Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook (76 page)

Read Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook Online

Authors: Isa Chandra Moskowitz,Terry Hope Romero

Tags: #food.cookbooks

 
PREHEAT A small saucepan over medium-low heat. Put the oil, garlic, ginger, and jalapeño in the pan. Sauté for about 1 minute. Add the mango, sugar, and water. Turn heat up to medium, cover and cook for 3 minutes, until it’s boiling. Add the red wine vinegar and asafetida, and cook for another minute, uncovered.
Chill until ready to use. We put it in the freezer and stir it often for about 130 minutes; it’s usually good and cold by then.
SPICED YOGURT SAUCE
 
SERVES 2 TO 4
TIME:
10 MINUTES , PLUS CHILL TIME
 
 
This easy, quick sauce is the perfect companion to any Indian meal, authentic or otherwise. Cool and refreshing, it contrasts nicely against warm and spicy foods.
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1½ cups plain soy yogurt
1 teaspoon garam masala
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice, or
to taste
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
 
IN A small bowl, combine the soy yogurt, garam masala, salt, lemon juice, and cilantro.
In a small skillet, toast the cumin seeds over medium-low heat for 30 to 45 seconds, stirring constantly and taking care not burn them. Pour the seeds immediately into the yogurt mixture. Whisk to combine. Cover and chill until ready to use.
TROPICAL AVOCADO SALSA FRESCA
 
MAKES A LITTLE UNDER 3 CUPS
TIME:
15 MINUTES
 
 
This little fruit and avocado combo is culinary magic. It will turn plain old rice and beans into “I’ve never had such kick-ass rice and beans!” It’s especially yummy with the spaghetti squash recipe on page 178.
1 cup chopped tomato (½-inch chunks)
1 cup chopped pineapple, mango, or papaya (½-inch
chunks)
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into ½-inch chunks
¼ cup lightly packed chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
 
MIX ALL ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
CRANBERRY-CHILE DIPPING SAUCE
 
MAKES 2 CUPS SAUCE
TIME:
25 MINUTES
 
 
Pretty, red, sweet, tart, and hot. This lovely sauce is a nice low-sodium alternative to the soy-based dipping sauces that are typically served alongside steamed or fried Asian appetizers. It’s also the ideal dipping sauce to serve with Butternut Squash Rolls (page 50).
1 cup whole, fresh cranberries
1½ cups cold water
½ cup sugar
2 large serrano chiles, seeded and finely minced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Curls of lime zest (optional)
 
 
➣
For a more intensely hot sauce, don’t remove the seeds from the chile. Conversely, if you want a less spicy sauce, use just one chile.
COMBINE THE cranberries, water, and sugar in a medium-size saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. When the cranberries start to pop, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, for about 5 minutes. Add the minced chiles and lime juice, bring to a boil again, and then lower the heat to medium-low. Stir the sauce occasionally, using the back of a wooden spoon to mash some of the cranberries against the sides of the pot. Simmer the sauce, uncovered, for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by about less than one-fourth and looks syrupy.
Remove from the heat. The sauce will thicken up more as it cools. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
HOLIDAY CRANBERRY SAUCE
 
MAKES ABOUT 5 CUPS
TIME:
35 MINUTES, PLUS TIME TO CHILL
 
 
Does cranberry sauce really need an introduction? You know what to do with it! We use agar to make this a little firm and the ingredients are kept simple—no orange rind or sneaky flavorings. But apple cider is the secret ingredient that keeps things interesting.
1½ cups apple cider
2 tablespoons agar flakes (if you have agar powder, 2
teaspoons would be the equivalent)
¾ cup sugar
12 ounces fresh cranberries (a little over 3 cups)
 
POUR THE apple cider into a small pot and stir in the agar. Let soak for 10 minutes to soften up the agar and make it easier to dissolve. Skip the soaking step if using agar powder.
Cover and bring to a boil. Once the cider is boiling, add the cranberries and sugar. Lower the heat to medium; the mixture should be at a steady simmer. Cover, leaving a little gap for the steam to escape, and cook for about 10 minutes. At this point, the cranberries should be popping and the juice should be red. Use your mixing utensil to crush some of the cranberries and help them along. Cook, uncovered, for about 5 more minutes. The cranberries should be mostly popped and crushed, and the juice should be thick and red.
Transfer to a container and refrigerate. Let cool until it mostly stops steaming, then cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until completely cooled and slightly jelled, about 3 hours.
BASIL-CILANTRO PESTO
 
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP
TIME:
10 MINUTES
 
 
This is our cheapskate pesto that uses almonds, which also have the benefit of making the pesto very bright and creamy.
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
⅓ cup slivered or sliced almonds
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about ½ lemon)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive oil
 
Place the
basil, cilantro, almonds, garlic, lemon, juice, and salt in a food processor and blend until pasty, scraping down the sides occasionally. With the food processor on, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Blend until relatively smooth and no large chunks of almonds are left. If you don’t have a food processor and are using a blender, then just add the olive oil at the end, since many blenders aren’t equipped with an opening to drizzle into.
CHEEZY SAUCE
 
MAKES ABOUT 3 CUPS

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