Ethiopian Dinners & Homemade Injera

I mentioned a little while back that I've been doing some tester cooking for Miss Kittee's upcoming xgfx zine (all gluten-free, all vegan, all delicious!). She's got a big section of the zine devoted to Ethiopian cooking, and her recipes are amazing! So many exciting and interesting flavors and spice combos. We don't have an Ethiopian restaurant here in Santa Cruz, and before trying Kittee's recipes, I had only had Ethiopian food once before. Honestly, I didn't like it all that much. But, luckily, my sense of duty as a tester drove me forward... and I'm glad it did, because Kittee's amazing recipes have definitely converted me!

First up are some Ethiopian Red Lentils, and Ethiopian Beets (at Kittee's suggestion, I used a combo of root veggies)... plus some steamed kale on the side (not necessarily Ethiopian. but yummy & healthy). The Ethiopian Red Lentils are thick, heavily stewed, and seem like an exotic first cousin of Indian food... nicely spiced and savory. The Ethiopian Beets Plus are so delicious, it's a total freak-out situation. SO GOOD. I've made them many times already.

Here's a picture of my beets and root veggies pre-roasting... just because veggies are beautiful!

AND... drumroll please... homemade injera! Kittee has a really ingenious recipe for these injeras, which makes them both gluten-free, and quite dependably delicious. Homemade injera can be quite a task, but these were easy and perfect and very, very tasty. Any injera fans out there in the world will definitely be stoked on this recipe!

Another night I made Ethiopian Lentils with Okra and Sausage Patties. As you can see, I was all out of injera batter, so I resorted to white rice this time. This was such a super great dinner. The flavors and textures of the sauce, spices, okra, and sausage chunks all combined perfectly for a major flavor fest. Mr Vegan Eats and Treats was ooohing and aaahing his way through dinner. I think we ate the whole batch in one night... like little piggies!

Here's a close up the sausage patties all on their own. In case you are wondering, they are even more delicious than they look. They are sooo good. Quite a few of these little cuties disappeared down my pie hole before they could make their way into the final stew. Mr. VE&T is particularly obsessed with these little taste bombs, and he wants me to come up with a million different recipes involving these, so that we can have them for dinner every night.

Keep your eyes out for Kittee's new zine... word on the street is that she's busy with pre-production layout! Huzzah! Soon, you too can be eating homemade sausage patties and injera!