Vegan Miscellanies

Tomato and Chinese Eggplant Stew over Rice

Jihan made this wonderfully simple, yet bold and delicious tomato and Chinese eggplant stew. Actually, she made two wonderful dishes yesterday, this stew and Lebanese red lentil soup. That'll be in a separate post.

Here's how simple it is:

• 3-4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1-2 red Thai finger chillies, chopped
• 1 Chinese eggplant, diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 28oz can tomatoes, with juice, diced (we used President's Choice Organics)
• 2-3 sprigs of fresh basil (tear off whole leaves, rather than chopping the basil)
• salt to taste

1. In a pan or medium pot, saute garlic, onion, chillies, Chinese eggplant, and bay leaves in extra virgin olive oil on medium-high heat until onions are translucent.
2. Add diced tomatoes, with juice, and bring to boil.
3. Add fresh basil and salt and cook on medium heat until eggplant is tender.

Serve over a bed of rice (we used brown basmati rice). Delicious!

Serves 2 if used in a single course meal, or up to 4 if served alongside appetizers or another course. As usual, we simply pigged out and ate the whole thing in one sitting.

Spicy Sweet Sprouted Black Beans

I had sprouted black beans that needed to be used up, and a small amount of sprouted chickpeas. There weren't enough of either to make a meal for two, so I decided to add the chickpeas into a dish that normally doesn't, and probably shouldn't, have them.

I wanted a dish with ample spice, but also a hint of sweetness. Maple baked beans came to mind. Unfortunately, I put a little too much maple syrup in and made them a bit too sweet. Note to self: stick to the black beans (or white) for this dish, and cut down on the maple syrup, but definitely keep the spice, mushroom, and red bell pepper.

So, while good, this dish wasn't quite as good as the picture would have you believe. The recipe below includes the adjustments I think necessary to make it a truly delicious dish. Just think of this as a beta version. Test, tinker, and improve.

Here you go:

• 1 1/2 cups sprouted black (or white) beans
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 2 portabellini, diced
• 1 or 2 red Thai finger chillies
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and black pepper, to taste

1. If not already cooked, put sprouted black beans in 4 cups water with 1 clove garlic and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 14 minutes.
2. In a heavy cast iron wok or pot, saute onion, mushrooms, hot peppers, and red bell pepper on medium-high heat for a few minutes.
3. Once onions are translucent and peppers begin to soften, move these to one side and add drained beans on other side.
4. After a minute or two, mix well and keep on high heat while preparing sauce.
5. In small bowl, mix tomato paste, maple syrup, soy sauce and water.
6. Add sauce to pot, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring now and again.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.
8. Serve with pita or other fresh bread and a slice or two of orange.

Enjoy!

Lebanese Okra and Tomato Stew

While it is preferable to use fresh okra and tomatoes for this dish, canned okra and diced tomatoes will work well when short on time or energy.

This is a delicious, hearty, gut-healthy dish, loaded with vitamins A, Thiamin, B6, C, folic acid, riboflavin, calcium, zinc and dietary fiber. And both the mucilage (the slimy stuff around the seeds) and the fibre contained in the pod are excellent for gastrointestinal health.

But enough about the health benefits. Let's talk taste! This is a very simple dish, but is just bursting with flavour. As with many Lebanese dishes, it is the holy trinity of olive oil, garlic and lemon that flavour this dish. The texture, however, is all in the okra.

Here we go:

• 3-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (some use up to 1/2 cup)
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 28 oz. can okra (or equivalent of fresh okra)
• 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (or equivalent fresh, ripe tomatoes)
• 5 small white onions, chopped (generally included, but we opted for no onion and lots of garlic)
• up to 1 1/2 cups fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped (we were out, unfortunately)
  
• 3-4 tbsp lemon juice
• sea salt to taste (if using canned okra and tomato, skip salt)

1. Saute minced garlic in olive oil for a minute or two (don't allow too much browning).
2. Add onion, if using.
3. Add okra and bring to boil.
4. Add diced tomatoes and bring to boil.
5. Simmer for a few minutes, or until okra is tender.
6. Add salt and cilantro.

Serve over brown basmati or other long-grain rice. Enjoy!