Break

I'm going to take a break from blogging, so this will be the last post for a while. It has been fun, maybe one day I'll be back! Happy holidays to you all.

Vegan Kimchi Cheese Chips

Vegan Kimchi Cheese Chips

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

1 recipe of cheddar cheese sauce from Teri Gentes
750 g frozen chips
300 ml kimchi

Method 

1. Make the cheddar cheese sauce. Cook the chips according to packet directions.

2. Drain the kimchi. Chop into 1 cm pieces. Fry in an oiled pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

3. Top the chips with the cheddar sauce and kimchi.

Easy Vegan Recipes: Oat Cookies, Fried Capsicums with Tomato Sauce, and Stewed Leeks, Carrots and Kidney Beans

This week I'm focussing on easy vegan recipes. First we have something sweet, and then two recipes for quick lunches or dinners.

Looking for something to snack on? The recipe for these great oat cookies originally comes from Food Not Bombs and is available through the Vegan Cuisine Cookbook on Wikibooks. This is the simplest cookie recipe I've ever made, but the results are delicious. I don't like my cookies very sweet, so I halved the sugar.

This Turkish side of fried capsicums with tomato sauce from Twins in Kitchen is extremely easy. It's done in 15 minutes and goes well with any Mediterranean dinner. I also like to eat at as a quick snack with some bread.

Last but not least, we have this dish of stewed leeks, carrots and kidney beans in tahini sauce. It makes a good pairing for the capsicums, but can also stand alone. It's simple to prepare but complexly flavoured and delicious.

What are your favourite quick and easy vegan recipes? What do you make when you feel uninspired but want something good to eat?

Brussels Sprouts and Onions in Creamy Mustard Sauce

This week we continue the brussels sprouts theme with a cute little side of creamy brussels sprouts, pepped up with some wholegrain mustard.

Brussels Sprouts and Onions in Creamy Mustard Sauce

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

500 ml brussels sprouts
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp flour
200 ml soy milk
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
salt and pepper

Method

1. Prepare sprouts - remove damaged outer leaves, trim bases, and cut in half. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and roast at 180 C for 15 minutes.

2. Slice the onion and mince the garlic. Heat an oiled pan over medium heat and fry the onion until translucent. Add garlic and fry for a few minutes.

3. Add the flour and cook for a few minutes. Add the milk little by little, whisking between each addition to form a creamy sauce. Simmer until thick. Add mustard and brussels sprouts. Mix well, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Brussels Sprouts

This 5-ingredient vegan pasta doesn't look wonderful, but it makes up for its lack in the aesthetic department with punchy flavours: roasted brussels sprouts with a little chilli, bright lemon juice, and savoury sundried tomatoes. The roasted brussels sprouts are great for converting sprout-haters.

Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Brussels Sprouts

Serves 4

Ingredients

1000 ml brussels sprouts
chilli flakes
150 ml sundried tomatoes
500 g pasta  (gluten-free for gluten-free option)
1/2 lemon

Method

1. Remove damaged leaves from brussels sprouts, trim bottoms, and cut in half. Sprinkle lightly with chilli flakes, toss with salt and olive oil and roast for 10 minutes at 180 C.

2. Slice sundried tomatoes. Toss with brussels sprouts and roast for 5-10 more minutes, until brussels sprouts are done.

3. Cook and drain pasta. Squeeze the lemon. Toss with the pasta, brussel sprouts and sundried tomatoes.

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

I made this creamy mushroom pasta for my family when I was in Aotearoa New Zealand last time. They all enjoyed it, even those who aren't so keen on mushrooms. The delicious creaminess and cheesiness comes from cashews, which are brightened up with a little lemon juice. A luxurious but easy vegan dinner.

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Serves 6

Ingredients

500 g angel hair pasta or spaghetti
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
400 g mushrooms (750 ml sliced)
400 ml unroasted unsalted cashews
300 ml soy milk
100 ml water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp chilli powder

Method

1. Chop the onion and mince the garlic. Slice the mushrooms. Heat an oiled pan over medium heat. Fry the onion until glassy. Fry the garlic for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and fry until done.

2. Blend the remaining ingredients (except the pasta) until smooth. Cook the pasta: if you use angel hair, bear in mind that it cooks very fast.

3. Add the cashew sauce to the pan with the mushrooms and heat gently. Add some more water if the sauce is too thick. Serve with a grind of pepper and a grate of lemon zest.

Peppers with Sundried Tomato and Isot Pepper Stuffing

For a long time, I hated stuffed vegetables. They were either soggy or undercooked and had plain, flavourless fillings. So when I was stuffing these beautiful red peppers I decided to make a rich filling out of kidney beans, smoky isot pepper and sundried tomatoes. The peppers were roasted before stuffing to intensify their flavour.

This recipe is super good for an easy weeknight dinner. It comes together very easily, and you can make a salad to have on the side while the peppers are roasting. Isot pepper adds a wonderful depth of flavour to this dish, but if you can't find it, you can replace it with 1/8 tsp of chili powder.

Peppers with Sundried Tomato and Isot Pepper Stuffing

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 long peppers/capsicums
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
10 sundried tomatoes
1 (400 g) can kidney beans
1 tsp isot pepper/urfa biber
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
100 ml breadcrumbs (gluten-free if you want)
3 tbsp water

Method 

1. Cut the peppers in half. Remove stem and seeds. Roast at 200 C for 20-40 minutes, until they're as soft as you like them. Chop the onion finely and mince the garlic. Rinse the sundried tomatoes and chop them finely.

2. Heat an oiled pan over medium heat. Fry onion until softened. Add garlic and fry for a few minutes. Add sundried tomatoes and fry for a few minutes more. Remove from heat.

3. Drain and rinse the kidney beans. Mash them and combine with the onion mixture and all remaining ingredients. Stuff the peppers and roast for 10 more minutes.

Vegan Bechamelkartoffeln

When I was a child, I hated white sauce. I would dread having Macaroni Cheese, or worse yet, Cauliflower Cheese. I've gotten over my cauliflower doubts thanks to roasting it with lemon juice. Now I've come to see how delicious white sauce (aka bechamel) can be.

I stumbled across this recipe last winter while I was looking for quintessentially German recipes. Bechamelkartoffeln, steaming hot potatoes in creamy white sauce, are a perfect winter side. Add a vegan sausage and a little salad, and you've got dinner. I changed the original recipe a little to make it vegan and easier to follow if you've never made a bechamel before.

Vegan Bechamelkartoffeln

Serves 4
Lightly adapted from this recipe

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes
1 onion
2 tbsp margarine
2 tbsp flour
250 ml soy milk
250 ml vegetable stock 
salt, pepper and nutmeg

Method  

1. Peel and dice the potatoes. Add to salted water and boil until tender. Dice the onion.

2. Heat margarine in a pan over medium heat, and fry the onion until soft. Add the flour and cook for another minute, stirring constantly. Add the soy milk slowly, whisking between additions to avoid lumps. Add the vegetable broth. 

3. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about ten minutes, stirring regularly. Add the potatoes and simmer for a few more minutes. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Garlic Spinach

This garlic spinach is healthy and super easy to throw together. It's also delicious!

Garlic Spinach

Serves 2

Ingredients

120 g spinach (1200 ml chopped)
3 cloves of garlic

Method

1. Chop spinach and mince garlic. Heat an oiled pan over medium-high heat. Fry garlic for one minute. Add a handful of spinach and fry until wilted. Add the rest of the spinach, handful by handful. Season with salt and pepper.

Lemon Roasted Cauliflower

This lemon roasted cauliflower is for cauliflower haters. My sister and I have hated cauliflower ever since some early cauliflower cheese experiences, but even we like this. The little charred pieces are particularly delicious. It's super easy to make - just toss together three ingredients and leave it to roast in the oven.

Lemon Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp oil

Method 

1. Chop cauliflower into florets. Toss with all remaining ingredients and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 200 C for 20 minutes. Turn and roast for 10-20 minutes more until tender with browned bits.

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 recipe vegan sour cream

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.

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!

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.

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.

Leeks, Carrots and Kidney Beans in Tahini Sauce

This combination of leeks, carrots and kidney beans looks unassuming, but has a deep rich flavour from the tahini. It makes a lovely Turkish meal when combined with another easy side, like capsicums in tomato sauce.

 

Leeks, Carrots and Kidney Beans in Tahini Sauce

Serves 2 as a side
Closely based on this recipe

Ingredients

2 carrots
1 leek
1 tbsp tomato paste
250 ml water
1 (400 g) can kidney beans
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice

Method

1. Chop the carrots and leek. Heat an oiled pot over medium heat. Fry the carrots for a few minutes. Add the leeks, tomato paste and water and stir well. Put the lid on and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Drain and rinse the beans and mix them in.

2. Salt well. Mix together the tahini and lemon juice. Spoon over the top of the vegetables. Close the lid and let rest for a few minutes before serving.

Custard Rolls

As these rich custard rolls rise and bake, the wonderful smell of yeast will fill your house. Try baking them on a Sunday: in the down time, you can laze around reading a book or watching your favourite TV series - for me, it's Gossip Girl or The Good Wife (a legal drama, not a show about housewives), or a re-run of Black Books or Miranda.

Custard Rolls

Makes 9 rolls
Dough based on this recipe

Ingredients

dough
120 ml soy milk 
1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp rice flour
2 tbsp water 
30 ml lukewarm water
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 tbsp margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp sugar
600 ml flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast

filling
vanilla pudding or custard mix (many brands in the supermarket are vegan)
soy milk as needed
sugar as needed

Method

1. Heat the soy milk until warm but not hot. Mix together the corn starch, rice flour and 2 tbsp water. Combine all dough ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Turn out onto a lightly-oiled surface and knead for 10 minutes. Put back in the bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size (about an hour).

2. Prepare pudding/custard with soy milk and sugar according to directions.

4. Cover a large baking pan with baking paper. Stretch the dough into a 20 by 30 cm rectangle. Spread the filling thickly over the dough. Starting with the long side of the rectangle, roll up into a log and pinch the edge of the dough to seal.

5. Cut with a sharp knife into 4 cm slices. Place them in the pan with plenty of space between each slice. Cover and let rise again until doubled in size (about an hour). Bake at 180 C for 20-25 minutes, until a light golden brown.

Caramelised Onion Varenyky

My family lived together with a Russian family for most of my childhood. For that reason, I had some wonderful early food experiences. My favourite foods included salmon selyodka (pickled fish) and roe. Those, I wouldn't eat anymore (unless someone makes a vegan version...). But my absolute favourite food was sweet varenyky filled with apples. Varenyky are the Ukrainian-Russian version of pierogi.

For a long time I was put off making my own varenyky because of how hard I thought it would be. Then I tried making them, and it was really hard. The dough was extremely delicate. It stuck and tore. A few weeks ago, I discovered this pierogi dough on Vegan Sandra's website and tried again. The dough is a pleasure to work with. No sticking and no tearing!

When I was a child, a dumpling without apples inside wasn't really a dumpling for me. I can vividly remember the deep feeling of disappointment and offence I had after biting into a potato pirozhki (baked dumpling). These days I love potato-filled dumplings, and would be over the moon if someone made them for me. Not everything has to be sweet! But my favourite part is always the fried onions on top, so I thought I'd put them inside. Here are varenyky filled to bursting with caramelised onion, with a little potato to bind the filling.

Caramelised Onion Varenyky

Makes 16 varenyky, serves 2

Ingredients

1/2 a recipe of the crispy and simple pierogi dough from Vegan Sandra
5 onions
1 potato (200 ml)

Method

1. Chop the onions. Fry them in a little oil over medium heat for 30-40 minutes, until nicely browned. Stir every now and again and reduce the heat if they start to burn.

2. Peel, chop and boil the potato. Mash it and mix with the onions. Add salt and pepper. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces and roll them into balls. Cover with a cloth.

3. Roll out the first ball into a circle on a lightly floured surface. Put 1-2 tsp of filling in the middle and pinch the varenyky shut. Put it on a lightly floured tray and cover with a cloth. Repeat for remaining balls of dough.

4. Boil the varenyky until they float, and then for an additional 2-3 minutes. Serve with margarine or vegan sour cream.

Avocado and Sundried Tomato Pasta

Avocado pasta sauce sounds good, but for a long time we weren't friends. My boyfriend came up with this meal, and it had a long development cycle. We tried many different avocado sauces. But they were all a bit boring, and, well, too avocado-y.

Then he came up with the excellent idea of adding nutritional yeast, and I suggested adding sundried tomatoes. Combined, they take it to another level. This is my kind of avocado pasta: creamy and rich avocado sauce with a hint of cheesiness and bites of savoury flavour from the sundried tomatoes.

This recipe could be your new weeknight dinner staple. It's super easy; the sauce is made in less time than it takes to cook the pasta.

Avocado and Sundried Tomato Pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients

500 g pasta (gluten-free if you like)
1 avocado
150 ml sundried tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1 tsp nutritional yeast
25 ml olive oil
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper

Method 

1. Cook the pasta. While it's cooking, make the sauce. Mash the avocado. Rinse and slice the sundried tomatoes and mince the garlic. Mix with all remaining ingredients and toss with the pasta.

New Zealand Sweetcorn Fritters

Fritters have been popular in New Zealand for some time. Their fame was probably helped by their inclusion in the "Edmonds Cookery Book", New Zealand's most popular cook book. The book was originally published in 1908 to market baking powder, hence the slogan "sure to rise" that still stands on the cover.

You can sometimes buy seafood fritters at fish and chips shops, but corn fritters are normally made at home. They can easily be dressed up or down. I remember my dad cooking corn fritters made with creamed corn for me and my sisters a lot when I was a child. I've also eaten them on a date.

If you want fancier fritters, use fresh corn and chilli and throw some minced herbs into the batter.

New Zealand Sweetcorn Fritters

Makes 18 fritters
Serves 2 as a meal or 6 as a snack

Ingredients

1/4 onion
660 g canned corn (ca. 900 ml)
300 ml flour
1 tsp baking powder
350 ml soy milk
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. Chop the onion finely. Drain and rinse the corn. Combine all ingredients. Heat an oiled pan over medium heat.

2. Spoon in a few fritters. Cook until browned, turn and brown the second side. Drain on paper towels. Cook remaining fritters, adding oil between batches as needed. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Broccoli Fried Rice

This fried rice is delicious. The crunchy broccoli slips you your vitamins, while the garlic, chili oil and soy sauce provide a flavour hit. I can remember having great trouble learning to cook fried rice when I was a child. My first experiment turned out like congee, and even once I had learned to cook the rice first, it always stuck to the bottom The trick is simple but requires some planning: you have to cook the rice on the previous day.

Broccoli Fried Rice

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 onion
1 head broccoli
3 cloves garlic
2 dried chilies
3 cups day-old rice
3 tbsp chili oil
1 tbsp sugar
soy sauce or tamari
sweet chili sauce

Method

1. Dice the onion, mince the broccoli and crush the garlic. Crumble or chop the chilies into small pieces. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry garlic and chili over medium heat for a few minutes until golden. Add onion and fry until softened. Add broccoli and fry until softened.

2. Add the rice, chili oil and sugar. Mix well, breaking up the clumps of rice. Cook for around five minutes more, stirring well with a spatula to stop the rice from sticking. Add soy sauce to taste and cook for a minute more. Taste and add more chili oil or soy sauce if you like. Serve with sweet chili sauce.

Tomato Toast

This has been my favourite breakfast lately. It's not really a recipe: just spread some nice toasted bread with margarine, top with sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tomatoes taste amazing like this, and it's a great way to get some vegetables first thing in the morning.

Variations:
1. If you like it with a little more pep, add a few drops of tabasco sauce.
2. If you're not so into margarine, skip it and drizzle with good olive oil.
3. Use cucumbers instead of tomatoes.

Balsamic Mushroom Bruschetta

These juicy mushroom bruschetta make a great vegan starter. The sharp and sweet vinegar plays well with the fresh parsley and savoury mushrooms. And they only take a few minutes to put together!

Balsamic Mushroom Bruschetta

Makes 4 slices

Ingredients

1/2 onion
250 g button mushrooms
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt
4 slices of nice bread
flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Method

1. Dice the onion, slice the mushrooms, and mince the garlic. Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until glassy. Add the garlic and cook for a minute.

2. Add the mushrooms and fry until they release their liquid. Then add the balsamic vinegar, and cook until the liquid is gone. Salt to taste. Top slices of toasted bread with the mushrooms and a generous amount of chopped parsley.

Simple Tomato Soup

One of the things I really enjoyed eating in my childhood was canned tomato soup. It was a rare treat since my mother didn't like to buy foods that were processed or high in salt. So, this is a recreation of canned soup, but it does taste better and is lower in salt than the original.

Simple Tomato Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 onions
2 cloves garlic
2 400 g cans chopped tomatoes
375 ml vegetable stock

Method

1. Dice onion and mince garlic. Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Fry the onion in oil until soft, then add the garlic and fry for a few more minutes. Add the stock and tomatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes, add salt to taste, and blend.

Best Dinner Recipes

I really enjoy trying out recipes from other blogs, so I thought I'd write a best-of. These are the best dinners I've cooked and managed to take a photo of in the last few weeks. First up: Better-than-Tuna salad on The Fig Tree, originally from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. This salad is great on sandwiches, in pitas or on its own. It's also a great way to get your veggies - it's full of celery, capsicum and carrots.

I also recently made this Sambar from Hungry Desi, a food blog full of delicious-looking and mostly vegan recipes. You can put nearly any vegetable you like in your sambar. I used onions this time and it was very good.

And because the recipes on Hungry Desi are just that appealing, I made another one, Kadai Tofu. It was wonderfully spicy and flavourful. I replaced the milk with soy milk. I expect a little coconut milk would also work great.

That's all for this week, hope you enjoyed the recipes! Let me know if you try any of them out.

Zwiebelmett (Mince with Onions)

Zwiebelmett is basically mince with onions and spices, which people often eat spread on buns. I've never tried real Zwiebelmett, since I had already been vegan for some years before I came to Germany. I'm not sure who first thought of the idea of making it out of rice cakes, but there are many versions of this recipe online in German.

While I was researching this, I found out that Germans sometimes shape Mett into a "Mettigel" (a mince hedgehog) for parties, and decorate it with onions for spikes. Definitely going to have to try that for my next party!

A Mettigel (Picture from Wikipedia)

Zwiebelmett (Mince with Onions)

Makes 600 ml - enough for a small Mettigel!

Ingredients

18 thin or 9 thick rice cakes (100 g)
1 onion
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt
pepper

Method

1. Crumble the rice cakes. Add 300 ml water and mix well. Mince the onion. Mix the onion, tomato paste, salt and pepper with the rice cakes.

2. Check the consistency. If it's too dry, add 50 ml more water. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. When you're ready to serve, taste and add a bit more salt and pepper if you like. This is nice on buns by itself or with some chives or a few slices of cucumber on top.

Zupa Ogórkowa (Polish Pickle Soup)

I went to Poland recently and thoroughly enjoyed all the vegan food I could get my hands on. Since then, I've been bookmarking hundreds of recipes to try out. I'm not up to making vegan smoked sausage yet, but I have tried my hand at some Polish soups. Zupa Ogórkowa consists of potatoes, grated pickles and vegetables in a rich, milky broth.

Zupa Ogórkowa

Serves 3
Based on this recipe

Ingredients

1 leek
2 carrots
1 onion
1.25 litres vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
6 pickles
4 potatoes
250 ml soy milk

Method

1. Slice the leeks. Dice the carrot and the first onion. Add to a soup pot with the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer until the vegetables are soft. Add the bay leaf and peppercorns.

2. Dice the remaining onion and mince the garlic. Grate the pickles. Heat some margarine or oil in a pan and fry the onion until golden. Add the garlic and fry for a minute, then add the pickles and fry for a few minutes, until most of their liquid has evaporated. Add to the soup pot.

3. Peel and dice the potatoes. Add them to the pot and cook until soft. Mix in the soy milk and heat briefly. Remove the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.

Buffalo Chickpea Pita Pizzas

I've been looking forwards to making this recipe for buffalo chickpea soft tacos for a long time, but I don't have easy access to tacos at the moment. And so, buffalo chickpea pita pizzas were born.

Buffalo Chickpea Pita Pizzas

Closely based on this recipe
Serves 6, as a snack

Ingredients

1 onion
1 green capsicum
2 cloves garlic
2 cans chickpeas (ca. 750 ml drained)
60 ml sriracha
250 ml vegetable broth
1 bunch spring onions
3 pita breads
1 avocado
a lemon (optional)
vegan sour cream (optional)

Method

1. Chop the onion and capsicum and mince the garlic. Fry the onion in oil until softened. Add garlic and capsicum and fry for a minute. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Add the chickpeas, sriracha and broth to the pan and bring to a boil. Boil until the sauce is reduced into a thick coating for the chickpeas. Chop the spring onions and stir them into the chickpeas. Add salt to taste.

2. Cut pita breads in half and top with chickpeas and avocado. Bake at 180 C for five minutes. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and a dollop of vegan sour cream, if you have any.

Latkes

I could eat latkes every day, if making them didn't involve grating the potatoes. If you have one, you can use a food processor with a shredder attachment to speed up the route to delicious crispy latkes.

Latkes

Makes around 25 latkes

Ingredients

1100 ml potatoes
1/4 tsp salt
150 ml flour
vegetable oil

Method

1. Peel and grate potatoes, by hand or with the shredder attachment of a food processor. Put them in a colander and squeeze the water out them as best as you can.

2. Heat a pan over medium heat. Add a few tablespoons of oil. Mix the potatoes with the flour and salt. Put a few latkes in the pan. Wait until one side is browned and the latkes move easily before turning them. Brown the second side. Cook the rest of the latkes, adding oil between batches as needed.

3. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with some more salt. Serve with apple sauce or vegan sour cream.

Garlic Roasted Carrots

These garlic roasted carrots are an easy and impressive side. They get a lovely delicate flavour from the garlic. They can bake while you make the rest of dinner and you can easily double or triple this recipe if you need to feed more people.

Garlic Roasted Carrots

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 large carrots
3 cloves garlic

Method

1. Peel the carrots if the skin doesn't look nice. Slice them on the diagonal into 1 cm slices. Toss with the garlic, olive oil and salt. Spread on a baking sheet (covered with baking paper if things tend to stick to it) and bake at 200 C for 20 minutes. Turn and bake for 30 minutes more or until soft and crispy.

Lindsay's Bean Salad

It was always a treat for us kids to go on holiday to our grandparents'. One of the reasons was that my grandmother was a wonderful cook. She and my grandfather had a big garden in which they grew most of their vegetables, and she put them to great use. One of her dishes that I remember particularly well is this very simple but delicious bean salad. It goes perfectly with quiche.

Lindsay's Bean Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 400 g cans mixed beans or kidney beans (ca. 750 ml)

400 g green beans (ca. 1 litre)

1/2 onion

4 tbsp vinegar

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Method

1. Top and tail the green beans. Steam them until tender, drain, and rinse with cold water. Drain and rinse the canned beans. Slice the onion finely.

2. Mix the beans and onion with all the remaining ingredients. Leave to marinate for at least half an hour.

Kimchi Jeon

I've been very busy with university in the last few weeks. It's a good thing I have to write blog posts; testing recipes, taking photos and putting together posts gives me a break. Not that I'm complaining, what could be more fun than trying to work out what, exactly, Adorno is trying to say when he pops out something like this: "Though discursive knowledge is adequate to reality, and even to its irrationalities, which originate in the laws of motion, something in reality rebuffs rational knowledge"?

Anyway, onwards to the most important thing, the food. Kimchi jeon are fritters overflowing with tangy kimchi. They make a great snack or dinner with a side or two. In my opinion, they'd also go really with a barbecue or as snacks for a party. They're very easy to put together - just mix everything in a bowl and fry them up. On the evening I took this picture I had them with hobak namul (stir-fried zucchini) and rice for dinner.

Kimchi Jeon

Makes 6 jeon

Ingredients

500 ml vegan mak kimchi
6 tbsp kimchi juice
6 tbsp soy milk
4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp rice flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Method

1. Drain the kimchi, saving the juice. Combine kimchi with all remaining ingredients.

2. Heat an oiled pan over medium heat. Spoon in 1/6th of the batter and spread evenly into a thick fritter. Fry until browned, turn, and brown the other side.

3. Cook remaining fritters, adding more oil between batches as necessary. Enjoy! You can have the jeon with soy or dipping sauce, but I find them flavourful enough just as they are.

Variation: You can make two large jeon instead of six small ones, and then cut them into wedges or tear them up with your chopsticks to eat them.

Tofu with Black Vinegar

I had this tofu drizzled with black vinegar in a restaurant while stopping over in Hong Kong airport. It was simple but tasty, and hit the spot perfectly. We then had some snacks and beer while watching the sun "setting" into the smog above the horizon... It started out orange, melted into a deep red, and then disappeared.

You can find black vinegar, which is also called Chinkiang vinegar, at an Asian supermarket. I really like to eat this with red-cooked eggplant and some rice: it's an impressive combination and everything is done in less than half an hour.

Tofu with Black Vinegar

Serves 2

Ingredients

450 g tofu
2 tbsp black vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari

Method

1. Cut the tofu into slabs. Heat a generous amount of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry tofu for a few minutes on one side, until deep golden brown, then turn and brown the other side. Drain on paper towels.

2. Mix together soy sauce and vinegar. Lay the pieces of tofu on a plate and drizzle sauce over them. Eat with your favourite Chinese vegetable side, or just with rice.

German Pea, Carrot and Sausage Stew

This is an easy vegan Eintopf (one-pot, the German word for stew). It's simple but tasty and satisfying. Highly recommended for chilly days with some toast on the side to soak up the juices.

German Pea, Carrot and Sausage Stew

Serves 2
Adapted lightly from this recipe, in German

Ingredients

120 ml whole dried peas
1 onion
2 carrots
2 potatoes
500 ml vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper and cider vinegar
a few vegan sausages (optional)

Method

1. Soak the peas overnight. Cook until done (how long this takes will vary with the dryness of your peas). Drain and set aside.

2. Dice the onion, carrots and potato. Heat oil in a pan and fry the onion and carrots over medium heat until the onion is soft.

3. Add the potatoes, stock and bay leaf. Bring to the boil and simmer until the potatoes are done, about 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and season with salt, pepper and a glug of vinegar.

4. Chop up the sausages, add them to the pot, and cook for a few minutes to warm.

The Best Panzanella

This panzanella recipe came about a few summers ago, when I tried five or six different versions. None of them were quite right. So I combined the best parts of all of them... Ripe tomatoes, slices of crunchy cucumber, smoky roasted capsicum, salty capers, and chunks of good bread with a dressing of vinegar, olive oil and tomato juice. It's a great way to get your veggies - fresh, flavourful and delicious. We don't really eat anything special for Easter, apart from chocolate, but this would make a good addition to an Easter meal.

The Best Panzanella

Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side

Ingredients

6 large ripe tomatoes
2 large capsicums (or some roasted capsicum in a jar)
1 cucumber
200 ml olives
3 tbsp capers
a bunch of basil
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 loaf stale good-quality white bread (ca. 250 g)

Method

1. Put the tomatoes in a bowl. Cover with boiling water. Let sit for a few minutes, until the skins have loosened. Drain, peel, and core the tomatoes. Cut each tomato into quarters and squeeze the seeds and juice into a bowl. Put the seeds aside.

2. Roast the capsicums at high heat in the oven until blackened. Put in a bowl with a lid. Peel the cucumber. Quarter it and remove the seeds. Cut into slices. Peel the capsicums, remove the seeds, and tear into long strips.

3. Rinse the olives and capers. Slice the basil and mince the garlic. Mix the tomato seeds with the garlic, capers, olive oil, vinegar and salt. Cut the bread into chunks and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Let rest for at least half an hour.

Do you eat anything special for Easter?

Churro French Toast

This churro french toast is an easy way to get the taste of churros without making them by scratch. So if you want something greasy and sugary for breakfast, make this! If you have cinnamon sugar left over afterwards, you can pop it in a jar and then sprinkle it on buttered toast later. If you don't want to use as much oil, you can definitely use less, they just won't have quite the same deep fried flavour.

Churro French Toast

Inspired by this recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 small loaf white bread
3 tbsp cinnamon
6 tbsp sugar
vegetable oil
350 ml soy milk
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Remove the crusts from the bread and cut into thick fingers. Mix the 3 tbsp cinnamon and 6 tbsp sugar together on a plate.

2. Heat 120 ml of oil in a pan over medium heat. Combine the soy milk, flour, nutritional yeast, sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl.

3. Dip a few of the fingers in the soy milk mixture using tongs or chopsticks. Add them to the pan and fry until browned on all sides, then drain on paper towels and roll in cinnamon sugar. Repeat for the remaining fingers in batches. Enjoy with fruit, chocolate or caramel sauce, cream, or whatever else takes your fancy.

Beer Battered Onion Rings

These crunchy onion rings make a great accompaniment to burgers, for example my New Zealand Beer Battered 'Fish' Burgers. The batter for the tofu and onions is the same, so you can fry your tofu and then use up the rest of the batter on the onions. If you don't want to make burgers, you can probably get away with half a recipe of batter. I find it handy to dip the onions in the batter using chopsticks.

Beer Battered Onion Rings

Ingredients

120 ml vegetable oil
250 ml flour
250 ml beer
1 tsp salt
a dash of pepper
several onions - as many as you want rings

Method

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a pan. Mix flour, beer, salt and pepper until smooth.

2. Peel the onions. Chop width-wise into rings, and separate the rings. I like to leave the middles whole and use those too - like doughnut holes.

3. Check if the oil is hot. Heat it for a few minutes more if it's not. Dip several rings in the batter, shake to remove excess batter, and add to the hot oil. Cook until brown on both sides, then drain on paper towels and salt. Fry remaining rings. Nom.

Olivier Salad

This yummy salad originated in Russia. It consists of chopped potatoes, carrots and peas in a mayonnaise dressing with tangy pickles and onion. It's a great winter dish, but also perfect for summer picnics and barbecues, or the first month of spring while you're waiting for the new produce to appear.

Olivier Salad

Serves 4 as a main or 6 as a side

Ingredients

8 potatoes
2 carrots
1 400 g can or 375 ml frozen peas, cooked
vegan ham (optional)
6 medium pickles
1/4 onion or 3 stalks spring onion
400 ml vegan mayonnaise made with silken tofu
salt and pepper

Method

1. Wash the potatoes and carrots, and simmer them together until done. Let them cool for a while. Peel them and dice them finely. Drain and rinse the peas.

2. Mince the onion and finely chop the pickles. Slice the spring onions and ham, if using. Mix everything together and season well with salt and pepper.

Spring Eats: Simple Pea Soup with Sauteed Radishes

The spring has come to Berlin! We are enjoying sunny weather and the first delicate green leaves. And some spring meals full of vegetables. This colourful pairing of pea soup and sauteed radishes makes a lovely fast dinner that comes together in about 10 minutes.

The radishes lose their pungency through the cooking and become wonderfully mild. The recipe for the radishes is here - just substitute oil or vegan margarine for the butter. Now, the soup.

Simple Pea Soup

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 small onion
300 ml vegetable broth
800 ml frozen peas
salt and pepper

Method

1. Finely mince the onion. Combine with the broth and peas. Bring to the boil and cook for a few minutes, until peas are done.

2. Remove from the heat and puree. Add salt and pepper to taste.

New Zealand Beer Battered 'Fish' Burgers & Tartar Sauce

This is a vegan version of the kind of burger you find in a New Zealand fish and chip shop: Crunchy battered 'fish', fresh vegetables and creamy tartar sauce.

New Zealand Beer Battered 'Fish' Burgers & Tartar Sauce

Makes 4 burgers and 150 ml tartar sauce

Tartar Sauce Ingredients

150 ml vegan mayonnaise, ready-made or made according to this recipe with silken tofu
2 tbsp minced onion
2 tbsp minced pickle
1 tbsp minced capers

Burger Ingredients

250 ml flour
250 ml beer
1 tsp salt
a dash of pepper
450 g tofu
120 ml vegetable oil
4 burger buns
red onion (optional)
tomato
lettuce
tomato sauce

Method

1. First, make the tartar sauce: mix all the ingredients and set aside.

2. Heat the oil over medium heat. Mix flour, beer, salt and pepper until smooth. Pat the tofu dry with paper towels. Cut the block into four slabs of tofu.

3. Make sure your oil is good and hot. If it's still not hot, give it some more time to heat. Dip two of the tofu slabs in batter, shake off excess batter and place them in the oil. Cook until golden on both sides. Drain on paper towels and salt. Scoop out any bits of batter still in the pan. Fry the other two slabs.

4. Wash the lettuce and cut the tomato and onion into slices. Cut the burger buns in half and toast the cut sides briefly in a pan.

5. Stack the burger with tofu, tomato, tartar and tomato sauces, a few rings of red onion, and lettuce.

Kaiserschmarrn

Kaiserschmarrn are thick pancake pieces studded with raisins that you eat slathered with custard or fruit sauce. These Austrian pancakes aren't just a dessert: they are satisfying enough to make a good meal.

Kaiserschmarrn

Adapted from this recipe, in German
Serves 2

Ingredients

375 ml flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
250 ml soy milk
125 ml soda water
vegan margarine
a few handfuls raisins or sultanas
icing sugar
applesauce or vegan custard (optional)

Method

1. Combine the flour, sugar and baking soda in a bowl. Add the soy milk and soda water. Mix well.

2. Heat some margarine over medium heat in a pan. Pour in half the batter and sprinkle liberally with raisins, avoiding the edges of the pancake. When the top has set, turn and cook the other side. Take out of the pan and chop into pieces. Return to the pan and cook for a minute or two more.

4. Add a little more soda water to the remaining batter if it's too thick. Add more margarine to the pan and cook the second pancake.

5. Sprinkle pancakes with icing sugar and serve with applesauce or custard.

New Zealand Roasted Vegetable Salad

This is my conception of the kind of salad you're likely to find in the cabinet of a New Zealand cafe - solid, satisfying and easy to throw together. It's a good option when you're tired and want dinner without a fuss.

New Zealand Roasted Vegetable Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 capsicum
2 zucchini
2 carrots
olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 tsp cumin
a pinch of pepper
1/8 tsp chili flakes
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cans kidney beans (about 750 ml drained)

Method

1. Chop the capsicum, zucchini and carrots roughly. Toss with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and roast at 200 C for 50 minutes or until soft.

2. Mince the garlic and add to a large bowl with the cumin, pepper, chili flakes, cider vinegar and olive oil. Beat with a fork until emulsified.

3. Drain and rinse the beans and add to the bowl. Add the vegetables and mix well. Enjoy!