Soya Fricassee-vegan

This is a satisfying main course in itself, although you may want to throw a few more veggies in...

This has been in our drafts folder for about 2 years now; that's when I first made it and forgot to write down the exact recipe... I'm using the white sauce from the previous post his time, however, rather than the tahini sauce I made originally. Fricassee is a classic French way of cooking meat and sometimes vegetables, in which you dice, saute then braise them in a white sauce, so that some of the liquid is absorbed; it's a cross between a stew and a saute. Fricassee has a long history in France, dating back to 1300, and according to Wikipedia it is mentioned as friquassee in a cookbook from 1490.

This closeup shows the glossy bechamel sauce coating the TVP and vegetables; it is thick but  the fricassee is still moist.

This fricassee has a double dose of soya, as soya milk is used in the sauce and the protein element is TVP chunks. We try not to use these very often as they are a highly processed food but they do absorb flavours extremely well and lend an interesting chewy texture to dishes. If you are not a fan of soya then you could try hemp, oat or rice milk in the sauce and use seitan or tofu - yeah I know it;s still soya but it's very digestible (saute the tofu, taking care not to break it) instead of the TVP. This recipe easily makes 8 moderate-sized portions.
250g (dry weight) unflavoured TVP chunks, soaked until soft then drained
2 medium bell peppers, chopped
100g helda/ green beans or cabbage, sliced
2 tabs olive or cold-pressed sunflower oil
1/2 tsp compound hing
a quantity of vegan white sauce, made as per the recipe, seasonings and all
a further 1/2 tsp compound hing
1/2 tab dried thyme
2 tsps seasalt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 dried bay leaves

• Saute the vegetables in the oil with the first 1/2 tsp of hing.
• Add the corn and the soaked TVP.
• Make the white sauce and stir it into the soya and vegetable mixture.
• Add the other 1/2 tsp hing, thyme, seasalt, black pepper and bay leaves.
• Simmer gently until the desired thickness is achieved; it should be thickish but not too dry.

We served this one with some turmeric rice, grilled plantain and steamed broccoli, but it could be a complete meal over rice if you add more vegetables to it.