Vegan Mofo Day 12 Spicy without heat! - Mexican Baked Mushrooms

Today's mofo prompt is "Spicy without chilies".

Mexican food is often made with chilies and yet for those who don't like heat 

Mexican food also had a lot of flavour.

Here I show you how to enjoy some Mexican flavours without adding any chili..... 

and for those of you who do like heat you can always add some chili in!

This is a meal idea without exact quantities stated. The reason I do this is because I always like to encourage people to get experimental in their kitchen and enjoy the cooking process. It a wonderful way to realise that creative meals don't have to be time consuming or difficult to make. Whenever I make meals like this I make a comment to my husband "It's not that hard to make quick, easy yet enjoyable vegan meals! Why do some restaurants find it so difficult!"


MEXICAN BAKED PORTOBELLO'S

                            You'll need:

                                   Large portobello mushrooms

                                   Cooked black beans

                                   Can or tub of diced tomatoes

                                   Mexican spice mix/taco mix or

                                       - paprika, cumin, coriander & oregano

                                   Avocado

                                   And a batch of my basic cheese sauce

Remove the stems from the mushrooms.
Place them in a microwave proof container with 1cm of water and heat for 2 mins. This helps to soften them and significantly reducing oven cooking time.

In a mixing bowl combine the black beans, tomatoes and spices.
Drain the water from the mushrooms and place them in an oven proof dish.
Fill the mushrooms generously with the black bean/tomato mixture and bake in a preheated 200°C oven for 15-20 minutes until mushrooms have cooked through and the black bean mixture is hot. 

Pour a freshly made batch of cheese sauce over the top of the mushrooms 

and serve with slices of fresh avocado.

I feel like this meal looks a little fancy and if I got served this 

at a restaurant I'd be more than happy! 

What do you reckon!!! Does it look fancy enough to be a restaurant meal?

Question of the day: 

What meals do you make at home that are a little bit fancy?

Vegan Mofo Day 7 Colour - Italian Inspired Beans

Today's vegan mofo prompt is Colour!
I made this basic dish sometime ago and as I made it I mixed a variety of herbs wondering if they would work out well together...... I'm pleased to report that they did and I love this combo now. However I tricked myself by the 'colours' of this dish because I was thinking it would taste of Italian herbs..... but it didn't exactly have that traditional italian flavour..... it was just the colours that were Italian inspired to match their flag!!!

So it seemed appropriate to post this simple recipe for today's colour theme! 

ITALIAN-COLOUR INSPIRED BEANS

(Makes 4 servings)

                   You'll need:
                           1 can butter beans*
                           1 can red kidney beans*
                           2 zucchinis
                           1 onion
                           1 garlic clove
                           1/2 cup tomato passata
                           1/2 teaspoon each: 
                           cumin, oregano, turmeric, dried onion flakes, paprika

Drain the butter beans and kidney beans and set them aside. 

Chop the onion into pieces and dry fry in a pan with the crushed garlic until beginning to brown. Stir in all the herbs and a few spoons of water and saute until fragant. Add the chopped zucchini and place a lid over the pan to allow to steam the zucchini for approx 5 mins until tender. Stir through the drained beans and passata and stir frequently until dish is completely warmed through.

Recommended to be served with a wholegrain and a side of leafy greens :-)

* Always choose salt free and BPA free varieties when you can.

Vegan Mofo Day 6 Anti-vegan Inspired - Tofu Pizza Bites

Today's vegan mofo prompt is "The Anti-Vegan"! 

Whilst I don't think that I'd win anyone for the vegan cause saying 

"tofu really can taste delicious", the simple fact of the matter is that it CAN!

So with that in mind, I used tofu to inspire my dish for today.

Most people who don't eat tofu regularly think that it's awful - 

yet how many of them have actually tried good tofu I wonder?!?!?

I have discovered that tofu can either be completely revolting, 

or totally lip smacking depending on how it's cooked and flavoured.

Different types of tofu work in different ways too and learning how each of them work and what they are best suited for is a HUGE contributing factor to how well your tofu will turn out! But explaining the different types is a long post for another day.

I remember discovering baked tofu and how different it turned out from 

cooking it in a pan! It really took my love of tofu to a whole new level! 

I love experimenting with various forms of baked tofu now!

Today - I'm hoping to inspire your tofu taste buds with this simple recipe idea!

I won't specify amounts as pizza toppings can be quite a personal preference ;-) 

TOFU PIZZA BITES

                         
                               You'll need:
                                     Firm/hard tofu (NOT silken)
                                     Tomato paste
                                     Italian herb mix
                                     Nutritional Yeast

                    Drain the tofu and press out any excess liquid by gently 
                    placing a chopping board over the tofu and pressing down 
                    lightly. You don't have to get out all the liquid so don't 
                    stress over getting the tofu perfectly dry. 
                    Slice the tofu into approx. 1cm thick pieces. 
                    Spread with the tomato paste, a sprinkle of herbs and 
                    top with nutritional yeast. 
                    Bake in a preheated 200°C for 20 minutes or 
                    until cooked as you desire.

Feel free to add veggies to your pizza bites if you want to! 

So delicious!!!! 

Question of the day:
What's your favourite way to cook/prepare tofu?

Pumpkin, Tomato and Mixed Bean Soup

Although I usually think of November as weather that is starting to warm up, we are sure still having plenty of cold and rainy days here at the moment. So I figured that's a good enough reason to have soup! I'm sure many of you on the other side of the world appreciate soup for this time of year anyway as you're heading into the cooler months!
Pumpkin soup is always delicious, but this one is made even tastier with the addition of some beans and a hint of curry.

Pumpkin, Tomato and Mixed Bean Soup 

You'll need:

1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
500g pumpkin
1 carrot
1 small sweet potato
2 cups veggie stock
2 tins 400g diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 generous Tablespoon curry powder
2 tins mixed beans



Chop and saute the onion and garlic in a large pot using a little amount of stock.
Chop the veggies (peeling the pumpkin), place into the pot and bring to the boil with the remaining stock. Once boiling, simmer until veggies are soft.
Add tomatoes and use a stick blender to blend til desired consistency, either with a few chunky pieces remaining or til completely smooth - whatever is your preference.
Add the drained beans and spices. Return to heat and simmer til warmed through.
Serve with fresh herbs or croutons.

Question of the day:
Do you only eat soup during the cooler months, or also during the warmer months?

Quick Dinner - Salsa Rice with Lemony-Garlic Asparagus & Mushrooms

There are very few recipes I make these days that inspire me enough to blog post! The truth is we are eating so simple and repeat many of our favourite meals over and over. We don't get bored of them and they are always super delicious. 
This recipe is one that I have been making for many years, but recently seeing all the beautiful Australian asparagus I just KNEW it was time to finally post this (the pictures were taken 2 years ago)! As much as possible we try to buy only Australian produce which means that our time line for eating asparagus is rather short! So for those readers who are in Australia make the most of this one, and for those in other countries - be sure to let me know how often you get to enjoy asparagus! 

This meal is a super quick one. It's so easy that no matter how busy your day has been or what time of night you get home, its totally do-able! 
We often have cooked grains in our fridge, and there's rarely a week that goes by when we don't have a big tub of cooked brown rice in there. 
It's a great time-saver to have whole grains precooked. 

Growing up my father loved tinned asparagus! Personally, I never saw the appeal so I always thought I didn't like asparagus. But as a "grown-up" I decided to re-try it and discovered that having it fresh really tastes like a whole different vegetable! I have grown to not only enjoy, but totally LOVE fresh asparagus (and I still don't see the appeal in the tinned stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!).

I am showing serving size for one person, however it's really easy to make this for as many as needs be. The flavours work so well together and it feels like a real treat. In fact, it's not too far off what we seem to be served at functions!

SALSA RICE WITH LEMONY-GARLIC ASPARAGUS & MUSHROOMS

You'll need:
1 cup precooked brown rice
2 Tablespoons salsa (your choice store bought or homemade)
1 bunch of asparagus (depending on the size you may only use half)
2 large field mushrooms
2 garlic cloves
juice of 1/2 lemon

Slice the mushrooms into long thin strips. Remove the woody ends from the asparagus. 

Over high heat in a non-stick pan add the asparagus spears, the mushrooms, crushed garlic and lemon juice. Allow to saute, occasionally stirring gently, until the asparagus is just tender and the mushrooms are slightly wilted.  

While the asparagus mixture cooks, warm the rice either in a microwave or on the stove top. Once warmed, stir through the salsa.

 Serve!

Yes it really is that simple to have a delicious and nutritious meal in minutes!!!

Question of the day:
What time of year do you get locally grown asparagus? 
Do you like the taste of asparagus either fresh or tinned?

"Sausage-less" Rolls

Life has been very busy for me lately - this is reflected in my lack of posts! 
I hope to be more motivated soon and share all the drafts that I have lined up waiting to be published. 

These "sausage" rolls were inspiration enough to get me started back at it again. They are super easy to make and they are very delicious. 

"SAUSAGE-LESS" ROLLS

To make 4 rolls you'll need:

2 tins lentils

1 Tablespoon each: nutritional yeast, onion flakes, soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon each: ground garlic, sage powder, liquid smoke and molasses

8 sheets filo pastry

Drain the lentils and combine them in a bowl with all the other ingredients except for the pastry.

Mash until the lentils have crumbled and the mixture resembles mince. 

Place a quarter of the mixture onto the side-middle of 2 sheets of filo pastry. 

Fold the side of the filo pastry in, then fold the edges up and roll until you reach the end of the pastry.

Repeat for the other 3 rolls.

Place on a lined baking tray and brush the tops with soymilk.

Bake in a 180C oven for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Best served while still hot from the oven.

Broccoli Bolognese

The inspiration for this recipe came when out for dinner in an Italian restaurant one time my husband was eating his veggie spaghetti and I looked over and couldn't get over how much the head of the broccoli sitting there looked like ground mince! I wondered if I could turn broccoli into bolognese!
I am pleased to say that yes, indeed it really does work out, and it strangely does look similar to mince bolognese! Add some familiar flavours and you'll definitely have a very satisfying bolognese even without mince! We love this meal & have it frequently - especially when broccoli is $1.99/kg!

BROCCOLI BOLOGNESE

Serves 6

You'll need:
2 medium onions
4 garlic cloves
1 kg broccoli
1 teaspoon "beef" style stock powder (I use Massel)
1 Tablespoon mixed Italian herbs
700g jar tomato passata
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Optional to serve:
Nutritional yeast
basil leaves

Chop the onion and crush the garlic.
Dry fry together on a heated frying pan. Sprinkle over the stock powder. Cook until onion is translucent. 
Chop the broccoli as finely as possible, creating little crumbs with the broccoli head. You can add the stems if you would like to, or omit them.
Add the broccoli to the pan along with 1(ish) cup of water and cook until the broccoli is tender and most of the water is absorbed.
Stir through the passata and herbs. Tear the basil leaves and add them too. 
Bring the heat down to low and continue to cook - stirring frequently until the passata is warmed through.
Serve over pasta or potatoes, and with nutritional yeast and extra basil leaves if desired. 

Submitted for Healthy Vegan Fridays.

Add your recipe at:
Rock My Vegan Socks 
Vegan Dollhouse

Noodles with Green Sauce

Noodles - my husband hates them.... I love them!
So on the occasions that he doesn't join us for dinner, then I get to indulge!
Here's my favourite way of indulging in them lately:

NOODLES WITH GREEN SAUCE

Serves 4

You'll need:
350g noodles
1 zucchini
1 bunch broccolini
1 cup snow peas
90g baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon minced garlic
juice of half a lemon
150g soft silken tofu
1/2 cup soymilk (or other motherless milk of choice)
1 teaspoon cornflour
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 teaspoon allspice


Chop the zucchini, broccolini and snow peas into pieces of desired size. 
 
Place vegetables and noodles into a large pot  with water & bring to the boil. Once boiling simmer for 3-5 minutes. 

Whilst the noodles & veggies are cooking prepare the sauce.
In a blender combine the spinach, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, tofu, soymilk, cornflour & herbs. Blend until smooth.

Drain the noodles & veggies and then return to the pot.
Pour the sauce over the noodles and stir over a medium heat for a few minutes until warmed through & slightly thickened.

Serve.
 

Submitted for Health Vegan Friday


Add your recipe on Rock My Vegan Socks blog each Friday.

Warm Bean Salad

Winter is well and truly upon us now, so warmer salads are appealing to me more than cold ones! To be honest I'm not one who enjoys plain boring salads, I like salads with lots of flavours and substance! 

The aroma while this is cooking is just divine...
And is there anything so beautiful as the colours of plant foods?

You'll need:
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 can each red kidney beans, butter beans
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
1/2 green capsicum
1/2 small celery stalk
6 cherry tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
small handful each fresh basil leaves, fresh parsley
fat free Italian dressing
salad leaves of choice

Chop the onion (I did half in slices and half in little pieces just to be a bit different for a salad!). In a large frying pan saute the onion with the crushed garlic in a little bit of veggie stock. When the onions start to brown add the drained legumes, the corn, the chopped capsicum & celery. 

Fry for approx 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently until the veggies are lightly cooked. Quarter the tomatoes and add them to the fry pan. Sprinkle over the chopped fresh herbs and drizzle the Italian dressing over. Continue to cook for as long til the veggies are as soft as you desire. 
Serve over salad leaves. I used a combination of cos, iceberg & a bag of mixed leaves.

Question of the day:
Do you eat salad in winter, or only in the warmer months?

Kale Attacked Minestrone Stew

The reason for the name of this stew:
My husband came home from work, walked into the kitchen to see what I was cooking and commented: "What happened to the dinner? Did it get attacked by kale or something?"
I chuckled!
Kale doesn't tend to wilt down quite as much as other greens in cooking. Though thankfully for the sake of my husband, it does a little.... so when you throw a whole bunch into your stew although it takes over at the start, by the time it's cooked down a little bit, it seems like a much more reasonable amount!!!!! lol
Then again, I think being attacked by the "super hero" power of kale isn't such a bad thing after all ;-)
And so I bring you....

KALE ATTACKED MINESTRONE STEW

You'll need:
1 large onion
1 large zucchini
1 large carrot
2 cloves of garlic
1 can cannelliini beans (drained)
1 can tomatoes
1 bunch kale
3 stalks of both basil and parsley (fresh)
4 bay leaves
1 litre vegetable stock (I used home made)
1/2 cup soup pasta

Chop all the vegetables and herbs. In a large pot brown the onion using a bit of water to prevent from sticking. Add all ingredients to the pot and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft (and the kale has wilted down lol).

Most of the stock will be absorbed by the pasta - making it more the consistency of a 'stew' and not a 'soup'. If you prefer this more 'soup-like' just add more stock (or water).
Remove the bay leaves prior to serving.

 
I am linking this to Meatless Monday: Watercress.
I have to confess that I can't find watercress in our regular store and I didn't have the time to look for it in other places! Any greens can be substituted for the kale in this recipe.

Healthy Carbonara

Childhood memories of carbonara are not my most favourite to be honest. Thick cream & egg heavy pasta topped with fat dripping bacon and smelly parmesan cheese. 
Not my idea of tasty food.....

But then again, that didn't turn me off experimenting with this dish to turn it into something healthy, light and totally delicious :-)

Healthy Vegan Pasta Carbonara

(Makes 3 Serves)

You'll need:
250g dried pasta of choice

1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1-1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms

Sauce:
1/4 head cauliflower
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 cup motherless milk of choice
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon cornflour
1/2 teaspoon ground sage

Lentil "bacon" bits:
1/2 cup lentils (already cooked, either home made or from a can)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

Extra nutritional yeast to serve


Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta per packet directions.
Slice the onion and crush the garlic. Dry fry with the mushrooms until browned well.
Place the lentils in a fry pay with the soy sauce, maple syrup and liquid smoke. Dry fry until the lentils begin to pop open. You can chop them into smaller pieces if you wish to make them more similar to 'bacon bit.
 


Place all the sauce ingredients into a blender and blend til smooth. 
When the pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pot. Pour the cauliflower cream sauce over the pasta and stir til pasta is evenly coated.




Serve with the mushroom/onion mix and lentil 'bacon' bits. Top with nutritional yeast.

Submitted to Healthy Vegan Fridays.

Add your healthy vegan recipe on these blogs:

Herbivore Triathlete 
Hello Veggy 
Rock My Vegan Socks

Meatless Monday: Tofu -- Gnocchi with Basil & Broccoli

Today's Meatless Monday ingredient is Tofu.

Tofu is often an ingredient that people look upon with frowns! I have to admit that I their have been times when I'm had tofu dishes that are just not that tasty! It's important to remember that tofu will take on flavours from what it is cooked with and by itself it quite bland.
Here's a great way to use tofu and make it really tasty!

Gnocchi with Basil & Broccoli

500g gnocchi (either store bought or home-made)
1/2 head broccoli
3 cups fresh basil leaves
300g soft silken tofu
3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 cloves garlic

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the gnocchi and the broccoli cut into small florets.
While the gnocchi is cooking prepare the sauce. Place the basil, drained tofu, nutritional yeast & garlic in a blender or food processor and blend til smooth.
You will be able to see when the gnocchi is cooked because it will start to float. When it is cooked, drain. 
Return gnocchi and broccoli to the pot and stir the sauce through til evenly distributed. Heat for 2 minutes until warmed through.

Serve with freshly cracker black pepper.

Serves 3-4

Question of the day:
Do you enjoy eating tofu? 
If so, what is your favourite flavour to combine with it?

Red, White & Green Pasta

Pasta is an Italian meal right???
So why not make it in Italian colours.....
A quick & easy meal that everyone will love! With the added bonus of minimal washing up!!!!


Serves 3
You'll need:
250g pasta of choice 
3 cubes frozen spinach
1 cup frozen peas
1 can cannellini beans
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup tomato passata cooking sauce

basil leaves 
freshly cracked black pepper

Bring a pot of water to the boil. Add the pasta, spinach & peas. Cook until pasta is al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.
Combine the drained beans, garlic and passata together in a blender and blend until smooth and thick.

 






Drain the pasta and then return to the pot. Pour the sauce over the pasta and stir til well combined. Return to the stove and gentle heat on low until the sauce has warmed through - approx 5-7 mins.


Serve topped with ripped basil leaves and black pepper.

POTATO AND LENTIL LAZY NIGHT STEW - Easy Mid-week Meal

I have made this 'stew' (for want of a better word) several times.
Its so quick & easy but yet really tasty. That makes it great for those evenings when we are late home from one activity and not long til we need to leave for the next....
The added bonus is that these are simple foods that we almost always have on hand.

POTATO AND LENTIL LAZY NIGHT STEW

To serve 2 you'll need:
1 onion
2 potatoes
1 zucchini
1 cup button mushrooms
1 can lentils
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

Chop the onion, potatoes, zucchini and button mushrooms into small pieces. 
Add to a frying pan and lightly saute, adding small amounts of water to stop from sticking to the pan. 
Drain the lentils and add them to the veggies with the tomato paste. Cover for 15 minutes.
Remove lid and stir through the basil.
Serve with black pepper.

*You can sub fresh oregano in place of the basil. 

Equally as tasty, but changes the meal completely!*

Submitted for Healthy Vegan Friday.
You can add your recipe at these blogs:
carrie on vegan

veggie nook

greenthickies 

Chickpea, rice & sweet potato stew

My husband doesn't like eating rice. 
I missed eating rice.
So this dish came about.
He likes rice when its served actually "in" part of the meal - just not separately.

I have my rice fix. He doesn't eat plain rice. Everyone happy :-)

I love how simple this meal is & yet its wonderfully satisfying. It is also quick to make which means I can get it done no matter what the day has delivered.
It reheats well & since we're a home of leftover lovers it suits us quite nicely.
It could easily be doubled if you need extra.

In a large stock pot combine:

1 chopped onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic (or 2 squashed garlic cloves)
1 chopped green capsicum
1 chopped carrot
1 corn cob, kernels removed
1 tin drained chickpeas
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 chopped medium size sweet potato
800g tin diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon each: thyme, paprika, marjoram, sage

Cover, bring to the boil & then simmer for 15 minutes until the sweet potato is tender but not fallen apart.

Yep, its really that easy!

Serves 6

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 :-)

Chickpea Pie Stew

As you've probably worked out by now I like to be the 'easy queen'.
This is another quick and easy meal that is great for those evenings when you're walking in the door a little later than you might have liked, but still need to get dinner on the table.

This is a bit like a stew and a bit like a pie. That's why its called 'pie stew'.
The bottom half reminds me of a chickpea stew and by adding the sweet potato on the top it reminds me a bit of shepherds pie!
None the less, whatever it is, the simply flavour combination tastes amazing.


Mix together in a large baking dish:

• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can drained chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon cumin

Bake 200 for 15 minutes.
While the 'stew' part is baking, peel one large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes and boil til soft (your choice microwave or stove top).

Mash the sweet potatoes and spread them over the top of the chickpea mixture. Sprinkle the top with paprika. Return to the oven to bake for another 15 minutes.

Serve. Goes well with a side of steamed veggies or salad.

Submitted for Healthy Vegan Friday.
You can add your recipe at these blogs:
carrie on vegan                    veggie nook                    greenthickies