OH Yeah!!!! POTLUCK NIGHT!!!!! Vegan Feijoada!!!

One our favorite monthly events is the local vegan potluck. We started going about a year and a half ago, and we look forward to the gathering every month!!!! There are other vegan kids and lots of great food!! The group is very welcoming, I wish that more people who were curious about veganism would come!!!!
I take the task of cooking for the potluck very seriously to the point of stressing myself out.
This month I decided to make a large pot of Feijoada(FAY-JO-ADA the national dish of Brazil), vegan style.
What makes Feijoada different than just black beans is that it is more like a stew, and it is traditionally filled with smoked meats(which obviously would not work for us).
First I cook a pound of black beans with bay leaves and two small hot dried chilis. When the beans are tender, I add 2 potatoes small diced, and three carrots small diced.
After those soften I take 10 teeth of garlic, minced, and cook in 3 tablespoons of olive oil until brown, then add to beans. I also add about 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke. Before serving I take my potato masher and smash about half of the beans, this thickens the stew.
Traditionally you would serve with white rice, farofa(casava flour toasted with shallots), aji of campana(a fresh sweet pepper and onion salsa), and malaqueta pepper(which is like Thai bird chili), then you could also serve orange slices and and fried bananas. I was pretty busy on potluck day so we made a quick salsa with pablano peppers, white onion, vinegar and olive oil.
One of the requirements at the potluck is to list the ingredients of the dish you bring, vegan and gluten free folks keep close tabs on the ingredients.
One of the big winners of this past potluck were individual serving Reubens. They were gluten free and vegan!!!!! JoAnn made the bread, topped with seasoned smoked tofu, kraut, and topped with Follow Your Heart Jack cheese. They were super awesome!!!! My pictures did not turn out well, but you can see one on the side of the top picture.

If you double click on these pictures you can see the ingredient lists. Next time I will take better pictures, we were running late and I waited until everyone was eating to take pictures.

Vegan Feijoada [Brazilian Black Beans]

I have been on a South American kick lately..... I wanted some homemade black beans the other day and actually remembered to start soaking the beans in advance. While they were soaking and I was doing other things I decided to go Brazilian in theme with the final presentation, Feijoada, the Brazilian national dish.
The beans were simple..... Buy a bag of black beans and follow the instructions on the bag!!! I always reinforce the disclaimer on the bag about the black beans being a natural product that try as they may, occasionally dirt clods and rocks get missed!!!! If you like your teeth take a minute and look through, I have found many natural non bean items over the years! Back to cooking, I like to add two bay leaves and a couple of dried whole cayenne chilis. When the beans are finished cooking, I take about 5 teeth of garlic(minced) and one half onion(small diced) and saute' then add to the beans, along with 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke. I also lightly mash the beans with a potato masher to help thicken the beans.
I served the beans with Jasmine rice, reconstituted Bacos(yes I take Bacos and add a bit of water and put in the microwave for about a minute, makes nice little smokey bits). Then I topped the beans and rice with green onions, cilantro and Farofa.
What is Farofa you ask? Farofa is manioc/cassava/tapioca that is dried and coarse ground like corn meal, I take the manioc and toast it in a skillet with garlic. When it is toasted it turns golden brown and has nice earthy flavor and adds a bit of crunch to the mixture. I have had good luck finding manioc in natural foods stores and online at specialty South American food stores.
Now had I really been on the ball I would have made fried bananas and served with collard greens and orange wedges, but all said and done it was pretty darned good.