Hello everyone,
We, Orthodox Christians, have just started our Great Lent and we are going to do our best to pray, to repent and to fix our weaknesses. Abstinence from meat, eggs and dairy products cleans our body and helps us to move into “slow down mode” during which we can try to do a spring-cleaning of our souls.
Regarding food abstinence, the beginning of the Lent is tough because our body is trying to adjust to a new diet and I am here to help you to move through it with the minimal amount of despondency. I want to give you a recipe that yet being Lenten is very warm, comforting and tasty. Cook it on the first day when the warm meal is allowed and it will support you during your Podvig (struggle). The feijoada that we are doing today is going to ease up a transition from non-fasting into fasting and help you to stay warm and full.
Feijoada is considered a national dish of Brazil and Portuguese speaking countries and is cooked with pork ribs and black beans base. There are plenty of variations of this dish and each region has their own secret recipe. We are going to try a vegetarian version that can compete with meat version and might win, per your decision.
Feijoada is packed with protein from black beans and is bursting with sweet and gentle flavors of sweet potato and peppers. This dish is 30 min dinner fix plus next day lunch pack, as it is as tasty the next day as the first day of cooking.
Those who are not fasting and visit us for some vegan recipes are going to love, love, love feijoada and make it an ever-winner comforting veggie family meal.
My husband does not like sweet potato, period, however, this dish is the one that makes him lick the spoon. My two-year-old who is not a big veggie fan licks her spoon too! It is all about the flavor! Surprisingly there are not many spices here but the one that we use, do their job to their best! I serve it usually with mashed potato and believe me it is so good that you do not even think of meat. It tastes like goulash or paprikash and is filling accordingly but its vegan!
You are going to love it I promise!
Bon Appétit!
Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver
Veggie feijoada
Ingredients
- 3 sweet potatoes
- 1 zucchini
- 2 peppers
- 1 red onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tin black beans
- 975 ml tomatoes in their juices (one tin)
- 1 tbsp freshly ground corriander
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 bunch fresh parsley or kinza
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 5 golden potatoes for mashed potato side
Instructions
- Put 2 pots of water to boil, meanwhile peel and dice sweet potatoes and regular potatoes into 2 cm chunks. Add each potato to different pots, reduce heat to medium, and put the timer for 5 min.
- Peel and slice the onion and dice the garlic, deseed and dice the pepper, slice the zucchini into 1 cm rounds
- When the potatoes are ready, drain them and add to the pan with 1 tbsp. of olive oil, diced onions, peppers and zucchini and fry for 8 min until soft but a little bit charred.
- Drain beans and add to the pot mixing well with other ingredients. Add the garlic, ground coriander and paprika and fry for 2 more minutes.
- Dice fresh coriander and add to the pan with tomatoes and water (squash tomatoes with the fork beforehand). Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 min or until the sauce has thickened. Drain the liquid from boiled potatoes into a separate container and using a potato masher, mash your potatoes with 1 tbsp. of unrefined sunflower oil adding starchy potato water with little splashes to achieve the desired amount of “cloudiness” Serve over mashed potatoes if you choose a comfort food scenario or over brown rice or couscous if you are into a healthier version. Bon Appétit!
