A good stock or broth makes a good soup, but if you don’t have time to make it fresh (and frankly most people almost never do) there are several other options.

In Peru we had easy access to Maggi brand vegetable bouillon cubes. They taste good and are vegan, but they contain a lot of ingredients that many people try to avoid, including  hydrogenated oil, MSG, and gluten.  They are also very high in sodium.  There are other brands of bouillon cubes with healthier ingredients, and since they will keep forever I would recommend keeping some vegetable broth cubes in your pantry. However, for daily use I prefer other stock/broth alternatives.

Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie with Walnut Gravy

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and boiled
• 1/8 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 pound sweet peppers, chopped
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon hot pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 cup cooked black-eyed peas
• 3/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon rice flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened plain soy milk
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground sage
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Preparation

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil and saute onion over medium-low heat until fragrant. Add garlic, mushrooms, peppers, and hot pepper flakes and continue sauteing until peppers soften, about 4 minutes.
2. Add parsley and black-eyed peas and combine with sauteed vegetables over medium-high heat. Add broth and rice flour stirring until thoroughly combined, then allow liquid to come to a simmer. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, and place in a deep casserole dish and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to whisk potatoes with  soy milk, soy sauce, and ground sage until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Spread mashed sweet potatoes on top of the filling and place in an oven heated to 350 degrees. Bake until the filling simmers and the potatoes develop a slightly golden crust, about 30 minutes.
5. Let cool for about 10 minutes and consider serving with walnut gravy.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup raw walnuts, ground
• 1  cup vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Over medium-low heat, fry rice flour in olive oil, stirring constantly, until slightly golden, about 1 minute.
2. Add ground walnuts, vegetable stock, lemon juice, and pepper, and increase to high heat.
3. Bring liquid to a boil, whisking occasionally, then reduce heat to medium. Continue to simmer until gravy thickens, about 2 minutes.
4. Season with salt to taste.

Sweet Potato and Black Eyed Peas Salad

Ingredients

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1 cup cooked black-eyed peas
• 2 medium sweet peppers, diced
• 1/2 large sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped finely
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Arrange sweet potato cubes on a baking sheet and spray lightly with olive oil cooking spray. Bake the potatoes at 400 degrees for 12 minutes, or until tender.
2. While the potatoes are baking, prepare the dressing by whisking the oil and lemon juice together and allowing the basil to marinade in the dressing.
3. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes.
4. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl.

Coseppi Kitchen in Culture

Our article on Andean Quesillo has been published in the fall 2012 issue of Culture magazine! You can find Culture magazine at more than 4,500 retailers in the country including HEB, Central Market, and Whole Foods. We first saw the publication early in 2012 and were impressed with the quality of the photos and the breadth of the content. We were inspired by the DIY section to write an article on making the fresh cheese that we came to love while living in the high Peruvian Andes.

The recipe published in Culture is not unlike the fresh cheese recipe we published here a few months ago. The primary difference is that at higher altitudes water, and milk, boil at a lower temperature which also creates a smaller curd in the resulting cheese. We also enhanced the flavor with the addition of lime juice to form the curd. The resulting cheese is the perfect recreation of Andean Quesillo and ideal for the use in many of Peru’s most famous dishes including Aji de Quinoa, which can found on Culture’s website. Users of this recipe should know that the photo that accompanies the recipe on the website might be a little misleading. Aji de Quinoa does not contain large waxy chunks of potatoes and garbanzo beans. Rather, it is a classic Peruvian dish that an editor might think resembles the result of food and not necessarily food itself.