Monday, May 23, 2011

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!

13 comments:

  1. Wow, Amey! Looks delicious!

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  2. Oh wow, this all looks so delicious. I love Ethiopian food, injera is amazing!

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  3. This all looks incredible! I'm super excited to try the homemade injera. I've made my own injera before, but easier is better! Ethiopian food is probably my favorite cuisine. (Rahel, a vegan Ethiopian restaurant in LA, is definitely worth visiting the next time you're in SoCal.)

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  4. It all looks amazing, but homemade injera that I could actually make--successfully?! Wheee! Can't wait! :)

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  5. ricki!
    you are silly, you have your own recipe in the new breakfast book! which i mention in my zine btw. :-)

    xo
    kittee

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  6. actually steamed kale is totally authentic! gobo gomen!

    xo
    kittee

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  7. Homemade injera, wow. That looks SO great. I can't wait to get my hands on Kittee's zine. I've only had Ethiopian once as there's nowhere to get it in my city but I really liked it.

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  8. that should have been gelbo!

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  9. Next time you make an Ethiopian fest just give me a call, oh, say about an hour before it's ready...

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  10. That injera looks PERFECT, as does the rest of the meal. Can't wait for this 'zine!

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  11. I'm so excited about the injera recipe. I've been wanting to try to make it for so long! All of the food looks absolutely delicious.

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  12. Everything looks so delicious!!!!.... I'm so inspired by your blog.... So inspired, I started one of my own.... Thanks....I can't wait to start collecting cookbooks for more adventures..... Trinity

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  13. You can order the zine here:
    http://kitteekake.blogspot.com/p/papa-tofu-loves-ethiopian-food.html

    xo
    kittee

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