Yes, I have been avoiding you. I have been in a food slump. For the past three months vegan cuisine has been...well, kinda difficult. There, I said it. Vegan Police come get me.* It all seemed so easy a year ago in Rome when I was forced, without a properly equipped kitchen or an adequate budget, to invent recipes as I went along with ingredients that I just happened to have on hand.** So easy, in fact, that I decided to start blogging about it!So why did I find myself a mere few months ago unable to throw two things together to concoct anything resembling a meal without a serious cookbook consultation? What happened to my relationship with food? All of a sudden vegan food didn't seem so cool anymore. I couldn't remember the last time it made me smile. Things just weren't as exciting as they used to be. Night after night it was just bitterness and disappointment. I just didn't know what to do..... It was time to take a break. First I tried an even stricter diet that didn't work, then I went a little crazy in Spain with some cheese. Nothing seemed to help.
Finally, I got my groove back. I reacquainted myself with delicious food in Italy. Deep red ripe tomatoes lightly bathed in olive oil and a touch of aged balsamic vinegar, fresh crusty bread dipped in vegetable minestra, lightly sauteed green beans slightly salted, and limone gelato. One week back in the boot reset my love of vegetables! It didn't hurt that someone else was doing the cooking either as I was able to remember that cooking is only a prelude to the reward of eating.
So, that revelation with the help of a new job, new city, new kitchen and a once again poorly stocked pantry, have reset my creative juices -- which are basically various flavors of olive oil! Enjoy this fabulous new recipe from a born-again veggie lover!
NO-ONE-LIKES-THE-VEGAN-POLICE BURRITOS or
SMOKEY CHICKPEA RICE AND ONION BURRITOS
This recipe is a total invention. I pulled leftovers from the last few days and threw a bit of everything into the frying pan. I have yet to restock my spice rack from the move, so the flavors are accidental, but pretty wickedly tasty!
Ingredients:
1 medium onion chopped
1 T olive oil
two shakes of liquid smoke
1 tsp red chili olive oil
1/2 tsp celery salt
3 T tomato sauce
1 C cooked chickpeas partly smashed down with a fork
3/4 C cooked brown rice
2-3 T water
1 T chopped parsley
1. Saute onion in olive oil in a medium frying pan until translucent
2. Add the liquid smoke, hot olive oil, celery salt and cook for about a minute and add tomato sauce
3. Add chickpeas and rice and stir to combine. Add water and stir. Cook until the sauce thickens.
4. Remove from heat add the chopped parsley and place in a soft burrito shell
5. Add salt and pepper as needed
The chili olive oil gives this dish a really beautiful orange hue and some spice, and the celery salt and liquid smoke combo really makes this dish "meaty" in flavor. Don't forget the parsley to add some much needed green to the dish. Buon appetito!!!
* see Scott Pilgrim vs the World
** to be completely fair, all ingredients in Italy are better, fresher, prettier, tastier...need I go on?
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