Veggie Noodle Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

Lately I've been craving noodle stir fries like pad thai and yakisoba. So the other night I thought I'd whip something up with lots of veggies and lots of peanut butter. I loved this dish because it was easy to put together and it was sooo good, I made it again the following night. Serves 4 or 2 very hungry Gringoes.

Ingredients:
250 grams of rice noodles
1/2 large carrot, peeled into strips
1/2 large red or yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 1/2 cups of broccoli florets and leaves
1/2 large onion, cut into thin half moons
2 large garlic gloves, minced
1 red chili, minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, minced
fresh cilantro to garnish

Peanut Sauce
2 tbs unsalted natural peanut butter
4 tbs dark soy sauce
squeeze of half lime
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbs toasted sesame oil
1 tbs nut or vegetable oil (not olive oil though)
1 large garlic glove, minced

Prepare your veggies first and get a big pot of water boiling for the noodles. Once the water starts boiling, add in your noodles. I found this lovely broccoli at the supermarket and it has lots of leaves. I loved them and enjoyed them in this recipe, however simple broccoli florets works well too. 

Start warming up a large wok (or something similar) with a few tablespoons of water. Since the peanut sauce has a generous amount of healthy fats from peanuts and vegetable oils, I didn't want to add anymore to the stir frying process. Once the water starts boiling, add in your onions, garlic and chilies and cook until soft. 

Then add in your broccoli and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the bell peppers and carrots. Vegetables lose their vitamins and minerals the longer you cook them, so you don't want to overcook them to the point of complete softness. I cooked them for about 5-10 minutes max. They should retain their color, vitality and crunch!

Meanwhile check your noodles and see if they are close to being done. Different types of noodles have different cooking times, so keep a close eye on them. Once they are overcooked, it's all over. When they are about 5 minutes from being done, start on the peanut sauce. Put all the ingredients together in a little sauce pan and start heating it up over a low heat. 

Continuously whisk until you get a creamy, sticky sauce like so. Taste it! It should be sweet, very very salty and yummy. Notice I didn't add salt to the stir fry? That's because regular dark soy sauce is very salty and I felt it had the right amount of salt for my noodles and veggies. If you like things salty, season with salt throughout the stir fry. If you are watching your sodium intake, use reduced sodium soy sauce.

Add your noodles to the veggies and then the sauce. Mix and voila!

Hub and I enjoyed this so much, we ate the whole thing. Both times. 

Sweet Chili Veggie Chili

The other day I had this crazy desire to make chili and I wanted it to be smokey and sweet. I researched several recipes that called for chipotle peppers, which they don't sell down here in Rio. So I thought I would experiment with red chilies, honey and Tabasco sauce and voila! Sweet chili chili. Makes 4-6 servings. 

Black beans
1 1/2 cups of dried black beans
3 large garlic gloves roughly chopped
1 red chili roughly chopped
1/4 white onion roughly chopped
sea salt

Most recipes use canned beans, but I decided to cook dry black beans I already had. This yields more beans than needed for this recipe, but I took this opportunity to create more meals for the week. I also didn't want to discard the black bean juice, which is good for making black bean soup or pureed beans Salvadorian style.

Prepare your beans in advance, you want them cooled down when preparing the chili. Soak the beans for at least 12 hours, then discard the old water and put the beans in your chili pot and cover with fresh new water. Completely submerge the beans and add an additional inch of water on top. Throw in the garlic, chili, onion, and a generous amount of sea salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Once the beans are cooked and have cooled down, remove 1 1/2 cups of strained beans for the chili. Store the remaining beans and soup for another day. 

Sweet Chili Chili

1 carrot chopped into small chunks
1 small red pepper chopped into chunks
1/2 white onion chopped into chunks
2 red chilies minced
1 1/2 cup dried soy mince (or frozen soy or quorn mince)
1 tbsp dried cumin
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 1/2 cup of cooked black beans
1 can chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of Smoked Tabasco
olive oil
sea salt & pepper
water

Using the same chili pot, start sautéeing the onions, chilies, red pepper, and carrots in a bit of olive oil over medium heat. Once the vegetables start to soften, add the cumin and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Allow it to cook for a few minutes, then add in your vegetarian mince, mix well and season with salt. Since I used a dry vegetarian mince I also added 1/2 cup of water. However, this is not necessary with frozen precooked veggie mince. Once your mince starts browning a little, add in the canned tomatoes, one can of water and smoked Tabasco. Add in the beans, cover and leave to simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

While your chili is reducing, use this time to prepare whatever accompaniment you like. I decided to serve my chili with brown rice, but lots of other grains would pair well. I love the hearty texture of pearled barley and you could go with something lighter like quinoa. If you want to really lighten the load, serve it with a nice crunchy salad.

Once the chili has reduced to a nice chunky state, add in the honey, taste and season with salt if needed. I'm starting to be more mindful of my sugar intake at meals, so I served myself just under 1/2 cup of brown rice with my chili. The recommended serving for rice for diabetics is 1/3 cup, not much I know. Then I ladled my chili on top and dinner was served.  

I wasn't sure about posting this recipe, because there are tons of vegetarian chili recipes out there, but Hub loved this dish so much he encouraged me to share. It was a great hearty Sunday meal and a nice balance between sweet and spicy.

I've always loved black beans, but I rarely cooked them in London or New York. Now I'm really starting to get into them and experimenting like with my smoky vegetarian feijoada or spicy black bean burgers. Black beans are so great for diabetics because one cup of black beans has 15 grams of protein and 15 grams of fiber. Protein, fiber and fat help slow down the digestion of carbs, which makes black beans a super food. 

In the Kitchen: Raw Almond Milk

It is unbelievably easy to make delicious nut milks. I never knew, but it also never occurred to me to make my own because I've always enjoyed my store bought brands. That is until I moved to Rio. I love unsweetened soy and nut milks and they have a lovely subtle sweetness that I'm used to, but searching for unsweetened non-dairy milk has been an expedition without success. Most grocery stores offer soy milk, but ALL are sweetened with either sugar or an artificial sweetener like cellulose. Fake sugars are really unhealthy, so I try to avoid them as much as possible.

Ooh and don't get me started on the almond milk. So far I've found one brand of nut milk, Mandorlat almond milk, but it's so unnatural it's scary. It's made from water and almond SYRUP and then a bunch of additives. I mean...what? I found rice milk at my local organic shop and I swear I didn't see any sweeteners in the list of ingredients. But when I tried it, it was sooo sickly sweet it had to have had sugar. Tasted great in my coffee though.

Fortunately this experience has encouraged me to try something new and one of my favorite things to make is homemade raw almond milk. And it's crazy easy, the steps are soak, blend, and strain.

Ingredients 

• 300 grams of plain raw almonds
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1. Soak

Put your almonds in container and completely submerge them in water with a few extra inches above. You can soak your almonds overnight or up to 48hrs and the longer you soak, the creamier the milk. 

2. Blend

Once you're done soaking, strain the almonds and rinse them in clean water. Put them into your blender and fill with 3 1/2 cups of fresh water. Add the vanilla extract and cinnamon then blend baby blend. The milk tastes great on it's own, but I love adding cinnamon and vanilla for a bit natural sweetness.

 

3. Strain

Now you want to strain the almond meal from the milk and there are multiple ways of doing this. The easiest/quickest method is to filter the milk through a cheese cloth. I don't have one so I use a spoon and a fine strainer and that works perfectly, just takes longer. Regardless of the method, make sure to squeeze as much of the liquid out of the almond meal.

BOOM! Almond milk done and it's sweet, creamy and natural goodness. There's also delish almond meal leftover that you can bake with, snack on or throw back into milk shakes for protein and good fat. The milk will last in the fridge for about 3-4 days and it's natural for a little separation to occur, just give it a stir before consuming. I love making breakfast shakes with it and a diabetic nutritionist told me that my morning staple was a healthy and balanced breakfast. Here's my favorite recipe:

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 banana
• 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon of linseeds (chia or flaxseed are excellent too)

Great Reads for this post:
Health benefits of almond milk
7 Good reasons to say bye bye to cow's milk

Spicy Veggie Burgers with Avocado Mayonnaise

Happy Friday! Today is the first day of Carnival and I'm looking forward to checking out some blocos, block parties organized by samba schools with lots of live music and good street food. In an effort to avoid tempting salgadinhos, I'm thinking of making a big batch of these burgers so that I can just grab and go. They are delicious and filled with goodness. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Spicy Veggie Burgers
1 1/2 cup soaked black beans
1/2 red bell pepper finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, 2 whole and 2 minced
1 veggie bouillon cube
fresh cilantro
olive oil
1 red chili minced
1 tsp dried chili flakes
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 medium yellow onion, half whole and half minced
1/2 cup canned sweet corn
3/4 cup of wholegrain flour of choice (I used gluten-free linseed flour)
sea salt

Avocado Mayonnaise
1 avocado
juice of 1/2 lime
couple of sprigs of fresh cilantro
sea salt to taste

I basically prepared my beans the same way I did for my smokey vegan feijoada. Soak your black beans overnight then straight and throw in a pot with 2 whole garlic cloves, half of a whole yellow onion, the bouillon cube, few sprigs of cilantro and sea salt. Fill the pot with fresh water and with two inches above the beans. Bring to a boil, the down to a simmer and cover for about 1 1/2-2 hours. When the beans are fully cooked like below, remove from the hob and let them cool down. 

Sautee your minced yellow onion with a tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan until soft. Then add the minced garlic, chili, bell pepper and all your spices. Season with a little bit of sea salt and sautee until the peppers start to soften. Strain the bean and put aside to cool down. For the avocado mayonnaise, blend all the ingredients together in a food processor or blender until creamy smooth.

When your beans have cooled down, remove about 3/4 of the black beans and place in a large bowl. Mash up your beans using the back of a fork or potato masher. Once completely mashed add in 1/4 cup of flour, sauteed veggies, sweet corn and remaining whole black beans.

Start heating up a large non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Place the remaining flour on a plate for coating. Start forming round patties about the size of your palm by hand and coat each side well with your flour.

When your pan is ready, start cooking your burgers and cook about 5 minutes on each side or until the flour starts browning. Helpful tip, don't panic if your burgers crack a little. They just need a little extra love on the skillet and I used my spatula to help keep the shape together.  

 

And poof! I served Hub's bean burger on a fresh baked roll, but I served mine with a nice side salad instead.

Hamburgers are no fun without some fries, so for a healthier version I decided to roast some veggies. I chopped up carrots, sweet potato and zucchini into french fry strips and baked them with a little bit of olive oil and lots of sea salt and rosemary.

What are you up to this weekend? Hope you have a good one and I'll keep you posted of my first Carnival experience later this week. Have a good one.

Great reads for this post:
A raw burger?
Tips for homemade veggie burgers

Raw Food by Joan

The other night Hub and I were invited to eat comida viva at this amazing house in Alto da Boa Vista, a neighborhood hidden in the Tijuca forest on top of mountain. Our friend Daniela, whom we met at La Casita Shelter in Buenos Aires, boasted about the chef Joan and his creative concoctions from raw vegan foods. We were super excited and it had been ages since my only raw vegan experience at Pure Food and Wine.

When we arrived to the house, I asked Daniela if I could pop into the kitchen and have a quick peak at the chef at work. Joan is slim, calm and gentle...and he was running a bit behind on dinner. It was perfect timing because he asked me if I wanted to help him out and I was super keen to see raw "cookin'" in action and also to practice my Portuguese. 

Joan was not always a raw foodie. He used to be an overweight scientist and being unhappy with his health was the catalyst for change. He decided to start eating vegan, left his job and began a new life journey. He says he never looked back and no longer craves cooked food. He also doesn't get sick anymore and after years of good health, he cancelled his health insurance. A little radical I know, but I was still inspired.

spicy sweet potato sushi rolls

Avocado cream and linseed pate

"Cheddar Cheese" made from coconut and malanga root

Grated taro root plus...

Green orange equals...

"Goat Cheese"

 

And then there was dessert. Joan mashed up a mix of raw nuts and dried fruits in a food processor then hand molded his base. He added a layer of mashed ripe banana and then a layer of grated apple with cinnamon. He topped his pie off with a puree of papaya and passion fruit and more dried fruit and nuts.

 

It was a magical fruit pie and I ate three slices, however, not the wisest thing to do in my prediabetic state. Although it was completely all natural and no sugar or butter in sight, it was very sweet due to the combination of ripe tropical fruits and dried fruit. It woke up my inner sugar junkie and like any good addict I convinced myself it was okay. It's raw vegan!

 

We finished our meals with herbal teas and a full belly. It was a fantastic and unique meal and and I learned so much. I now know that all vegetables can be eaten raw and potato and coconut go well together. I'm also very inspired by his dessert and would like to create my own recipe with a lower glycemic load. Stay tuned.

In the Kitchen: Smoky Vegetarian Feijoada

 

So it's taken me many, many tries to get this recipe right and I think I've finally nailed it! My smoky and spicy version of Brasil's national dish doesn't taste like the real thing, but it's full of flavor and low in fat. Perfect for vegetarians and healthy for diabetics. Now for a bit of background...

In Rio, restaurants often advertised feijoada like a special Sunday roast, served with a side of live Samba music. Although its origins are linked to Portugal, in Brazil it's a historical dish linked back to slave quarter days when servants would collect the unwanted leftover meats from their masters and stew it together with black beans. Today Brazilian feijoada is made with pork and beef, but you can still find authentic stews with trotters, tails and all. I would assume that all feijoada is made this way; however, the more adventurous bits are removed before it hits tourist plates. 

So traditional feijoada involves stewing the beans for hours with pork and it's the fat and muscle that give flavor to this dish. But all is not lost if you are vegetarian or for diabetics who need to keep tabs on saturated fat. My version has a lovely smoky taste from charred grilled vegetables and takes much less time than the original recipe.

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup of dry black beans
2 garlic cloves whole
2 shallots or 1 medium onion halved
4 sprigs of cilantro
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 can of sweet corn
1/2 large eggplant
1 large red bell pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 red chili halved or 2 chipotle peppers
avocado for garnish
sea salt

Preparation

I recommend using dry black beans, but canned beans will work if your tight on time. Measure out your dry beans, remove any stones or dodgy looking beans and then soak them in a large cooking pot for at least 8 hours. It's important to soak the beans because it will reduce the cooking time, but it will also help reduce gas and bloating. Remember the rhyme? I sure do...

Step 1

Rinse out the beans and refill the pot with fresh clean water. I had a couple of inches of water on top of the beans. Add the garlic, onions, red chili, cilantro, and bouillon cubes. Unfortunately they do not sell chipotle peppers in Rio but I think they would be awesome in this recipe. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Leave the beans to cook for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Step 2
Whilst your beans are cooking prepare your vegetables. Preheat your oven to 200C/400F. Drain the canned corn and place on a baking tray with a little bit of oil and tiny dash of salt. Pop in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until they start looking a little toasty. There are many ways you can char grill the vegetables - a bbq, in the oven under high heat or grill setting or over a gas stove. We have a gas stove and I find it to be the quickest and easiest way to get my veggies charred. Place your rinsed halved eggplant and whole bell pepper onto a grilling rack over high heat. If you don't have a grilling rack then no problemo, just balance them directly on the hob. Make sure the skin is evenly blackened on all sides and then remove and let cool down. Half the whole bell pepper, remove the core and seeds and then gently scrape off the blacked skin with a knife. The charred skin will actually come off really easily and requires very little pressure. Leave the eggplant with the skin intact. Chop your bell peppers and eggplant into chunks.

Step 3
Now back to the beans...the beans are ready when they are soft and slightly breaking down. Taste your beans and season with sea salt if needed. Remove half of the cooked beans along with the garlic, onions, wilted cilantro, chillies and most of the remaining liquid and put into a blender. Puree and taste the puree to see if it needs more salt. I feel like beans require a good amount of salt, so it's important to taste as you go along. I've also over salted my beans before, so add gradually. Pour the mixture back in with the rest of your beans and add the sweet corn, bell peppers and eggplant.

Continuing cooking over a low heat until the eggplant is fully cooked and voila!

Black beans are really healthy and great for diabetics. Their rich coloring is due to antioxidants, they are low in fat and high in protein and fiber. They are also high in carbs too, but their nutritional make-up actually keeps blood sugars in check. Traditionally feijoada is served with all kinds of goodies including rice and farofa, dried yucca flour, but I think a hearty green salad is more balanced.

Great reads for this post:

Why beans are awesome

If you want to have a go at the real deal, here's a great meaty feijoada recipe