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

I have been working on a few ongoing cooking experiments/projects, but, for the most part, we have been eating pretty simple meals with our own or local produce that is in such abundance.  For a few days, when my husband had some sort of flu, he wasn't eating at all, so I wasn't doing much cooking at all.  In between, I was tackling my pantry, which was badly in need of a good clean-out and re-organization.  It felt so good to get that done! The above "tile" of photos represents four of the quick and simple meals that I made during this week-- meals that we enjoyed so much that we deemed them worth repeating! Roasted veggies (corn, tomatoes, green beans, etc.) were definitely a theme.  Roasting brings out the sweetness of any vegetable, it seems. We had a good crop of tomatoes this year, so I have been slow-roasting small batches of them. (They can be kept refrigerated for several days or frozen for longer periods.)  They are so sweet and juicy that they almost make an instant sauce. I have often broiler-roasted (broiled the veggies in the oven under the oven's broiler coils, which is my favorite method) corn kernels, but, for the first time, I broiler-roasted fresh green beans, which was so quick and very delicious-- so I used them in two of these dishes, as you can see. I'm going to give you only 2 actual recipes (for the soup and the salad)-- the pasta dishes are just descriptions, because I was improvising and there are not long lists of ingredients.  I hope you'll have fun playing around with these ideas. #1

Spaghetti with Roasted Green Beans, Garlic and Chanterelle Mushrooms, & Slow-Roasted Tomatoes  What I did: I had some slow-roasted tomatoes in the refrigerator already (see this post for directions). I cooked 8 oz. of ordinary spaghetti, but you could use any long pasta. Cook in salted water, drain, and set aside.  To broiler-roast the other veggies, I spread a couple of handfuls of small, fresh green beans (a sub could be thin stalks of asparagus, snapped in half), a couple of large cloves of garlic, sliced, and 2 large chanterelle mushrooms (or use any type of mushroom you have around), sliced, on a small rimmed baking sheet and tossed them with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a little salt.  I broiled them in my oven's broiler (on High) about 6 inches below the heat source, watching carefully, until the green beans softened and started to char a bit.  Stir the veggies around and spread out again.  Broil for a few minutes more, until done to your taste. In a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat mix together the cooked, drained spaghetti, the broiler-roasted veggies and about 1 1/2 to 2 cups slow-roasted tomatoes and juice, broken up a bit (remove any tough skins).  Add some fresh chopped basil, if you like.  Stir the mixture around in the pan to heat well and add some plain vegan creamer (I used So Delicious Coconut Original Creamer) just to moisten.  Add salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste and serve immediately with your favorite vegan parmesan substitute (I like Go Veggie! by Galaxy).

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                                                                    #2

Creamy Pasta with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes & Herbs What I did: There were a few recipes online for dishes like this, but I simplified!   I cooked 8 oz. of dried gemelli pasta, but you could use any short pasta. Cook in salted water and drain.  I had a fresh batch of slow-roasted tomatoes, so I measured out about 1 1/2 cups of that, with juice, and broken up a bit (remove any tough skins). I mixed the hot, cooked gemelli (back in the cooking pot) with the hot roasted tomatoes, a little chopped garlic sautéed briefly in a little olive oil, some chopped fresh thyme and basil, salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste, and some plain vegan creamer (I used So Delicious Coconut Original Creamer) to make a creamy sauce. Stir over medium-high heat until hot.  If the pasta absorbs all the creamer, add a little more. Serve immediately with your favorite vegan parmesan substitute (I like Go Veggie! by Galaxy).

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                                                                     #3

I've been wanting to try whole grain sorghum for some time and finally found a bag of Bob's Red Mill brand at my natural foods store.  Here is some interesting information about this nutritious  ancient grain from Africa-- the fifth most important cereal crop in the world (who knew?)!  I was intrigued by its possibilities partly because it can be used as a nutritious stand-in for pearl couscous. Since it was a hot day, and I had more green beans and slow-roasted tomatoes , I decided to make a salad-- with a bit of a Southwest flair. Now, the sorghum does take a little planning ahead because, unless you want to cook the sorghum for upwards of an hour, soak it in lots of water overnight! (Don't follow the directions on the BRM package!) This also saves energy because you don't have to cook it for so long. Printable Recipe BRYANNA’S WHOLE GRAIN SORGHUM SALAD WITH JALAPENO-STUFFED GREEN OLIVES, AVOCADO AND ROASTED CORN, GREEN BEANS & TOMATOES Serves 6 1 cup uncooked whole grain sorghum (soaked overnight in water to cover) 2 cups fresh water 1/2 teaspoon salt 8 ounces thin fresh green beans 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen sweet corn kernels 1 tablespoon olive oil About 1 1/2 cups slow-roasted tomatoes, sliced and drained 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into small chunks and tossed with a bit of lemon juice About 8 large green olives stuffed with jalapeño peppers, sliced Dressing: 1/4 cup aquafaba or Oil Substitute for Salad Dressings 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon dried tarragon, crumbled (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped) 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 large clove garlic, crushed 1/2 teaspoon salt Drain the soaked sorghum and discard the soaking water. In a heavy medium saucepan with a lid, combine the soaked sorghum, the first 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the 2 cups fresh water. Bring the water to a boil. Cover the pan and reduce the heat.  Simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the grains are tender. Drain well in a strainer or colander. Set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the salad. Spread out the green beans and corn kernels on a small rimmed baking sheet and toss them with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a little salt.  Place them about 6 inches below the heat source of your oven’s broiler, with the broiler set on High and watch carefully until the green beans soften and start to char a bit.  Stir the veggies around and spread out again.  Broil for a few minutes more, until done to your taste. Make the Dressing by blending or whisking the ingredients together. Mix the cooled sorghum with the broiler-roasted green beans and corn, the slow-roasted tomatoes, sliced olives and avocado chunks.  Add the dressing and toss gently.  Serve at room temperature.

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                                                              #4

Printable Recipe BRYANNA’S VEGANIZED (AND SIMPLIFIED) SPRING CHIK’N AND SNAP PEA SOUP Serves 4 This is my vegan and much faster version of a recipe from Sunset magazine, April 2014.  Might be my new favorite vegan "chik'n noodle soup"! 8 cups vegan “chicken-style” broth (I like Better Than Bouillon No-Chicken Vegan Soup Base) 2 cups reconstituted Soy Curls, or vegan “chikn strips”, or thin slices of your favorite vegan “chicken-style” cutlet (Read about Butler Soy Curls here, including instructions for reconstituting) 4 large green onions, thinly sliced 1 cup carrots, cut into matchsticks  4 ounces dried long flat egg-free pasta, such as tagliatelle, fettuccine or linguine, broken in half 1/3 to 1/2 cup plain vegan creamer (not a sweet kind) 2 cups sugar snap peas, cut diagonally in half 1/4 cup chopped parsley 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon OR 2 tsp. dried tarragon leaves, crumbled Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste In a large pot, mix the broth, vegan chicken sub of your choice, green onions and carrots. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer.  Cook for 4 or 5 minutes, covered.  Add the pasta and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes more.  Stir in the vegan creamer, snap peas, parsley and tarragon.  Cover and remove from heat.  Let sit for a few minutes, just until the snap peas are dark green, but still have some crunch. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED A MILL TO MAKE THESE RECIPES!  YOU CAN USE PURCHASED CHICKPEA FLOUR.

Chickpea flour hummus??  I must admit that I had that type of response when I got my new WonderMill Electric Grain & Bean Mill and the company owner asked me if I might be willing to devise a good recipe for hummus made with chickpea flour. I can now mill fresh in my new machine because it has a new Bean Adapter and also a Small Grain Adapter-- see photos below. (PS: The Bean Adapter is very new, so enquire about it via the Wondermill website.)



Frankly, it sounded yucky to me!  But, I looked it up on the Internet and there were quite a few recipes and some good reviews (not all, but I'll get to that later), so I figured it was worth a try. But first I wanted to grind some chickpea flour and see what it was like. I was told in the video that John provides online to use the "coarse" setting, which seems odd at first because you want the flour to be fine. (NOTE: this video was made before he developed the Bean Adapter  I have-- he is using a prototype made with a small plastic cup, but the idea and the method is the same.) But, I followed the directions and was rewarded with this lovely powdery-fine flour:


In the recipes for chickpea flour hummus I read online, several bloggers complained about whisking the flour into the hot water-- it got lumpy and hard to stir. It also seemed to take quite a long time to cook- about 15 minutes.  Not great for a recipe that is supposed to save time. I had some ideas for remedying both problems, but you'll see what I did in the recipe. Other bloggers seemed to have problems with it being too thick, even solid. I like my hummus very creamy-smooth, NOT thick and pasty, so I knew I'd have to work on that.

And then there was the taste.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew what I wanted.  Using my No Oil Hummus recipe (it does contain tahini) as a guide (but not sure of amounts), I achieved what I had in mind in two tries-- not bad! I ended up needing to use a little more tahini, lemon juice and seasonings than in my recipe using whole cooked chickpeas.

I think this stream-lined recipe is excellent (and one I will be repeating often), but you might be asking, "Why use chickpea flour-- why not just use chickpeas, as usual?"  I think the concept came from food storage circles-- a way to use dried beans with less cooking time and water, perhaps.  And, of course, even if you aren't into emergency preparedness food storage, you might like to save water and energy (the fuel kind, I mean!)  But, for the average person, I think it's just another handy option if you want hummus, but you don't have any canned chickpeas/garbanzo beans in the house and you don't have time to cook them, you don't have a pressure cooker, etc.. (And, believe me, no store-bought hummus is as good as homemade!)

Of course, you don't have to grind your own chickpea flour (though a mill is worth saving up for if you use different types of flours and eat lots of whole grains and legumes, and it will save you money in the long run). You can keep a bag of chickpea/garbanzo bean flour (also called besan), double-bagged, in your freezer (to prevent rancidity) for just this sort of recipe.


The second recipe below was a spur-of-the-moment lunch that I made with some of the first batch of Chickpea Flour Hummus I made.  I felt like making a quick pasta dish with some snap peas and other vegetables I had around.  I was about to make a creamy pasta sauce with some homemade pesto and silken tofu when it occurred to me that the garlicky, lemony creamy pesto sauce I had in mind could be made with some of the smooth and creamy hummus that I had just made with chickpea flour.  After all, I had made creamy sauces from cooked beans before, hadn't I?  So, that's what I did and it was delicious! In fact, it gave me some ideas for making more sauces with bean flour, so stay tuned.

So, here's my new Hummus recipe..


Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S SMOOTH AND CREAMY CHICKPEA FLOUR HUMMUS
Makes about 2 1/2 cups
The seasonings in this recipe are my preference-- you can play around with them to suit your own taste.

2 3/4 cups cold water
3/4 cup chickpea/garbanzo flour (besan), freshly-ground or commercial
NOTE: Store chickpea/garbanzo bean flour (also called besan), double-bagged, in your freezer to keep it fresh.
5 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (or bottled organic)
1/4 cup tahini
2-3 large cloves garlic, peeled1 1/2 tsp fine salt
3/4 tsp ground cumin
large pinch cayenne
Possible Garnishes:extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle over the top
paprika or smoked paprika (hot or sweet)
chopped fresh parsley or parsley sprigs
chopped green onions
toasted pine nuts or almonds
grated organic lemon zest
See this post for Hummus flavor variations, using slightly larger amounts than those given


Place the water and chickpea flour into your blender container and blend at medium-high speed until well- blended.  Pour into a microwave-proof 2 qt. batter bowl or something similar.  Microwave at 100% power for 3 minutes.  Using a large whisk, whisk vigorously to make a smooth mixture.  Microwave for another 3 minutes at 100% power and repeat whisking.  Microwave for 2 minutes at 50% power and whisk again. NOTE: If you don't have a microwave, you will have to cook the blended mixture in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until it has thickened, whisking all the time so that it doesn't stick or clump. This may take up to 15 minutes. (Afraid of microwave ovens?  Please read this document I have compiled.)

The mixture will foam up while it cooks in the microwave and then "deflate". You can see in the picture below how the mixture rose up the sides and then down again.


Scoop the mixture into a shallow bowl or baking dish.  If you aren't in a hurry, place it in the refrigerator until it has cooled and is a rather solid mass.  To speed up this process, place your dish in the freezer.  This took about 45 minutes cooling time for me.  Make sure the mixture is a cool solid mass and not runny and warm.

Now, break up the chickpea flour mixture and place it in a blender or food processor, along with lemon juice, tahini, garlic, cumin and cayenne. Blend or process until the mixture is very smooth and creamy. Place in a bowl and cool down to room temperature before serving, or refrigerate for future use.

IMPORTANT: The mixture will firm up a bit, so, before spreading it in a shallow serving bowl (like a soup plate) for serving, whisk it vigorously to make it creamy again.

Nutrition Facts:
Nutrition (per 1/4 cup serving): 52.8 calories; 45% calories from fat; 2.8g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 243.8mg sodium; 79.6mg potassium; 5.2g carbohydrates; 1.1g fiber; 0.8g sugar; 4.1g net carbs; 2.2g protein; 1.1 points.

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 And here's that pasta recipe featuring the Hummus Pesto Sauce...

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 361.1 calories; 11% calories from fat; 4.9g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 388.1mg sodium; 502.5mg potassium; 64.3g carbohydrates; 5.5g fiber; 3.0g sugar; 58.8g net carbs; 14.8g protein; 6.8 points.

I meant for this blog to be the one I promised about the flatbread dough I've been playing with, but, alas, I am not quite ready to put that up yet-- still working on some variations and photos.  It should be ready in a few days.  In the meantime, I'm offering up this flavorful, crunchy stir-fry that we had for dinner tonight.  Quick and easy and a just a little different-- not really Chinese, except in spirit!  We had just done our shopping yesterday and I had fresh asparagus and snap peas, oranges, mangoes, and also fresh mint in pots on the deck, so this is what I put together to serve with some brown basmati rice that I had cooked last night.

 I hope you'll try it and enjoy it!




Printable Recipe
BRYANNA'S SPRING STIR-FRY WITH ASPARAGUS, SNAP PEAS, MANGO AND MINT
NOTE: I used Soy Curls for the protein, but you can use any kind of vegan "chicken strip", reconstituted textured soy protein slices or chunks, or strips of seitan, marinated tempeh or tofu-- your choice!

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 cups (400 g) reconstituted Soy Curls (read about them here) OR any of the alternatives noted above
8 oz. asparagus spears, tough ends snapped off, cut into about 3-inch lengths
8 oz. sugar snap peas
4 cloves garlic, chopped
zest of 1 large organic orange
1-inch knob of ginger, peeled and slivered
1/2 teaspoon chile flakes
1 large ripe mango, pitted, peeled and sliced
Cooking Sauce: (Mix together in a cup)
1/4 cup vegan broth
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons medium dry sherry or rice wine
1 tablespoon agave nectar
Additional:
a handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

Heat the sesame oil in a large, well-seasoned stir-fry pan (flat-bottomed wok) or skillet (cast iron, carbon steel, or stainless steel) over medium heat. When the oil is heated, add the Soy Curls (or alternate) and saute, scraping the bottom of the pan frequently with a spatula and keeping the Soy Curls moving.  When they are browned a bit, scrape them out of the pan into a bowl and return the pan to the heat.

Add the asparagus and snow peas to the pan and keep them moving (over medium-high heat in a cast iron pan; otherwise, over high heat), adding a splash of water when necessary to keep the vegetables from sticking.  When the asparagus is getting tender, but still has a bit of a bite to it, add the garlic, orange zest, ginger and chile flakes.  Stir-fry for another minute. Add the mango slices and the cooking sauce and bring to a boil.  Add the mint and toss the mixture for a few seconds, then serve immediately with rice.

Enjoy!