Jamaican Veggie Patties

I adapted this recipe from 101cookbooks.com, who got the recipe from Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine by Bryant Terry. I have unveganized the recipe by using butter instead of coconut oil and brushing the pastry with an egg wash. According to Heidi Swanson, You can certainly experiment with different sizes here, but don't go much smaller than a 4-inch cookie cutter. Also, be sure to roll the pastry dough thinly - a true 1/8-inch. Makes six big patties, or up to 2 dozen smaller ones.

1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1/2 cup 1/4-inch-diced yellow onion
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Coarse sea salt
2 larges cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup 1/4-inch-diced carrots
1/4 cup 1/4-inch-diced yellow potatoes
1/2 cup frozen corn (or used some small diced celeriac and toss in with the carrots & potatoes)
1/2 cup sprouted beans
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Pastry:
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour 1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons turmeric
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup chilled butter
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice water
egg wash made with 1 egg and warm water

For the filling: In a medium-size saute pan over medium-low heat, combine the sunflower oil, the onion cinnamon, allspice, cumin, red pepper flakes, cayenne, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Saute, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are caramelized. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, carrots, and potatoes, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the carrots and potatoes are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the sprouted beans, cabbage, thyme, and lemon juice, cover, and cook for 5 minutes more. Season with additional salt and the white pepper (or to taste) and set aside to allow the flavors to marry.

For the pastry: Combine the white flour with the whole-wheat flour, turmeric, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set the remaining 1/4 cup white flour aside. Add the butter to the flour mixture and rub with your fingertip until the mixture resembles fine sand, about 10 minutes (Heidi has also made this dough by pulsing ingredients in a food processor with good results).

Combine the vinegar and water and mix well. Then, without overworking the dough, add the vinegar mixture by the tablespoon, while stirring, just until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and begins to coalesce. Squeeze into a tight ball, flatten, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Jamaican Veggie Patties
Jamaican Veggie Patties
Jamaican Veggie Patties
Jamaican Veggie Patties
Jamaican Veggie Patties
Jamaican Veggie Patties
Jamaican Veggie Patties

Garlic Scape Pesto

There are many recipes for garlic scape pesto and they are all different. That's because pesto is one dish where you can indulge your creativity and personal taste. Experiment!

1 doz. garlic scapes
1/2 cup parsley (or more or less)
1 1/2 cup walnuts (or less)
1/2 to 1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice

Chop or use a food processor or blender to make smooth.
Optional ingredients:
Parmesan to taste
Substitute pine nuts (1/2 cup or more) for the walnuts
Substitute basil for the parsley
You can also make this same basic pesto and add a can of garbanzo beans for a garlic scape pesto hummus. Yum!

Tuscan White Bean Soup with Rosemary and Kale

This is a classic Northern Italian Dish, simple, flavourful, wholesome, and healthy. Navy beans make a nice substitute if you don't have cannelini. You can also add 1/2 cup of small dried pasta like orzo tp this soup. Serve with a nice crusty bread.
From the Rebar Modern Food Cookbook by Audrey Austerberg & Wanda Urbanowicz

2 cups dried cannellini beans soaked overnight (or 3 cans cooked)
10 cups water
4 Bay leaves
2 tsp + 1 tsp salt
1 TB minced rosemary
1 TB olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
8 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2-3 medium tomatoes
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1 small bunch of kale
parsley

Drain and rinse the soaked beans and place them in a large pot with Bay leaves, 2 tsp rosemary, and cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the beans are tender. In the last 15 mins, add 2 tsp salt to the beans.

When beans are tender, heat olive oil in a soup pot and add onion, remaining 1 tsp salt and chile flakes. Saute until onions are lightly golden, then add the garlic and remaining rosemary. Cook several minutes, then add the cooked beans and their cooking liquid (or the canned beans). Bring to a simmer, add the tomatoes and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Remove the stems from the kale, tear or roughly chop the leaves and rinse well. Add the leaves to the soup and cook until wilted. Season the soup to taste with balsamic vinegar, cracked pepper, and more salt. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Basic Stir Fried Vegetables

Great stuff in the share this week for a stir fry! This recipe is from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. There is of course room for endless variations here. You can swap in and out different veggies, add nuts to the final minute of cooking, add dried chiles or chile paste for heat, add tofu or tempeh (even better if cooked and browned first), or up to 1 TB sweetener (honey, maple syrup, etc).

2 TB oil
1 TB minced garlic
1 TB fresh ginger
1/2 cup onions or scallions
1 medium zucchini, cut into slices or chunks
2 cups Napa cabbage
1 large carrot
2 stalks celery
1/2 lb green beans (preferable parboiled and then quickly cooled)
1/4 cup stock or water
2 TB tamari
1 tsp sesame oil (preferably dark)

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil , and almost immediately the garlic, ginger, and scallions or onions. Cook stirring for about 15 seconds, then add carrots, celery, snow peas and stock and raise the heat to high.

Cook, stirring constantly, adding liquid (water or stock) if mixture is totally dry, until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes. Then add the sesame oil and soy sauce.

The sprouted beans in your share today are a mix of red, green and black lentils; adzuki; fenugreek; and mung. The beans sprout easily in the headhouse and pack a lot of nutritional punch into a small package. If you haven't already read it, Wikipedia gives a good rundown on the nutritional benefits of bean sprouts. These are perfect as a snack; tossed into a salad; garnish for soup or chili; or used in a stir-fry. It's hard to find nutritional information about the effects of cooking sprouted beans. However, most likely, the heat would kill some or all of the beneficial enzymes in the sprouts. Keep sprouts refrigerated and rinse and drain just before use.

Though in the same family as dry beans, snaps trade starch and protein for more vitamins A and C. Snap beans are also known as string beans. Up until American botanists figured out how to breed out the tough string that ran along the sides, one always had to remove the strings when preparing beans. You may find purple and/or green snaps in your bag this week. Both taste just about the same. And, if you cook the purples thoroughly, they will turn green as well. Refrigerate beans unwashed in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer. Snap or snip off ends of beans before cooking.

The edamame (soy beans) in your bag are still attached to the stalks. Some of the pods have turned a bit yellow. We think that this is from the cold we've been having. They should still be very good eating, though. To prepare, remove the pods from the stalks. You can do like the Japanese and steam the edamame for about 10 minutes, pod and all, drain well, toss with coarse sea salt and serve. When eating edamame still in the pod, you will want to scrape out the tender beans using your teeth. Enjoy the beans and compost the leftover pods. Store these in the fridge in a sealed bag (i.e. Ziploc) if possible. Boil briefly and eat as described above or shell them and add to other dishes and the like.