Aquafaba rocked the vegan world when it came on the scene a few years ago. These days its applications in baking are well known. Until recently, we had only used aquafaba in desserts. But guess what… It turns out the magical bean juice works wonders in savory dishes too!
We’ve challenged ourselves to come up with a few fat-free dishes just to keep things interesting. Fat-free doesn’t have to be synonymous with boring. Thanks to aquafaba, this dish is so rich and creamy that you won’t miss oil at all!
Best plan of action is to start the rice, get water boiling for the sunchoke puree, get the sweet potatoes and chickpeas roasting (remembering to reserve the precious aquafaba from the chickpea can!) Cook the veggie mix last because it doesn’t take long.
Makes: 4 servings
Takes: 55 minutes
Rice:
½ cup long grain brown rice
1 cup vegetable broth or pho broth
Method:
Add rice and broth to a small pot, and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, turn down and simmer, covered, 45 minutes.
Sunchoke Puree:
12 cups water
¾ lb sunchokes
4 cloves garlic
Stems from 8-10 shiitake mushrooms (mushroom caps will be used in the veggie mix below)
2” ginger root, sliced
¼ tsp whole fennel
½ tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ cup aquafaba (reserved from canned chickpeas)
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp tamari
2 Tbsp agave
Pinch wasabi powder
Method:
Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add sunchokes, garlic, shiitake stems, ginger, fennel, peppercorns, & coriander seeds. Bring back to a boil, turn down and simmer 20 minutes or until sunchokes are tender. Drain liquid, cool, and add to a high speed blender. Add aquafaba, rice vinegar, tamari, and wasabi powder. Blend till smooth.
Sweet Potatoes:
1 medium sweet potato, diced
1 cup vegetable broth or pho broth
¼ cup tamari
Method:
In a medium bowl, stir together broth and tamari. Place sweet potatoes in broth and tamari mixture and soak for at least 10 minutes. Remove sweet potatoes and reserve broth and tamari mixture. Spread soaked sweet potato pieces on a parchment lined baking pan and bake at 420 for 30 minutes or until they can be easily pierced with a fork.
Roasted Chickpeas:
1 15 oz can chickpeas
1 tsp coarse sea salt
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp celery seed
¼ tsp rosemary
Method:
Drain chickpeas (don’t rinse), reserving all aquafaba from the can. Spread chickpeas on a parchment lined baking pan. In a small bowl, mix together salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika, celery seed, and rosemary. Sprinkle the salt mixture over the chickpeas and toss to coat. Bake at 420 for 20 minutes, or air fry at 400 for 20 minutes.
Veggie Mix:
Caps from 8-10 shiitake mushrooms, sliced into strips (remove stems to use in sunchoke puree above)
½ cup red onion, chopped fine
½ cup broccoli florets, pulled apart into small pieces
½ cup yellow pepper, diced
½ cup whole petite carrots or diced carrots
Method:
Heat pan on medium high. Add ¼ cup of reserved broth & tamari mixture. Add shiitake caps, onion, broccoli, yellow pepper, and carrots. Saute till tender (about 10 minutes), adding more broth & tamari mixture as needed.
*Pro tip: if you have a smoking gun, smoke the veggies with hickory chips after you remove them from the pan!
Assembly:
Place a generous amount of puree at the bottom of a bowl. Sprinkle some rice over it. Add the rest of the ingredients in sections and then top with chopped dates, dried mango, cilantro, scallions, your favorite sprouts & microgreens, and edible flowers. You might have violets in your yard right now!
Enjoy!
