vegan lettuce wraps recipe

Lettuce wraps are great party food. I served these at my wife's birthday party last night and they were well received. Of all of the variations I have tried the Thai version in Robin Robertson's Vegan Planet (available from Amazon.com) are my favorite.

The ingredients are pictured above starting with cilantro at the top of the large plate. Moving clockwise we have minced shallots, minced serrano peppers (the Vegan Planet calls for Thai chiles), chopped peanuts, toasted coconut, minced lime (the whole lime), and minced ginger. The brown 'sauce' in the middle is a combination of peanuts, tamari soy sauce, toasted coconut, and brown sugar. These ingredients are boiled until thickened and then blended until smooth (I posted the recipe below.) The wrapper is butter lettuce.

The first time I served these I pre-wrapped them before the party started. I remember they were a little sour because I used too much lime in each one. This time I just put the ingredients out in small bowls and let people wrap their own. Some people skipped the hot peppers, others skipped the shallots. I think people enjoy putting their own food together.

Biting into one of these is amazing - all of those strong flavors hit you at once. The leftovers were gone by noon today. Here is the recipe for the sweet and salty sauce:

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Lettuce wrap 'sauce' (more like a paste)

> 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted

> 1/4 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts

> 1/4 cup brown sugar

> 3 Tbsp tamari

> 1/3 cup water

Combine the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Transfer to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

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This is one of 400 great recipes from Robin Robertson's Vegan Planet. For other sample recipes see my chili and corn bread post.

Free Vegan Cookbooks

The Vitalita Culinary Group (VCG) is offering two vegan cookbooks that you can download for free. Both books together offer over 150 original vegan recipes. You can access .pdf versions of either book by clicking the pictures at the bottom of this post. When I was looking through them The Blood Orange Sherbet caught my eye (pictured above) as well as the Saffron-Garbanzo Rice Pilaf Wrapped in Filo (pictured below.)

You can purchase printed versions of these cookbooks for $16 each from their website.

The electronic versions are free to download but are intended as shareware. Therefore, if you enjoy using them, you are asked to send a $10 contribution (for each cookbook) to show your appreciation. All proceeds from these cookbooks are donated to Vegan Outreach (a non-profit vegan advocacy/education group). You can send all contributions directly to Vegan Outreach at:

Vegan Outreach

P.O. Box 30865

Tucson, AZ 85751-0865 USA

Or you can make an electronic donation at http://www.veganoutreach.org/.

If you try any of these recipes, please leave a comment and let us know how it turned out!

Real Vegetarian Thai Sample Recipe: Simple Curry Paste Recipe

I highly recommend this Thai cookbook. The recipes turn out just as good as what you would expect to order in a restaraunt. Of course you have a lot more dishes to choose from since you don't have to worry about egg and fish sauce that is so prevalent in authentic Thai cooking. One of the recipes I use the most out of this book is the basic curry recipe posted below. This is what the author has to say about it:

" Here is my stripped down version of Thai curry paste, using ingredients available in many supermarkets. Make it in a flash and then turn a few spoonfuls of your freshly made paste into tonight's pot of curry. This will work in any recipe calling for a Thai-style paste."

The books also contains recipes for more authentic curry pastes with ingredients that you may need to get at an Asian grocery store. One popular ingredient in Thai cooking is lemon grass. I think I will try to grow some this year, and post the results here.

QUICK-AND-SIMPLE THAI CURRY PASTE

> 5 fresh serrano chilies, 3 fresh green jalapeno chiles, or 7 long, slender dried red chilies
> 1 cup coarsely chopped cilatro leaves and stems
> 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
> 1/3 cup peeled and coarsely chopped fresh ginger
> 1/4 cup chopped garlic (15 to 20 cloves)
> 1 Tbsp grated lime zest
> 1 Tbsp ground coriander
> 1 tsp ground cumin
> 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
> 1 tsp salt

Stem the chilies and discard some of the seeds. Chop the fresh chilies coarsely. Soak the dried chilies in water to cover for about 10 minutes.

Drain the dried chilies, if using. Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or mini processor and grind to a fine, fairly smooth puree, stopping often to scrape down the sides and adding a few tablespoons of water as needed to move the blades. Transfer to a jar, seal airtight, and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 1 cup.

My notes on this recipe:

1. I have always used fresh serrano chilies and it has turned out well.

2. Most of the heat in the chilies are in the seeds, so use more seeds if you want it hot and less if you want it milder. What I like to do is make it mild but set aside a small amount in a dish. Then I blend all of the chilie seeds into the small amount and let people add that to their serving of curry if they want to spice it up.

3. You can also use red chilie paste to increase the heat, it is available in a squeeze bottle in the Asian section of most grocery stores.

I will be posting some Thai recipes in the weeks to come, some of which can be made with this curry paste.

Vegan Planet Review and Sample Recipes

Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson is a great cookbook - one of the ones I use the most. It has over 400 recipes covering....everything. With over 70 reviews and a 4-1/2 star rating at Amazon.com how can you go wrong? These are the recipes that I have tried and recommend:

- Thai-Style Leaf-Wrapped Appetizer Bites
- Baked Sweet Potato and Green Pea Samosas
- Quinoa Tabbouleh
- Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce
- Balsamic Vinaigrette with Garlic and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Three-Fruit Chutney
- Chickpea and Green Bean Tagine (double the garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, and allspice)
- Three-Bean Dal (I use a hand blender to partially blend this - I like it best when it is creamy)
- Red Bean Cakes with Creamy Coconut Sauce
- Irish Soda Bread

Here are two sample recipes from the book that go well together and that I make all the time:












EAST COAST CHILI

> 1 Tbsp olive oil
> 1 large yellow onion, chopped
> 2 Tbsp chili powder, or to your taste
> 1/2 tsp dried oregano
> 1/2 tsp cayenne
> one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
> one 6-ounce can tomato paste
> 2 cups water
> 2 cups vegetarian burger crumbles
> 3 cups cooked or 2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
> salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, oregano, cayenne, tomatoes, tomato paste, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

2. Stir in the burger crumbles, beans, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about 30 minutes to blend the flavors. Serve hot.

serves 6

Notes for this recipe: This is GOOD, rich, flavorful chili. Some of the vegan chili recipes I have tried in the past have been watery enough that I would argue that I was eating bean soup. And others taste too much like green peppers, or onions, or something else that is not CHILI. I typically use burger crumbles from Morningstar Farms. I have tried TVP but it does not work as well. I serve it with Fritos and guacamole but it tastes perfectly good on its own. Another good addition is chipotle flavored Tobasco sauce.


SKILLET CORNBREAD WITH SMOKED CHILES

> 1-1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
> 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
> 2-1/2 tsp baking powder
> 1 tsp salt
> 1 cup soy milk or other dairy-free milk
> 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
> 1 cup fresh, canned, or frozen corn kernels, cooked and drained
> 1/4 cup corn oil
> 2 Tbsp finely chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

3. In a medium size bowl, combine the soy milk, maple syrup, corn kernels, corn oil, and chiles and set aside.

4. Heat a well-oiled cast-iron skillet over medium heat until hot. While the skillet is heating, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well with a few quick strokes. Transfer the batter to the hot skillet and bake on the center oven rack until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

makes 1 loaf

Notes for this recipe: The chipotle chiles give this a great smokey flavor. I have made it without chiles and it turned out fine too. I have also made it with green chiles. The green chiles didn't add much flavor. Most of the time I substitute corn syrup for maple syrup and it doesn't seem to affect the flavor much. Whatever you do, do not use artificially flavored maple syrup. Your corn bread will taste like pancakes. I have always used an 8x8 glass baking dish instead of a cast iron skillet. This would be a good recipe to try in the dutch oven.