BBQ Tofu Bagel and Linguine with Kale in a Pumpkin Cashew Sauce

I’ve still been quite busy with uni. Yesterday I had my Italian exam, which I hope will be the last exam I ever sit. Not sure it went too well, so I am praying for a pass. All that’s left to go now is to hand my last assignment for history. By friday or maybe sunday I should be finished for good and I can’t wait! Then I can put more effort into cooking. My mum has been cooking more for us lately or I whip up something quick and simple for us.

Yesterday I got a chance before my exam to go back down to Fundies Wholefood Market for their Friends day. Once a month they offer 15% off, so I thought it was worth buying up on organic fruit and veggies. I recently saw the EWG’s 2013 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Although this data is from the USA, in Australia we do use a lot of the same pesticides. In fact I did an assignment a while back and I found that we use a lot of pesticides that are illegal in other countries.

In the last couple of years since I have been buying and growing more organic produce I really notice the difference in the taste. I notice that particularly conventional apples, zucchini, green beans, rocket and other leafy greens have a really bitter taste. Marco can taste it as well now and enjoys the taste of organic vegetables much better. Before I went to Europe we were regularly going to the Organic Markets on Sundays, but I have gotten slack since I got back. But this latest shoppers guide has really reminded me why I want to buy organic. We can’t afford or find everything on this list of the Dirty Dozen, but I am going to make a conscious effort to try to buy organic or avoid these ones. So you can see what I bought below. I got most of this stuff for juicing since its something we do every day.

We also bought these Bagel Boys Sesame Bagels from Fundies. They looked too good to pass up. Coles and Woolies have just recently got bagels, but they are full of preservatives. These ones have completely natural ingredients.

When we were living in Milan we use to often go to The Bagel Factory for breakfast or lunch, when we were sick of pizza or pasta. We would chose a whole wheat bagel and usually get the Bagel con uova all”occhio di bue  filling, that was full of egg, ham, capsicum and onion. When I wasn’t as hungry I would order the  hummus filling instead. They were both really delicious. In case you didn’t realize I wasn’t vegan this time last year. But now I look back and I can’t believe I use to eat this bagel with all that egg and ham. I remember how good it tastes but I think I ate enough of them to live without them. Marco still has fond memories of these bagels.

Marco really wanted to recreate this breakfast bagel, but instead I made some veganised versions. Yesterday  since we were in a hurry, we quickly cooked up some Fry’s Traditional Burgers, prepared some fresh salad items and stuffed them into our bagels. These were so good! The Bagels were not as good as the fresh ones in Milan, but toasted they still good.

Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs

Today I had a bit more time to think about lunch so I made us these BBQ Tofu Bagels. I still had heaps of homemade BBQ, that I used to make the Sweet and Sour Meatballs from Chloe’s Kitchen a while ago. You can find the recipe for both the sauce and the meat balls on Smith’s Vegan Kitchen blog. I marinated the tofu and the onions in this sauce then cooked them in a griddle pan. These bagels were even better then the day before. This tofu is also really good on its own.

BBQ Tofu Bagel (vegan, gluten free option, nut free)

Ingredients:

200g organic firm tofu

1/2 homemade BBQ sauce (recipe above)

1 brown onion olive oil

3 bagels (wheat flour/gluten free)

1 tomato sliced

1 small carrot grated

1 small beetroot grated

1/2 cucumber sliced

3 lettuce leaves

1 handful of alfalfa

Method:

1. Press the tofu, then slice it into 6 pieces.

2. Marinate the tofu and sliced onion in the BBQ sauce.

3. Heat a griddle pan with olive oil, then cook the tofu and onions for 7-10 mins. The onion should be softnened and the tofu should be heated through.

4.Slice the bagels so you have two halfs, then brush them with olive oil and toast them in the griddle pan.

5. Add some extra bbq sauce onto the bagels, then fill them with tofu, onion, sliced tomato, grated carrot, grated beetroot, sliced cucumber, alfalfa and lettuce.

*Serves 3

Tonight Mum went out, I was nearly not going to cook, but I felt guilty having all this food in the fridge. I really wanted to try out this Red Russian Kale that I got from Fundies, so I came up with this. Marco loved this dish and was disappointed I didn’t make enough for seconds. Luckily I have some left over sauce so this will be lunch again tomorrow.

Linguine with Kale in a Pumpkin Cashew Sauce (vegan, gluten free option, soy free)

Ingredients for Pumpkin Cashew Sauce: 

3 cups chopped butternut pumpkin (or 2 cups mashed pumpkin)

3/4 cup cashew (raw or presoaked)

1 cup almond or other plant milk

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional for cheezy flavour)

sea salt to taste,

Remaining Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch red russian kale (or other type kale/spinach), roughly chopped

4 serves linguine/other long pasta

2-3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (optional)

italian parsley (optional)

Method:

First Prepare the Sauce:

1. Steam the pumpkin in a large pot of water until it is soft. This should take about 20 mins. Then remove the pumpkin and mash it.

2. In the meantime if you haven’t soaked the cashews already, boil them for 10 mins.

3. In a processor, add the cashews and blend them until they are mostly broken down.

4. Add the pumpkin and almond milk and continue to blend. The cashews should be braking down now. Keep scraping down the sides of the bowl so there are no pieces of cashew that aren’t being blended.

5. While the processor is on add the dijon mustard, olive oil, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, and sea salt.

Now prepare the rest:

6. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

7. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Then add the kale, sea salt and pepper. Saute for 2 minutes or until it begins to wilt.

8. Add the pumpkin cashew sauce to the pan and heat through.

9. Serve sauce ontop of hot pasta and garnish with lightly toasted pumpkin seeds and italian parsley.

*Serves 4

Warm Buckwheat and Lentil Salad with Pumpkin and Broccolini

Hi guys hope you all had a good weekend. I can’t believe how fast its gone. I’ve been juicing away every day with my favorite new addition. I just love watching it do its magic  Here is a couple of the juices I prepared recently. The first one is Beetroot, Pear, Kale and Cucumber. I also made some Sushi with honey soy tofu, avocado and cucumber. The next one is rockmelon, lemon and ginger. That one was a bit tangy, but still very good.

Last night we popped into the vegan restaurant Banana Lounge for some dessert. I also got a sticky beak at their new menu, which is the same for lunch and dinner. I have heard mixed reviews about their food, but I would like to check it out soon. I have only been to the vegan buffet breakfast. On their new menu they have nachos, burritos, mexican rice bowl and raw pizza etc. I was the only one that order dessert. I got the Raw Choc, Date & Pistachio Brownies and the Mexican Chili Hot Chocolate. Both were really delicious! They really know how to make a good vegan dessert.

Tonight I wanted to make something healthy, but hearty. Its so cold here at the moment, so we need something a bit heavier. This dish just keep evolving till I got hungry enough to stop adding things. I brought a whole lot of sprouts today so I am going to try add them to more of my meals for extra nutrients. I am trying to get Marco into sprouts. He didn’t mind a sprinkle of these snow pea sprouts, but they aren’t his favorite thing.

Warm Buckwheat & Lentil Salad with Pumpkin & Broccolini, Roasted Garlic Tahini Dressing and Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (vegan, gluten free, soy free, nut free)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried brown lentils

1 cup raw buckwheat

900 g kent or butternut pumpkin

olive oil

2 bunches of broccolini

sea salt to taste

snow pea sprouts, washed, roughly chopped

Ingredients Roasted Garlic Tahini Dressing:

1 whole garlic head

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon ground cumin

pinch ground cayenne pepper

1/4 cup italian parsley

1 tablespoon tahini (unhulled)

sea salt to taste

Ingredients Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

sea salt to taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

2. Place lentils in pot with 2 cups of water and bring to the boil, then leave to simmer for 30-40 mins or until lentils are cooked. Then strain any water and leave to cool.

3. Place buckwheat in a pot with 3 cups of water and bring to the boi, then leave to simmer for 30 mins or until the buckwheat are cooked. Then leave to cool

4. In the meantime remove the seeds and skin from the pumpkin and slice into flat bite size pieces.

5. Place pumpkin pieces and a whole garlic in a bowl and toss through 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Then place all on a baking tray and cook for 30 mins or until the pumpkin is cooked, leave to cool.

6. Clean the pumpkin seeds then combine in a bowl with olive oil, cumin, cayenne and sea salt. Then place on a tray and roast for 5 mins or until cooked. Leave to the side for later.

7. Peel the whole roasted garlic and place in the processor.

8. Add olive oil, lemon juice, water, cumin and cayenne and whiz until combined.

9. Then add tahini, italian parsley and sea salt. Whiz until combined. Add more sea salt if you need.

10. Roughly chop the broccolini, then saute in a pan with olive oil until tender.

11. In the mean time, combine the lentils, buckwheat and pumpkin in a large bowl. Then top with the dress, stir through.

12. Add the broccolini to the salad and stir through.

13. Serve the warm salad, topped with snow pea sprouts and roasted spicy pumpkin seeds.

*Serves 4 as a main or 6 as a side.

For dessert I made these Gluten free Yoga Chocolate Cupcakes from Chloe’s Vegan Desserts. You can find the recipe here. Mum called them disgustingly delicious lol. She couldn’t believe how good this vegan cupcakes are. They are really crunchy on the top and soft and moist on the inside. Instead of making 34 mini cupcakes, I made 12. This also means I needed half the chocolate icing.

Doggy Days, Pancakes and Black beans

I haven’t posted in a few days, since I have been quite stressed out. I have still been cooking, but not anything too exciting. I have been stressed because a couple of days ago I caught my crazy religious fanatic neighbor on my property trying to scare my dogs, by screaming and barking at them. I had a big argument with him and had to call the police. This is not the first time he has barked at the dogs. Both my dogs hate him and go crazy when ever they see him walk in the street. However, this is the first time I found him inside our front gates. After the police spoke to him they  realized he was crazy. They told him the next time he trespasses into my property or makes a public nuisance by barking at the dogs, then he will get charged. I know this isn’t over. He intend going to the council about my dogs barking and being ‘dangerous’. I’ve spoken to the council, so I just have to wait now and hope they side with me. Who could ever thing these two little guys are dangerous. I took them to the dog park today. They haven’t been in over 6 months, so I was a bit scared what would happen. But they were really good. Well Albie did have a tussle with the first dog that arrived. But then ten more arrived, so he realized he had to get along with them, because he was out numbered. I just can’t believe how big he has grown. He was the biggest dog there today. It was funny seeing a couple of the dogs run straight to him, since he was the biggest. Once they got the ok from him, they knew they wouldn’t have any trouble with the others. Little do they know how much of a baby he is.

A couple of days back when this all happened. I had plans of making Nachos with Black Bean Chili from scratch. However, it got to late and Marco thought it was better we bought the Nacho Topping and Corn Chips, since he was too hungry to wait. We used Old El Paso Nacho Topping, with Pinto beans and Mission Corn Chips. Both of these products weren’t too bad. I don’t usually buy Mexican products anymore, but I was happy with ingredients in these ones. For the cheese sauce I used Avocados and Ales recipe, Vegan Nacho Cheese. This is a really delicious nutritious alternative to using store bought melty cheese. I promise you won’t be able to tell the difference with the taste and texture. I will definitely make this vegan cheese alternative again. I served this with the leftover Cashew Sour Cream and Guacamole  So happy avocados are back in abundance at the moment.

I have still been juicing everyday. Marco is also really been enjoying the juices and is getting use to eating raw vegetables for breakfast. Our favorite combination is Apple, Orange, Spinach, Celery, Carrot, Broccoli, Lime, Beetroot and Spiralina. I also love ginger, but Marco is not a fan. Other ingredients I have added include Plums, Zucchini, Parsley, Pumpkin, Cucumber, Mandarin and Lettuce. I really like the taste of lettuce and plums. But still not a fan of parsley.  So what have been the outcomes? In 7 days my skin cleared up and I can actually sleep at night and don’t wake up until 7 hours later, when I feel really refreshed. I also don’t feel like I need coffee. In past 20 days I have had one after having a terrible headache for a couple of days. I think I had coffee withdrawal, since the headache disappeared after I drank coffee. But I haven’t had another headache. Unfortunately, my skin is not as perfect as it was, since I gobbed up two jumbo Anzac Biscuits, that Marco’s boss made. I was told that it was dairy free, but turns out they weren’t and that the guy didn’t realise butter was dairy. So I will be juicing my way back to better skin again.

Yesterday, I took a break after 20 days of juicing and made Tiramisu Pancakes for breakfast, from Chloe’s Vegan Desserts.  These were amazing and hands down the best pancakes I have ever made. You can find the recipe here. I used whole wheat flour and used vanilla extract instead of dark rum. Although this batter is not sweet, since it only calls for maple syrup, the chocolate chips sweetened it nicely.

Tonight I made a Cuban classic, Black bean Soup or Sopa de frijoles negros. This rich, spicy soup is typically prepared in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil and other nations in Latin America. The ingredients usually present are black beans, salt, ham hocks, onions, garlic, tomatoes, chili peppers, powdered cumin seeds, oregano and vinegar. It is often pureed smooth or can be left more chunky and rustic.

I looked at numerous recipes to come up with the right ingredients. I am not sure how authentic mine is, but it tasted really, really good. It had almost a meaty texture and taste. It also got Marco’s seal of approval, he had two serves. I also made Homemade Nachos (baked corn chips) to go with it. I used suckitupnotin recipe, Homemade Nachos. Instead of Garam Marsala, I used Cumin. Other then that I followed the recipe. I recommend not cooking them any longer then 12 mins, as the longer they cook the harder they go.

Cuban Black bean Soup (vegan, gluten free, soy free, nut free)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 serrano chilli, diced

1/2 green capsicum, diced

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground cayenne or chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

450g cooked black beans

4 small tomatoes, diced

3 cups vegetable liquid stock

1 tablespoon lime juice (and more to garnish)

sea salt & black pepper to taste

2 shallots, diced to garnish

coriander leaves, diced to garnish

red capsicum, diced to garnish

vegan sour cream to garnish (Cashew Sour Cream)

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add red onion, garlic, serrano chili and green capsicum. Saute for 4-5 mins.

2. Add cumin, cayenne and dried oregano. Saute for 2 mins.

3. Add black beans, tomatoes and liquid stock. Bring to the boil, then place on a simmer and cover for 30 mins.

4. Add lime juice, salt and pepper and cook for another 10-15 mins.

5. Puree half the soup with a bar mix or processor, then combine again and reheat.

6. Serve soup and garnish with shallots, coriander, red capsicum, vegan sour cream and fresh lime.

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Spiced Vegetable and Lentil Loaf

Its been pouring all day here and the air is a little cooler. So tonight I felt like some comfort food. This recipe is adapted from Lentil Loaf by The Vegan Stoner. I recently came across their recipes and I really like them. They are simple to follow and the drawings are really cool.

I changed the recipe by using oats instead of crackers and added some extra spices. Mine was not as firm as I would of liked, but that was probably because I didn’t mash the lentils.  It tasted delicious and I got to make use of my dried organic green lentils and organic frozen vegetables from Woolworths, which have been waiting to be used for a while. I just served it with some simple roasted vegetables and added a little bit extra ketchup to serve.

Spiced Vegetable and Lentil Loaf (vegan, gluten free, soy free)

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked green lentils

1 red or brown onion

1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

1/4 cup organic instant oats

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, roughly chopped

4 tablespoons apple sauce

2 tablespoons ketchup sauce

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and prepare a loaf tin with baking paper.

2. In a mixing bowl combine green lentils, onion, walnuts and oats and stir through. Mash the lentils, if you want a more firmer consistency. 

3. Then add sea salt, black pepper, cardamon, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, garlic powder and cayenne, stir through.

4. Lastly add the frozen vegetables, apple sauce and ketchup, stir through.

5. Press the mixture into a loaf pan and cook for 40-50 mins, or till golden brown on top.

* Serves 6

My highlight of today was receiving my long awaited Chloe’s Vegan Desserts recipe book, that I purchased as soon as I found out it was coming out. To celebrate I made Chef Chloe’s Peanut Butter Cookies. I burned mine a little because silly me though I should put two trays of cookies on the same rack. Nevertheless they were so delicious. I used coconut sugar, so I didn’t feel so guilty eating them too. They really tasted like professorially baked cookies as well. I can’t wait to try so more of her recipes!

Toasted Almond & Coconut Gelato

I can’t believe its Christmas in 2 days. I went Christmas shopping yesterday and I was meant to get the last minute presents for my family. But I ended up coming home with only a  pair of Guess Jeans for me. Have to do some last minute shopping tomorrow, as well as plan what I am going to cook for Christmas. Usually we do it here, but this year we are going to my cousins house. They are big meat and dairy eaters so I want to bring something I can eat and they can also enjoy. Not sure what I’ll make but I better think of something soon.

Last night I made this gelato. It didn’t stay in shape for too long since it is so hot here at the moment, but it was really good. It was also very sticky and got stuck in the the crevices of my processor. It got into places are really hard to clean and I don’t know how it happened. Luckily I already know what I am getting for Christmas from my mum. She is getting me an ice cream machine and a dehydrator. So I can start making real ice cream soon. I can’t wait to try out some new flavors and not rely on frozen bananas.

Toasted Almond & Coconut Gelato (gf, sf)

Ingredients:

3 frozen bananas

1 can coconut cream

agave/maple syrup to taste

hand full of almonds

handful of dried shredded coconut

Method:

1. Cut the almonds roughly, then dry toast in a pan and then set to the side.

2. Dry toast the shredd coconut and set to the side.

3. Roughly chop up the banana and place into the processor

4. Spoon out the cream from the coconut cream (discard the water) and place into the processor.

5. Turn on processor and while it is mixing add the agave.

6. Once all the banana has been blended, add most of the almonds and coconut. Only pulse so it mixes through.

7. Serve with the toasted almonds & coconut on top.

Today was Marco’s birthday lunch with his family, so I prepared some dishes to take. I made a few things from Chloe’s Kitchen recipe book including Sweet-and-Sour Party Meatballs, Rosemary Tomato Galette with Pine Nut Ricotta and Chocolate Walnut Fudge. The meat balls were delicious and really easy to make. They were made of tempeh, walnuts and lentils. They tasted and smelled more like meat then other recipes I have tried, but texture in the center was a bit soft, more like a processed meat. The sweet and sour sauce was really easy to make and it was a bit like the McDonald’s nugget sauce. The galette turned out really well. It really paid off refrigerating the dough 3 times before baking it. The pastry was more like a short crust pastry and had a much better texture then the other galette I have made previously. The pine nut ricotta was really really good. I was more like a pesto. It had roasted garlic, soaked pinenuts, oil and lemon juice. I found I had to add a bit of water to make it really creamy, but definetely something I want to make again, even if its just to have on toast. The fudge was the most wicked I have ever made. It called for 3 cups of chocolate (I used Sweet William), 1 can of coconut milk, cocoa, 3 cups of powdered (icing) sugar and toasted walnuts. Unfortunately I didnt realised till I had made it, with only 30 mins till I had to be at the party, that I realized it was meant to set in the fridge for up to 8 hours. I don’t know how I forgot about that. So it wasn’t exactly set when it came time to eat it. We still tried to eat it though. It was so rich and decadent, the photos don’t do it justice. Not sure I will make this again. Too fattening! I am not sure if I will bring it to Christmas or I will freeze it and allow Marco a small piece once a month.

Marco’s sister made toasted pita bread with oregano with a chickpea and roasted capsicum dip, which was really good. They also had their traditional salads, of tomato and onion, and cabbage with vinegar and roasted chicken with mayo and gherkins. For main course they made roasted pork, chicken and vegetables. I managed to stay away from the meat and ate my meat balls. I love the way they do their vegetables though. I’m not sure how they get them to taste so good, but they are always perfect. For dessert there was also a serbian cake made of nuts, plasma biscuits and egg whites. It is a serbian cake they always make for celebrations. I did have a bit of that, since it was dairy free. They also had baklava. I am not a big fan of that, its too sweet for me. It was nice to bring somethings though. So I could have a proper meal and not have people worrying about that I’m not eating. I was really happy they they also had the food I made. I think some vegan foods freak some people out. But what I love about Chloe’s recipes is that they don’t look ‘vegan’, they just look and taste delicious.

Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs

Rosemary & Tomato Galettes

Pine nut Ricotta

Toasted Pita bread with Oregano

Roasted Meats & Vegetables

Chocolate Walnut Fudge

Plasma Cake

Baklava

Egg-free Frittata and Satay Tofu Panini

Today’s is Marco’s Birthday, so I had a special breakfast planned for him. This morning I made Chef Chloe’s End-of-Summer Frittata. I also got a Rustic Baguette from the bakery, fresh cherries, shaved chicken (his idea) and I made a fresh orange and mango juice to go with it. The frittata was great! He really loved it, which I am really pleased about, since he has a egg intolerance and I have been trying to find a breakfast egg alternative for a while.

The recipe did take me longer then I thought it would.  But was 36 degrees (96.8 fahrenheit) and I was trying to do so many things at once. But it is pretty straight forward. I used firm tofu by accident, since the packaging looks exactly the same as the silk tofu when I bought it. However, it blended fine in my processor and still had a rich flavor when mixed with the other ingredients.  It tasted very much like the yolk of a hard boiled egg. I think if I had used silky tofu, then it would of been less dense. After I made the tofu mixture, I added it to the vegetables and I let it cook for 15 mins as the recipe said  Then when it came time to put it in the oven to brown, I don’t have a boiler in my oven or oven safe pans. So I tried to stick my pan under the oven grill, with the handle sticking out of the oven. It didn’t brown the top of the frittata as well as I would liked. But it didn’t matter. The frittata was cooked inside enough and turned out really delicious.

Most importantly Marco loved it and didn’t even realize it didn’t have eggs in it. I really recommend this recipe if you miss egg frittata or want to just try something different. It wasn’t as rubbery as eggs would usually be so I think I prefer this to an egg fritata. The potatoes tasted really good in it and were nice and soft by the time it was finished. Definitely one of my favorite recipes to date.

We weren’t planing on having lunch since its so hot here and breakfast was a bit late. But this afternoon after a swim in the pool we changed our mind. I didn’t have much in the fridge, so this is what I came up with. I recently bought Vessimix Satay Peanut Sauce from the Asian supermarket. It is also available at health food shops as it is vegan. Its made by Lamyong Vegetarian Health Food. I also recently had Satay Tofu burger from the Green Edge and it was amazing. So I decided to try and recreate it. This must be the same satay sauce they use, as it tasted exactly the same. I used the rest of the Rustic Baguette and added some salad. If you don’t love tofu, you won’t be able to tell when your eating this panini. This is a simple go-to recipe for a lazy summer day.

Satay Tofu Panini (vegan, gluten free option)

Ingredients:

Baguette or other fresh bread (use gluten free bread if you prefer)

firm tofu

Vessimix Satay Peanut Sauce

grated carrot

sliced tomato

diced wombok/lettuce

sea salt to taste

Method:

1. First slice the block of firm tofu. About 2 slices per panini (depending on the size of it). Press the water out of it with a paper towel. Then place in a plate and cover with the satay sauce.

2. Heat a griddle pan with canola oil (brushed on/sprayed).

3. Add the tofu to the griddle pan and cook for both sides for a couple minutes each on medium heat. Then take off the heat.

4. Slice the bread, then add two slices of tofu and then top with rest of the ingredients and serve.

Eggplant Rolls stuffed with Quinoa and ‘Mince’

I finally found a good substitute for mince meat. I have tried Quorn, which was very close, but has egg whites so its not vegan. TVP Mince (Lamyong) is vegan and has a very meaty texture. It doesn’t taste like meat of course, but it takes on the taste of whatever you put with it. So I think you could add stock to give it a more meaty taste. I just added soy sauce tonight to give it a richer taste. I have read that TVP Mince is not healthy, but for every now it again its ok. Better then the saturated fats in meat anyway.

We bought a big eggplant and I was thinking of what I could do with it. I didn’t have enough potato’s for moussaka, so I thought I would try and create something new. It turned out well. The stuffing was nice and moist and eggplant was nice and soft. I read a tip in my Chef Chloe book about how to prepare eggplant by sweating. It actually really works and my eggplant was not bitter at all. 

Eggplant Rolls stuffed with Quinoa and ‘Mince’ (vegan, gluten free, nut free)

Ingredients:

1 red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups quinoa, cooked

1 cup TVP Mince (I used Lamyong TVP Mince)

1 large italian eggplant, sliced in large thin pieces

200g tomato pasta sauce

3 tablespoons tamari or gluten free soy sauce

2 tablespoons fresh basil

olive oil for frying

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees

2. Sweat the eggplants for 20mins. Just need to put eggplant on a tray and cover in plenty of salt. After wipe off the salt and water (that will come out of it).

3. Shallow fry the eggplant, till soft then place on a plate/tray with paper towel, to soak up the oil and let leave it to cool.

4. Cook quinoa according to packet and soak TVP Mince in small amount of water, so its just wet.

5. Heat olive oil in a pot then add onion and garlic and cook for 5mins on medium heat. 

6. Take pot off the heat, add TVP Mince, quinoa, 1/4 cup of passata sauce (or more if mixture is too dry), soy sauce, basil, salt & pepper to taste.

7. Take a 8×10 baking dish and spoon few tablespoons of sauce to cover the bottom.

8. Now you can start rolling the eggplant if they are cool enough. Just place eggplant slice on palm of hand and spoon mixture into the centre and roll each side in and then place into baking dish. 

9. Once you have made all the eggplant rolls cover the top with passata sauce and sprinkle the top with corn crumbs.

10. Cook in the oven for 25mins, till hot all the way through and corn crumbs are a little golden.

Black bean Veggie Burgers with Pineapple Relish and Lemon Olive Oil & Poppyseed Cake

Hawaiian Sloppy Joes (Chloe Coscarelli recipe) with homemade Tahini & Guacamole on whole grain bun

I’ve been really busy this weekend writing my last few essays before the end of the semester. So I haven’t had much time to cook anything special. I’ve don’t even remember what I’ve eaten the last few days. I’ve been a zombie on the computer. So tonight I wanted to make something special.

I decided to make a couple of recipes from Chloe Coscarelli’s book, Chloe’s Kitchen.Well  these recipes aren’t actually from her book, but on her website promoting her book.

I’ve got her book as well and its really great. I’ve cooked a few of her recipes and they are really recipes that you wouldn’t know its vegan. The Hawaiian Sloppy Joes are also on her website. The Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiata Sauce are in the book. The filling is Garden Ricotta and its amazing. I never thought I would taste ricotta again. You can use it to substitute ricotta for other recipes. I have only used it for savoury, not sure how it would for sweet with the white miso paste in it.

Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiata Sauce

Anyway tonight I was planing on making Chloe’s Mexicali Sliders. I was still able to make the Black bean Patties, but as for the Spicy Mango Sauce and the Guacamole, that was not able happen. There was a little communication problem with my boyfriend. He went food shopping before he came home and I told him I needed mangos and avocado, but apparently he heard everything I didn’t  need. So by the time I made the patties and I was about to prepare the rest I discovered I was missing a few things.

But it was ok, luckily I had a can of pineapple and used that instead of the mango. I was a bit worried putting pineapple with sun dried tomatoes, but it was really delicious. As for the Black bean patties, they were amazing. I think the best veggie patty I’ve ever had. Way better then anything I’ve paid for out, well except for the one at Green Edge. If you don’t like coriander, don’t worry you wont be able to taste it. Marco hates coriander and he didn’t know it was even in there. It was full of flavour and very easy to prepare. I had to use polenta and rice crumbs since I didn’t have cornmeal or breadcrumbs, which I think made it more moist, which means its gluten free I guess. These ingredients really help to bind the patties, so they don’t need egg. They tasted pretty good before they were cooked as well, so I think you could have them raw.

I also made Marco’s favourite sweet potato fries on the side. Since we found out he has an intolerance to potatoes  we have been trying  cutting back on them as well. They are just as delicious and easy to prepare.

For dessert I made another recipe from Chef Chloe, Lemon Olive Oil Cake. I’ve made it before, but this time I thought I would put poppyseed through it. It is actually a sugar-free recipe, well except for the icing sugar. You could just leave that out, since it only gets dusted at the end. If you are worried about the olive oil taste, don’t worry, you won’t taste that either. For me the maple syrup made it  sweet enough. Marco wanted to have his with nutella, but we are trying to cut back our sugar and salt. So hopefully if he skips a few more nights without chocolate he will start to appreciate natural sweetness again.