52VeganDinners

one-a-week vegan dining adventures

[52vegandinners]

#64 Peanut Pad Thai

Another amazing sauce from Vegan Richa’s Everyday Kitchen. Variation on the Red Lentils in peanut butter sauce on page 4.

[52vegandinners]

#63 Sweet and Sour Sauce

Made the Sweet and Sour sauce from page 24 of Vegan Richa’s Everyday Kitchen. It’s absolutely delicious, just like everything else in her book.

Pan fried Lamyong Vegan Chicken Nuggets. Later I chopped them into three parts and tossed it through the veggies to coat them in the sauce.

[52vegandinners]

Medjool date, walnut, cocoa and shredded coconut bliss balls! (Rolled here in beetroot powder for the colour and great health benefits). Process ingredients in a food processor then roll between palms to create balls. Dust with beetroot powder, or roll in desiccated coconut to coat.

[52vegandinners]

#62 Curries

Made the Cauliflower Makhani on page 160 of Richa’s cookbook (using tofu instead of cauliflower this time), and the Yellow Split Pea Coconut Dahl on page 94. Both absolutely delicious, but the Makhani is a new favourite recipe.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23258002-vegan-richa-s-indian-kitchen?from_search=true

[52vegandinners]

#61 The “4P” Pâté

This pâté gets its name from the four main ingredients all starting with ‘P’, Portobello mushrooms, Porcini mushrooms, Pecans and Port.

Ingredients 1 onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced fresh thyme 5 large portobello mushrooms, peeled and diced 2 tbsp dried porcini mushrooms, powdered in a food processor 3 tbsp tawny port 1 tsp soy sauce 1 Massel stock cube (beef or chicken) 1 tsp shiro miso 150g firm tofu 120g pecans, powdered in a food processor orange slices, cut into 6 segments For the jelly topping: 1 tsp Massel powdered chicken stock Juice of 1/2 an orange 1/2 cup water 1 tsp plain Nutrijell (a konjac/carageenan based jelling agent)

Method

Sautee onion, garlic and thyme on low heat until onion is soft and glassy. Add the portobellos, porcini, port, soy sauce, stock cube and miso. Stir to combine and allow to reduce.

Add the mushroom mix, the tofu and pecans to a blender and blend until smooth. 

Put the pate into small glass clip top jars, smooth the pate to flatten; then top with the orange segments (and a few thyme leaves).

In a small saucepan, whisk together the jelly topping ingredients and bring to a boil.

Pour a thin layer over the orange segments to cover. It sets quickly.

[52vegandinners]

#60 Gardein Meatless Meatballs

Bought a packet of Gardein’s Meatless Meatballs to review. Am adding my voice to the chorus of people online who say the texture is great but the spice used (fennel seed?) is too strong.

Gardein, listen to the crowd and change your spice mix!

Might give this a 7/10. I don’t think I’ll be buying it again.

[52vegandinners]

#59 Smashed eggplant and lentil salad

Just needs a crunchy baguette!

Let me see.. Assuming the eggplant is roasted, the rest of this salad only needs assembly. What follows isn’t really a recipe; I don’t give quantities. But I’m confident you can work it out.

Ingredients 2 medium eggplant (eggplant is cross hatched, sprinkled with salt, patted dry, then drizzled with garlic oil, roasted in hot oven until soft, and smashed) 1 can of lentils, drained onion, sliced thinly (preferably red onion) parsley, whole leaf, torn.

The dressing is made by mixing together hulled tahini, lemon juice, oil, pomegranate molasses and water to thin it. Maybe some of the eggplant is blended into the dressing with a stick blender. I can’t remember.

Mango, sliced. Don’t forget the baguette.

[52vegandinners]

#58 Koftas with polenta and asparagus

I bought the Koftas from Coles, regular store price is $3.50. Fried them lightly and they had a nice texture, kind of crispy on the outside and chunky. Went well with the smooth polenta and pan fried asparagus.

My sister made me a jar of Matt Preston’s tomato sauce, and it was the perfect accompaniment. I recommend you make this sauce, it also goes great with the Sausage Rolls.

[52vegandinners]

#57 Lasagne (tofu ricotta and silverbeet)

The tofu is totally convincing in the role of ricotta. You won’t miss the dairy here.

Ingredients Lasagne sheets (most of them are 100% durum wheat, but do check for egg) Passata 1 onion, diced 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1 bunch silverbeet, stems removed. 300g hard tofu 300g medium classic tofu juice of half a lemon nutmeg, freshly grated salt black pepper, freshly cracked

Method Preheat oven to 220ºC. Boil silverbeet leaves until soft. Rinse in cold water and drain. Set aside. 

Meanwhile, fry onion in oil, and when glassy add the garlic. Take half the hard tofu and place it in a blender together with the medium tofu. Crumble the rest of the hard tofu in with the onion until it resembles a fine crumbly texture. Add the lemon juice to the blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Stir the cream through the onion, then add in the silverbeet. Stir until well combined. Season with nutmeg, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Take a rectangular glass baking dish and spoon on a layer of the passata, then cover the bottom with a layer of the lasagne sheets. Spoon on 1cm thick layer of the ricotta mix, then repeat until you have at least 3 layers. The uppermost layer should be a lasagne sheet topped with passata. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes until an inserted skewer shows the pasta is soft.

[52vegandinners]

#56 Gardein Mandarin Chickn stir fry

This recipe is all saucy and sticky with messy noodles! Edit: ugly photo replaced with nicer one.

Gardein’s Mandarin Crispy Chickn was prepared according to instructions. Towards the end of the frying I tossed Hokkien noodles through the sauce. The pak choy was boiled separately until wilted, then mixed through. Sesame seeds and peanuts on top.

[52vegandinners]

#55 Tunisian lentil hotpot

Absolutely delicious recipe from Herbie’s Spices.

Reproduced from: http://www.herbies.com.au/general/super-soup-ideas-for-winter/

Ingredients 1 onion 1 carrot 2 stalks celery 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 potato or parsnip 2 cups water, or stock 1 can chickpeas 3 tbsp Tunisian spice mix 1 can tomatoes with liquid 1 can brown lentils, drained 1 small can red kidney beans, drained 3 tbsp risoni

Method

Peel and dice vegetables.

Saute onion, celery and carrots in oil for 2-3 minutes. Add Tunisian spice mix and potatoes, fry until fragrant. 

Add tomatoes, lentils, beans, chickpeas and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. 

Add pasta and cook 10 minutes or until pasta is tender. Add more water to make your desired consistency. 

Garnish each bowl with fresh continental parsley leaves and serve with flatbread. 

Serves 3-4.

Perfect served with flatbread (for inspiration, see http://52vegandinners.tumblr.com/post/159787950156/week-45-roast-pumpkin-and-tabouli-roti-with)

[52vegandinners]

#54 French toast with creamed spinach and lecso

Mmm, this was delicious.

Ok, so I soaked the bread in my sister’s eggs to make French toast; making this a v-egg-an recipe.

French toast is easy: soak bread in whisked egg, then fry, turning once.

The creamed spinach was also simple. Soak 1/2 cup cashews overnight in water, then blend until creamy. 1. fry diced, salted onion in oil until glassy, then add crushed garlic 2. add chopped, fresh spinach and the cashew cream. You might need to add more water to get the right consistency and salt to taste. Cook until the spinach is wilted.

The lecso recipe is available from week #9.

10/10 Love it.

[52vegandinners]

#53 Kale and roasted cauliflower salad

Even though I’ve reached #52, I’ll continue to blog my meals because it’s proving to be a good way to keep track of recipes.

https://dkscooks.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/meatless-monday-kale-and-roasted-cauliflower-with-lemon-tahini-dressing/

10/10 I loved the sweetness from the red onion and sultanas. They really balanced the flavours.

[52vegandinners]

WEEK #52 Chestnut and Mushroom Bourguignon

Well, I finally made it to 52 vegan dinners. My New Year’s Eve resolution has been met!

This recipe from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chestnutbourgignonpi_3042

9/10. Sauce tastes amazing. The chestnut texture and the slight sweetness it imparted felt odd. Next time I’d make the whole thing with mushrooms.

[52vegandinners]

WEEK #51 Ottolenghi’s Tagine

Recipe available online: http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/ultimate-winter-couscous-shop

I substituted lemon infused oil for the couscous instead of the butter in order to make the recipe fully vegan.

9/10. A hearty, tasty exotic meal. The parsnip had too long a cooking time; it basically disintegrated into the sauce by the end. Ditto with the pumpkin. These aspects of the recipe may need to be adjusted.

[52vegandinners]

WEEK #50 Oriental salad

Ingredients 1/2 wombok 1 red capsicum 1 carrot Chang’s Oriental salad dressing (this is the bomb) Chang’s fried noodles salted peanuts Macro tofu, Thai marinated Method This is a really quick and easy meal to make.

Shred the wombok, slide the capsicum into thin strips and if you own a zig-zag kom kom, now is your time to use it on the carrot. If you don’t have one, go buy it – and in the meantime, use a grater.

Drizzle with the dressing and toss to distribute. Slice the tofu and place strips on top. Scatter with the fried noodles and peanuts.

10/10. Never imagined I could ever like tofu, but here we are.

[52vegandinners]

WEEK #49 Spaghetti and meatballs

Fry onion and garlic. Stir this through falafel mix, mashed chickpeas and orgran egg replacer to help bind. Season to taste. Shape into balls and toss through a breadcrumb and vegan parmesan mix. Fry balls until brown and crispy, then bake in 180ºC oven for 20 minutes.

While the meatballs are baking, cook pasta and prepare your favourite tomato sauce.

Serve scattered with vegan parmesan. 

To make vegan parmesan, put 1/4 cup cashews, 1 tbsp nutritional yeast, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and salt into a food processor and blitz.

9/10. Tastes really great and is a satisfying meal. (1 point deducted because the balls could taste meatier)