Plant-Based Recipes for Health and Vibrance
Chances are, you’re familiar with mung bean noodles, some clear and some ghostly white, that can be found in abundance at Asian markets. I’ve always been fascinated with the simplicity of their ingredients list, which typically includes only mung beans and water. Making pasta at home has become somewhat of a hobby for me over this past winter, and I was determined to nail down this healthy, protein-rich mung bean version.
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I’m leaving for Italy in a few days. Aside from a few beautiful places, I’ll be traveling to the region of Abruzzo, fairly unknown to tourists, and staying in a medieval village in the mountains. Along with feeling excited, I’m also a little nervous about my lack of experience driving on mountain roads and my non-existent knowledge of the Italian language. I predict I will be tasting some amazing pizza very soon, but for now, here is one of my favorites that I make at home.
I’ve been making roasted eggplant and bell pepper pizza with all kinds of different crusts as long as I’ve been cooking vegetarian – it’s such a winner of a dish. It all began with a traditional wheat-based crust that was later replaced with my favorite sprouted flatbread. As delicious as the sprouted crust is, the process is very involved. When I saw Laura’s recipe for a simple, gluten-free pizza crust, I had to give it a try. I chose to use buckwheat groats instead of quinoa/millet because I love the taste and texture of buckwheat, which does not need to be soaked for 8 hours like most grains do – the groats become soft after just an hour of soaking.
As for the toppings, I’ve had several occasions when I fed this pizza to eggplant skeptics, who were converted right there and then.
In other news, our cookbook is now out in French! Visit here to learn more.
Roasted Eggplant and Pepper Pizza on a Buckwheat Crust
makes two 8-9-inch pizzas
Toppings
1 garlic head
1 eggplant – sliced
1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper – seeded and cut into chunks
olive oil
chili powder – to taste
sea salt, black pepper – to taste
feta cheese – optional
leafy greens for garnish
Buckwheat Crust
1 1/4 cup raw (untoasted) buckwheat groats – soaked for 1 hour or overnight
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for the cake pans
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
garlic and/or onion powder or fresh garlic – optional
fresh/dried thyme, oregano – optional
to prepare the toppings
1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Cut the very top of the garlic head off to expose the insides. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and wrap in foil or parchment paper.
3. Mix olive oil and chili powder to taste. Place eggplant slices and pepper chunks into a large baking dish and brush with the chili oil.
4. Place both the garlic and vegetables into the oven, roast for about 20 minutes or until soft. Set aside.
to make the crusts
1. Preheat oven to 450 F
2. Rinse the buckwheat groats very well, they become very slimy during soaking. Combine groats, water, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and other spices/herbs if using, in a blender. Blend until smooth.
3. Place two 8-9-inch cake pans into the hot oven for 5 minutes. Remove them from the oven and add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to each (use cooking spray if your cake pans stick). Place back into the oven for 3-5 minutes.
4. Working quickly, pour the batter into the pans – spread it inside evenly. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the crusts and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce temperature to 400 F.
to make the pizzas
1. Place crusts onto a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Smear most of the roasted garlic over the crust.
2. Slice the bell pepper chunks into smaller pieces if you wish. Arrange the eggplant and pepper slices on the crusts snuggly, to cover most of the surface.
3. Place pizzas back in the oven and bake for 10-15 more minutes. Sprinkle with feta cheese (if using) and finely chopped kale or other greens.
4. Let cool slightly before slicing.
There are three foods from back home that I find myself missing consistently – wild mushrooms, black currants, and sour cherries. I made sure to eat good portions of each while I was visiting my mother in Russia this past May. Most people won’t eat black currants and sour cherries raw, as they are, but add the slightest touch of sweetness to them, and your heart will be stolen. Sour cherries made it into many of my meals – from morning yogurt to salads, to ice-cream. And of course there was the Sour Cherry Pie – my mom’s specialty.
When we finally arrived at my mom’s house after a very long transatlantic journey, we knew what would be waiting for us at teatime – a fragrant and pillowy pie, jeweled with sour cherries. All her grandchildren get a wild sparkle in their eye when talking about grandma’s pie – it is a family-wide obsession. Paloma, the youngest, had her initiation and was quick to join the circle of cherry pie lovers.
My mom always makes sure to preserve some sour cherries while they are in season. She pits them with a hair pin, then freezes some and cans the rest with a little sugar. That way, she always has ammunition for when company turns up.
I was curious to make a gluten-free version of the pie and began the search for ingredients. What has become second nature to me at home, turned out to be quite a challenge in Russia. Finding all kinds of gluten-free grains there is not a problem – buckwheat, millet and quinoa are widely available, but flours made of those grains are not. I freshly grind my own flours at home, but only with the help of my high-speed blender, which was absent in my mom’s kitchen. I finally used a coffee grinder and ended up with grainy, but perfectly workable flours.
I really loved the final result – the overall flavor of the pie was different from mom’s of course, but delicious in its own way.
One more thing before we get to the recipe –
Public speaking has hardly been my favorite thing, in fact I find it absolutely terrifying. During the four years of working on this blog, I ran into situations when I had to speak in front of big groups of people, during cooking classes and such. As difficult as it was to get started, I’ve noticed that when I speak about the subject that I absolutely love, my fear disappears and I actually enjoy the process. Our cookbook coming out has brought on a new wave of public events, and after a little over a month of book talks, I’ve noticed the stage fright getting lighter every time. For that, I accredit my friendly and encouraging audiences -thank you so much for coming out to support me, listen with great interest, and ask thoughtful questions.
Sour Cherry Pie
(adapted from here)
Note: Green markets and health food stores have sour cherries while they are in season, for a very short period of time. You can find frozen sour cherries in many Eastern European stores in the U.S. – our local Russian market sells them. Feel free to use regular cherries or other fruit/berries. The best ratio between the dough and cherries is to have just enough dough to barely cover each cherry. The dough will rise during baking and the balance between the juicy, tart berries and the sweet dough will be perfect.
1 cup full fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup millet flour
3/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup Turbinado sugar plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling on top
zest of 2 lemons
3 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
3-5 cups or more pitted fresh or frozen and partially thawed sour cherries – the more the better (substitute with regular cherries or other fruit/berries)
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180C). Thoroughly grease an 8-10 inch cake pan or line with parchment paper. Combine the coconut milk and lemon juice in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the flours, baking powder and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and lemon zest and rub together until fragrant. Add in eggs, coconut milk mixture and olive oil, and whisk to combine. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and mix to combine.
4. Gently fold in the cherries, reserving about 1/3 of them. Pour the batter into the cake pan, topping with the reserved cherries and sugar.
5. Bake for 50-60 minutes until golden, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for about 30 minutes before removing. Store refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
I’m always looking for ways to include vegetables in every dish, desserts included. After making vegan sweet potato muffins with great results, I one day thought of trying other root vegetables in a muffin. Turnips, rutabaga, kohlrabi are not the most popular among their category, but rich in health benefits and culinary opportunity, so I try to pay them as much attention as I can. Lately I’ve been eating a lot of salad turnips from the local farm – they are great raw, with a squeeze of lemon juice, some salt, pepper and light drizzle of olive oil.
For these muffins, I made a turnip mash to include in the batter and the technique did not disappoint – I got a nice, light batter. Blueberry season is here, and we’ve been celebrating with these gluten free treats. I will also be making them with other berries and chocolate.
And if you enjoy this type of baking, you will like our Parsnip Cake with Candied Kumquats.
Turnip Blueberry Muffins – Vegan and Gluten Free
1 medium to large turnip
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup coconut oil – soft, at room temperature
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaping cup of blueberries
1. Boil turnip for 20 -30 minutes or until soft when pricked with a fork. Drain immediately once done. Cool, peel and shred on the finest side of a box grater. You should have about 1 cup of puree.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 F.
3. Using a hand mixer, beat coconut oil and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add in the turnip puree and mix in well. Add almond milk, lemon juice and vanilla, stirring well to incorporate.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, mix to combine. Fold in the blueberries.
5. Distribute between 12 muffin holes. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Note: These muffins are best the same day, but can be kept tightly covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.