Hungarian Tomato-Pepper Stew with Seitan Bacon (Lecsó)

Lecsó (leh-cho) is a simple stew of several ingredients favoured in Hungarian cooking - peppers, tomatoes, and onions...and of course, a generous dousing of paprika. When made in the traditional fashion, the onions and peppers are fried in bacon fat until crisp, tomatoes are then added and the whole thing simmered until it resembles a thick tomato stew. There are actually quite a few variations; served with boiled potatoes or cooked with rice or egg barley (tarhonya), served as is, with bread or as a savory pancake filling, thickened with beaten eggs or with a fried egg on top, with bacon or kolbász sausages, and of course, with sour cream if one desires.

Veganizing this recipe was actually quite easy - I used cubes of seitan bacon from this recipe to impart a smoky flavor. It's optional though, you could certainly make this without the bacon. The photo above kinda looks like it's mostly peppers, but that's just the pic, there was plenty of tomato goodness going on. Try to get yellow Hungarian peppers if you can, but otherwise standard green ones will do just fine. This is a very simple dish to make, and can be served as a main course or a side dish...it made for a great lazy day lunch.

Splurge on some decent quality Hungarian paprika - the Spanish variation is just not the same. More on that later, remind me to tell you about the time I got into an argument with a Polish butcher (during my omnivore days) over the difference...trust me on this point.

Makes 4 large servings.


3 Tbsp olive oil
2 servings seitan bacon or store-bought equivalent
3 large green peppers, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, diced
3 large tomatoes, chopped
2-5 Tablespoons sweet and/or hot Hungarian paprika
  *add as much or as little as you like, depends on your own tastes
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
black pepper (if desired)
1/4 cup sour cream of choice


Heat up a skillet or pot, preferably non-stick or ceramic (pictured is an 'Earth Chef' ceramic frying pan, awesome). Cube the seitan bacon and fry in 2 Tbsp of the oil until nicely browned, then remove and put aside. Fry the onions and green peppers in the remaining 1 Tbsp oil until browned, add the garlic, sugar, salt, pepper and paprika and continue to cook for another minute - be careful to not let the paprika burn on the bottom of the pot! Add the tomatoes, put on a lid, and simmer for 10-20 minutes, until the veggies are all well-cooked. 


During the last 2 minutes of cooking, throw in your seitan bacon to impart a wonderful smoky flavour. mmmmmm...serve with a Tablespoon of sour cream and sprinkle with paprika.


Per serving: 219 cals, 13g fat, 17g carbs, 312mg sodium, 4g fiber, 11g protein. (PRO40.2/19%,CHO64.1/29%,FAT112/52%)

Homemade bagels - quick method

I have always wanted to master making homemade bagels, and I have to admit I was really pleased with how these turned out. The recipe is fairly simple, but the method of finishing the bagels take a bit of time - about 1.5 to 2 hours, start to finish. Worth it? Yes. And, if you're watching calories like I do, check out the counts below - reasonable portion size means they are far lower in calories than store-bought larger varieties.

This recipe is the "quick method" in that the dough goes together quickly. Other recipes involve using a starter that gets made 24hrs beforehand, kind of like a sourdough bagel, and we'll try those one day soon too. But for now, here's a great simple way to serve up something homemade. Have fun with the various flavour options, pictured here are double-chocolate chip...mmmm...what a way to start the day.

Makes 12 large or 16 medium bagels.

4 cups flour (try 1/2 white, 1/2 spelt or whole wheat)

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp quick-rise instant yeast

1.5 cups warm water

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix into a dough, adding just enough water to incorporate all of the flour - the dough should still be fairly stiff. Knead for 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface, you may still notice some of the yeast speckled throughout the dough - that's ok, it will dissolve eventually. Cut the dough into 12 or 16 equal pieces, depending on how large you want to make them. Let rest for 20 minutes.

Take a piece of the dough, and knead it slightly. Using the palms of your hands, roll out the dough into a long rope. Bring the ends together to make a circle, and squish them together so that they stick. Now slip your hand through the circle, keeping the joined end under your palm, and gently roll it back and forth to smooth out the area that was joined together. Voila! A perfect circle. Let rest for 20-30 minutes.


Start a large wide pot of water to boil, and turn on your oven to 425 degrees. Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. I found that the shaping process took the most time...by the time I was done, the first few bagels were risen and ready for boiling. No problem, I boiled and baked in 2 batches. To boil the bagel, take 2-3 bagels and lay them in the boiling water. They will expand as they boil, so don't crowd them. Boil for 1 minute, flip them over, and boil 1 minute more. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, remove them from the water and allow any excess water to drip off. Lay on baking sheet.


Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on how crisp you like the surface. Cool on a baking rack to allow the bottoms to remain crisp too, if you cool them on the sheet condensation will build up and bottoms will be soft while the tops are crispy. These are super-amazing toasted!


Variations
lemon cranberry: add 1-2 Tbsp lemon zest and 1/2 cup dried cranberries to the bowl as you add the ingredients together at the beginning of the process.
flax/sesame/sunflower seed, etc: add 3-4 Tbsp whole or ground seeds to the bowl as you add the ingredients together at the beginning of the process.
blueberry or cherry: yikes, fresh berries will make a huge mess - go with 1/2 cup dried fruit instead, available in the bulk or baking section of your grocery store. A little pricey but what a treat!
cinnamon raisin: add 1-2 Tbsp cinnamon and 1/2 cup raisins to the bowl as you add the ingredients together at the beginning of the process.
double-chocolate chip: add 1/3 cup cocoa powder to the bowl as you add the ingredients together at the beginning of the process, and when you go to punch down the individual pieces of dough in order to roll them out, add 1 Tbsp of mini chocolate chips per bagel while you knead. Don't add the chocolate chips at the very beginning of the process, they will simply melt when you add in your warm water.

Per large plain bagel: 149 cals, 2g fat, 30g carbs, 196mg sodium, 5g fiber, 5g protein. (PRO19.7/13%,CHO114/76%,FAT16.2/11%)
Per medium plain bagel: 112 cals, 1g fat, 23g carbs, 147mg sodium, 4g fiber, 4g protein. 
(PRO14.8/13%,CHO85.1/76%,FAT12.2/11%)
**adjust the counts to include additional ingredients if you make one of the variations