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On May 12th I gave a vegan Peruvian cooking class for 14 people in Nanaimo, BC, which is about an hour south of where I live (Denman Island), but on the “Big island” (Vancouver Island). Kelli Etheridge, of Stir Cooking School in Lantzville, BC, organized the class, and it was her friend Kimberley Plumley who suggested me– so thank you, Kelli and Kimberley! The class was held in the lovely mezzanine teaching kitchen at Lucky’s Liquor Store in Nanaimo and I couldn’t have done it without the help of the ebullient and tireless Jodie Robertshaw, Lucky’s event and marketing coordinator (who also did all the dishes!!!).
I made a 4-course vegan Peruvian summer meal. Only 3 of the participants were vegan, but everyone seemed to enjoy the vegan food. The fresh Peruvian flavors certainly won them over! Jodie served her choices of craft beer and ale, each chosen to complement one of the courses. I was impressed by her choices!
The first course was Causa:
a unique and delicious Peruvian cold salad that can be described as sort of cold terrine, with layers of savory, chili-laced vegetable filling and potatoes mashed in a garlicky lemon dressing. I like to use different colors of potatoes, if I can, but it wasn’t the right time of the year for purple or blue potatoes. The recipe is in my book “World Vegan Feast”. Here is one of the terrines I made that night, and below that is a compilation of other Causa I have made in the past:
The second course was Salpicón De Tofu con Col (Peruvian-Style Crispy Marinated Tofu Slices and Cabbage Salad). Below is the recipe, with a description and photos:
BRYANNA’S SALPICÓN DE TOFU CON COL (PERUVIAN-STYLE CRISPY MARINATED TOFU SLICES AND CABBAGE SALAD)
Serves 4
This unusual cabbage salad (pronounced sal-pee-kohn day tofu kohn kohl) is not only delicious, filling and refreshing– it’s inexpensive and beautiful. Crispy fingers of pan-fried tofu cover a lemony wilted cabbage salad surrounded by colorful chunks of corn and sweet potatoes. It’s hard to describe just how terrific this salad is—suffice it to say that there’s never any left when I serve it. To keep the sodium down level down, I blanch the cabbage rather than the traditional method of wilting it with salt. We make this often for guests (this recipe is easily doubled). This recipe is a slight variation on the one in my book “World Vegan Feast”.
12 Crispy Marinated Tofu Slices (I call this “Breast of Tofu”; recipe here)
Dressing:
1/4 cup aquafaba or Fat-Free Oil Substitute for Salad Dressings
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small clove garlic, crushed
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Salad:
3 cups thinly-sliced or shredded Savoy cabbage
1 medium red bell pepper, in matchsticks
1 small carrot, peeled, in matchsticks
1 small sweet or red onion, peeled and thinly sliced (if you only have ordinary yellow cooking onions, see the Tip below)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed)
Garnish:
1 small steamed or baked orange sweet potato, peeled and sliced into 4 pieces (cold or at room temperature)
12 Kalamata olives or Peruvian Alfonso olives
Optional:
1 ripe Hass avocado, pitted, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes, tossed in 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Chunks of cooked corn on the cob
Whisk the Dressing ingredients together in a small bowl with a whisk. Set aside. Blanch the cabbage for about 1 minute in a large pot of boiling water– just until wilted. Transfer it to a colander and rinse well under cold running water. Drain well.
Mix the cabbage, onion, bell pepper, carrot, dill and Dressing well. Mound on a platter and surround with Garnishes. Cut the Crispy Marinated Tofu Slices into matchsticks and arrange on top of the salad. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Tip:
#1) If You Have No Sweet Onion or Red Onion: Use an ordinary yellow cooking onion, but peel and slice it paper-thin. Transfer it to a bowl and cover it with boiling water. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, then drain and rinse it, then drain again. This removes the sharp raw onion flavor.
The third course– the main course– was my vegan version of Anticuchos, which are spicy West-African influenced Peruvian kebabs, served at every big gathering and purchased from street vendors to be consumed right on the sidewalk. Homemade seitan chunks make a wonderful animal-friendly substitute for these kebabs– it’s the spicy marinade and sauce that really makes the dish. Traditionally, these are served with chunks of cooked sweet potato and corn on the cob. The recipe is in my book “World Vegan Feast”. Here’s a photo that Kelli took of one skewer of Anticuchos atop a mound of Salpicon:
The fourth course– dessert– was vegan Lucuma Ice Cream. Lucuma is a Peruvian fruit that has a rather dry texture and is not really eaten as a fruit, but it has a “butterscotch-y” flavor and makes terrific ice cream. It’s used in shakes, too. I remember having the ice cream often while visiting Peru as a child. It is now easy to find dried powdered lucuma in health food stores, as it is now used as natural sugar substitute by some folks. The powder works well in ice cream– fortunately, because it’s hard to find either the fruit or frozen pulp where I live. You can find my recipe here: http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.ca/2012/08/take-3-of-vegan-peruvian-lucuma-ice.html Here is a compilation of photos of various versions of this recipe as I was developing it:
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Here are some photos from the class and also pics of the food from a couple of days later at home, when we had the leftovers for dinner with a friend:
Enjoy!
