So you’ve been invited to vegan potluck and have no idea what to do. Here are three cheap and easy ideas. I haven’t posted in a while but I’ve still been cooking the way I usually do. (Qty’s are appx. No recipe books consulted.) The first two were made in one big pot and the chili used two. I can’t wait until I get a real job so I can do some real cooking. When it starts warming up, you can expect more easy sandwiches and salads besides these winter staples. I freeze and refrigerate my leftovers!

Rasta cauliflower stew

After the fold, the first recipe will be my cauliflower rasta stew, so called because in the right light, it sort of has the colors of the Jamaican and Ethiopian flags. It also reminded me of the reggae band I used to play with in college. We were called Mystyk and only played two gigs. I overcooked the spinach a bit here though so it lost the green color.

Cauliflower Rasta Stew

2 tbls olive or cooking oil
1 large onion chopped
5 garlic cloves minced
2 carrots sliced
2 tsp each oregano, basil, cilantro
red and/or black pepper to taste
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped. (1 chopped up the whole thing stem and all because why not?)
2 lbs tomatoes chopped/cubed
1 – 1.5 lbs spinach chopped
1.5 cups cooked black beans or 1 small can

Chop the cauliflower, onions, garlic. Saute the onions and garlic for a few minutes. Add the herbs and spices and saute a few more minutes. Add the cauliflower with some water and salt. Stir, cover, and cook on low heat while preparing the other veggies adding them as you finish chopping. I did the the carrots, then the tomatoes and beans. Make sure the cauliflower and carrots are mostly cooked before adding the spinach to retain the color. Serves 6-10 depending on serving sizes

Thai Green Chili

The easy trick with many thai curries is that they are mixed sautes with curry sauce and with or without coconut milk. Many prepared curry pastes have meat products in them so if it must be vegan, check the ingredients before you buy those. Green, red, and yellow thai curry pastes aren’t very hard to make at home and you can look those up on the google along with many more complicated curry recipes.

1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 lbs zucchini, cut into large diagonal strips
2 carrots, sliced
1 bar tempeh (shown) or cube of tofu, sliced
2 heaping tsp curry paste
salt and more hot spices to taste
extra chopped basil (especially if it’s not in the paste already)
1 can coconut milk (or broth/water if you don’t want the coconut flavor)

In a large iron skillet or wok, saute the onion for a few mins, add the curry paste, some salt and little water and the other vegetables, tempeh, stir and cover. Cook on low/medium heat stirring occasionally. Add the coconut milk near when everything is all done cooking. Reheat everything and cook a few more minutes. Serve over rice. (1 dry cup cooked to 2 cups works with this qty.) Serves 6-12 depending on serving sizes

Hominy Sweet Potato Soy Chorizo Chili

This recipe was a total accident. It is a pleasantly sweet and spicy vegan chili. I was in the Harlem Pathmark and I wanted to buy a bag of dry popcorn but I picked up a bag of Goya Hominy Corn instead. A few days later, I was in Trader Joe’s and saw their Soy Chorizo selling for $1.89 so I got that just to see what it was like. (I usually don’t go for veggie products made to taste or resemble meat and I wasn’t that crazy about this stuff either but it made for a pretty good hearty vegan chili without beans.) Some days after that, my local produce market had big packs of slightly-damaged sweet potatoes and similar packs of damaged stewing tomatoes for a dollar. I used about half the potatoes and all the tomatoes for this recipe.

1 lb bag of dried golden hominy com (needs to. soak overnight and/or be cooked the same as beans)
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 canned chipotle chilis, minced
chili powder, cumin to taste (1-2 tsp each)
2 tbls cooking oil
1 package Trader Joe’s soy chorizo, crumbled
2 carrots, sliced
2 lbs tomatoes chopped/cubed
1.25 lbs sweet potatoes, cubed

Soak the hominy 8 hours or more and start cooking it in a large stew pot according to instructions. You know the drill! In a large skillet or wok, saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes. Add a little water, salt, spices, carrots, bell pepper, crumbled soy chorizo. Stir and cover. Cook on low/medium heat for a few minutes. Add all this to the corn with a little more water as necessary. Reheat and cook a more minutes. Add the sweet potatoes with more water as necessary. Add salt and more spice to taste. Stir, cover and cook around 15 minutes on low-medium heat. Add the tomatoes, reheat and cook another 10-15 minutes on med heat. Can be served plain or over rice or noodles. Garnished here with fresh chopped scallions. Makes 8-12 servings depending on sizes.

If you see any mistakes or have any suggestions about how I’m writing and presenting these recipes, please feel free to comment.

In response to some of the comments on that page, I would point out that not every vegan is of the irritating evangelist ilk. If some of us can just get people to be more conscientious about their diets and live a more compassionate life towards our animal friends, we’re pretty happy. The fourth guest on that program was journalist/author Kim O’Donnell who writes a standard food column at USA Today. She is just such a convert who believes most people could stand to eat less meat.

Other celebs who have been feted by PETA (heh) include Alicia Silverstone, Joaquin Phoenix (narrator of Earthlings), Daryl Hannah, Demi Moore, Natalie Portman, Alan Cumming, and Elijah Wood. From pop and rock music, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Morrissey, Bryan Adams, Phil Collins, Alanis Morissette and Sinead O’Connor are also vegans.

Even if it becomes a big news item when one of these celebs admits to “the odd bit of fish” or “some [dairy] cheese” once in a while, you won’t see them hanging around a MacDonalds anytime soon. Eating healthy is everyone’s business.

Of course, sugar substitutes and excess fats (usually in the form of deep-fried foods like french fries) should be avoided also.

If you can’t tell, I’m unemployed and living on a tight budget these days so I’m making large pots of food for myself and living off the leftovers and sometimes putting a bit in the freezer. I usually have a few things to choose from in the fridge so I don’t get bored. Get in touch if you know anyone in the NYC area who needs a vegan chef!

The local produce store sold me 3 lbs of bruised and cold-damaged Holland stem tomatoes for a dollar so I picked up a large eggplant and threw this together. I had a one-pound package of frozen peas in my freezer that came in handy as well. This was one of my favorite curries at a place I used to eat lunch at in midtown when I was employed. I glanced at Ismail Merchant’s Stewed Eggplant Curry recipe before I started. I usually don’t use formal recipes when I’m making big pots of food anymore. Also, I really like it spicy and flavorful but you should know how to tone it down!

3-4 tblsp veg oil (I used olive)
1 large onion – chopped
2 carrots – chopped or sliced
3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 heaping tablespoons cumin (I used fresh ground)
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1-3 teaspoons red pepper and/or other hot spices to taste
1 large eggplant (chopped into 1/2 inch – 3/4 inch cubes. I leave the skin on for extra vitamins but you can skin the eggplant as you like)
4-5 cups chopped tomatoes (canned equivalent ok)
1 lb package of frozen peas (or fresh if that’s convenient)
2 tblsp lemon juice
Salt to taste (1 tsp should be fine)

Saute the onion and carrots for a few minutes in a very large (cast-iron) skillet. Add the spices and the eggplant and a few tablespoons of water on medium heat, stir and add a little water as necessary. Don’t let the eggplant burn and stick. The eggplant will soften in about five mins and darken. You can chop ginger or tomatoes or ginger during this time although ginger should be added asap! Add the tomatoes, turn heat up until it is bubbly, then bring back down to medium. Cook for several minutes. Add the peas, bring heat back up as necessary until peas are cooking and it is bubbly again. Simmer for a few more minutes. Add lemon juice and salt as necessary. Entire cooking time should be around 25 minutes. Serve with rice and/or pita/chapati and/or mango chutney and/or yogurt (if you’re not vegan). Enjoy! Serves 6-9

Next, I’ll share my Minestrone recipe!