Join Our Community Kitchen Share Recipes and Ideas on Food & Farming

What’s a good way to spend your Saturdays? Some folks who believe in supporting Filipino farmers got a chance to join our community kitchen.

Last November 23, 2019, a small group of subscribers, volunteers, and people in the food and beverage industry in Metro Manila got to break banana bread with each other over conversations about agriculture, commuting in the city, eating beets and, what cocktails to make of the tamarillo. 

Salad na Gulay – A healthy habit for you and the local economy

Salad na gulay in your regular diet isn’t just good for your own personal well-being. It turns out that a Planetary Health Diet (PHD) is also good for the nation’s economy.

Un-pork & Beans

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Un-pork & beans This dish is a kind of revenge piece, growing up on that ubiquitous can of pork and beans, which is really beans and a sliver of pork fat. I love this vegan version because it is smoky and has a bit of heat from the paprika, and a deeper umami flavour from the mushrooms, soy sauce, and tomatoes. I used Chef Asha Peri’s homemade tomato sauce which has great balance, but if you’re using canned tomato sauce, you may need to adjust the amount of sugar. 2 T EVOO 1 medium red onion 1 small carrot 4 cloves of native garlic 1/2 c dried shiitake mushroom slices, soaked in 1 cup of hot water for 15 minutes 1/2 c tomato sauce 1 tsp smoked paprika (omit or lessen if you don’t want it spicy) 2 sprigs of thyme 2 tsp muscovado sugar (you may need to adjust this if using canned tomato sauce which is more acidic) 1 T soy sauce 1 1/2 cups cooked kidney beans 2 pcs bay leaves water or mushroom soaking liquid salt and ground black pepper 1. Strain and squeeze the liquid out of the mushrooms. Set aside the soaking liquid. Rough chop the mushroom slices into smaller pieces. 2. Heat oil in a pan over low heat, and sweat onion and carrots for 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for a minute. 3. Add mushrooms, smoked paprika, thyme, sugar, soy sauce, bay leaves, and the mushroom soaking liquid. Combine with a wooden spoon, and let cook for about five minutes over low heat. 4. Add beans and the tomato sauce. Mix well and let this simmer until the sauce has thickened a bit, around 5 to 7 minutes. Season to taste and serve with rice or on top of toasted bread. #vegan #whatveganseat #veganfoodshare #vegansofig #plantbased #plantpowered #plantstrong #plantpusher

A post shared by Me & My Veg Mouth (@meandmyvegmouth) on Aug 20, 2019 at 7:24pm PDT

Small-Grain "Giniling"

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TEFF (OR SMALL GRAIN) ‘GINILING’ If you wander into specialty health stores and find this unusual grain on sale and wonder what you can do with it, then this recipe will help. Teff is an ancient grain from Ethiopia and a staple in their cuisines. I learned that it is high in protein and carbohydrates and is a good source of calcium and iron. For this recipe, substitutes I have tried are couscous, millet, and quinoa. I would think bulgur is also a good substitute. While the recipe calls for an oven, I have tried this on a stove top, too, but just make sure your kidney beans are super dry. You can shape as patties and serve this in a bun with all your favorite fixings. You can also freeze and crumble to make a taco filling, add in sauces like Bolognese. Cook with diced potatoes, diced carrots, and raisins the way you would cook giniling (which reminds me of UP Engineering giniling back in the day) and serve with rice. (Karla) 2/3 cup teff 2 c water 1 to 2 tbsps olive oil 1 c onion, minced 1 c mushroom, minced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium carrot, grated 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1 1/2 c cooked kidney beans or 1 can of 439 g drained and rinsed 1/4 c nutritional yeast Instructions: 1. Put the 2 c of water in a saucepan. Once it boils, stir in the teff and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes until the teff is cooked. 2. Meanwhile heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and sauté until translucent. Stir in the mushrooms, carrots, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook without cover until the sauté mixture is dry. 3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 4. In a mixing bowl, mash with the drained beans with a potato masher until all of the beans are broken up. Add in the cooked teff and mash it in with the potato masher into the beans. Mix in the sautéed veggies and nutritional yeast. 5. Coat a large sheet pan with oil. Spread the giniling mixture and flatten. Divide into sections so you can flip them on one side. 6. Cook 20 to 25 minutes or until they are solid enough to easily flip. Then flip and cook on the other side until edges are crispy, about 10 to 15 minutes more. #vegan #plantbased #whatveganseat

A post shared by Me & My Veg Mouth (@meandmyvegmouth) on Sep 3, 2019 at 7:31pm PDT

Soy-braised Radish

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Braise the Root (aka Soy-Braised Radish) This is my absolute favourite way to cook radish, and one of the first #vegan dishes I learned to make. I saw it in a cookbook that called for ingredients I didn’t have then (sake, mirin, tamari, kombu). Undeterred, I subbed my way into a simpler but satisfying version that I've been making since. I like cooking the #radish until it is completely tender and has that dark golden color all the way through, and the cooking liquid has reduced and turned sticky. Serve it with sautéed mushrooms, pickled shiso leaves, a cup of miso soup, fried tofu, and brown rice and imagine yourself dining in a Japanese temple. (Mabi) 3 medium radishes, peeled and sliced into ¾-inch discs 2 cups of water 2 Tbsp soy sauce (coconut aminos to make it gluten free) 2 pcs of dried shiitake mushrooms 1 tsp coconut sugar sesame oil, white sesame seeds 1. In a large deep pan, add water, soy sauce, and sugar. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. 2. Lower heat to a simmer and add the radish discs and mushrooms in a single layer. Cover with the lid. 3. Cook until you can easily insert a knife into a radish, around 20 to 30 minutes, checking every 7 to 10 minutes and turning the slices each time. 4. Remove the lid and let the liquid reduce until it glazes the radish slices. Remove from heat. 5. Slice the mushrooms in half and serve everything drizzled with sesame oil and garnished with sesame seeds. Note: Braised radish is usually simmered without a lid in step 2, and takes about 45 mins to an hour. If you want the more traditional way of making this dish, check out Serious Eats, which my friend G recommends. #veganfoodshare #vegansofig #whatveganseat #plantpowered #plantstrong #plantpusher #plantbased #veganjapanese

A post shared by Me & My Veg Mouth (@meandmyvegmouth) on Sep 10, 2019 at 5:48pm PDT

Japanese Vegetable Curry

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Japanese Vegetable Curry One of the things I knew I'd miss turning vegan was Japanese curry. Those slim rectangular boxes with the familiar wide band and gold font are recognizable everywhere and a lifesaver when you want a quick bowl of no-nonsense #curry that delivers on the umami. But I couldn’t read the long ingredients list, so I wasn’t sure if there were animal products. I also didn’t want any MSG. Here we show you how to make your own Japanese curry roux. It’s easy! You just need to be patient when cooking the roux. Feel free to double or triple the roux recipe and freeze the rest in ice cube trays so you can make your own curry bricks for future use. (Mabi) Roux (1 portion) 4 T neutral oil 4 T unbleached white flour 2 T curry powder 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, adjust according to heat preference) 2 T water Curry 1 T neutral oil 1 cup of firm tofu, cut into cubes 1 onion, sliced into wedges 2 c potatoes, peeled and quartered 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunks Water 3 T naturally fermented soy sauce 1 tsp salt (optional) 2 T tomato ketchup 1 T sugar 1 pack shimeji mushrooms, base removed 1 small patola, peeled and sliced into discs salt and pepper 1. Make roux. In a pan over medium-low heat, add oil then flour. Stir to combine. Keep stirring so that it will not burn. Cook for 15 mins until your roux takes on a blond color. Add curry powder, cayenne, and water. Mix well then remove from heat. Let cool. This is your Japanese curry paste. 2. In a large pot over medium heat, add oil. Fry tofu until golden brown on all sides. Set aside. 3. In the same pan, add onion and cook until translucent. Add carrot and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, mixing occasionally. 4. Add enough water to barely cover the vegetables, soy sauce, salt, ketchup, and sugar. Mix, let boil, then reduce to a simmer uncovered. 5. When the carrots and potatoes are almost cooked, add the roux, mushrooms, tofu, and patola. Use your hands to separate the shimeji stems. 6. Increase heat to medium. Stir regularly as the sauce thickens. Turn off the heat when the vegetables are done. Season to taste. #vegan #veganjapanese #plantbased .

A post shared by Me & My Veg Mouth (@meandmyvegmouth) on Oct 16, 2019 at 5:17pm PDT