Saturday Sustenance for September 26, 2009

After an unseasonably cold and wet week, forecasts are saying we'll have a warm and sunny weekend, which will be perfect for the Texas-sized potluck with Melisser of The Urban Housewife. It's been good weather for baking or roasting, and the produce at this time of year is delicious slow roasted or baked into sweet or savory goods.

In a semi-related vein, much of our garden was eaten by bugs and others pests long ago, and most of what wasn't eaten withered and died during the long, hot drought, but our trees and a few herbs are still alive and I'm excited to say that the lemons on our Meyer lemon tree are finally starting to to turn yellow. I wish I knew how to tell when limes were ripe, as I imagine the Mexican limes should be ready to eat soon as well. I've been eagerly anticipating the time when we could harvest some fruit from any of our trees, as we've had kaffir lime trees since 2005, and fig trees since 2006--we also have a banana tree, but it's really young, and I don't think it will fruit until 2010 or 2011, if at all in this climate. The kaffir trees have yet to flower, though we have been able to use the leaves in some dishes. The fig trees have produced figs for two years, but late rains last year made the fruit unsalvagable and this year the fruit was eaten by bugs or rodents before it had ripened enough to pick.

In grocery news, this week Central Market has extra large pomegranates, 2 for $4.00, and organic Honeycrisp apples $2.99 per lb.

Newflower has:
conventional asparagus, $1.47 per lb.
20 oz. packages of super cherry tomatoes, 2 for $3.00
conventional jumbo cauliflower, $0.99 each
organic Hass avocado, $0.99 each
Tofutti Cuties, $2.49 for an 8 pack
Pacific Foods non dairy milks, $1.59 for 32 oz.
Pacific Foods organic broth, $0.99 for 32 oz.
conventional raw walnut halves, $2.99 per lb.
Newflower brand artichoke bottoms, $1.99 for 14 oz.

Sprouts has:
hot house tomatoes, $0.49 per lb.
conventional red, orange or yellow bell peppers, $0.77 each
conventional Bosc or Barlett pears, $0.77 per lb
conventional Red delicious, Gala, Jonathan, Granny Smith or Fuji apples, $0.49 per lb.
conventional Sno-White cauliflower, $0.99 each
conventional raw almonds, $2.99 per lb.
conventional Brazil nuts, $3.99 per lb
15 oz. Westbrae organic canned beans, 5 for $5.00
Cascadian Farms organic frozen vegetables, $1.69 for 16 oz.
Tofutti Cuties 8 packs, 2 for $5.00

Sun Harvest has:
conventional cantaloupes 10 for $10.00
conventional large navel oranges, $0.77 per lb.
conventional strawberries, 1 lb. packages, 2 for $3.00
conventional Bartlett or red D'Anjou pears, $0.97 per lb
organic Bosc pears, $0.97 per lb.
organic Fuji apples, 4 lbs for $5.00

Have a great weekend!

Vegan Ceviche

Vegan Ceviche

A few months ago, my boss asked me to come up with a few vegan versions of seafood dishes, and ceviche was at the top of the list. Ceviche is a Peruvian seafood dish where raw seafood is marinated in citrus juice, usually lime juice, until it is "cooked". It's traditionally eaten with fried plantain chips or tortilla chips in the summer.

Growing up, the most common types of seafood I had were frozen fish sticks and canned tuna made into tuna casserole, and by "most common types of seafood", I mean the seafood we had maybe 3 times a year. I think I've had shrimp cocktail maybe twice in my life, but never any other kind of shellfish, no fresh fish, and certainly not any raw fish, so I have never had authentic ceviche.

It always seems difficult to try to create a dish that mimics something you've never had, but really, this was a snap. My immediate reaction was to use mushrooms, since they have such a distinct texture and flavor, but I decided to try an experiment and see if tofu would work, since I know many people who are not fans of fungi. Just before I went shopping, I saw Bazu's post about her ceviche, which uses hearts of palm to beautiful visual effect, so I thought I'd try that as well. I decided to experiment with four versions: tofu, frozen tofu, mixed mushrooms, and hearts of palm.

In the end, each version had its own set of pros and cons, and I realized that a combination would work best. For example, some of the mushrooms get a bit toothsome, which is how I imagine calamari or shrimp would be in ceviche, while the tofu is nice and tender, and if you use frozen tofu it absorbs a ton of flavor. The hearts of palm are beautiful and an ingenious addition, giving a slight visual nod to calamari, but also lending the dish a nice flavor and texture.

You'll notice in the pictures I didn't use cucumbers or tomato, although they are mentioned as optional ingredients in the recipe; I've been having a terrible eczema/psoriasis outbreak this summer, so I've been using tomatoes very sparingly, as nightshades can aggravate any inflammatory disease. However, tomatoes would be a great, colorful addition, especially if you used various heirloom tomatoes, or a combination of yellow pear and cherry tomatoes. Additionally, if eaten in the summer, tomatoes can be very cooling. Oh, and I simply didn't have any cucumber on hand.

Textural Close-up of Vegan Ceviche

Vegan Ceviche
Christina Terriquez

Yields: 4–8 servings

1 cup organic red onion, diced
1/2 cup organic cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1 medium organic tomato, seeded and cut into 1/2” cubes, optional
1/2 medium organic cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2” cubes, optional
2 pinches unrefined sea salt, SI brand recommended
1 teaspoon umeboshi vinegar
juice of 5 organic limes
8 ounces hearts of palm, sliced 1/4” thick
8 ounces organic soft tofu, frozen overnight, then thawed and cut into 1/2” cubes
1/2 cup organic oyster mushrooms, cut into 1/4” thick slices
1/2 cup organic button, crimini or wild mushrooms, cut into 1/4” thick slices
1/2 cup organic fresh shiitake mushrooms, cut into 1/4” thick slices
1 tablespoon organic unpasteurized shoyu
1–2 tablespoons organic agave nectar
1 organic avocado, cut into 1/4”–1/2” cubes, optional
1–2 tablespoons organic hemp oil, optional

Directions
In a glass bowl, mix red onion, cilantro, tomato and cucumber, if using, sea salt, umeboshi vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of lime juice. Marinate for 1–2 hours.

Meanwhile, in a separate glass bowl, mix hearts of palm, tofu, mushrooms, shoyu, agave nectar and remaining lime juice. Marinate for 1–2 hours.

Add onion mixture to mushrooms mixture, add avocado and hemp oil, if using, and adjust seasonings.

Spoon into individual servings in martini glasses, and garnish with additional fresh cilantro. Serve with fried plantain chips, tortilla chips, or water crackers.

Variations
-For a more pronounced cooling effect, add 1–2 cloves minced garlic to onions before they begin marinating.

-For crisper cucumbers, add them at the last minute instead of pickling them.

-Add diced celery just before serving.

-Instead of freezing tofu overnight, press it for 30 minutes, then blanch or steam it for 15 minutes and cool before marinading.

Notes
-You could use all oyster mushrooms or all shiitake, but I wouldn't recommend using all crimini or button mushrooms as they tend to get a little bit...soggy. I really like the textural differences you have when you use a combination, too.

May Updates

Platter of deliciousness.

I've been a bad, bad blogger. I'm sorry about the lack of posts. It's not from a lack of cooking. I've been taking tons of pictures, and creating many, many dishes. These pictures give you a glimpse of some of the dishes and recipes I'll be writing about in the coming weeks.

Strawberry Sorbet with Lime Zest

Raw TuNut Wrap
Quick Wonton Ravioli
Vegan Ceviche

During the winter and first half of spring, I was taking inspiration from Indian food, although lately Persian food has been my muse, so expect to see some recipes with Indian and Persian flavors.

I have also been very busy with our garden. In January, R and I moved into a lovely house. In March, JD joined us. JD and I have built three raised bed gardens, one full of vegetables including roots like carrots, onions, radishes and turnips, plus some tomatoes, fennel, broccoli, cabbage and jalapenos, one that has cucumbers and zucchini, and, once we make it a bit longer, will have cantaloupes, and my favorite bed, the herb garden, which features a bust that we've been calling The Lady.

The Lady watches over our herbs from her perch in the backyard.

The herb garden currently has dill, cilantro, thyme, lemon thyme, lemongrass (to go with our two kaffir lime trees), sage and basil. We have about 5 or 6 spots open for more herbs, in the herb bed, and a couple of container herbs, like chives and oregano. I recently bought some Asian seeds, including two amaranths (for the greens), Chinese cabbages, two daikons, shiso, Chinese leeks, bunching onions and burdock. I want to built three more raised beds; a tall bed for the burdock (you harvest it when it's 3 to 4 feet long, and it will grow through rock and around other roots, so with all the tree roots in our yard, planting it straight in the ground would make a harvesting nightmare), a large bed for all the other Asian vegetables, and a small bed like the herb garden for edible flowers.

Late Bloomers: I had all but given up on these pansy seedlings

We're also growing a few other things in the garden, outside of beds, like English peas, sweet potatoes, a fig tree, raspberries, blackberries, hibiscus, and of course the avocado trees and pineapples.

This is kind of a teaser, as I plan to write more on the topic later, but, at the school, it's home processing time, which means I get to teach some of my favorite classes. To view info about all the upcoming events, see more recipes and pictures, and see what else I'm up to, you can check out the blog I moderate for work here, I write the posts for NaturalEpicurean.

In more personal news, JD and I will be going to the ACL festival again this year. I'm especially excited to see DeVotchka, The Decemberists, Andrew Bird, Bjork, Regina Spektor, and Bob Dylan (Did you hear about this? The story made me giggle.) It will be great to see Wilco, Ben Kweller, The Del McCoury Band, Spoon, Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party again, although I'm not a huge fan of the latter four artists, I've seen them live, and they all put on great shows. I saw Jack White play with the Raconteurs last year, which made me wish I was watching The White Stripes, even though I stopped following them after Elephant, so this year I'll get my wish. I haven't decided if I'll check out Muse. I caught some of their show last year, but JD wasn't into them, so we left after two songs. I think their debut, Showbiz was my personal favorite, and honestly, I haven't kept up with them too much recently. Anyone on the lineup you consider to be must-see? I was disappointed that Interpol and Of Montreal weren't tapped since they (will) have both released albums (by the time of the festival).

Last, but certainly not least, my best friend, H will be visiting me this week! I have many potential ideas, including:
Zilker Botanical Gardens - the Oriental garden and koi ponds are gorgeous.
Happy Hour(or dinner) at the Clay Pit - appetizers are half price during happy hour, and although I always enjoy the food, it's the pashwari naan that I really want H to try.
Lunch at Aster's Ethiopian - plenty of injera, and many delicious vegetarian dishes.
Uchi - everyone in my social circle raves about Uchi, but I've never been since I can get decent vegan sushi anywhere, and I can make AWESOME vegan sushi at home, it always seemed as pointless for me to go to an expensive sushi place as it would be for me to go to an expensive steakhouse. H loves the sushi, though, so this is a good time to check it out.
AMoA
Cocktail party! - I think the South Austin Spec's just opened....
Threadgill's - I've never been, but one of my favorite locals band is having a show there.
The Draughthouse Pub and Brewery and/or The Gingerman - both have an vast & varied selection of exquisite beers, and the Draughthouse (obviously) brews their own. If we go to The Gingerman(which I've been known to drunkenly call "The GingerBREAD Man"), we'll probably check out Halcyon, because, though they are not vegan, H would love the idea of their indoor S'mores.
The Alamo Drafthouse - hopefully we can check out Terror Thursday at the original before they close.
The Whole Foods flagship location - it's kind of a huge yuppie amusement park, yes, but good Lord, do they have a lot of beautiful, tasty stuff, plus, they give out tons of samples.
Waterloo Records/Waterloo Video - 'nuff said.
Book People - Ditto.
Kerbey Lane - I'm sure we'll be out really, really late at least one night, in need of nourishment, and what's better for that than KL's Mushroom Artichoke Spinach Omelet, veganized? Nothing, that's what.
I'm also taking recommendations, so if you have suggestions for quintessentially Austin things, or know of any fun events occurring between May 31 and June 6, let me know.