Island Style

Fried plantains, rice and peas, tofu Caymanian style

I'm from the Cayman Islands and though the cuisine is fish-heavy (and goat and turtle and oxtail) I miss it. There is plenty to eat for us weirdo vegetarians though. The tofu is a version of Caymanian style fish. E

Fried plantains:
Wait till the plantain is pretty black and almost overripe before slicing it and frying it in oil. Sprinkle a little salt and you're ready to go.

Rice and Peas:
We get this (like many things) from Jamaica. The rice is cooked in coconut milk rather than water and the "peas" are often red kidney beans. I'm sure my grandma would wince seeing me make them, not at all traditionally.
I put two cups of rice in a pot, pour one can coconut milk and one can of red beans, juice and all. Cook and stir and stir and stir. Toss in some thyme, salt and pepper.

Tofu Caymanian Style:
juice from two limes
1/2 cup water
half an onion chopped,
one bell pepper, chopped,
2 large tomatoes, diced (to make about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon Pickapeppa or Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon (or more!) hot sauce
a squirt of ketchup
Salt and pepper
one block of tofu

Drain and press the tofu. Fry the tofu and then set aside. Cook the onions and then throw all the other stuff in the pan to cook with them. Toss in the tofu and that's that.

Mushroom Noodles

I eat a lot of noodles. Enough perhaps to turn into one. There are worse things to be I suppose. This is an easy recipe; rich and nutty.

Sauce:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup veggie stock
juice from one lime
a few squirts of barbeque sauce
Sriracha sauce to taste

Everything else:
1 cup mushrooms
Dried noodles (rice noodles would work or simple spaghetti if you aren't heading to the Asian market anytime soon)

Mix sauce together. Start cooking finely chopped mushrooms in oil. Boil noodles.
Throw noodles and sauce in and stir.

Served here with spicy soybeans and sesame green beans.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts on a bed of Polenta (with white bean avocado sauce)

Used to hate brussel sprouts as a kid. Hated them like crazy. It wasn't until adulthood that the only reason for this hatred was that I'd had only eaten them frozen and boiled into oblivion. Cooked in a less harsh fashion. They are quite tasty.

White bean/avocado sauce:
A can of cannelinni beans (drained)
half an avocado
three healthy spoonfuls of tahini
1/4 onion
a clove of garlic (more if you are not making out with anybody)
salt
one serrano pepper

Chop up all the veggies, toss in a blender with everything else, give it a whir and that's it.

Brussel Sprouts:
two small bell peppers
1 lb. of fresh brussel sprouts
olive oil, salt, pepper
a dash or two of soy sauce

Cut the ends off the sprouts, cut 'em into bite size pieces, wash those puppies. Then toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper and put them in the oven (at 325 or so) for about ten minutes or until they are starting to get crispy and brown on the edge. Stir fry the bell peppers in some oil, add the brussel sprouts and soy sauce and cook and stir until everything is mixed.

Polenta:
I just used the box stuff, boil water, stir, done. It is probably simple to make your own. For another time...

Put polenta in a bowl, glob on some bean sauce, and throw on the brussel sprouts.
Happy Eating!