Meatless Monday with a Vegan Feast for Chinese New Year

Welcome (back) to the Miratel blog for a special vegan Chinese New Year installment of our Meatless Monday recipe series. The Meatless Monday pledge aims to reduce meat consumption 15% by eliminating it one day per week to preserve personal and planetary health. You may well be aware that Miratel has taken the pledge to support this great initiative, which we have included as part of our CSR business strategies to spread awareness of the impact of food choices on our environment.

Celebrating holidays vegan-style doesn’t have to be a challenge and Chinese New Year is no different. Today we are featuring some meat-free recipes we have found that will work perfect for the Lunar new year celebrations. We have previously featured a baked vegetable egg roll and other vegan Chinese New Year recipes that would go quite well with this meal. Now let’s get started.

Longevity Noodles from The Mai Kitchen

• 12 ounces longevity noodles, boiled and drained
• 2 tablespoons oil (we used sesame oil)
• 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
• a handful of chopped spring onions
• dried red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 bundle of Chinese broccoli (about a handful)
• 1 cup sliced Napa cabbage
• 2 to 3 stalks of celery, sliced
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 2 cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• sliced pan-fried tofu, as much as you like
• soy sauce, to taste
• white pepper, to taste
• sea salt, to taste
• cilantro, for garnish

Method:

1. In a medium wok, heat up the oil on high heat.
2. Add the garlic and spring onions–sauté until fragrant. Add a pinch of dried red pepper flakes if desired.
3. Add the Chinese broccoli, Napa cabbage, celery and carrots. Stir the vegetable mixture until the vegetables wilt.
4. Pour in the vegetable broth and stir everything around so all the ingredients can absorb the broth’s flavor.
5. Season to your taste, using soy sauce, white pepper and sea salt.
6. Add in the shiitake mushrooms and tofu, cook until done.
7. Combine the noodles with the vegetables and season again if needed.
8. Serve noodles; top the dish with a spritz of lime juice and crushed peanuts.

Broccoli and Shiitake Stir-Fry with Black Bean Sauce from A Year in the Making

• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted in 1 cup boiling water for 20 minutes
• 1/8 cup black bean garlic sauce
• 1 tbs dry sherry
• 1½ tsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp Sambal (chili paste)
• 1 tbs light olive oil
• 2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
• 1 lb. broccoli, crowns cut into florets, stems peeled and thinly sliced
• ¼ cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Drain the mushrooms, reserving 1/3 cup of the soaking liquid. Discard the stems and thinly slice the caps. In a small bowl, combine the reserved mushroom soaking liquid and the black bean sauce, sherry, cornstarch, and chili sauce. Stir to dissolve the cornstarch and set aside.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and stir-fry until fragrant, 15 seconds. Add the broccoli and 1/4 cup water, cover, and steam until the broccoli is just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the black bean sauce mixture and the mushrooms and cook until the sauce is thick and bubbly, about 1 minute. Add the pecan and toss to combine. Serve with steamed rice.

Sesame Seed Balls with Red Bean Paste from Redpath

What you need:

For the red bean paste

• 1/2 cup (125 mL/4 oz) dried adzuki beans, soaked (also known as azuki, aduki, or red beans)*
• 1 1/2 cups (325 mL) water
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) Redpath Granulated Sugar
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) canola or vegatable oil

*Adzuki beans are available at most bulk stores, but if you can’t find any, you can use kidney beans instead.

For the dough

• 3 cups (750 mL) glutinous rice flour
• 1 – 1 1/3 cups (250 – 325 mL) boiling water
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) Redpath Golden Yellow Sugar
• 1 cup (250 mL) sweet red bean paste
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) sesame seeds (or as needed)
• Vegetable oil, for frying

How to prepare:

For sweet red bean paste

1. Soak adzuki beans over night, or for at least 6 hours. Drain beans, rinse, and place in a medium sized pot with 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are soft, 1 – 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the heat, drain, and let cool.
2. Transfer cooked beans to a food processor and process until smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a pasty cutter or a large fork to mash the beans until as smooth as possible.
3. Stir the sugar and oil into the pureed beans, then transfer to a medium sized pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture forms a thick, sweet paste, about 20 – 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

For the dough

1. Dissolve the sugar in 1 cup (250 mL) of the boiling water.
2. Place the rice flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour the water and sugar mixture into the well, stirring until a sticky, caramel coloured dough is formed. If the dough seems dry, add as much of the remaining 1/3 cup (75 mL) of boiling water as you need to make the dough. Cover the dough with a damp towel or plastic wrap.

To assemble

1. In a deep-sided heavy saucepan or deep-fryer, heat the oil to 350°F (175°C).
2. Spread out the sesame seeds on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
3. Pinch off a small piece of the dough (about the size of a walnut) and form into a bowl shape. Fill with about 1/2 – 1 tsp (2 – 5 mL) of the red bean paste. Pinch the dough closed with your fingers and form into a ball shape. Repeat this step until all of the remaining dough has been used up.
4. Roll each ball in the sesame seeds to coat, and set aside. Any leftover red bean paste may be stored in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to one week.
5. When all your sesame balls are ready to be cooked, add them to the pot or deep-fryer and cook until a rich golden brown, about 2 – 3 minutes. Use tongs to carefully turn the sesame balls while cooking to ensure they cook evenly.
6. Place cooked sesame balls on paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve warm. They will taste the day they are made, but if you have any leftovers, warm them up in the oven before serving.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work and promote CSR business initiatives to make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant or salon even greener.

As we approach the upcoming holiday on January 31st, we wanted to wish everyone a healthy and happy new year. Gung Hay Fat Choy and enjoy the year of the horse!

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including inbound telephone fundraising, outbound telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery fundraising services, donation processing and receipting and direct mail fundraising services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all our business decisions  and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.