The Healthy Voyager’s Global Kitchen Cook-A-Long Contest – Week 1

Welcome to Week 1 of The Healthy Voyager’s Global Kitchen Holiday Cook-A-Long Contest!

This week we will be featuring recipes from the following Healthy Voyager’s Global Kitchen Chapters:

1. Latin America
2. France
3. Italy
4. Japan
5. UK
6. Netherlands & Denmark

To Enter: Choose one or more of the recipes below, cook and upload your photo(s) of the recipe(s) to our The Healthy Voyager Facebook Page, along with your favorite holiday travel memory or wish.
Recipe photos will be voted on by our readers, with the winning recipe receiving a copy of The Healthy Voyager’s Global Kitchen goodies from Daiya Cheese and Gardein!

Good luck and enjoy your international recipe!

This week’s recipes:

1 ) Peruvian Land Lover’s Ceviche (“Seafood” cocktail)                                                                                                          

• 1 quart lightly salted water
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 cup oyster or Portobello mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 cup hearts of palm, drained and finely chopped (do your best to find them palm hearts that are not canned with salt water)
• 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus several sprigs for garnish
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup cucumber, peeled and finely diced
• 1/2 cup jicama, finely diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, finely diced
• 1 small avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Several lime slices, for garnish
• Crackers or tortilla chips for serving

Bring 1 quart salted water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of the lime juice. Add mushrooms & hearts of palm, cover and return to a boil. Immediately remove from heat and drain water. Cover with the lid and set aside, letting mushrooms and palm hearts steam in closed pot for 10 minutes.

Drain mushrooms and palm hearts again to remove remaining liquid and put in large bowl to cool completely. Toss with remaining 1/2 cup of lime juice, cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

In a small strainer, rinse chopped onion under cold water, then shake off excess liquid. Add to mushroom and palm heart bowl along with chopped cilantro, garlic, olive oil, cucumber, jicama, tomato and avocado. Mix gently and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate up to 3 hours. Spoon the ceviche into martini glasses or small bowls. Garnish with sprigs of cilantro and slices of lime. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

Yields about 8 servings

2) Sans Coq au Vin (Not “Chicken” in wine)

• 1 package of vegan bacon (tempeh bacon or vegan bacon slices), cut into 1-inch cubes or pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 20 pearl onions, peeled
• 3 packages (12 filets) vegan chicken filets
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 cups vegan chicken stock (make with vegan chicken bullion)
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 fresh thyme sprigs
• 6 fresh parsley sprigs
• 1 cup button mushrooms, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter
• 1/4 cup flour (keep on hand in the case that the sauce doesn’t thicken, add a tablespoon at a time)
• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• Rice, potatoes or noodles, for serving

Brown bacon on medium high heat in a Dutch oven or stew pot, about 5 minutes. Remove the cooked bacon, set aside. In the same pot, add the onions and the chicken. Brown the chicken well, on all sides, about 5 minutes (you may have to do this in batches, depending on the size of your pan). Halfway through the browning, add the garlic and sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.

Add the “chicken” stock, wine, tomato paste and herbs. Add in the cooked bacon. Lower heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until chicken is tender and cooked through. Remove chicken and onions to a separate platter. Remove the bay leaves, herb sprigs, garlic, and discard.

Add mushrooms to the remaining liquid and turn the heat to high. Boil quickly and reduce the liquid by about three fourths until it becomes thick and saucy. Lower the heat, stir in the butter. Return the chicken and onions to the pan to reheat and coat with sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish with parsley and serve hot with rice, potatoes or noodles.

Yields 8 servings

3) Italian Almond Glazed Anise Cookies

Cookies

• 1/2 cup vegan butter
• 1/2 cup vegan shortening
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 egg replacers, mixed
• 1 teaspoon anise extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Glaze Frosting

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy milk, more as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or a full teaspoon of vanilla if you want to omit the almond extract)
• Vegan colored sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a double boiler or saucepan, melt shortening and butter together. Remove from heat and cool. Mix egg replacers, sugar, anise, lemon and vanilla. Blend in melted shortening/butter mixture. Add flour, baking powder and baking soda and mix well until it forms a soft dough (it will be easier to work with when cool.) Spoon dough on to cookie sheet and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, then let cool. You will get ball-like cookies as the dough doesn’t flatten out like sugar cookies do.

For glaze frosting: Mix confectioners’ sugar, milk and extracts to form desired consistency and dip half of each cooled cookie into the frosting.  You may also glaze the tops of the cookies as opposed to dipping. Then sprinkle with sprinkles while still warm. If you like, add natural food coloring to your glaze for a festive look.

Yields about 3 dozen cookies

4) Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream

• 2 cups plain soy milk
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 4 teaspoons Matcha powder (powdered green tea)
• 2 (12-ounce) boxes silken tofu
• 2/3 cups agave
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together 1/4 cup soy milk and arrowroot until well incorporated. Then add the matcha until you have no clumps. Set aside.

Blend the rest of the ingredients (except the vanilla) in a blender until very smooth. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, remove from heat immediately. Add in the matcha mixture and vanilla, let cool. Add mixture to a container with a lid and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours then move to freezer. As soon as ice crystals begin to form, remove and mix well to break up the crystals and return to the freezer.  Repeat a few times to keep smooth, over 2 to 3 hours.

Yields 4 to 6 servings

5) Frickin’ Awesome Danish Frikadeller (“Meatballs” in cream sauce)                            

Frikadeller

• 1 cup vegan ground beef
• 1 cup seitan
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 cups soy milk
• 1 egg replacer, mixed
• 1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sage
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Vegan butter for frying

Sauce

• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup vegan chicken broth (make with vegan chicken bullion)
• 1 cup vegan sour cream

To make frikadeller: Put ground beef and seitan together in a food processor and pulse until combined and ground together. In a bowl, add in this mixture along with the bread crumbs, milk, egg replacer, onion, sage, salt, and pepper, mixing thoroughly. You may make meatballs or drop large spoonfuls of the mixture onto a buttered frying pan.  Fry over medium-low heat until browned and crisp on the outside.  Use a slotted spoon to turn the meatballs over and brown evenly.

To make sauce: Stir flour into the pan that cooked the meatballs, add broth and cook until thick. Stir in sour cream, heat gently.  Pour over Frikadellers and serve.

Yields 6 to 8 servings

6) Yummy Yorkshire Pudding (“Beef” flavored bread rolls)

• 3/4 cup self rising flour (or use 3/4 cup all purpose flour mixed with 1 teaspoon of baking powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup silken tofu, blended with a teaspoon of arrowroot or cornstarch (comes out to about 4 ounces)
• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup vegan beef broth (use vegan beef bullion per instructions) blended with 1/4 cup vegan shortening

Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Grease a 6 muffin tin (or use a non-stick one).

Sift together the flour and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, beat together the tofu and milk until light and foamy. Stir in the dry ingredients just until combined.

Pour the broth/shortening evenly into the wells of the muffin tin (about one teaspoon in each well). Put the pan in oven and get the broth hot.  Carefully take the pan out of the oven and pour the batter into the wells, about 1/3 full. Put the pan back in oven and cook until puffed and dry, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Yields 6 servings