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Saturday, 27 September 2014

Spiced Chickpea, Butternut Squash and Yoghurt Salad

I'm visiting Aotearoa New Zealand at the moment. One of the nicest things is getting to cook for my family again. Last weekend, I puzzled over what to make out of chickpeas and silken tofu. I remembered eating some Dahi Puri that were filled with chickpea curry, vegan yoghurt and a generous amount of spices and chutney.

This chickpea salad is that memory realised in the available ingredients. It's chickpeas and butternut squash smothered in creamy vegan sour cream, with a hint of cumin and chili. The vegan sour cream from Gormandize makes a great stand-in for plain yoghurt. I've never been able to find a vegan yoghurt that isn't sweet. Do they exist?

 Spiced Chickpea, Butternut Squash and Yoghurt Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

710 g butternut squash (900 ml chopped)
1/4 red onion
a handful of parsley (optional)
2 400 g cans of chickpeas (750 ml drained)
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp chili powder

Method

1. Chop the butternut squash into 3x3 cm squares. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 200 C for 40 minutes, or until tender.

2. Finely chop the onion and parsley. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Make the sour cream. Gently combine all ingredients except the parsley and add salt to taste. Sprinkle the parsley on top.

Saturday, 20 September 2014

Quick and Healthy Snacks: Tapas

Vegan Tapas make great snacking material. They're quick, easy, and packed full of veggies. Best of all, they're delicious.

If you're keen to get your day's vegetables all at once, Gazpacho is the soup for you. It's a thick, velvety cold soup bursting with ripe tomatoes and refreshing cucumber and seasoned with vinegar, garlic and olive oil. My favourite recipe is this one.


If you're looking for something comforting and a little more filling, try Pan con Tomate, thick slabs of baguette toasted and topped with grated tomato, salt and olive oil. I love to pile them up with more grated tomato and drizzle extra olive oil on top. So good!

What are your favourite Tapas? Do you know of any other Spanish dishes that adapt themselves well to vegans? I would love tips!

Saturday, 13 September 2014

Polish Potato Pancakes with Creamy Mushroom Sauce (Placki Kartoflane)

One of the wonderful things about living in Berlin has been being able to travel to other countries easily. Want to go to Poland? Jump on the overnight bus! I'm still getting used to the change. In New Zealand we're so far away from everything that going anywhere (except Australia) takes a long time and isn't budget-friendly.

Old Town in Warsaw, Poland

Our last Poland trip was to Krakow, a beautiful city with a castle, gorgeous old town, and, of course, delicious food! My boyfriend, who's a vegetarian, had some wonderful potato pancakes with decadent mushroom sauce on top. This is a recreation of that dish, Placki Kartoflane. This picture is of a version with blended potatoes, but it's easier to make them with grated potatoes.


Polish Potato Pancakes with Creamy Mushroom Sauce (Placki Kartoflane)

Serves 4

Ingredients

creamy mushroom sauce
400 ml (200 g) cashews, not roasted or salted
2 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
150 ml water
1 onion
400 g mushrooms (1000 ml chopped)

pancakes
6 potatoes (1150 ml grated)
1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp rice flour
4 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. Blend the cashews with the vinegar, salt and water. Chop the onion and slice the mushrooms. Fry the onion in an oiled pan over medium heat until glassy. Add the mushrooms and cook until done. Stir in the cashew cream. Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

2. Peel and grate the potatoes. Mix together corn starch, rice flour and 2 tbsp water. Combine with potatoes, flour and salt. Heat an oiled pan over medium heat. When hot, add several pancakes and spread to a 1 cm thickness. Wait until the underside is a golden brown, then flip and brown the other side. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining potato mixture.

3. Divide the pancakes between four plates. Briefly warm the cashew sauce, adding water to thin if it's too thick. Top the pancakes with sauce and serve.

Saturday, 6 September 2014

BBQ Mushroom Burgers

These mushroom burgers are simple but delicious. The pearl barley gives them bite, while the soy sauce and pepper bring out the flavour of the mushrooms. They also satisfy fast-food cravings - the BBQ sauce and mushroom play together well, and you can add some vegan bacon if you want.


BBQ Mushroom Burgers

Makes 8 7cm wide patties

Ingredients

burger patties
70 ml pearl barley
250 g mushrooms (900 ml chopped)
1 potato
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp soy sauce
salt and pepper

to serve
BBQ sauce
burger buns
arugula/rocket
tomato
radishes

Method 

1. Bring barley to a boil with plenty of water and cook until tender. Peel, chop and boil the potato until soft, about 15 minutes. Mash it.

2. Finely chop the onion and mushrooms and mince the garlic. Heat an oiled pan over medium heat. Fry the onion until glassy. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the mushrooms and fry until done.

3. Combine all patty ingredients and mix well. Form into patties. Fry in an oiled pan over medium heat for a few minutes until browned on both sides, flipping once.

4. Wash the arugula. Slice the tomatoes and radishes. Chop the burger buns in half and toast both halves in a pan until lightly browned. Top with patties, vegetables and BBQ sauce.