Spicy Lentil-Vegetable Stew with Masa Dumplings

So tonight's soup, or maybe "stew", was a delicious "thrown-together" surprise. (Again, ignore the picture and pretend it looks beautiful!)

The lentil soup is approximately the same basic recipe I make it every time, but the little masa dumplings were a spur of the moment attempt to temporarily pacify my ten-year-old who's been asking for tamales for weeks now... Put together, this was amazing comfort-food and DEFINITELY a combination I'll be making often!!

Giving credit where credit is due, the masa dumpling idea is from my friend Greg, an awesome chef and head of Food Services at a University in Keene, Texas. The recipe he sent me only serves 200, so I had to modify it..... just a bit...

I realize the soup looks like it has 10 zillion ingredients. Keep in mind I have more produce than will fit in my fridge right now and am trying to incorporate as much as I can into recipes that are tasty and kid-approved. I suggest you use whatever you have, the soup certainly won't suffer from lack of veggies.

Spicy Lentil-Vegetable Stew with Masa Dumplings

• 1/2 pound regular brown lentils
• 1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped leeks (mostly the white part)
• 1 cup shredded or finely chopped green cabbage
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 parsnip, turnip or rutabaga, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. (yes, Tbsp.) crushed, dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 quarts veggie stock
• 1 cup spicy salsa of your choice
• 1 dried chipotle pepper pod (or less if you don't want it too spicy or just use a little dried pepper flakes)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  In a large stockpot on medium heat, saute vegetables (except tomatoes) with the olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano for 20 minutes, until the onions are translucent and very tender. Add the stock, tomato paste, salsa, pepper pod, vinegar and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until the lentils are cooked through.

While lentils are cooking, mix up dumplings (see recipe below) and let masa dough sit for at least 30 min.

Masa Dumplings

• 1 cup masa harina
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup boiling water or broth

To prepare dumplings, lightly spoon masa into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife.
Combine masa, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in margarine with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Stir in water or broth. Let dough sit for about 30 min.
Divide dough into balls about the diameter of a quarter, shaping each into a ball.
Make a small indention in each dumpling.
Put dumplings in bubbling soup and cover.
Let stew simmer on med-low (as low a heat as possible while still bubbling gently) for 15 min. until dumplings are done.
They will be slightly dense and moist, about the consistency of a tamale.
Serve with several dumplings in each bowl of stew.

Vegan Chicken And Dumplings; Ultimate Comfort Food!

Warm and cozy "comfort food" once again, with no apologies. I never promised a blog full of green smoothies and flax-seed pasta...

This is my "veganized" version of a decades-old "Grandma" recipe. I've included lots of variations and notes because I've made this so many times and yet, almost every time I seem to tweak it just slightly different.

The basic recipe remains the same however. Don't be put off by all the ingredients, the end result is well worth it and the ingredients are all pretty basic.

Vegan "Chik'n and Dumplings"

~~For the "Chicken"~~

• 8 oz. your favorite vegan "chicken" meat substitute or chicken flavor seitan: (*I only use Morningstar Farms Recipe Starters Chick'n Strips here, I much prefer the taste and the texture is perfect!)
• 6 cups vegan chicken-flavored (or vegetable) broth;
  (I use McKays or Chef Bonneau's but use whatever you can find. The 'Wolfgang Puck' vegetarian one is really tasty too.)
• 1/2 cup white wine - the kind you drink, not "cooking wine".
  (if you don't have it, just leave it out, it adds a lot to the flavor but isn't crucial)
• 5 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 tablespoons margarine
• 1 onion, chopped (or sometimes I use a leek)
• 1 garlic clove, minced (of course I use more!!)
• 1/2 teaspoon each dried or fresh tarragon, sage and thyme
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 boiling potatoes (1 1/2 pounds) cut into chunks
• 4 carrots (1/2 pound) cut into chunks
• 3 celery stalks, cut into pieces
• a cup or so of frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (optional but tasty and pretty)
• **sometimes I add a cup or two of chopped fresh kale
• **also optional but tasty, sliced mushrooms that have been lightly sauteed.

~~For Dumplings~~

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  (I use 1/2 whole-wheat sometimes, it can make the dumplings really heavy and dough-y if you use much more)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup shortening or 2 Tbsp coconut oil, soft but not melted
  (Crisco is vegan, and what I originally used to use. Margarine doesn't do so well here. Use what you have though, anything's better than lard like Grandma used! Ugh!)
• 3/4 cup soymilk + 1 Tb. lemon juice or vinegar
• 1/4 cup chopped chives or parsley (optional, but again, it's pretty)
  
  Instructions:

~~Chicken~~

(Note: We're now assuming every time I say "chicken" that you know it's mock, fake, faux and I don't need to put quotes around it or spell it like "chik'nn" or whatever.)
Put the chicken, broth, wine, cloves and bay leaves in a 4 to 5-quart stock pot with a tight-fitting lid.
Simmer gently, partially covered, for 10 min or so while prepping veggies.
Transfer the chicken to a plate or bowl.
Let stand until cool. Strain the cooking liquid into a bowl.
Melt the margarine in the stockpot.
Add the onion and if you're using the optional fresh mushrooms, you can add them here too. Stir and cook over high heat for 3 - 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and herbs; cook for 1 more minute.
Stir in the flour and pepper and cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the reserved broth that you cooked the chicken in.

Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, to make a smooth, thin sauce. Add the potatoes, carrots and celery to the sauce.

Simmer over low heat, partially covered, for 20–25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender but still firm. Check to make sure the sauce isn't too thick and things aren't burning. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and add to the vegetables. (If you 'tear' the chicken it looks much more authentic, just sayin'...)
Stir in the peas and parsley and chopped fresh greens if you're using them. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat then reduce the heat to a simmer.

~~Dumplings~~

For the dumplings, mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Using your fingers, work in the shortening/coconut oil until the mixture is crumbly.
Make a well in the center and pour in the soymilk/lemon juice mixture. Add the chives or parsley.
Stir quickly with a fork until the ingredients are just mixed.
Using a tablespoon, drop the batter into the broth/gravy to make 16 small dumplings, leaving space between them.
Sometimes when I'm feeling all Martha Stewart-ish, I shape them by hand a little so they aren't so rough.
Cover the pot and simmer, (over as low a flame as possible) without lifting lid, stirring or disturbing, for 15–20 minutes.
Spoon into bowls. Make sure every serving gets chicken, veggies, gravy and dumplings.

My Grandma's recipe says "Serve at once."
What?? Like we're going to wait around at this point??

Garnish with parsley or chives if you want.

Asian Market Finds

We had to go into the city for a few errands this weekend, so we stopped by one of our favorite places; the Asian Market. To celebrate Cinco de Mayo. (Kidding! That was my kids' comment...) Anyway, I love the place because I always find all sorts of inexpensive, yummy - and vegan - goodies.

Just thought I'd post some pictures of our favorites...

Here's my daughter's first choice: Vegetable Dumplings (or steamed buns) filled with mushrooms, cabbage, bok choy, leeks and TVP - just steam and serve... simple, low-fat and filled with veggies my kids will actually eat - always good in my book!

Next up: Look at these boxes!

They are Japanese, marketed just for tofu storage, and they were 50 cents each! It's a 3-pc. set consisting of box, lid and mesh insert to hold the tofu. They fit my bricks of fresh tofu nicely (which I also get at the market, in bulk). I'd always had a problem with decent storage for bulk tofu though; ziploc bags were drippy and a pain, and I hadn't found any plastic containers that were a good fit - but these are perfect - and reuseable! The insert helps you pick up the tofu up out of the water without fishing around breaking the tofu and making a mess with water draining all over the place. Yes, I have these problems sometimes, you probably don't. Anyway, as you can see, I immediately put them to good use. (I know, I get WAY too excited over simple things...)

Korean sesame candy - usually this stuff comes in a big bag; dry, crunchy and individually wrapped, but this stuff's made fresh! Chewy, nutty candy made primarily with peanuts and white or black sesame seeds, it tastes a lot like very nutty peanut brittle. Oh my gosh, I could eat this stuff long after it was good for me. (though sesame seeds are a great source of calcium and protein, so I figure that's a great excuse!!).

Canned mock meats and coconut milk. The mock meats seem weird in a can, I know, but they're surprisingly very good! Read the labels of course but these are just chunks of seitan in a broth - great in stir-fry or curry.

Then there's this: "Seattle Ramen". You gotta LOVE it!!

It's the store's own brand of "Top Ramen" noodle soup (which is just the model health food, I realize), but the 'Hot and Spicy' variety here happened to be vegan, so we couldn't resist picking up a few packages...