Vegan spanish tortilla with kale

I had an excess of gorgeous red potatoes this week and wanted to use up some kale and silken tofu I had lying around, so I decided to make a Spanish tortilla for dinner. Spanish tortillas are not the same as Mexican flour or corn tortillas - they are more like a potato omelet. I googled "vegan spanish tortilla tofu" and adapted the first two recipes I found: one from FatMornings (which is adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance [VwaV]) and one from Hungry Vegan. I think this would probably be fine with either asceptic (boxed) or fresh, water-packed tofu, but I used the water-packed silken variety 'cause that's what I had in the house. The chickpea flour/tofu mixture gave this a nice consistency, the turmeric added a little color, and the black salt added a little egg-like, sulfuric taste. This would make an excellent brunch dish!

Ingredients
Part 1
1/4 c (4 tablespoons) olive oil
8 small red or 4 medium Yukon potatoes, scrubbed and de-eyed, sliced into even 1/4 inch slices
1 medium onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced


Part 2
1 pound silken or soft tofu, drained of any excess water
1 c plain soy milk
3-4 cloves garlic
3 Tbs chickpea flour
2 Tbs nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Part 3
1 bunch kale, chopped fine
1/4 c bread crumbs, optional

Method
Part 1: Preheat oven to 375 F (350 F for a convection oven). Pour the oil into the bottom of a 10" x 13" baking pan (or 10" cast-iron skillet). Add the sliced potatoes and onion and toss to coat with the oil. Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.

Part 2: Meanwhile, place all the ingredients listed under Part 2 above into a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. The consistency should be pourable, but not too thin - sort of like the consistency of an egg/milk mixture you'd use for a (nonvegan) quiche back in the days when you didn't know any better.

Part 3: Once your potatoes and onions are soft, add the chopped kale, then pour on the tofu mixture and mix to combine. Top with breadcrumbs, if desired. Bake, uncovered, until set and browned on top. This took about half an hour in my convection oven, but it could take up to an hour according to the Fat Mornings/VwaV recipe. That recipe also calls for letting the dish cool before serving, but I served it straight from the oven and it was delicious! Nice topped with some fresh, diced tomato, or even salsa! Next time I will try it with the red pepper-almond sauce from VwaV.

Sarmas (Stuffed Collard Greens)

We got collard greens in our Boston Organics box again this week, so I was looking for a recipe and found this: a Turkish dish called sarma. They looked to be similar to dolmades or stuffed cabbage rolls. I used the same basic approach described in that post, but substituted ground seitan for the bulgur wheat. The seitan was from a recipe I made a few months ago - we made a loaf, then ran it through our food processor to yield a ground meat substitute. I didn't add any salt, because the seitan was pretty salty as is. I also, sadly, didn't have any mint or fresh lemons -- I think those would improve this dish. It was my first time making any kind of stuffed leaf dish, and it turned out great! I served them with some leftover roasted potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and beets from earlier in the week.

A heaping tablespoon of filling on each leaf

Ingredients:

Large bunch collard greens, stemmed, quartered

A little oil for sauteeing
1/2 red onion, diced
Bell peppers, chopped (I used about a cup of frozen)
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
About 8 oz ground seitan (could substitute Gimme Lean or vegan chorizo or even crumbled firm tofu)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 T tomato paste
2 T lemon juice
2 c water

Sarmas in the pan, before adding water and covering with the plate.

Method

Bring a large pot half filled with water to a boil. Submerge collards and boil for 1-2 minutes, then drain and put in a bowl filled with ice water and set aside. Saute onion, pepper, and garlic in a little oil until the onion is softened. Add seitan and stir to combine. Add cumin, red pepper, lemon juice, tomato paste, and about 1/4 to 1/2 c of the water to help everything come together. Mix well. Remove the seitan mixture to a bowl and rinse out the pan. Take a quarter of a collard green leaf, and with the widest edge facing you, spoon a heaping tablespoon (or whatever amount will fit) onto the leaf. Fold in the sides and roll toward the opposite point. Roll tightly! Place in your pan and repeat until all the collards are filled or you run out of filling. Pour the rest of the water over the sarmas. Place a large plate over them, cover with a lid, and cook on medium for 10 minutes, then on low for another 10-15 minutes.

Makes about 4 servings.

The final product, served alongside roasted veggies.

Lima bean & root vegetable stew

Lima beans are delicious and nutritious. This recipe pairs these happy little legumes with turnips, potatoes, kale, and carrots in an aromatic broth. Most of the measurements are estimates and you can use more or less of an ingredient without fear - for example, you can use more broth & make this a soup!. I used some herbs that I harvested from my garden this fall and put in the freezer, but fresh or dried herbs would work fine as well. The fennel root is optional - it was something I had in the freezer and needed to use up.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons tomato paste
16 ounces water or vegetable broth
1 onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 small purple-top turnips, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1 small bunch kale (about 4-5 stalks)
1 cup diced potato (about 2 small)
1 cup diced fennel root
1 16 oz bag frozen lima beans
sage - 2 large fresh (frozen) leaves, chopped or teaspoon dried
tarragon - 1 tablespoon fresh (frozen) or 1 teaspoon dried
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Method
Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot. Bring to a slow boil, reduce heat, then simmer, covered, for about half an hour or until the vegetables are done.

Sweet potato-kale burritos

I spent a fair amount of my childhood in Texas eating Tex-Mex, so this recipe feels like "home" to me. I probably make burritos using this method about once a month, on average, and it's always such a quick and delicious meal. I cheated by using a microwave to cook the sweet potatoes, kale, and peppers/onions - it would be better done in a skillet, but I was in a rush!

Ingredients

All hail the sweet potato!

1 medium sweet potato, peeled, diced into about 3/4" pieces
1 small bunch kale, tough stems removed, chopped medium-fine
1 cup chopped bell pepper and onion  (I used frozen from Trader Joe's)
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t salt, or to taste
4 whole wheat wraps/tortillas
1 can Eden Organics refried black beans
about half a jar of Appalachian Naturals Veracruz salsa
About 3/4 cup shredded "cheddar" (Daiya or soy cheese - could also use something like this vegan queso)

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a microwave-safe bowl, toss your chopped kale, sweet potato, and peppers/onions with about a tablespoon of water and the cumin and steam, covered, in a microwave for 4 minutes. Stir, check for doneness, and cook for another minute or two until your sweet potato is done. Meanwhile, divide the refried black beans among each of the wraps, spreading onto most of the surface of each one with a spatula. When your sweet potato/kale mixture is done, spoon onto each of your wraps. Take each wrap, fold in the sides, roll up into a log, and place into a rectangular baking dish. The dish should be sized so that your burritos are snug against each other and snug against the sides of the dish. Once all the burritos are lined up in your pan, cover them with the salsa and cheese (I like my burritos covered, but not drenched - to each her own) and pop into the oven for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

Seitan & Root Vegetable Stew

This is a filling, warming, nurturing kind of winter stew. The kind that makes you go "mmmm."

Feel free to use whatever veggies you have hanging around. The combination I used worked well, but it would have been equally good with sweet potatoes, celeriac, a different kind of winter squash, rutabagas, and/or parsnips. Don't be afraid of root vegetables! They are your friends! By the way, if you use regular red beets in this recipe, you will end up with pinkish stew. So go with golden if you can find them, and save the red beets for something else.

Ingredients

a little oil for sauteeing
1 onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups water
1 T Better than Bouillion vegetable broth concentrate
2 turnips, diced
1 large potato, diced
3 golden beets, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1/2 a butternut squash, peeled, seeded, diced
1 rib celery, diced
4-6 slices/hunks chicken-style seitan or veggie sausage
A splash of apple cider vinegar
3-4 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp smoked paprika
Chopped fresh or frozen sage, tarragon, thyme, etc. to taste
1 bay leaf

Directions
Warm the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the diced onions and garlic and cook a couple minutes. Add the broth, increase heat, add the rest of the ingredients. Once soup reaches a low boil, reduce heat to simmer until veggies reach desired tenderness (this was about half an hour for me, but it depends on how small your veggies are diced and how tender you want them.) Serve with croutons, crusty bread, or just a smidgen of freshly ground black pepper.

Number of Servings: 8
Approximate nutritional info per serving: 200 cal, 2g fat, 380mg sodium, 25g carbs, 5g fiber, 23g protein

Making Chinese dumplings

Making dumplings

Mark and I made Chinese dumplings for dinner tonight. The filling consisted of gai lan (Chinese broccoli), chopped and sauteed, along with chopped baked tofu, mixed with a little gyoza sauce from Trader Joe's (which was also the dipping sauce). We steamed the first batch for 5 minutes, which wasn't quite long enough... and we boiled the second batch for 4 minutes, which was a little too long. Both batches were delicious, though!