garlic | One Small Vegan

Vegan MoFo 2012 Post #13

These croquettes are made by forming cooked kale and millet into little cushions, and lightly panfrying or baking them. They are tender with some chewiness from the kale. I flavoured them with garlic, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes. While these are good on their own, they are best when paired with a creamy brightly flavoured sauce, like my Cheezy Tahini Sauce.

The kale-millet mixture must be fully cooled before you form them into croquettes. If you cook the kale-millet mixture a day in advance, then it will only take about 20 minutes to finish preparing the dish.

Kale-Millet Croquettes (Adapted from Veganomicon‘s Broccoli-Millet Croquettes)
1 tsp olive oil, plus extra for panfrying
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup millet
2 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth
1 bunch kale

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Saute the garlic in the olive oil for 30 seconds then add the red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, sea salt, and millet. Stir constantly for about 3 minutes. Add the water or vegetable broth, cover, and bring to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, lower to a simmer and cook for 17 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the millet is cooking, prepare the kale. Tear the kale leaves off of the thick centre stems and discard these stems (or clean them and save for veggie broth). Thoroughly wash kale and pat or spin off any excess water. Very finely chop the kale leaves. You can do this by hand, in a few batches or by pulsing in a food processor. Try not to leave any larger pieces as they will cause the croquettes to fall apart.

When millet has cooked for the 17 minutes, uncover the pot and stir in the kale. Cook for another 10 minutes, uncovered, stirring often. All or most of the water should be absorbed at this point. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and leave for another 10-15 minutes. It is very important that the millet be well cooked otherwise the croquettes could fall apart. It should be mushy and clumping together.

When millet-kale mixture is well cooked, transfer to a sealable container and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Seal and move to the fridge to cool the rest of the way, about 45 minutes or overnight.

Once cooled, tightly form the millet into golfball-size balls. Press between your hands to slightly flatten and pat the sides in to form tire-shaped croquettes. You should get about 16 croquettes.

Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry croquettes in batches, 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until they are lightly browned.

These can also be baked in the oven, and I actually enjoyed them better done that way. Just put the croquettes onto a lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 425° for 20-25 minutes. You don’t need to flip them. When baked the whole outside of the croquette gets golden brown and crispy, while the inside stays moist.

Enjoy!

I had mine with roasted yams, and smothered in Cheezy Tahini Sauce. The sweet creaminess of the roasted yams was the perfect complement to this dish. I devoured my dinner in about 2 seconds!

Cheezy Tahini Sauce
1/2 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1/3 cup tahini
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 cup water

Place all ingredients in a blender or small bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Sauce will thicken when refrigerated, but you can bring to room temperature or heat before serving.

This post has been submitted to Healthy Vegan Friday #13 and will be submitted to Meatless Mondays A-Z for Kale.

the veggie nook

Vegan MoFo 2012 Post #2

A few months ago my sister Jem and I made these fresh spring rolls using rice paper, smoked tofu, and fresh veggies and herbs. They were really good, and even though it takes a little bit of time, we had fun putting them together. Even though we raved about them and I still had about half a pack left of rice papers, we hadn’t yet got around to making them again.

So, when I saw this recipe for Baked Rice Paper Rolls I knew exactly what we were making for our next dinner together! I love vegetable spring rolls, but had never even thought of making my own using rice paper. We didn’t follow the recipe above, but used our own mix of vegetables for the filling. Sorry, we didn’t really measure anything, just made a big pan full of vegetables (actually added more after the photos), but I’d estimate that we had about 4 cups of cooked vegetables. The amount that we used made 12 rolls, though as you can see ours are varying sizes, so you will get more if you make thinner ones, as I really suggest you do. The larger ones were difficult to eat, and needed to be baked a little longer.

It only takes a few minutes to sauté the vegetables, and while working with the rice paper can be a little tricky at first, it is very quick and easy once you get the hang of it. Plus, its really fun to do!

Baked Vegetable Spring Rolls
2 tsp sesame oil
Shredded cabbage
Grated carrot
Thinly sliced mushrooms
Bean sprouts
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp minced ginger
Roasted sesame seeds
Rice paper sheets (12-16)
Warm water

You also need a large shallow bowl or clean sink to have the water in, for wetting the rice paper, a large tea towel (not a really fuzzy one), a flat plate or cutting board for rolling the spring rolls on, and a lightly greased baking sheet to place the spring rolls on.

Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add in garlic and ginger. Sauté for about 1 minute, then add in the carrots, mushrooms, and cabbage. Stir everything together, then let cook a few minutes, until the vegetables release moisture. Stir in bean sprouts and cook for another minute. You don’t want to overcook the vegetables, as they will cook more in the oven. Turn off heat and transfer cooked vegetables to a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Fill your sink or bowl with warm water, just enough to be able to wet the rice paper in it. Set out your bowl of veggies, tea towel, plate or cutting board, and greased baking sheet.

To assemble spring rolls, first take one rice paper sheet and place it in the warm water for no 30 seconds. Place on tea towel for a moment, to absorb excess moisture, and then move to plate or cutting board. The rice paper should no longer be hard, but pliable and almost completely see-through. Place a small amount (roughly a 1/4 cup) of your cooked vegetable mixture onto the centre of the prepared rice paper. Sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds on top.

Fold the two short sides of the rice paper over the vegetable mixture.

Now fold one of the remaining sides toward the other remaining side, over the vegetable mixture. Holding onto the bundle of vegetables roll it to the end of the rice paper, forming a cylinder, with the vegetables safely tucked in the centre. I feel like I’m not explaining it very well, but you can see the process in the photos. (Thanks to Jem for demonstrating!)

Place on baking sheet and continue process until you run out of rice paper or vegetables. Don’t worry if your rolls aren’t perfect! It takes a little practice, and they’ll taste great no matter what they look like!

Lightly spray or brush with oil and place in warmed oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes (depending on how large your rolls ended up). Serve with your favourite dip. I used soy sauce and Sriracha. Jem used soy sauce and plum sauce.

These were so good! Just as tasty and satisfying as spring rolls from a restaurant or grocery freezer, but way healthier! Plus, you can customize with your own choice of vegetables (a super plus for me as I very strongly dislike onions and most spring rolls are heavy on the onion).

Enjoy!

This recipe has been submitted to Healthy Vegan Friday #12. You can see all the other submissions here.