Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Vegan Colcannon

2 leeks cut in half moons
4 cloves of garlic, flattened with knife and sliced
15 brussel sprouts, outer leaves removed, cut in half, then chiffionad-ed
1 bunch of kale, stems removed and shredded
7 small-ish potatoes, boiled and mashed with margarine and milk to a creamy consistency

2 TBS nuttelex
Rice milk
salt
white pepper

There are a few separate components to this recipe but this is the work flow I came up with

Wash kale, remove stems, shred and boil in hot, salted water for 5 mins. This will soften them and reduce cooking time later. Drain and set aside.
While this is boiling, peel and cut up potatoes. By this time the kale should be ready and you can use the same pot to boil some fresh water. (Always start root vegetables in cold water with a little salt) Drain and set aside once the potatoes are soft.
While the potatoes are cooking, prep the brussel sprouts by washing and removing a small amount of the stem and the outer few leaves. Cut each sprout in half vertically and then shred the half.
Trim the leeks and wash of any dirt that may have collected. Slice these into half moons.
Lastly peel 4 cloves of garlic and crush with your knife, then slice. This doesn't have to be too thin, I like it as a rough chop.

Once all the prep is ready you can then heat 2 tbs nuttelex on a medium heat (again, we use the La Chasseuer cast iron because it is ridiculously awesome) Add the leeks and soften them, which takes a few minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another few minutes. It will smell pretty awesome by this point already. Now you can add the brussel sprouts, add a pinch of salt to help break them down and stick the lid on for a minute or 2 if you want to hurry the process. Stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom and once the brussel sprouts have softened up you can add the kale that you have already pre boiled.
While these flavours get acquainted you can mash the potatoes that you have ready and set aside. Mash them with some nuttelex and milk (I used rice milk) a splash at a time. Add a bit of salt and some white pepper. Make sure it is nice and creamy because you are going to add it to the big pot.
Combine the mash with the greens. Stir thoroughly. You may need to add a little extra milk and/or butter. Taste and season with some extra salt and white pepper if needed.
This is traditionally served topped with ham or bacon. I think it is nice on its own, but if you'd like to spruce it up a bit use some fake ham (Our local Asian grocery does a fake ham log which would be nice diced and fried and put on top)

I also made a chickpea gravy to use as the bottom layer for the colcannon to sit on and add some extra flavour, then topped with facon cubes.



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