Tag: vegan
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Lentils
Lentils have been with us from very early in agricultural history. There are many different types. They are a legume (just like peas and beans) that can be sprouted, fried, baked and cooked.
They are very nutritious, a great source of protein and are low GI. I think they are a great ingredient in their own right but they also make a great substitute for meat. Check out PK Makes Michelle Bridges’ Lentil Shepherds Pie.
Guess where most of them are grown. Wikipedia says Canada! Wow. 🙂
Dietary Info: Great for vegetarians, vegans and is gluten free.
Enjoy,
PK
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PK Makes Michelle Bridges’ Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
You won’t believe how good Michelle Bridges’ super healthy vegetarian take on the classic shepherd’s pie is. I am avid meat eater but I think this is just as good as the beef mince and potato version I had growing up.
It is infinitely adaptable and just goes to prove that vegetarians and vegans don’t have to compromise on taste. This is a must try dish for everyone!
Steps
- Preparing everything
- Steaming the cauliflower
- Sweating the vegetables
- Making and cooking the pie
- Serving
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dried lentils (I used green)
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1 brown onion, whole
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1 brown onion, chopped
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1 bay leaf
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500g cauliflower, broken into florets
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1/3 cup ricotta
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Olive oil spray
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I large carrot, diced
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150g button mushrooms, halved or quartered
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1 garlic clove, finely diced
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400g can diced tomatoes
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Ground black peppercorns to taste
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1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmesan, shaved
Equipment
- a long sharp knife
- 2 chopping boards
- 1 saucepan
- 1 fry pan
- 1 medium baking dish
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 potato masher
- 1 colander
Preparing everything
- Start by getting the lentils cooked as this will take a while.
- Add the whole onion and bay leaf to the sauce pan along with the 1/2 cup of lentils and 2 cups of water.
- Bring to a gentle boil and cook for about 40 minutes stirring occasionally to stop them sticking.
- While that is happening:
- Cut the 500g cauliflower into small florets of about equal size.
- Chop the remaining onion.
- Finely dice the garlic clove.
- Chop the 150g of mushrooms to your preferred size.
- Chop the carrot.
- Grate the 1/3 cup parmigiano-reggiano (you can use dairy free cheese instead).
Steaming the cauliflower
- Get the cauliflower underway in your steamer after giving the lentils 15 minutes head start.
- Steam it until it is very soft and allow to cool somewhat.
- Transfer it to the mixing bowl along with the 1/3 cup ricotta.
- Use a potato masher to turn the mix into a puree (think mashed potatoes consistency).
- Try not to eat the entire contents of the bowl just yet. 🙂
Sweating the vegetables
- Add a small slug of olive oil to the fry pan and bring to medium heat.
- Throw in the garlic, chopped onion, carrot, mushrooms and allow them to soften.
- Stir in the tomatoes then rinse the can with some water and add that too.
- Stir in the drained cooked lentils.
- Add pepper to taste.
Making and cooking the pie
- Turn your fan forced oven on to 180C,
- Lightly spray the baking dish with some spray oil.
- Transfer the vegetables into it and then top with the ricotta and cauliflower mash.
- Now evenly cover the mash with grated cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Serving
Serve with steamed greens and some more carrots.
Enjoy,
PK
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Cumin
Cumin is the seed of a small annual herbaceous plant that is native to the Middle East and is in the same family as parsley and coriander.
It has a most wonderful warm earthy flavour and smell. You can use them whole, as an ingredient or garnish in their own right or grind them for use in your favourite garam masala or spice pastes.
Cumin pairs well with almost everything and it turns up worldwide in everything from drinks to snacks to main meals and desserts.
I have some recipes using cumin below for you. 🙂
Dietary Info: Great for vegetarians, vegans and is gluten free.
This particular cooking ingredient is in PK’s Essential Pantry Cupboard Contents.
Enjoy,
PK
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MORE ON USING CUMIN
INDIAN CUISINE
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Bay Leaf Tree: Grow and Eat
The humble Bay Leaf tree is a must have in a kitchen garden. Once you try fresh or freshly dried bay leaves in your cooking you won’t go back to the store bought version. Like many herbs, they lose their fullest, layer rich aroma and taste as they wait in transport and store shelves.
I normally use one or two small leaves fresh from the tree. I haven’t found them to be overpowering like some websites suggest.
I use them whole in stews, casseroles, curries, the list goes on. I always remove them post cooking (bouquet garni bags make this easier). They give the liquid in said dishes a earthy almost bitter tang. By itself this might not sound tasty but it works with the other ingredients to make a dish tastier than the sum of its parts.
I also recently got into bay leaf tea. It is a refreshing change despite it being reminiscant of a cup of mild green tea. It is like drinking the Aussie bush. 🙂
Dietary Info: Great for vegetarians, vegans and is gluten free.
This particular cooking ingredient is in PK’s Essential Pantry Cupboard Contents.
Enjoy,
PK
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MORE RECIPES USING BAY LEAVES
THE FULL GICICI INGREDIENTS LIST
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GICICI’S WHAT’S GROWING IN PERTH?
Follow these links to see what to plant in a given month or read my monthly journal where I talk about what I am doing, have learned and have harvested.
JANUARY’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
FEBRUARY’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
MARCH’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
APRIL’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
MAY’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
JUNE’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
JULY’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
AUGUST’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
SEPTEMBER’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
OCTOBER’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
NOVEMBER’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
DECEMBER’S PLANTS OR PK’s Journal
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Dairy Free Cheese: Cheddar Flavour
A friend of mine recently put me on to this tasty dairy free cheese from My Life. I am currently on a cow, goat and sheep’ milk cheese ‘tasting, cooking and of course blogging’ odyssey. So I was very interested in trying this product.
I used to only eat cheddar cheese growing up. So although my cheese tastes have changed a lot, I am not surprised I like this product. I did a taste test at my work where I told the tasters up front it was dairy free cheese. Everyone who tried it said they could tell the difference but that they liked it.
It is akin to a very mild, highly processed cheddar (the production method obviously involves molding it in to shape) that little to no texture. Again though it reminds me of the cheese I at growing up and my kids eat it now too.
I only have two more comments, one is price related the other is a cooking heads up. The first comment is that it is much more expensive than any comparable dairy product. Hopefully this comes down as competition and sales rise. The heads up comment is just a warning that it doesn’t melt at the same speed and in the same way as dairy cheese. You just need to experiment a bit to get it right and I have read it might just need higher temperatures.
Next for me is to try My Life’s Bio Cheese Original Flavour.
Dietary Info: Great for vegetarians, vegans and is gluten free.
Enjoy,
PK
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VEGAN INGREDIENTS AND MEALS
VEGETARIAN INGREDIENTS AND MEALS
GLUTEN-FREE INGREDIENTS AND MEALS
DAIRY CHEESE
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Vegan Fish Sauce
Look I get it, no one likes to be labelled but sometimes labels help educate. I am a certified Omnivore and have no intention of following the vegan code to its fullest.
I am however very supportive of the Vegan ethos. To this end I like reviewing Vegan alternatives to meat based ingredients.
Recently, I ordered some Vegan Fish Sauce and here is the saucy truth. 🙂
I would say that fish sauce is not just nice to have, it is required to build up the flavour of many Southeast Asian dishes. So I am very happy to report that (at least the brand I tried) does a very good job and it would be hard to pick in a blind tasting as the look and smell are on par.
However the vegan version is unashamedly saltier and is ever so slightly missing a metallic taste that only meat can give. The Anchovies based version also has a several more levels of subtle tastes in its journey over the taste buds.
Yet in conclusion, Whilst I think this is a required ingredient in the Vegan’s cupboard, I recommend you use less of it than the fish based version when converting recipes. It is much saltier.
Dietary Info: Great for vegetarians, vegans and is gluten free.
Enjoy,
PK
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Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean)
This high protein legume (beans and peas are also legumes) can be eaten in salads, turned into falafel or hummus, ground into flour, added to soups, stews, stir fries, curries and … the list might be endless. 🙂
Canned or re-hydrated (if you buy them dry you need to soak them in water over night) they have a firm bean texture and nutty taste. You are going to want to have these in your diet if you are eating little or no meat as they are rich in iron.
I like eating them straight from the can but recently I made a Moroccan styled chicken and chickpea stew.
Dietary Info: Great for vegetarians, vegans and is gluten free.
Enjoy,
PK
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AN EDIBLE PLANT SPECIES CHART
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PK’s Easy Sesame Broccoli
Many Asian main meals will pair well with this dish of broccoli tossed in sesame oil and sesame seeds. I could even eat this as a main course it is so light and tasty. It also couldn’t be easier to make. 🙂
Dietary Info: Great for vegans and is gluten free.
Simply
Steam or boil your broccoli florets, making sure you don’t over cook them. I like them to have a tiny bit of crunch still.
While you are doing that, heat a generous amount of sesame oil in a pan. Toss the now cooked broccoli in until they are well coated in oil. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and you are done.
More broccoli means a bit more oil and seeds. Have a bit of a play to get the ratios you prefer.
Enjoy,
PK
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OUR OTHER CHINESE CUISINE RECIPES
NAGI’S ‘CHINESE RESTAURANT’ SATAY CHICKEN
VEGAN, VEGETARIAN AND GLUTEN FREE INGREDIENTS
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White Sesame Seeds
Apparently the tiny seed of this flowering annual is one of the oldest oil seeds known to man. It hails from Africa and India originally but is now grown all around the world (see en.wikipedia.org).
Like a lot of cooking ingredients it tends to be a love or hate thing. Personally I love the nutty crunch they bring to my cooking, especially dishes from India, China and Southeast Asia. The extracted oil is one of my pantry staples.
Plant:
By Krish Dulal – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,https://commons.wikimedia.org/
Seed Pod:
By Anna Frodesiak – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
Seeds:
Dietary Info: Great for vegetarians, vegans and is gluten free (as it is not a grass seed).
Enjoy,
PK
Here are more ingredients and posts about sesame seeds and oil:
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Welchy’s Easy Mushroom Soup
There’s nothing better on a cold winter’s night than to sit down and tuck into something hot!
Whether it be a curry, casserole or soup…I love nothing more than eating a dish that warms you right down to your bones!
Mum has made soups all my life. As a kid, she may as well have put hearts and livers on a plate and put it in front of me. There was nothing worse than the idea of soup, let alone Mushroom soup. But as with most dishes, nostalgia tends to set in and I have a newfound appreciation of all things my mum cooked as a kid and how much I wish to be there again.
This dish is about 10 minutes of prep (if you are slightly mad and enjoy cracking the stem of the mushroom off and then peeling each..and every…single…mushroom). And then 20-30 minutes simmering.
Ingredients
- 1 kg mushrooms, stems removed if you wish and peeled
- 1 brown onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup thickened cream
Method
- Melt butter in a Crock pot or large saucepan. Cook the onion until partly softened. Add garlic and cook until onion is browned and softened.
- Now add in the mushrooms and cook until they are lightly browned, stirring often so they don’t stick to the pan.
- Add the vegetable stock and season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to the boil and then allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Once the mushrooms are tender and cooked through, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Use an electric mixer to puree the soup (I personally like it to be slightly chunky, but puree a bit longer if you like a smooth soup).
- When ready to serve, stir in the cream and top with freshly chopped basil. And as always…enjoy!
Enjoy,
Welchy
Here are more soup posts and Welchy recipies:
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