Leek and Sweet Potato Gratin

A couple of days ago, I received my absolute favorite issue of Vegetarian Times each year: the January issue. I love January issues of most things because they figure everyone is on a diet now and recipes and articles tend to be health focused. Just being vegan does not automatically make you healthy. Contrary to the beliefs of many, you can be very unhealthy and get very fat as a vegan, just as you can as an omnivore. I find that many vegan recipes rely heavily on margarine, oils, fake cheese, nuts etc. All of these are fine in moderation, but not in large doses in my opinion. For this reason you will not see me whipping up big bad vegan chocolate cakes very often or dipping chips in big batches of cashew "cheese."

Anyway, in January Vegetarian times always has a lot of light, healthy recipes and I tend to like trying as many as possible. This dish, Leek and Sweet Potato Gratin, was my first new recipe of the new year and I'm very happy with the results. I did make a few adjustments to the original recipe, which are reflected below. This is a perfect side dish for a savory fall or winter meal. It would be great at Thanksgiving and ideal for entertaining. Tonight we actually paired it with a random assortment of leftovers because our poor little fridge is bursting at the seams with all the food I made over the long weekend. Not very glamorous, but practical nonetheless. First gather the ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

4 medium leeks, white and light green parts

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 1/2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/8-inch thick slices

1/3 cup vegetable broth

3 Tbsp. Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Begin by cutting each leek lengthwise and then slicing rather thin crescents. I find that the only way to truly get a leek clean of sand and grit is to slice it and then soak it in a bowl of water. Try to break apart the layers with your hand while the leeks float around. The dirt will sink to the bottom and you can just grab the clean leeks out with your hands.

Heat 1/2 Tbsp. of olive oil in a skillet and add leeks, garlic and 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the rosemary. Saute for about 8-10 minutes until softened and season with salt and pepper. Take a 10-inch round casserole dish and spray it with cooking spray. Arrange 1/3 of the sweet potato slices on the bottom of the dish and top with 1/2 of the leek mixture. Repeat by making a second layer of sweet potatoes topped with the remainder of the leek mixture. Cover the leeks with a final layer of sweet potatoes and drizzle the vegetable oil over everything. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake in the over for about 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the breadcrumbs with 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil and the remaining 1 Tbsp. of rosemary. I didn't actually have Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs, so I mixed in a few appropriate Italian spices with my plain breadcrumbs. It worked just fine of course. After the 35 minutes, remove the foil and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top of the entire dish. Return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

This dish was much more flavorful than I had expected. I worried that it might be a bit bland, but the sweet and savory combination worked extremely well. J had one suggestion which I liked very much, which was to add a few toasted slivers of almond to the topping as well. A little bit of crunch to add a different texture would probably enhance the dish, and the nutty flavor of almonds would work very well with the breadcrumbs. Next time I make it, I may add some almonds as well. Yum. Thanks Vegetarian Times, we are off to a good year together.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving = 1/4 of recipe. 170 calories; 3.8 g fat (0.6 sat); 0 mg cholesterol; 78 mg sodium; 31.9 g carbohydrate; 4.5 g dietary fiber; 10.5 g sugars; 3.5 g protein; 386% Vitamin A; 44% Vitamin c; 9% Calcium; 12 % Iron.

Favorite Food: Crispy Kale Chips

As you know, kale is one of my favorite foods. It's one of those incredible and rare situations where something that is amazingly good for you is also amazingly delicious. And it doesn't get enough attention. I bet if I sampled 20 people I know, at least half of them would have never prepared kale at home - maybe even more than half. One of my resolutions this year is to change that (I'm only half kidding)! Maybe your new year's resolution should be to eat kale once a week. I promise I'll be featuring it on this blog more often, so I'll give you plenty of ideas for how to prepare it. In fact, I just realized that my post yesterday had kale in it too! If you didn't read it, check out these delicious Potato and Kale Enchiladas.

Now kale is great in many things, soups being primary among them, but my absolute favorite way to eat it is virtually alone. You can steam it, braise it, saute it or bake it. This preparation is a lot of fun and is super easy. Give this a try the next time you are craving potato chips. Seriously. Bust out a half recipe of these and eat them when they are still hot right off the baking tray. You will forget all about those Ruffles and you will have done your body a big favor.

The recipe could not be more simple:

1 medium bunch of kale

1 Tbsp. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to about 350 degrees. Wash the kale leaves and remove the tough stems. Pat the leaves dry and cut into large bite size pieces. Toss kale with 1 Tbsp. olive oil and mix well with your hands to distribute the oil evenly. Spread the kale leaves on a large baking tray and put it in the oven. Cook for 10 minutes, then toss with a large spatula or kitchen tongs. Cook for an additional 5 minutes or until kale is crispy and just barely turning brown. Season with salt and pepper and eat! These chips are a great side for just about any dish. This picture shows them with Smothered Cauliflower and Potatoes, but the options are limitless. To be honest, these guys almost never even make it to the table in our house - we just stand over the stove and eat them. These also taste good cold, so if you don't eat them immediately, you can save them for a little later. I don't recommend saving them until the next day though because they will lose their crunch.

The nutrition facts for this baby will blow your mind. 1 serving = half of the recipe. 159 calories; 8.2 g fat; 1.1 g saturated fat; 0 mg cholesterol; sodium varies depending on how much salt you use; 20.1 g carbohydrate; 4 g dietary fiber; 0 g sugars; 6.6 g protein. Did you get that? 6.6 g of protein in a little vegetable snack! That is MORE protein that is found in a hard boiled egg (but without the 211 mg of cholesterol mind you)! And the vitamins in a serving of this stuff? 618% of your daily recommended Vitamin A; 402% of your recommended Vitamin C; 27% of your recommended Calcium and 19% of your recommended iron. Not bad!

Invariably Vegan Changes in 2011!

I'm still on vacation from work for one more day, so I've had extra time to think about food, to cook food, to eat food and of course to blog about food. I'm excited about some changes I'm making on the blog. While I definitely slowed down during the busy season at work, the next several months are the off season, which means I get home from work at a reasonable hour most days and therefore have the time and energy to cook dinner much much more often. Looking ahead, I'm excited to spend more time on the blog and more time developing my own recipes and trying new ones from my many cookbooks. I have a number of positive changes in mind for the coming months, and I'll be sure to let you know about them as they occur.

For starters, you can now reach this blog at invariablyvegan.com! I'm still creating and hosting the site on Blogger, but it is now easier for you to remember and find! Please change your bookmarks to invariablyvegan.com rather than the blogspot address. My plan is to move the site off of Blogger at some point in the near future, so save yourself the trouble now and start accessing from invariablyvegan.com. Yippee!

I am also finally taking some much needed steps forward in my food photography. I don't need to be told that many of the pictures up until this point have not been of the highest quality ;) I've never been a photographer and with most of my time spent on the actual food itself, the photos are often an afterthought. Well, you will be happy to learn that I am taking (baby) steps towards fixing that. I've been doing a bit of reading and a bit of playing around in iphoto...hence the somewhat better photos in the Hoppin' John and Enchilada posts. The most exciting improvement is yet to come...I finally invested in a set of lights. Because I do my cooking at night and actually eat it for dinner (as opposed to the lucky people out there who get to do this for a living and spend hours styling and photographing in daylight), my photos are taken when it is dark out and thus no natural light is available. The lights are in the mail (or perhaps have already been delivered to my office), so hopefully within several posts, the photos will look even clearer and more delicious than ever. I can't wait!

I have also decided to start posting the nutrition facts for each of the recipes at the end of the blog entry. For the most part, what sets what I cook aside from many other vegans and non-vegans alike is how healthy it is. I'm excited to show you for each recipe how low in fat, how high in fiber and how adequate in protein each of the recipes are. Also, never hurts to show off that every single recipe on this blog has 0 mg of cholesterol!

Many other exciting changes are in the works as well... so stay tuned! Now enough of this boring stuff and on with the food!

Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Homemade Chile Sauce

Enchiladas are delicious. They might be my favorite type of Mexican food, period. The problem (and probably the reason I like them so much as well) is that if you try to order vegetarian enchiladas at a restaurant, the only thing they seem to be able to replace the meat with is cheese. I've even tried to bargain with them before - I'm not picky...fill them with rice, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onions...any old thing you have back in the kitchen! But apparently that's not possible, and because I (and my cholesterol) prefer to stay away from huge globs of greasy cheese, I never get to order the enchiladas. SO, I must make my own.

Today I made one of two enchilada recipes that we eat on a very regular basis. The other is a bean/corn etc. type of enchilada assembled as a casserole. I'll certainly blog about that one at some point, but today I made a different one that is somewhat more time consuming. I had loads of time, so it wasn't a problem. This recipe comes from one of the greatest vegan cookbooks ever written, Veganomicon. If you just buy one vegan cookbook, that's the one I recommend. The key to these enchiladas is the potato and kale filling. It's tangy and smoky and has the perfect toothsome texture I look for. The corn tortillas cook in the warm, spicy sauce until they are so tender they fall apart and the filling provides the needed backbone for the dish. Let's get started by assembling the ingredients:

For the Enchilada Chile Sauce:

1 onion, diced

3 large green chiles (anaheim or italian style)

3 tsp. chile powder

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp marjoram or oregano

2 15-oz cans of diced tomatoes (fire roasted preferred)

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

For the Potato and Kale Filling:

1 pound yukon gold potatoes, diced

1 bunch kale, washed, trimmed and chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 cup vegetable broth

3 Tbsp. lime juice

1 1/2 tsp salt

12 corn tortillas

First start on the sauce. I actually did this several hours before I made the rest of the dish, just to give myself a head start. The first project is to roast, peel and seed the peppers. If you've never roasted peppers at home, please don't be scared. It's the easiest thing in the world and it happens to be super fun. You need to have a gas stove (which I happen to have and could never live without) or else I'm not sure how you do this exactly. Anyway, just turn on a burner or two and put the peppers right there on the grates. Keep and eye on them so you don't burn down the house, but just turn them every now and then so the outsides get equally charred everywhere. I took this picture when I was about halfway done roasting so you can see exactly what happens. When the outsides are mostly black, put the peppers in a plastic ziplock bag and wait about 10 minutes. By that time, the skins will literally peel right off the peppers easily. Cut each one open, remove the seeds and roughly chop.

Next, in a large saucepan, saute the onions for about 5 minutes until soft. Add all of the remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer. Simmer the mixture for a couple of minutes, then remove from heat and set aside. Once the sauce has cooled enough, put it in a food processor and blend until smooth. It will take a while of blending to get the sauce fairly smooth, so don't rush it.

Next prepare the filling. Boil the potato cubes in water for about 20 minutes until quite tender. The original recipe said to peel them but I see no point. I love potato peels and the skins on yukon golds are so fine that you don't even notice them. Drain the potatoes and set aside. Saute the garlic in a large pot for about 1 minute, then add all of the kale with a sprinkle of salt. Mostly cover the pot and cook about 5 minutes until the kale has wilted. Remove the lid and add all remaining ingredients. Mash up the potatoes with a pastry blender until chunky, but not whole pieces. Cook the entire mixture for about 3 minutes while stirring to mix all ingredients. Now preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Now it's time to assemble. Set up a little assembly line in this order left to right: A shallow dish with about a cup of the enchilada chile sauce in it; Stack of 12 corn tortillas; empty dry skillet over medium heat; Potato-kale mixture; Baking dish with about 1/2 cup of enchilada chile sauce in it. I like to use 2 Pyrex 25 x 16 cm dishes because they are the exact perfect size for 6 enchiladas. This way we can eat one dish and save the other for the next day...or give the other dish to a friend. Go ahead and improvise though with whatever size dishes you have. Take the first tortilla and heat it about 30seconds on each side in the dry skillet. This softens up the tortilla so it's ready to bend. Coat the tortilla lightly with sauce by dipping it in the shallow dish on each side. Then place 1/12 of the potato kale mixture

in the tortilla and roll it up. Place the roll in the casserole dish and repeat until all 12 tortillas are used. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the rolls and cover each dish with aluminum foil. Bake the dishes for about 35 minutes and allow to cool slightly before serving. I garnished these with a few toasted pumpkin seeds for a little extra crunch. Yum.

Don't be afraid if the enchiladas fall apart a little bit during serving. The taste more than makes up for the lack of glamour. I just love the tangy, chewy flavor of this filling, and to think I'm replacing that fatty, cholesterol-ridden cheese with something as healthy as potatoes and kale! Who knew! Try this dish, and I bet it will be one of your favorites too.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving = 2 enchiladas or 1/6 of recipe. 236 calories; 1.5 g fat; 0.1 g saturated fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 565 mg sodium; 51.8 g carbohydrate; 8.8 g dietary fiber; 8.7 g sugars; 9 g protein.

New Year's Day: Hoppin' John with Collard Greens

Happy 2011! Yesterday was New Year's Day, so what else could I possibly make other than collard greens and black eyed peas? Collards are kind of a neglected green in our house, compared to it's more popular relative, kale. We eat kale at least once if not more times every week. It's actually in the works for two dishes this week. I end up using collards much less frequently, but this dish is one of the several ways that we really enjoy them. This time of year is the best time for the dark leafy greens - they are in season and incredibly healthy. This preparation doesn't overcook the greens, leaving most of their delicious nutrients intact.

Usually, I start this dish earlier in the day or even the night before by preparing my rice and black eyed peas. Sometimes, if I'm making rice earlier in the week I'll just save out a couple of cups of it for use in this recipe later in the week. This really cuts down on prep time when you actually make this for dinner.

However you do it, start off with about 1 1/2 cups of cooked brown rice and 1 1/2 cups of cooked black eyed peas. You can buy them in the can, but I tend to think they are much too mushy that way. Trader Joe's sells them in the refrigerated section already steamed, and those are not bad. Most of the time I just cook them from dry beans, which takes a lot of time but tends to have the best results. This time, I didn't have much extra time and I found a great new item in the grocery store. These black eyed peas are by Melissa's brand (which I love) and are partially pre-cooked. Just put them in a pot of boiling water and boil for 10 minutes to cook them the rest of the way. The result is perfectly cooked, al-dente peas in a tiny fraction of the time. Nice.

Once you have your rice and peas ready, put a large pot

of salted water on to boil and assemble the rest of your ingredients:

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, divided

2 Tbsp. honey

2 tsp. olive oil, divided

1 1/2 tsp. chili powder, divided

1 tsp salt, divided

2-3 shakes liquid smoke

Hot sauce, to taste

2 large bunches of collard greens, washed and chopped

4 slices smart bacon

1 onion, chopped

3 ribs celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

1 1/2 cups cooked black eyed peas

Whisk together 2 Tbsp. of the vinegar, honey, 1 tsp. olive oil, 1 tsp.chili powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, liquid smoke and hot sauce. I use Tapatio hot sauce for this because it's something I always have around, but you can use whatever kind you like best. Meanwhile, put the collards in the rapidly boiling salted water for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tsp. of olive oil and saute the smart bacon, onion, celery, garlic and remaining 1/2 tsp. chili powder. Cook everything for 5-10 minutes until tender. Add the cooked collard greens, 1/4 cup reserved cooking liquid, 2 Tbsp. vinegar and remaining 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and cook about 10 minutes until greens are tender.

Heat a separate skillet and add the rice and peas, remaining 1/4 cup cooking liquid and the vinegar/honey/spice mixture. Cook until everything is heated through and the liquid is soaked into the rice. At this point, be sure to taste both the rice/peas mixture and the collards mixture. Adjust seasonings as desired. You can serve the collards over the rice or you can mix the entire thing together.

I can't think of a better way to start the year than a delicious and healthy meal of cooked greens and beans and rice. The flavor combination of spicy, tangy, smoky and sweet makes this dish a sure winner. Let's see...maybe one of my New Year's resolutions should be to eat more collards.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving = 1/3 of the rice and beans mixture topped with 1/3 of the collards mixture. 415 calories; 8g fat; 1.9 g saturated fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 492 mg sodium; 68.9 g carbohydrate; 14.3 g dietary fiber; 25.7 g sugars; 20.2 g protein.

Shepherd's, No...Gardener's Pie

Shepherd's pie sounds weird to me. The idea of ground up sheep with mashed potatoes on top grossed me out a long time before I even became vegetarian. However, the concept of shepherd's pie intrigued me. The idea of hearty old Englishmen sitting down for their savory plate of piping hot shepherd's pie with a nicely browned crunchy top of mashed potatoes.When I came across a recipe for vegan shepherd's pie (courtesy of Susan Voisin), it not only looked like it would satisfy my interest in the original, but it looked like it was going to taste 20x better than the original!

If you try only ONE of my wintertime recipes this year, it should be this one. After serving it to my parents on a recent visit, my mom even makes this at home. It seriously is the most amazingly delicious way to eat insane amounts of vegetables all at once. In one small slice (although I can't imagine why you would only want to eat one small slice) you get a healthy serving of spinach, kidney beans, green beans, onions, mushrooms, carrots and celery. Can't beat that! BUT you get to eat them all smothered in a rich, yet surprisingly healthy gravy, and topped with a warm, creamy layer of potatoes, browned to perfection in the oven. Have I convinced you to make this yet? Okay, now gather your ingredients (altered slightly from the original of course):

2 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes

1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk

nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to taste

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 large carrots, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

8 oz. mushrooms, diced

2 cups vegetable broth

16 oz. can of kidney beans, rinsed

2 cups green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 1/2 tsp thyme

2 tsp fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)

1/4 tsp. dried sage

3 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves

2 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp. soy sauce

crushed red pepper

vegan worcester sauce (about shakes)

Boil potatoes in cubes until tender, then mash with soymilk, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. I like to keep mine a little chunky, but you can do it however you want. Set them aside and reserve one cup of the cooking water.

Saute the onions in a sprayed skillet until soft, then add garlic, carrots, celery and mushrooms and saute 3 more minutes. Add vegetable broth, kidney beans, green beans and herbs. Simmer uncovered on medium heat for 20 minutes until all vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the pan becomes too dry at any point, add some of the potato water. Add the spinach and stir until wilted, then add the cornstarch/soy sauce mixture. Cook, stirring until thickened. Transfer everything to a large pie plate or baking dish and spoon the potatoes over the top. Sprinkle with rosemary and cook under the broiler for 7-10 minutes until nicely browned.

Let the pie sit for 5-10 minutes before you cut into it. This meal-in-one is a serious favorite for very cold days and/or very hungry days. It heats up very well, and individual slices also freeze very well. Despite the large number of ingredients, most are staples in our house and the actual preparation is very simple.

Mexican Pumpkin Soup

It's actually getting cold out there (I know, it's almost Christmas so I guess it's about time) and I'm in the mood for warm, creamy, hearty soup! This recipe is totally easy and the unexpected flavor combination makes it one of the best soups in my repertoire. It's also made nearly entirely out of pantry items, so it's a great think to make in a pinch.

The secret to making this soup thick and creamy without a lot of cream and butter is using the pureed pumpkin as a base. It adds a thick, rich feeling to the broth and a serious depth of flavor. Plus the sweet creaminess of the pumpkin mixed with the spice of the jalapeno, the tang of the lemon juice and the burst of freshness from the cilantro really make the flavor come alive. Lastly, the pinto beans and potatoes make this low fat, healthy dish, a hearty, filling meal.

First, gather up the ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, chopped

4 cups vegetable broth

1 15-oz can canned pumpkin

1 15-oz can pinto beans, rinsed

1 seeded, diced jalapeno

5 medium red potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch cubes

1 Tbsp. marjoram or oregano

pinch of cayenne pepper (to taste)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk

lemon juice

salt and pepper

cilantro

Heat a large soup pot, add 2-3 Tbsp. of broth and saute the onions until soft. Next add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add the rest of the broth, pumpkin, pinto beans, jalapeno and potatoes; then stir in the marjoram, cayenne and cumin. Bring the whole pot to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Simmer about 30 minutes until the potatoes are fork-tender. Remove from the heat and cool soup for about 5 minutes. Stir in the soymilk and taste. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice and some salt and pepper and taste again. Adjust seasonings to suit your taste. Serve garnished with a healthy sprinkle of cilantro on top.

It really couldn't be easier, and it's great to have a soup like this that takes only 30 minutes to cook. I couldn't recommend this dish more highly...especially for those of you who live in really cold climates! Look in your pantry and you may only need 1-2 ingredients from the store!