Caribbean Vegan

Good news! We are done testing for Caribbean Vegan! I got to taste so many delicious new dishes and I can't wait for the book to come out and try the rest. Here's a quick preview of what to expect (NOTE: For pretty pictures of the food that will make you drool, check out the author's blog, linked above. For pictures that prove you can make these yummy foods with almost no hand-eye coordination, keep reading):

Black pudding, seitan souse and Caribbean pickle. Caribbean pickle is nothing like what I usually think of when I think of pickles (sour, dills, etc.), but it is made with cucumber and it's really tasty. It kind of reminds me of the cucumber salad you can find in many delis, but with cubes of root vegetables thrown in.

Cou cou and tofish with Creole and basil cilantro butter sauces. Cou cou is one of Barbados' most popular dishes. It's usually served topped with flying fish, but we used tofu instead. My cou cou is a little lumpier than it should be, but this whole dish was still one of my favorite things ever. The tofu is pan fried, so it gets really nice and firm and the cou cou is totally filling comfort food.

Sorrel. The flower is sold dried and rehydrated to make a tasty beverage.

Speaking of tasty beverages: basil tea. It's one of the simplest, most delicious things I've ever had. Really.

Caribbean lemonade (made mostly with limes!) pretty much rules, too. So refreshing! I almost drank all of it in one go.

Jamaican ackee scramble. Ackee is a fruit related to the lychee. It's also creamy, comforting and kind of expensive for canned produce ($10-15 USD per can), but this recipe makes it totally worth it, despite what this photo looks like. Treat yourself.

Fat free black eyed pea stew. For your mid-winter Caribbean food fix.

Jug jug. Makes an excellent spread, kind of like a pate.

Thanks to this book, I worked with christophenes/chayote for the first time. Two ways:

In a salad with carrots, stringbeans and a nice, light dressing:

and stuffed (aka Farci) :

Doubles! A Trinidadian dish that was one of my favorite things to eat in Barbados. They're not 100% correct, but they're 100% delicious!

Cream of pumpkin velvet soup.

Ital coconut rice (using brown rice).

Sada roti with eggplant choka (kind of like babaganoush, kind of not).

Rock cakes. Not as hard as I had expected them to be, but really nice and cinnamony with a bit of raisin. Excellent for breakfast with a big cup of tea.

Spinach rice with chickpea curry. Tastes as good as you'd think.

Pone!

My really sad try at dahl. Looks terrible but tastes delicious and that's what matters!

I cannot wait to have this book in my hands (and more food in my belly!).