Last Thursday, we hosted a Vegan cooking class, that as a surprise turned out to be gluten-free too!
A group of 17 wonderful women gathered at an Airbnb home, decorated with pink and yellow tulips, and prepped by our Kitchit chef Linda Esposito, for the women to pause and learn how to cook vegan and gluten free.
A night of laughing, cooking, feasting, wining and new friendships.
We are happy to share the recipes and some stunning photography by Celeste Noche.
Vegan & gluten-free recipes
Vadouvan Deviled Tofu
Vegan mayonnaise
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 cup oil (preferably rice bran, canola is OK)
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Dressing:
- 1 cup vegan mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoon Vadouvan spice mix 2 teaspoons curry powder
1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper, ground
2 pound medium tofu
1 teaspoon Indian black salt
2 shallots, minced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1/2 cup cilantro, stems and leaves 1 cup raisins
Rice crackers or Endives lettuce cups
- Make vegan mayonnaise: Place soymilk and mustard in a blender. With blender running, slowly drizzle in oil in a thin stream. Then add lemon juice and pulse to combine.
- Combine dressing ingredients and set aside.
- Cut tofu into 1-inch thick slices. In a saucepan, cover tofu with water and bring to a boil.Sprinkle salt on then simmer for 15 minutes. Gently remove and drain, then place on a kitchen towel and pat dry. Mash tofu lightly with a fork. Sprinkle on black salt.
- Toss mashed tofu with chopped shallots, celery, cilantro and raisins. Add dressing andtoss to combine.
- Serve on Endive lettuce cups or rice crackers.
Serves 8
Mizuna with Goma
Goma dressing:
3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 shallot
2 Tablespoons brown rice vinegar 2 Tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon ginger juice
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup rice bran oil
2 Tablespoons vegan mayonnaise 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 cups mizuna leaves
3 Persian or Japanese cucumber, sliced into discs
1 Fuyu persimmon, sliced into half rounds, thinly, or any firm fruit in season 3 watermelon daikon, cut into julienned sticks
1. Make the vegan mayo: Toast sesame until fragrant. Be careful not to burn. Transfer seeds to a blender and pulse to grind till flaky. Add to blender, shallot, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger juice, sugar, mirin and sesame oil. Blend till smooth. Slowly add the oil. Then add mayo and blitz to combine. Dressing should be emulsified and slightly thickened. Season with salt, and more sugar if needed.
2. Toss mizuna, and cucumber together in a salad bowl. Drizzle on half the dressing and toss to just coat. If needed, add more dressing. Top with fuyu slices and watermelon daikon.
Serves: 8
Banh Xeo
Batter:
1/2 cup dried, peeled, mung beans, soaked, drained, steamed 1 cup coconut milk
2 cups white rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 cups sparkling water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 scallions, thinly sliced, about 1⁄4 cup
Filling:
1 lb shiitake, stemmed, sliced thinly
4 Tablespoons oil
1 Tablespoon tamari
1 Tablespoon Chinese rice wine or sherry
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Some Vegetable oil
2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 medium yellow onion, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced, divide into 8 servings
Red leaf lettuce
Medley of herbs: Mint, Thai Basil, Perilla, Cilantro, Scallions, Rau Ram
Salad:
Preparing the batter
- Pick over mung beans, rinse and soak for 2 hours. Bring a pot of water with a steamer and steam mung beans for 10 minutes until tender. Let cool.
- Place mung beans and coconut milk in a blender. Blend till smooth. Add remaining batter ingredients (except green onions and turmeric), and pulse till combine. Your batter should be the consistency of heavy cream. Transfer to a bowl and mix in turmeric and green onions. Set aside.
Preparing the filling
- Preparing the mushroom filling: In a large sauté pan, heat 3 tablespoon of oil. When hot,add all the mushrooms, and cook over high heat, stirring, for 1 minute. Cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring a few times, until the mushrooms have released their liquid and are tender, about 8 minutes. Splash on Shaoxing wine, tamari, salt and pepper. Uncover and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 4 minutes longer. Remove from pan.
- Add to sauté pan a teaspoon of canola oil. Add beansprouts and stir fry briefly until sprouts are just wilted. Remove and set aside. Divide into 8 servings.
- Heat a nonstick 8 inch frying, add a tablespoon of oil, and a serving each of onions and mushrooms. Saute until fragrant. Scatter out mixture but leave a 1 inch gap across the diameter of the pan. Next, pour 1/3 cup batter and swirl to coat the pan. If there is too much batter, pour back excess batter into the batter bowl. Drizzle oil around the edge of the crepe for a crispy finish. Let it cook until the edges start to curl up, the bottom is golden and the center part of the crepe is cooked. Add a serving of sprouts on one side of the pan. Slide the sprouts-side half of the crepe onto a serving plate, and tilt to fold the crepe over.
- Serve with salad and nuoc cham dressing.
Serves: 8
Yuba Noodles with spicy Sichuan Dressing
Spiced Apple Juice Reduction 3/4 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon fennel
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn 1⁄2 star anise
1/2 stick cinnamon
3 slices ginger
Dressing
1⁄4 cup spiced apple juice reduction
3 Tablespoons tahini
1 Tablespoon Chin Kiang vinegar
1 Tablespoon low sodium tamari
1 Tablespoon Sichuan peppercorn, roasted, then ground finely 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon ginger, finely grated
1 clove garlic, minced finely
1 teaspoon kosher salt
12 sheets fresh Hodo yuba, sliced 1⁄4 inch strips
1⁄2 cup green onions, green parts only, chopped finely 12 oz Hodo Soy braised tofu, sliced finely
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted 2 Tablespoons Sichuan red oil
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- Bring apple juice and spices to boil and simmer until liquid is halved. Sieved and discard solids.
- Whisk dressing ingredients together
- Toss all ingredients except tofu slices together.
- Garnish with tofu slices.
Serves 8
Sichuan Red Oil – this has already been prepared by the chef
2 Tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns
1 cup rice bran oil
1/2 cups dried Sichuan peppers (sub: chile de arbol or Japanese chili), leave whole 1⁄2 inch ginger, skin-on, smashed lightly
1 green onions, white parts only, leave whole
1 teaspoon cloves, whole
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds, whole
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, whole
1/2 piece cassia bark, whole
1 star anise, whole
1/2 black cardamom, cracked
1 Tablespoon Korean chili powder
1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes
- Lightly toast the Sichuan peppercorns in a saucepan till fragrant. Do not burn the spice
- Immediately add the oil, dried whole red chilies, ginger, scallions, cloves, cumin, cassia, star anise, and black cardamom and simmer for about 20 minutes. Let cool till 275F, orabout 5 minutes.
3. Put the Korean chili powder and red pepper flakes in a heat-proof bowl. When oil is at 275F, strain the oil onto the pepper mixture. Discard all the other spice ingredients. Let the oil steep in the chili flakes and powder for at least two hours before using.
Makes 1 cup. Keeps for a couple of months in the refrigerator.
Mango Sticky Rice
2 cups sweet rice (glutinous), washed, soaked overnight or at least 6 hours 2 Pandan leaves, fresh or frozen
Cheese cloth
Coconut milk broth for the rice: 2 cups coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 Tablespoon kosher salt
Coconut topping:
1 cup coconut milk
1 1⁄2 Tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 Tablespoon rice flour
2 -3 mangos, peeled and thinly sliced
1 lime, peeled into fine lime rinds strips, or zested
Preparing the rice:
- Bring a big pot of water with steamer lined with cheesecloth to boil. Drain the soaked riceand place evenly in the steamer. Embed the pandan leaves. Steam over high heat until grains are cooked through, about 20-25 minutes. Test for doneness i.e., rice is tender and cooked through. Remove pandan.
- While rice is steaming, make the coconut milk broth. Combine coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Stir. Bring to boil enough to dissolve until sugar and salt. Make sure you don’t over boil the mixture. Keep warm.
- When rice is done, quickly transfer to a serving bowl. Pour the coconut milk broth over the rice and fold gently to coat the grains. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
Make the coconut topping:
- Combine coconut milk, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.In a small bowl mix the rice flour with 1 Tablespoon water until dissolved. While the coconut mixture is simmering, slowly drizzle in the rice flour mixture and stir constantly. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from the heat, set aside.
- To serve, place a small amount of sticky rice onto a plate with mango slices top. Drizzle over with 1-2 tablespoons of the coconut topping sauce over sticky rice. Garnish with lime rind strips.Serves 8
The ladies at work
And enjoying their creations
Photos credit Celeste Noche Photography
Recipes credit Linda Esposito
pause & shine 