Veguary 2022
By Charlene Forde aka, Melanated Vegan
Charlene Forde shares a veganized Trini dish from her upcoming cookbook, Hold On, Let Me Veganize This!, coming March 22, 2022. You can pre-order your copy here and make the recipe from her Veguary LIVE cooking demo today.
RECIPE
Lions Mane Stuffing Ingredients
1 lb of Lion's Mane Mushrooms
3 tablespoon of green seasoning (you can purchase at any Caribbean Supermarket or use the recipe in my cookbook)
1 tablespoon of curry powder (Trinidadian or Jamaican curry)
1/8 tsp of salt
1/8 tsp of pepper
Half of a yellow onion finely chopped
Half red pepper finely chopped
2 tablespoons of grapeseed or coconut oil
Preparation
Pull apart Lion's mane into bite sized pieces and place into a mixing bowl. Add green seasoning to mushrooms and set aside to marinate for at least 10 mins or overnight if you are going to make it the next day.
In a saute pan add your oil to your pan on high to medium heat. Add your onions and saute for 5 mins, then add your red peppers and saute for another 5 minutes. Add your marinated Lion's Mane mushrooms and cook for 10 mins.
Dumplings Ingredients
2 cups all purpose or spelt flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of sugar
1/2 cup of water or coconut milk
Preparation
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl.
Slowly add your liquid while kneading until it starts to come away from the sides of the bowl and become dough.
Empty the bowl onto a clean work surface and knead all the ingredients together to form a dough ball.
Knead for 10 minutes then set aside, cover, and allow to rest for another 10 minutes. Shape the dough into small balls (about 12)
Using a rolling pin shape dough into circles and stuff with cooked mushroom mixture. Use a little bit of water to seal the edges and press down firmly to seal dumplings.
Leave some mushrooms to add to your sauce.
Add dumplings to your curry sauce and boil for about 10-15 mins and serve with your callaloo. NOTE - Coconut milk will add sweetness and coconut flavoring to the dumplings.
Curry Sauce Ingredients
1/4 Cup of coconut oil
1 Medium onion finely chopped
2 Pimentos finely chopped
1 tablespoon of garlic finely chopped
2 Tbsp. of curry powder
1 Tbsp. of vegetable better than bouillon
1 Cup of coconut milk
2 Cups of warm water
Salt - To Taste
Black Pepper - To Taste
Preparation
In a saucepan over low to medium heat, add coconut oil and allow to heat up.
Add onion, pimento and garlic.
Mix well, cover and let cook for 4 minutes.
In a small cup, mix curry powder and 4 tbsp. of water to make into a paste.
Bring heat up to medium, add curry mixture, mix well and let cook for 2 minutes.
Add coconut milk, better than bouillon and water, mix well and let cook for 15 minutes.
(Optional) Add extra curry lion’s mane to thicken sauce.
Taste for salt and black pepper.
Add dumplings, reduce heat slightly and let cook for 15 minutes.
Callaloo Ingredients
12 dasheen bush chopped (you can substitute with 1 pack of frozen spinach - 10oz)
2 tbsp of vegan butter
1/2 cup of pumpkin chopped
10 large okra chopped
1/4 cup of diced yellow onions
4 pimentos finely chopped
2 tbsp of green seasoning
1 tbsp of better than bouillon
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 cups of water
1 cup of coconut milk
1 scotch bonnet pepper
salt to taste
Preparation
Add dasheen, okra, butter, onions, pimentos, thyme, green seasoning, better than bouillon, water and coconut milk (except the scotch bonnet pepper and the salt) to a large pot. Stir to mix.
Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat for 15 minutes.
Add whole scotch bonnet pepper and boil for another 15 minutes
Remove scotch bonnet pepper and using an immersion blender or food processor, puree mixture (add salt to taste) and serve.
Charlene Forde Bio
Charlene Forde, Owner of Melanated Vegan is a vegan chef who creates mouth watering vegan food with a hint of Caribbean flavour. Charlene's culinary experience spans over 20 years and she has been cooking since the age of 12. With her passion for food, she loves to take traditional recipes passed down from her grandmother and veganize them.
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