Welcome to day 1 of 10 naturally vegan dishes from around the world. This series was born from a major cooking rut. For the past couple of weeks, cooking has been challenging. Usually, I turn to the kitchen to bring joy on dark days but being in the kitchen was physically paining. We ordered a lot of take-out, and I spent days not eating.
After weeks of throwing away food because it was spoiling my fridge, ordering take-out every night, and starving myself, I knew I had to do something to get myself out of this funk. My comfort shows usually involve some kind of cooking. I binged a lot of Top Chef and videos of Beryl on Youtube. Two things both shows did for me reminded me why I love to cook: for the culture. Through food, you can learn a lot about someone’s culture. Inspired by Beryl’s Non-Vegan Tries 3 Vegan Dishes From 3 Countries video, I decided to do something similar but hold myself to do ten dishes for ten days. Ten days of making recipes I have never heard of or tried before—ten days of different palates, ingredients, and cultures. Ten days to get out of this kitchen rut. And it WORKED.
I have completed the challenge I created for myself and successfully got out of my cooking rut. David and I had some fantastic dishes that we wanted to include in our weekly meals. I learned about cooking techniques, food history, and different cultures. I had a lot of fun doing this challenge, and I have many ideas for future series.
Now on to our first dish kicking off the series: FASOLE BATUTA
Fasole bătută is one of the recipes brought to Romania from the Ottoman Empire. Being a simple peasant dish, it is one of the simplest yet most delicious things you can make with beans and vegetables. There are all kinds of variations of this traditional dish.
Fasole bătută translates to mashed beans. Before food processors were a thing, this dip was made by literally mashing the beans with a fork or a potato masher (talk about an arm workout). Now it is commonly made with a food processor to shorten the time. Fasole bătută is made with dried beans, soaked overnight, but it does require some prep ahead, so I opted for canned beans.
This traditional Romanian white bean spread is loaded with tons of garlic and a topping of juicy caramelized onions. The white beans are whipped together with extra virgin olive oil and chopped garlic to form a creamy base. Then they’re topped with slowly caramelized (sweet) onions, which add an earthy dimension and contrast to the creamy beans.
The difference between this dish and other similar bean spreads is that it has loads of fresh garlic. This bean dip is a staple in Romanian cooking. It makes for an incredibly filling and simple frugal meal, especially in the winter when fresh, vibrant produce is nonexistent.
Fasole bătută is so easy to make and an astonishingly delicious dish that I had never heard of until I was doing research for this series! You can serve it not only as a dip or bread spread but also as a side dish for many other dishes. I served it with roasted vegetables.
Through research on this dish, I learned that everyone has their way of making it, and it depends on your taste. This is the recipe I loosely followed. Adjust seasonings to your liking, use fresh beans, or mash the beans by hand (the traditional way)!
Let me know in the comments: are you familiar with this dish?