Thai Larb salad (vegan)

Thai Larb Salad (vegan)

Ingredients

1 packet of Omnimeat
1 baby portobello mushroom (or a few small mushrooms), chopped up
2 stalks of spring onion
2 cloves garlic
1 red chili (sliced into small strips) - or dried chili flakes
a few stalks fresh coriander - if you use the stalks, cut them fine, otherwise, just use the leaves
vegan fish sauce (I happened to have a Vietnamese one)
sugar (brown)
cooking oil
juice of 2 small limes

Preparation:

1. Add the minced omnimeat to a frying pan / wok in a bit of cooking oil and stir fry it. Add a bit of finely chopped red chili (or dried chili flakes).
2. Add the mushrooms and stir fry for a few minutes, add spring onions, garlic, chili next, stir-fry.
3. Add the juice of 2 small limes (or 1 big one), a pinch of sugar and the vegan fish sauce (you could add some other kind of saltiness like tamari sauce as well if you don't have vegan fish sauce).
4. Add the fresh coriander (and if you have it thai basil or mint would go really well too) to the mixture and stir through.
5. Use Romain lettuce leaves and add a bit of rice in it and serve the larb mixture on top of that. Top it off with some of the chili strips and coriander for presentation.

Ingredients

prepare the ingredients

after stirfry completed

lettuce and rice prepared for serving

Chilli Sin Carne (vegan)

this is my version of chilli sin carne - I use what I have in the fridge and pantry and ingredients may vary based on that. Goes well with carrots also - so just use this as a guide and make your own! Easy and wholesome.

Ingredients

2 cans of beans (I used 1 can of kidney beans and 1 can of mixed beans including black beans and black eyed peas - but feel free to change that to what you have in your pantry)
1 can of plum tomatoes (you can also do your own fresh tomatoes and blanch them and peel them)
1 large onion (I use red onion)
1 capsicum
2 stalks of celery
1 zucchini
200g mushrooms (I used swiss brown mushrooms)
vegan "minced meat" (I used Beyond beefy crumble - but you could use other kind of meat replacer too - as long as it is firm - tofu will get messy, but tempeh would work well)
olive oil
apple cider vinegar
smoked paprika
chilli powder
cumin powder
sea salt
sundried tomato paste (optional)

Preparation

Cut all the vegetables and the mushrooms finely (up to your liking how fine).
Add oil in the frying pan/wok and fry the onion first till translucent, then add the minced "meat" followed by the mushrooms. Fry them while stirring regularly till they are brown.

Add other ingredients (onions, capsicum, celery, zucchini) and mix it all well and let it fry for a bit and then add a dash of water.

Add in the seasoning - the smoked paprika will give it that smokey flavour. Stir through and add the beans (the kidney beans in water I drain of the water first - but if you have one with seasoning or tomato base you can keep it in). Stir through, taste and add more seasoning if needed. Add the can of tomatoes and also if you have it a bit of sundried tomato paste (I happened to have it in the fridge). Add a dash of vinegar.
You can add some fresh herbs to this as well like cilantro or parsley.

Serve with rice, bread or nachos!

Mushroom Pâté (vegan)

Last year I made this based on a recipe by Nora of ingeniouscooking.com.
http://www.ingeniouscooking.com/mushroom-cashew-pate/?fbclid=IwAR3M7VnH24nPo7zxBfepggFEVQUnUtBM512QPb82-NYLFxcGhrMwhLQ7a3Q

I did my own take on it though - and below is my version of the recipe. The pâté that I did looked a bit darker in colour because of the portobello mushrooms.

Ingredients

250g portobello mushrooms, sliced
50g or ½ scant cup of cashews
1 small onion
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
(I used black tasmanian seasalt and freshly ground black pepper)

Preparation

Roast cashews in a dry pan over medium heat until golden brown. You could also do this in the oven: 10 minutes at 180 C / 360 F.
Finely mince onion and add to oil over medium heat. Fry until translucent.
Set aside onions and add sliced mushrooms to frying pan. Fry until golden brown on both sides. (Don't crowd them: you want them fried, not cooked.)
Put cashews in food processor and mix until finely ground. Add other ingredients (onions, mushrooms, parsley, salt, pepper) and mix until smooth.

Creamy kale mushroom pasta (vegan)

Ingredients:
pasta of choice
1 bunch of kale
2 cloves garlic
1 onion (red)
olive oil
flour
nutritional yeast
white miso paste
black pepper
sea salt
pine nuts

Method:

1. Cook the pasta
2. Cut garlic, onion and sauté
3. Cut the mushrooms (I used baby portobello) and sauté with the onions, add seasoning (black pepper , sea salt)
4. Clean the kale, cut away the stems and cut the leaves fine, then add to the pot as well. Add a dash of water so the kale gets sort of steamed a bit.
5. Add seasoning and keep the veggie mixture aside.
6. Make a roux with a bit of olive oil flour (stir till you get a ball, add water gradually and keep stirring till you have a nice smooth sauce)
7. Add nutritional yeast to the roux mixture - and add a bit more water if necessary and heat it.
8. Lastly add a bit of white miso paste to the roux.
When the sauce is smooth, add back the veggie mixture to the pot, stir and add the pasta and stir it all through. Serve with roasted pine nuts.
You can make this in different ways, e.g. with cashew cream instead of the roux.

Shepherds Pie (vegan)

ingredients 

For the filling:

Beyond meat crumbs (you can use alternatives)

Swiss brown mushroom 

1 red onion

4 cloves garlic

1 carrot

1 small zucchini 

Tomato paste

Mustard

Basil

Rosemary

Black pepper 

Sea salt

Coconut aminos (or vegan worcestershire sauce)

Olive oil

Mash:

8 potatoes

Vegan butter (e.g. nuttelex)

Black pepper

Sea salt

Preparation

First peel the potatoes and cut them in cubes. Boil in water for about 20 minutes till they are soft.

After they finished cooking, drain the water and mash them up with the butter and seasoning. 

While the potatoes are cooking you can start on the filling.

Clean and cut the vegetables. Carrot and zucchini into cubes.

Sautée the garlic and onion in olive oil, then add the mock mince meat. 

Add the mushrooms and carrot, and the zucchini last.

Add the seasoning, tomato paste and a bit of water (not too much).

Let it simmer for a while till the carrots are soft. 

Prepare an oven dish (or individual small dishes) and add the filling at the bottom of the dish. Add the mash on top. Make sure the mash fully covers the filling. Make the surface rough with a fork. 

Put in preheated oven at 190C for 20 minutes. Serve while hot! 

Note: 

You can make variants to this based on what you have in the fridge. I made this with leftovers and my usual staples. 

used this as the base

cooking of the ingredients

the filling is ready

filling up the oven dishes - filling at the bottom, mash on top

roughed up the mash with a fork - before putting it in the oven

finished baking! 

Spiced pumpkin muffins (vegan & glutenfree)

fitting with the season, I decided to make muffins with speculaas spices - enough to fill a tray of 12 muffin forms.

ingredients

175g self raising gluten free flour

1 tablespoon speculaas spices (see below for the contents)

75g brown sugar (I used gula merah /gula melaka / jaggery - which is a palm sugar)

pinch of salt

1 cup pumpkin puree (fresh is the best, but you could use a can too)

100ml almond milk (unsweetened) - or use soy milk or other vegan milk

50ml coconut oil

walnuts (optional)

preparation

Preheat the oven to 205C.

Mix the flour with the spices and sugar, and taste the mixture to check if the balance is right (the above ingredients are estimates, I use my feeling and taste). 

In a separate bowl, mix the pumpkin with the coconut oil and half of the almond milk till you get a smooth mixture. 

Slowly fold in the wet mixture to the flour mixture and mix it well together. 

After the wet mixture is folded into the flour mixture, slowly add more almond milk and keep mixing till you have a nice smooth batter. It should not be runny, but the flour should be mixed well. 

Add chopped up walnuts to the batter if you like. 

Scoop the batter into the muffin tray and fill the muffin cups till 2/3.

Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. 

Let it rest for a few minutes and take it out. 

recipe inspired by http://www.isachandra.com/2009/11/the-best-pumpkin-muffins/

serving suggestion

serve with whipped vegan coconut cream. Recipe here: http://petiteallergytreats.com/homemade-coconut-whipped-cream-dairy/

speculaas spice mix

8 parts cinnamon

2 parts nutmeg

2 parts clove (ground)

1 part ginger powder

1 part cardamom

1 part white pepper

1 part anise seed

1 part coriander seed

mix the spices till you have a fine powder mixture. 

Vegan jambalaya

Jambalaya is a tasty cajun / creole dish, that makes for a hearty meal.
This recipe caters for about 12 persons, but you can reduce the amounts for less people.

jambalaya on the bottom left, other pictures the ingredients and start of cooking

Ingredients

olive oil (for cooking)

smoked paprika

bay leaves

cajun spice mix

freshly ground black pepper

freshly ground seasalt

1 vegetable stock cube (optional)

garlic (4 cloves)

onion (4 red onions, but you can use yellow onions too)

2 (yellow) zucchinis

8 large stalks of celery

6 big tomatoes

beans (I used a packet of mixed dried beans - see picture - that I soaked for 2 hours prior to adding them, but you could use a can of pinto beans or kidney beans too if you like)

450g long grain brown rice (or other rice, but long grain)

fresh cilantro

vegan worcestershire sauce (I didn't have this, but used another vegan seasoning)

in terms of vegetables, you can do a lot of variations, whatever you have in the fridge! goes well with capsicum, eggplant, etc. too and I'm sure mushrooms will be nice too.

Preparation

Cut the garlic and onions finely. Cut the other vegetables into small cubes (see photo).
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot, add the garlic and onions to saute. Once done, add the other vegetables (zucchini & celery) and saute till tender. Add the tomatoes and the seasonings, use your feeling and taste to get the quantity right.
Add the rice and water with a vegetable stock cube.

Stir for a few minutes till everything is nicely blended. 

Once it is at a boil, put it to low heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Occasionally check that the water is sufficient (follow the instructions on your rice pack as to how much water to add) and have a taste to see that the flavours are working. After 45 minutes the rice should be done, and the water will have been absorbed. 

Finally add the cilantro and stir through and save a few leaves to put on top for serving.

Serving suggestions

Serve with jalapeno peppers (I don't get fresh ones here, so served it with pickled jalapenos from the shop) and hot sauce or tabasco for those who want to have it spicier.

To balance out the heavy flavours, I served it with a rainbow salad. 

Credits

I create my own recipes, but get ideas from others. My recipe is inspired by this recipe: http://www.lifeasastrawberry.com/spicy-vegan-jambalaya/

and this recipe: http://www.gumbopages.com/food/veg/veg-jambalaya.html