I love this. It's easy, fast, and delicious. The sort of slightly fancy comfort food that looks appetizing in the frozen dinners section of the super-market. Don't go there! They're not vegan! Also, this is more delicious and almost as easy.
Vegan Carbonara Sauce
I cannot remember where I found this recipe online, but it is amazing:
INGREDIENTS
2-4 Tbsp cashew paste (or cashew meal, whatevs)
1 Tbsp white miso (I have never tried this, in all honesty. It's fine without).
1 Tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper
1 cup plant milk (I've done it with water instead, with some soy flour thrown in)
1 cup stock
2 Tbsp starch
3 Tbsp chickpea flour (optional, but I like the colour and slight egginess it provides)
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional, not sure how it'd go with the miso though)
METHOD
1. Whisk the cashew paste, tahini, miso (if using), mustard, garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper until smooth (add a little of the plant milk if needed). Whisk in rest of the milk, stock, and starch (dissolved in a little liquid first, so you don't get clumps), nutritional yeast and chickpea flour (if using) until combined.
2. Heat over medium-low, stirring lots (don't let the bottom catch!) until it begins bubbling and becomes thick and creamy. Turn off heat.
For Pasta alla Veganara, serve this sauce with pasta, peas, other veg if you're keen (spinach or broccoli would
probably work nicely. And for some reason I'm thinking corn... what is
this turning into? Sorry, Italy.), and Vegan Dad's delicious tofu pancetta. The last time I made this I was thinking of trying smoky soya sauce chickpeas instead of tofu, but that'll have to be next time...
Timing wise, put your pasta on first and start your pancetta. The sauce comes together very quickly (I don't even really bother measuring anymore - it's very forgiving). When everything's done - add your sauce to your pasta, 'pancetta' and peas (can add direct from frozen) and warm through until everything is hot.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
of cabbages and condiments
A friend of mine was joking recently about how much she loves cabbage. Sure, I dig cabbage. It's delicious in coleslaw, stir-fried (especially on it's own with lemon juice and garlic), in curries and soups, in dumplings or spring-rolls, or as a wrapper for cabbage rolls. I like it in Asian noodle salads. I love the recipe from the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook of cabbage salad with candied walnuts (and her nearly raw tahini noodle salad), and this Hot and Sour Cabbage Soup of hers looks delicious too. Another friend linked to this exciting-looking Dutch comfort food recipe (easily veganisable). Ok, so there are lots of things you can do with cabbage. But it's the weekend and I wanted something easy, fried and delicious that didn't require me to go shopping. And I knew exactly what to do with that cabbage all lonely in our refrigerator...
Behold,
Fusion Barbeque Cabbage Pancake!
This is inspired by my attempt one time to recreate vegan okonomiyaki, especially without tofu, because we seldom have it. There are heaps of good recipes abounding on the net, for example: the beautiful and thorough tutorial here, or this one using a Japanese yam. But lacking ingredients for these, I just went with cabbage pancake. I'd like to try again with spring onions and using broth in the mix and ginger and proper stuff to put on it like tonkatsu sauce and spicy vegan mayo. But I had some newly purchased HP sauce that I was looking for an excuse to put on everything...
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Finely chop some cabbage, maybe 2 - 3 cups. Grate 1-2 carrots.
2. Dump some flour (maybe 1 1/2 cups) and some chick pea flour (1/2 cup) in a bowl. Add 1 tsp baking powder and some salt. Mix it all around. Add the veges. Shouldn't be too much flour left over in the bowl, and all the veges should be covered in flour. Add more of something if ratio doesn't look good.
3. Preheat a frying pan with some oil on medium heat.
4. To your flour and veg, add 1-2 flax eggs (optional), 1 tsp light-coloured vinegar, and enough water to make a thick sticky batter (spoonable, rather than pourable).
5. Spoon into pan and flatten out into a large pancake. Fry gently on both sides until set and cooked through.
Serving suggestion: fried onions, HP sauce, smoked salt, sriracha sauce.
Behold,
Fusion Barbeque Cabbage Pancake!
This is inspired by my attempt one time to recreate vegan okonomiyaki, especially without tofu, because we seldom have it. There are heaps of good recipes abounding on the net, for example: the beautiful and thorough tutorial here, or this one using a Japanese yam. But lacking ingredients for these, I just went with cabbage pancake. I'd like to try again with spring onions and using broth in the mix and ginger and proper stuff to put on it like tonkatsu sauce and spicy vegan mayo. But I had some newly purchased HP sauce that I was looking for an excuse to put on everything...
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Finely chop some cabbage, maybe 2 - 3 cups. Grate 1-2 carrots.
2. Dump some flour (maybe 1 1/2 cups) and some chick pea flour (1/2 cup) in a bowl. Add 1 tsp baking powder and some salt. Mix it all around. Add the veges. Shouldn't be too much flour left over in the bowl, and all the veges should be covered in flour. Add more of something if ratio doesn't look good.
3. Preheat a frying pan with some oil on medium heat.
4. To your flour and veg, add 1-2 flax eggs (optional), 1 tsp light-coloured vinegar, and enough water to make a thick sticky batter (spoonable, rather than pourable).
5. Spoon into pan and flatten out into a large pancake. Fry gently on both sides until set and cooked through.
Serving suggestion: fried onions, HP sauce, smoked salt, sriracha sauce.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
How to make your stir fry taste like Chinese take-aways...
Sometimes I think I should open a Chinese restaurant in Sweden - I know exactly how to cook inauthentic Chinese food! Tonight's super speedy and very delicious offering was stir-fried vegetables and cashews with hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce is magic. It's rich, fruity, fermenty, and savoury all at the same time. It transformed something that was pretty much three types of cabbage (according to the Swedish definition) over nasty par-boiled rice (which somebody bought by mistake) into a very satisfying and yummy dinner.
According to my experience with inauthentic Chinese food, and various websites, the Chinese holy trinity of flavours are ginger root, sesame oil and garlic. If you have all these in a meal you are well on your way to it tasting sort of Chinese (and by Chinese, I mean "Chinese", at all times through this post). I like to slice my ginger and garlic into thin slices, so they are identifiable in the stir-fry and don't get too burnt. Other important additions are spring onions, something kind of acidic (Chinese cooking wine, or rice vinegar, or citrus in a pinch), and something salty with a depth of umami flavour (soy sauce, hoisin, black bean).
Then, for the bulk of your stir-fry, try veges like onions, capsicums, broccoli and/or cauliflower florets (and finely chopped stems), carrots sliced into coins on the bias, cabbage, green beans. My favourites are broccoli, carrots and cabbage, which we ate today with cauliflower as well. This isn't fried rice, so put away your frozen peas and corn.
For your protein, you can try Chick'n strips like the one made by Fry's. Or we just went with roasted cashews and sesame seeds. There's a reasonable amount of protein in the veg anyway if you use stuff like cauliflower and broccoli.
As for the actual stir-frying, don't overload the wok. Fry in separate batches if necessary. And fry on a high heat, stirring lots, until you've got the texture you want. Also, don't chuck in all the veg at the same time - onions take much longer to cook than garlic, and broccoli takes less time than cauliflower. Don't fry your spring onion at all - just slice finely into rings and sprinkle over at the end. And if I'm doing the Chick'n thing, I usually fry that separately.
I usually fry in a neutral oil (like canola) until everything is pretty much done, then add a splash of soya sauce, sesame oil and wine/vinegar (if using citrus, I squeeze it over once I've dished up). Once it's properly done, add your hoisin or black bean sauce, roasted nuts and/or Chick'n, and mix around. Add some chilli sauce if you're keen. Eat over rice, obviously, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and spring onion if desired.
According to my experience with inauthentic Chinese food, and various websites, the Chinese holy trinity of flavours are ginger root, sesame oil and garlic. If you have all these in a meal you are well on your way to it tasting sort of Chinese (and by Chinese, I mean "Chinese", at all times through this post). I like to slice my ginger and garlic into thin slices, so they are identifiable in the stir-fry and don't get too burnt. Other important additions are spring onions, something kind of acidic (Chinese cooking wine, or rice vinegar, or citrus in a pinch), and something salty with a depth of umami flavour (soy sauce, hoisin, black bean).
Then, for the bulk of your stir-fry, try veges like onions, capsicums, broccoli and/or cauliflower florets (and finely chopped stems), carrots sliced into coins on the bias, cabbage, green beans. My favourites are broccoli, carrots and cabbage, which we ate today with cauliflower as well. This isn't fried rice, so put away your frozen peas and corn.
For your protein, you can try Chick'n strips like the one made by Fry's. Or we just went with roasted cashews and sesame seeds. There's a reasonable amount of protein in the veg anyway if you use stuff like cauliflower and broccoli.
As for the actual stir-frying, don't overload the wok. Fry in separate batches if necessary. And fry on a high heat, stirring lots, until you've got the texture you want. Also, don't chuck in all the veg at the same time - onions take much longer to cook than garlic, and broccoli takes less time than cauliflower. Don't fry your spring onion at all - just slice finely into rings and sprinkle over at the end. And if I'm doing the Chick'n thing, I usually fry that separately.
I usually fry in a neutral oil (like canola) until everything is pretty much done, then add a splash of soya sauce, sesame oil and wine/vinegar (if using citrus, I squeeze it over once I've dished up). Once it's properly done, add your hoisin or black bean sauce, roasted nuts and/or Chick'n, and mix around. Add some chilli sauce if you're keen. Eat over rice, obviously, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and spring onion if desired.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Chocolate birthday cake (the best)
I had a friend's birthday to bake for and then Isa at the Post Punk Kitchen came out with this recipe for Chocolate Yoghurt Bundt Cake. It had to be done! I didn't have enough chocolate for both icing and putting in the cake, so I left out the chocolate chips. I also cut out some of the sugar, because I often find Isa's baked goods too sweet. The result was a very dark chocolate cake, which I quite enjoyed. But I think in this instance the sugar amount given is justified, especially without the chocolate chips. I did take inspiration from a Sacher torte, covering the cake in apricot jam and then a rich chocolate-based ganache.
This is a good cake if you want quick and easy without sacrificing fancy. With all the yoghurt, it's not even all that unhealthy. I think it might be the perfect cake. A cake's cake.
This is a good cake if you want quick and easy without sacrificing fancy. With all the yoghurt, it's not even all that unhealthy. I think it might be the perfect cake. A cake's cake.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Things do do with chick pea flour (besan)...
I love chick pea flour! It is nutritious, tasty and gluten-free. However, I sometimes find myself looking at it in my pantry and thinking - what will I do with all this chick pea flour? Here are some answers...
1) Make gravy. Chick pea flour makes an excellent base for a roux. For an emergency dinner I made a white-sauce style gravy with a chick pea flour base to pour over pasta and beans. It means you don't get that wheat flour sauce on wheat pasta vibe.
2) Make a besan cheela (an Indian pancake a bit like an egg-free omelette)
3) Make an omelette.
4) Make pakoras (Manjula's Kitchen has a lot of pakora recipes, but me I'm dying to try her bread pakoras some time)
5) Make spicy Indian crackers!
6) One day I will try this amazing looking vegan cheese recipe.
1) Make gravy. Chick pea flour makes an excellent base for a roux. For an emergency dinner I made a white-sauce style gravy with a chick pea flour base to pour over pasta and beans. It means you don't get that wheat flour sauce on wheat pasta vibe.
2) Make a besan cheela (an Indian pancake a bit like an egg-free omelette)
3) Make an omelette.
4) Make pakoras (Manjula's Kitchen has a lot of pakora recipes, but me I'm dying to try her bread pakoras some time)
5) Make spicy Indian crackers!
6) One day I will try this amazing looking vegan cheese recipe.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Guacamole
People put all kinds of things in their guacamole. My mum puts fresh basil and tomatoes in. I've heard that certain Central American countries put celery in. I like it with lots of garlic and lemon juice. But this is just a quick note to say that the other day we accidentally chucked a whole bunch of dried sage into our guac instead of black pepper. And actually, it was very tasty. Something to try if you want something savoury and unusual. I think we ate it with some kind of Oaxacan mole. That is all.
Post Punk bouillabaisse
I really wanted to make Isa's latested creation - vegan bouillabaisse. I wanted to make it so much that I couldn't wait until I had a chance to buy the ingredients (not having nori and fennel on hand all the time). But, despite a lot of needs must substitutions, it still came out delectable. I'm still keen to try it as written some time, but it's good to remember that this version will more than do in a pinch:
As the linked recipe, but with celery instead of fennel, fried zucchini instead of roasted squash, dried thyme rather than fresh, no nori, and tomato paste instead of tinned tomatoes, with some fresh cherrry tomatoes chucked in for texture. I also upped the spice.
Lovely for a winter's evening - hearty, brothy, and a bit fancy with the spice and the orange zest. Not your run of the mill lentil soup.
As the linked recipe, but with celery instead of fennel, fried zucchini instead of roasted squash, dried thyme rather than fresh, no nori, and tomato paste instead of tinned tomatoes, with some fresh cherrry tomatoes chucked in for texture. I also upped the spice.
Lovely for a winter's evening - hearty, brothy, and a bit fancy with the spice and the orange zest. Not your run of the mill lentil soup.
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