Cajun Bean Stew w/ Garlic Saffron Rice

This is a really hearty and tasty recipe - it can be quite spicy if that's your thing (its most certainly mine!) or just savory. I adapted this recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, a delightful book I received as a Christmas gift.

This dish is particularly full of yum when served with orzo (Moosewood has a great saffron orzo recipe), or kale, or a thick absorbent biscuit of choice, OR, as I did it this go around, with some garlic saffron rice.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 celery stalks (around 1 cup chopped)
2 bell peppers of your color preference, chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (1 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano (1/2 teaspoon dried)
Ground black pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of salt
2 cups chopped fresh or canned tomatoes (14 1/2 oz can) - I find I like to get canned tomatoes with a spicy marinade to add more flavor.
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
two 16-oz cans of butter beans
Chopped scallions
Sprinkling Daiya vegan cheese (optional)

In a medium-big saucepan saute the onions and garlic in the oil on medium heat. When things start to give you the first glimmer of brown, add in your chopped celery and bell peppers. Saute for about 5 min more, then add in your thyme, basil, oregano, black pepper, cayenne, and salt. Saute until the onions are really golden, and the textures of the veggies are too your liking.

Add your tomatoes (if your using canned tomatoes try experimenting with how much juice you want to include. If its a marinade it can make for a good stew, or you can drain the tomatoes and go for something a little thicker and less soupy). Along with your tomatoes add the molasses and mustard. Simmer for 5 min.

Add your beans (well drained), cover, and stir occasionally until thoroughly heated.

Serve over your garlic saffron rice, top your dish with scallions (highly recommended!) and - if you are so inclined and in a cheesy mood - sprinkle on some Daiya vegan cheddar cheese.

A really fast recipe and makes for great, filling leftovers (it gets spicier though so beware). Best of all, it makes the kitchen smell sassy.

This also, as my hacking cough and rubber nose can attest, is a fabulous recipe to turn to when I am sick - the spiciness can force some flavor onto my palate, it doesn't require diligent chewing, and its warm & homey.

Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Garlic Saffron Rice

I really enjoy cooking most in the company of others, and so I recruit people as often as possible. Thus, Saturday morning evolved into three of us crammed into my tiny kitchen, Coronas on hand, causing a ruckus and emerging a few hours later with a fantastic mess and an even more fantastic dish.

And, once again, the dynamic duo were on hand to make everything especially divine.

Recipes below - both of which have been adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks - Veganomicon.


POTATO AND KALE ENCHILADAS

Ingredients

For the Enchilada Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, cut into small dice
3 large green chilies (such as Anaheim or even Italian-style long green peppers), roasted, seeded, peeled (don't know how to roast? See below!), and chopped.

2-3 teaspoons chili powder, preferably ancho
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 (28-ounce) can roasted diced tomatoes with juice
1 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2-2 teaspoons salt

For the Potato and Kale Filling:

1 pound waxy potatoes (Yukon gold or red)
1/2 pound kale, washed, trimmed, and chopped finely
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup vegetable stock or water ( i actually prefer to use vegetable bouillon, to me the flavor is much richer as I control the amount of water I add)

3 tablespoons lime juice (an excellent excuse to buy a bunch of coronas and limes)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

12-14 corn tortillas
Optional and highly recommended: A helping of Daiya Vegan Cheese - shredded Cheddar (can be found at many Whole Foods) to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and have ready a shallow casserole dish, at least 11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches.

Prepare the enchilada sauce first: In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, saute the onions is oil for 4 to 7 minutes, until softened. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, bring to a simmer, and remove from the heat. When the mixture has cooled enough, taste and adjust the salt if necessary. Puree with an immersion or regular blender until the mixture is smooth and even.

Prepare the filling: Peel and diced the potatoes, then boil them until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. Cook the olive oil and minced garlic in a sauce pot over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the garlic is sizzling and slightly browned (be careful not to let it burn). Add the kale, sprinkle with a little salt, and raise the heat to medium, stirring constantly to cover the kale with the oil and garlic. Partially cover the pot to steam the kale until it has wilted, 4 to 6 minutes. (BTW this is a great way to just quickly prepare some Kale as a yummy snack or side dish!)

Remove the lid and mix in the potatoes, vegetable stock, lime juice, and salt. Mash some of the potatoes. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, until the stock is absorbed. Add more salt or lime juice to taste.

Create an enchilada assembly line (this was the best part! And the main reason enchiladas should always be a group effort): Have ready a pie plate filled with about 3⁄4 cup of enchilada sauce, a casserole dish, a stack of corn tortillas, a lightly greased, heated pan (for softening the tortillas), and the potato and kale filling.

Ladle a little bit of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish and spread it around. Take a corn tortilla, place it on the heated pan for 30 seconds, then flip it over and heat until the tortilla has become soft and pliable. Drop the softened tortilla into the pie plate filled with sauce; allow it to get completely covered in sauce, flip it over, and coat the other side.

Now, place the tortilla either in the casserole dish (the easiest way) or on an additional plate. For best results I highly encourage you to layer it with another heated, sauce-covered tortilla; then run the potato filling down the middle and roll it up. Continue with rest of tortillas, tightly packing enchiladas next to each other.
Pour about a cup of sauce over the top (reserving some for later), cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until edges of the tortillas poking out of sauce look just a little browned. Top off with Daiya Vegan Cheese, letting it melt. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Top individual servings with any remaining enchilada sauce, warmed slightly.

HOW TO ROAST GREEN PEPPERS (One of the funnest things ever!)

The easiest and most enjoyable way to do this is to get some tongs and roast them right on the stove top (provided you have a gas burning stove, electric wont work). These peppers can take it! Slowly rotate them over the fire until the skin gets blackened and blistered - you want to go until about 75% of the veggie is covered in burnt skin. Then place them in some kind of heat-resistant bowl or tupperware and cover with a lid or cloth and let cool for about 10-15 min (trapping in the steam helps the burned pepper skin loosen up). Once cooled you can peel off the skin and then seed and chop the pepper.


GARLIC SAFFRON RICE

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup of water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
Pinch of saffron threads (5-6)
2 table spoons oil
5 garlic cloves, minced finely
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 cup long grain white rice (jasmine or basmati)
Pinch of ground coriander
Salt and pepper

In a medium sized sauce pan boil the water, add the bouillon cube, and cook till it has dissolved. Then turn off the hear, stir in the saffron threads*, cover and set aside.

In another medium sized pot take our dynamic duo (that would be the olive oil and garlic) and saute them over medium heat until the garlic starts to turn golden. Add the onion and saute a little longer (as I have said before, I like my onions to still have some color and crunch so I tend to move on before they turn translucent). The onion should take about 5 minutes. Next add the rice and saute for about a minute before adding in your saffron and veggie broth along with the coriander (don't be afraid to be generous).

Cover your pot and bring the concoction to a boil, stir it up once, and then reduce the heat and let it sit for about a 1/2 hour. Make sure the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove your now-glorious rice and let it sit for about ten minutes. Then give it a stir - its ready to meet the world!


* Saffron is expensive. Until the delicious little red threads appeared under my Christmas tree this year, I adamantly avoided recipes that centered on them. I was delighted to discover that I can save and re-use my prized saffron threads! (Thanks Veganomicon!) All one needs to do is, pour a small portion of the broth into a small cup (about 1/4 a cups worth) and add in the saffron threads. Let it steep for a good 15 minutes or longer. Then use a strainer (like the kind for tealeaves) to pour back in the broth - let the saffron threads dry off and then add them back into its carefully guarded container!




(Recognize those little red stems? Each flower only caries three! Native to Southwest Asia, Saffron is the worlds most expensive spice by weight.)