vegan russian food, no oven required

[nymphatacita.livejournal.com]

I know this isn't exactly the right place to ask this, but I can't think of anywhere better off the top of my head right now.

The Russian department is having a party tomorrow, and I said that I would bring russian apple pie. I even have a tried-and-true recipe I got from the prof last year. There's one major problem: My oven is broken, and I don't have access to another. We've tried fixing it, and it looks like we'll need outside help.

Long story short, I'll need to bring some type of food to the party, as I said I would. I'm sure they'll understand if I don't bring the pie. What do you all suggest? Obviously, it would need to be something that does not require baking (the rangetop works, and I have a microwave). Not so obviously, it would also need to be vegan. I can substitute for simple things, such as sour cream and butter, but I am not so gifted in finding vegan meat substitutes.

Suggestions?

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

Try vegan cabbage rolls.

For stuffing, peel and grate carrot, fry in some veg oil until golden. Chop onion, fry until golden. Boil rice. Mix, add salt and pepper to taste. Take apart a cabbage, cut off the thickest veins from each leaf, put each leaf into salted boiling water for few seconds (should be soft, but not mushy), wrap tightly a tablespoonful of stuffing into each leaf and fry them a little bit in more veg oil. If you have soya meat, cook it and put into stuffing, too.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

yeah, and don't forget to explain that this is a traditional Russian dish called голубцы.
The only problem is that, unlike dolmah, it is served hot.

[nymphatacita.livejournal.com]

what's dolmah?

should the filling be 1/3 onion, 1/3 rice, and 1/3 carrot?

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Dolmah is stuffed vine leaves -- very popular meal across the Eastern part of Mediterranian region, Turkey, Transcaucasian countries, and Middle East.

Make filling according to your taste, there's no strict rules. If you prefer less onion, put more carrot or rice in there.

[ekeme-ndiba.livejournal.com]

Ты любишь долма? ;-)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

To be honest, no. Neither голубцы :)

[ekeme-ndiba.livejournal.com]

That's because they aren't good at cooking dolmah here! ;-)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

The first place I've tried it was the Turkish Embassy in Moscow some 12 years ago. The Embassy cook was really good, and so was dolmah. I just didn't like it personally. Since then, I've tried it many times - in a Lebanese restaurant in NYC, in a Turkish restaurant in Dusseldorf, somewhere in Cannes, France, etc. Every time I hoped it would turn out better than the 1st time. Nope sir. The meal was good, but not to my taste :))

[oryx_and_crake]

Oh those young people nowadays, they don't even know a quote from a classical movie when they see it...

[solito.livejournal.com]

:)))

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Can't serve as an expert here. My taste in movies is really primitive and doesn't go further than Kin-Dza-Dza and "нам кузнец не нужен". The last time I've been at a movie theatre was with my kid for "The Lord Of The Rings" :)

[oryx_and_crake]

This one was from "Mimino" :-)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

I've never seen it. I don't watch much TV.

[nymphatacita.livejournal.com]

I didn't have to explain anything. I took the lid off, and the professor exclaimed, "это голубцы? ура!" :c)

[nymphatacita.livejournal.com]

Would shee be easy as well? I've never seen a recipe. I'm only ten minutes from school, so I could keep soup hot in transport. Carrying it might present a problem, however.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Shee... you mean щи? :)) It's not that fast at all. At least not according to my experience :))

[nymphatacita.livejournal.com]

Yes, щи. Sorry, I've lost my picture of the layout of the russian keyboard.

If it's not fast, I'll make it some other day, and enjoy it all to myself! :c)

[nymphatacita.livejournal.com]

I made these, and they were a big hit. The prof was happy to see them. She loves them, but has never taken the time to make them herself. Thanks!

[oryx_and_crake]

You are always welcome.

[egh0st.livejournal.com]

Borsch!!! Though it's origin is ukranian, it's really part of russian culture ;)

[nymphatacita.livejournal.com]

That would have gone over well, as well. There are no fresh beets at the store this week!

[egh0st.livejournal.com]

But canned beet from U.S. is world famous :) Russian in Japan use that beet for cooking something like bortsch :)

[nymphatacita.livejournal.com]

Then I will have to try it soon :c)

Try Russian Beet Potato Salad.

[matushka-ann.livejournal.com]

You should buy a lenten cookbook from a Russian Orthodox parish. The Orthodox Church keeps vegan fasts for many days of the year.

Russian Beet Potato Salad is portable, good, and you can use canned potatoes, canned beets, canned peas, canned saurkraut, and pickles and mustard from a jar. You WILL need oil and vingegar, but if you were up for making an apple pie, I think you can cope. This is the way I posted the recipe to a family list.

Russian Beet Potato Salad:

Boil, cool, and peel eight potatoes. Chop into eighths. Toss into large bowl.
Drain one can beets. Chop beets into quarters. Toss in.
Open and drain one can vegetarian baked beans. Toss in. (When not lent,
subsitute hard boiled eggs, chopped nicely).
Add saurkraut to taste (and yes, I know this means "none" for some people.)
Add frozen peas (hey, they'll defrost) to taste.
Chop about three half sour pickles.
Chop green onion and fresh dill to taste. Add to bowl.
Mix everything. ("Morf, morf, morf!")

Make vinegrette:

1 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. vinegar
1/3 cup oil
salt and pepper to taste (I used lemon pepper).

Stir, and stir some more. You're making an emulsion here.... you want it opaque.
Pour vinegrette over veggies. Stir. Serve cold.

Re: Try Russian Beet Potato Salad.

[nymphatacita.livejournal.com]

Someone else brought this, but it had mayonaise in it, so I didn't try. I'll have to make this for the family barbecue in a few weeks. :c) Thanks for the recipe! I'm putting this in my memories.