Red Velvet Mole with beans

from "Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

I love love love this cookbook

. I have actually been *reading* it- rather than just flipping through and thinking "yeah looks good". "Appetite for Reduction" pretty much epitomises what I am loving about this new vegan life. The recipes are decadent but pure and light as a feather, some simple, some complicated. Tonight I flagged the 'Black Beans in Red Velvet Mole' recipe as not requiring anything not already present in my pantry- cooked it and ate it! My 18 year old son added some cooked quinoa to our plates when serving it up and it was a great addition, the chewy quinoa a nice contrast to the velvety beans and smooth mole.

Here's a precis of the recipe, as prepared by me (not quite the same as the original as I am incapable of following a recipe!)

Mole:

spray of olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped fine

1 star anise thingabob

a big shake of chili flakes

I was out of oregano so added a bit of basil

1 tsp cinnamon (I used more)

1/4 tsp allspice (wtf is 1/4 tsp?? I used more)

1 tsp smoked paprika (yeah I used more)

1 bottle of passata/tomato puree

1 veggie stock cube + 1 cup water

1/4 cup raisins (ummm.... I shook in a bunch, no idea how many)

crumbled up corn chips, a couple handfuls

a big glop of Aldi peanut butter

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (this is what makes mole mole- go ahead!)

a small glop of agave syrup

1 can of black beans

2 cans borlotti beans

saute onion, add garlic and herbs/spices. Saute together.

Add passata/tomatoes; water, sultanas, corn chips, stock cube, peanut butter. Simmer for a while. I added the agave nectar with the other ingredients- the original recipe says to add it right at the end. Didn't seem to matter.

Used my stab blender to mostly puree the mole. Then added

the 3 cans of drained, rinsed beans.

Isa Moskowitz suggests plantains or sweet potato as the side to serve with this! What a genius. Plantains would have been perfect but sliced sweet potato, steamed was also delicious, and hit the mark almost like plantains would have.

DELICIOUS! I love this cookbook!

The Big Roast-Up

When you are vegetarian, and especially vegan, you do seem to spend a fair amount of time on food preparation, compared to the days when meat-and-a-side graced our tables. Part of me enjoys the preparation- it's part of the practice of eating mindfully; and moreover I enjoy cooking- the anticipation of good food lovingly prepared is a pleasure in itself. I may only be planning to have a giant delicious salad for lunch, but preparing something wonderful for dinner is an observance that dulls the edge of any sense of deprivation I might momentarily feel.

There are lots of ways to expedite vegan food preparation... Think in terms of things like a big container of pre-cooked quinoa or even rice in the fridge to be used in salads, soups or what have you as the wish arises. Likewise an idea I got from a wonderful (non-vegan but very pro-wonderfulness) book called 'An Everlasting Meal' by Tamar Adler is to have a big weekly roast-up. When I return from the market with a boot full of fresh stuff, it may include goodies such as bunches of raw beetroot (pendant from their bunches of exquisitely red-veined dark green leaves); ears of sweet corn, pumpkins, kale (finally found it in Australia!), carrots, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, potato and sweet potato- you get the picture. If it's not specifically a salad vegetable, I usually include it in the Big Roast Up. Like Tamar, I roast and then happily eat all kinds of odd greens- beetroot greens are an obvious fave! But also the green part of a cauliflower, and the stems of broccoli are delicious roasted.

With the oven on and hot, I stow trays of the above veggies- things like beetroot in a bit of water covered with foil, pumpkin in large pieces with skin on, half a head of cauli, etc. I keep the oven full and rotate the trays of veggies out as they become cooked, Then the cooked goodies go into the fridge, to be used in recipes, salads, or just eaten during the coming days. I figure that if I cook it fresh, it stands a better chance of being eaten than after several days shrivelling in the fridge. I love having cold cooked pumpkin at the ready, for pizza, salad, rissotto or to have on toast.

Along with always soaking beans, because you will want them tomorrow or the next day, the Roast Up is my favourite efficient-vegan habit.