Vegetable Casserole

INGREDIENTS

1 kg potatoes

1 large brown onion peeled & diced

2 medium carrots peeled & diced

2 stalks celery diced

2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 smallish leek white part only cut into rings and washed

1 can kidney beans
6 portobello mushrooms cleaned & sliced

Salt & pepper

125ml white wine

375 ml vege stock

Instructions

Heat oven to 200 C

Peel potatoes and cut into fine but not transparent slices

Put in a large mixing bowl with diced onion, carrots, celery, garlic & leek rings & beans  and toss together. Sprinkle with pepper & salt.

Heat pot & sauté mushrooms in a small amount of stock until softened, remove from heat

Put half the potato/vege mixture into an ovenproof dish,

Cover the layer with half the mushrooms

Then the remaining potato/veg mixture and final layer of mushrooms.

Add the wine and stock (Liquid should come halfway up the dish.

Season to taste.

Cover the dish with 3 layers of cooking foil and a lid if there is one. No steam should escape.

Bake for 1 hour, peel back the foil and test the poatato, cook for a further 10-15 minutes if needed.

This was based on a recipe by Kate Fraser from the newspaper column “Cooking with Kate”. Oil was removed and beans added to the original recipe.

The smell when it was cooking was wonderful and drove me crazy. Great flavours – a real keeper.

Said to serve 4 - it's a big recipe - if you have a side of greens too you will probably have leftovers.

Tofu Mayonnaise

Here in small town New Zealand sourcing vege mayonnaise is not easy - especially if you want something low fat and without all sorts of weird additives. I had read some recipes and had part of a block of tofu in the fridge that needed using so ...

tofu
vinegar (I have some white balsalmic but I'm sure white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar would be fine)
dijon mustard
some lemon juice
agave nectar or other sweetener

(no quantities as I did a splash of this and a teaspoon of that)

blitzed it in the benchtop blender and it was lovely - I would dare anyone to recognise it as tofu based from the taste.

This week for lunch I have been having salad wraps, spread with hummus and drizzling a little of this "mayo" over it mmmmm tasty!

Stock and Broth - economical tip here

Lots of recipes call for low sodium broth or stock - not easy to source at supermarket but really easy to make your own.

Good base for broth is:

Onions
Carrots
Celery
herbs and seasonings - a bay leaf or two is great, mixed herbs or your favourite dried herbs can be added.

optional extra veges - Celeriac, parsnip, mushrooms etc. (Cabbage most people agree has too strong a flavour for a nice broth). Beans and potatoes are also useful.

put them in a pot and boil for 30-60 minutes and strain. - Keep in fridge for a few days or freeze in iceblock trays and keep cubes of stock in your freezer.

You can reserve the solids and mix with some of the broth to make a soup.

Useful economical tip from Chef AJ writer of "Unprocessed" - keep your (clean) vegetable peels and trimmings (anything not decayed) and add to a ziplock bag in the freezer, when you have enough use those to make a stock, strain and discard the solids. You can use the tops of carrots and leaves of celery etc.

Pasta e fagioli

I love Italian food and this is Italian peasant food. Robin Robertson in her book "Vegan on the Cheap" estimates the cost at less than $1 per serving this was in American dollars in 2010.
Sounds posh - just means pasta and beans!


Made the Vege stock myself in the weekend

INGREDIENTS

3 cloves garlic

2 cans crushed tomatoes

1 can beans (1 ½ cups of cooked if cooked from scratch)               

                Cannellini, pinto, borlotti – or whatever you fancy

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried basil

1 bay leaf

2 cups vegetable stock

Salt & pepper to taste

250g wholegrain macaroni or other small pasta

1 Tbs chopped parsley

METHOD

Heat a large pot and add a small amount of stock and sauté the garlic for approx 1 minute until softened. Stir in tomatoes, beans, herbs, stock and seasonings. Simmer 20 minutes

In a large pot of boiling water cook macaroni over medium-high heat until al dente – about 7 minutes. Drain and add to bean mixture with the parsley

Simmer gently to blend flavours – about 10 minutes. Remove Bay leaf and serve.

I used 2 cans of beans so it was more of a stew than a soup. Used Spike seasoning instead of salt. Served with some steamed spinach and followed with some fresh fruit.

Next time I may add an onion also.

Party food – Hummus Pizza

When confronted with what to take to a party – the usual fare frequently involves meat and or cheese and/or fried food. What to do when you are following a whole foods, plant-based, low fat lifestyle?

This past weekend I took the following food along (hey I was on the committee and always take a bit more than one plate to these things as a surprising number turn up with no food):

Hummus pizza (recipe below)

Fresh fruit platter

Guacamole & raw veg

Savoury Bread cases (used whole grain bread and filled with leftovers of my kumara lentil chilli with some red pepper strips on the top).

Hummus Vege Pizza

    Ingredients: 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 cup Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, divided

2 portobello mushroom caps, gills removed, caps cut into 1-inch-wide strips

1 yellow squash, sliced lengthwise into 1/3-inch planks

1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/3-inch-thick planks

4 Engine 2 Plant-Strong™ Tortillas

8 ounces baby spinach, lightly steamed and gently squeezed to remove excess liquid (about 1 packed cup)

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup pine nuts Freshly cracked black pepper

Method:

In a large bowl, whisk together broth, balsamic vinegar and 1/2 cup hummus. Add mushrooms and toss very gently to coat; remove from bowl with a slotted spoon. Add yellow squash and zucchini to the bowl and toss to coat. Return mushrooms to the bowl and allow vegetables to marinate for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Prepare a grill or grill pan for medium heat cooking. Grill vegetables until browned and tender, 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place tortillas on 2 nonstick sheet pans or regular sheet pans covered with parchment paper. Spread each with 1/4 cup of the remaining hummus. Top with spinach, basil and grilled vegetables. You can place the vegetable slices on the pizzas whole for a rustic look, or chop them first for neater cutting. Sprinkle pizzas with pine nuts and black pepper to taste. Bake until edges of tortillas are browned and crisp and pine nuts are golden, about 15 minutes. Slice and serve.

People at the party were coming back for more!

You can find this recipe on http://engine2diet.com/recipe/hummus-veggie-pizzas/
I made mine with a bought pizza base - next time want to try a homemade base with wholemeal flour.

Kumara (Sweet potato) Lentil Chili

This is from "Eat drink and be Vegan" by Dreena Burton
you can also find it at her website http://viveleveganrecipes.blogspot.co.nz/2011/03/sweet-potato-lentil-chili.html#!/2011/03/sweet-potato-lentil-chili.html


splash of water (for oil-free version) or 1 tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 3/4 cups (425 mL) onions, diced
1 cup (250 mL) celery, diced
2 - 2 1/2 cups (500 to 625 mL) orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1 in (2.5 cm) cubes
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp (5 mL) sea salt
Ground black pepper to taste
2 tsp (10 mL) chili powder
1 tsp (5 mL) paprika
1/2 tsp (2 mL) freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp (2 mL) cumin
1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
1/2 tsp (2 mL) crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 1/4 cups (310 mL) dry red lentils
2 1/2 cups (625 mL) water
1 - 28 oz (796 mL) can crushed tomatoes
1 - 14 oz (398 mL) can black or kidney beans, rinsed
1 bay leaf
3 Tbsp (45 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice
Lime wedges (for serving)

In large pot on medium heat, add oil, onions, celery, sweet potatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, and spices, and stir through. Cover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally; reduce heat if onions are sticking to bottom of pot. Rinse lentils. Add to pot with water, tomatoes, beans, and bay leaf, and stir to combine. Increase heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes or until sweet potatoes are softened, stirring occasionally. Stir in lime juice and serve portions with lime wedges.
Serves 6.

Had this with black rice and steamed cavolo nero - yum. This is a huge recipe - some will be going in the freezer for sure.

Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas & Mustard Greens

From Nava Atlas book "Wild about greens"

1 bunch of mustard greens (150-200g size)

½ large red onion thinly sliced

¼ to 1/3 cup vegetable broth

2-3 cloves garlic

1 pinch dried hot red pepper flakes (1 used ½ tsp minced chilli)

1/4c balsamic vinegar

½ tsp soy sauce

¼ tsp agave nectar or sugar

1 can chickpeas drained & rinsed

Remove large stems from the greens & discard the stems. Tear or chop the leaves into bite-sized pieces.

In a deep wok cook onion in about 1 tbs of the broth until it has faded to pink, about 4 minutes

Add garlic and red pepper flakes & another Tbs of broth & cook stirring for another minute.

Add the mustard greens and remaining broth.

Cook stirring until greens are wilted but still bright green, about 3-5 minutes.

Remove greens & onions from pan with a slotted spoon & place in a serving dish, leaving liquid in pan.

Add balsamic vinegar, soy sauce & agave to the liquid in the pan (add 1 tbs more broth if needed)

Add chickpeas & cook over medium heat until liquid reduced by about half

Spoon the chickpeas over the greens and drizzle any sauce remaining in the pan over the top.

Serve warm with additional vinegar if desired.

Had this over black rice - looked stunning and tasted lovely. I guess it could be tried with other greens - silver beet or bok choy maybe. I think spinach would finish up overcooked unless you were very careful

Hummus salad wrap

The title says it all.
I make hummus in a blender at home almost every week and always have some in the fridge.
Love wholegrain tortillas.

needed a quick lunch today

Wholegrain Tortilla (or whatever wholegrain wrap you prefer)
spread with hummus
fill with baby spinach, chopped tomato and chopped cucumber
fresh ground pepper

wrap it up.

It's fresh and crunchy and the hummus gives an amazing flavour.

This can be toasted like a toasted sandwich if required.

Oh my gosh what I can eat for dinner?

After a long busy day yesterday got home after 6pm tired and hungry. Just wanted something quick and easy and opened the cupboard

Chili beans
leftover cooked brown rice in the fridge
Baby spinach

Heat some beans in the microwave and stir in the spinach - a little more cooking til it wilts. Reheat the brown rice. Lo and behold an extremely quick meal in minutes. If you have a fridge full of fruit, veges & leftovers and plenty of healthy options in the pantry it doesn't take long.

Chased this with a crunchy pear - one of my favourite fruits at the moment.

I have fruit with almost every meal - fruity porridge most days and usually a piece of fruit or some fresh grapes with lunch and dinner.

Fruity porridge for one

This is my usual workday breakfast.

1/2 cup whole grain or steel-cut oats soaked overnight in 1c water

in the morning add
1 Tbs oatbran
handful of cranberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2c boiling water

microwave for 3 min on high
stir
then microwave for 2 min on medium(50%)

then stir in
1/2 c blueberries
1 apple grated (granny smith for preference)
1 Tbs ground linseed or LSA
1 tsp chia seeds

slice a banana on top

While the porridge is cooking, I get the other things and my coffee ready and feed the cats, whole thing takes about 10 minutes.

This make a huge bowl of porridge.

If cooking for a group you may prefer to use a pot on the stove. Whole grain oats take longer to cook than normal rolled oats or quick oats but have lots more fibre, goodness and flavour.
Steelcut are my current favourite - wonderful chewy nutty texture - yumm

Portobello Burgers

1-2 Portobello mushrooms per burger
dried herbs eg Thyme, Oregano, Mixed Herbs
Soya sauce or Tamari Sauce or Braggs
Barbecue Sauce or Chutney or Salsa
Lettuce or Baby Spinach
Tomatoes sliced
Cucumbers and or other salad ingredients of choice sliced
Hummus
Wholegrain roll or Bagel or Pita Bread or Wrap

Remove the stalk and sprinkle herbs over the gills of the mushroom.
Spray or drizzle with small amount of Soya or other sauce
Grill until tender - maybe 5 minutes

Spread roll on one side with hummus and lay salad ingredients on that side.
Spread the other side with BBQ sauce or chutney and place mushroom over this.
Sandwich together and enjoy.

I had this for dinner recently with a mug of soup and chased it down with some fresh grapes - mouthwatering and wonderful - so quick and easy.