Book of Yum

Lately I’ve been in a southern frame of mind. I never really experimented with Southern food much, with the exception of maybe some gluten free biscuits and vegan gravy recipes that are even now my ideal comfort food. But, this little book, Cookin’ Southern Vegetarian Style, has really won me over. Oh sure, some recipes have the subtlety of a truckload of butter flavored crisco and a vat of tamari, but hidden among some of the rough stones there are some real recipe gems. I’ve also learned a lot about the slow dance that is the southern way of food preparation. Using the stovetop can be like watching tar drip- the hours invested in roux, or slow cooked greens- it seems like a lot of investment. But, the greens don’t need to be watched, and the roux makes a big batch for later use, and, well, sometimes the results are worth it! When I first made the slow cooked green recipe I mentioned that it needed some tweaking. Many readers are allergic to peanuts and soy, and were wondering about substitutions. I considered this a good excuse to pull out my favorite recent find- a Trader Joe’s Cashew Macadamia nut butter- and get busy cookin me up some allergy friendly greens! Some readers mentioned Sunflower butter as a good substitute for peanut butter, so if you can’t do Cashews or Macadamia nuts, you could try that as well. I actually simmered up my greens the night before and served a small portion with balsamic vinegar. Then I took the rest (sans vinegar) and put them in a yummy sauce the next day. I used collard greens, actually, but I personally prefer the flavor of chard, so you might try that instead. The best part of this recipes is DH, who is notoriously balky about greens, will actually eat a (small) serving of them with the meal. Of course yummy southern greens like this need a yummy southern style protein dish, so I took a chance on a recipe from the same cookbook, although I rather heavily modified it. Altogether a super tasty meal. I served them with brown rice for added nutritional value, but you can enjoy them with mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes- or even biscuits- if you want to go all out and rustle up some super yum southern grub. So, enjoy! And why not make tonight a gluten-free, vegetarian, SOUTHERN night, y’all?

If you’d like to try some of my other, favorite ’southern’ vegetarian dishes, try

Southern Greens and Gumbo
Southern Corn Cakes
Breaded Tofu Strip recipe
My Famous Southern Fried Tofu Recipe
and of course
Gluten-Free Vegetarian Gravy Recipes

Chicken Fried Vegetarian Chickpea Fritter Recipe Main Course  Vegetables  American

Ingredients 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic 2 cups home simmered chick-peas 1/4 cup nut butter of choice (I used Cashew-Macadamia) scant 2 tbsp. mustard a little strong vegetable broth 1 or 2 slices of GF bread, toasted and crumbled (preferably cold) Coating: 1/3 cup Leftover Nutritional Yeast mix from Southern Fried Tofu Recipe 1/3 cup brown rice flour sprinkling sesame seeds Olive Oil (or non stick cooking spray) Directions Food process all ingredients, adding bread crumbles once everything else is thoroughly blended. Check that the puree is thick enough to form patties. Mix the coating ingredients and place them on a flat plate. Add balls of dough to the coating and turn them over to make sure they are thoroughly coated. Heat small amount of olive oil in a non stick fry pan or cast iron pan. (a tablespoon or so.) Add a little more oil for the cast iron pan. Fry them until both sides are golden brown. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice or sweet potato mash. Add a vegan gravy if desired as a side.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  modified from Cookin Southern Vegetarian Style Recipe ID:  1140 Added:  September 22, 2007 Last Modified:  October 5, 2007

Slow Cooked Southern Greens in Cashew Macadamia Sauce Side Dish  Vegetables  American

Ingredients 1 or two bunches of red chard sauce: 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp cashew macademia butter 3 tbsp vegetable broth 1 tbsp honey 1/2 tsp black salt 2 tbsp vinegar of choice 1 clove garlic 1/4 tsp smoked paprika or chipotle pepper (to taste) Directions Cut spine out of your greens, and wash the leaves. Cut them into bite size strips. Bring your water to a boil in a pot and then put your greens in the pot, in stages if necessary. They will all fit, though! You don’t have to worry about being careful- just smoosh your greens in there. Then cover your greens and lower the temperature to a simmer for 45 minutes up to 2 hours. (No, i’m not kidding.) 45 minutes is probably fine for chard- the really tough greens like mustard greens or collards take a long time to get the desired buttery melty texture. While your greens are simmering, combine sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and process into a sauce. When greens are done, drain them and put them in a pretty serving dish. Pour your sauce over them and serve. There may be extra sauce, that’s ok, you can get greedy with it or reserve some for another snack- say, a small package of rice noodles with peanut sauce and fresh chopped veggies?)

Rating:  8 Original Source:  Heavily adapted from Cookin’ Southern Vegetarian Recipe ID:  1143 Added:  October 4, 2007 Last Modified:  October 5, 2007

Recently we walked by a local Middle Eastern falafel restaurant and I found myself pining over the golden brown fried chickpea balls so much that I resolved to make some…soon. Right after that my slow cooker committed hari-kari (in the middle of slow cooking chickpeas) and so I had to wait until I could buy some canned chickpeas. A travesty, I know, but I was out of options. Finally, I had my chickpeas, I had some light, refreshing veggies for a cucumber based tomato salad, and I even had some fresh basil for garnish. Basil might not be traditional, but personally I think everything is just a little bit better with a bit of basil. I kept thinking about the flat bread issue. Although I do have a Gluten Free Naan recipe I’m rather fond of that uses yogurt as its primary liquid, somehow it just didn’t seem right. So, I pulled out my worn copy of “The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread” and found a recipe for gluten free flat bread that is based on her white rice french bread mix. Although previously I didn’t have the best luck with this mix, I decided to give it another try, so I made the mix and whipped up a batch of her flatbread. It handled well, and looked fairly promising on the cookie sheet as it rose, but I’ve been disappointed before. Just in case it didn’t turn out, I threw together a recipe of my favorite Indian special rice for the rice cooker. (I know, it would have been better to make some pilaf, but I already had a package of the relevant spices pre-made, so laziness won out.) Luckily the flat bread turned out so well DH practically swooned when he saw it and when he tasted it, he proclaimed that “THIS IS EXACTLY what gluten flat bread tastes like! Make this anytime! Anytime!” When he heard it was based on a mix and I had enough left for several more recipes, he was about ready to make up more on the spot, but given how much food we had, he somehow restrained himself. Our non GF guest who has never had gluten free food before (knowingly, anyway) said she was really surprised that it was gluten free, and that it was really good. I served the falafel with an easy tahini mustard sauce, rice, and a salad I made up of cucumbers, tomatoes, red pepper, and some of the previously mentioned red corn. I dressed it with a homemade cilantro dressing and garnished it with some heavenly local chive goat cheese.

Gluten Free Falafel Recipe Main Course  Middle Eastern

Ingredients 2 Cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/4 cup gluten free bread crumbs (toast bread or dry in pan in oven and then food process) 2-3 tbsp brown rice flour (superfine) 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp (Freshly) ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1/4 tsp chipotle pepper (or other cayenne pepper etc) 1/4 cup chopped parsley 1/2 tsp salt Vegetables oil for frying Bette Hagman’s French Bread Mix flatbread (if possible, or serve with Special Indian rice or other rice recipe) Lettuce (optional) chopped cucumber, tomato, red onion etc. salad Tahini dressing of choice, hummus if desired Directions Blend Chickpeas and bread crumbs in food processor, add ingredients up to salt and process. If you like you can leave it somewhat chunky. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and then shape into small balls and then flatten into little patties. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in cast iron or other heavy pan but not so hot that white smoke whisps up from it. Cook patties ideally for 2 and a half or three minutes on each side, but if oil is too hot you will have to remover them earlier and then bake them at 375 or so until done in the middle. Drain on paper towels or baking rack, serve with flatbread or rice and accompaniments of choice. Notes The flavor was excellent, even uncooked, but the center was not as solid as I would have liked, perhaps due to excessively hot oil. I also baked them for at least 15 minutes after frying. Very tasty with tahini mustard sauce.

Rating:  7 Original Source:  Adapted from Vegan -Vengence Recipe ID:  1088 Added:  June 25, 2007 Last Modified:  June 25, 2007