Venetian antipasti and "French" potato salad

Whenever fennel and zucchini both turn up in my fridge I want to make this recipe. It's based on one from the Venetian antipasti section of the World Food Cafe 2 cookbook, modified to suit my kitchen and incorporating breadcrumbs in the gremolita à la Vegan Yum Yum. Although it's pretty easy and quick to throw together, it both tastes and looks kind of fancy. I wanted to have it along side a Venetian inspired bean salad and some herbed polenta, but my kitchen helper was against the polenta given the amount of stirring involved. So we padded out the salad with potatoes instead, and added a mustard-based dressing that I believe takes it over into the territory of what Swedes call "French potato salad". Here follow the recipes for both.

Zucchini and Fennel with a Herb and Lemon Gremolita

(serves 2)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 a big zucchini, sliced thinly lengthways
1 fennel bulb, sliced thinly lengthways
olive oil for frying
lemon juice to taste (but don't forget to zest the lemons first)
salt and pepper

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
finely chopped Italian herbs, especially parsley (use fresh if poss, but we use a frozen mixture)
salt and pepper

METHOD

Fry the fennel in olive oil until soft and browned on both sides. Remove and arrange on a plate. Do the same with the zucchini, adding more olive oil if necessary. Drizzle the cooked veg with lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste.

For the gremolita, combine breadcrumbs, zest and garlic (and herbs if using frozen) and toast in olive oil until garlic is golden and breadcrumbs have browned. Add herbs (if using fresh) and salt and pepper, and sprinkle over the veges.


French Bean and Potato Salad

1/2 a red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 cup cooked large white beans
4 cups cooked cubed potatoes
2 Tbsp capers
2 Tbsp finely chopped Italian/French herbs (we used the same frozen mix, but get some oregano in there)
a handful of rocket (optional)

Dressing: a glug of olive oil, juice of 1/2 a lemon, some mustard (start with a tsp, add more to taste)
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and adjust seasoning to taste.

Cheeze sauce

Laziness with regard to soaking and cooking pulses has meant that we've been breaking out the blender recently for some creamy instant protein goodness. This has resulted in some amazing salads, but with the cold weather having arrived in gusts and downpours, some more comforting fare was called for. So I tried Isa's sunflower seed-based macaroni and cheeze recipe. I never liked Mac and Cheese as a child, never having been a huge fan of buttery or cheesy things. But I figured that my matured tastebuds might appreciate a veganised version. Turns out, not so much. I still don't like Mac and Cheese.

But, I discovered that I do really like that fabled American snack, grilled cheese. I think it's pretty much like a toasted sandwich? Anyway, I took the leftover sauce from the recipe, slathered it on a piece of bread, squirted over some sriracha sauce, put another piece of bread on top, and toasted the lot in a lightly oiled frying pan. And then I ate it and then I made another one. So good.

Briq à légumineuse

This is an adaptation of a recipe for the Tunisian snack Briq à l'oeuf in the Caldicotts' wonderful vegetarian cookbook World Food Cafe 2. The original involves some kind of runny egg business - "l'oeuf" of the title - which is obviously not vegan, so here is Briq à légumineuse - not sure if my internet translation into French makes any sense, but I've replaced the egg with legumes! I've tried both chickpeas and white beans mashed into the mixture, but lentils would probably be nice too with black olives!

INGREDIENTS

400g potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed till smooth
200g cooked chickpeas/ white beans/ lentils, roughly mashed
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 cup green olives, chopped
2 handfuls chopped coriander leaves (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

filo pastry

METHOD

Fry the garlic in olive oil and add spices. Add the garlic and the rest of the ingredients to the potato mixture. Make filo parcels, using only one sheet per parcel. Fry the parcels in oil until very brown. Serve with lemon and chilli sauce.

Jerk Tofu

Tonight we had baked jerk tofu (and jerk veges), with rocket, polenta, and a spicy tomato sauce. The sauce and tofu marinade are adapted from the collection of caribbean recipes in the World Food Cafe 2 cookbook. I loved everything, especially the combo with creamy polenta. The tofu was exactly what I was craving, dense and flavourful.

 Jerk Tofu


Press the crap out of a block of tofu. Cut it into strips (not too thin, like at least a cm thick).

For the marinade, blend:
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 an inch peeled and grated ginger (or use a tsp ginger powder)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp soya sauce (or tamari)
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pepper

Marinate the tofu for at least half an hour, then bake on oiled aluminium foil until browned. Obviously grilling would be awesome too. We also drizzled the sauce over some staves of zucchini and capsicum, and chucked them in the oven with the tofu.

Spicy Tomato Sauce

Sautee 1 diced onion, 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped) in some oil until softened. Add 1-2 tsp dried thyme and some fresh chilli or a generous sprinkling of chilli flakes. Stir and let cook for a couple of minutes more, then add a tin of crushed tomatoes, 1-2 Tbsp lime juice, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer under a lid until reduced and saucy.

Elegantly Rustic

Last night's dinner:

A turn to colder weather and fridge full of odds and ends of veges means... vegetable soup! I love how cauliflower makes a creamy soup without the addition of extra fat.

Cauliflower and Celery Soup
 
Saute 1 diced onion and 2-3 cloves garlic in a little oil in a soup pot, for a few minutes until softened.
Add half a small zucchini (chopped), 3 medium ribs of celery (chopped), and a head of cauliflower, chopped. Stir around a bit, and add some dried thyme, oregano, and a couple of pinches of ground cumin. Add enough stock to cover (not too strong). Cook with the lid on until everything is soft. Add 1-2 cups cooked chick peas. Blend everything in a blender till smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ratatouille Tarte Tatin

This would probably be delicious with croutons, but I decided to fancy it up a bit with a savoury tart to serve on the side. I made a ratatouille-inspired version of the classic tarte tatin. Instead of apples and sugar on the bottom, I sauteed some red onions, fresh tomatoes, aubergine, and zucchini, until reduced. Then I sprinkled on some dried basil and salt and pepper, pressed a pastry top on top of the lot (don't burn your fingers!), pricked lots of holes with a fork and bunged the whole thing in the oven until browned. (Frying pan has to be cast-iron or something that can go in the oven - no plastic or wooden handles). To serve, flip upside down, so that veges are on top. I usually find this step difficult, so I often cut it into wedges while still in the pan, and then flip the wedges individually onto plates. This time I made Isa's olive oil pastry, which worked pretty well for me, but I always have best results with store-bought vegan pastry.

Easy Peasy Pesto Spaghetti

I'm addicted to these baguettes from Andrum, a vegetarian restaurant in Gothenburg, which is (in)conveniently close to my workplace. They make their own salty chewy carrot and sunflower seed bread, and fill it with salad, a couple of olives and a pickled chilli on the side, and top it all off with an absolute mound of creamy pea pesto. I basically want to eat that baguette every day. Unfortunately, even eating it once a week would put an unsustainable dent in my income at the moment, prices in Sweden being what they are. So I decided to have a go at whipping up some pea pesto of my own, for a solo Saturday lunch - working with the ingredients I have. It didn't really taste anything like theirs, but it was yum and easy.

Easy Peasy Pesto

Blend in a food processer until saucy (I prefer mine a little chunky, but go for smooth if you like it like that):
- some green peas (fresh, or thawed frozen. You can thaw them with boiling water or in the microwave)
- some nuts (pine nuts are obviously the pesto classic. Walnuts would also rock. Some cashew cream would bring the pesto to another level of creaminess. I only had pumpkin seeds on hand, so in they went!)
- some garlic (minced if you're worried about the odd chunk of garlic turning up in your pesto)
- a little water (not too much, you can always add more)
- fresh basil if you've got it, dried if you're like me and you don't

Add more water if desired, some lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Blend till combined.

I made a meal of this with some wholemeal spaghetti, and some lightly fried zucchini and tomatoes.

Bestest eggplant curry

I don't know how vegans managed before the Post Punk Kitchen. I really don't. Isa is a genius. I love how accessible and adaptable her recipes are. Being on a budget means that we can't usually afford fresh herbs or out of season veg or a fully-stocked spice rack. Last night we took this recipe for Eggplant curry, added some chopped capsicum, left out the beans, the green lentils, the lemon juice, tomato paste, and fresh coriander, and subbed caraway seeds for the fennel seeds. And it was still spicy and hearty and frighteningly delicious. We had it with wholemeal cous cous, which was a winning combination (but obviously rice or mashed potatoes would be great too, and that would make the meal gluten-free). I've made variations of this curry several times now, and it always goes down a treat. Thank you Isa from the very bottom of my stomach.