Vegetarian Traveling

If you are wondering why I started this blog and then never post to it anymore, I can explain. I've been traveling since the beginning of May 2009, and I plan to be away for a total of a year. This hasn't given me much time for coming up with new recipes. Lately we've been in Turkey, not the most vegetarian-friendly country I've been to. Actually in some parts, it has been little to none, as far as finding veggie food is concerned. I have been doing a little bit of cooking there, in my studio hotel rooms, which give me a hot plate and a fridge. So it's mostly been spaghetti and tomato sauce. Boring!

I've decided if I can't cook, and I can't share recipes for now, I'm going to keep you up to date on where we have (and have not) found awesome vegetarian food around the world.

So Turkey was a bust, for the most part. We went there excited for mezzes and tons of falafel. First stop, Istanbul. We didn't see a single falafel ball the whole time we were there. I guess falafel is not as Turkish as we thought. We did find out a few things: Turkey has some of the best and freshest tomatoes and cucumbers I have ever had, and we ate a lot of those!
We also found two vegetarian restaurants. In a city of 20 million people, only two! And they happened to be right across the street from each other. One was called Parsifal, which was reasonably priced and had a pretty large standard, reasonably priced veggie menu. Things like stir-fry veggies, pastas, salads, and fried veggie burgers.The other restaurant is called Zencefil and was a little more expensive, but had really unique items, and everything was ridiculously fresh. I would recommended both of these places, if stuck in Istanbul missing vegetarian food like I was.
Our next stop on the round the world tour is Berlin. I am so excited because that place has almost every cuisine you can think of and you can find a vegetarian substitute for any normally meaty food. Think Hamburgers, Hot dogs, even Kebabs! I can't wait. I'll let you know all of our finds soon!

My Favorite Asian Appetizers

Lately I've been too busy to cook at home. But I wanted to share some of my favorite appetizers that are so easy to make. Chinese Fried Wantons. They are the perfect party food, or just a snack before dinner.

Chinese Fried Wantons
These little gems are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. (think Crab Rangoon without the crab)

Grocery List:

• Wanton Wrappers (look in the produce section)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced.
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 green onions (or as much as you want)
• 2 -8oz. packages of cream cheese
• sweet and sour sauce or sweet chili sauce for dipping (pick your favorite bottle from the store, I haven't made my own yet)
• enough oil for frying

Step 1.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix together the filling: cream cheese (softened), chopped green onions, minced garlic, and soy sauce. You can use a spoon to mix. It will take about 3-4 minutes for the cream cheese to soften and mix completely with the other ingredients.

Preparation: set aside a small bowl or cup with water, for wetting your fingers while folding the wantons.

Step 2.
Lay a wanton wrapper on a flat surface and add a dollop of the filling (less than a teaspoon)
Fold the wrapper so the corners meet. Wet the tips of your fingers and seal all the edges of the wanton. (Don't use too much water, or the corners won't stick) There are several shapes you may make when you fold it. All of them are OK, as long as the wanton is completely sealed.
Repeat until you have all the wantons you want, and you're ready to fry.

Here are some examples of possible shapes:

Step 3.
Heat oil for deep frying in a saucepan or wok at medium heat. Drop in wantons one at a time, (make sure they are sealed!) while not overcrowding the pot. Let cook until golden brown about 1-2 minutes on each side. When ready, take out and put on a paper towel-covered plate to cool and drain the oil.
Serve while still hot with the Sweet and Sour sauce for dipping.
Next time, I'll make Vietnamese Summer Rolls. These rolls are served cold are easier to make than they look. They are very impressive, so you can show off to all your friends.

Mix and Match Salsa

I haven't made this salsa since I was staying at a friend's house in Paris last year, but I plan on making it again, very soon. The basic concept of this fresh Pico de Gallo style salsa is to use whichever ingredients you can find. I made many variations of this salsa while traveling in Europe, because each country had different, but amazingly fresh, produce that was always cheap. Plus I didn't have to roam the aisles trying to read the difference between crème fraîche and cat food in 18 different languages. It was a great snack to share with new friends at hostels, and you can make a big batch that will last for days. Actually, the longer it sits, (refrigerated, of course) the better it tastes!

So here are the essential ingredients for your basic pico de gallo:

• 4 plum/roma tomatoes, or 2 large beefsteak tomatoes, diced
  
• 1 red onion, diced
  
• fresh cilantro
• 1/2 jalapeño (or any other chili pepper. For spicier use habanero pepper, and for more mild use poblano pepper)
• 1 or 2 limes
  

• Don't forget the tortilla chips!
  

Here are some ingredients I add to really make an amazing and unique salsa. You can add all of them at once, or just pick and choose what sounds good to you.

• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 can sweet corn, drained
• 1 cup peanuts ( I know it sounds weird, but it gives an amazing texture with an unexpected crunch)
• 1 avocado, cubed
  
• 1 mango, cubed (only if you can find a fresh, ripe one)
• 1 can pineapple, chopped (I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds good!)

It's best to cut all of the ingredients by hand and then toss all of the chopped fruits and veggies together. Add the chili pepper and cilantro last to your own taste. If you can't find these things at the store, use chili flakes or hot sauce and go without the fresh cilantro (it's just not the same when cilantro is dried) Finally, quarter the limes and squeeze the juice into the bowl or the salsa. If it needs a little more juice add a teaspoon of olive oil.

Enjoy!

Indian Success

So, the dinner last week was a hit. Even Kelly's mom loved it, and she swears Indian cuisine is not for her. Luckily, we already had a lot of the spices we needed in our cabinets. Here's what we ended up making:

Coconut Rice
Before boiling some Jasmine rice (I used 2 boil-in-bag bags) replace 1 cup of the water for boiling with 1 cup of coconut milk (I used a can of the reduced fat version) and then prepare as suggested on the box.

Paneer Korma (coconut curried fresh cheese)



I got this recipe from my new favorite book: How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian

• 6 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 - 1 pound of fresh cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes. I used White Queso (or a block of fresh mozzarella or paneer if you can find it)
• 1 large white onion (finely chopped or food processed)
• 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp. ginger powder (2 tablespoons fresh ginger would be even better)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 cups diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• 1 cup coconut milk (you can use regular cream if you don't want it too sweet)
• salt and pepper

1. Put half the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add the cheese and cook until golden brown on all sides. About 10 minutes total. Take the cheese out of the pan and put aside for later.
2. Add the remaining oil to the pan. When oil is hot, add onion and cook until onion is soft. Then add spices and garlic, cook for another minute. Add tomatoes and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
   
3. Finally, add coconut milk and cheese back into the pan. Bring to a slow bubble and cook for about 5 minutes. Feel free to adjust the seasoning or add cilantro or mint at the end for garnish.
   

Eggplant and Chickpea Masala



I found this recipe on another blog. An Irish girl who married into an Indian family. I changed the ingredients slightly, to what is available here in Key West. (Masala and Blarney)

• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 medium onion - diced
• 1 garlic clove (diced)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (easier than chopping 4 tomatoes)
• 1 can chickpeas - drained and rinsed
• approx. 2 cups of water
• 1 tsp mustard (preferably whole mustard seed, but any mustard will work)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of chili powder
• 1 to 2 tsp of curry powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Take eggplant and rinse then cut stem end and discard. Cut in half or quarter and place in a pan for roasting. Roast in a 400 degree oven between 15-20 minutes until softened and starting to brown. Let cool and prep other veggies. Eggplant should remove easily from the skin and be mashable w/ your hands.
2. Place a few tsp of canola oil in pan add onion, garlic, and mustard and saute until fragrant and softening - add in tomatoes (with juice) and then the spices/salt/pepper - mix well so spices are distributed. Add in eggplant and chickpeas. Cook for about two minutes then add water. Cook until chickpeas are softened and the mixture has thickened. This makes a ton. Enough for at least 4 people, more if you are serving other dishes along side it.

We served the meal family style, piling everything on one plate each, adding the cucmber and onion raita I made earlier.
I also bought a few pieces of garlic Naan (soft grilled Tandoori bread) from the store. One day I will try to make that on my own, but for now this meal was ambitious enough.







Coming up next...
- Corn and zucchini veggie burgers gone wrong, but in a good way
- Vietnamese summer rolls
- Nutty vegetarian meatballs

We aren't on Brick Lane anymore...

Today I am making Indian food, for the first time since we've left London. Supermarkets here in Florida don't have quite the same vast selection of prepackaged masala and curry sauces. None actually. There are several recipes on the internet for things like Channa Masala (chickpea curry) and Sag Paneer (curried fresh cheese), but they are all widely different. I bought a few ingredients and will try to carve out my own Indian dishes. We will see how it goes. I'll update and let you know what I come up with.
Here are some ingredients I picked up for the main dishes:

Coconut milk
cumin
turmeric
Curry powder (garam masala or even curry paste would have been better if I could have found it)
1 Eggplant (aubergine)
2 cans of chickpeas
1/2 pound of fresh Queso (would be nice if I could have found Paneer)
4 plum tomatoes and 1 can crushed tomatoes
a few onions


So far I have successfully made Cucumber Raita. Which is a a cool yogurt sauce that goes well with spicy curry, or just for dipping papadums and naan before the meal.
Here's how I did it:



-12oz plain yogurt (I used fat free, it seems to taste the same)
-1 cucumber, finely diced or shredded
-1/2 small onion or 1/4 large onion (red or yellow), finely chopped
-1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, torn or cut into small pieces.
-1 tablespoon sesame or olive oil
-1 teaspoon of cumin (to taste)


Just mix all these ingredients in a bowl and chill until ready to eat. It's good to make this first so all the flavors have time to blend with the yogurt.
So we are off to a good start.

Trial and Error

Hi Everyone! I've decided to keep a log of some recipes I've been trying. Which ones are amazing, which ones fail, and what I need to do differently for next time. This is really for my own benefit, but anyone can try the recipes I put up.