Summer Salad You Won't Forget

Have you ever received a phone call where the person on the other end barely let you get out a "hello" before they started talking? Well, that's what happened to me two weeks ago. "All the cousins are getting together," my sister said, "and we're coming to your house. We're having a potluck and the theme is picnic. We'll be there by one in the afternoon. See ya"

Truthfully, the call wasn't quite that terse, but almost.

"We're coming to your house for potluck"

I hadn't seen my two sisters for many months because of health problems in their families and the cousin who is like a brother to me had nearly disappeared off my radar--even though he only lives about two hours away. All told, I was happy we who were related as well as the spouses would all be together again, even if for only half a day.

Picnic spread across the table. Yumm.

While my family supports my being vegan, I've always asked them not to take that into consideration when planning meals. So I set my mind to thinking about what kind of dish I'd prepare that I'd like and they would too. I finally decided on a bean salad unlike any other I've ever eaten. It's a recipe I received decades ago from a neighbor, yet I seldom make it because it makes so much I could just about feed an army. Then again, I figured the small army coming to my home might like it, so I dug my old, beat up recipe box out of the cupboard and began scrounging for the recipe. (I really should get these files in order.)

Family potluck--always a fun time.

The salad was a huge hit. Two of the relatives even asked for the recipe. I fully intended to email it to them when I thought to myself: maybe my vegan blog pals would like it too. So it is that I wish to share with you one of the best summer salads I've ever eaten. It's even safe to take on a picnic. And to leave out of the cooler. It's right up there on the top of the summer safe picnic scale. Even more, it's doggone good. I hope you like it as much as all the others I've ever served it to.

MARINATED BEAN SALAD

1 16 oz. can kidney beans

1 16 oz. can cut green beans

1 16 oz. can garbanzo beans

1 16 oz. can black-eyed peas

Dump all beans into a sieve or colander and rinse well with cold water. Allow them to drain well before putting them into a large bowl.

Add:

2 1/2 cups chopped celery

1 c. finely minced parsley

1 whole bunch of green onions, sliced, both white and green parts

1 small jar of stuffed green olives

1 small can of sliced black olives

Make the marinade:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 Tbs. brown sugar

1 garlic clove, mashed

Mix thoroughly and pour over the beans, vegetables, herbs, and olives.

Refrigerate for at least two days to allow the spices to infuse the bean mixture and everytime you pass the frig, give the beans a good stir to redistribute them from the top to the bottom so everything eventually gets coated with the marinade. This is not a make it and eat it dish.

Serves a small Army (about 12)

All that was left in the bottom of my 2 1/2 quart bowl was
this little bit and I had to diligently scrape it all
together so you could see the ingredients. If I'd been
wise, I'd have taken its photo before we ate.

Off To Morocco--Vegan Style

While I've never set foot in Morocco, I've always enjoyed photos of the area, what with the colorful street vendors crammed against the dun-hued architecture. It seems a study in beauty set against the starkness of a desert landscape. And even though I have visited the country only in my imagination, the foods of Morocco have been reality on my taste-buds.

It isn't that the dishes are so unusual, for many of the ingredients are familiar to us. The secret to their tongue-tantalizing recipes are the spices used in every dish. The interesting thing is, these are spices we are familiar with. Yet the Moroccans blend them together in a way I would never have thought of and maybe you wouldn't have either. Give this recipe a try and see if you don't become a Moroccan vegan. Who ever would have thought such a thing existed?

I let my bean mixture get too dry. Don't make
the same mistake. Your bean mixture should look
brothy but not like a soup.

Moroccan Medley

Into a saucepan put:

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

10 oz. of couscous
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. turmeric

Bring vegetable stock and spices to a boil. Stir in the couscous. Cover and remove from heat. Set aside till later.

In a big skillet put:

1 Tbs. oil
1 big onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs. minced jalapeno or more if you like lots of heat
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
Cook till the vegetables are soft.

Add:

1  14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained
1  15 oz. can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup of chopped dates or figs
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. paprika, not the smoked kind.
pepper to taste

Cook over medium heat until the spices marry. Turn heat to low and simmer about 1/2 hour. If the mixture gets too dry, add some vegetable stock. The resulting product should be a bit on the saucy side rather than dry, but it should not look like soup.

Fluff the couscous with a fork till it is light and fluffy. Center big scoops of the couscous on a dinner place. Pour a good portion of the bean mixture on top.

Sprinkle the dish with chopped cilantro and pine nuts (optional)
Drizzle with a bit of good olive oil

Serves 2 hungry people or 3 not so hungry ones.

Serve this dish with naan bread or any other flatbread that you like.

There will be couscous leftover. I made extra so I could make another Moroccan dish. I'll post it next week.

Happy Eating....

Falafel Failure

By the looks of this picture, you can't tell what I've been through. My first effort failed miserably. I even suggested to my husband that he make himself a *-%-#-&-$- sand which if he was so hungry. Eating dinner at 8:00 isn't extraordinarily late, especially in the summer, but he wanted to get out on his new Kayak. I call it his mistress. He takes her out on dates and overnight get-a-ways. When he talks about his latest ocean escapades, his eyes sparkle and he wears this dumb grin on his face. He is shameless!

I am racked with guilt on the other hand, because tonight I had to resort to using a chicken embryo in my falafels. My first batch slowly melted into the fry pan of oil. When I tried to turn them they just rolled out of their bottom layer.That's when I noticed the oil was turning greenish and turgid. Soon I had gooey and fragrant boiling hot oil.

Okay, regroup. My inspiration, Anne Burrel of the Food Channel, boiled chick peas from scratch to make falafels. Sorry, but I can't be bothered to soak beans overnight, and boil them in fresh water with carrot, onion, celery, sage, and bay leaves. PLEASE. They make canned garbanzo beans for our convenience. Although, I did taste test three differently priced labels out of curiosity. Yes, when you pay more, the beans are bigger and better tasting too. So how did I go wrong?

I thought I saw her loading the cooked chick peas into her food processor. Toasting 1 1/2 teaspoon each cumin and coriander seed in a dry pan, then grinding them in a coffee grinder (reserved only for spices-like I have one of those handy,right!) Then she grabbed some parsley, cilantro and chopped onion to add. With a little lemon zest, cayenne powder, and 1/4 cup bread crumbs, she began pulsing the mix. Lastly, she drizzled olive oil into the processor. I couldn't find the exact recipe on her website, but here is what I used to remedy my disaster.

Falafel
2 cans garbanzo beans
1/2 cup flour plus 3-4 tablespoons, if needed
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 large egg
salt and pepper to taste

Pulse in a food processor until almost smooth. Transfer to bowl, add more flour if necessary to firm up mixture. Shape into balls and fry about 8 minutes, until crisp and brown. Drain on paper towels.

Tahini Sauce
1 cup sesame paste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/3 cup FRESH lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Put all into food processor and mix until smooth. Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil into blender and salt and pepper to taste. Blend some more. Add some water if too thick. Think dipping sauce.

I served them on a bed of salad. I bet many types of vegetables would pair with falafels and tahini sauce. Maybe there is a good egg substitute that can make these vegan. Maybe you can find the recipe I thought I watched on the food channel. Anyhow, falafels were one of the first popularized hippy foods I remember from the college town of Isla Vista. Then after a time you could buy a falafel mix in regular grocery stores, but they never tasted as good as Baba's Falafel stand. It took me decades to finally figure out that they were made of garbanzo beans!