Yummiesta: December 2019

Cookie and Kate

My Top 10 Recipes of 2019

December 31, 2019

Changua (Colombian Milk and Egg Soup)

December 31, 2019

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The Full Helping

Creamy Chickpeas & Mushrooms Over Mashed Potatoes

December 31, 2019

I’m ending this year and starting the next one with a recipe that feels well suited to where I’m at lately. It’s comforting, familiar, and easy, all of which are top priorities after a somewhat helter-skelter fall and early winter. And it’s the first recipe that I’ve made in a while that just came to me—it was a real-time craving, not something I’d planned out in my head—which is a small victory after a lot of fraught and dissatisfying cooking in the last couple months.

I spend so much time putting stuff on toast that I sometimes forget how nice it is to pile beans and vegetables and plant meats over other starches: polenta, pasta, and—case in point—potatoes. Mashed potatoes aren’t so much harder to make than regular potatoes, but they sure do announce “comfort food” more clearly. I love having a lot of them in the fridge, to use either as a side dish or as the base of some pile of plant-based goodness or another 🙂

I was thinking distantly of the chickpeas and mushrooms from the dinner toast in Power Plates when I made this, but in the end, the toppings are pretty different. This is super creamy (à la King-ish), which was mostly a concession to the fact that I’d made cashew cream for another recipe earlier the day before, and I’d made extra to freeze. I’m glad that the remainder got used here before it could make it to the freezer, because it makes this meal so much richer and heartier than it would be otherwise.

If you’d like to make this dish with sweet potatoes, by all means, do. If you’d like to add kale or spinach or chard to the chickpea/mushroom mixture, rather than serving it with a green side (like I did here), that’s great. If you’d prefer white beans to chickpeas, that’s also fine. Many modifications will be good here, and you can most definitely treat this meal as one of those bean/green/starch templates that make vegan eating so much simpler, at least conceptually.

Creamy Chickpeas & Mushrooms Over Mashed Potatoes

Vegan Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes

3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
3/4 cup non-dairy milk (more as needed)
3 tablespoons vegan butter
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Creamy Chickpeas & Mushrooms

2 teaspoons olive oil (or a few tablespoons vegetable broth)
1/4 cup chopped shallots (about 2 large or 3 medium shallots)
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces sliced white or baby bella mushrooms (about 2 cups)
1 teaspoon Braggs Liquid Aminos, tamari, or soy sauce
1 3/4 cups vegetable broth, divided into 1/4 cup and 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup cashew cream*
1 tablespoon all-purpose or gluten-free all purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2-3 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (to taste)
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 14.5-ounce can, drained and rinsed)
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
<em><strong>optional</strong></em>: fresh, chopped herbs and/or vegan parmesan cheese, for topping

To make the mashed potatoes, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and boil for 10-12 minutes, or until the potatoes are completely tender. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Use a potato ricer or masher to mash them. Add the non-dairy milk and vegan butter and continue mashing until the potatoes have a consistency that you like, adding more non-dairy milk if needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set the potatoes aside.
To make the creamy chickpeas & mushrooms, heat the oil or broth in a large, roomy skillet (preferably non-stick) over medium low heat. Add the shallots. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the shallots are clear. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, stirring frequently. Add the mushrooms, 1/4 cup vegetable broth, and the tamari. Cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms have released all of their juices and are completely tender (about 6-8 minutes).
Add the remaining broth and cashew cream to the skillet. Stir well. When the liquid is heated through, transfer a ladle of it (about 1/3-1/2 cup) to a small bowl and whisk it together with your flour to create a slurry. When the slurry is smooth and has no visible lumps, pour it back into your skillet and stir everything well. Continue to cook the whole mixture for a minute or two, until the sauce has thickened. Then, stir in the dried thyme and rosemary, lemon, and chickpeas. Taste and add salt and freshly ground pepper as needed.
To serve, divide the mashed potatoes onto plates (about 1 heaping cup per person) and top with a generous spoonful of the chickpea and mushroom mixture. Garnish with fresh herbs and/or vegan parmesan cheese, if you like. Enjoy!

As a substitute for cashew cream, you can use unsweetened vegan cashew or almond yogurt or full-fat coconut milk from the can.

I’m already remembering this dinner fondly as the one that brought me back into my kitchen rhythm after a period of feeling out-of-step with it. It’s nice to be ending 2019 with a meal that was both intuitive and satisfying. I’m hoping that I can carry that sensation and experience into 2020, across different areas of my life.

I wish you all the same, and more. Happy New Year, friends!

The post Creamy Chickpeas & Mushrooms Over Mashed Potatoes appeared first on The Full Helping.

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Recipe Girl®

Texas Caviar

December 31, 2019

Texas Caviar is a salad combination of beans with a tangy dressing that is served with tortilla chips for scooping.

Is it a salad or a dip? It’s both! The ingredients combine just like a salad, and it can be served as a salad side dish too. But most people grab tortilla chips and use Texas Caviar as an appetizer dip. It’s delicious either way.

About Texas Caviar:

Texas Caviar was created in Texas in the 1940’s by a woman named Helen Corbitt. She first served it on New Year’s Eve at the Houston Country Club. Later it was served at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, where it was given the name, “Texas Caviar” (meant to be funny as a comparison to the more expensive fish roe caviar). It’s also called, “Cowboy Caviar.”

This dish is anchored by having beans as the main ingredient- most notably black eyed peas as a good luck ingredient for the New Year. Some people like to use black beans in place of black eyed peas. Corn and chiles are also added in. It’s all tossed in a tangy dressing, which gives the dip a sweet “pickled” flavor.

How to make Texas Caviar:

It’s so easy to make Texas Caviar! Simply combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, and stir to combine.

black eyed peas (or black beans– your preference)
pinto beans
corn
green chiles
fresh red and green bell peppers
red onion
fresh cilantro

The dressing is made next. It’s quickly warmed in a small saucepan to dissolve the sugar in the recipe.

olive oil
rice vinegar
sugar
garlic powder

Then the dressing is poured over the ingredients in the bowl.

This is a great, make-ahead dish because it’s awfully good when the dip is given time to soak up the tangy dressing.

This Texas Caviar dip recipe makes a lot. You’ll have a big bowl of it, so it’s great to serve at a big party. Leftovers the next day are perfectly awesome. Use tortilla chips for dunking. Serve it as a side salad. And spoonfuls of this are also pretty good when added to tacos too. Enjoy!

Here are a few more dip recipes you might like to try:

Texas Caviar

Easy dip recipe for a party!

DIP:

Two 15-ounce cans black eyed peas or black beans, (rinsed and drained)
Two 15-ounce cans pinto beans, (rinsed and drained)
Two 15-ounce cans white corn, (rinsed and drained)
One 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, (undrained)
1 medium red bell pepper ((cored, seeded and finely chopped))
1 medium green bell pepper ((cored, seeded and finely chopped))
1 small red onion, (finely chopped)
1 bunch fresh cilantro, (rinsed and finely chopped)

DRESSING:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

ASSEMBLE THE DIP:

Put all dip ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to combine.

PREPARE THE DRESSING:

In a small saucepan, combine the dressing ingredients. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and set it aside to cool. Pour the dressing over the bean mixture, and toss to combine.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss again just before serving. Serve with tortilla chips for scooping.

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