Her name is Rio

For our honeymoon this past July, my other half and I descended on Rio de Janeiro for the first part of our honeymoon. It was such an amazing place, we had the best time & even better food!

We were blessed with having Ipanema Beach as our front garden for five days, and shared it with the Dutch National Team for The World Cup which was also taking place then. Every time we left the hotel this was what we saw:

It was a wild time! The food was to die for, and in honour of our trip, am recreating some of the dishes we had. Now Feijoada is the national dish of Brazil, but as a vegetarian, was not able to find a veggie version of it where we were staying. Looking at the ingredients I knew it was possible so once home I researched and did some trial and errors and came to this:

Vegan Feijoada served alongside Brazilian Rice & Plantain Crisps

Serves: 4

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Feijoada

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 roasted red peppers, diced
• 1 handful per person faux chorizo/sausage bits diced up (optional)

• 2 x 400g cans cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 small hot green chilli, diced
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 x 400g cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 mango – peeled, stone removed and diced
• half a bunch fresh coriander, chopped
• salt to taste

Rice

• 1 cup rice
• 1 tbs oil (i always use coconut)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic minced, or a shake or two of some garlic granules
• 2 cups water
• salt to taste

Plantain Chips

• 2 plantains, peeled and sliced into wide stripes
• coconut oil, for frying
• salt to taste

Method

1. Get your pans out & ready!
2. Start off with your feijoada. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, and cook the chorizo and ham for 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook until translucent & beginning to caramelise. Then add your garlic and cook until soft then mix in the sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, chilli & water. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.
3. While your feijoada is cooking, sort your rice out! Rinse the starch off with some cold water. Put in your coconut oil. cook the garlic & onion down for 5 minutes and then add the rice. Stir through then add your boiled water, some salt, and then let boil. Bring to a simmer, cover, and let cook for 20 minutes or until rice is soft & tender.
4. Get a frying pan heated up real good, put in some coconut oil, and fry the plantain slices. Flip over & let both sides get some colour, then take out and let dry off on a paper towel. Salt before you eat 🙂
5. Plate up & Enjoy!