Cassoulet Forestiere

November's Vegetarian Times has a story this month called "Bulk Buying 101," which includes a number of delicious looking recipes.  One that caught my eye was "Cassoulet Forestiere," a vegan version of a traditional French cassoulet. 

Cassoulet, according to Wikipedia, is "a rich, slow-cooked casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans."  The Vegetarian Times version of course doesn't include meat, subbing a variety of meaty, wild mushrooms (hence the "Forestiere") and vegetables, but retaining the traditional while beans.

This recipe takes several hours, so it's a perfect one for a chilly weekend day or day off from work like today.  Yesterday, I picked up some dried cannellini beans.  Early this morning, I put the beans up to soak, and then headed to the Rockville Whole Foods to pick up the rest of my ingredients.  This particular Whole Foods, as you can see in the linked blog, has an amazing bulk section. In addition to dried beans and nuts, you can get a variety of grains, spices, seasonings and dried mushrooms and peppers.  So, in other words, it was the perfect place to shop for ingredients for recipes celebrating the bulk aisle.  In addition to grabbing some lentils, split peas and mung beans for another recipe in the issue, "Mixed Dal with Tomato Tarka," I also bought dried chanterelles and morels there.  Note that dried morels will give you sticker shock ($228 a pound!) but that you won't need very many to make this recipe.  You can easily sub less expensive dried mushrooms if you prefer.

Dried Wild Mushrooms Pre-Soaking (Chanterelles left, Morels right)

While the mushrooms were soaking, I cleaned and chopped the leeks, and then the carrots and garlic.  When the mushrooms were done soaking, I chopped those, and sauteed everything in my Le Creuset French Oven.  Following the recipe directions, I added in the mushroom soaking water, a can of tomatoes and the soaked beans, and immediately wished that we had registered for a slightly larger French Oven.  That said, I managed to squeeze everything in to simmer for two hours.

Leeks, carrots, mushrooms and garlic cooking

I wish the recipe was clearer on a few points here.  First, there are no pictures (perhaps by the time the recipe is posted on-line, there will be) so I wasn't sure what the final consistency should look like.  The only direction is that, after the two hour simmering period, that the mixture should be "a little soupy."  The recipe noted to bring the mixture to a boil covered, but not whether it should have been simmered covered or uncovered.  I went with covered.  I think it also would have helped to mention that you needed your most enormous cooking receptacle, since I think my layer of breadcrumbs (I used panko since that's what we have in the house) may have been too thick - another reason a picture would have been helpful.

Topped with breadcrumbs and ready to bake.

That griping aside, it tasted very hearty and was a great chilly, damp fall day dish.  I did salt it a little bit at the table, but otherwise, it's seasoned nicely.  I think it will reheat well, but I'm worried the breadcrumbs may get soggy.  If I make it again, I may add a little something green to it to give it some more color.  I sprinkled some dried parsley on there, but fresh would have been better.

Now that Fall is coming, what's your favorite seasonal vegetarian or vegan dish?

Vegan Football Sunday: Potato Skins, "Wings," and Guacamole

The Eagles were televised yet again, so I thought it would be fun to have a few friends over to watch the game.  I decided to do a number of vegan friendly and football friendly finger foods for the occasion: "wings," loaded potato skins and guacamole.

The wing recipe is from the October 2011 Vegetarian Times.   I used Upton's Naturals original seitan, Cholula hot sauce, Whole Foods maple syrup, Original Vegenaise and the smoked paprika we had handy in the spice cabinet.  The wings needed to marinate for two hours before being breaded and cooked, so I did that step first and then popped them in the fridge.

Next, I started the prep for the potato skins.  My husband had picked up a five pound bag of medium potatoes for me earlier in the week, so I baked those in the oven for 45 minutes at 425, and sent them on a wire rack to cool.

While the potatoes were cooking, I made tempeh bacon crumbles.  The October 2012 Vegetarian Times had a recipe for Warm German Potato Salad that included directions for the "bacon" crumbles, so I decided to try those for my skins.  The recipe's not online yet, but it includes tempeh, low-sodium soy sauce (I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos), blackstrap molasses, ketchup or tomato paste, and liquid smoke.  I ended up using both ketchup and tomato paste to get the crumbles to a more "bacony" color, and also cooked them in the pan a bit longer than the recipe called for to get them to crisp up more.  There is a TON of "bacon" left over, so I'll likely sneak it into recipes throughout the week.

To finish the potato skins, I used this CHOW recipe as a guideline, but veganized the ingredients. Instead of butter, I used Earth Balance, and I stuffed the potatoes with the vegan bacon crumbles and daiya cheddar cheese, then topped them with freshly chopped chives.  The potato skins were definitely the hit of the party - my non-vegan friends couldn't believe they were vegan, and especially that I didn't use real cheese.  When I explained what daiya was, my friend Greg joked that I have "gone to the dark side."

To make the guac, I used four ripe avocados,three roma tomatoes (diced), two serrano peppers (seeds removed, minced), half a red onion (minced), four cloves of garlic (minced), the juice from one fresh lime, fresh cilantro (chopped), sea salt and freshly ground black pepper,  I set out the guac with some Garden of Eatin' Multigrain Blue Corn Chips for my friends to eat while I finished the skins and wings.  I also had a tray with carrots, celery and hummus.

After the potato skins were out, I finished up the wings, using whole wheat panko for the breading.  The breading really didn't stick as well as I would have liked, but they had a nice golden exterior.

 

For dessert, thanks to my friend Carol, we had Football Shaped Oreos.  Did you know Oreos are vegan?  (My friend Valerie describes them as "accidentally vegan.")  That's yet another example of an everyday food that non-vegans eat that's vegan friendly.  I'd put them in the same category of pasta with marinara sauce, PB & J, rice and beans and the guac I made today.

Are you a vegan football fan?  How do you veganize your favorite football snacks?

Can't Wait to Make This and That

Since I'm working through leftovers, I'm not cooking tonight.  But, that does give me some time to browse through some recipes I would like to make sometime soon.

Sweet Potato Torte from Vegetarian Times.  I'll figure out if I want to use actual dairy for this one or find a good sub.  But, regardless, the mandoline will make slicing the sweet potatoes ridiculously easy, and I do love swiss chard.  I'll play with it.

Vegetarian Times also has a video on how to make your own seitan, which is now on my list after my amazing pan-seared seitan meal at Blossom in New York City.

Chocolate Mousse Pie from Science of Spirituality Vegetarian Life.  I don't see myself jumping on the raw bandwagon anytime soon, but I am curious about this vegan dessert, which gets its creaminess from avocado and almond milk.

The Whole Foods website has oodles of holiday recipes, including both vegan and vegetarian options.  The two that caught my eye were Harvest Stuffed Acorn Squash and Celebration Lentil Loaf.  The stuffed squash dish has walnuts,which are a big allergy no-no for me, but pecans would be an easy sub.

Awhile back, at a work function, the vegetarian option was a quinoa stuffed bell pepper.  This recipe from Chef In You looks quite similar and tasty.  Since I'm not a frozen pea fan (and they also are technically an  allergy issue for me, which likely contributes to my lack enjoying them), I'll tinker with this a bit.

Husband and I have been discussing Shepherd's Pie, and I've been searching for a recipe that will satisfy his desire for a more traditional preparation and my vegetarian adventurousness.  This recipe from Clean Eating Magazine looks like it has the potential to make us both happy.

Of course, with winter fast approaching, soup sounds like a great idea.  Healthy Bitch Daily recently sent out a vegan autumn minestrone that looks like it will hit the spot.  And, if I want to give my immersion blender a workout, I can make a vegetarian version of this butternut squash soup.

Lastly, we all know of my great love for macaroni and cheese.  Since I am eschewing packaged foods and dairy, I will be staying away from the kraft deluxe and the velveeta shells and cheese (I may need help from a sponsor here - any volunteers?).  Fortunately, I came across a great looking Fancy Mac & Cheese recipe on Daiya's Facebook page, courtesy of Natalia Eats.

Well, that's enough food to last for weeks now, isn't it?  Now, must find the time to try all these out!

What vegetarian and vegan recipes are you looking forward to trying?