Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner

Here were our festive dishes... with some Thanksgiving-styled ideas.

Pumpkin- ginger soup

Ingredients

• 1 average sized organic Hokkaido Pumpkin, or Kabocha Squash cut into chunks (deseed but don't peel)
• 3-5 onions chopped
• 3-10 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1-2 inch piece of ginger sliced, or ginger powder
• 2-3 pieces of turmeric sliced, or turmeric powder
• pint of vegetable stock
• 1-2 jalapenos, seeded
• 2-3 small green chilies, sliced
• 1 tbsp panch puran
• 2 table spoons of whole wheat flour

Preparation

1. caramelize the onions adding garlic, chili and jalapeno, and panchpuran and gradually add the whole wheat flour and liquify with some veggie stock
2. gradually add all of the soup stock, and let it come to the boil
3. add the pumpkin and let it boil about 20 mins.
4. Allow the soup to cool down a little then pour into a blender and blend at high speed till smooth and creamy, or use an immersion blender to achieve the same result. 

Evidently, you can make this as spicy as you like, by varying the amounts of turmeric, ginger, chilis and peppers. You can use a small amount of Bragg's Liquid Aminos or Yondo to finish to taste, but if you are using the Panch Puran, you should not need much at all. The whole point is that by choosing aromatic spices, you can pretty much eliminate the need for added salt. With turmeric and ginger if you can use fresh, that makes all the difference in the world. If you want to give it some extra zing, you could slice some scallions on top for garnish.

Baked Cauliflower with Fennel 

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets (about 3 cups)
• 1 bulb fennel, halved and sliced thin (about 2 cups)
• 1 pomegranate, seeded (about ¾ cup)
• ½ cup pecans
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp mustard powder
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp pink Himalayan salt, or to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Place cauliflower florets in a large container with a lid. Drizzle with lemon juice, turmeric, mustard powder, cinnamon, and salt. Cover the container with the lid and shake it up until the cauliflower is completely coated. 
3. Spread the cauliflower evenly on the baking sheet.
4. Place the fennel slices on baking sheet with the cauliflower.
5. Bake for 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and add the pecans. Bake for another 5 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Mashed Potatoes recipe from Whole Foods Market

Ingredients

• 2 pounds potato, such as Russet or Yukon Gold cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 medium white onion diced
• 1/3 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 cup unsweetened oatmilk, soymilk, almondmilk or ricemilk
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon granulated onion
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Place potatoes in a saucepot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender, about 20 minutes. 
3. Drain potatoes and return to pot. Stir over low heat until potatoes are falling apart and slightly dry, about 5 minutes. 
4. Remove from heat and mash potatoes or purée with a ricer until smooth.
5. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently until lightly browned and beginning to stick to the pan, about 5 minutes. 
6. Stir in broth and garlic and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until onions are tender and golden, 6 to 8 minutes.
7. Add onion mixture, oatmilk, nutritional yeast, granulated onion and pepper to pot with potatoes and stir until combined. Serve immediately.

Mushroom Sauce

View on brandnewvegan.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 Tbs white wine (or sub veg broth)
• 8 oz mushrooms sliced
• 2 Tbls Soy Sauce low sodium variety, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Yondu
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbs nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp rubbed sage
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 2 1/4 cups vegetable broth low sodium variety
• 1/2 tsp kitchen bouquet browning sauce
• Drop or two of liquid smoke (optional)

Preparation

1. Saute onion and garlic in wine until softened
2. Add mushrooms and soy sauce and cook until reduced
3. In a separate pan, lightly toast flour, nutritional yeast, and herbs
4. Add flour mixture to mushrooms and stir well
5. Slowly add vegetable broth and stir well to combine
6. Add browning sauce and liquid smoke and heat to desired consistency

Red Leaf & Spinach Salad

• 1 Head Red Leaf Lettuce
• 1 bunch fresh young spinach
• 1 red onion
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 box cherry tomatoes
• optional: some scoops of chia seeds, or milled flaxseed.

1/2/3 dressing with lemon and lime juice

Economics

Plant-based is pretty affordable... we had 7 people or about $105 to work with, and we spent $75, meaning we contributed $30 to St. Helena's. Or, we spent about $10.50 per person, and some people took food home, plus we left an ample portion for Fr. David.

A Bengali Suppers/#WFPB event

The only way to prepare corn

Because corn is in season, we started out with a corn appetizer:

Corn in the husk, soaked in water for a few minutes and then roasted in the oven on a baking sheet for 45 minutes at 450F. If you do this with good, fresh corn in the husk, you will taste corn so sweet, you will never have corn any other way again. No need for the traditional butter and salt, it is yummy  as is.

A Bengali Style #WFPB Dinner

We had cooked the Brown Basmati rice ahead of time (SWAD brand, in 10lb bags at Neerob Bazaar), opposite Neerob Restaurant on Starling Avenue.

We prepared four dishes under the guidance of Khokon, and with a fair amount of improvization, because he had to run back to the restaurant once or twice.

Cucumber salad

We cut the cucumber in small strips with a mandolin. We cut up a red onion and some peppers, and just used some lime juice and spices for a dressing. Obviously, you can vary the spices, dill goes particularly well with cucumber. The Bengali style is to add those mean little green chilis in the salad, whole, but that is not my thing, so if I use them, I will slice them up. For the occasion we made two salads, one with chilis and one without.

Green Chilis - handle with care!

Lentil Stew

Made with split red lentils, onions, garlic, herbs and spices and some water squash.
Herbs and spices included cilantro, some bay leaves, chilis, turmeric, panch puran (mixture of mustard, cumin, fennel, kalonji (black fennel), cardamom and you can use some liquid aminos to taste. You can vary the taste endlessly, with other spices, such as curry.
We used a water squash, and made a broth with the lentils and cooked them till they are soft - they practically dissolve.

Water Squash

The proper way of setting it up is to stir-fry the onions first, on high heat, stirring frequently until they begin to caramelize and then add some tablespoons of water to liquify it and prevent burning, then turn down the heat and add the garlic, chilis, and stir-fry it a few minutes longer and then add the cut-up squash, and enough water to make a broth that will cook the lentils, and you can add the rest of the herbs and spices to taste.

Caramelizing onions without oil

Caramelized onions are the universal foundation for cooking vegetable dishes and soups. Here are some instructions on how to caramelize onions without oil. Here it is from famous vegan chef AJ... notice you don't need a lot of liquid, but you can use either water, or veggie broth, or water with a bit of Bragg's liquid aminos. I personally make my own veggie broth once a month or so, and freeze it into ice cubes, and then I use one or  two cubes of veggie broth in your onions. You can also finish them off with balsamic.

By the way, if you're afraid of knives, you can use the Vidalia Chop Wizard, like Chef AJ demonstrates, but I don't have space in my kitchen for all these gadgets, and I like working with knives. So here is some advice on chopping onions.

OK, back to the cooking, the best way is to put the herbs and spices in by adding a little water or broth at the end of preparing the onions/garlic and chilis, so they are soft. Then, you add the cubes of water squash, and more water to cover it, with the lentils. The lentils will completely fall apart as they cook, so you will have a saucy substance that could also be a soup, or you can serve it over your rice.

Sautéed Squash

We also made some sautéed squash again, starting out with sautéed onions and adding garlic, some peppers, turmeric, and other spices to build up a broth, and we used a pumpkin and some yellow squash.

Sautéed eggplant

Same idea, with eggplant.

Boiled Poi Leaf (Malabar Spinach)

We used just the leaves, not the stems, and you can either boil them or steam them. On this occasion, boiling is all we did. Poi leaf is an interesting variation on spinace, it is a very different taste, but it is evidently a green leafy vegetable, and very healthy for that reason. Chewing leafy greens allows the formation of nitric oxide which keeps your endothelium healthy, hence you want to eat some form of leafy greens at every meal, ideally 4-6 "fist-sized" portions per day.

Bengali herbs and spices

• Turmeric, you can use either fresh or powder, we used powder, but here it is both fresh and in powder form:

Fresh Turmeric at Al Aqsa

Powdered Turmeric at Neerob Bazaar

• Panchpuran, you can buy the spices whole in a bag, or you can get it in powder form.

Our neighborhood is an absolute Mecca for herbs and spices, both at the Bengali vendors on Bangla Bazaar (Starling Avenue), and at Chang-Li Supermarket. The invitation is to go ahead and experiment away.

Conclusion

This meal was one powerful demonstration of the options you have in using a variety of vegetables with herbs and spices, to make a meal fit for a king. Where in spanish cooking you would use mostly rice and beans, in the South East Asian cuisine you use more likely lentils or chick peas, and you can easily put together

And Another Brilliant #WFPB Supper at Packsun

It was a quiet affair, just Fr. David (St. Helena's) and myself with the owner of the restaurant (Khokon), plus one other Bangladeshi visitor who wanted to sample what we were having.

Muhammed (Khokon) Rahman

Cucumber Salad

Super simple, but effective:

• Cucumber, diced
• Cilantro
• Peppers
• Salt & Pepper
• Chilis
• Lemon juice

Okra in Lentil Sauce and Eggplant over GABA Brown Basmati Rice

Two dishes, first a lentil sauce:

Lentil Sauce with Okra

• Onions
• Garlic 
• Turmeric
• Chilis
• Lentils
• Okra(added last, so as not to overcook it)

 Along with this a Eggplant sauté (yes, oil-free - sautéed in water)

Eggplant Sautée with Peppers and Onions

• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Onion
• Garlic
• Cilantro

It all really ends up being incredibly simple once you have a sense for the condiments. 
You set up every vegetable dish with onions (some thinly sliced chilis if you want), and then add garlic when the onions get soft. As needed, you can add some water or vegetable broth, but some veggies will produce enough water by themselves when you cook them.
Besides knowing the right level of spiciness (the chilis), what matters is to know where the condiments add the most flavor and where they don't fit at all. Cilantro, turmeric etc. are strong flavors, so you need to know what you are doing.

To Khokon it all comes natural. He is the philosopher in the kitchen.

Neerob Tradition at Packsun Restaurant, some recipes

Neerob is Mohammed "Khokon" Rahman's favorite symbol, both for his store on Starling Avenue, and for his restaurant, called Packsun on Westchester avenue, where the Neerob label is also prominently displayed.

Last week Packsun was extensively written up in the New York Times. Clearly, Khokon and his team produce quality food for a moderate price in our neighborhood.

I am deeply honored to be working with Khokon on the no-oil vegan project. For now, the plan is to launch with a taste testers dinner on Tuesday 4/4 at 9PM. After that on 4/25, there will be a dinner following the showing of Forks over Knives at NY Public Library at Parkchester, from 5 - 7 PM.


Here are some of the recipes we prepared last week for the first time, which I now made at home over the weekend, and with great success. Here is the list, followed by comments on the preparation.

1. Sautéed spinach with onions, garlic and green chili peppers.
2. Yellow lentils, tomato, onion, garlic, green chili peppers, and some turmeric, liquid aminos and pepper
3. Water squash (this is a light green squash that is popular with the Bangladeshi community), eddo (a delicious tuber, Jamaicans call this white coco), tomato, onion, serrano peppers, garlic, turmeric, a bay leaf and liquid aminos.

Because of timing, the rice should come first. I used Lundbergh Organic Brown Basmati Rice, cooked in my Zojirushi rice cooker on the GABA (germinated) Brown Rice cycle. That takes two and a half hours, but obviously, you can make it ahead of time. I put it on at lunch with a timer for dinner time.

The next dish should be the lentils:

• Start with softening the onions without oil or water, but just before they start to brown too fast, add in the crushed and chopped garlic, a half dozen of small green chilis. Finally add a tomato, diced.
• Now, add a half a cup of vegetable bouillon (or can be water from steaming vegetables), then add the lentils and more boullion till the lentils are adequately covered, and add turmeric, liquid aminos and pepper to taste.
• This needs about 35-45 mins until the lentils are done.

 Then comes the squash dish

•  Peel the water squash and eddo, peel and slice or chop the onion.
•  Start with the onion, again, dry without oil or water, and when the onions start getting soft, add the crushed/chopped garlic, and the sliced peppers, and now add first the eddo in 1/2" slices, and next chunks of water squash (I quartered it lengthwise and then cut it in 1/4" slices). Add the diced tomato, and again, add some vegetable bouillon before anything starts getting burned, in small amounts.
• Add enough bouillon to allow this to simmer and cook nearly dry while you prepare the spinach.

The spinach comes last, because it cooks the quickest:

• Stir-fry the onions first, adding the garlic and serrano peppers (halved length-wise), allow to simmer long enough so it starts getting soft.
• When the stir-fry gets soft, add the spinach, after a thorough washing and chopped to manageable size. 

In this dish there should be no need for any water, as the spinach contains a lot of water and creates a delicious flavor.

The above should take you no more than 45 mins to one hour to prepare. It is a festive dinner, with delicious aroma. Obviously, you can vary the level of "heat," depending on the number of pepper, and salt & pepper can be used to taste.

The plan is to continue replicating these recipes at home every time, before writing them up here. All ingredients are available at Neerob Bazaar, 2085 Starling Avenue.

Happy and healthy cooking to all.