FOOD: Coconut Yoghurt + A Tasty Recipe

Yellow Split Peas with Coconut Yoghurt and Wile Rocket Leaves

Fierce Wellington Winds A Blowin'...

Wellington winds gust strong.
Damn strong.

All well and fine if you can stay in doors, and watch the view above from the safety and comfort of an insulated studio apartment with heating. 

Not so great if you have to head out to walk around, catch buses, etc.

This weather calls for a hearty meal.
The kind that warms the cockles of your thawing bones and is healthy to boot.

Enter coconut yoghurt.
And may I say: GENIUS idea!

Dairy-free. Gluten-free. Lactose-free.
Probiotics = affirmative.
No added sugar.
Tastes? Excellent!

Picked up a tub of this beauty at Commonsense Organics in Wakefield Street, Wellington City.

Boy-oh-boy, is that a fun place to visit!

For those working at a rather extreme exchange rate disadvantage (*cough*), watch yourself in this place. You will burn through a whole lotta cash before you even blink!

RECIPE

Yellow Split Peas with Coconut Yoghurt and Wild Rocket

This is really more about assembly than a "recipe" per se.

Substitute a thick, creamy yoghurt for the coconut yoghurt if it isn't available in your location.  

The tangy tartness of yoghurt balances the richer flavours of the split peas, while the peppery textured crunch of wild rocket seals the deal on a hearty meal. 

Step 1: Rocket (arugula).

Step 2: Warm, soft, freshly cooked yellow split peas seasoned with salt.

Step 3: Dollop of creamy (coconut) yoghurt to finish off a delightful dish.

*Potjiekos*

In Afrikaans (which stems from Dutch), a potjie  is a little pot. These pots are, for the most part, really not so little and actually weigh a whole lot since they're made from cast iron.

According to Wikipedia, they were brought to South Africa from the Netherlands in the 17th century. These so called potjie pots (which is a little odd, as it means: little pots pots) usually have three legs for packing coal/wood underneath for cooking, a heavy lid that keeps the contents in even while they're boiling furiously, and a sturdy handle for lifting a heavy, fire-hot vessel.

Almost every culture that has some cold weather during their year-long cycle has some version of stew, and potjiekos (direct translation: little pot food) is basically a very traditional version of just that...stew.

And we all know stew has a hundred-and-one incarnations! Meat, veg and a starch of some sort can be remarkably versatile.

My version is an entirely vegan recipe, made on the day we christened our potjie pot (size: #4, which feeds around 8 - 10 people).

Ingredients:

• 1 kg carrots
• 1.4 kg baby potatoes
• 700 g - 1 kg pumpkin chunks
• 1 punnet each of zucchini + patty pans + baby butternut + baby gem squash
• fresh curry leaves
• fresh rosemary
• fresh basil
• fresh thyme
• salt 
• pepper
• water
• agar-agar

Method:

1. Once the new pot has been 'seasoned' for use by heating over the fire and wiping out with cooking oil numerous times, you're ready to begin your cooking exploits. 
2. Lay the fresh herbs along the base of the pot. Make sure they cover the entire base of the pot. This will do two things: 1 - prevent the vegetables from burning during cooking, and 2 - flavour the entire potjiekos evenly.
3. Cut carrots into chunks and baby potatoes in half. Add them to salted, boiling water in the potjie and cook with the lid on for at least 40 minutes.
4. Test the carrots and potatoes to see that they're almost cooked. Now add all of the softer vegetables: layer pumpkin chunks first, then baby gem halves, then patty pan halves and zucchini chunks. Top with enough boiling water to cover, season with more salt and put the lid back on the pot. It goes back onto the fire for another 30 - 40 minutes.
5. Test that the veg are done. Take the pot off the fire and stir through 1 tablespoon of agar-agar. This will act as the thickening agent (when the stew cools, it will turn slightly gelatinous, but this abates when the leftovers are reheated).
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with basmati rice.
7. You will find that a stew cooked over a fire is infused with a delicious smoky flavour. And you might get a kick out of the authenticity too: (wo)man versus fire! :)

Let there be wraps

What a great weekend!

When we woke up on Saturday morning, the wind was blowing, which is fairly rare in Pretoria (the least windy city in South Africa). So we grabbed Sim's kite and walked to the nearby veld to fly it.

I didn't take the camera with on Saturday, so here's a recent photo of Sim flying the kite on the Rondebosch Common in Cape Town (a city where the wind practically never dies!)

 A craving for tofu then hit me (I haven't eaten tofu in years), so we whipped up a batch of eggless, gluten-free pancakes to act as wraps, after which we parked our behinds on the couch while it rained to eat brunch and watch Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory.

The combo of potato starch and chickpea flour is magic. 
It clings together like slime to a pond wall (that's a good thing, albeit untasty imagery).

All you do is modify the consistency with your liquid of choice.
So pancakes = thinner batter.
Flapjacks = thicker.

And the blend of flours is up to you.
A more neutral taste but chewier texture = more potato starch.
A heavier taste but softer texture = more chickpea flour.

Hint: a non-stick crêpe pan is muy importante.

Pancakes (to use as wraps)

gluten-free

egg-free

makes 6

Recipe:

• 3/4 cup potato starch
• 6 tablespoons chickpea flour
• water

Whisk the batter to the desired consistency (adding water slowly).

Lightly oil a non-stick crêpe pan, and ladel some batter into it 

over medium-high heat. Watch closely to make sure it doesn't burn, 

and flip it when you see air bubbles.

Et voilà!

Fillings:

• tofu
• aubergine
• wild rocket
• tomato

Slice tofu in 1cm thick slices.

Fry in a tiny bit of olive oil (just enough to coat the pan) 

till golden and slightly crispy. Add a sprinkling of your seasoning of choice 

(in this case, just a little sea salt).

Slice aubergines into 1cm thick slices.

Fry in a tiny bit of olive oil (just enough to coat the pan).

Add a sprinkling of your seasoning of choice 

(in this case, just a little sea salt).

Amass the fillings like a grand vegan army on a plate.

Born-up-a-tree!

Some Curry for Comfort

The world is full of good curry. A marvelous idea if I ever saw one, perfectly welcoming to meat eaters and vegetarians alike. Most of the time, welcoming as well to those avoiding gluten, as cream is a fab thickener.

Cooking some version of curry at home is a labour of love (of sorts), where time and patience (and sometimes multiple pots) is necessary for a good end product.

Well, on a day with some time and some inclination, this recipe is what emerged. And it made me happy. For dishes that bring nourishment and contentment are always worth the effort.

What is your favourite comforting dish?

Ingredients for the curry:

• 1 cup brown rice
• 4 small onions
• 3 x-large potatoes
• 4 medium carrots
• 3 cups frozen peas
• 1 fresh chilli (medium-hot)
• 1 sprig each of thyme, lemon thyme, rosemary, mint
• 2 tsp of curry powder
• 1/4 tsp each of cumin and cinnamon
• 4 cardamom pods
• olive oil for frying
• salt
• 2 tsp coconut oil (optional)
• fresh chives (optional)

Method for brown rice:

• 3 cups of water added to the cup of rice with 1 teaspoon of salt, set on medium heat to simmer for 40 minutes usually does the trick!

Method for curry (use one big, flat-bottomed pot that is suitable for all the steps below = less washing up):

1. Chop the small onions finely, and fry in 1 tablespoon of olive oil till soft and translucent. Remove from the pot, and set aside in a bowl for the moment.
2. Chop the potatoes and carrots into even dice. Add 2 tsp of salt to the pot and enough water to cover the ingredients. Boil till soft (this will depend on how big the chunks of potato and carrot are...anywhere from 15 to 30 mins).
3. Drain about a half of the liquid away, and then put the pot back on the stove top. Add to the potatoes the cooked onions, 3 cups of frozen peas, a chopped chilli, the curry powder, herbs, cardamom pods, cumin and cinnamon. Boil until the peas are done (about 5 - 7 minutes).
4. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt. 
5. Stir through 2 tsp of coconut oil and sprinkle with freshly cut chives.
6. Serve with brown rice. 
7. Good eating! :-)

P.S. The inspiration for my curry recipe and post title came from drooling over this site, written by the truly inspired curry maker, Ramona.

Impromptu Vegan Variety...Pull Up A Chair!

I'm a big fan of natural ingredients tasting like themselves. No cream sauce slathered limp broccoli or butterey, sugary, wilted and lifeless carrots for me, thanks very much.

This meal reflected my wish for vegetables to taste like better versions of their raw selves, and was heartily enjoyed by three other ardent meat eaters as well!




The Day: A rainy Sunday afternoon

The Place: The bu and my's cottage

The Mission: Spontaneous lunch with my parental units

The Protocol: Vegan cuisine

The Ingredients: Whatever was on-hand in the pantry (butternuts, baby onions, potatoes, legumes, lettuce, tomato, avocado and herbs from the garden)

The Table:

The Meal:

The Method:

Herbed Butter Bean Hummus:

• Ingredients: 2 tins of butter beans, 1 large carrot, 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary, virgin olive oil, cumin, salt.
• Method: (1) Strip the leaves off the rosemary and toss them in a food processor. (2) Zhoesh the rosemary, a pinch of salt, 1 Tbsp of olive oil and the carrot until fine. (3) Drain the butter beans, reserving some of the liquid. Add both to the food processor, with approximately 3 Tbsp olive oil, a pinch of cumin and salt. Zhoesh till required consistency is reached (you might want to add a little water or more olive oil if you'd like a smoother texture). (4) Season to taste with cumin and salt.
• Serve: Dollop the bean hummus into the cavity of the roasted butternut.

Roasted Baby Onions:

• Ingredients: 1kg of baby onions (deskinned and cut in half), sunflower oil, fresh thyme, fresh chives, salt, pepper.
• Method: (1) Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees Celsius. (2) Cover a roasting pan in tin foil (to make it SO much easier). (3) Add the onions, drizzling them with sunflower oil and sprinkling them with thyme leaves, salt and pepper. (4) Bake uncovered in the oven for approximately 40 minutes to an hour (till they're crispy on the outside, soft on the inside with a little bit of al-dente bite to them). 
• Serve: Sprinkle with freshly cut chives.

Roasted Butternut:

• Ingredients: 2 medium butternuts (one-half per person), coconut oil, salt.
• Method: (1) Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees Celsius. (2) Cut each butternut in half and de-seed them. (3) Cover a roasting pan in tin foil. (4) Lay the butternuts next to eachother in the pan. Rub the flesh with coconut oil and sprinkle with salt. (5) Bake uncovered in the oven for approximately an hour on the bottom rack, or until the flesh is soft and yielding when pressed with a fork.
• Serve: Fill each cavity with butter bean hummus.

 Roast Potatoes:

• Ingredients: 4 large roasting potatoes, coconut oil, salt.
• Method: (1) Scrub the potatoes. (2) Cut each potato into quarters. (3) Cover a roasting pan with tin foil, and rub the bottom with coconut oil, as well as a sprinkle of salt (this help to crisp the skins). (4) Lay the potato quarters in the pan skin side down, then rub the flesh on the upper sides with coconut oil before sprinkling liberally with salt. (5) Bake on the top rack of the oven for 40 - 50 minutes, until the flesh inside is tender but the outside is crispy.

Side Salad:

• Ingredients: 1 medium head of lettuce (one-quarter per person), 2 medium tomatoes (one-half per person), 2 avocados (one-half per person), fresh basil (torn, not chopped), olive oil, salt.
• Method: Self-explanatory, right?

The Greeting: Born-up-a-tree! ;-)

Grilled Beef Mushrooms with Rice Salad

"If I grew mushrooms, would that make me a fun-ghi?" said Simeon with a smile before his post-grad graduation ceremony at the CTICC, where Denny Mushroom conference posters were stuck all over the walls of the convention centre.

So-called "beef mushrooms" make a wonderful substitute for meat on the braai, as they hold their own against the heat and retain their flavour well.

Grilled Beef Mushrooms:

1. Brush mushrooms with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt and fresh thyme leaves.
2. Grill on a medium-hot braai for 10 - 15 minutes, turning often.

Rice Salad:
(serves 4)

Ingredients

• 2 cups Basmati rice (uncooked)
• 125ml Hummus
• 125ml Basil Pesto
• 1 tin Red kidney beans
• 1 tin Butter beans
• 1 large Green pepper (sliced into bite-sized chunks)
• 4 medium Tomatoes (sliced into bite-sized pieces)
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Cook the basmati rice with salt according to instructions on the packet.
2. Allow to cool to room temperature.
3. In a large serving bowl, add the rice; hummus; beans; peppers; and tomatoes.
4. Stir together lightly and season to taste.

Vegetable Minestrone

Before the recipe, a lesson in etymology:
The word minestrone originates from the Latin word minestrare meaning: "That which is served."

You're likely to be familiar with the popular version of minestrone soup, which includes vegetables, beans, meat (and sometimes also noodles). But minestrones range from thick soups with heavily cooked-down vegetables, to lighter broths with vegetable pieces (sometimes with a meat and/or bean base).

Regardless of its modern day ingredients, the style of soup (or zuppa) is reported to have come from Italy, and belongs to the style of cooking called cucina povera (poor kitchen); meaning dishes which have rural or rustic roots. It's a make-do-with-whatever-ingredients-you-have-on-hand kinda soup, and I love it for that!

As a German proverb says:
"It's better to have no spoon than to have no soup."


Ingredients:

• 1 small onion
• 2 large potatoes
• 2 large carrots
• 450g butternut
  
• 10 green beans
• 1/8 tsp garlic flakes
• 2 tsp salt crystals
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary (whole)
  
• 8 fresh basil leaves (whole)
  
• 2 small, very mild green chillies (chopped with seeds)
  
• Garnish: fresh basil and chives
• Optional: raw cashew nuts and olive oil
  

Method:

1. Chop all vegetables into small pieces and toss into a medium sized pot.
   
2. Add the salt, garlic flakes and very mild chillies. Also add the fresh rosemary sprigs and 8 basil leaves (whole).
   
3. Pour over just enough boiling water to cover the vegetables and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the two rosemary sprigs, ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh basil and chives.
5. If you'd like to enrich the soup, you can drizzle it with olive oil and toss in a palmful of raw cashew nuts.
6. This recipe makes enough for four people.

Buon Appetito!