Rushing to a business meeting Saturday, my wife called me to say that her brother would be coming over that evening with his family for dinner. She wanted to know if I wanted to cook or if we should just order pizza. We live in Vancouver, so “ordering pizza” means something like Bellagios — or at best — Pizzicato. Blech.
Normally the choice would be easy: I’d cook. Despite all the restaurant reports on this site, I usually cook much more than I eat out. But my wife’s brother and his family are vegans — people who don’t just believe meat is murder, but those who stand up for the rights of cows, chickens, and bees to be released from their indentured servitude. Green beans without bacon is a disappointment. But green beans without butter is a damned shame.
I told my wife I’d have to think about it. Could I get excited about cooking a vegan dinner? My friend, Scott, has been surveying vegetarian fine dining in Dallas. He calls the restaurant ahead to give them an opportunity to prepare something, assuming they don’t have vegetarian options on their menu (which is usually the case in Dallas). I’ve wondered what I could come up with on such short notice. Also, I’d eaten at Nutshell recently and had my complaints without having much firsthand knowledge of the demands of vegan cooking.
I decided to take on the vegan meal as a challenge. I called my wife after my meeting and told her I’d do it. I’d only have about four hours until they arrived to do my shopping and prepare the meal. I decided on four courses, and here were the results:
Chilled poblano-avocado soup. The roasted peppers added a modest amount of depth to the dish, plus a bit of spiciness, which was mitigated to a large extent by the richness of the avocado. The avocado also provided the elusive creaminess so difficult to achieve in most vegan dishes. Crostini kept the texture from becoming tiresome. A nice chunky salsa, perhaps made of diced tropical fruits and onion might have been a good contrasting bright flavor.
Heirloom tomato and bread salad. Fairly classic and straightforward, this was really all about the wonderful bread from Pearl Bakery and the terrific seasonal heirloom tomatoes from New Seasons. After that, it was just a matter of trying to enhance, but not overwhelm, the flavors with a simple vinaigrette, capers, olives, basil, and nuts. The lucques were a good choice because they’re more sweet than briney in contrast to the capers. This was tied for favorite dish along with the next one.
Vegetable terrine. The zucchini, onion, and potato create a mild base flavor for the corn puree, which is sweet, garlicky, and rich. This came out very subtle, but balanced. The peppery fruitiness of the olive oil rounded out the more direct sweetness of the corn and the caramelly sweetness of the garlic. I’m torn on whether this would have been improved with something tart like a drizzle of reduced balsamic.
Watermelon-peach soup. I like very few vegan pastries, so this allowed for an uncompromising vegan dessert. It was also a light, refreshing end to the meal. The plucot makes for a tart accent against the mellow soup. I had planned on serving it with some Valrhona manjari chocolate, a nice fruity dark chocolate from Madagascar. However, our guests brought vegan brownies and they worked well with the dish. The brownies were a little oily and gooey, but had a great flavor.
Photos and recipes follow.
Chilled Poblano-Avocado Soup
Be careful purchasing Hispanic produce at gourmet and natural grocers like New Seasons, Whole Foods, Pastaworks, et al. Their turnover is a lot lower than more popular ingredients like tomatoes and apples. Your chances of finding a quality poblano at Winco is much higher than New Seasons.
6 fresh poblano chiles
1 large hass avocado (2 medium or small avocados)
salt
lime juice
Roast the poblanos in a 425 degree oven until charred on the outside. If you prefer a less spicy soup, deseed and devein the chiles first by cutting around the stem and pulling the seed sack out the back of the chiles. Peel the poblanos and place in a blender. Halve the avocado and scoop the meat into the blender as well. Add a half cup of water and puree. Keep adding water until it becomes a consistency you enjoy. Salt to taste and add a little lime juice to brighten it. Pass through a strainer. Chill. Serve with something crunchy, like crostini or tortilla chips. You could garnish this soup with a tropical fruit salsa or a pico de gallo with success.
Heirloom Tomato and Bread Salad
I purchased a loaf of Pearl Bakery’s “Paesano” which as a smaller crumb than their ciabatta. It’s a good bread for this recipe, though something even denser would work well. Recipes like this and bread pudding are great for bread that’s no longer fresh and has dried out. However, I assume most people will use fresh loaves and will need to dry it like I did.
I always like using a variety of tomatoes. I found brandywines, early girls, magic stripes, and yellow pear tomatoes at New Seasons. I wanted some green zebras, but they weren’t ripe enough.
I used half sweet basil and half Thai basil, because that’s what I had in my garden. I used walnuts, because that’s what I had on hand and they’re inexpensive. However, pine nuts probably would have been as good or better. Same with hazelnuts.
24 oz of rustic Italian bread with small or medium crumb
1 C high quality olive oil
1/2 C red wine vinegar
1 cup chopped basil
1 C chopped walnuts
1/4 C chopped lucques or picholine olives
1/8 C capers
3 lbs heirloom tomatoes
salt
Remove crust from loaf. Chop into 1/2″ cubes. Spread onto a sheet pan and dry in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Do not brown the bread. Set aside in a large bowl.
Mix the oil, vinegar, basil, olives, and capers in a bowl and then add the tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes into chunks slightly larger than the bread and add to the bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes to blend flavors. Toss with the bread and taste. Salt if needed.
Vegetable Terrine
Anyone who has ever had a garden has probably grown zucchini or another summer squash. They’re prolific. Finding ways to use all the zucchini is a challenge, even if you only have one plant. To that end, I’ve been experimenting with terrines and vegetable napoleans.
cooking grade olive oil as necessary
4 medium to large red potatoes
4 medium zucchini
1 large walla walla onion
4 ears of corn
3 garlic cloves
1/2 C high quality olive oil
salt
Use a Benriner or other mandolin to slice the potatoes into 1/4″ thick slices. Lightly grease two half-sheet pans and place the potatoes in one layer on the pans. Lightly coat the potatoes on top with oil and then salt the potatoes. Place in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes or until cooked through and tender, but not crisp. Repeat with the zucchini, cooking for 7 minutes instead. You do not want the zucchini to become mushy, just tender and cooked through.
Slice the walla walla onion into a half-inch wide julienned pieces. Spread on a sheet pan and toss with oil and salt. Roast at 425 degrees approximately 10 minutes or until beginning to char.
Heat a skillet with a layer of oil to medium-high heat. Add the whole garlic cloves and sautee until browned on all sides. Shave the corn kernels from the cob and add to the skillet. Sautee the kernels until cooked through, about 8 minutes, stirring regularly. Salt to taste. Puree the corn kernels and slowly add the high quality olive oil until the mixture is smooth. Salt again to taste.
Lightly grease the inside of a loaf pan and line it with parchment paper. Begin layering the terrine with the potatoes. Then zucchini, then onions, then corn puree. You don’t need to have a full layer of onions. There should be spaces between them. The corn puree will fill the wide crevices. Start the second layer of potatoes, then zucchini, and so on. Keep layering until you run out of vegetables. End with a layer of potatoes. Put a layer of parchment paper on top of the vegetables. Take a second loaf pan and press it down into the first loaf pan and fill the second one with water. Chill the loaf pans in the refrigerator at least two hours.
Remove the loaf pans from the refrigerator and turn out the terrine. Remove the parchment paper and slice the terrine into 1 inch thick slices to serve.
Watermelon-Peach Soup
I like using watermelon blends for dessert soups to keep them from being overwhelming. Watermelon has such a restrained flavor and balances out more intense fruits well. However, accenting the soup with something tart or more accutely flavor makes for a good contrast. Berries work well, as do most stone fruit. A citrus sorbet would be terrific.
3 large ripe peaches
4 C chopped watermelon
1/2 t salt
1 t honey
1 T sugar
1 t lemon juice
2 yellow plucots
1/2 C chopped mint
Peel and chop the flesh of the peaches. Blend with the watermelon, salt, honey, sugar, and lemon juice. Pass through a fine mesh strainer. Halve and pit the plucots. Place a plucot half flesh up in the center of a bowl and fill the bowl with the puree to the edge of the plucot. Garnish with the fresh mint. Serve along side something richly and darkly chocolate.
