Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

As you might have gathered, I'm experimenting with "veganized" South American food lately-- especially Peruvian (my dad's background) and Ecuadorian (my youngest grandson is part Ecuadorian).  I've also been experimenting with various ways to use quinoa, Quinoa, Soul Food of the Andes. (See this post for a hot quinoa beverage.)  One day, recently, I had some leftover cooked quinoa, and everything else in the house that I needed to try this common type of Andean soup.  It's an easy soup to put together, and open to many variations. I took the liberty of adding some colorful and delicious butternut squash to the soup, which  fed us heartily for several lunches!

You know, it's interesting that alot of Andean food is meat-based (and in Peru, chicken and seafood are used frequently), but in the time of the Incas, the diet was heavily vegetable and corn-based.  It is estimated that the Inca cultivated around seventy crop species.  According to http://peru-facts.co.uk/inca-food.html, "The Inca diet was mainly vegetarian based and involved them eating vegetables such as potatoes as their staple diet. Although potatoes were the main source of food for the Incas other food such as quinoa, beans, squash, sweet potatoes, avocados, tomatoes and manioc were also heavily involved within the Inca peoples diet."


Printable Version

Last May I experimented with a Latin American fruit and oat "smoothie", and we really enjoyed it.  I began researching and discovered a myriad of Central and South American beverages made with grains. Indeed, South Americans seem to love grain drinks, and I think it's a fabulous idea to use different grains to thicken and enrich beverages.  So, way back in May, I promised that I would  experiment with more of these drinks, but the book sort of got in the way of much experimentation!  However, I'm on a bit of a Peruvian and South American cooking roll, so I decided to try two beverages today.  I'm very happy with the results and I hope you'll try them!

A hurried shot of dinner last night-- tortillas get cold fast!


Yesterday we had to go to town on various bits of business, and we decided to have lunch at a little cafe, the Roadrunner Cafe, that's been in Courtenay for years, attached to a motel, but never really attracted our attention.  But I've been intrigued by their new sign "Tortilla Factory" for some time, so we thought we'd go check it out for lunch.  It's under new management, a couple and their daughter, it looked like, and the female half of the couple, and the cook, is from Mexico.  It's very diner-like inside, with colorful, but kitchy, Mexican décor.  The menu is small (they serve breakfast and lunch and close at 2 PM) and not terribly vegan-friendly, but, as they advertise, they have a few vegetarian entries and lots of gluten-free choices.  One, the Veggi-Lover's Quesadilla, can be made vegan, though, by asking for no cheese and more veggies in the filling.  It comes with mildly spicy pureed beans and fresh salsa.  (BTW, the tortillas are served soft, not fried, so nothing is greasy!) There is also a cheese quesadilla with a bean sauce.  Hmmm, I wonder if they would do the veggie quesadilla with the bean sauce??  One can only ask!  Anyway, the service was friendly, the tea was nice and strong and came in a Brown Betty teapot, and the price was right!  Of course, I had to take home some fresh tortillas!  (Those of you south of the border or who live in Vancouver, may not realize how hard it is to purchase fresh tortillas in small BC communities!)



On the way home, I asked DH for some dinner ideas, and he suggested crepes with asparagus (we had some asparagus in the fridge).  But I was still over-the-moon about the fresh tortillas, and wanted to eat them immediately, so I asked, why not asparagus in tortillas instead of crepes?  He was all for it, so this is what I came up with in a very short amount of time (making it up as I went).  It was very fast and easy and very tasty!


You could use more filling, if you like, and eat it with a knife and fork!

Printable Recipe


BRYANNA'S ASPARAGUS AND MUSHROOM SOFT TACOS WITH LIME AND CHILE CREMA
Serves 3

12 small fresh corn tortillas
Crema:
Filling:
4 tsp. olive oil
8 medium white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly-sliced
1 lb. asparagus, cleaned, trimmed and cut into 1" lengths
salt to taste
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. hot smoked paprika (pimenton) (you could use chipotle powder for more heat)
OPTIONAL:  about 1/2 cup grated vegan cheese (I used white Daiya)
Garnishes (optional):
chopped fresh cilantro or Italian parsley
hot tomato salsa
sliced avocado tossed in lime juice
hot sauce

Make the Crema before you start anything else.  (I had to make the Tofu Sour Creme, as well, but that only takes a few minutes and the rest will keep in the fridge for another meal.)  Whisk everything together.  If you have a small squeeze bottle, scoop the Crema into that.

Heat the tortillas in a tortilla warmer, or warm them in a covered casserole in the oven, OR in the microwave for a minute or two (if you use the microwave, heat them AFTER the Filling is done). Here's advice on using a terra cotta tortilla warmer in your stove's oven, and here is advice for using it in a microwave.  You can use other types of covered casseroles or tortilla warmers.  You can also wrap them in foil and use the oven.  You could wrap them in cloth and use a bamboo or other steamer.  Here is a page with examples of the many ways to heat soft tortillas: http://ask.metafilter.com/16385/Warming-Tortillas.

To make the Filling, heat the oil in a large wok, stir-fry pan or skillet (preferably well-seasoned wok or cast iron skillet, or nonstick pan).  When it's hot, add the onion and mushrooms, sprinkle with salt (to help release the juices) and stir-fry like crazy!  Add a small splash of hot water if it's sticking.  When the onion wilts, add the garlic and stir-fry a bit more.  Add the asparagus pieces and stir-fry, keeping the asparagus moving.  It's okay of it chars a bit.  Sprinkle with a little more salt and the cumin and paprika.  Add about 1/4 cup of veggie broth, white wine, or water.  Cover and cook over high heat just until the liquid is gone and the asparagus is crisp-tender.

If you use the vegan cheese, you can add it before serving or sprinkle it on top of each serving.  My Daiya cheese was frozen, so I crumbled it on top of the vegetables and put the lid over it for a minute to melt it.

Quickly microwave the tortillas if you haven't got them warming already (see above).

For each serving, place 2 hot, soft tortillas on a warmed dinner plate and top each with another tortilla (so you have 2 stacks of 2 tortillas each).  Scoop 1/6th of the filling down the middle  of each torilla stack. Drizzle of squirt some of the Crema over each mound of filling.  Serve immediately and let the diners add their own garnishes before folding the tacos and eating (leaning over the plate) with lots of napkins!  Very satisfying!


Enjoy!