ethiopian

When Tami, over at Vegan Appetite and author of American Vegan Kitchen, posted a contest for PaPa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food, I knew there was no way I was going to wait to just lose in the contest, so I hurried over to Kittee's blog to grab her zine. Besides, I knew I was going to have to have it, so I didn't want to take the chance away from someone else.

I love, love, love Ethiopian food and the complete lack of a vegan cookbook on the topic was depressing. Until this little zine came along.

She covers how to throw your own Ethiopia food party and gives you all the essential recipes to start cooking your Badookie off. 

She has a gluten-free injera, (flat-bread), recipe, the niter kibbeh, (flavorful cooking fat), recipe and a berbere paste recipe. It's all here to get you started. 

I made the injera, niter kibbeh (you can't skip it), dinich siquar allecha (sweet potatoes), ye'miser w'et (red lentils in spicy stew), and ye'takelt w'et (mixed vegetables in spicy stew). It was all amazing! The two w'ets used the same red spicy gravy, but they were still distinct enough that they were able to stand on their own. 

All vegan, all Ethiopian and all gluten-free. And leftovers? Just as amazing. But, like Kittee says, don't even entertain for a second to have it with rice. Although I've erred in the past regarding this, I now concur.

Dinich Siquar Allecha (Sweet Potatoes)

Ye'Takelt W'et (Mixed Veg in Spicy Gravy)

Ye'miser W'et (Red Lentils in Spicy Gravy) with Selata (Salad)

harissa spiced sandwich

African Night

Harissa is a staple in North Africa, a hot pepper sauce. You can buy harissa or make your own using fresh hot peppers, oil, and other optional ingredients such as garlic, cumin, red pepper, coriander, etc.

Tonight's meal, Harissa Spiced Sandwich, was inspired by a recipe by Marcus Samuelsson using harissa coated lamb. I used rehydrated textured vegetable protein (TVP) instead of the lamb, but next time will definitely use either tofu or seitan - the TVP retained too much liquid (because of rehydration and being marinated) to crispen properly.

Using tofu (pressed or wrapped) or seitan, coating them with the harissa marinade and then browning them, is totally delicious. The protein is then cooked in a sauce with chickpeas and is then served with hummus and pita. A little extra harissa on the side is nice, too. 

Even using the TVP the dish was phenomenal and using solely chickpeas or using tofu or seitan will garner a better result. 

Cost Breakdown

TVP (use tofu or seitan instead): $2

tamari, harissa, broth: $1.50

onion, garlic, lemon, spices:

chickpeas: $2

tomato: $1

pita: $1.50

hummus: $1

Total to make 5 servings:

 $9.00

HARISSA SPICED SANDWICH PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

HARISSA PEPPER PASTE PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

jerk chickpeas and potatoes

When you hear of food being jerked, it is usually chicken. Please don't jerk the chicken around! Not here! We are kind to chickens and needed something else to jerk. Chickpeas became a natural because of its firm texture and ability to actually get crisp in the oven. Adding a few potatoes to the jerking also became a no-brainer.

You can also add carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes (I did) or a winter squash (it's that time of year, again) to the jerking pan. If you add any of the less denser veggies ( i.e. sweet potatoes) add them later in the cooking so they don't over cook.

The jerk marinade is made with garlic, jalapenos, allspice, cinnamon, cayenne, brown sugar, vinegar and a few other ingredients. Make it as spicy as you like it, but remember that cooking takes some of the edge off the raw version.

I made a cilantro-yogurt sauce to tame the heat. This really was an easy meal to make and very satisfying to my jerk-tooth.

Add a side of greens and this meal is complete.

Cost Breakdown:

potatoes: $2

chickpeas: $4

onion, garlic, peppers: $2

spices: $1

vinegar, lime, sugar: $1

carrot, sweet potatoes: $2

yogurt, cilantro, parsley: $2

Total to feed a family of 5:

$14.00

JERK CHICKPEAS AND POTATOES PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

jamaican veggie purses

Jamaican food is African inspired, so it is appropriate for our Tuesday Night meal. This one comes out of Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry. I picked up this book when Vegan.com spread the word that it was on sale for $8. This  has to be one of the better cookbooks out there. I've had great success with many of his recipes, and this one is no exception.

He uses coconut butter in the crust and coconut milk in the recipe. There are fresh cut corn, fresh shelled peas (CSA), carrots and shredded cabbage. The salad is cucumbers and tomatoes in a dressing of lime, lemon and orange juices, from the same book.

Excellent meal, although Cat does not like coconut milk - tastes too odd. The other two gobbled it up.

Cost Breakdown:

crust: $2

vegetables: $2

coconut milk: $1.50

salad: $2.50

spices, onion, garlic: $1

Total to make 6 purses:

$9.00

We have a bunch of blueberries and since blueberry season is almost over, and since GiGi at Veganville blogspot has a recipe for said blueberries and coconut milk, it was destiny.

Great dessert; thanks GiGi!

african mofongo

African/Asian Night

Since we went out to eat for lunch today, I wasn't really too keen on making dinner, but of course, the people in my house just insist on eating! This dish is Puerto Rican - a stew of fried plantains or yucca with poultry - an affordable meal to make. Well, they haven't heard of seitan, I suppose, because seitan is even more economical and it is more spiritually happy - no one had to die for the meal.

So, you might be wondering, where is Africa in this? Actually Mofongo has its roots in Africa and was brought to the Caribbean.

I did not fry my plantain, nor use plantain, for that matter. I used yuca (or cassava as it is also known as)! It was the first time for me with this tuber, and I must say it was anticlimactic. There was nothing difficult in peeling it or cooking it. I just boiled the sweet potato with the yuca and did a coarse mash. I had the seitan left over from last week, and I made a dark spice mix for it using habanero, fennel, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, mustard seed, poppy seed and black peppercorns. I coated the sliced seitan pieces with it and pan-fried them with lemon juice.

Tomato sauce is on the bottom, topped with the yuca/sweet potato mash and then the seitan. It is a deconstructed stew because I thought the picture would be more appealing and it would be more obvious what is in the dish.

So how was it? Fabulous! Only one child did not appreciate it (Cat). Although she did say her favorite part was the seitan, as she was picking them out of her plate. She was saying how the other parts of the meal are too spicy. She didn't realize the spice was in the seitan until I told her. But she kept on eating anyway. I guess deep down she liked it, too.

Cost Breakdown:

seitan: $2

yucca and sweet potato: $2

tomato sauce: $2

habanero: $.10 (funny!)

spices: $ .50  

onions: $1

Total to feed a family of 5:

$7.60

piri piri summer vegetables with jollof rice

Tuesday nights are Asian/African nights

...or anything that is nice with rice. Tonight I made an African meal complete with red palm oil, a distinctive African flavor. Piri Piri means 'hot chilis' in Swahili and so the name of the marinade echoes the content of it. Unfortunately, I could not find any thai bird's eye chili, so I made my piri piri marinade with Fresno and serrano peppers - less spicy. It seems to be a chili week, here at my house! After the vegetables - eggplant, green beans, zucchini and yellow squash - were marinated for 20 minutes, I grilled them on the griddle I still had out (but cleaned, of course :) from lunch. I served it in butter lettuce to cut the heat and provide a vessel to the mouth. Yum!

The rice is cooked with tomatoes, onions, cinnamon sticks, fenugreek seeds, coriander and cumin, and the ubiquitous African red palm oil. I love African food. The family is still getting used to the unique flavor - especially of the palm oil (which you can skip and just spice your neutral oil by simmer it with onions, garlic and the spices for 15 minutes, straining it and using it as the cooking base). The flavor of the vegetables - spicy and sweet with a little tang from the lemon in the marinade - were well received, though.

Cost Breakdown:

vegetables: $5

peppers: $1

rice: $.50

tomatoes: $2.50

red palm oil : $1

lettuce: $2

spices: $.50

Total to feed a family of 5:

$12.50