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

DINNER #1: Last Monday we had some good friends and fellow vegans over for a casual dinner to catch up-- we're both so busy we hardly see eachother! Here's the Middle Eastern-style menu (I know, I've been on a bit of a Middle Eastern kick, but it suits the summer!):

Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini Slices with Taheena Sauce and Parsley

Dajaj ma' Hummous ("Chicken" with Chickpeas, using Soy Curls) (recipe below)

Mixed Salad

Bulgur Pilaf (bulgur wheat cooked with onions, herbs and veggie broth)

Fresh Lemonade with Mint Leaves (recipe below)

Almond-Rosewater Rice Pudding (originally from my supscription newsletter, the Vegan Feast; recipe in my new book) with Strawberries



The salad was mixed organic baby greens, marinated artichoke hearts, green olives, sundried tomatoes, and cucumber slices in a lemon/olive oil/garlic/and salt dressing

Printable Recipes (both of them)

VEGAN DAJAJ MA HUMMUS ("CHICKEN" WITH CHICKPEAS, VEGAN-STYLE) (WW CORE PLAN COMPATIBLE)
Servings: 6
This was fragrant and delicious! I adapted it from a recipe in "From the Land of Figs and Olives" by Habeeb Salloum and James Peters.

2 Tbs vegan butter (or olive oil)
6 cups reconstituted Soy Curls (that's 6 oz., or 4 1/2 cups dry) (see here for info about Soy Curls)
(You could also use "chicken" seitan or other "chicken" subs instead)
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced cilantro or parsley
1 can (19 oz or 540 ml) chickpeas (or 1 1/2- 2 cups cooked), drained
4 cups chicken-style vegetarian broth
3 Tbs tomato paste
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

In a large nonstick skillet, sauté the Soy Curls in the vegan butter or olive oil over medium heat until they turn golden brown in spots. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Steam-fry the onions in the same pan over high heat until they begin to brown, adding a splash of water as needed to keep from sticking, and stirring often. Add the garlic and cilantro. Stir-fry for another 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients, including the Soy Curls, and bring to a boil.

Turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until it is stew-like. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve hot over basmati rice or bulgur, or with pita.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 250.9 calories; 34% calories from fat; 9.7g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 60.5mg sodium; 320.4mg potassium; 26.5g carbohydrates; 8.3g fiber; 6.2g sugar; 18.3g net carbs; 15.8g protein; 5.0 points.


LEMONADE WITH MINT LEAVES 
Serves about 6-8
I adapted this from a recipe from "Amea Recipes". (Update: the website is no longer there.)

Here is the lovely quote that accompanied the recipe:
"She offered me a chair by the kitchen table and disappeared through the service door that led to the garden and came back with 6 lemons and a small bunch of mint leaves. As she squeezed them and stirred the juice with sugar and water in a pitcher, I found myself trying to recollect when I last had fresh lemonade. She carefully washed a few mint leaves and put them in the pitcher, and from a small bottle that was sitting on a shelf, she added two drops of a sweet transparent liquid. She then sat across from me and remained silent. Before she finally took a sip from her drink, she pointed to mine as a form of invitation, and I had a spurt of the essential quality of what the earth can offer. It was the two drops of essence of orange blossom that made all the difference." -- Christiane Dabdoub Nasser, "Leyla"

Juice of 6 large lemons
organic unbleached sugar to taste (or agave nectar)-- make it too sweet, because you will serve this over lots of ice, which will dilute the sweetness
7 cups water
2 teaspoon orange blossom water
handful of tender fresh mint leaves
Thin slices of lemon

Squeeze the lemons and stir in the sugar. Add water and keep on stirring, making sure all the sugar has dissolved.

Add mint leaves, essence and a few slices of lemon and refrigerate for an hour before serving in tall glasses with lots of ice.

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DINNER #2: On another day, we had more friends, another vegan couple and a non-vegan couple, over for a summer dinner. This time it had an Italian theme and vegans and non-vegans alike loved it:


Italian White Bean Salad with Herbs and Miso Dressing (from my book "Nonna's Italian Kitchen") (NOTE: I use miso instead of anchovies in my Italian cooking)

Piedmontese Rice Salad with Roasted Garlic Dressing (I used snap peas from our garden instead of the asparagus in the recipe, and used brown basmati rice)

Breast of Tofu (recipe in most of my books), served cold with my Low-fat Vegan Mayonnaise blended with fresh basil and garlic

Brian's Bread (my husband's homemade bread, mostly whole wheat with some oats and sesame on the bottom)

Sundried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts and olives

Tofu-Cashew Cheezecake with Strawberry Sauce from my book "Soyfoods Cooking for a Positive Menopause"


I doubled the recipe and made this in a springform pan, baking it for an hour.

Enjoy!

This is a traditional Palestinian dish, little known in Western circles. I've been wanting to try it for some time, and this week, busy with lots of different things, it seemed like an easy meal-- and it was! I've seen this recipe here and there on the 'Net, and I didn't change it, but I was little more exact with the measurements. It is simple and homey, not terribly attractive, but we really liked it. The browned, or caramelized, onions really make this dish, visually and taste-wise. I've noticed that many Middle Eastern home-style dishes utilize browned onions as a topping. I think it was, and still is, an inexpensive and clever way to add flavor and color to otherwise very simple dishes. The recipes seem to indicate that this dish is served at room temperature, but we ate it hot. Do try this!

Printable Recipe

RISHTAYE (RED LENTIL AND PASTA RAGOUT WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS) 
Serves 3

1 cup red split lentils (orange lentils)
100 gms (about 3 1/2 oz.) egg-free tagliatelle or linguine pasta (flat)
4 cups (1 qt.) water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
Garnish:
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 Tbs olive oil or other favorite oil
1 tsp. sumac (see notes about this lemony-tasting spice here), available in Middle Eastern stores, specialty spice markets, delicatessens, and many bulk food stores (Bulk Barn here in Canada)

Place the lentils and the tagliatelle in a deep pan (I used a stir-fry pan) with 3 cups of the water. Add the salt and cumin. When the water starts to boil start stirring, adding the last cup of water whenever the water level becomes minimal, until the mixture turns into a homogeneous thick broth-like mixture. This process should take about 15 minutes of stirring the mixture over medium heat off and on-- but keep an eye on it.

While it cooked, I browned the onions in a large skillet in the olive oil (you may need a bit more) over medium heat, stirring often. (Use a well-seasoned cast iron, stainless steel, or carbon steel skillet, or nonstick.) You want them to end up deep brown and a little crispy.  I was not patient enough to do it in the traditional Middle Eastern way, and also wanted to use less oil, so I used Mark Bittman's easier method.  (PS: If NYTimes blocks you, use the link in an incognito window.)

Pour the lentil mixture into 3 flat pasta bowls. Top with the caramelized onions, then sprinkle with sumac.  Serve with green olives, salad, or spring onions and radish.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 421.1 calories; 13% calories from fat; 6.6g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 643.6mg sodium; 553.8mg potassium; 71.3g carbohydrates; 8.9g fiber; 3.5g sugar; 62.4g net carbs; 21.1g protein; 8.2 points.

Enjoy!

Spice Island Vegan told me about tasting the Gardein "Chick'n Breast" in a vegan restaurant in southern California and thought they were very good, so I couldn't resist when I saw them in my local health food store. I also bought the "Veggie Chick'n Strips". They aren't cheap, but not unduly expensive for two good servings (up to 4-5 servings for the strips if you mix them with other foods). UPDATE April 2017-- Gardein has been bought out my an American company and now we in Canada can only buy a very few of their products.

The "breasts" come already in a light sauce-- I got the Dijon mustard one. I saved it for a night when I was exhausted from working on the newsletter (I have had the computer week from hell!!-- corrupted files, disappearing uploads, internet service down....). I Just heated them in the microwave while I made a salad and cooked some orzo in veggie broth with mushrooms, green onions and choppped peppers (I cook it like rice, 1 part orzo to 2 parts broth for 15 minutes.)

The texture is pretty amazing! (Aside from the usual wheat gluten and soy protein, it contains pea protein, and carrot and beet fiber.) The sauce was very light, nothing exciting. If I buy this again, which I may or may not, I will rinse off the sauce and make my own. But we enjoyed it with the orzo.

Last night I used the strips (see alternatives in the recipe list) to try an interesting-sounding Palestinian recipe called "Chicken Fatteh" (I'm in a Middle Eastern cooking mode just now). "Fatteh" means that the recipe has fried bits of pita bread in it-- it can be a meat or a bean or a vegetable topping. I had some rather old pita in the freezer and thought I'd use some of it up in this and toast the reast for hummus dunkers.

So, here's the recipe:


Printable Recipe


BRYANNA'S VEGAN "CHICK'N STRIPS" FATTEH
Servings: 5

I used white basmati rice because I was in a hurry-- cooked 15 minutes in 1 1/2 cups water with a little salt. You could use brown basmati if you have more time (45 minutes). This sounds odd, but it was nice and garlicky, but comforting at the same time. I might add more herbs next time. My husband loved it! The crunchy pita was good.

1 large wholewheat pita bread, cut in little squares
1/2 Tbs olive oil
1 cup (dry) basmati rice, cooked (see recipe text above)
1 cup vegetarian "chicken-style" broth
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 Tbs olive oil
200 g vegan "chicken" strips OR use about 2 cups reconstituted Soy Curls (2 oz. dry) (NOTE: read more about Butler Foods Soy Curls™  here.)
1 pinch nutmeg
freshly-ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups tofu sour creme (can be commercial or homemade)
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
Garnish:
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts or chopped cashews
fresh parsley or mint, or dried mint

Heat oven to 400°F.

Heat the first 1/2 Tbs of oil in a nonstick skillet and fry the pieces of pita until golden.



Place in a 10" round casserole. Pour 1/2 the broth over the bread, and add 1/4 of the cooked rice and the one clove of garlic. Mix well.



Heat the second Tbs of oil in the skillet and brown the strips in it, adding some broth to keep from sticking. Add the nutmeg and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Spread the rest of the rice over the pita mixture and drizzle the remaing broth over it. Mix the 2 cloves crushed garlic with the Tofu Sour Creme and spread that over the rice.

Top with the Chick'n Strips.

Cover and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, just to heat. Garnish.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 320.9 calories; 25% calories from fat; 9.7g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 483.3mg sodium; 440.4mg potassium; 38.7g carbohydrates; 1.3g fiber; 2.4g sugar; 37.4g net carbs; 21.4g protein; 7.0 points.

Enjoy!