Vegan Cajun-spiced Dirty Rice

Who can turn down a good challenge? When Slow Food USA announced the $5 Meal Challenge to prove that “slow food shouldn’t cost more than fast food,” I was game. Right away, Shelley made plans to host a potluck and ground rules were set. To keep the total cost of each meal at or below $5, and assuming there would be starters, mains, sides, and desserts brought to the potluck, each serving needed to be $1.25 per person or less for a four course meal. That meant that for a dish intended to serve ten people, the total ingredient cost had to be $12.50 or less. Fortunately for me, I had just received a review copy of Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson which will be released on October 4th. When I want healthy, affordable, slow food, I turn to local, sustainable, and mostly plant-based dishes, so this book arrived right on time. Every dish in the book from starters to pasta to soups, sandwiches, salads, baked dishes, and desserts, can be on the table quickly. There are also great tips for how to stock your pantry and for preparing dishes in advance and then just baking them right before mealtime. A few of those quick dishes include coconut-curry chickpeas and cauliflower, spicy smoked portobello tacos, Indonesian satay sandwiches with peanut sauce, and ginger-cashew chocolate truffles. For the $5 Meal Challenge, the cajun-spiced dirty rice sounded like a healthy, flavorful dish to easily feed a crowd.

Now, I have to make a confession. This book’s intention is to offer meals that can be made with a minimum of fuss, but in the interest of keeping the cost down, I took a couple of extra steps. I bought organic, dried, red beans and cooked them myself, and I made my own vegetable broth. However, by doing those two steps in advance, actually the preparing the rice dish was quick and easy. I used local onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms, and the other ingredients were all organic, and the total cost per serving came in just a cent or two under $1.25. The classic Cajun trinity of bell pepper, onion, and celery was cooked first and created a base layer of flavor. Garlic, mushrooms, and a Cajun spice blend were added next and allowed to cook. Last, brown rice, red beans, vegetable broth, and salt and pepper were added. The mixture was transferred to a baking dish, and it was baked for about an hour.

Traditional Cajun dirty rice includes sausage and/or chicken giblets in rice cooked with chicken stock. Here, the ‘dirtiness’ came from beans and mushrooms, and the rice was cooked with vegetable broth. When a couple of the omnivore potluck attendees mentioned they wouldn’t have known the dish was vegan if I hadn’t told them, I took that as high praise. The aromatics and Cajun spice mix flavored the rice really well, and this is a dish that just gets better as it sits, so it’s perfectly suited to a potluck.

Cajun-spiced Dirty Rice
Re-printed from Quick-Fix Vegan with publisher’s permission

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, minced
1 celery rib, minced
1 green bell pepper, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Cajun spice blend
1 cup quick-cooking brown rice
1 ½ cups red beans or 1 (15 ounce) can, rinsed and drained
2 cups vegetable broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a three-quart baking dish and set aside. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and bell pepper. Cover and cook to soften, five minutes. Add the garlic, mushrooms, and Cajun spice blend. Stir to combine and cook until softened, two minutes. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Stir in the rice, beans, broth, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover tightly and cook in the oven until the rice is tender, about 50 minutes. Serve hot.

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Greens with Red Beans, Cilantro, and Feta Cheese

I just returned from the Wednesday Farmers’ Market where I pick up our CSA share every other week, so I’m in the right frame of mind to tell you a little about Local Flavors by Deborah Madison. For this book, she visited farmers’ markets all across the US, including Hawaii, to see the differences from place to place. The chapters are, for the most part, organized by season starting with early spring and proceeding through fall. So, the first chapter’s recipes highlight what you’re likely to find at markets at the beginning of the year. There are stories strewn about that tell of Madison’s visits to various markets and the farmers she met. She offers suggestions for substitutions for regional things that might not be found in all areas of the country or that become available at different times. The real goal of the book is to encourage support of local farmers, to explain the value of fresh, local food, and to inspire the home cook to make good and delicious use of locally grown food. As luck would have it, Russ Parsons of the LA Times wrote about cooking with farmers’ market produce today too. He wrote about improvising with what you find and suggested "Cooking from the farmers’ market is a bit like playing jazz."

Last week, I mentioned having a lot of greens on hand, and when I saw this recipe in the book I knew it would be a great way to use some of them. It’s listed in the book as redbor kale with red beans, cilantro, and feta cheese. I had spinach and what I think was broccoli greens, and any kind of greens would be good here. One of the interesting points that Madison makes in the book is that by buying at farmers’ markets, you have the chance to get the same vegetables at multiple stages. When a planting needs to be thinned, the greens may be cut and sold earlier in the season. When the vegetable is growing, you may be able to buy small versions of it, and then you’ll later see the mature state for sale. I’m not sure if the greens were offered because of thinning or not, but it’s interesting to think about the growing season and being involved in it in some small way. So, I had planned this for dinner the other night, and while out picking up the feta, I found some Texas-grown corn. I love fresh corn. I had an inkling that it might be a nice addition to this dish, and adding another locally grown item definitely seemed to be in the spirit of the book.

I cheated a little and used canned beans, so I skipped the part of the recipe about cooking red beans. I also skipped the part about boiling the greens because I find it so much simpler, and more flavorful, to saute them. So, I cleaned and chopped the greens, sauteed them with finely chopped onion and the last of my homegrown cilantro, and then I added some water and the rinsed and drained canned beans. I cut kernels from two ears of fresh corn and added that as well. This was left to simmer for about 10 minutes, and then I served it with brown rice and a nicely pungent sheep’s feta crumbled on top. I like greens with beans, and the cilantro added nice flavor. But, and I really don’t mean to pat myself on the back here because I’d rather pat the person’s back who grew the corn, that fresh corn made the dish. I highly recommend seeking out the freshest, local corn and greens you can find when they’re available and giving this a try.

If you’re curious about what’s available at the Austin Farmers’ Market at this time of year, today my CSA pick up included: zucchini big and small, baby yellow summer squash, onions, red beets with gorgeous greens, baby leeks, orange carrots with leafy tops, watermelon radishes, tiny, baby green cabbages, and a red cabbage. Also at the market, there were some first of season tomatoes, and a some tomatoes that had been greenhouse grown, cucumbers, green beans, some other summer squashes, arugula, and potatoes. Other vendors offer locally made cheeses, grass-fed beef, bison, lamb, chicken, and eggs, and I know I’m probably forgetting several other things like the delicious-looking bread. For dinner tonight, I’m going to blanch some of those perfect green beans and then toss them in a leek vinaigrette with chopped cucumber and tomato. That’s getting topped with leftover sheep’s feta.

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Cornmeal Crusted Catfish with Silky Red Bean Puree

It’s hatch chile season, and that’s a great time of year. The hot and mild green chiles arrive in Austin direct from Hatch, New Mexico and much to my delight. I had an idea about cooking up a whole lot of red beans with freshly roasted hatch chiles and then using the beans a couple of different ways. The first meal was cornmeal crusted catfish with silky red bean puree. I previously wrote about the amazing food found in Susan Spicer’s Crescent City Cooking, and this meal is included in the book.

I chose a combination of hot and mild hatch chiles, roasted them on the stovetop, peeled off the char, and seeded and chopped them. The red beans soaked overnight and then were simmered with just water for a few hours. Once the beans were cooked, I set about adding all the flavor-packed items. If I had followed Spicer’s instructions exactly, chipotle and poblano were supposed to be added to the beans along with garlic, onion, tomato puree, chile powder, and bay leaves or bouquet garni. I used hatch chiles instead of the chipotle and poblano. After cooking with the added ingredients and becoming delicious, some of the beans were pureed in a blender with some cooking liquid and lime juice. Because the starchiness of the beans seems to absorb a lot of flavor and heat, the puree can be seasoned aggressively. I repeatedly tasted the beans and then the puree and continued to adjust the seasoning as I went. In the end, I think I should have included the chipotles too. Hatch chiles offer their own unique character, but the puree did lack that special, smoky quality that chipotles bring.

The only slightly negative comment I can make is that, unfortunately, this puree is not the most photogenic food item. It looks a little like a pile of brown mud sitting under the catfish. But, regardless of its humble appearance, the flavor was fantastic. The smooth texture made it like a thick sauce, but one with none of the heaviness or guilt of butter or cream.

The catfish was dredged in a cornmeal and flour combination which was seasoned with cumin and coriander. It was fried quickly in butter and canola oil. The catfish fillets then rested atop the silky puree and received a sprinkling of chopped chives. I was already a big fan of red beans, bean purees in general, and catfish, but this was a great meal. You really can’t go wrong with cornmeal crusted catfish, and served with this puree as sauce, the flavors are southwesternish by way of New Orleans. Interesting, bold flavors and hints of spice are delivered via contrasting textures.

What happened with the rest of the red beans? The next day, we grilled hatch chile chicken sausages and served them with the amazing red beans and some cajun popcorn rice. I have a feeling Hatch chile season is going to seem too short this year.

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