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

I had a potluck to go to Thursday night and had to make something the night before, as I was going to be on the go all day on Thursday.  A hearty full-meal salad is always my go-to dish for this type of situation, but I wanted to make up something colorful and interesting for a rather bleak November day.  After assessing the possibilities in my cupboard and refrigerator, I came up with an idea for a non-Asian-style red rice salad that turned out to be really delicious-- enough so that I will make it again this coming Wednesday for another potluck. And, I think it would be an excellent holiday salad, as well.

Whole grain, low-fat, fiber-rich, easy to make, and mighty tasty-- what more could you ask for?  Versatility, perhaps?  Feel free to experiment with different nut and dried fruit combinations (hazelnuts & dried apricots; pecans & dried sour cherries; dried figs & roasted pumpkin seeds immediately come to mind), and to substitute other crunchy vegetables for the ones I used.


Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S RED RICE, WHITE BEAN & VEGETABLE SALAD WITH TOASTED ALMONDS, DRIED CRANBERRIES AND CREAMY BALSAMIC DRESSING
Serves 12
See the blog text for ideas for variations. This makes enough for a party or potluck, and, if you are lucky, you'll have some left over for a school or work lunch.

2 cups Thai (long grain) red rice
4 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
2/ 19 oz. cans white kidney beans or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or use 3-4 cups home-cooked)
1 orange or red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 yellow or green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 cups diced celery (with leaves)
6 green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced (both green and white parts)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. dark sesame oil
Creamy Balsamic Dressing: 
Blend together in a blender or with a stick/immersion blender,
1 cup Low-Fat Balsamic Dressing (see recipe below)
and
1/2 cup Low-Fat Vegan Mayonnaise (or use Tofu Mayonnaise, Reduced Fat Vegenaise, or Spectrum Naturals Eggless Vegan Light Canola Mayonnaise)

You can cook the rice in a pot on the stove,or in a rice cooker.  if you use the rice cooker, follow the directions for your machine, using the rice, water and salt called for above.  Otherwise, place these ingredients in a medium pot with a tight lid, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for about 45 minutes, or until the rice is tender and no liquid is left.  Fluff it with a fork.

Spread the cooked rice out on a baking sheet and allow it to cool a bit.  It should be warm, but not hot and not chilled.  In a large bowl, mix the rice with the rinsed, drained beans, peppers, celery, green onions and dried cranberries..  Mix together your dressing and toss with the salad ingredients in the bowl.

In a small, heavy skillet (cast iron is good), heat the olive oil and sesame oil and add the slivered almonds.  Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the almond slivers become golden.  Remove from heat immediately and add to the salad.  Toss once again, cover and refrigerate until serving time.  Bring the salad to room temperature before serving.  Garnish with fresh herb or parsley sprigs, or leafy celery stalks, or more toasted almonds.

Low-Fat Balsamic Dressing:
1 cup aquafaba or Fat-Free Oil Substitute for Salad Dressings
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup good quality balsamic vinegar (Costco's Kirkland brand is a good commercial version)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt

 Whisk, shake, or blend the ingredients together well, bottle and store in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

I meant to post this recipe for Valentine's Day, but it didn't happen!  But, better late than never-- these beauties would be delicious any time of the year.  I based them on the white bean/oat waffles that I developed for the first version of Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes-- low in fat; high in protein, fiber and other nutrients.  They also just happen to be gluten-free.

My two 12-year-old granddaughters ate quite a few of these for brunch this last Sunday after a sleep-over at our house.  They were quite surprised when I revealed the "secret ingredient", white beans, but that didn't deter them from eating more!

Don't be put off by having to put the beans in water to soak the night before. This takes just minutes before you retire for the night and then, in the morning, the batter is quickly made in the blender while the waffle iron heats up. They can be reheated quickly in a very hot oven for a short time (you just want to crisp and heat them, not dry them out), or in a toaster. Keep some ready-made in the freezer for quick toaster snacks-- they are great eaten out of hand with a little low-sugar jam.

NOTE: Use only dried white navy beans or Great Northern beans or split (white) urad dal for making white bean flour, or purchase bean flour made from only one of those varieties. (Chickpea flour is fine, too.)  
DO NOT use cannellini beans, red or white kidney beans, butter beans, broad beans or lima beans for making flour; nor should you use those 6 varieties of beans whole, soaked (but raw) and blended into recipes to be cooked or baked. Those 6 varieties of beans all need to be soaked for at least 5 hours, water discarded, and then boiled in fresh water for 10 to 15 minutes before simmering until tender before eating.  This eliminates toxic lectins which can cause all sorts of digestive distress in some people.  
And be advised that slow-cookers do not always get hot enough to get rid of the toxin, so soak and boil as advised above before finishing in a slow-cooker.  If using a pressure cooker to cook kidney beans or the other 4 varieties mentioned as problematic, you do not need to pre-boil for 10 minutes as the very high temperatures reached inside the pressure cooker are adequate to destroy the toxin, but definitely soak first and discard the water. (Info from this article.)
The toxin in white kidney beans at about 1/3rd the concentration of red kidney beans, and broad (fava) beans, butter beans and lima beans at about 5 to 10%. 

Don't panic about lectins, but be informed-- see https://authoritynutrition.com/dietary-lectins/  and http://www.medic8.com/healthguide/food-poisoning/red-kidney-bean-toxins.html

I made this the other day for my husband's photography students (they were having a little party at the end of the course), and I'd like to share it with you for holiday entertaining.  It's adapted from my book, The Fiber for Life Cookbook. This type of vegetarian pâté appeared in mainstream magazines in the early 80's and became deservedly popular party fare.  I think it must have originated with this Blue Diamond® Almonds recipe, which is listed on their website as one of their "classic" recipes.

For the book, I modernized (and veganized, and lowered the fat) it by omitting the butter, using fewer almonds and more mushrooms, and using slightly more authoritative seasoning.  This time I decided to use smoked-hickory almonds for even more flavor, and it worked beautifully-- it's even more delicious, I think.


Printable Recipe

 You can see color photos of many of the recipes in my newest book, World Vegan Feast, in this photo album.   (There are now thirty-five 5-star reviews of "World Vegan Feast" on amazon.com and amazon.ca.) 

A couple of weeks ago I started experimenting with veganizing some Spanish recipes-- beginning what will be an ongoing exploration of a neglected part of my culinary heritage. My first experiment was a Spanish meatball recipe-- well, Catalonian, actually. I had just about everything I needed to make it and it sounded delicious-- I love just about anything with wine and lemon zest. It utilizes a traditional Catalonian sauce component-- the "picada", which consists of bread, almonds, garlic and sometimes parsley and other seasonings. This cooking technique and the ingredients go all the way back to the Moorish occupation of Spain, from 711 to 1492. The words "albóndiga" (meatball) and "almendra" (almond) derive from Moorish words as do most, if not all, Spanish words beginning in Al, such as Alhambra.

This is interesting to me for various reasons-- one being that my father, who was Peruvian, looked quite Arabic, so much so that I'm sure his family had some Moorish blood dating back to those times. Maybe that's why I love Middle Eastern food and music so much.

My late father, Alejandro Jaime Urbina, shortly before he passed away-- still handsome.

This is what I came up with, slightly streamlined, and very delicious it was with homemade crusty bread to soak up the delicious sauce, and fresh green beans with tomato and garlic. (It is sometimes served with fried potatoes.)  I still want to tinker with it a bit, but it's certainly worth sharing even in this early form.


Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S CATALONIAN "MEATBALLS" IN SAFFRON AND ALMOND SAUCE, VEGAN-STYLE (ALBÓNDIGAS EN SALSA DE ALMENDRA)
Serves 5

25 vegan "meatballs" (your favorite recipe [here's mine] or commercial brand-- here's a list of several)
unbleached white flour
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
The Sauce:
1 cup vegan "chicken" broth (I used Better than Bouillon "No-Chicken" base)
1 cup fruity dry white wine (dry reisling, Chablis, Chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and many others)
a pinch of Spanish saffron
grated zest of 1 organic lemon
2 teaspoons sugar
The "Picada":
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) or dry white breadcrumbs
1/4 cup blanched, slivered almonds
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
(some people add a bit of chopped parsley)
Addition:
salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Garnish:
Sweet Spanish paprika (I used smoked sweet pimenton)

Roll the "meatballs" lightly in flour and brown them in a 12" nonstick skillet with the 1-2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat until crusty on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.


Wipe out the skillet and pour in the broth and wine; bring it to a boil. Add the saffron, lemon zest, and sugar, whisking. Add the "meatballs" and remove from the heat.

In a smaller (8-9") skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the other "Picada" ingredients-- the breadcrumbs, almonds and garlic. Stir the mixture until it begins to turn golden, then take off the heat.

              Browned "meatballs" and picada ingredients.


 Grind the "picada" ingredients to a paste in a food processor and add it to the pan with the broth and "meatballs" and stir gently as it comes to a simmer. Turn the heat down, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. If the sauce is too thick for your taste, add a little water. Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve the "albondigas" (meatballs in Spanish) with the sauce, sprinkled with the pimenton.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 363.2 calories; 30% calories from fat; 12.6g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 506.6mg sodium; 181.2mg potassium; 26.3g carbohydrates; 1.4g fiber; 3.9g sugar; 24.9g net carbs; 29.6g protein; 8.0 points.

Enjoy!

I had to make a healthy "goodie" for my granddaughter's school lunch last night, and I remembered a recipe I had seen on the blog of Camilla V. Saulsbury, whose delightful book "Enlightened Chocolate", I reviewed last month. I recalled that it could be easily veganized and I had most of the ingredients.

It was easy and quick to make, and full of healthful ingredients. I made them with tahini because they don't allow peanut butter in her school. It was a big hit with my grandaughter, AND her grandfather, and me, too, as well as a vegan friend (adult) who stopped by. This is definitely a keeper!

Printable Recipe

CAMILLA'S NO-BAKE VEGAN OATMEAL ENERGY BARS WITH DRIED CRANBERRIES, ALMONDS, AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS
Makes 16 bars

This is Camilla Saulsbury's recipe, with my slight adjustments. View the original recipe here: