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

In the summer I always have a hearty grain/bean/vegetable/and/or/pasta salad (or 2) in the fridge, just as I have a soup (same basic ingredients) around during the colder weather.  Not only do DH and I take some for work lunches, and eat them for lunch or dinner when we're in a hurry or too pooped to cook, but they make for hearty, healthy snacking, too.

Yesterday, I found that we were salad-less, so I checked the fridge, freezer and cupboard for items that needed using and other likely ingredients.  Since I had some skinny green beans already semi-cooked in the refrigerator, I decided to make some sort of 3-Bean Salad, but not a sweet one. Rummaging around, I found a cut red onion (well-wrapped, of course) in the vegetable drawer, shelled edamame (green soybeans) in the freezer, a can of Romano beans and a jar of roasted red peppers in the cupboard.  And, let's not forget, plenty of basil growing in pots on the back deck and some fresh, locally-grown Rocambole garlic from some neighbors up the road.  Plenty of fodder for a great salad-- just needs a dressing.  The result is the recipe below.

                                                                      Rocambole garlic

But, first, the "happy accident".

I'm not providing a recipe, just a guide, because it was a spur of the moment recipe and I didn't write it down. Two nights ago, I had made a simple-but-delicious Greek-style white bean dish with lots of peppers and onions braised in a little olive oil and their own juices. (See photo at right.) The recipe is on my blog here.  I had doubled the amount of white beans in the dish this time because my stepson was here and he is usually a big eater.  But, he was in a hurry, so I ended up with leftovers, which turned out to be the basis of another good salad.  The bean dish is flavored with garlic, basil and some red wine vinegar, so I figured that we were pretty much there already!

I also had some leftover bulgur wheat pilaf in the refrigerator, made with extra-coarse (#4) bulgur, which cooks up almost like barley, so I decided to mix that in with the leftover bean dish and season with a little of my usual balsamic vinaigrette.  It turned out to be very delicious, particularly, I believe, because of the large amount of braised bell peppers and onions in the original dish.

So, make the recipe for Greek-Style White Beans with Peppers and Onions in Olive Oil, but use 2 cans (or 4 cups home-cooked) white kidney beans or cannellini beans.  Use 2 parts cold, leftover bean dish to 1 part cooked grain. (You can use any cooked whole grain that you like.) Add a large handful of chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley and season with your favorite vinaigrette (not too much, because the beans are already seasoned-- add a bit, mix, taste...).  Keep refrigerated until serving. That's it!

**Now, here's the new 3-Bean Salad recipe:



1 large roasted red pepper (home-roasted or from a jar, rinsed), seeded and chopped
1 cup frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans), boiled for 4 minutes and drained
about 10 oz. of  thin fresh green beans, steamed or boiled just until crisp-tender, drained
2 cups cooked or canned (one 19 oz. can) Romano (or pinto) beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
1/3 cup minced red or sweet onion
Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (or organic bottled)
1/4 cup aquafaba or Oil Substitute for salad Dressings
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard
1 large clove garlic, crushed
3/4 teaspoon salt
freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Gently toss together all of the vegetables, herbs and onion in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together the Dressing ingredients.  Pour over the vegetables and toss again.  Taste for salt and pepper.  Keep refrigerated until serving.

Enjoy!

This is the third summer in a row that I have tackled Peruvian lucuma ice cream, vegan-style:

Take #1, 2010: http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.ca/2010/08/some-simple-summer-meals-kitchen.html

Take #2, 2011: http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.ca/2011/08/vegan-peruvian-style-lucuma-ice-cream.html

Lucuma is a Peruvian fruit and, as many of you may know, my father was Peruvian. I remember lucuma ice cream from my three months in Peru as a six-year-old. Lucuma is a fruit with a quite dry texture, so it is mostly used to make a delectable, rich ice cream. Lucuma itself is rather sweet and has a butterscotch-y sort of flavor. When I was in Vancouver in August 2010, I found a store with Peruvian foods and bought some frozen lucuma puree-- what a coup, I thought!

Now, ideally, I would use the pulp of the fresh fruit, but it's hard to come by lucuma fruit on Vancouver Island. So, I was thrilled to find a bag of frozen lucuma pulp and I set about working out a recipe using it.  Here is what I wrote in 2010: "I worked out a recipe based on my vanilla gelato recipe made with Instant Clearjel, with the help of a (non-vegan) recipe from the internet. After splattering the kitchen with soy cream after a little accident (Mercury is in retrograde-- what can I say?), I made the mix and tasted it-- WAY too sweet!! I couldn't figure it out! My gelato is not as sweet as most, and I had used less sweetener than the non-vegan recipe called for (in relation to the volume of liquid, etc.). So, I got out my (new, under-used) reading glasses and read the small print on the bag of lucuma puree-- sugar! I had been assuming that it was unsweetened, since the label did not say 'sweetened' and the recipes I found online all called for unsweetened puree. My mistake!" (Read the rest of the adventure here.)

I ended up making a pretty successful batch after that one, with no sugar in it.  But, unfortunately, I knew that I would not be able to order lucuma pulp (sweetened or not) on the internet, so I wanted to find an alternative.  The obvious was lucuma powder. It seems that lucuma is all the rage in the raw foods community and is even used as a natural sweetener. I found some at a good price from this Canadian vendor, and ordered 2 lbs for future experiments. In August of 2011 I developed a recipe for the ice cream using the lucuma powder. It was pretty tasty, but, of course, not as good as that made with the fruit itself.

The other day I decided to use up my last bit of the sweetened lucuma puree in my freezer and make the ice cream without nondairy creamer in it.  Because I used plain, unsweetened soymilk and no creamer, I ended up adding just 2 tablespoons of agave nectar. The recipe is simple to make and I thought the texture was great.  The taste was good and we certainly enjoyed it, but I am still on the trail of a vegan, North American version with real authentic Peruvian flavor-- I'll have to track down some unsweetened puree and use more of it, but, next, I'll try using more lucuma powder and I have a few ideas up my sleeve. (If you've used these products with any success, I'd love to hear about it!)  Stay tuned!



Printable Recipe

Along with that we had a Charred Corn, Black Bean & Toasted Barley Salad from the book "Spilling the Beans: Cooking and Baking with Beans and Grains Everyday". (Not a vegan book, but lots of recipes vegans can use or veganize.) The recipe is here (I added some salt to the dressing).

           For our last company dinner, we had some of my husband's yummy homemade bread:

                                     And, since we've got plenty of basil growing on the deck....


I made a creamy pasta dish, using leftover Tofu Sour Cream, Tofu/Cashew Ricotta, and Quick Tofu Feta Crumble (from the squash tart recipe above) mixed with white vermouth, soy milk, garlic, soy parmesan, and LOTS of sliced fresh basil for the sauce.  I also added mushrooms and chopped tomatoes.  I was "winging" it and in a hurry, so I didn't write it down, but it was gobbled up...
                               My Vegan lemon and Coconut "Pound Cake"  from my blog.

And, when we were all alone again, we had this for lunch:
Spaghetti with Garlic, Roasted Chickpeas & Braised Kale or Chard (I used some of both).  DH really liked this and so did I!  It was also from the book "Spilling the Beans: Cooking and Baking with Beans and Grains Everyday". (Not a vegan book, but lots of recipes vegans can use or veganize.) The recipe is online here.

                                                                     And for dinner:

                                                                            and
Spinach Salad with Mushrooms, Artichokes and Sundried Tomatoes with Creamy Lemon-Agave Dressing from my blog.

I'll be writing again soon!

I developed this recipe some time ago, but somehow never got around to posting it.  It's one of our favorite low-fat summer treats now.  It's so simple and easy to make and contains very little sugar because of the natural sweetness of pineapple.  No one ever guesses that there is tofu in it because silken tofu has a very neutral taste and an extremely smooth texture, and because pineapple is the main ingredient. Large flakes of toasted coconut coated in caramel-ly brown rice syrup add some crunch, contrast and texture to the smooth sherbet. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do!

Printable Recipe

Last Sunday we had a family party (24 of us) for my granddaughter Mariah's 13th birthday.  Because Mariah loves coffee flavor, I made two 9 x 13-inch Chocolate Mudpie Cakes with Coffee/Coconut/Pecan Icing (except that I used almonds instead of pecans, which I was short of).  To go with it, I made a double batch of the following ice cream. There were only a few vegans there, but everyone loved this rich-tasting treat, and we had no leftovers to bring home (which is a good thing, since we are weight-watching!).

               The Birthday Girl cutting her cake, with eager guests waiting.




Printable Recipe