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MoFo 2014 Wrap-Up: Recipe Extras!

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I’m so glad we had this time together,
Just to have a laugh, or sing a song.
Seems we just got started and before you know it
Comes the time we have to say, ‘So long.’

Can you name that jingle?  Hint:  family tv hour, 1970’s, USA.  Let me know if you get it!

So, 20 posts in 30 days and Vegan MoFo 2014 has come to a successful close.  I met lots of great new people – readers and bloggers, both.  Circle expanded, check!  I seem to have been offered a regular contributor position at a major vegan website (more on that once I make my final decision about it). Exposure and opportunity, check!  I provided you my readers with a bevy of new recipes and heard from many of you that you’ve already tried and liked many of them.  Extra points to those of you who sent pictures – I loved that!  Provided service and value, check!

But the final thing I join MoFo for – to discover new blogs and gather new recipes – didn’t really happen so much.  So many people were signed up but didn’t actually participate and many who did wrote an awful lot of product and restaurant reviews, rather than recipes.  And what was with the blogs participating and posting non-vegan content??  I think Vegan MoFo hey-day is over.  For me, at least.  This will be my last.

I don’t have a final recipe for you today.  Instead I thought I’d share some of the recipes I didn’t get around to making.  I would have held them over for next year but since deciding that there will be no next year, I am passing them on to you.  Ta da!  My Jewish readers still have the hurdle of Sukkot cooking looming ahead of them, so I’m hoping that some additional vegan recipes will help you plan your menus.

1.  First up is this Syrian Lentil and Swiss Chard dish that I was planning to make for Rosh Hashanah and then blog for you today.  Deep into my holiday cooking, about an hour after the stores had closed for the holiday, I opened my pantry to pull out the lentils and…  yeah, no lentils.  I don’t think I have been bereft of lentils EVER since becoming a vegan in 2009, but you know, Murphy had his way with me that fateful day and my lentil dish was not to be.  But it’s OK, because I can send you to the source:

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 Syrian Lentils with Swiss Chard

2.  Next we have Tofu Chraime by Ori Shavit.  Ori is a major vegan blogger and animal rights activist here in Israel.  She has a full blog in Hebrew and then a partial blog in English.  Chraime, for those who are not familiar with it, is a Moroccan dish of fish stewed in a spicy tomato sauce.  When I posted this recipe on Facebook the other day, Sivan, editor of The Vegan Woman, told me it’s her favorite recipe and she makes it all the time.  Sounds good to me!

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Tofu Chraime 

3.  I had planned to make the Pomegranate Tabouleh from an Israeli cookbook I own, but this one looks similar:

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 Pomegranate Tabouleh

4. Cardamom Spiced Pancakes with Homemade Date Jam from One Arab Vegan were on my list:

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Cardamom Spiced Pancakes with Homemade Date Jam

5.  Continuing the cardamom love, this Cardamom Rose Cold Brew Coffee caught my eye:

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 Cardamom Rose Cheap-o-chino

6.  Fellow MoFo’er Zsu’s Vegan Kitchen, who did a month of vegan burgers worthy of a looksie, shared this Tempeh Gyro Burger that fit my theme:

Tempeh Gyro Burger B Zsu Dever Tempeh Gyro Burger

7.  Hearty White Bean Soup with Spinach, Rosemary and Garlic would be delicious on a cool evening in the sukkah or at home:

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Hearty White Bean Soup with Spinach, Rosemary and Garlic

8.  Coconut Rice Pudding from one of my favorite blogs, May I Have that Recipe, looks divine!

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Coconut Rice Pudding

9.  These Sesame and Hummus Bites from another favorite blog, Coconut and Berries, is as close as you’ll get to baked falafel on this blog.  People kept asking me “Do you have a falafel recipe?” Folks, I just could not bring myself to do it.  First of all, falafel is deep-fried, that’s what makes it taste so good.  Secondly, I have falafel abundance at my fingertips here and would never, ever even WANT to make it at home, let alone, ack, bake it.  Falafel snob, sorry.  But these look interesting enough to try:

DSC_0202_thumbSesame Hummus Bites with Mango Tahini Sauce

10. I’m planning on using my leftover freekah to make this version of Mejadra, which is usually made of lentils and rice, here made of freekah and black lentils.  This recipe uses goat yogurt but can be easily veganized with vegan yogurt or just by omitting yogurt entirely:

majadra

 Mejadra Freekah

So my puppies, that should keep you busy for awhile!  I shall be back to blogging soon, but perhaps will take a week or two off.  A reminder that MY recipe posts for several years of Vegan MoFos Past, can be found on my recipe index page and by searching posts with the Vegan Mofo category tag.

selfie 1 with logo

Here I am, oven-mitt waving at you, in front of the very stove where I have been standing all month.  And yes, indeedy, short hair happened this month too!

Thank you all SO much for hanging out with me in the kitchen!!  All the best, emily

Persian Rice Pilaf

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In the excellent cookbook The World of Jewish Cooking, author Gil Marks writes,

Rice was brought westward from eastern Asia to Persia at least 3,000 years ago, where it quickly became so beloved that no meal was considered complete without its presence.  Contact with the Persian Empire brought rice to Israel at the onset of the 2nd Temple Period, and Jews became almost as passionate about it as Persians, considering its whiteness a symbol of purity. By Roman times, Israeli rice had become an important export of which the Jerusalem Talmud boasts “There is none like it outside Israel.”

For those of you who don’t know, Persia is modern-day Iran and there are loads of Jews of Iranian heritage living in Israel.  I myself, was raised in America on Uncle Ben’s orange boxed white rice which was sticky and very starchy.  Persian rice, on the other hand, is dry, not sticky, with every grain of rice, fluffy and separate.  It took me a long time and many tutorials with an Iranian friend to get the consistency right.  The best way I have found is to first soak the rice, then rinse it thoroughly, par-boil it for 4 minutes in a large pot of salted water, drain again, lightly fry in oil and then steam with no additional water.  But short of that multi-stepped method, the below recipe takes a few short cuts to produce the same result.  The bit with the towel-wrapped lid is a MUST!  The towel absorbs condensation that forms on the lid and drips back down into your rice.  Just be very careful that your towel doesn’t touch down to the burner and catch fire.

Basmati rice is my rice of choice for this dish.  You can use brown basmati or even long-grain brown rice, but add about 20 minutes cooking time and maybe 1/2 cup more water if you use brown instead of white.

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Persian Rice Pilaf

Persian Rice Pilaf

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp oil, divided
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 4 large carrots, grated
  • 1/3 cup raisins
  • 1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds
  • 2 cups white Basmati rice
  • 3 1/2 cups water or broth
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • dash cinnamon
  • 1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Soak the rice in water to cover for at least an hour, preferably 2-3 hours
  2. Drain the rice in a strainer and rinse it thoroughly for a few minutes until the water runs clear, not white
  3. Set rice aside in strainer to drain
  4. Saute onion and carrots in 1 Tbsp oil until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes
  5. Add rice and stir to coat completely with oil.
  6. Keep stirring for a minute until a toasty aroma begins to arise.
  7. Add turmeric, raisins, cinnamon, salt and pepper, orange blossom water if using, and water and stir to combine.
  8. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 12 minutes, or until water is all absorbed and rice is to your desired consistency.
  9. Fluff the rice with a fork.
  10. Wrap the cover of the pot in a clean, cotton kitchen towel and replace it tightly on the pot.
  11. Turn off the heat and let sit for 10-20 minutes or until ready to serve.
  12. In the meantime, saute the almonds in the remaining 1 Tbsp oil just until lightly fragranced and golden. Be careful not to burn them!
  13. Toss almonds into rice and fluff again with a fork before serving.
http://triumphwellness.com/persian-rice-pilaf/

Georgian Pomegranate Tofu

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The flavor combination of pomegranate syrup, walnuts and mint, is common in the cuisine of Georgia (and I do not mean the Peach State y’all!).

The Jews of Georgia, in the Caucasus, between the Black and Caspian Seas, trace their presence in Georgia from the time of the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BCE when my people were kicked out of Israel and dispersed throughout the world.  According to Wikipedia, since 1989, 21,134 Georgian Jews have returned to Israel.  Here in Israel, they have added to the amazing melting pot of cuisines and exotic spices and flavors.  Those flavors, along with the upcoming Rosh HaShanah holiday, in which pomegranate plays an important, symbolic role, inspired me to create this dish.

This is a super easy recipe requiring an overnight marinade, so plan accordingly.  This also uses just one box of tofu.  If you are feeding a crowd, multiply the recipe accordingly.

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Georgian Pomegranate Tofu

Serving Size: serves 2

Georgian Pomegranate Tofu

Ingredients

  • 1 box (300g) firm tofu
  • 1 cup pomegranate syrup (rotev rimonim)
  • 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves chopped
  • more chopped mint for garnish
  • about 2 Tbsp toasted walnuts for garnish
  • 2 Tbsp pomegranate seeds for garnish

Instructions

  1. Slice the tofu into 6 slices, about 3/4" thick each
  2. Mix the pomegranate syrup, chopped mint and chopped garlic in a flat casserole dish that will fit all tofu slices laying flat.
  3. Lay tofu slices in marinade.
  4. Marinate overnight, turning the tofu over once to marinate the second side.
  5. Lightly oil a grill pan and heat it on medium-high heat
  6. Remove the tofu from the marinade.
  7. Place the marinade in a small saucepan.
  8. Grill tofu slices for 2 minutes per side to get grill marks and cook through. (You can do this in a regular skillet if you don't have a grill pan).
  9. In the meantime, bring the marinade to a boil and cook for a few minutes until it is slightly reduced and thick.
  10. Place the tofu on your serving dish, pour the marinade over it, garnish with walnuts, additional mint and pomegranate seeds.
http://triumphwellness.com/georgian-pomegranate-tofu/

OK cuties, that is it for me for this week.  I’ll be offline enjoying my family and community for the holiday.  Back next week with our final two Vegan MoFo posts!  In the meantime, I wish all of you, regardless of race, religion, non-religion, whatever, many blessings, much happiness, health and prosperity in the new year!

Vegan Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms

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Artichoke bottoms filled with a meat stuffing is a common dish throughout many countries in the Middle East, from Lebanon to Egypt, to Morocco.  In my vegan version, I used crumbled veggie burgers to stand in for the meat.  But the recipe is very flexible and you could use TVP or burger crumbles or even cooked lentils.

The brand of veggie burgers I use are made by Teva Deli.  It doesn’t matter which flavor.  These burgers are made from beans and grains and I love them.  Package looks like this:

teva-deli-burgers

You may use whatever veggie burgers you like, or any of the substitutions listed above.  I also used a Yemenite spice mix called Hawaij.  If you live in Israel, make sure you use hawaij for SOUP, not hawaij for coffee, which is a different thing entirely!  If you don’t have hawaij where you live, you may substitute cumin. Also, I used canned artichoke bottoms, but you can always use frozen.  Finally, I did not have pine nuts but really thought they were needed in this dish so I added them to the recipe.  Toast them lightly in the toaster before using.  Keep your eyes on them as they burn quickly and cost a pretty penny.

In case you missed yesterday’s post, I did a round-up of Rosh HaShanah recipes from all over the internet.  Holiday begins in T minus 2…

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Vegan Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms

Vegan Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms

Ingredients

  • 2 veggie burgers, thawed
  • 1 onion, chopped finely
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil (can water saute if you prefer)
  • 1/2 hot pepper (adjust to your desired level of heat or omit entirely)
  • 3 Tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
  • 1/3 cup tomato sauce
  • about 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp Hawaij for marak (or cumin)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 12 artichoke bottoms (this is 3- 390g cans in Israel) if you use frozen, thaw them first
  • Breadcrumbs for topping (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180C.
  2. Saute onion, garlic and hot pepper in oil for a few minutes until soft.
  3. Crumble veggie burger into pan and saute until all is mixed.
  4. Add hawaij (or cumin), toasted pine nuts, tomato sauce and just enough water to give it the consistency of a thick bolognese sauce.
  5. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  6. Spread the artichoke bottoms on a pan.
  7. Fill with filling, heaping it on.
  8. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs if desired.
  9. Bake 20 minutes.
http://triumphwellness.com/vegan-stuffed-artichoke-bottoms/

 

Round-up of Vegan Rosh HaShanah recipes

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When I sat down at the end of August to plan out my recipes and posts for Vegan MoFo, (vegan month of food blogging challenge), I faced a bit of a quandary.  I wanted my theme to be Jewish and Middle Eastern foods, veganized, and with the Jewish holidays right around the corner, I wanted to share recipes people could cook and enjoy on their holiday tables.  I composed a list of Jewish and holiday favorites – things like gefilte fish, chopped liver, challah, corn schnitzel, matzo ball soup and honey cake.  Some recipes, like mock chopped liver, I was able to not just veganize, but also healthify. (Mock Liver pate recipe).  Others, such as gefilte fish, seemed like they might be too similar to the vegan tuna salad recipe I blogged.  And still others, like challah, matzo balls, cakes, and corn schnitzels…  well, I could veganize those, no problem.  But having them be healthy as well?  That just didn’t excite me very much.  Sometimes cake just needs to be cake, and challah, challah, white flour and all.  That’s the basis of my food philosophy after all, that not everything has to be “pure” and “healthy”, you can have some fun indulgences too.  And yet, those indulgences can be confusing and triggering to my clients who are struggling with balance, and having the recipes on my actual blog seems like I am PROMOTING something.

I actually DID try a recipe for corn schnitzel as evidenced by the below photos.  It was tasty, but it was fried, used canned corn, sugar, soup mix, etc etc.  I just didn’t have the heart to blog it on a health blog.

SO, I decided that I will devote today’s post to where you can find recipes for some of your Jewish favorites veganized.  Some are healthy, some are not, but ALL are vegan.  You can choose to cook what you will.

If I were going to make a vegan challah, I would make this one by IsaChandra:  Vegan Challah

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Nava Atlas makes some delicious looking vegan matzo balls!  Vegan Matzo Balls and soup

matzo balls

Rhea over at The V Word has my vote for gefilte fish:  Vegan Gefilte Fish

geflte fish (1)

 

Mayim Bialik has a vegan honey cake on kveller that looks good.  I might substitute silan (date syrup) for the agave though.  It would be darker and more “honey” tasting.  Vegan Honey Cake

vegan-honey-cake

These are the corn schnitzels I made and then decided not to blog.  Not really applicable to Rosh HaShanah, but yes, Jewish and Israeli.  The recipe needed a lot of tweaking and is in Hebrew:  Vegan Corn Schnitzel

corn schnitzel 4

 

This Moroccan plait looks like it would make an amazing main dish for a holiday table.  Vegan Moroccan Plait

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All of my Vegan MoFo posts from the past 3+ years, most of which had a Jewish or Middle Eastern theme, are here: Triumph Wellness MoFo recipe posts

MoFo Recipe Icon

 

Veg Kitchen has an AMAZING round up of vegan RH recipes!  Vegan Jewish New Year Recipes

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And finally, I wrote an article on Vegan RH foods for Definition Magazine (fitness for vegan women).  It included the above chopped liver, but also my Black-eyed Pea – Pumpkin Curry and my Vegan Stuffed Cabbage!  This issue of Definition is free and entirely online.  It has amazing, amazing content – aside from my recipes – there are other yummy, healthy vegan recipes and fascinating articles on fitness and transformation.  I LOVE being a part of this publication!  You can download it here:  Definition Magazine

vegan stuffed cabbage with tempeh and mushrooms

 

I will still be back tomorrow and Tuesday with more recipes and then a short break for the holiday.  Then we will finish this MoFo off next week with 2 more on Sunday and Monday.  MoFo finish line in sight.  Holiday cooking for 12 commenced.

Moroccan Harira Soup

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Vegan MoFo Post #15 of 20.  Homestretch.

Harira is a traditional North African soup of Moroccan and Algerian origins.  It typically uses chickpeas, lentils and meat.  Obviously I skipped the meat, but I also subbed out black-eyed peas for the chickpeas because I feel like my diet often ends up being all-chickpea-all-the-time.  Black-eyed peas make a nice change and as they are served by many Jews as one of the traditional simanim for Rosh HaShanah, this soup could be a great one to serve at your holiday table.

Today’s possibly new-to-you ingredient is preserved lemon.  Preserved lemons are just lemons that have been pickled in salt.  In Israel you can buy them where pickled things are sold. (I got mine at the pickle/olive bar at Eden Teva Market).  If you cannot find preserved lemon do not despair.  Just squeeze some fresh lemon juice into the soup before serving.

Here is what preserved lemon (limon kavoosh) looks like whole:

lemon whole

 

and cut open:

lemon sliced

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Moroccan Harira Soup

Moroccan Harira Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry black-eyed peas or chickpeas
  • 1 Tbsp oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 1 potato or celery root or parsnip, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup lentils
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • pinch saffron (optional)
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, extra for garnish if desired
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley, extra for garnish if desired
  • 3 tomatoes
  • 1 preserved lemon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • z'chug, harissa, hot sauce or hot pepper to your taste

Instructions

  1. Soak black-eyed peas or chickpeas overnight.
  2. Drain and discard soak water.
  3. Saute onions, carrots and celery in oil until soft.
  4. Add black-eyed peas and 10 cups of water.
  5. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam that surfaces, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
  6. Add lentils, cumin, cilantro and parsley (you can save a little on the side for garnish)
  7. Simmer, adding more water if necessary, for another 30 minutes.
  8. Cut open the preserved lemon and scrape out the seeds.
  9. Place in food processor.
  10. Quarter the tomatoes and scoop out their seeds.
  11. Add to food processor with lemon.
  12. Process until finely chopped.
  13. Add tomato-lemon slush to pot and cook until all the beans and tender.
  14. Season with z'chug, harissa, hot sauce or hot pepper to your desired level of spiciness.
  15. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and/or cilantro before serving if desired.
http://triumphwellness.com/moroccan-harira-soup/

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