Veeegs: May 2006 Archives

It's always unfortunate when a great dish gets type-cast, but there are few tear-jerkers more depressing than the case of miso soup. This broth is rich in culture (both historical and microbial) and is one of the best hangover cures. But the way Americans stereotype miso as a cheap sushi appetizer and an alternative to salad, is criminal. Here, we spruce it up and drink it like morning tea, with a plate of oven crispy curry fries--oil being the next best hangover cure.

Curry Fries
4 sweet potatoes (or yams)
1/4 cup. canola oil
4 Tbs. curry powder

Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees while you prep. Peel the potatoes, leaving some skin for texture and cut each in half once. Add taters to a large, boiling pot of slightly salted water. Boil for 8-10 minutes, making sure the potatoes remain a bit crunchy, then strain and run under cold water for a minute to cool.

Once cooled, cut the sweet potatoes in long strips--makes large-cut fries--and toss them with the curry powder in a large bowl. Once evenly spiced, coat a baking sheet with the oil and spread the fries out. Shake to coat evenly with oil. Shove them in the oven for 20-30 minutes (or until crisp) tossing occasionally.

Miso
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 small bulb ginger, minced
1 white onion, chopped
2 cups edamame (soy beans), shelled
4 Tbs. canola oil
4 Tbs. miso paste
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs. sesame oil
6 cups water
4 green onions, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Mix the sesame and canola oil in a medium sauce pan and place on medium heat. Sauté ginger, garlic and white onion for 5 minutes, covered. Then add the soy and rice wine vinegar, letting it cook off for 3 minutes. Add all of the miso paste, and add the water in slow increments, stirring to help it dissolve. Let it simmer for 20 minutes, covered.

Right before serving, add edamame (not frozen) and cook for 1 minute. Then remove from heat, dish into small soup cups or mugs, and garnish with green onions and cilantro.

Beverage: Water
Soundtrack: George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh

Nets suck, but if there's anything that we love more dearly than dolphins it's a good tuna melt. Thanks to the gem of Indonesia-i.e., the fermented soy cake that is tempeh-being compassionate doesn't mean you can't enjoy this staple of comfort fare.

Here we whipped up a batch of vegan tuna salad without even using Vegenaise (though it's worth a try) by enlisting tahini instead. The result is a bowl full of good, rich, unfolds-in-your-mouth kind of mush. We then blew all our good vegan cred (and maybe our no-kill karma) by spreading this batch on an open-faced Swiss melt. This stuff is amazing. Do what you will.

Tuna-less Salad
1 package tempeh (about 8 oz.)
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 PInk Lady apple, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup basil, chiffonaded (cut into thin strips)
1 small bulb young ginger, finely chopped
1/2 cup tahini sauce
4 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. Brewer's yeast (optional)
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs. curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Open-faced Melt
2 slices wheat bread
4 oz. Swiss cheese
1 bunch alfalfa sprouts

Thaw tempeh if frozen, unwrap and chop in fine, little cubes. Heat the oil in a large skillet and when hot throw in tempeh. Place on medium heat and toss every 2-3 minutes to keep from sticking. Add half the soy sauce, half the Brewer's yeast (optional) and all the vinegar. After 5 minutes add the rest of the soy sauce and yeast (and a couple Tbs. of whatever beer you're swigging on-for us it was North Coast's Red Seal) and remove from heat when tempeh seems fully browned.

Combine all chopped ingredients in a large mixing bowl along with the curry and tahini. Mix well. Add a touch more olive oil if it seems too gunky. Then season with salt and pepper and you're done.

Now shred some Swiss cheese (we used Comte which is a nice gruyere) and top your bread with it, followed by a large scoop of the tempeh salad. Grill it for 4-5 minutes or until golden and melty. Top with sprouts.

Beverage: Red Seal Ale
Soundtrack: Yo La Tengo's The Sounds of the Sounds of Science

Chili Scramble

2 russet potatoes
1 leek, diced
1/2 can corn
1/2 can kidney beans, strained
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
1 green onion. chopped
1 Tbs. cumin
1 Tbs. hot sauce
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring the olive oil to medium heat in a large skillet. Add the garlic, leek and tomatoes. After sautéing for 5 minutes, add the spices. Slice the potatoes in half and nuke 'em in the microwave for 3 minutes. Then slice 'em into big chunks and add them to the skillet, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking to the pan.

After 5 minutes add the salsa, hot sauce, corn, beans and cilantro. Let it stew for another 5-10 minutes. Heat up some corn tortillas and serve the scramble like morning tacos, topped with green onions.