Recipe #55 Bean Pot

Similar to recipe #26

Shopping list (4 portions)

• 1 can mix beans in water
• 1 can red beans in water
• 1 tomato passata
• 200 ml hot water
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 medium onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 medium fresh tomatoes 
• Handful of fresh coriander
• 2 medium carrots (optional)
• Sprinkle of sugar
• Sprinkle of chilli flakes (optional)
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Method 

Chop the vegetables and open the cans, get everything ready.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and ass the onion and garlic (I leave them whole so I can take them out before serving but you can chop the garlic and leave it in, it's up to you). When they are golden add the peppers and tomatoes and stir well. Add the beans, passata, coriander and water (sprinkle the sugar). Season with salt & pepper.

Cover and let it boil for 10-15 min to thicken.

In another saucepan heat 2 cups of water and sprinkle with salt. Let it boil and add the basmati rice. After 10-12 min turn off the heat and cover so that the rice can finish.

Serve the beans on a bed of rice and decorate with coriander and bell peppers.

Recipe #54 Sweet potato and coriander soup

Shopping list (6 portions)

• 250 gr sweet potato
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 medium onion
• 1 garlic clove
• Saffron
• Sea Salt 
• Black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Handful of fresh coriander (chopped)
• Around 8gr fresh ginger
• Handful of orizo pasta

Method 

Let it boil for 30 min, check if the vegetables are cooked and pure it. Add water if the soup is too thick for you. Add the orizo pasta and let them cook off the heat ( the soup should be hot enough to cook them), and you can stir in more coriander.

Recipe #40 Zoodles [vegan]

Ever heard of Zoodles? This will change the way you eat your vegetables ! Gluten free "pasta" ! Carbs free meals !

You can get a Zoodle chef online
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoodle-Chef-Spiralizer-Satisfaction-Alternative/dp/B00LBGOX5U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412968245&sr=8-1&keywords=zoodle

Just place the vegetable into one end (e.g. courgette/ zucchini) and twist like a pencil being sharpened. You will get nice loooooong slices of pasta-like vegetables. You can place them directly into a wok with 1-2 tablespoons of sesame oil and add other vegetables into this (stir fry mix).

Recipe #39 Vegetable Stew [vegan]

Shopping list (5 people)

4-5 leaves of savoy cabbage

2 cups of dry small pasta

1 onion

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1,75 liter of vegetable stock

seasoning (dry parsley, salt, black pepper)

olive oil (1/4 cup)

200 gr baby spinach leaves

1 carrot

pinch of sugar

Method 

Start by heating around 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a big saucepan. Add the onion (chopped) and the carrot (sliced or chopped, I chopped it for this recipe).

Add the can of tomatoes, salt, pepper, parsley and half the vegetable stock.

Now place in the pasta (here I used 2 types of pasta) and cabbage leaves.

Leave it to cook for some minutes and add the remaining olive oil and vegetable stock.

Taste it, if this tastes too much of tomato add a pinch of sugar to neutralize the tomato.

Put in the spinach (it cooks very fast) and cover the pan.

When the pasta is cooked it should be more of a stew than a soup.

it's a good recipe to use up bits and pieces you have in the fridge (such as loose vegetables, can vegetables as chickpeas) or small amounts of pasta you have in the cupboard.

Recipe #33 Puffy Pastry with tofu and vegetables

Shopping list (4 portions)

• 1 puffy pastry
• 1 block of tofu
• handful of mushrooms (around 150gr)
• 2 Handfuls of baby spinach leaves
• 1 cup grated carrots
• oil (olive or sesame)
• 1 1/2 cups broccoli
• salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika
• Juice 1/2 lemon
• Fresh parsley
• soy sauce (some drops)
• Nuts to serve
• Couscous 1 cup
• 1 lemon

Method

I bought the pastry, it seems to be vegan as the fat used is vegetable fat (Lidl pastry for 95 cents). But you can do it yourself if you want to use vegan butter for the pastry.

In a bowl place the tofu block, drained, and scrambled it with a fork. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika; some lemon juice and some drops of soy sauce.

In a wok heat a bit of olive oil or sesame oil. throw in the mushrooms and the broccoli. After some minutes throw in the carrots and the spinach leaves and let the vegetables almost cook. Then add the tofu to the vegetables with some chopped parsley and let it cook slightly. Take off from the heat.

Open the pastry on the kitchen top (it should come rolled on a baking paper). Divide this in 4 rectangles. Place some of the vegetables in each rectangle and close at the top (doesn't really matter because they will open in the oven) or make some parcel shaped buns.
Place them in the oven for 20 min at 180 o C

To serve I placed the dry couscous in a bowl and covered it with 2 cups of boiling water; then added 2x 1/2 a lemon and sprinkled a bit of salt, pepper and parsley. Cover with a dish and leave it alone for 10min. When you remove the dish you will have nice fluffy couscous.

[You can make the same recipe with other vegetables, like courgette, tomato, green cabbage, soy sprouts, chickpeas...]

Recipe #32 Carrot and Walnut Cake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Light Soft Brown Sugar
• 3 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 + 1/2 cups plain flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1 cup soft vegan butter
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup of soy or almond milk

How to prepare:

Grate the carrots (in a food processor to save time or manually) and chop the walnuts (or buy them chopped, around 200-250 gr).

Then combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, followed by the carrots and walnuts. Combine everything with a spoon. Then add the milk, vanilla extract and soft butter (if the butter is not soft place it for 15-30 seconds in the microwave).

Grease a baking tin or use baking paper to cover the inside of a baking tin and spread in the mixture evenly. Allow to bake for 45 min at 180 o C. Check with a toothpick at the centre of the cake to if it's cooked, if not allow an additional 10 minutes. Don't open the door of the oven during the first 40 minutes.

Recipe #30 Samosas with Red Cabbage Salad

Shopping list

• 1/4 of a red cabbage
• 1 big carrot (or 2 small ones)
• 1 onion
• 1 Lime
• Soy sauce
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Sea Salt
• Pepper
• Parsley
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 7 cardamom seeds

Method

For the salad:
Use a food processor with the grater blade. Throw in the cabbage, carrot, onion. Put the mixture into a bowl and season with salt, pepper, the juice of one lime, 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Add parsley (dry or fresh, which is even better).

For the rice:
Add a tablespoon of olive oil into a saucepan together with 6-7 cardamoon seeds. Turn on the heat and let them fry a bit. Add the cup of rice and let the dry rice fry a bit. Then add 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. When all the water is absorbed/evaporated you better turn off the heat and cover the pan. 'Fish' the cardamom seeds out before serving the rice.

Samosas:
Ok... I cheated, I bought them at evergreen (http://www.evergreen.ie/) in the fresh section. You just throw them into a pan for some minutes and let them get golden.

This is how it looks like. Enjoy :)

Recipe #29 Asian Noodles with Mushrooms

Shopping list

• 250 gr white mushrooms
• 150 gr Asian noodles (I used Dragon Blue medium noodles)
• sesame oil
• sesame seeds
• olive oil
• soy sauce
• Sea salt
• pepper
• onion
• half a chili
• 2 spring onion
• 1 big carrot
• 1 garlic clove
• Dry paprika
• Dry cayenne pepper

Method

[Recipe for 3 portions. You can add fried tofu cubes or bambu or courgette or soy sprouts or whatever you like to this recipe. If you add more vegetables you get 4 portions with the same amount of noodles.]

Boil water (around 1 liter or more) and sprinkle salt in. When its boiling add 3 nests of asian noodles, or 150 gr.
Let it boil for some minutes but drain before they are fully cooked. After draining sprinkle with olive oil and sesame seeds to keep the noodles from sticking to each other.

I used a food processor but you can chop by hand if you don't have one. I used the slicer blade and sliced finely all the mushrooms, the carrot and the spring onions. I moved this mixture to another bowl and seasoned with salt, pepper, sprinkle cayenne pepper and paprika. Mix well.
In the same food processor bowl (no need to wash) and the chopper blade I chopped the onion, the garlic, the 1/2 chili and added half a tablespoon of olive oil until this is a paste.

In a wok heat 1 tablespoon of olive, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Throw in the onion paste from the food processor. Let the onion get slightly golden and throw in the mushroom mix. Let the carrots soften a little. Now throw in the noodle and carefully with 2 forks keep mixing everything so you don't end up with only noodles on your dish ;)

Remove from heat and serve. Sprinkle with sesame seeds for decoration.

Recipe #28 Vegan Roasted Veggies

Shopping list

• half a cup dry couscous
• half a cucumber
• 2 tomatos
• 1 carrot
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• salt pepper
• lemon juice
• 1 Big courgette
• 8 asparagus
• Dry parsley

Method

[Recipe for 2]

On a ovenproof tray place 1 courgette sliced open in half and the asparagus. Drizzle some olive oil on top and season with salt and pepper. 200 oC for around 20 min should be enough to roast them.

For the couscous: boil water in a kettle and measure 3/4 of a cup.
Place the couscous in a bowl and add the water. Season with salt and pepper and dry parsley (or some fresh coriander or mint 5 or 6 leaves should be enough)
Cover with a plate so you keep all the heat and let it rest 10minutes.

For the salad:
Cut small chunks of tomato, grate the carrot and with a peeler slid very thin slices of cucumber.
Season with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and some lemon juice.

Take the plate from the couscous, mix the couscous and check if they are fluffy already.
Now get the place ready and organize it with your array of colours: red from the salad, white with your couscous and green from your roasted veggies.
Sprinkle everything with dry parsley.

Recipe #24 Back to basics: vegetable vegan soup 1.01

You may not know how to cook but if you can make soup you'll be just fine ! :) Soup is not 'cooking'. It's chopping vegetables into a pot and getting the right amount of water.

Here's a basic recipe with some greens

3 potatoes

2 carrots

1 courgette 

1 onion

2 garlic cloves 

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon sea salt (reduce it if you need for health reasons)

1/2 tablespoon black pepper (this makes it a bit spicy, add a pinch only if you don't like spicy)

4 big leaves of cabbage

1 tomato (optional)

Cut the potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, courgette into a big pot. Add salt and pepper and the olive oil. 

Cut one tomato. Cover with water all the vegetables and add another 1/3 of the water you just added.

Cook everything till the vegetables are soft, around 20-30 minutes.

Pure everything thoroughly, now wash and cut some cabbage leaves into thin slices.

Add them to the soup and let it cook for another 5-10 min.

And it's done !

This makes almost over 1 liters of soup !
So the basic for a soup is

- Potato 2

- Carrots 1

- Onion + garlic + salt + pepper and olive oil

No need for man-made stock cubes which are filled with salt and artificial flavors !

All else is optional and you can play around to taste:

Courgette can substitute potato,

Sweet potato for taste or instead potatos,

Green beans instead of cabbage,

Small pasta instead of cabbage,

Red kidney beans in the pure or instead of the cabbage,

Butter  beans in the pure or instead of the cabbage,
spinach instead of the cabbage,
chickpeas instead of the cabbage...

Whatever you like ! Have fun with 'souping' :)