Vegan Yum Yum (26 page)

Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto

Makes 4 side dishes

step 1
Put the barley, olive oil, oregano, and basil into a cold medium-size pot that has a tight-fitting lid. Turn the heat to medium-high and stir until barley is coated in the oil.

step 2
Once the barley begins sizzling (about a minute), add the garlic. Cook for another minute or so, then add the tomatoes, soy milk, water, yeast, miso, and salt. Bring to a gentle boil, then cover and turn down the heat to just hotter than the lowest setting. Cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, stir well, recover, and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring once more toward the end. The mixture should be creamy but not soupy, and the barley should be cooked all the way through but not mushy. Serve immediately.

Ingredients

1 cup pearled barley

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried basil

1 clove garlic, minced

1½ cups fresh or canned diced tomatoes
(14.5-ounce can)
blended or mashed a bit

1 cup soy milk

½ cup water

¼ cup nutritional yeast

3 tablespoons miso
(mellow or white)
mixed with 3 tablespoons water

¼ to ½ teaspoon salt

Crispy Sesame Kale

B
aking kale for just 10 minutes with a little bit of oil turns it into the most wonderfully fun, crispy side dish. Curly kale works best here. Oh, kale, is there anything you can't stand up to? Greens in the oven. Who knew?! This would be especially nice as a base for some roasted veggies and baked tofu, or you could sprinkle a tiny bit of seasoned rice vinegar over the top and eat it as a simple salad. Despite the Asian flavors, I think it'd go great with mashed potatoes and gravy, too.

Crispy Sesame Kale

Makes 2 to 4 servings

step 1
Preheat the oven to 375 ºF.

step 2
Tear the kale into bite-size pieces, then spread it out evenly on a cookie sheet covered in foil. Drizzle oil on top, then scrunch kale with your fingers until the oil is evenly distributed over the greens. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and salt over the top.

step 3
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, until the leaves are crispy but still dark green. Serve.

Ingredients

1 head of kale, washed and deveined

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (the dark kind)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 pinch to
teaspoon salt (I originally tried this with ¼ teaspoon salt and it was way too salty. The kale will cook down in the oven, so you don't need as much salt as you might be tempted to add!)

Moroccan Spiced Root Vegetable Home Fries

I
f you're looking to jazz up your regular home fries, these will do the trick. The spice mix is easy to throw together but gives an impressive complexity to the dish without being overwhelming. It's also good for other dishes, too. You can use whatever combination of root veggies you want. I've used an equal ratio of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and celery root. If you're new to celery root, this is a great dish to try it in. I served these fries to a friend and she loved them. When she was done eating, I told her she just ate celeriac. Her response was, “I did? Way to go, me!”

Moroccan Spiced Root Vegetable Home Fries

Makes 2 to 3 servings

step 1
Heat the oil in a large, cast-iron sauté pan, as this will give the best browning and is also nonstick. Dice the potato, sweet potato, and celery root. The easiest way to do this is to make long, even vegetable sticks and then slice the sticks into even cubes.

step 2
Once the pan is hot enough to sizzle when the vegetables are added, add all of the cubed veggies. They should be in only one layer in the pan. However, take care that the pan isn't
too
hot, or the veggies will brown before they're fully cooked. Cook for several minutes, allowing to brown all over, turning to brown all the sides.

step 3
If the vegetables aren't quite soft enough yet but are as browned as you want them to be, add 2 tablespoons of water to the hot pan and cover immediately. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. This will steam the vegetables and complete the cooking process.

step 4
Add the cumin, coriander, curry, cardamom, cinnamon, salt, and sugar and toss well, cooking for 1 minute more. Serve.

Ingredients

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup cubed potato

1 cup cubed sweet potato

1 cup cubed celery root

¼ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon coriander

¼ teaspoon curry powder, any kind

¼ teaspoon cardamom

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon sugar

Pan-Seared Tomato and Rosemary Artichoke Sandwich

I
hope I can unite two types of people with this sandwich: those who dislike fresh tomatoes and those who love them. I'll admit, I'm in the former group. Sometimes I can handle a sliced tomato on a sandwich, but I usually end up picking it out halfway through. The tomatoes in this sandwich are cooked quickly in a hot skillet. They're in there long enough to lose the raw flavor, but not so long you feel bad about cooking your perfectly vine-ripened tomatoes— and I do mean perfectly ripened. This sandwich showcases summer tomatoes in all their glory. If so-delicious-they-make-you-wanna-cry red and juicy tomatoes are not available, consider another sandwich. You make the call.

An optional but crazy-good addition to this sandwich is a balsamic reduction. If you've never made a balsamic reduction, you're in for a treat. Fancy restaurants use it all the freakin' time, but it only requires one ingredient: balsamic vinegar. It can be a little tricky, because if you reduce it too much it just tastes burned or it starts to caramelize and will be hard as a rock when it cools. But keep an eye on it and you'll be fine. It's the perfect thing to drizzle over lightly cooked summer veggies, so keep it in mind for other meals.

Pan-Seared Tomato and Rosemary Artichoke Sandwich

Makes 1 sandwich

step 1
If using, make the balsamic vinegar reduction and set it aside. This can be made ahead of time.

step 2
Heat the oil in a sauté pan and add the rosemary and artichokes. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and cook over medium heat for a few minutes until the edges start to turn golden. Don't worry if they break up a bit. Once cooked, remove to a small bowl.

step 3
Slice the tomato into ¼- to ½-inch slices. You do not need to de-seed it unless it's a huge tomato and it's dripping with seeds. I leave the seeds in. You want the slices to be decently thick, as this will prevent them from falling apart completely in the pan.

step 4
Put the tomatoes into the same pan the artichokes were in (don't bother to wash it!), and cook 1 to 2 minutes on each side. You shouldn't need more oil; the liquid from the tomatoes will work just fine. Sprinkle each side with a pinch of salt and some pepper. You want to cook them long enough so they begin to soften and get juicy, but not so long that they fall apart. If they do fall apart, or a few slices do, no worries! Using a spatula, remove them from your pan to a plate.

Ingredients

Balsamic reduction, if using

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ teaspoon dried rosemary

2 artichoke hearts, canned
(packed in water)
, sliced

1 pinch salt

1 medium tomato, heartbreakingly ripe

2 pinches salt

Black pepper, to taste

2 slices sourdough bread
(from a larger round loaf or whatever bread you prefer)

1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil, for drizzling on bread

Baby spinach and/or fresh basil

step 5
Drizzle the bread slices lightly with olive oil and grill them.
(You can also just oil the grill or a pan and toast it that way.)
I do this step last so the bread is still warm and toasty.

step 6
To assemble the sandwich, place the spinach or basil on one slice of the bread, and then the artichokes. Drizzle with the balsamic reduction if using. Top with tomatoes and place the other bread slice on top. You want the tomatoes to be next to one of the pieces of bread so it soaks up the yummy juices.