yogurt) is robust.
Grilled cheese sammich expertly made by dairy-free fanatics as passionate as I am? YES. PLEASE.
Bonus: they peddle a selection of sandwiches and baked goods prepared in-house. Three small stools sit tucked under the front window, so if you are lucky (or patient), you can sit for a quick cheesy bite. I had a cup of dairy-free tomato bisque and a grilled cheese (with Vtopia aged cheddar and Follow Your Heart provolone wedged in with a couple of apple slices). Ash ordered The Texan (spicy cheeses and ‘pulled pork’ seitan sandwich). Melted and gooey, any nightmarish rumors about plastic vegan cheese seemed a million miles away.
We spent much more time at Riverdel than most can probably imagine, but still had time to take a 20 minute cab up to Williamsburg to visit 2 other vegan shops: The Brave Gentleman and Haymaker’s Corner Store.
The Brave Gentleman by Joshua Katcher is a 100% vegan men’s clothing line. The micro space showcasing his line is brimming tastefully with hats, coats, suits, along with “future leather” and “future suede” belts, wallets, shoes galore. Dapper is the best possible descriptor for this place. Ash bought some great slacks and a couple of cow-free ‘future leather’ belts.
Through a curtain at the back of the store (I’m not even kidding), or a more civilized walk outside around the corner of the building, you’ll find an adorable shop selling 100% vegan pantry basics. True to its corner store objective, you can buy some lip balm, vegan jerky, pre-packaged sandwiches to go, along with dry packaged goods and a pound of whole bean coffee. They will even grind it fresh in the store for you.
Dinner will be served in 40 minutes or less, (even if the food isn’t ready:) )
A lot of vegetables will be involved
Pre-packaged items will be involved (probably cheese)
It’s possible that something might burn
As a general rule, any beautiful, interesting dishes are a vision of Ash, but I like to share the sloppy stuff I make too, because they are definitely easy options for anyone in a hurry. And will taste good, I promise.
On tonight’s menu: Kite Hill spinach and ricotta ravioli with vegetable sauce and roasted brussel sprouts.
Kite Hill FTW!
Cut off their nub, then down the middle
Go Veggie parm is the best
How do I know the sauce is veg? The V sign on the back (or, read the ingredient list… a lot of sauces have milk in them.)
Organic? Sure. Why not.
Basil growing in our herb garden
First up: brussel sprouts. One of the best things that came out my plant-based transition is the discovery of roasting veg. I go on these great roast-sprees sometimes, shoving carrots, beets, cauliflower, garlic, squash, brussel sprouts (and any other unassuming vegetable casually passing through the fridge at the moment) into the oven to pre-make meals for later. It’s my firm belief that the reason veggies like brussel sprouts have a bad rap is because people try to boil them down to a goopy, bitter blahfest, instead of helping them realize their full potential in the oven.
Anyway, starting with the sprouts makes sense because that will take the longest. My favorite recipe is Barefoot Contessa‘s. So easy: mix halved brussel sprouts in olive oil, salt, and a lemon squeeze, then roast for 40 minutes at 400. Depending on the size of the brussel sprouts, you might go less (tonight’s were a 30-minute job, partially because I was hun-gray).
While that action is in progress, you can kick off the raviolis. These Kite Hill raviolis literally take 5 minutes because they are made already and refrigerated! Kite Hill is an amazing plant-based food company that primarily specializes in delicious cheese. All of their products are at Whole Foods. That’s just so you know. For now, start boiling some water and set them aside.
For sauce, I’m proudly ‘that guy’ that uses stuff in a jar. Tonight, we went with 365 Portobella Mushroom sauce (showing off its Vegan branding on the back). A lot of pre-made pasta sauces have milk in them, so I always check out the ingredients list or hope for the vegan insignia on the back of the bottle, like this one has.
Even though I can’t be bothered to sweat for something I can get in a jar, doesn’t mean I’m completely lazy. Chopping up 1 zucchini, 3 baby portobellos, and 5 cherry tomatoes to sautee with the sauce makes a world of difference. Once the vegetables have spent 5-10 minutes on the stove with some olive oil, we stirred in about half the jar of 365 sauce with a teaspoon of Go Veggie dairy-free parmesan, along with some chopped up basil from our herb garden. Then, set to dumping our raviolis in the boiling water.
Tomatoes, zucchini, baby portobellos getting to know one another.Plop… plop… plop… that’s literally how easy it is to make pre-made pasta.
Once the raviolis have spent about 5 minutes in boiling water and the sauce has heated, you’re done! Don’t forget about the brussel sprouts for chrissake!!
Very delicious.Side of sprouts, sharing the spotlight with a bottle of Leffe Blonde (which, by the way, is a vegan beer).
Whenever Ash goes out of town, decisions in the kitchen get questionable pretty quick. But, my culinary laziness coupled with dreary Sunday weather make an excellent occasion for dairy-free grilled cheese sandwiches!
Voila. A melty, gooey, savory snack that takes me home:
The dairy-free starting lineup for ma sammich: 365 Multi-seed vegan bread, Earth Balance butter, Follow Your Heart cheese, Vtopian Aged White Cheddar cultured cashew cheese, and an apple. Everything shown here is at any Whole Foods and they have several different flavors. Except Vtopian (vtopiancheeses.com) which I bought at Riverdel Vegan Cheese in Brooklyn (riverdelcheese.com)
How do I know my bread is vegan? Bottom left-hand corner. If you’re in a hurry in the grocery store, this is my quick reference. Otherwise, you can review the ingredient list, avoiding any listing dairy.Why apple slices on a grilled cheese sandwich? Why not! This idea came from Riverdel when we were there last weekend. Gives it a nice crunch and subtle sweet (and helps me pretend this is even close to healthy).Magic in process. Grill, baby, grill.
We love. This book. The “Vegan Bowls” concept is straightforward : balanced meals that fit in a bowl. Authored by Zsu Dever who “hails from a long line of culinary professionals and restaurateurs”, we appreciate that she knows what she is doing in the kitchen, but keeps things simple for the rest of us.
She opens with some basic recipes on staples like vegetable broth and corn tortillas, but isn’t a bully about making things from scratch. The information is there for those who want (or need) to make everything from scratch but readers can buy veg broth just as well. Ma’am speaks my language already.
The rest is organized by bowl type: grain bowls, sauteed bowls, pasta bowls… you get the idea. There’s something for everyone and the options are diverse, both regionally (e.g., Asian noodles vs Irish stew) and by mealtime (e.g. salads and soups vs breakfast).
For our first attempt, we took on paella. This is a familiar, personal dish for both of us – Jen having studied in Spain, Ash being Persian (hence, speaking the first language of saffron). This recipe didn’t disappoint! We’ve tried a couple variants on vegan paella over the past year, and this one is definitely the favorite.
The recipe is perfect as-is, but to suit our taste, next time, we’ll probably turn up the spice to give it a little more heat and a touch more saffron. Jen didn’t love the lima beans in this context so may try a substitute bean next go-round. The zucchini we’ll chop down to size even more than was recommended and roast the tomatoes (instead of sautee) .
Bonus: this recipe taught us a new, important word: soccharat – the flavorful crust that develops from rice at the bottom of the pan. Always wondered what that was called.
Super easy layout. THIS IS THE WHOLE RECIPE. (Also, this page is featured on the Vegan Bowls Amazon.com page, so I think I’m ok to share this here if you can’t see the recipe print and want to give it a shot yourself: http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Bowls-Perfect-Harmony-One-Bowl/dp/194125215X)Preparatory pictures. Aren’t vegetables beautiful?Cooking up magicBam! Folding on the peas, roasted artichokes, zucchini, and bell peppersBuy yourself some fresh, juicy lemons for this. Frozen peas won’t kill the dish, but some busted, dry lemons might.Ready and done. You’re supposed to put this in a bowl, but we improvised with a plate ’cause we’re very rebellious.
January 1, blog post 1. This time last year, we were still having omelets for breakfast and instructing a general attitude of weariness (and occasional kerfuffle) toward vegans. How things have changed in the last 365! More on that some other occasion, but now is the time for useful information.
We are starting our 1st waking hour of the new year with a tofu scramble. Thus, for our 1st post, it only seems natural to share our favorite scramble recipe. There are tons of options out there, but our favorite comes from The Minimalist Baker. Her recipe: http://minimalistbaker.com/southwest-tofu-scramble/
It’s cheap, it’s bumble-proof, it’s quick, so with 20 grams of protein (!!) in a sitting, it’s a no-brainer way to start the day. If you like egg scrambles, you will love this. The Minimalist Baker’s recipe is amazing, but the other great thing about this is its flexibility. As new and bumbling vegans, keeping things novel is important, so we try variations on this when it strikes our fancy. Successful versions have included:
add some extra spices we love (like cajun spices and cayenne)
mix and mingle different veggies (e.g., spinach instead of kale, HOW SCANDALOUS)
use extra firm tofu instead of firm
since we often live our food lives inside a tortilla, we also made this bad boy scramble into a burrito with generous heaps of avocado and a little salsa to spice things up.
Hot tip: listen to the author’s step 1 and drain/ press that tofu! Do not be a hero, a rebel, or stingy with your time here, unless you like weirdo textures in your scramble. (Hot tip 2: you don’t like weirdo textures.) Now that we have you committed to step 1, our personal preference is to drain/ press the tofu a little longer than the recipe calls for (20 minutes at least, longer if you want a firmer consistency… we’ve gone as long as an hour).
Enjoy! Happy New Year!
Drained and pressed tofu next to sauteeing veggies with spices sprinkled on top. You should mix all this up- but it looked pretty mid process for the picture:)VOILA! A delicious, healthy, protein monster (but a nice monster that’s cruelty-free).
NouVeauGan 