caribbean vegetarian recipes Archives

I’ll be honest and confess that I have little experience cooking Ital food (no salt, no meat.. usually not for me), but I’ve had several requests over the past few months and a friend of mine who’s a practicing Rastafarian commented that I’m not showing him much love with my offerings. So with a little research I came up with this delicious ital soup, which I know is a good representation of their diet code. However I’ve had conflicting info come my way when it comes to cooking without salt. I grew up knowing that my dreddy friends didn’t partake in meats and salt, but I was told that some make the exception and use sea salt. In this recipe you will notice that I didn’t use any form of salt, so it was a bit challenging to have a well balanced soup since my palate is so dependent on this sinful addiction. Feel free to add salt to your taste if it’s not a dietary restriction.

You’ll Need…

1 cup pumpkin (cubed)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 scotch bonnet pepper
1 cup dried split peas
8-10 cups water
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
3 eddoes
1 medium sweet potato
2 potato
2 scallions (aka green/spring onion)
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tablespoon oregano (fresh is best)
2-3 cups callaloo bush *
1 carrot
1/2 cup celery
2 cups coconut milk
5 okras
tablespoon freshly grated ginger (optional)
1 plantain (half ripe)
1 carrot

Notes: The callaloo (Jamaica) bush is also known as chorai bhagi or spinach in the Caribbean. If you can’t source callaloo bush, feel free to use typical North American spinach, baby dasheen bush leaves or shredded cabbage. Additionally you can also add yam, dasheen, cassava or green cooking bananas if you have those things readily available.

We’ve got to create the base for this lovely ital soup and since the dried split peas will take much longer to cook than the other ingredients, we need to put that to cook first. Wash the split peas then put it in your soup pot (huge) and pour in the 8 cups of water. Also chop the scallion, garlic, onion and celery. As the peas comes to a boil add these flavourful ingredients. reduce to simmer and let cook until the peas and tender (about 45 minutes). Place the scotch bonnet pepper in the pot whole as we want to flavor and not the raw heat. At the end of cooking you can remove it from the pot. However if you like the heat, you can certainly burst it open to release the Caribbean sunshine.

When the peas are tender and starting dissolving, it’s time to add the other ingredients. So peel, cube and wash the plantain, eddoes, potato, sweet potato, carrot and pumpkin, then add it to the pot. Now pour in the coconut milk and don’t forget to add the thyme, black pepper and oregano. Make sure you have enough liquid in the pot to cover everything. You can add more water or coconut milk if more liquid is required. Bring to a boil and reduce to a gentle simmer.

Trim the stems off the okra and cut then into 1 inch pieces and ad to the pot. When cubing the ground provisions try to keep them uniform in size so they cook evenly (cut them in big pieces so they hold their shape as they cook). After 25 minutes everything should be almost cooked all the way through, so it’s time to wash and trim the callaloo bush and add it to the pot. Basically all you have to do is remove the leaves off the stem, wash and roll like a cigar and chop into 1/2 inch strips.

Allow it to cook for a further 7-10 minutes so the callaloo bush adds additional flavor and the soup thickens up. If you’re adding salt, now would be a good time (adjust accordingly). NOTE: This soup will thicken up quite a bit as it cools, so make sure you leave a fair amount of broth to compensate.

Now is a good time to remove the scotch bonnet pepper and if you added the thyme with the sprigs, do remember to fish them out as well.

With all the natural seasoning we added with the fresh herbs, you’ll be quite surprised at how tasty this ital soup will be. By using herbs like parsley, savory, thyme, marjoram and celery you’ll add so many levels of flavor to meals, you’ll be better equipped to handle a salt free diet. A nice touch is some fresh squeezed lime juice to top your steaming bowl of ital soup and be prepared for one of the most hearty meals you’ve ever had. You’re guaranteed to have the sleepies after a hot bowl of this ital soup.

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Vegetarian

How To Cook Fry Bodi.

June 23, 2024April 28, 201210 Comments

Fry bodi is yet another dish I only grew to appreciate as I got older and if I’m being completely honest, I must mention that it’s one of those dishes I can’t replicate as good as our mom’s. How come we can do a dish “exactly” as our mom and never be able to replicate the taste (and consistency in some cases)? Like the curry bodi recipe I shared with you all a while back, this one is a favorite among vegetarians and I’ve received many compliments from it. So I know you’ll just love it.

* BTW, bodi is also known as the yardlong bean, bora, long-podded cowpea, asparagus bean, snake bean, or Chinese long bean

You’ll Need…

1 bundle bodi (about 1.5 lbs)
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon olive oil (veg oil works great as well)
1/2 cup water
1 medium onion | 1 medium tomato
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper (any spicy pepper)
dash black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Notes: I must mention to you all that if you’re getting bodi freshly harvested, the cooking time will be a bit less (about 5 mins less). I know from my days on the islands that the bodi tends to cook faster and is more ‘meaty” (thicker). The bodi we get here in North America (see Asian and West Indian grocery stores) tend to be much thinner and take longer to cook. To brighten up this dish (this is optional), add a chopped tomato the last couple minutes of cooking. If you can’t get bodi, a good substitute would be french or string beans.

The first thing we need to do is to wash and trim the bodi (refer to the video below). Basically all you’re doing is removing both ends of the bean and discard. Then trim each bean into pieces about 1/5 inches long.

Chop the onion, scotch bonnet pepper (remember to not use the seeds as that’s where most of the heat will be) and slice the garlic very thinly. Then is a saucepan, heat the oil on med/high heat and add the sliced onion and garlic. Reduce the heat to low and allow this to cook for about 3 minutes. We’re trying to infuse the oil with the wonderful flavors of the garlic and onion.

After 3 minutes add the scotch bonnet pepper, black pepper and toss in the trimmed bodi pieces. Give this a good stir and top with the salt. Raise the heat to high, add the water and bring to a boil. Should take 2-3 minutes.

When it comes to a boil reduce to a gentle simmer, cover the pot and allow it to cook for about 25 minutes. Remember to stir every 4-5 minutes. You will notice that the fry bodi will start changing colour.. go from the brilliant green to a darker shade.

After 25 minutes your beans should be fully cooked and there should be no liquid in the bottom of the pan. If there’s liquid, do raise the heat and burn it off. Here’s where you’ll now add the chopped tomato and cook for 2-3 minutes.. just to heat through. The bodi will be fully cooked, but have a slight firmness to it. If you like your beans cooked to the point where they’re tender and sort of melting away, feel free to cook longer.

Fry bodi is a lovely vegetarian dish which goes well with rice, roti or bread. You can add additional flavor by using coconut milk instead of water when cooking and if you have leftover pieces of Caribbean style stewed meats (chicken, beef or pork), you can add it during the final 5 minutes of cooking. I recall our mom adding pieces of salted cod to the fry bodi and our dad would be in heaven. Maybe I’ll share that recipe with you soon.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Vegetarian

Saheena With Green Mango Chutney.

March 5, 2012November 4, 201017 Comments

saheena recipe trinidad My mouth waters just typing the title of this post. I fondly recall my childhood days on the islands around Divali (I was told it’s Diwali by and Indian programmer who works for me) time when we would go down the road to my mom’s cousins’ house for goodies on Divali night. I grew up in a Catholic home, but as the norm in Trinidad and Tobago we celebrate everyone religious festivals equally. How I wish the youths of today could experience that oneness and innocence I enjoyed those years ago. Back in those days all I looked forward to was the roti, curry channa with potato, pholourie and of course, saheena. I was never into the “sweets” , but my brother and sisters did do some damage when the sweets tray came around.

Here’s a simple recipe for making saheena, but not in the traditional size it’s usually made into. I refer to these as saheena balls and they work great as an appetizer or quick snack when you’re looking for something a bit different to munch on.

You’ll Need…

1/2 cup split peas powder (like flour)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 bunch spinach (see note below)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon roasted geera powder (cumin)
1/4 teaspoon amchar massala (optional)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric (aka saffron on the islands)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 3/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 clove of garlic
2-3 cups vegetable oil for frying

For the mango chutney

1 green mango
4-6 leaves of shado beni
1 hot pepper (scotch bonnet or habanero)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt

Note: I used baby spinach in this recipe, but traditionally dasheen leaves (young or soft ones) are used. It’s almost impossible to source those in my location.

Let’s get the dough ready as it needs about 2 hours to rest before we can starting frying. Rinse the spinach leaves and roll into little bundles and slice very thinly. As thin as you can. Then I put about 3 cups of water to boil in the kettle and sort of blanch the spinach to somewhat pre-cook it. I put the thinly sliced spinach in a strainer and pour the boiling water over it and allow it to drain off.

making saheena

recipe for saheena

Then in a large bowl, place the flour, split peas powder, salt, turmeric, geera, amchar massala, flour, grate or crush fine – the garlic, baking powder, instant yeast and squeeze out as much liquid you can from the blanched spinach and add it to the bowl as well. Then add the water and mix into a smooth dough. After everything is fully incorporated, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest on the kitchen counter for about 2 hours.

making trinidad saheena

mixing dough for saheena

recipe saheena trinidad

saheena mixture

After the 2 hours of resting, the yeast will activate and the dough will double in size. Now heat the oil in a deep pot or pan on medium/high heat. Traditionally your hands are used to scoop and drop the dough balls into the hot oil, but here’s a safer method. Using 2 table spoons, scoop out a spoon full of batter and then using the second spoon as a sort of scraper, scrape off the dough into the hot oil. If you find that the dough is going brown fast, turn down the heat a bit as you want it to cook for about 4-5 minutes, so the insides cook evenly as well. Be sure the pot or pan you’re using is not too wide, so the oil is nice and deep – will allow for even cooking and nicely shaped saheena balls.

After 4-5 minutes (I move them around while frying) I place them on paper towels to absorb any excess oil from the frying process. You may be tempted to eat a couple as they come out of the pot, but I would advise against doing so. They will be piping hot!

trini saheena

how to make saheena

how to fry saheena

saheena recipe

Here’s a very simple recipe for a quick mango chutney to use as a dipping sauce for these wonderful saheena balls (you’ll notice that it’s very similar to the original mango chutney recipe I posted a while back)…

In a food processor or blender place all the ingredients I mentioned above and puree into an even consistency. Make sure you get a green mango (one that’s not ripe) and then remove the skin, then remove slices of the flesh to use. Discard the seed.

Do taste for salt at the end and if you find that it’s still sour or tart, add a dash of sugar to the mix to help balance it off.

mango chutney

making trini mango chutney

trini mango chutney

This chutney can remain for a few days in a sealed container in the fridge, in the event you’re wondering. What are you all waiting for? Give this one a try, it’s very tasty and I’m sure your friends will be amazed at how appetizing these are at the next staff pot luck. Don’t forget to leave me your comments below – even if it’s just to say hello. It’s appreciated. And while you’re at it, why not join us on facebook? Click on the image below.

caribbean vegetarian recipes

Ital Soup A Vegetarian Delight.

How To Cook Fry Bodi.

Saheena With Green Mango Chutney.

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