Sweet Potato, Kale, and Shiitake Mushrooms with Miso Sauce over Millet

Recently, during a trip to Central Square in Cambridge, I passed what I thought was a café called Life Alive. I didn’t stop in, but I looked it up on my train ride back to the city and discovered that Life Alive is a vegetarian/vegan restaurant. I checked out the menu and a few Yelp reviews, and I wished I’d stopped in! Instead, I did what I thought was the next best thing—I cooked a vegetarian dish full of nutrient-rich vegetables and whole grains, seasoning it with a sauce made from soy sauce, sake, miso, and pungent ginger & garlic paste, a condiment that can be purchased at Indian markets or grocery stores with a good selection of ethnic foods.

Next time you feel the need to clean up your diet, give this recipe a try!


Sweet Potato, Kale, and Shiitake Mushrooms with Miso Sauce over Millet

For the millet:
2 ½ c. / 550 mL water
1 t. / 15 g salt
1 c. / 230 g millet

For the vegetables:
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
12 shiitake mushrooms, halved
1 bunch kale, mid-ribs removed, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. / 15 g salt
2/3 c. / 150 mL water

For the sauce:
½ c. / 115 mL sake
¼ c. / 60 mL low-sodium soy sauce
¼ c. / 60 g miso
2 T. / 30 g ginger & garlic paste

1-2 sliced green onions, to garnish
Butter or vegan butter substitute

First, cook the millet by bringing the water to a boil. Add the millet, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes, covered. Let stand for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

In the meantime, add the sweet potatoes, kale, garlic, salt and water to a large stockpot with a lid. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the kale has wilted and the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.

While the vegetables and millet are cooking, make the sauce by combining the sake, soy sauce, miso, and ginger & garlic paste in a small saucepan over high heat. Whisk until the miso and the garlic & ginger paste have dissolved completely.

Once all the components are cooked, serve in individual bowls by adding the millet, then the vegetables, then the sauce, and finally, finish with a few sprinkled green onions and a pat of butter or vegan butter substitute.

Nutritional information: serves four. 340 calories, 2.2 g fat, 65.8 g carbohydrates, and 11 g protein per serving.

Miso Soup with Soba Noodles and Tempeh

Yes, I am aware that this headline might inspire you to ask, "Um, are you cooking soup, or are you trying to see how many ingredients most Americans can't identify will fit into a stockpot?"  Valid question.  After cooking this soup, I did notice that most of the ingredients aren't common in American cooking.  Good.  At least it's not boring. 

Everything I've eaten and cooked this week has been either vegetarian or vegan.  This started out as a choice, but it kind of turned into a default when I realized I had a lot of leftovers, and then it became an experiment - how long can I cook vegetarian and vegan food?  I do love vegetarian food, and I will cook vegetarian and vegan recipes in the future - but I am really starting to miss seafood.  Although I seem to have stumbled across a magnificent loophole - although subject to much debate, some claim that vegans can eat oysters because oysters have no central nervous system and cannot feel pain.  I mean, they are kind of blob-like...but I digress.  Back to the soup....



Tung Ho

 There are several ingredients in this soup that are not common - szechuan peppercorns, which taste almost like a pungent, mentholated coriander seed or a peppercorn that's lost it's spicy kick; tempeh, a cake of fermented soybeans and grains with a nutty flavor and slightly chewy texture; tung ho, an asian vegetable whose name sounds like something mean girls would call each other, is available in better supermarkets, and its flavor resembles grassy spinach; and miso, which is fermented soybean paste with a delicate, mellow flavor.  If you've never tried any of these things, please give this soup a try - it will be a delicious surprise!


Miso Soup with Soba Noodles and Tempeh

Tempeh

6 cups vegetable broth
1 T. minced fresh ginger
1 t. szechuan peppercorns
1 t. chipotle pepper flakes
4 oz. tempeh, diced
3 T. white miso (sometimes called "mellow miso")
4 oz. soba noodles
2 T. soy sauce
2 cups tung ho leaves
green onion, sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

Combine the vegetable broth, ginger, szechuan peppercorns, chipotle flakes, and tempeh in a large soup pot.  Bring to a boil.  Now, add the miso, and stir until miso has dissolved in the boiling broth. 

Add the soba noodles and cook until the noodles are soft.  Now, add the soy sauce and tung ho leaves.  Stir once or twice until the leaves are limp.  Remove from heat, ladle into bowls, and serve, garnishing with green onion, a few drops of sesame oil, and a pinch of toasted sesame seeds. 

Hooray for Cauliflower!

Tonight, I made a beautiful penne dish with cauliflower, a greatly underrated vegetable.  Cauliflower tends to be forgotten in this country outside of raw veggie trays; a shame, because it is loaded with fiber, folate, and B and C vitamins.  Next time you're hungry for something unusual, simple, and nutritious, try this recipe that I adapted from one of Mario Batali's.  This was originally intended to be included in my vegetarian/vegan post, but limited refrigerator space dictated that I hold off on this one until today.  This is a vegan dish.

Penne with Sauteed Cauliflower

1 pound penne
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
1 t. dried chipotle pepper flakes
1 bunch mint, chopped
1 head cauliflower, sliced into florets
1/4 c. white wine
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. 

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic, onion, chipotle, and mint, and saute until the garlic and onion begin to soften.  Do not let them brown.  Next, add the cauliflower and the wine, and reduce to a simmer.  Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and cook the pasta while the cauliflower is simmering.

Once the pasta is fully cooked, drain the pasta and add it to the pot with the cauliflower.  Add another splash of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and serve hot.

This Weekend's Meat-Free Menu

This weekend, hundreds of dogs and their owners gathered on Boston Common to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. To honor animals and all the work advocates do on their behalf, I not only volunteered at today’s walk, but everything I’ve cooked this weekend has been either vegetarian or vegan.

So what is the difference between vegetarians and vegans? Vegetarians do not eat meat or fish, but they may choose to eat eggs, dairy products, and other products obtained from live animals. Vegans neither eat nor otherwise use any products derived from animals, including honey and wool.

Because this blog is written to celebrate food - nothing more, nothing less - I do not believe that this is the forum to discuss the plethora of issues surrounding meat consumption. I’ll skip the sociology lesson and let you investigate the economic, political, medical and ethical questions on your own time, but I will highlight a few of the benefits of vegetarian and vegan cooking. I’m not expecting meataholics to put down their steak knives and start mainlining tofu, but consider these facts*:

• Vegetarian/vegan diets are lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than omnivorous diets
• Factory-farmed meat products are more likely to contain antibiotic-resistant strains of salmonella, E. coli, etc.
• No animals have to suffer to make falafel, beans & rice, or quinoa salad
• Intensive livestock production is one of our country’s greatest sources of environmental pollution
• Vegetarian dishes are generally easier on the wallet than dishes containing meat and/or fish

Even if you don’t want to give up meat, try cooking a vegetarian or vegan meal once or twice a week - most vegetarian recipes are so delicious that you won’t even miss the meat!

Before I did any real cooking, I had to try vegan bacon. Oxymoron, right?!? The stuff isn’t bad. I am thankful that someone has been able to make such a great substitute. No one should be denied the joys of bacon, butter, and booze.

This stuff cooks up just like real bacon. Grease the frying pan for a more authentic flavor, turn it over a few times, and voila! Vegan goodness.

The flavor is very spot-on, and the texture isn’t an exact match, but it’s pretty darn close. And honestly, people who cook bacon in the microwave probably won’t know the difference. The smell of vegan bacon frying is so alluring that Tessie, my roommate’s pup, joined me in the kitchen, barked to get my attention and showed off her “sit” skills when I picked up a piece!

The first dinner recipe I tried was a vegetarian casserole with whole wheat pasta, Savoy cabbage, fontina cheese, and fresh dill. The cabbage is extremely high in vitamins and minerals, and both cheese and 100% whole wheat pasta contain protein. Choose a high quality Italian brand of whole wheat pasta made with durum wheat, which is naturally higher in protein than other varieties of wheat. This dish is rich, gooey, hearty, and delicious - this one will stick to your bones on a cold day.

The next dinner recipe was more of an experiment, and it turned out to be fantastic! I was inspired to make this after accidentally buying a bag of Roland Sweet Dried Tomatoes - sounds like plain old sun-dried tomatoes, right? Wrong - these are sweetened with sugar, and their flavor and texture remind me of a tomato-tinged prune or raisin. I thought their sweet quality could enhance a recipe much in the way that adding raisins to a savory recipe deepens the flavors. In Sicily, golden raisins are sometimes added to tomato-based sauces; this was a perfect starting point.

I decided that I wanted to give myself a greater challenge than simply creating a vegan dish - I wanted to make one that was both vegan and gluten-free. Flavors? Check. Proteins? I call on my favorite legume, red lentils. Carbohydrates? Herein lies the challenge. Gluten-free pasta? Nah, just ate pasta last night. Rice? That’s for gluten-free amateurs. I chose millet.

Millet is the seed of a grass, and it is commonly used in parts of Asia and Africa. It is readily available in health food stores, co-ops, and better supermarkets. Try and get over the fact that you’ll without a doubt recognize it as a key component in commercially prepared birdseed; it’s inexpensive, nutritious, and has a wonderful, fluffy texture. If you cannot find millet, quinoa or amaranth are also great whole grains suitable for those on gluten-free diets, and they also carry the added perk of being two of the only plant sources of complete proteins.  Check out more gluten-free grains here.

Whole grains are a great substitute for couscous, the preferred starch source in Moroccan cooking. Knowing this, and knowing that my sweet dried tomatoes could work in a Sicilian-inspired dish, I decided to try a dish that blended Sicilian and Moroccan flavors, which was not a difficult task since their cuisines are very similar to begin with due to their proximity.

Now, it’s time to get cooking. Try these recipes and eat up!

Cabbage, Fontina, and Dill Casserole with Whole-Wheat Rotini

8 oz. 100% whole wheat rotini

1 small head Savoy cabbage, quartered and shredded into ¼” strips

1 clove garlic, minced

4 T. chopped fresh dill

Olive oil

2 T. chardonnay (try using an Italian variety, known as Sciardonne, produced in Italy’s Alto Adige region)

5 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded (fontina is soft, so grate it fresh from the fridge or it will melt)

Preheat the oven to 400. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water. Whole wheat pasta takes a little bit longer to cook than regular pasta, so be patient.

Meanwhile, combine the cabbage, garlic, 3 T. of the dill, a splash of olive oil, and chardonnay in an ovenproof dish. Place in oven. Check after 5 minutes, if the cabbage has wilted, remove from oven. If not, cook for a few more minutes, no more than 10, and remove from oven. Do not let the cabbage brown.

Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the cabbage in the casserole. Add half the fontina, mix well until all ingredients are blended evenly, adding another splash of olive oil to the mix. Once the pasta, cabbage, and cheese are well-blended, top with the remaining fontina. Place in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven, let sit for 5 minutes, and serve.

Millet with Sweet Tomato and Lentil Stew

Splash olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

Pinch crushed red chile flakes

Pinch fresh ground black pepper

1 cup chopped sweet dried tomatoes

½ cup red lentils

1 cup white wine

¼ t. ground cumin

¼ t. ground coriander

1 t. smoked paprika

½ cup water or vegetable broth (if necessary)

2 T. fresh parsley, chopped

2 T. fresh mint, chopped

2 T. capers, rinsed and drained

Salt to taste

1 batch cooked millet

Chopped toasted hazelnuts

Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until the onions become translucent. Do not let them brown. Next, add the chopped tomatoes, chile flakes, and ground pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until the tomatoes have cooked down and released some of their liquid.

Add the sweet dried tomatoes, lentils, wine, cumin, coriander, and paprika. Cook for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally. By this point, the lentils should be cooked but still firm. If the lentils need more cooking time and/or no liquid remains, add the ½ cup water or vegetable broth and simmer for 5-10 more minutes.

The final step is to add the parsley, mint, capers and salt, stirring until well-blended. To serve, spoon over cooked millet and sprinkle with chopped toasted hazelnuts.

* information obtained from www.tryveg.com and www.bostonveg.org