Tag Archives: vegetarian

Homemade Sauce/Dressing

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Fromm time to time I stumble across interesting sounding recipes on Facebook. I generally ‘save’ them on Facebook and often forget to go back and look them again. However, a few days ago I saw one that I could not wait to try out.

This is for a vegan ‘sour cream’ made from sunflower seeds. Sounds a bit ridiculous? That was my thought, too.

VEGAN ‘SOUR CREAM’

1 cup sunflower seeds
1¼ cups water
⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ onion
1 large clove garlic
1 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in a blender and blitz until creamy. Makes about 500ml.
Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze portions for later use.

NOTE: I have not tried freezing it as yet.

NOTE: You could also try adding additional spices or nutritional yeast to alter the flavour a little.

I know it sounds improbable and ridiculously easy – it really is that simple.

This is the result, although some has already been used. I would say it is a bit like a cross between sour cream, yoghurt and mayonnaise.

This was my lunch today with a generous serve of my new-found dressing.

Please note that this is not GMan-approved but I am happy to have found an easy and tasty alternative.

However, he is still raving about one of my other homemade sauces, a bechamel-style sauce made using cauliflower instead of flour and butter as the base. We have successfully grown cauliflower this winter and the last 2 became another batch of the sauce. The recipe is here and it freezes really well.

A Bunch of Basil

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I grew a very successful crop of basil during the summer.

I made some pesto early in the season and also used some of it fresh. However, it is now going to seed and taking up space that I want to use for winter crops so it is really time for it to go. Yesterday I picked an armful of the younger shoots, stripped the leaves and rinsed them.

This haul was 4 tightly-packed cups of basil leaves so it was time to make more pesto.

Here is my recipe.

BASIL PESTO

4 cups basil leaves, tightly packed
7 tablespoons sunflower seeds
4 cloves garlic
1 lemon, juice and rind
5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Place the basil, sunflower seeds and garlic in food processor and process until finely chopped and combined. Add the lemon juice, rind and nutritional yeast. Process until thoroughly combined. Gradually add the olive oil until desired consistency is reached. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I have chosen to replace the traditional ingredients of cheese and pine nuts with nutritional yeast and sunflower seeds which makes this recipe not only gluten-free but also nut and dairy free.

It was rather exciting to know that I had used basil, lemon and garlic which I had grown as well as locally produced olive oil.

Perfect Baked Beans

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A couple of weeks ago I successfully made baked beans which GMan declared were better than the ones out of a can. Some years ago I had attempted to make them but they were really not that great. This time I was armed with more experience and a video I had chanced upon as a starting point. However, I did adapt it somewhat to suit myself.

I have made another batch and made notes of the quantities and method as well as taken several photos so that I can share the recipe with you.

BAKED BEANS

Ingredients

1kg dry white beans
Olive oil
3 medium onions, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 capsicum (pepper), diced
700ml tomato passata
250ml water
1 tablespoon treacle
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 – 4 teaspoons smoky paprika
1 – 2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Method

Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with boiling water (about 5cm above the level of the beans). Soak for several hours or overnight. The beans will swell but will still be quite hard. Transfer the beans and water to a slow cooker and add a bit more water. Cook on high for several hours until tender but not mushy.

Saute the diced onion in a little oil in a large pan. Cook gently on a low heat so that they soften but are barely coloured. Add the garlic and capsicum and continue cooking. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer gently until well-cooked and the desired flavour.

Add the drained beans to the sauce and combine thoroughly but do not break the beans up too much. Allow to stand and cool so that the beans absorb the flavour of the sauce.

Heat, eat and enjoy.

I choose to freeze the prepared beans which works really well. This is the results from the recipe above. The small dish will be my lunch today.

Notes

This is a large quantity – you can reduce the amounts.
I used Great Northern beans but you could use navy beans, canellini beans or whatever you prefer.
You could used canned beans if you wish. I prefer to use dried beans as they cost less and there is the added benefit of minimal packaging, especially if you buy them from bulk bins.
The tomato mixture could be pureed fresh or canned tomatoes or whatever you have on hand. You can also include some tomato paste for a more intense depth of flavour.
The original recipe used bacon but I choose to use smoky paprika to replicate the flavour and keep this recipe meat-free.
Add the seasonings gradually to account for your personal taste.
I used a couple of capsicums from the garden but regular red ones are fine, too.
I substituted rosemary salt for half of the salt.
I also added 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup of my homemade tomato sauce to make it a little spicier.

In other words, this is a basic recipe and you can adjust it to suit your personal taste.

Use It Up

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Food is one of the less obvious things you need to consider when planning to move house. This is not a major issue if you are moving down the road or even across town but it is definitely a consideration when moving further afield.

We are moving to a different state and while jars of dry goods can be packed in boxes as with other household items the contents of the refrigerator and freezer are a different story.

It is still about 7 weeks until we depart but it is never too soon to consider how best to use the contents of the refrigerator and freezer. I am fairly aware of what I have available and will be working towards using this up. Of course, I will still be buying fresh fruit and vegetables.

Yesterday I made a big batch of Eggplant & Bean Curry. This vegan and gluten-free dish is definitely one of our favourites.

EGGPLANT & BEAN CURRY

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 large onion, cut into wedges
1 tablespoon Massaman curry paste
1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
500ml water
1 can light coconut cream
2 large potatoes, diced into 1cm pieces and cooked until tender
600g eggplant, diced into 1cm pieces
300g green beans, prepared and cut into 2cm lengths

METHOD

Prepare the vegetables as per the ingredient list. Heat the oil, add onion wedges, curry paste and spices, toss until well combined and the onion is softened. Add the diced eggplant, combine and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the water and stock powder. Simmer until volume is reduced slightly. Add the potatoes, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add more water if required. Stir in the coconut cream and simmer to reduce slightly if required. Finally, add the beans and cook for about 5 minutes.

I serve this with a small quantity of brown rice. You do not need to add too many carbs as there is already potato in the curry.

NOTE: The quantities are based on what I had available and the desired level of spiciness. You can adjust according to your own tastes. I use this basic curry sauce for of curry dishes. It is particularly good with a dish based on cauliflower, too.

This made a total of 8 serves (4 meals) for GMan and I. We had one for dinner and the remainder was portioned up and went into the freezer. That is 3 more meals I will not have to prepare in the next 7 weeks.

Eggplant Everywhere

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For the past few years I have grown eggplant pretty successfully with minimal effort. In our climate it grows without supplementary watering, is generally resistant to pests and vagaries of the weather and, most importantly, the fruit mature gradually and I don’t end up with a massive glut of produce.

It is definitely a crop worth growing as they are generally $6.95/kg at our greengrocer.

I think eggplant are quite underrated. Here are some of my favourite dishes that I have made recently.

Roasted eggplant slices on a vegetarian pizza.

Ready to pop in the oven to roast.

The finished pizza.

Eggplant and Bean Curry

Sauteed eggplant and some leftover spicy chicken with a bit of tamari and served with cauliflower in cheese sauce. There is no photo of this one.

Eggplant often does not look particularly spectacular but I think it is definitely worth trying.

Eggplant Pizza

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I make my own gluten free pizza bases and often have slices of roasted eggplant as one of the toppings.

Last night I took a different path and used the eggplant as the bases.   2 separate events led me to try this option.  In fact, this blog post could easily have been titled, ‘A Tale of 2 Julias’.  In 2014 we were privileged to meet a fellow blogger, Julia Davis-Coombs from Creative Economy in the Kitchen.  Julia lives on the other side of the world so it was a delight to meet her when we were on our travels.  Our shared lunch included mini pizzas made with slices of a very large zucchini as the base.  Although I have not re-created this dish, it is a meal I have not forgotten.  The second Julia was a recent online encounter with Julia B. in a group when I was canvassing ideas for a vegetarian meal and I mentioned that one of the vegetables I had on hand was eggplant.  While I did not use her suggestion that night, it seemed ideal when I came to make dinner last night.

EGGPLANT PIZZA

1 large eggplant
Sea salt
Olive oil
Pizza toppings as desired

Cut the eggplant into slices about 1 – 1.5cm in thickness.  Place on a baking tray, lightly brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Roast for 10 minutes at 160C.

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Remove eggplant from the oven and add toppings.  I used homemade tomato pizza sauce and mixed herbs then chopped mushroom and capsicum (bell pepper) and finally, sliced olives and cheddar cheese.

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Return pizzas to the oven for about 5 – 7 minutes.

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Serve immediately.

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This was a light and tasty alternative to a traditional pizza and perfect for lunch.

NOTE:  You do need a knife and fork when eating these.

 

Keeping it Simple

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This afternoon I posted the following question on a Facebook group.

When I was working I used to menu plan for a week at a time but not so much now.

I have no shortage of ingredients but not too much in the way of inspiration. We eat a predominantly vegetarian and also gluten free. I have eggplant, zucchini, capsicum, carrots, mushrooms and celery as well as all the usual pantry staples.

Ideas?

There were heaps of great suggestions, many of which I will save for another day but this particular one caught my eye.

I’d keep it simple. Roast the veges and toss with GF pasta spirals or chick peas, olive oil, seasoning and toasted nuts. If you’re looking for a flavour hit, Moroccan seasoning and fresh coriander is an interesting twist.

We do not eat a great deal of pasta but I do have some for occasional use.  I don’t keep Moroccan seasoning but a quick Google search revealed that it is ground cumin, paprika, ground coriander, ground turmeric, ground allspice, ground cloves, ground ginger, and ground cinnamon.  I had all of these apart from the coriander, however, I have an abundance of fresh coriander.  I had cooked chickpeas in the freezer as well as the selection of vegetables I mentioned in my original question.

So, I set to work.

Zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms and capsicum of a tray drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt.  I cooked them for about 20 minutes at 160C.

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Chickpeas with Moroccan spices and 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes.

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Once the pasta was cooked I tossed the vegetables and chickpea mixture through the pasta, added a spoonful of olive oil and served it topped with chopped coriander and toasted sunflower seeds.

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This was really delicious and I will definitely be making it again.

Thanks, Mimi.

What We Grow

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One of the by-products of growing your own food is a need for increased creativity when it comes to meals.  What we eat is at least somewhat dependent on what is available in the garden.

Bok choy, a type of chinese cabbage, is a quick-growing vegetable.  Commercial crops are harvested while they are relatively young and generally sold in bunches of three.  We ate some of our current crop while they were small, however, the few remaining plants are now quite mature and strongly flavoured.

New ways to use up the mature bok choy leaves and stems.

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Freshly picked leaves shredded and sauteed with cherry tomatoes, snow peas and mushrooms for breakfast.

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Tonight I made a vegetarian lasagne with layers of lightly roasted eggplant slices, bok choy mixed with ricotta and finally, crushed tomatoes.

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It was topped with a mixture of parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese and flaxseed meal.

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Served with beans and carrots.

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VEGETARIAN LASAGNE

1 large eggplant, sliced
1/2 onion, diced
Handful of large bok choy leaves and stems, sliced and shredded
180g ricotta cheese
Can of crushed tomatoes
Olive oil
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
Salt and pepper

TOPPING

1 tablespoon grated parmesan
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal

Place slices of eggplant on roasting tray.  Brush with a little olive oil and bake at 160C for about 10 minutes – until soft.

Saute diced onion and bok choy stems until soft, add shredded leaves and stir until wilted.  Add vegetable mixture to ricotta and combine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add mixed herbs to crushed tomatoes.  Place a layer of eggplant slices in dish followed by the ricotta mixture then tomatoes.  Repeat until all ingredients are used.  Combine ingredients for topping and sprinkle over the lasagne.  Bake until heated through and browned on top.

This is not a definitive recipe but simply what I made today.  The quantities quoted would serve 3 adults.

Gluten Free Veggie Rolls

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Regular sausage rolls are quite obviously not vegetarian.  Nor are they gluten free.  So, here is an alternative.

GLUTEN FREE SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Ingredients

1 & 1/2 cups gluten free self-raising flour
90g butter
1/3 cup cold water

Method

Place flour in a bowl.  Finely shred the butter and rub into the flour until crumbly.  Add cold water and stir in with a knife blade to make a firm dough.  Knead on a lightly floured surface and roll out as thinly as possible.  Use as desired for quiche, savoury pie, sausage rolls etc.

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VEG FILLING

1 cup red lentils (soaked for 3-4 hours)
1 onion diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
300g sweet potato
2 tablespoons hummus
2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons dried powdered tomato
2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoky paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper

GLAZE

1 egg
1 tablespoon milk

Cook the sweet potato and mash roughly.  Saute the onion and garlic.  Drain the lentils and combine all of the ingredients thoroughly.

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Whisk the egg and milk together for the glaze.

Roll out the pastry on a flexible surface which will assist in rolling the pastry.  A baking sheet works well.  Spread mixture on pastry.  Create a roll and use a little of the glaze to seal the join of the pastry.  Cut into suitable sizes.  Glaze with egg mixture and bake for approximately 20 minutes at 190C.

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NOTES

I use this mix of gluten free flour and add 2 teaspoons baking powder for each cup of flour used.

The filling ingredients can be varied depending on personal tastes and what you have on hand.  For example the hummus was in the fridge and needed to be used up.  The main thing is that you are looking for a mixture which will stick together and is adequately seasoned to your liking.

These can be part of a main meal as well as a substantial snack.

I served them with quinoa tabouli and some homemade tomato sauce for dinner.

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The remainder have been packed up for the freezer.

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