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

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It's the 2nd Big Vegan (by Robin Asbell) Potluck day and I chose to make the Armenian Red Lentil-Apricot Stew with Sesame Rice.  I love Armenian cooking and this sounded like a lovely blend of sweet and savory.  The ingredients for the stew are so colorful!



As Robin mentions in the book, all you need to make this a whole meal is a salad. A bonus is that it's a very easy meal to prepare-- a little chopping, rinsing the lentils, measuring out the spices and that's it, really!

After you get the stew simmering, you can start on the rice:

  Chopping the shallots.

Sauteing the shallots, sesame seeds, and rice kernels before adding the liquid.

My husband and a friend shared this together and were all impressed by the combination of the rice bathed in mild humus flavors (tahini and lemon juice, in addition to the toasted sesame seeds) with the hearty, flavorful stew.  We particularly liked the addition of the dried apricots, which added a real zing to the dish, already redolent of sweet and hot spices and the fragrance of mint. It is actually a perfect autumn meal!




ARMENIAN RED LENTIL-APRICOT STEW WITH SESAME RICE
Serves 6
Red lentils simmer into a creamy stew, piqued with bits of tangy apricot and tender eggplant. The warming spices make it even more delicious, perfect over the sesame-fortified brown rice.

1 cup/250 g red lentils, rinsed
1 medium onion, chopped
14 oz/400 g canned/tinned diced tomatoes
1 small Japanese eggplant/aubergine, peeled and diced
½ cup/85 g dried apricot, chopped
2 tsp paprika
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 cup/30 g chopped fresh parsley
½ cup/15 g fresh mint, chopped
Rice:
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 large shallots, chopped
¼ cup/35 g sesame seeds
1 ½ cups/320 g long-grain brown rice
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp tahini paste
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. In a 4-qt/3.8-L pot, combine 1 qt/960 ml water, the lentils, and onion. Bring them to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add the eggplant/aubergine, tomatoes, and apricots and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes.

3. When the lentils are falling-apart tender and the vegetables are also tender, add the paprika, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cayenne and simmer for another 5 minutes to marry the flavors to bring the flavors together. Add the parsley and mint just before serving. Keep the stew warm while cooking the rice.

1. To make the rice: In a 2-qt/2-L pot over medium heat, sauté the shallots in the oil . When the shallots are clear and soft, add the sesame seeds and sauté for 5 minutes.

2. Add 3 cups/720 ml water, the rice, and salt. Bring them to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover. Check after 35 minutes. When all the water has been absorbed, remove the pot from the heat and let it sit, covered, to finish steaming the rice, 5 to 10 minutes.

3. In a small cup, stir together the tahini and lemon juice, then fold them into the rice. Serve the rice hot with a ladleful of stew on top.

Robin Asbell http://robincooksveg.wordpress.com/
Author of Big Vegan (Chronicle Books, Fall 2011)

Click here to follow Big Vegan's virtual potluck and get more of Robin's recipes.


Enjoy!

A very hot mango chutney in the foreground; 2 raitas behind that

On Saturday we celebrated another birthday-- for my friend H., hosted by some mutual friends D. and J. The birthday girl's  favorite cuisine is Indian, and she is a vegan (also wheat-free), so her friends, even the omni ones, arranged this festive meal. There were 9 of us at the table and it was a fun and delicious meal-- and pretty fiery, at times (H.'s mango chutney really cleared our sinuses!).


The Birthday Girl!

Here are some views of the food and the fun before we plunged in:


J.'s delicious curried squash soup in the foreground.


Our hosts, on the right, with a friend.


A view of the whole feast-- that's my dish of Blackeyed Peas and Corn with Dill behind the bowls. This is an easy and delicious recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's wonderful book, World Vegetarian.

Another shot of the Madhur Jaffrey dish:


'
"Just goofin' around!"


B.'s fusion curried chickpea and veggie tortilla roll-ups in the foreground; J.'s curried rice dish behind that, with my dish of Eggplant Pomegranate relish (recipe below) to the left and, Masala Chickpeas behind that.





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I happened on a recipe in an old issue of Saveur magazine (my daughter gave me several years' worth of back issues recently) for an Eggplant Pomegranate Relish.  The recipe is probably more Mediterranean than Indian, but it had some heat and I thought it would make a nice accompaniment to Indian dishes, even if it wasn't authentic.  I also happened to have an eggplant that needed using and I love pomegranate molasses!  I played with the recipe a bit and I'll post my version of the recipe below.  It's very easy to make and quite delicious!  I added some brown sugar to my version as it seemed to need a counterpoint to the tartness, but do what you will!

ABOUT POMEGRANATE MOLASSES (known as nasrahab in Georgian and dibs rumman in Arabic) It is an essential Middle Eastern ingredient. It has a wonderful flavor and heady aroma, and keeps in the refrigerator after opening almost indefinitely. The Iranian kind tends to be sweeter and thinner than the Lebanese brands.


The uses for this thick, tangy, piquant syrup are many. It blends well with walnuts, adds a tart and pungent flavor to beans and other savory dishes, and gives an astringent edge to salads and vegetables. It is delicious in glazes and marinades and it can even be diluted and used for sharp drinks and tart sorbets.


This should not be confused with grenadine syrup, which is made from the same base but has sugar and other other flavorings added.


Pomegranate molasses is available from Middle Eastern, Greek and Persian grocery stores, and gourmet food stores.






Printable Recipe


I had maybe five minutes to figure something out. I had made a double batch of my Almond Creme Topping (would have used Soyatoo Topping Creme if I'd had some around), with a little cardamom in it for an Indian touch. My DH was quite impressed that I didn't get in a tizzy this time, but calmly scooped some of the Almond Creme into a glass serving bowl, added some crumbled cake (I could not use alot of the center part, which was too gooey), some low-sugar apricot jam, and did about 3 layers that way. I topped it with toasted almond slivers (toasted in the microwave in a hurry) and organic candied ginger, chopped in the food processor.

Off we went, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of it before we ate it, but it was a hit!  Whew!   DH and I ate the inside part a couple of days later, which was like a rich chocolate pudding!

Cheers!

This will be my last blog post until July 6th or so, when I get back from the McDougall "Celebrity Chef" Weekend in Santa Rosa, Ca. I'll be in good company, with Chef Kevin Dunn, executive chef and creator of the Vegetarian Awakening vegan chef's conferences; Susan Voisin from the fat free vegan blog; Colleen Patrick-Goudreau from the Compassionate Cooks blog; Jill Nussinow, "The Veggie Queen"; Miyoko Schinner from the Artisan Vegan Life blog; and Chef Eric Tucker of Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco. Wow!

We will all, along with Mary McDougall, be demonstrating flavorful, no-fat-added recipes for the participants to recreate at home. I'm doing a workshop on breakfast foods on Saturday morning, and a work shop on "The Elegant Bean" on Sunday.

So, I'll be filling you in when I get back! In the meantime, I'm posting a delicious eggplant dish that I made the other day. A medical practitioner recommended that  my husband eat more eggplant. Now, I've been telling him that for ages, because eggplant is a great source of viscous fiber-- "the 'sticky' type of soluble fiber found in oats, barley and beans, and certain vegetables such as okra and eggplant. Viscous fibers help binding the cholesterol in your digestive tract and sweep it out of your body. In another word, soluble fiber act as a sponge, absorbing cholesterol and carrying it out of your system. People at less-developed countries (such as China) are less prone to having high blood cholesterol because their diet are high on viscous fiber." See: http://foodheal.blogspot.com/2006/07/eating-to-lower-cholesterol-1-viscous.html You can read more about this here: "Portfolio Diet".

I love eggplant, but DH has only eaten it reluctantly, except when I make Szechuan eggplant, which he does like. So I thought I'd start out with a stir-fry. I found the following recipe on a great website called "Ashbury's Aubergines" that has thousands of eggplant (aubergine) recipes!

I wanted to cut down the oil a bit, so I experimented with a technique I read about in Cook's Illustrated magazine. Eggplant soaks up oil like a sponge-- as the authors say, "it's essentially a sponge, ready to absorb anything, and it's packed with water. This one-two punch transforms the eggplant into oil-soaked mush before it has a chance to caramelize."

and:

"The Solution: First we needed to dehydrate the eggplant, but the traditional salting method didn't sufficiently dry it out. Combining salting and microwaving did work— after we put a few disposable coffee filters under the eggplant to keep it from poaching in its leached-out liquid. The eggplant (now reduced to a third its original size) could be sautéed in a much smaller amount of oil (1 tablespoon vs. nearly 1/2 cup). The eggplant plumped up nicely when added back to the other vegetables to stew, absorbing these other flavors instead of just oil."

So, what you do is, cut your eggplant into chunks or strips and toss it with a bit of kosher salt in bowl. Line entire surface of large microwave-safe plate with double layer of [unbleached] coffee filters and lightly spray with oil from a pump sprayer. Spread the eggplant in one even layer over the filters. Microwave on high until the eggplant is dry and shriveled to one-third of its size, 8 to 15 minutes (the eggplant should not brown). (If your microwave has no turntable, rotate the plate after 5 minutes.) Use in your recipe. It worked!

(PS: For anyone who is still afraid of using a microwave oven, here's some information you may be interested in reading.)



Printable Copy
BRAISED EGGPLANT WITH SUNDRIED TOMATOES, BRYANNA'S VERSION
Serves 2-4

This was delicious and DH loved it, even though heclaims to hat eggplant.

1 pound eggplant, peeled and cut into strips and prepared as above
1 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, diced (I washed the oil off with hot water and patted them dry)
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 small tomato, peeled
seeded and diced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and jalapeno pepper and cook over high heat until the garlic is soft. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and prepared eggplant (see text above). Turn the heat to medium. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes until the eggplant is tender. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar to the skillet. Cook until the liquid is almost absorbed. Add tomato and parsley or cilantro. Stir to combine. Remove from the heat.

I served this with brown basmati rice, but it would be great cold with baguettes or pita bread or rye crisp!

Enjoy and have a great week!

What I made for lunch the other day-- I call them "Mediterranean Quesadillas". I had some grilled eggplant and zucchini, and some wholewheat tortillas, leftover from dinner the night before. I cut one tortilla in half and spread one half with Ajvar, a Balkan red pepper and eggplant spread (see more about this and a recipe below), and the other half with vegan mayonnaise (my low-fat version). Then I added the grilled veggies, plus roasted green peppers (you could use red ones) thin slices of smoked tofu, and fresh basil leaves.

I put it together and cooked over medium heat in a nonstick pan until golden and crispy on both sides.  Cut into wedges with a sharp knife. This will serve 1-2, depending on appetite. Have napkins handy!

ABOUT AJVAR (pronounced Eye-vahr):  
This delicious condiment is originally from Macedonia, Croatia, and Serbia, but is popular also in Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey, etc., and all over the Middle East now, it seems. It is sometimes called "vegetable caviar", and  there is hot ajvar and mild ajvar. In some areas they use roasted green peppers.

Commercial versions are inexpensive in Middle Eastern stores and many brands are available from amazon.com. Trader Joe's sells it but they don't call it ajvar on the label. They call it Trader Joe's Red Pepper Spread with Eggplant and Garlic. I understand that Whole Foods sells an organic version with "Ajvar" on the label.


USES FOR AJVAR:

I use it on all kinds of wraps, panini, and sandwiches:


Panini made with my homemade ajvar and vegan white "cheese", recipe in my book "World Vegan Feast".

It also makes a great cracker spread or a dip. Serve it as an appetizer to spread on thick slices of country-style bread or flatbread such as pita or lavosh, or use it as a side dish. Or just use it like salsa. You can use it 0nrice or potatoes, or as a quick pasta sauce; or mix it in with hummous and other dips. It's used on grilled meats, so why not on grilled seitan or tofu? Or on some big Tofurkey or Field Roast veggie sausages? Or  how about with white beans, veggie "meatloaf", "cheese" toast, or bruschetta? Spice Island Vegan used it with my tofu fritatta from "Nonna's Italian Kitchen" and it would be good on scrambled tofu, or vegan omelets, too .

PS: ABOUT PRESERVING HOMEMADE AJVAR:
Many Balkan families can their own supplies of it every year, but I can't find anything specific about canning it. I read that green beans and unripe tomatoes are sometimes mixed in with the ajvar before canning. All the canning sites I consulted warn against canning any pureed vegetables because of the problem of getting the temperature up high enough in the center of a jar of pureed food without commercial equipment. Perhaps if you made it very chunky you could pressure can it in small jars (1/2 pint) and then puree it after opening. I did read that you can freeze it, too.

HERE'S MY RECIPE: