Around the World in 80 Plates: Greece

This next post features all kinds of yummy Greek food from Vegan Eats World and The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of Europe but I'll let you in on a little secret...it was enjoyed all the way back at the beginning of the month for our Thanksgiving feast (better late than never right). Around this house there is always the usual discussion of what to make for big meals, you know, your Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter kind of meals. These meals always feature certain things in most families and these things get repeated every year in the name of tradition. This tradition I have thrown out the window, not because I can't recreate these things (because I can!) but just because I don't want to make the same thing year after year. I've decided to honor tradition in a different way, every year for these meals, I will make something awesome that takes a bit more time and effort than I am willing to put in on any other day and most importantly, I will share it with my family. When you really get down to it, that is the part you love about those big holidays. Sitting around the table and sharing time with your family and friends and enjoying each other's company. There, I got that out of the way...on to the food!

This year, I went with a Greek themed meal using recipes I knew I loved from testing for Vegan Eats World. It had been awhile since I made any of them so I was really looking forward to it too. I decided the centrepiece of this meal would be the Tomatoes and Peppers (though I left it at just tomatoes) Stuffed with Dill Rice or Yemista. Like I mentioned, I skipped the peppers this time but only because I bought a big flat of Ontario tomatoes at Costco, both are equally delicious! The filling is super flavourful in these, full of walnuts, fresh herbs and onions/garlic. They are impressive to serve but really are easy to make but shhh...let them be wowed!

Stuffed Tomatoes with Dill Rice
(from Vegan Eats World)

I also made the Lemon Garlic Roasted Potatoes which are also quick and easy but super yummy! Kiddo loves these big time too. Another hit at the table this Thanksgiving was the Greek Creamy Lemon Rice Soup. Everyone loved this as a starter with the veggies, beans and rice seasoned with dill and oregano. Also on the table for our feast were some souvlaki soy curls. I have yet to really write down and perfect this recipe but basically I soak and drain/squeeze the soy curls then marinate them in lemon juice (fresh squeezed really works best here), lots of garlic that I finely grate (like a whole head), a big pinch of dried oregano and some salt and pepper. Then all you have to do is pan fry them until they are golden and a bit crispy on the outside. I always taste a few as I cook and adjust the seasoning as I go. I served these up and made sure to have lots of thick Greek style pitas, sliced tomatoes and red onions and some homemade tzatziki too. To make the tzatziki, I pressed out some of the homemade yogurt from Artisan Vegan Cheese until it was thick and creamy in my Tofu Xpress. Then I added one small Lebanese style cucumber that I grated finely and the juice that came out while grating, a splash of lemon juice, about a tablespoon of fresh minced dill, one glove of garlic grated finely as well with a bit of salt and pepper to taste. It was perfect too, kinda of dry like goat's milk tzatziki would be but still creamy and it was excellent with the soy curls and potatoes too.

Greek Creamy Lemon Rice Soup
(from Vegan Eats World)

Souvlaki Soy Curls (my little improv recipe) and
 Lemon Garlic Roasted Potatoes (from Vegan Eats World)

Homemade Tzatziki

I also added in something new that I have never tried, Dolmas, from The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of Europe. I had picked up some vine leaves in a Middle Eastern market recently and the only thing that came to mind was dolmas. They were similar in filling to the tomatoes in that it was rice based but they were different. I was a little hesitant at first about eating a leaf but I decided to say what the heck and go for it and they were so worth the chance. They were especially good dipped in the tzatziki too.

Dolmas (from The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of Europe)

Put it all together!

And of course there was dessert and what better dessert to have with our Greek feast than Hazelnut Orange Blossom Baklava from Vegan Eats World?? This is some seriously delicious baklava made with a mix of butter and olive oil and I swear I will never go back to any other way of making it. The nuts and the syrup mix together to make a sticky sweet nutty flavour party. Plus it looks pretty too, right?!

Hazelnut Orange Blossom Baklava (from Vegan Eats World)

Around the World in 80 Plates: Poland

Again I hit up my copy of The 30 Minute Vegan Taste of Europe for inspiration and found Stuffed Cabbage in the European Fusion section of the book. While different versions of these stuffed cabbage rolls are served all over the world, they are considered serious comfort food in Poland. From my internet searching I found out in Poland they would be called Gołąbki which means little pigeons referring to their size. I seriously loved cabbage rolls but I haven't made them much since being vegan so I was super excited to try these out. I enlisted my mom to help me with them to speed up the process and was happy I did when we decided our cabbage needed a little help letting go of its leaves. They were not coming off without cracking so we boiled a big pot of water and put the giant head of cabbage in there. That was the easy part...the harder part was how to get the giant, now boiling hot, head of cabbage out of the pot! It was tricky and involved us both, some kitchen utensils and two oven mitts but we got it out of there. The filling was quick and easy to make but we did make a quick substitution for the tempeh it called for on account that my mom won't touch the stuff. We decided to add in chopped walnuts in their place and it worked perfectly. They added a nice textural contrast and flavour.  The sauce was tasty but there really wasn't enough of it so we had to add more, about another two times the recipe. I served them up with some homemade sour cream and steamed veggies to the whole family, in-laws included and everyone loved them. I even convinced Mac to give them a try figuring he would quickly change his mind but he ate up almost a whole one. They really tasted just like what I loved before, hearty, filling, savoury with a bit of sweetness from the tomato sauce. I loved the dill in them and did served them with a bit of homemade sour cream as well that added a nice richness to them. They probably could have been baked a bit longer than the recipe stated but that might differ based on your cabbage. It's definitely a recipe I will be revisiting sometime soon!

Around the World in 80 Plates: Ukraine

You know those things that you've always heard about but never tasted and you think you aren't going to like them so you never try them? One of those for me was always Borscht. I was always curious about it but since my experience with beets had always been pickled when I was younger I thought "how could that make a yummy soup?" but again...I was wrong! This has been my experience since becoming vegan for so many things. The borscht I made is less traditional since it is usually made with beef or pork broth but it still features beetroot and other veggies that are found in recipes. The recipe I used is actually from The 30 Minute Vegan Taste of Europe and it did come together quite quickly. I started supper late and was worried about it taking a long time but it really was around 30 minutes once I did the 15 minutes or so of prepping. It is flavourful and warming like a good soup should be. My mom commented that it doesn't taste like beets but I got the earthiness of them in there. Like I said, we were both raised where pickled beets are on every supper table and I had never had them any other way until very recently. I made a homemade sour cream to served with it that was sort of an amalgam of different recipes I have tried. I quickly mixed homemade yogurt with Vegenaise, a splash of lemon juice and some fresh dill and put a small dollop in the borscht. It really added something too so I recommend it if you are trying this out.

I had thought ahead about supper a bit though since I also wanted to make Pampushki to serve alongside it. I knew right away that I was going to use Megan's Homemade Newfoundland White Bread recipe for the buns. I had been eyeing it since she posted it and now was the perfect time to try it. I followed all the directions in Megan's recipe up until the shaping where I just shaped it into small buns and placed them into a well greased 9" cake pan then I followed again to rise a second time just to the top of the pan and baked in a 400F oven for about 30 minutes. While they were baking I mixed up some olive oil, about six big cloves of minced garlic, a generous tablespoon of fresh dill and a touch of salt and pepper in a small bowl. When the buns came out of the oven I immediately brushed them with the garlic/dill oil and served them warm along with the borscht. They were so good! The bread was soft and moreish and the garlic and dill on top was perfect. Even my five year old loved it and was eating up that raw garlic like there was no tomorrow. My mom on the other hand scraped it off but loved the buns. And I literally had to tear Ryan away from the pan. This bread recipe is perfection Megan!! Thank you for sharing it!

Don't forget, there is still time to enter to win one of nine different cookbooks, including The 30 Minute Vegan Taste of Europe. Just head over to this post (http://threeandahalfvegans.blogspot.ca/2012/10/around-world-in-80-plates-finland.html) and leave a comment to enter before November 1st at 10am EST. It is open to anyone in the world!

Around the World in 80 Plates: France (cont)

For the next recipe in France I grabbed my copy of The 30 Minute Vegan Taste of Europe by Mark Reinfeld and started flipping through. I quickly stopped for Braised Tempeh with Herbes de Provence (he includes a recipe for the herb mix as well) which I thought would perfectly pair with another of his recipes, Rice Pilaf with Fennel and Saffron, for a supper that would be reminiscent of Provencal cuisine. The tempeh is marinated first then slowly cooked in a rich tomato flavoured veggie broth. The pilaf went together super quick and had a beautiful bright vibrant yellow hue thanks to the saffron and had great flavour from the shallots and fennel. I've recently learned I love fennel so I have been picking it up more often and finding new recipes to try it in. 

Then for the perfect ending to our French meal, how about some Creme Fraiche Truffles? These are a test recipe for Fran Costigan's newest chocolate book project (so I can't share the recipe) and they are out of this world! I am not really a huge chocolate person but I couldn't stop eating these! I very quickly devoured four in a row much to Ryan's surprise (he is the chocoholic around here and isn't used to competition for chocolate goodies!). 

Around the World in 80 Plates: Spain

Next up is Spain! I have never been to Spain and I don't know much about the food except everyone always talks about tapas. I decided to use my trusty copy of 30 Minute Vegan Taste of Europe for some inspiration. I landed on Babe's Bocadillos. It is an iconic sandwich made on a baguette that may contain different types of fillings, according to Wikipedia, and for this vegan version, it is filled with tofu ham. There is a recipe included in the book but I had already prepared the night before a batch of Baked Pressed Tofu from Terry Hope Romero's soon to be released cookbook, Vegan Eats World, so I went ahead and used that. I wanted to have lots of paper thin slices of tofu ham and thought about how to make that happen. I landed on using my potato peeler and it worked like a charm. It made the texture much more close to sliced ham. The recipe said to load it up with sliced tomatoes, red onions, vegan cheese and a mix of mayo and mustard. I used the Air Dried Cheddar from Miyoko Schinner's Artisan Vegan Cheese and it really stood out in the sandwich as a rich cheddar with the tofu ham. I also used this tasty mustard that I picked up at Farm Boy recently called Saucy Mama (how could I resist!) Smoky Garlic Mustard. It is soooo tasty and I think it worked really well with the tofu ham.

This sandwich is seriously delicious! I made it on a half baguette and thought I would just eat half but I shamefully admit I ate the whole thing. It was one of those, I'm full but it tastes good kind of moments but after I was done, I wasn't sorry. It is full of flavour and crunch. Ryan was jealous as I was describing it over the phone at lunch time so I guess I will have to make it again soon and maybe I'll share it with him...maybe!

Around the World in 80 Plates: Ireland

My in-laws just got back recently from a bus tour of Ireland. They had an amazing time and took about a million pictures of all the green. I asked them what they ate while they were there since I'm all about the food and they said a lot of the time they had a cream of (fill in the blank vegetable) soup with Irish Soda Bread and LOTS of potatoes as one would entirely expect. So when I was thinking of what to make for my first stop in Ireland I decided on a nice warm and hearty Cream of Cauliflower Soup with a side of Irish Soda Bread and roasted potatoes.

It has been getting colder here, definitely soup weather so this was a welcome addition to the supper table. We all really enjoyed it and Mac even tried it. This was only his second soup experience since he always said it was too tricky to eat. I think the potatoes and the soda bread convinced him to give it a try. I also threw some quickly steamed green beans on the plate since I thought it needed something green like the Emerald Isle...not really I just like green vegetables but it sounds better like I put some great thought into that doesn't it?!

The soup was my own creation, the potatoes I just simply roasted in the oven with a little olive oil, a few garlic cloves and salt and pepper. The Irish Soda Bread is from The 30 Minute Vegan Taste of Europe by Mark Reinfeld, that I recently picked up not even knowing how handy it would come in so soon. The soda bread was super quick to get together and bakes quickly too. It was delicious and we all enjoyed it with a bit of vegan margarine slathered on it and dunked in the soup. It also toasted nicely the next day to enjoy with the leftover soup for lunch. It will all definitely get made again.

A few notes for the recipe...you will notice there isn't actually any cream in the soup but it didn't need it at all with the smooth velvety texture I got from the cauliflower. Also you don't have to be too careful with how you chop the vegetables since you are going to puree the soup later, you just want them to cook in roughly the same amount of time.

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

Serves 6-8

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large leek, halved then sliced thinly into little half moons

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into a small dice

2 medium stalks of celery, cut into a small dice

1/2 of a giant head of cauliflower (very scientific I know), cut into small florets

8 cups of water

6 tbsp + 2 tsp vegetable broth powder (or replace the water and broth powder with vegetable broth)

pinch of dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over med-high heat then add the leek, carrots and celery and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stirring occasionally, saute the vegetables until they are softened and just starting to caramelize.  Add the cauliflower and stir it to fully mix it with the other vegetables. Again cook for a few minutes and let it start to soften.

2. Add the water and broth powder and pinch of thyme and bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce the heat to low and cover. You want it to simmer so adjust the heat if you have to. Simmer until the cauliflower is tender and cooked through. Once it has cooked, using an immersion blender, blend the soup until it is creamy and no longer has small chunks of vegetables. You could also use a blender here if you don't have an immersion blender, just be careful blending hot liquids.

3. Once it has been blended, taste it and add more salt and pepper to your preference. It can either be served right away or you can let it sit over low heat until you are ready to serve it.

Just for reference...this was the giant head of cauliflower that inspired this soup