July 13, 2013

Spinach Hummus and Chips!


Spinach Hummus
300g dried chickpeas or  2 cans of chickpeas.
3-5 tablespoons of Tahini (buy it at the foreign food mart in Itaewon or make your own, it’s really easy just blend sesame seeds with olive oil)
200g of fresh spinach
200 – 300ml Olive oil
3 – 5 cloves of garlic
The juice  and zest of 1 or 2 Lemons
2 -4 tablespoons of cumin (foreign food mart or Gmarket)
1-2 tablespoons of paprika (foreign food mart or Gmarket)
Lime and Coriander Chips
4 tortillas
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of lime juice
1 tablespoon of Mexican seasoning
1 bunch of coriander (cilantro)
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
Directions
Soak your chickpeas over night or for several hours in cold water, do not add any salt. Cook your chickpeas in boiling water for 2-3 hours or until they mash easily with the back of a spoon. I use my rice cooker to cook them as you don’t have to worry about topping up the water, just give them a lot at the beginning and they will be fine.  Once your chick peas are done, strain them but reserve some of the water for later. If you are using the canned chickpeas you can skip the cooking stage.
If you are making your own tahini, blend the olive oil and sesame seeds until they form a paste. Then add the garlic and blend again. Finally add the spinach. Keep blending until you have a lovely vibrant green paste. I prefer to use fresh spinach as frozen or cooked is too stringy and will cause problems for your blender unless you have a very good one.
Blend the chick peas in your blender with a little of the extra water,  until they start to resemble the consistency of hummus. Everyone has a different preference about how they like their hummus, some like the runny oily kind whilst others prefer it thick. It’s really up to you, whatever floats your boat, so add more or less water depending on how you like it. Once your chickpeas are blended, add the tahini and lemon juice. Then you can start to add your salt and spices, a little at first stirring them in until you get the taste you want. You also might want to add more tahini and lemon juice too. Hummus is one of those recipes that is hard to pin down. I generally make it the same each time but the results always seem to vary. As long as you get all the basics in there though it should turn out well.

To make the chips cut your tortillas into triangles. The tortillas I use, are the large ones from Costco so I usually get about 10-12 chips from each one. Place the olive oil, lime juice and coriander in your blender and blend until you have a green paste. Then stir in the salt and Mexican seasoning. Using a brush or the back of a spoon coat one site of the triangle then lay on a baking tray. Try not to overlap the chips. Bake in the oven for about 2-4 minutes. Times will vary depending on the size so make sure you keep checking on them. They are done when they are golden in colour and the paste is dry. Store in an airtight container and they will keep for at least a week if you can resist eating them. VoilĂ  home-made chips and a dip. Perfect for any party.


Panzanella


Panzanella

Ingredients 
1 loaf of stale bread (were talking real bread here, not white sliced, ciabatta, county, crusty etc)
5-6 large tomatoes
1/2 onion (preferably red)
1/2 cucumber
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
2-3 cloves of garlic
9 tablespoons of olive oil (3 for the crutons, 6 for the salad)
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (white wine vinegar if you have it)
1 tablespoon of capers (optional – sold at the foreign food mart and home-plus)
10-20 Basil leaves (use as many as your plant can muster)
A generous pinch of salt & pepper
Directions
Take your loaf of bread, preferably stale and break it into chunky bite sized pieces. Then drizzle with olive oil and garlic and fry in a pan or crunch them up in the oven until they are lightly browned. Meanwhile chop you tomatoes, cucumber,onion and peppers and put them in a bowl. Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, torn basil leaves and salt and pepper. Mix this thoroughly and add in the browned chucks of break, Stir the mixture and leave for an hour for all the flavors to seep into the bread. Serve when ready, ideally with wine. VoilĂ  a deliciously different Italian salad.

Tofu Salad!


Mark Gomez....
Tofu Salad 

blocks of tofu, strained and frozen
Chipotle in adobe sauce. I made it by hand but it is available in FFM in Itaewon.

I partially defrosted the tofu and smoked it on my Weber smoker with apple wood for three hours. Then I painted it with the chipotle and another hour. Turned it over , painted the other side and another hour. Cut and serve.

Channa

Two tins of chick peas
Olive oil
Finely chopped coriander
Finely chopped garlic
Pepper
Cumin powder

Mix a tablespoon of oil with a half bunch of chopped coriander and five cloves of garlic. Add a tsp pepper and cumin. Toss the chick peas in the mix. Put on a flat baking tray covered withg foil and bake at 220+C for 20 minutes. Usually channa is deep-fried but it can get dangerous when the peas pop, it is unhealthier and the oil becomes tainted with burned coriander. Roasting is the way to go.

Tofu Salad (I think there are some pictures of this in the pictures I sent you-- Adeana)


Ful Medames Bessara

Two tins of fava beans or dried, soaked and cooked fava
Cinnamon powder
Oil
Tin of tomatoes
Prune or date juice
Coriander

Heat up a frying pan until it is screaming hot with a splash of oil. Throw in beans and immediately add two tsp cinnamon. Toss the beans. They will pop and split the skins and soak up all the cinnamon.
Add tin of chopped tomatoes and a tin of prune or date juice. Reduce to 'baled beans' consistency. Add coriander at the end. Eat with pita or chips. This is a Somalian recipe and , with the exception of the fava beans, everything can be substituted. But you must hard fry the beans with cinnamon to get that sweet/bitter tang




July 12, 2013

Chickpea Salad


This recipe is so easy to put together and it tastes better after sitting overnight and allowing the flavors to meld together.

Ingredients:

can of chickpeas- drained, rinsed, and mashed
dill (or sweet) relish to your liking -- I use a lot
chopped celery- to taste
chopped green onions- to taste
garlic powder- a few shakes
1 packet of gim (small squares) or one sheet of gim, crushed

Directions:
Mix everything together and voila! Serve on toast (or not). I like it topped with avocado and sprouts. 

Enjoy!


July 7, 2013

July Potluck !!


Last month we had an amazing turnout and delicious food. Let's do it again! Please email this event to your friends as I can only email it to my personal friends. 

Saturdays are great days to have a delicious vegan brunch with some friends. This month's Seoul Vegan Potluck will be held July 20th at 11:00 AM at Casablanca in HBC. Have you tried their lentil soup and vegan sandwich-- SO GOOD. Don't wait until the potluck, go check them out now. Directions below.

This month's theme is BRUNCH. Tofu scramble, salads, pancakes, hash brown casserole, muffins, quiche, granola, cinnamon rolls ~ the possibilities are endless! Please bring enough to share!







A few notes:

Remember if you come at 11,:00 you will have a chance to sample all the goodies. Late arrivals may risk missing out on some good eats.

Try to label your dishes so that we know what we are eating, and who to ask about ingredients/preparation. You can just tape a small paper to the side the the dish and your name.

Please thank Casablanca  by purchasing a beverage! Please do not bring any beverages.

Directions- Noksapyeong Station Exit two. Walk straight and turn left at the kimchi pots. Casablanca is on the left past Bonny's Pizza and Phillies. 
Yongsan Gu Yongsan Dong 2 Ga 44-7 , Seoul, Korea