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

Hasselback Potatoes and  Vegan Coulibiac  I'd like to share a festive vegan Easter dinner from my book "World Vegan Feast" that is elegant, delicious and just a little bit different.   Here's the main course: Vegan Coulibiac or Kulebiaka (Pastry-Wrapped Russian Loaf of Rice, Mushrooms, Dill & Vegan"Salmon")

This is my vegan (and lower-fat) version of an elegant dish that dates back to Tzarist Russia, but it was also popular in France and in elegant restaurants in North America at the turn of the 20th century. Coulibiac is spectacular and delicious, but easy to make. It makes a wonderful centerpiece for a vegan Easter dinner. The "salmon" is made at least one day ahead of time and then, providing you cook the rice early in the day, it goes together quite quickly. (You can actually make the entire filling the day before, if you wish.) I use phyllo dough instead of puff pastry (to avoid all the hydrogenated fat) and  brown basmati rice for extra fiber and nutrition. I broke with tradition a little by serving it with a light vegan cream sauce laced with spring onions instead of the traditional herbed butter sauce.

To accompany the main course: Vegan Hasselback Potatoes

This recipe is adapted from one served at Stockholm's popular old Restaurant Hasselbacken. It's so easy to make and, at the same time, a good way to "fancy" up ordinary potatoes-- crispy and "buttery".

For the vegetables, keep it simple but luxurious:  Roasted or Steamed Asparagus with Hot and Creamy Orange Vinaigrette

 

The recipe for the vinaigrette is just below (it's not in "World Vegan Feast"), and you can use it on either roasted or steamed asparagus. It can be made several days ahead.

BRYANNA'S CREAMY ORANGE VINAIGRETTE
Makes about 7/8 cup

1/2 cup fresh orange juice (juice of 1 large orange)
Last, but never least, is a spectacular dessert: Vegan Lemon/Strawberry Tiramísu

This gelato contains a fair bit of alcohol from the liqueur, so it never gets really hard.

This is the vegan Irish stew I prepare every St. Patrick's Day because that's what my husband asks for (and we love it).  I posted this photo on my Facebook page a couple of days ago, with a link to an older post which contains the recipe for the accompanying Colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes with kale and/or cabbage).  I promised to post the stew recipe, but I didn't get it up on St. Patrick's Day, or the day before, because we had to go off island, and then we had guests yesterday.  However, I am going to post it here today even though it's a day late.  After all, not only can you enjoy it next St. Patrick's Day, but you can also enjoy it any day of the year (why not?).

In addition, I posted a picture of our dessert, which is nearly always Irish Apple Bread Pudding with vegan Poured Custard (custard sauce) and Brown Sugar Whiskey Sauce.  The Poured Custard recipe is available on that same older post that I mentioned above (along with notes about British custard powder). So, I'm going to post that recipe here, too. (These recipes are adapted from my book "The (Almost) No-Fat Holiday Cookbook", BTW.)

I made this for my granddaughters for dessert last night-- I hadn't made it for a long time and forgot how yummy it is, despite the simple ingredients.  The original version is from one of my earlier books, "Soyfoods Cooking for a Positive Menopause".  I made it with a regular pie crust then, but I think I like it better with a graham cracker crumb crust.  The girls loved it--  I hope you will, too.

Printable Recipe

Fat-Free Vegan Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies made with bean puree

My latest obsession is baking and making creamy salad dressings with beans.  Dreena Burton unknowingly  instigated all this, I'm afraid.  I made her wonderful Hummus Salad Dressing and that got me thinking about using pureed white beans to make creamy vegan salad dressings.  A delicious bean-based Caesar Salad Dressing resulted (recipe below) and I'm working on a few more. That led me to some information (mostly from folks who are into food storage) on using puree beans instead of fat in baking (sometimes for all of the fat, sometimes for some of it).  I have held back from intensive experimenting with this because, for reasons of vanity, I don't want to eat too many baked goods, fat-free or not! But I have lots of ideas.  In the meantime, I tried two cookie recipes.  I was not entirely satisfied with the chocolate chip cookies I experimented with (2 versions), so I have put them on the back burner for now, along with using bean puree in muffins.  But I was happy with the oatmeal raisin cookies I tested (and so was DH!), so I'm including the recipe in this post.

Next I tried using a white bean puree in a no-knead pizza dough. This idea has intrigued me for some time and I'm so glad it worked so well (and in a no-knead dough at that!). It's a great way to add healthy protein and bean fiber to a kid-friendly meal.  I looked up the nutrition facts for a Boboli thin-crust for pizza of the same size as mine. 1/2 a Boboli thin crust contains: 70 more calories than mine; 7.5 g fat compared to the 1.2 g in mine; 330 mg more sodium than my crust; about the same amount of protein; and a little over 1 g of fiber compared to 7 g in mine. Not bad!

I use plenty of beans in my day-to-day cooking, but I think using them in more unusual ways would be helpful for many people.  It might be easier to get kids (and older folks with waning appetites) to eat beans in a salad, creamy soup, dip, pizza, muffin or cookie, for instance.  Everyone could reap the benefits of beans, even while claiming to dislike them.

What are these bean benefits?  They are easy to store, easy on the purse, and versatile in the kitchen.  They are filling and low in fat, and according to this study: "Adding beans and other legumes to the diet appears to help people with type 2 diabetes improve their blood sugar control and lower their risk of heart disease, according to new research. Two diets were tested in 121 men and women with type 2 diabetes. Both diets were healthy, but one added legumes, such as chickpeas, lentils, and beans. "People with diabetes did better in terms of blood sugar control on the bean diet versus a diet without beans, which was otherwise extremely healthy," says researcher David J.A. Jenkins, MD, PhD, DSc, professor of medicine and nutrition at the University of Toronto and St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. The bean diet lowered the predicted risk of heart disease more, too, Jenkins says. And it did so in a way that surprised him, he says. "It reduced heart disease risk predominantly because of its effect on blood pressure," he says.

Well, back to the pantry to check my bean supplies....

THE RECIPES:

The following three recipes feature white beans, but, depending on the color you are aiming for in your recipes, any other beans can be used.  TIP: You can buy cans of beans, of course, but what I've been doing is cooking big batches of beans and freezing them in 1, 2 or 3 cup containers or zipper-lock bags.  If you use canned beans and you have some left over, freeze the excess and add the leftovers together to make enough for another recipe.

WHAT KIND OF WHITE BEANS?  Check out this article.  

BEAN PUREE:  If you want 1 cup iof bean puree, measure out 1 cup of rinsed and drained cooked or canned beans, packing them down a bit.  Puree with a hand/immersion blender, or in a blender or food processor.  If the mixture is too thick to move on the blades, add a little water (carefully) until it does.  Multiply as needed.





Printable Recipe

I had to photograph the Caesar Dressing on a regular salad because I didn't have any Romaine lettuce at the time-- but it was still delicious.