Lentil & 3 C's Stew

Here's a nice easy meal that is great in winter because it's so warm and soothing and full of veggies. It is great by itself, but also pairs well with brown rice or couscous or baked potatoes or even freshly baked bread.
We make it in a pressure cooker, as it's super quick & easy. We have the ability to saute first in our pressure cooker which is a feature I love, as I really prefer the taste of sauteed onions over just having them cooked in the stew without being sauteed first. However, if you don't have a pressure cooker you can make it over a stove top -  it will just take longer and may require more water.
This has become a favourite in our home, especially at the end of the week when we have quite a few bits and pieces of veggies leftover and want to use them all up before we buy our fresh lot for the next week. My husband refers to this meal as "pressure cooker lentils" - just stating things like they are ;-)
It works with any different herbs you wish to use, depending on what flavours you'd like to add to your stew. We also occasionally use a drop of liquid smoke which adds a lovely depth to the stew. The options are truly endless. :-) 

LENTIL & 3 C's STEW

(Makes 6-8 servings)

You'll need:
2 cups dried green lentils
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1/4 head cabbage 
2 carrots

2 stalks celery
1 zucchini
1/2 bunch silverbeet 
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 Tablespoon lemon juice 
1 litre veggie stock
1/2 litre water
1 teaspoon fresh rosemany

Chop all the veggies. 
Saute the onion and garlic. Add the remaining veggies to either a pressure cooker or stove top. 
If using a pressure cooker, add remaining ingredients and cook under pressure for 18 minutes. Release steam and serve. (You can use baby spinach in place of the silverbeet, add after steam has been released and stir through until wilted.)
For stove top, add the stock, water and lemon juice and cook for 30-35 minutes until lentils are cooked through and veggies are tender, adding more liquid if required. Then stir through the nutritional yeast, tomato paste, and rosemary.

Question of the day:
Do you have a winter comfort food? If so, what is it?

Meatless Monday - Cabbage

Welcome to Meatless Monday A-Z. 

Today's cooking creation is with CABBAGE.

I know that cabbage doesn't always make the 'favourite vegetable' list for most people but I do honestly really like the taste of cabbage! I find it slightly tangy but strangely addictive! I love that it has so much texture and I enjoy it both raw & cooked.

This recipe is a really simply one with few flavours, yet it comes together wonderfully and has so much taste that you'll be surprised it has so few ingredients.

Cabbage Shiitake Stirfry
30g dried shiitake mushrooms (just over 1 cup worth)
1/4 green cabbage
100g snow peas
1 teaspoon molasses
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon minced ginger

Soak the shiitake mushrooms in boiling water for a minimum of half hour.
Drain and then place in a preheated wok. Add the molasses and soy sauce & let the mushrooms absorb the moisture from the sauces. 
Finely chop the cabbage and add it to the shittake mushrooms. Mix well & allow to cook for 10-15 minutes constantly stirring, until the cabbage has turned a greenish colour and is soft but not completely wilted. You may want to add a few tablespoons of water along the way to stop the cabbage from sticking to the bottom of the wok.
Top and tail the snow peas and chop if desired. Add them to the wok & continue to stir fry for 2 minutes. 
Stir in the ginger. 
Serve.
(Makes 2 serves)

This challenge is hosted by Better With Veggies why not join in the fun :-)

Soba Noodle Stir-fry

Is it possible to have easy noodles at home, better than take-away???

I think so ;-)

This dish takes me less time to prepare than it does for me to drive to our Noodle shop & wait for them to be cooked!

1 packet dried soba noodles   **

5 cups finely chopped asian cabbage

1 large carrot, julienne sliced

1 onion, chopped into slices

2cm piece fresh ginger, grated

200g marinated tofu - sliced (You can marinate your own if you prefer) 

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

- sesame seeds to serve

**You may be able to find egg-free fresh soba noodles, but I haven't been able to.

Soak the soba noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes whilst you prepare the stir-fry. 

 Heat a wok til hot. Add the cabbage, onion & ginger.

Add the carrot and continue to cook until the cabbage has cooked down quite significantly.

Saute the tofu in a frying pan until lightly browned.

Add the noodles and the tofu to the cabbage mix.

Pour over the rice wine vinegar & the soy sauce.

Stir to combine well & serve in a noodle bowl with sesame seeds on top.

Same recipe different noodle....

 This recipe also works great with hokkien noodles!

Fritters 5 Ways

Fritters make a salad on a cold day bearable!

Here's a few different flavours for you to try out.

Basic fritter mix:

1/4 cup wholemeal flour

1/4 cup soymilk

sprinkle of cracked black pepper

Combine in a bowl & stir well with a whisk.

(You can leave out the pepper if you're not a fan, I just personally LOVE it!)

This is the base to which you can add the varying flavours.

Once combined, just drop spoonfuls of the fritter mix into a saucepan & fry both sides lightly as you would a pancake.

This makes 2 fritters. Perfect lunch for one.

Taste one: Cabbage, corn & chives

Stir into the basic fritter mix 1/2 cup corn kernels, 1 heaped Tablespoon sauerkraut, and chopped chives.
Serve with a salad for a tasty complete meal :-)

Taste Two: Spinach, Mushroom & Onion

Add to the basic mix 1/4 cup drained chopped cooked spinach (either fresh or frozen), 1/4 cup chopped button mushrooms, 1 x spring onions, 1/2 teaspoon paprika.

Perfect partner: couscous

Taste Three: Cheesy Sun-dried Tomato

To the basic mix add 1 heaped tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 Tablespoon soy cream cheese and 1/4 cup chopped drained sun-dried tomatoes.

 

Perfect partner: a massive mushroom!

Taste Four: Curried Cauliflower

Add to the basic mix 1 cup cauliflower that has been crumbled in a food processor (cooked or raw up to you!) and 1/2 teaspoon curry powder. You could add turmeric if you don't have curry powder.

Taste Five: Carrot, PB & chilli

Grate into the basic mix one carrot. Add a tablespoon peanut butter & a 1/4 teaspoon chilli (more if you're brave!).

 

Delicious with sweet chilli sauce!

Leafy Cous Cous Salad

Everyone has a version of cous cous salad don't they???
I really love the one available at Woolworths but it has too much sugar & oil for my liking so I have used it as inspiration to come up with my own.

This was very tasty & I will definitely be making this regularly.

In a bowl that has a lid combine:

1/2 cup wholemeal couscous

soaked in 1/2 cup boiling water
Put a lid on an allow couscous to absorb the water for 10-15mins.

Add:

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce

1 teaspoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Add:

1/2 cup finely chopped red cabbage

1 small carrot, grated

1/4 green capsicum, chopped

3 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1 cup baby spinach leaves

Mix together and enjoy!

Day 7 - Sunday

mmmmmmmmmmm hot cross buns :-)

Perfect breakfast with no fuss!

Lunch was crumbed mushroom salad.
I love crumbed mushrooms so much.
They are a little time consuming but definitely not hard to make!
Simple mix egg replacer with a bit of soymilk in one bowl. In another bowl mix breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast & dried herbs.
Coat mushrooms first with milk & then coat in the crumbs.
 

Got experimental with dinner. Decided to make some gnocchi :-)

Its quite simple but yes it takes some time.

Peel a large sweet potato, cut into pieces & bring to a boil. Cook until soft.

 Once cooked til soft, then drain & put in a bowl. Mash well then add paprika & chick pea flour til a mixture is formed that is not too sticky but not dry either.

 

 Roll into long thin logs and cut into bite size pieces.

 Once cut into bite size pieces, put the pieces back into the pot & bring to the boil. Cook until the gnocchi begins to float. Then drain and keep aside to add later.

 Saute some onion, red cabbage & basil.

 Add the gnocchi to the mix & stir.

 Dinner - YUM

Curried Cabbage

I'm a big fan of red cabbage.
Here's another delicious way to use up any leftovers that you might have!

Saute in a pan 1/2 red cabbage chopped into fine pieces and 2 sliced leeks.
Add a tablespoon dried basil.
Cook until wilted. Add a drop of water here and there as needed so it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add one tin drained lentils & 1/4 cup peanuts. Stir well to combine.

 Once all the ingredients are warm through, add to the fry-pan 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons soy sauce & 1 teaspoon curry powder. Stir until well combined.

Place mixture into bowls & top with fresh or dried parsley.

This can be eaten as is, but is also really nice the next day once cooled on a bed of lettuce leaves.
It has such deep and delicious flavours!
Enjoy :-)

Purple Pasta

This simple combination makes for a wonderfully tasty dish!
The purple colour is purely for the eyes pleasure!!!!

To serve 2
You'll need:
1 red onion, chopped
1/4 red cabbage
1/2 red capsicum

Lightly fry these in a pan with a tablespoon of water to prevent sticking.
(I'm not usually a fan of using oil, as I rather fry with water - but you can use oil if you prefer.)
Fry until cabbage and onion begin to wilt.
Stir in a tablespoon of tofutti cream cheese until it melts.

Serve over pasta (lets face it - everyone knows how to cook pasta right?!?!?!?) & mix together.
My favourite type of pasta to have with this is spelt pasta.