spicy peanut sauce! and a whole feast :)

We love spicy peanut sauce and use it as dip for veggies and we even incorporate it in many meals.  We love it best, though, with potatoes!!  We had some friends over for dinner so we made a very colorful salad, rice, roasted red and sweet potatoes in the oven, and some veggie meat.  This peanut sauce tastes amazing and it gives any dish a kick of flavor!  If you do not like spicy food, just don't include the peppers, or maybe just use a tiny bit of pepper for flavor ;)

Spicy Peanut Sauce:

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to make the peanut sauce:

You will need dried yellow hot peppers, which you can find in international food markets.  I used this one:

Other ingredients:

- approximately 1 and 1/2 cups of raw unsalted peanuts, toasted

- a bit of garlic powder ( I used about 1 tsp)

- a tiny bit of soy sauce (about 1/4 tsp or 1/2 tsp)

- salt to taste

1. Toast the peppers in a pan.  I used 4 (you can use as little or as much as you want)  Make sure to keep checking them and turning them, so as not to burn.

They should look like this:

2. Toast the peanuts until they turn a bit brown, but make sure to keep moving them so they don't burn.

3.  In a blender or a Vita-Mix, combine the toasted peanuts, the peppers (without the stems), garlic powder, soy sauce, salt and water (covering peanuts by about an inch) until very creamy.  You may need to add more water if it is too thick.  If you do not want it that spicy, do not include the seeds of the peppers.

4.  Transfer the sauce into a pan and bring to a boil, and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes.  Make sure to mix the sauce with a wooden stick so that it doesn't stick to the pan.  Then it's done! 

Here is what we had in our meal:

A colorful rainbow salad:

which included cherry tomatoes, red pepper, carrots, yellow peppers, avocado, romaine lettuce, cucumber and red cabbage

There were also sweet potatoes, which were just roasted in the oven at 400 degrees with a bit of olive oil.  For the red potatoes, they were also roasted in the oven with some olive oil and some creole seasoning:

For the veggie meat, we used this brand:

(but you can use any veggie meat you like)

Slice them into thin strips and lightly fry them in some olive oil and soy sauce.

and finally cook some rice and you have a yummy meal!

 

♥ faby

quinoa soup, veggie croquettes, and fingerling potato salad

     My grandma is in town and she is an expert in Bolivian cuisine.  Bolivians LOVE meat, and when I visit Bolivia, it is sometimes difficult to find veggie food there.  Their main diet consists of meat, potatoes and rice (among other things), and there are many staple dishes that are popular.  My friends and relatives always ask what it is that I eat, because without meat, it isn't a meal for them!  There is a plethora of veggie dishes that are delicious and filling and with an open-mind you can try so many different food.  There are endless vegan dishes that you can cook up!  My grandma made some quinoa soup for us and I will be sharing her recipe with you today.  In addition, I made veggie croquettes (from the veggie remains after juicing - see yesterday's post) with fingerling potato salad.

Quinoa Soup:

Ingredients:

 - 2 cups of washed quinoa (approximately)

- a bit of cumin and garlic powder

- 1 large onion, chopped

- 3 carrots grated

-  1 pepper, chopped

-  1 cup of thawed green beans, cut into small pieces

- 1 cup of celery, chopped

- 2 russet potatoes, cubed

- parsley or cilantro for garnish

     Depending on how many people you would like to serve, add more or less water, veggies, and quinoa.  We served 6 people with this dish.  In a good sized pot, bring water to a boil and add the washed quinoa.  Saute the onion, pepper, and carrots with a bit of oil.  After the quinoa has been cooking for about 15 - 25 minutes, add the sauteed veggies, celery, garlic powder, cumin and salt.  Bring to a boil, and add the potatoes.  After the potatoes are cooked add the thawed green beans and simmer for a few minutes.  When serving, add some parsley and/or cilantro for garnish!

Note:  You can add as much veggies as you like, the more the better!!

Veggie Croquettes:

Ingredients:

- 4 to 6 cups of veggie remains after juicing a variety of veggies (see yesterdays post!)

-  1 medium onion, chopped

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

- 1 cup of walnuts, chopped to small pieces

- 1 tsp of coriander

- 1 jalapeno chopped (optional)

- coconut milk

- whole wheat flour

- salt to taste

     Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make sure to take out any big pieces of veggie remains.Saute the onion and garlic with bit of extra virgin olive oil.  In a big bowl, add the onion and garlic, walnuts, coriander, jalapeno, and salt.  Mix well.  Add the coconut and whole wheat flour to the veggie mix a little at a time and combine it well.  Keep adding the milk and flour until you are able to form the croquettes without falling apart.  The mixture should feel a little "wet". Make sure to taste a little bit of the mixture to see if more salt is needed before forming the croquettes. 

     Prepare 2 trays with some foil paper and spray with some oil.  Form the croquettes and place them on the tray.  Bake them for about 20 minutes, making sure to flip them half way through.  Broil for about 2 minutes.  You can spread a little bit of earth balance butter on the croquettes after baking them!

Fingerling Potato Salad:

Ingredients:

- 1 onion, cut into long thin strips

- 1/2 red pepper cut into long thin strips

- 1/2 orange pepper cut into long thin strips

- variety of fingerling potatoes (I used the purple and the white ones)

- 2 Tbsp of minced parsley (or cilantro)

- salt to taste

     Cook the potatoes and slice them into small "circles."  You can keep the skin or not.  Saute the onion in a bit of olive oil and add the peppers with some salt.  Make sure the peppers do not cook all the way through so they stay a bit crunchy.  Mix the onions and peppers, sliced potatoes, and parsley.  Serve the potato salad with the croquettes!!

                                               

♥ faby