Quinoa and Vegetable Vegan Stew!

I'm freezing.  Winter is coming.  Kasey and I hosted a dinner party last weekend and we puzzled over what we could make.  No vegans were attending BUT we can't resist preparing a beautiful vegan menu.  It's such a nice feeling when people that expect vegan food to be bland and tasteless and boring are proven wrong :P We decided on a stew because what's better when you're cold and want something warm and hearty.  This stew was so fun to make, and simple.  The chopping took a while but if you have a good knife or a food processor that would help a lot.

We started with making the stock.  I think making a stock can seem a bit intimidating if you've never done it before.  It creates the base of the stew and that's where your base flavor starts.  I'll break this recipe into two parts to simplify.  Keep in mind, that if you are low on time it is perfectly okay to buy a pre-made vegan stock at the store, but we found it fun and delicious to make our own.

Vegetable Stock

1 Brown Onion, cut into quarters

2 Stalks of Celery, chopped in half

4 Carrots, medium size, cut in half

8 cloves of Garlic, cut in half

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon Cumin

Handful of fresh Parsley

Handful of fresh Rosemary

Salt and Whole Peppercorns, we didn't really measure, just added as we went

6 Cups Spring Water

*We included mushrooms in our stock, but removed them after about 10 minutes when we realized they could be overpowering.  

Throw all of it in a big pot with a lid.  Heat on high until boiling.  Then turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for about 2.5-3 hours.  We ended up letting it cool over night just for extra flavor development.  Strain completely (you might be able to find another use for the leftover vegetable, Kasey happily ate the carrots on their own they were so good :D).  You'll need about 2 cups of stock liquid for your stew.

Quinoa and Vegetable Vegan Stew

1 Brown Onion, chopped 

2 Carrot, chopped

1.5 cups Quinoa

2 tablespoons of Macadamia Oil

1 tablespoon Cumin

2-4 cloves Garlic, finely minced

Salt and Ground Pepper to taste

Handful of Rosemary

Handful of Basil

5 Medium Tomatoes, chopped

2-3 cups of red and green cabbage, shredded

2 Cups Kale

1 Sweet Potato/Kumera, chopped

2 Cups of the above prepared stock

2-3 Cups Spring Water

Add the chopped carrot and onion and garlic to your pot, with the macadamia oil.  Cook it off just a bit then add the quinoa.  

 Now add the stock, water, and the tomatoes.  Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes.  Finally, add in the cabbage and the kale and the sweet potato.  Put in the spices, the cumin, the rosemary, the basil, and your salt and pepper.  We taste as we cook and season accordingly, so our measurements might not be exact, but remember that you can always add more if you think it needs it.

Turn the heat down and continue to cook for 15-20 more minutes.  We checked on it constantly just to make sure the flavors were right.  It smelled so nice :)  Basically it's done when the sweet potato is cooked.  Enjoy!

We hope you love it as much as we did!  We had about 12 servings but everyone wanted seconds so it was hard to tell.  It was perfect for our chilly evening dinner party.  It was a big hit, for vegans and non-vegans alike :P

Vegan Veggie Burgers with Raw Vegan Ketchup and Sweet Potato Fries

This is a vegan version of the veggies burgers they showed on My Kitchen Rules the other night.  My sister and I LOVE this TV show.  As a combiner, Kerrie and Craig used an egg.  To make mine vegan, I used raw oats instead of an egg.  I didn't wait to fry mine so I chose to bake them.  I love raw sprouted chickpeas/garbanzo beans, but I find that I get a tummy ache when I eat too many of them.  I had some left over ones in the fridge marinating today so I decided to bake some veggie burgers!  It literally took me only a few minutes to throw the veggies into our *delightful* new food processor and get them in the oven :)

The raw vegan ketchup is divine.  My sister said she likes it better than regular ketchup!  My sister loved it so much she said she wished we had made a bigger quantity and stored it in the fridge.  I don't know how long it would last, but the raw lemon and salt would help preserve it for a little while.

Sweet potatoes are yummy and loaded with vitamin A.  The sweet potato fries/chips could easily be made raw, if you have a dehydrator.  We don't, so we put them in the oven.  I've done some research and it seems that any time a person combines a starch with oil at high heat it can become unhealthy so I have always eaten mine plain and started to like them better that way.  I personally LOVE them plain!  Yes, the spices and oil do add a nice flavor too :) So my point is, you have options :^) 

As for a bun.....lol....I got lazy and didn't feel like it needed one anyways.  Who knows, maybe I'll try one out next time and update this post. 

Raw Vegan Ketchup

1 cup chopped roma tomatoes (any tomato will do, but we like roma best)
1/3 cup pitted dates (soak for a bit first and drain...this water is yummy--drink some!)
1 cup sundried tomatoes (soak for a bit first and drain)
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1-3 cloves of garlic (man I am loving garlic lately so I always add extra.  Start with one and see how you like it :))
Sea salt to taste

Process or blend all ingredients until smooth.  Store in the fridge until you are ready to serve!

Vegan Chickpea Veggie Burgers

If you want to go a step above and beyond, you can marinate your chickpeas beforehand.  For a marinade I like a pinch of sea salt, tablespoon of macademia nut oil, a squeeze of lemon or vinegar, few shakes of garlic, lots of cumin, and a pinch of ground chili.   

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Ingredients:
2 cups of soaked chickpeas/garbanzo beans.  I soak mine over night, and then sometimes marinate them.
1/4 of a bell pepper/mild capsicum.  Any color!
4 cloves of garlic
5 sprigs of fresh coriander
1/3 cup of raw oats
1 tablespoon of macadamia nut oil.  (It would be interesting to see how coconut oil would taste!  From my research mac oil and coconut oil seem to be the safest to cook with)
1/2 medium jalapeno pepper. Your choice whether to remove the seeds!!  I took out half
1/2 large yellow onion
Throw in some of your favorite spices.  I used cumin, sea salt, chilli flakes and ground coriander.

Put everything in your food processor or high speed blender.   Process until slightly still chunky.  Shape into patties (I had 7) and bake for 30 minutes.  Flip over and rotate if needed.  Bake for an additional 15 minutes or so, checking to see your patties are a nice golden color.

Sweet Potato Fries

These are so simple to make.  The only challenge in my opinion is cutting up the sweet potato.   Rinse, dry and chop up one large sweet potato in half first, then into fry size pieces.  I leave the skin because it is nutritious, tastes nice, and why take the time to peel it away lol?

Now it is time for those options I was explaining above.  I seriously just love the natural sweet potato flavor.  I put them in the oven and bake at 400 degrees on a baking sheet, checking them after 20 minutes.  I keep checking until they are nice and crispy.

A yummy raw vegan version can be followed here:  http://www.rawmazing.com/raw-sweet-potato-fries-w-chipotle-mayo/#more-750

If you like seasoned fries baked with oil:  http://www.instructables.com/id/Perfect-Oven-Sweet-Potato-Fries/

My sister (and everyone at the dinner party we made these for) wanted some flavoring so we set some plain ones aside for me and put the rest in a plastic bag with olive oil, yummy spices like fresh rosemary, sea salt, and pepper.  Shake until evenly coated.

Enjoy!!!!!