Cranberry Borscht, Cranberry Bread, Eggplant & Okra Stew, green salad

CRANBERRY BORSCHT

This recipe is such a hit here that we have made huge batches of it twice now and can see no way of improving it. It comes straight from Finlayson's 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes - with the difference that, for some reason or other, we have always made it on top of the stove instead.

Here you see it, returned to a pan to reheat a portion for the two of us after being blended. So rich and creamy! And that colour!!!!!

What is different and nice about Finlayson's recipe is that instead of cabbage it uses the greens of the beets you use for the soup. No other vegetables, barring garlic, are added, but cranberries, orange and orange zest, etc., instead. Look it up - it's a winner!!!

Oh - I should add that once we didn't have the beet greens to go with the beets ;) so we used chard instead. It was also very good, and okay to remember in a pinch, but the use of beet greens is something I've not run across before (all my borscht recipes have used cabbage) and it's a real treat in this recipe. I haven't found a recipe in here that I haven't loved!

CRANBERRY BREAD



This bread comes from Sarah Kramer's excellent La Dolce Vegan! and is called there 'Jen's Raisin Soda Bread'. The use of cranberries instead of raisins and the addition of orange zest is a suggested variant. Otherwise, it is a standard soda bread (but the best recipe I have tried for it!) with caraway seeds. Absolutely delicious! We've made it twice now and it is absolutely no-fail.



EGGPLANT & OKRA STEW

Again this recipe started out to be another one entirely, but really I rarely follow a recipe (except for baking - and not always then) and I like to use what I have in the refrigerator and cupboards - unless of course it's for something special. I had a large eggplant and I had green bell pepper - and some frozen okra, a large can of tomatoes. Sounded like a stew to me, and so it was.

In a hurry as always, I cut the eggplant into smallish pieces and didn't bother with sweating and draining it first.

1 onion, chopped
1 large eggplant, chopped into 1-inch or less pieces
1-1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 large can low-sodium tomatoes (28 ounces)
1 Tbsp Annie's vegan Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp crushed dried red chilies
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
1 pkg (10 ounces) frozen okra, thawed and trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, diced

Cook onion in a little wataer until softened in a pot large enough to hold everything. Add all but the last two ingredients and bring back to the boil, reduce heat and cook until nearly done. Be careful not to overcook the eggplant - you don't want mush. Add the okra and bell pepper and cook until just done - these should still give a little resistance to the bite. Taste for seasoning and serve with your favourite grain, alone, or with a crusty bread.

And here's a quick photo of the salad we had too - my little bit of propaganda just in case it converts one more person to eating salads too! ;)

OKRA WITH POTATOES (INDIA)

This was our lunch today, accompanied by red lentil dhal and a salad of cucumber, tomato and onion. Decadent!

OKRA WITH POTATOES

This lovely recipe was inspired by one by Madhur Jaffrey - and its origin is of course Indian. The serving size of this dish is easily adjustable, and you can of course play with the spices a bit. This recipe served the two of us generously, and, if doubled or trippled, would keep nicely in the refrigerator for leftovers. It uses garlic but no onion. NOTE: If you prefer your cooking non-fat, omit the oil (I do) and simply throw everything in together - it works just fine, believe it or not!


For Two Persons:

2 Tbsp chopped ginger root
2-3 cloves garlic
t tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne or more (to taste)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil (or as little as you can get away with) - can be omitted, as per note above.
1/4 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
5 oz (80 g) fresh okra/bindi/ladyfingers, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch diagonal slices
1 - 5 oz red potato (80 g) - boiled - in 1-in. cubes
2 or 3 canned tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 - 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup coriander leaves / cilantro, chopped, for serving
water as per instructions below



Boil the potato, assemble the spices, trim and slice the okra/bindi. Put the ginger and garlic into a small blender container with a Tbsp of water and blend into a paste, add the next four spices and mix well in a small bowl and reserve.

Select a skillet that will hold all ingredients and add the cooking oil over medium-high heat, then add the mustard and cumin seeds. The mustard seeds will quickly start to pop (stand back!), so turn down the heat to medium-low and add that spice paste you have made (previous paragraph). Give it a quick stir for a few seconds then add the potatoes, okra, tomatoes, salt, lemonjuice, sugar and 1/4 cup water (or a tad more, stirring well to coat all ingredients in the flavours. When the mixture starts to simmer, immediately turn the heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes on low. Test the okra for tenderness (it should not be overcooked) and stir again. The dish will be moist but not runny, the potatoes having thickened the sauce and all the spices, tomatoes, etc., will have coated the vegetables.

Serve hot, garnished with the chopped coriander leaves / cilantro, with basmati rice (we use brown), dhal, and perhaps a small salad / kachumbar dish.

Looks great - good enough to eat - and tastes heavenly.

JAMBALAYA

This dish is what we had for lunch today - it is a quick fix and has the virtue not only of using up what's left in the fridge but also being healthy, low-cal and almost fat-free :)

This used to be a standby with us for those days when we seemed to have a bit of this and a bit of that needing to be used before we pressed on to making new dishes. A friend reminded me of it recently, so here I was at lunchtime today making my low-fat version of -

JAMBALAYA

- serves 2 generously (ie. we had a serving left over)

1/3 lb extra-firm low-fat tofu, frozen, thawed, squeezed & cut in 1/2-in cubes.* Do the squeezing and cubing first, then set tofu aside.
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 large rib/stalk celery, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper/capsicum, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
6 white mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 Thai red chiles, finely chopped (you may want more)
1/2 large (28-oz) can tomatoes, chopped, with juice
healthy shake or two of oregano
1 tsp cummin
1/4 tsp cayenne - or more :)
1/4 tsp ‘liquid smoke’ (you can leave this out, but it is nicer in)
1 cup cooked brown rice
salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish? - I used some green onions

* THE TOFU: If you freeze it, it gets a wonderful texture. You will need to squeeze out excess water after it defrosts. Be kind to it.

Put the onions, garlic, chiles in a large skillet over medium-high heat with a little liquid (water or stock) until the mushrooms are translucent. Add all the other vegetables and seasonings and stir well.


Stir in the rice then carefully stir in tofu without breaking it up.

Reduce heat to medium-low and cook covered for around 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the vegetables are just cooked. NOTE: you should check about half way through the cooking - you may need to remove the lid to finish the evaporation of the liquid. Garnish and serve.

Chickpea Gumbo

The recipe is not mine to give, but I can point you to the website where I found it :) Go to:

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/soups/chickpea_gumbo.shtml

for a wonderful recipe for Chickpea Gumbo (the chickpeas/garbanzos stand in for seafood here). It is absolutely delicious. I made it in the fat-free version also suggested and it worked splendidly, but those who are not concerned with such things could, I'm sure, try the original with oil for the sautee.

There's a great illustration of it on the site, which is just as well since my own attempts at a photo came out decidedly blurry! It serves as proof of my good intentions only LOL