Vegan « (y)our food choices™

We’ve been fans of “Euro bread” for years. What we call Euro bread is basically a whole grain, seed and nut bread that resembles a brick and is usually found in health food stores. Typically, the bread is thinly sliced and toasts up nicely. We love it with peanut butter (or any nut butter), Nutella, cheeses, smoked salmon, or basically anything we can find in the fridge that we would normally eat on a cracker. One of our favorites is toasted Euro bread, with a smear of keffir cheese, slices of cucumber, pickled red onions, and a few grinds of pepper – crunchy, tart, cool, and tangy. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

How to make the bread has always been a mystery to us. We assumed it would be super complicated and would require a laundry list of ingredients and special equipment. To our surprise we found the opposite to be true. Yahoo! had a story in their food section from My New Roots about “seed bread.” A google search produced several helpful recipes. The following recipe is easy. The most challenging ingredient to find is the psyllium husks (the stuff in Metamucil). No kneading the dough. No waiting for the dough to rise. All it takes to make the bread mixing the ingredients, waiting for everything to absorb the water, and baking. Once cool, simply slice, toast and enjoy.

To those who care, yes this is gluten-free, and yes this is paleo, and yes this is also vegan. But really, who cares! The only thing we care about is how delicious it tastes. Forget about all the labels and just whip up a batch. Nuts and seeds can vary, just remember to use the psyllium husks or the whole thing will wind up crumbling.

Euro Seed Bread

1 cup multigrain cereal
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/3 cup millet
1/3 cup pistachios
1/3 cup chia seeds
1/3 cup flax seeds
3 tablespoons psyllium husks
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups warm water

Add the multigrain cereal, almonds, millet, pistachios, chia seeds, flax seeds, psyllium husks, and salt to a food processor, pulse 4-5 times, pour into a bowl.

Combine coconut oil, honey, and warm water together. Add to nut and seed mixture then stir to combine. Line a small loaf pan with parchment; add the mixture to the pan and allow to sit for 2 hours or overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool, slice, and enjoy.

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New Years Day came complete with over full bellies and mildly stressed livers. The fatigue passed quickly as the house filled with the aroma of these tasty BBQ black-eyed peas. Friends in the neighborhood hosted NYD brunch and the peas were our contribution to the pot- luck gathering. The recipe was taken from Popsugar. The original comes from talented chef Bryant Terry‘s terrific book Vegan Soul Kitchen. With the inclusion of accompaniments like Mr. Terry’s quick-pickled greens and savory corn muffins, our year is off to a delicious start!

We wish everyone a wonderful new year full of good food, good friends, and good times.

By the way, you’ll see us blogging more in 2015, hopefully once a week but don’t hold us to it.

Cheers,

Steve and Jason

BBQ Black-eyed Peas

1 1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight
2 teaspoons plus 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup tamari or soy sauce
1 cup canned tomato sauce
1 large chipotles in adobo sauce
1/4 cup agave nectar or honey
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Be sure to pick through the peas to remove any rocks or damaged bits. Rinse the dry beans in a colander to get the dust off. Add to pan and cover with about two inches of water. Bring to boil then reduce the heat to low to keep the pot at a simmer. It may take up to 50 minutes for the beans to cook, but check them periodically after 30 minutes. Drain beans, but be sure to save a cup of the cooking water.

While the beans are cooking, sauté the onion and pepper in 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium heat until softened, about 5 – 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a blender, combine vinegar, lime juice, tamari or soy sauce, tomato sauce, chipotles, nectar, cumin, thyme, one cup of the reserved cooking liquid, and three tablespoons olive oil. Puree until smooth, about 30 seconds.

In an oven safe pan, cast iron skillet, dutch oven or two-quart baking dish, stir cooke beans, sautéed vegetables, and sauce until mixed. Bake uncovered for two hours, stirring occasionally.

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