When I became a vegetarian it was very easy to live without meat dishes. I have never been a big fan of peace of steak, meatballs in sauce or any kind of meat in general. I'm sure it's because my family don't have that strong dinner tradition with meat on the table and potatoes aside, like other families in this region do. 
But what we had was tradition of homemade and delicious pâté made by my mother. And this for me as a vegetarian was a totally different story..

Red kidney bean vegan pâté #recipe

I remember her getting this very unusual recipe from a well known restaurant in Riga. Making off this pâté was a special process, fulfilled with different aromas and tastes. At that stage of my life it was the finest moment of the day- trying out moms freshly made pâté, that was still a little bit warm and was matching perfectly with a soft ciabatta bread. 

By becoming vegetarian I cut pâté out of my diet with no doubt, of course. I made this choice because my treatment of animals is governed by my sense of right and wrong, not my senses of taste and smell. I replaced born proteins with grown proteins by expanding my diet with different dishes. Now, when I'm eating vegan 99% of the time, I'm searching more for dishes that I haven't even heard about before. 
Trying to discover new dishes more and more by myself. Trying to veganise traditional recipes on my own. This is such an exciting process so I decided to share one of my stories, one of my recipes with you guys. I really hope that this will help to explore new horizons for you who are not vegans or even vegetarians! I'm talking about new experiences and new thoughts on how beyond the meat we know about. 

Red kidney bean vegan pâté

So, I decided to finally try veganise my favourite moms pâté. It wasn't very easy, according to recipe where I had to cut the main ingredient which is poultry liver.. But with a little help from my vegan friends, memory of taste and knowledge of different ingredients, I managed to achieve a very nice result. 

Anyway, you will be the judge this time! Let's get started!

What you will need?

If you have a meat mincer at home, you are more than prepared. Blender or food processor - anything will do if there is no mincer in the sight. And don't forget the following ingredients:

460g red kidney beans (cooked)
1 medium carrot
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon bell pepper powder
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
30g dairy-free butter
1 freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon whisky or brandy

Hand full of chopped walnuts

What's next?

1. Put chopped carrot, onion, garlic in the boiler with small amount of water and stew until fully cooked. 
2. Add salt, pepper, butter, orange juice and alcohol when ready.
3. Let it boil until the first bubble, take off the heat and let it cool down.
4. Combine all ingredients into food processor except walnuts.
5. Blend. 
6. Put pâté in a container and store in the fridge.

Red kidney bean vegan pâté
Pay attention

Here are some tips and tricks I use to make this recipe as easy, fast and delicious as possible!
- I am using pre-cooked, ecologically grown, red kidney beans from packaging, I think they work the best in this recipe. Just remember to rinse before using!
- As I'm always saying, trust your taste buds and add extra flavouring if necessary.
- The pâté will get a little firmer after few hours in the fridge because of the butter. 
- I suggest to add a lot of walnuts. They give this mild bitter taste that is perfect for vegan pâté.

I love to enjoy this pâté with any kind of dark bread or bread toast but you can use it as a rich side pure for dinner dishes. It would be great with mushrooms, potatoes and any other grilled veggies. 

Red kidney bean vegan pâté

The way of making real goose liver pâté is very cruel. There is no such a thing as lucky goose living around the yard and afterwards being killed for their bodies by the people they trusted. It's even more awful.

For fancy pâté farmers are overfeeding goose that much so they can't even walk. And no, overfeeding does not mean giving lil extra portion once in a while. It means putting tube into gooses tummy by force all the way down her throat to belly and putting there a sh*t cocktail. While with the other hand petting her and telling like 'it's gonna be ok' bullsh*t. 
Would you ever trust a human being who can do something like this to other live being? If you ask me, I could never. Period. 

But who I would trust, is this nice and cruelty free recipe above that makes no abuse and suffer to anyone to be as amazing as it is :)
Don't hesitate to make the first step because it's the most important one! 


Let's be kind to all kind!
*draata