Vegan Recipe: Black Eyed Bean Dip Boats

Vegan Black Eyed Bean Dip Boats make perfect party food!

I grew up eating one recipe for black eyed peas - soul food classic stewed in pork fat. But these little beans are packed with so many nutritional goodies - Omega 6, Omega 3, dietary fiber, protein, folate, iron and potassium - that it's a crying shame not to get them more involved with daily kitchen proceedings. Alongside the soul food recipes of the American south, black eyed peas are found in dishes from Sephardic Jewish, African, South American, Vietnamese, Indian, Greek, Brazilian and Indonesian cuisine. So there is plenty of inspiration for getting creative with these earthy beans.

For this recipe, I wanted to get down with a little bit of finger food, because it's picnic season and eating with your hands is always fun. The main element of this is a Black Eyed Pea Dip that can be dressed as you like in it's tiny tostada. I sandwiched the dip between a green salad base and a chopped tomato topping, but you could easily mix it up with a creamy avocado sauce, cashew crema, or spicy salsa. But I would recommend something with a little bit of  juice - not too much though, you don't want your boats taking on too much water!

I was really pleased with how these came out because as well as being tasty and cute, they're the kind of thing that looks impressive on the pot luck table but doesn't take that long to make! Win and win! Enjoy.

Black Eyed Bean Dip Boats

Makes 9 Boats

Ingredients

3 soft tortillas, 8 inch
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
175g (just over 1 Cup) Black Eyed Peas
2 cloves garlic
1/4 medium yellow onion
1 tbsp jalapenos in brine
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garnish with chopped salad underneath and chopped tomatoes with cilantro(coriander) on top

1. To make the tiny tostadas, heat your oven to Gas Mark 6/400F/200C and grab a muffin tin from the cupboard. You can use any size muffin tin for this, as long as you can find a stencil that is about 1 inch larger in diameter than each muffin hole. So for a tin that made 3 inch muffins, I got a "stencil", aka "a bowl", that was about 4 inches across to cut my tortillas into smaller circles.
2. Once they're all cut out, I got about 3 per tortilla, brush each side of the shells with a bit of olive oil and place into the muffin holes. The should fit easily if you pinch them into a sort of  wonton shape like a cross. Place in the oven for about 5- 10 mins or until they are brown.
3. While this is cooking, put the garlic, onion, jalapenos, and olive oil into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add more jalapenos if you like it spicier or another spoonful of olive oil if you like it smoother.
4. When your shells are brown, remove from the oven to let them cool. While this is happening prepare your garnishes.
5. To serve, fill shells with shells with salad, then bean dip then saucy topping like chopped tomatoes or guacamole. Yum!

My "stencil"

Cut tortillas in the muffin trays

Black Eyed Bean Dip Boats

Vegan Recipe: Wild Garlic Potato Salad with Crushed Almonds

No Mayo Necessary: Vegan Wild Garlic Potato Salad with Crushed Almonds

Yeeeessssss. Potato salad. It's the quintessential BBQ side dish with the starchy fluffiness making the perfect counterpart to the saucy smokey mains. Get the flavours right, and it will set off your whole plate.

This no mayo masterpiece is as simple as it is delicious, and can be eaten warm or cold. The wild garlic add a layer of depth to the whole affair, while the crushed almonds add texture and nutrients to this fabulously simple side.

I whipped this up in about 20 mins and it was ready to eat straight away. Yum!

Wild Garlic Potato Salad with Crushed Almonds

Makes 2 Side Portions 

Ingredients

1 large potato
1/4 onion
4-5 leaves wild garlic
1 handful of almonds
2 tsp mustard
1 tbsp vinegar (use a light vinegar like ACV or a white wine vinegar. I used rice vinegar on this occasion)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Chop the potato into bite sized chunks, place in a sauce pan with water and bring to a boil.
2. While the spud is cooking, finely dice your onion, coarsely chop your garlic, and crush your almonds. Put in a large bowl to wait for the potato.
3. In a smaller bowl, whip up the dressing. Whisk to together the mustard, vinegar and olive oil. And let stand.
4. When the potatoes are soft, drain them and add the dry potatoes to the bowl with the onions, almonds and garlic. Pour in the dressing and mix until everything is coated. Cover the bowl for a 2-3 minutes to let the warmth of the potato soften the almonds and then mix through again.
5. You can serve warm or chill it in the fridge for later.

Vegetarian Recipe: Meat Free Monday's Curried Eggs with Turmeric Rice

Of course when you're 'Meat Free Monday' in its various guises might be taking over the world. It's hard to keep track of which one is which as there is Meat Free Monday, Meat Free Mondays in the UK, and Meatless Mondays in the US. But general gist of it is these campaigns is to try to encourage all people to go a least one day a week without meat. They say it's good for your health, your pocket, your planet and they're right. Stella McCartney's branch of this movement has even published a book, The Meat Free Monday Cook Book, with recipes for every meal of the day, making it easier than ever for part-time, transitioning, or beginner vegetarians to get into their greens.

I had a go at one of their recipes for Curried Eggs with Rice. It was lovely, simple and extremely quick with a rice cooker. I used basmati rice instead of wild rice, but the final result was still quite satisfying. Here's my version take on it.

Curried Egg With Turmeric Rice

Serves 1-2

2 cups of cooked rice
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 small head of cabbage shredded
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 hard boiled eggs

1. Heat oil in a frying pan on high heat. When it's hot, add in the shredded cabbage and chopped garlic and cook until the cabbage has gone all soft in the middle and a little bit brown on the edges. 
2. Next add in the rice, curry powder and turmeric, then mix everything together until it's that beautiful golden colour. 
3. Finally coarsely chop up your eggs and add to the mixture. Salt to taste and serve.

 And that's all she wrote. It comes out in a beautiful rich yellow tone which looks amazing next to a bold green salad.