Greek gigantes
Ingredients
500 grams/1 pound dry giant beans
1 large onion thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
½ cup olive oli
1 celery stalk thinly sliced
4 large ripe tomatoes, thinly chopped
½ tsp sugar
2 bay leaves
1 cup chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Greek giant beans - baked
Soak the dry giant beans overnight. Drain and rinse the beans. Place the beans and the bay leaves in a big pot with lots of water and boil for 40 minutes. Drain and place the beans in a baking pan. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a pot and sauté the onion and celery for few minutes. Add sugar, tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes over low medium heat. Pour the sauce over the giant beans. Add one cup of water and drizzle a bit of olive oil. Bake in preheated oven in 200C/400F for about 40 minutes. Serve with warm bread! Enjoy!
At this week’s vegan cooking class at Nea Guinea we continued making holiday recipes. We made mushrooms giouvetsi served in single pots, artichoke and white bean dip (recipe below) and chocolate peanut butter cups.
artichoke & white beans dip
Artichoke and white bean dip
Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup white beans, cooked, rinsed and drained
1/2 block silken tofu (like mori nu)
1 1/2 cups artichoke hearts (canned)
1 cup of spinach (optional)
1 tsp mixed dry herbs
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded vegan cheese
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and saute the onion and garlic. In a food processor blend all the other ingredients except the vegan cheese. Add the sauteed onion and garlic and blend for an additional minute. Pour the mixture in a small baking pan, top with the shredded vegan cheese and bake in preheated oven at 180C/350F for 20 minutes. Serve with warm pitas or veggies. Enjoy!
cooking the orzo and the mushrooms for the giouvetsi
filling the chocolate peanut butter cups
filling the giouvetsi baking pots
giouvetsakia ready to go in the oven
artichocke and white beans dip
table is set
chocolate peanut butter cups
This soup took me under 15 minutes to make it. I woke up at 5 am and I was craving something hot and light to fill me up as last night’s dinner was a disaster. We went with Sean to a Mexican place (which actually owned by Mexicans so I expected more) but we ended up having the worst meal ever. We asked for nachos and they brought as a tiny small plate of doritos with a cheezy sauce from a tube on top. Disgusting. The guacamole was ok but it was served with just 6 chips placed on top of the guacamole. Yes, I counted… 6 chips. I was hoping that my veggie burrito was gonna be better but I was wrong. It was as small as it can get, and it was a plain black bean and rice burrito. Wish we had gone to taco bell instead. Anyway, we returned home very unhappy with our food. So I woke up at 5 am. I woke up hungry at 5 am. Good thing I had some cooked white beans in the fridge, but I was not in mood for plain beans that time of the day. So I decided to make a soup. It was very quick to make, delicious and we both enjoyed it for breakfast. And lunch.
bean, quinoa & tomato soup
Ingredients
6 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups cooked white beans (or use a can of white/navy beans)
1/2 cup quinoa, well rinsed
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 red pepper cut in small cubes
1 small carrot cut in small cubes
2 tomatoes pureed in the food processor
1 Tbsp tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to drizzle
bean, quinoa & tomato soup
Use a medium pot to warm the vegetable broth vver medium-high heat. Add all the ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to low-medium and simmer for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle a bit of olive on top. Enjoy!
