Tag Archives: vegetables

Meatless Mondays: African Peanut Stew (vegan)

Today, I decided to try something new: a vegan version of African Peanut Stew! I found several recipes online but decided I to go with the one on budgetbytes.com. I have actually never eaten it but I hope the recipe did the stew justice.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 inch fresh ginger
  • 1 medium sweet potato 
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 6 oz can tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup natural style chunky peanut butter
  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • 1/2 bunch 2-3 cups chopped collard greens
  • 1/4 bunch cilantro garnish (optional)

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INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Peel and grate the ginger using a small holed cheese grater. Mince the garlic. Sauté the ginger and garlic in vegetable oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until the garlic becomes soft and fragrant.
  2. Dice the onion, add it to the pot, and continue to sauté. Dice the sweet potato (1/2 inch cubes), add it to the pot, and continue to sauté a few minutes more, or until the onion is soft and the sweet potato takes on a darker, slightly translucent appearance. Season with cumin and red pepper flakes.
  3. Add the tomato paste and peanut butter, and stir until everything is evenly mixed. Add the vegetable broth and stir to dissolve the thick tomato paste-peanut butter mixture. Place a lid on the pot and turn the heat up to high.
  4. While the soup is coming up to a boil, prepare the collard greens. Rinse the greens well, then use a sharp knife to remove each stem (cut along the side of each stem). Stack the leaves, then cut them into thin strips. Add the collard strips to the soup pot.
  5. Once the soup reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and allow it to simmer without a lid for about 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are very soft. Once soft, smash about half of the sweet potatoes with the back of a wooden spoon to help thicken the soup. Taste the soup and add salt if needed (will depend on the brand of broth used).
  6. Serve the stew hot with a few cilantro leaves if desired.

RECIPE NOTES

Mustard greens or lacinato kale can be used in place of the collard greens.

The verdict: We loved it! Approved! Hubby just told me that the stew will definitely be gone tomorrow. I will put this in the rotation. It went really well with brown rice and we loved the crunch of the peanuts with the stew. One of the best yet!

 

Meatless Mondays: Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

Today we were supposed to be celebrating New Year’s at my brother-in-law’s and bringing a dish. I didn’t buy everything I needed for soup joumou for Haitian Independence Day so we stuck with Vegan Shepherd’s pie from the minimalistbaker.com. I will definitely do a vegan soup joumou in the near future. It came out well, I might have let it bake a little long but I love how crisp the potato crust gets on top. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients
FILLING
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown or green lentils, rinsed and drained
  • 4 cups vegetable stock (DIYor store-bought)
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 10-ounce bag frozen mixed veggies: peas, carrots, green beans, and corn
MASHED POTATOES
  • 3 pounds yukon gold potatoes, thoroughly washed
  • 3-4 Tbsp vegan butter
  • Salt and pepper to taste

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Instructions

  1. Slice any large potatoes in half, place in a large pot and fill with water until they’re just covered. Bring to a low boil on medium high heat, then generously salt, cover and cook for 20-30 minutes or until they slide off a knife very easily.
  2. Once cooked, drain, add back to the pot to evaporate any remaining water, then transfer to a mixing bowl. Use a masher, pastry cutter or large fork to mash until smooth. Add add desired amount of vegan butter (2-4 Tbsp), and season with salt and pepper to taste. Loosely cover and set aside.
  3. While potatoes are cooking, preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 C) and lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish (or comparable sized dish, such as 9×13 pan. An 8×8 won’t fit it all but close!).
  4. In a large saucepan over medium heat, sauté onions and garlic in 1 Tbsp olive oil until lightly browned and caramelized – about 5 minutes.
  5. Add a pinch each salt and pepper. Then add lentils, stock, and thyme and stir. Bring to a low boil. Then reduce heat to simmer. Continue cooking until lentils are tender (35-40 minutes).
  6. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, add the frozen veggies, stir, and cover to meld the flavors together.
  7. OPTIONAL: To thicken the mixture, add 2-3 Tbsp mashed potatoes and stir. Alternatively, scoop out 1/2 of the mixture and whisk in 2 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder and whisk. Return to the pan and whisk to thicken.
  8. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Then transfer to your prepared oven-safe baking dish and carefully top with mashed potatoes. Smooth down with a spoon or fork and season with another crack of pepper and a little sea salt.
  9. Place on a baking sheet to catch overflow and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the mashers are lightly browned on top.
  10. Let cool briefly before serving. The longer it sits, the more it will thicken. Let cool completely before covering, and then store in the fridge for up to a few days. Reheats well in the microwave.

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Meatless Monday Christmas: Chickpea Flour Omelette

This morning our family gathered for breakfast and opening of presents. I decided to look up vegan breakfast options that aren’t smoothies/oatmeals. We found the Chickpea Flour Omelette recipe from strengthandsunshine.com.

INGREDIENTS

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INSTRUCTIONS
  1. In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients except the greens and optional veggies.
  2. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add more water if too thick. It should be pancake batter consistency (but not too runny).
  3. Meanwhile, heat a lightly oiled non-stick pan over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, pour the batter in the pan like you’re making a pancake. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on low heat for 3 minutes until the edges dry and bubbles form on the surface.
  4. Now add the greens and/or veggies to one half of the omelette and take a spatula to fold the omelette over in half and cook uncovered for 2 more minutes.
  5. Remove and transfer to a plate before topping with ketchup, salsa, hot sauce, etc.!

We used the Follow Your Heart brand for the egg replacer and used salsa on top. Next time, a little more salt and green peppers will be added. The consistency reminded me more of a Southwestern chickpea flour cake than an omelette. I was happy to have this option and will cook again soon.

Meatless Mondays: Roasted Carrot, Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup

This week, especially after a couple of days of snow, I decided to make a soup as part of our dinner tonight. Hubby found this recipe from choosingchia.com:

Ingredients
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 2 cups carrots
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 tbsp grated ginger
  • 1 liter vegetable broth
  • pinch of cayenne
  • salt & pepper to taste
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Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a pan with parchment paper.
  2. Chop your sweet potatoes and carrots into medium sized cubes and place spread out of your pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tender.
  3. Heat vegetable oil in a large pot on medium heat. Chop your onion and garlic and and add to the pot, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. Add grated ginger, sweet potato, carrots and a pinch of cayenne and stir together.
  4. Next add your vegetable broth and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes.
  5. Transfer soup to a blender (or use a hand blender) and blend soup until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
Roasted carrots and sweet potatoes
No veggie broth? No problem!
After simmering for a half-hour, it was ready to be blended.
It turned out  to be amazing. Because of the onions and garlic clove, I barely had to salt and pepper to taste. I also did not have veggie broth so I mixed water with Goya salad and vegetable seasoning and added that to the onions, garlic, ginger and cayenne. I also used 1 tablespoon of ginger instead of 2–it’s all we had left. Hubby told me we already had everything we needed to make this soup so the improvisation was clearly not planned. But that’s ok. Sometimes, that’s how it is and it did not disappoint.
Already excited for next Monday!