let them eat bread (lasagna) June 9, 2009

if you’re anything like me, you always have masses of bread sitting around that gets thrown out (thank you crispy inn!). it seems like i have to dispose of half a loaf of bread at least once a week! such a shame! one yummy thing to do with bread is bread and butter pudding. another winter fave is croutons. but there’s only so far that will take you!

when i saw the rustic bread and eggplant lasagna on vegan yum yum i was quite excited! i never make lasagna because a) i am too lazy to make my own pasta sheets, b) i never have the pre-made pasta sheets in my cupboard, c) the once occasion i DID have them it took me literally three months to get around to creating lasagna.

inspired by ben’s fabbo efforts at making “meaty” lasagna a couple of weeks ago, the addition of cheese sauce was a must for my culinary satisfaction. contrary to my expectation, the bread didn’t go soggy at all! i used quite a thick tomato sauce which presumably helped.

lazy bread lasagna

ingredients

• stale bread (about half a loaf of the nice crusty stuff)
• a big eggplant or two
• olive oil (plenty!)
• two cans tomato (diced or crushed)
• a brown onion
• half a head of garlic
• “italian” herbs (basil, thyme, oregano, etc)
• one cup white flour
• three big desert spoons of nuttlex / vegan margarine
• two cups soy milk
• one cup nutritional yeast flakes
• two desert spoons tahini
• a teaspoon of mustard (not the seedy type)
• juice of half a lemon
• salt (to taste)
• some fried garlic (optional)
• cracked pepper

equipment

• shallow baking pan
• large deep fry pan
• saucepan
• lasagne dish (i used a square one)
• chopping board and knife
• veggie peeler (if you like)

this takes a little co-ordination, so it’s good to have a little think about how long things take so it all comes together!

1. pre-heat oven to 180 degrees.peel the skin off the eggplant/s – i like to leave it on – and slice the eggplant into 1cm-ish slices. dizzle in oil and place in the baking pan. bake for 20 mins or so.

2. dice the onion and saute in some olive oil until translucent. add in the garlic and herbs, and saute for a further 2 minutes. mix in the two cans of tomato and simmer on a low heat. the aim is to reduce the sauce until it’s nice and thick.

3. whilst the tomato sauce simmers, it’s time to make some “cheesy” white sauce! melt the margarine in a saucepan. sift in the flour. it will look really lumpy and thick – this is ok!

4. add the soy milk, half a cup at a time, stirring constantly. let the mixture slowly heat up and combine before adding more milk. don’t panic – it’ll come together just nicely!

5. once the soy milk is combined, add in the nutritional yeast flakes. you may need to use the back of the wooden spoon to crush any large bits into the mixture.

6. stir in the mustard, tahini, lemon juice and salt. adjust salt to taste. once the sauce reaches the desired thickness (should be pourable, but not runny), take it off the heat.

7. by now the eggplant should be baked thoroughly. take it out of the oven and let it sit for five minutes. in the meantime, slice the bread into 1cm slices. now we’re ready to get layering!

8. spread a thin layer of tomato over the bottom of the pan, and cover with a layer of bread. try and cover most the the pan – you may need to cut some bread slices in half to make them fit better.

9. spread another layer of the tomato sauce and cover with eggplant slices.

10. repeat, layering tomato sauce, then bread, then the last of the tomato and the remaining eggplant. if you are a garlic fiend like me, sprinkle some fried garlic over the last layer of eggplant.

11. cover the lasagne with the cheese sauce. don’t be shy – make it nice and thick! sprinkle with cracked pepper for a little extra kick. bake for half an hour, or until the top is nice and crispy.

12. serve and enjoy!

variations:

• breads – this would work nicely with any sort of crusty bread, sourdough or pumpkin loaf is what i’d like to try next.
• add some different veggies – baked capsicum, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes or whole tomato slices
• crush some nuts (e.g. pine nuts or almonds) and sprinkle on top of the cheese sauce for a crunchy topping
  
• add herbs / spices to the cheese sauce for an extra lift!

my dear basil May 18, 2009

as the warmer weather disappears, we begin to mourn the end of the basil season. i know that we’re supposed to appreciate each season for it’s diversity of produce, and the cooking combinations this provides, BUT i really love basil! i try and use it in everything – stir fries, pasta sauces, gnocchi, salads, sandwiches, and most of all, pesto!

i was taught to make pesto by my father, whom himself is famous within our extended family for the tasty pesto he produces every year for family gatherings. the best part of pesto is the brilliant simplicity of it! just good fresh ingredients which tantalise the taste-buds. quite a simple one to vegan-ise as well.

because the recipe already contains pine nuts, it’s got a natural creaminess that’s unaided by cows cheese. in the absence of parmesan cheese, a little extra garlic will give this pesto nice “bite”, and some nutritional yeast flakes add to the “cheesy-ness”.

i am guessing about quantities of liquids, so really have a play around and get a feel for the taste that you prefer. i’m a salt fiend, so i always go a little crazy with it and need to add a little extra tahini and lemon juice to balance it out.

garden fresh ingredients (thanks anya!):

basil pesto

ingredients

• large bunch of fresh basil, rinsed
• one head of garlic
• good quality olive oil, as required
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• half a cup of pine nuts
• salt and black pepper to taste
• juice of a medium sized lemon
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes

to make:

1. peel garlic and place in food processor. cover with olive oil and blend into a paste.
2. add in all the basil leaves, a little more olive oil, and whizz again.
3. place the tahini, lemon juice, pine nuts and nutritional yeast flakes into the mix, and blend until combined. it should look quite chunky, but thickly pourable. carefully add little bits of oil until you achieve the right consistency.
4. add salt and pepper to taste.
5. eat immediately, or transfer into an airtight container (jars are good for this) and refrigerate. if you plan to store it for a while, pour a very thin layer of oil over the top to help maintain freshness.

ways to serve:

1. on hot pasta or gnocchi.
2. as a pasta salad.
3. on yummy crusty bread – as an entree, a snack or with other toppings (e.g. garlic mushrooms or baked beans)
4. as part of an anti-pasto platter with grilled eggplant, olives, tofetta, etc

stuffed baked potatoes with roasted garlic humous and other deliciousness May 12, 2009

oh whow!!!

i have never had a stuffed baked potato before, probably because i have never enjoyed sour cream and it seems to be a kinda vital ingredient. i got a couple of MASSIVE taters yesterday, so i thought i would give this a try and HOLY CRAP it was so tasty!

i topped mine with soy cheese (that nice nacho flavour of cheesly), sauteed mushrooms, roasted garlic humous and caramelised onions. what a combo! i think i now stink like an obsessive vampire slayer. oh well, was totes worth it. look at this:

on a side note, i find the term “stuffed baked potato” quite humorous – makes me think of this fat couch potato, who got a bit stoned and ate too many snacks, thus is stuffed full of food! but maybe that’s just me…

apologies for the photos in this post. it seems the lighting in my kitchen at night isn’t so great.

totally tasty stuffed baked taters

multiply as necessary. this will make loads of humous!

(i am going to attempt to guestimate amounts – i don’t measure, sorry! also, i am not even in possession of a tablespoon. oh, the shame!)

• 1 large potato
• a large handful of munchrooms (or mushrooms, you choose!), chopped
• one brown onion, sliced into rings
• two teaspoons of nuttlex
• a sprinkling of paprika
• a dash of ground black pepper
• a pinch of thyme, basil and oregano
• salt (plenty!)
• a couple of drops of olive oil (or canola oil, or veggie oil)
• some soy cheese to serve (i like cheesely!)

roasted garlic humous

• two heads of garlic (yes, TWO FULL HEADS!), roasted
• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• three desert spoons tahini
• juice of a whole lemon
• lots of olive oil (better quality will = better taste!)
• salt, cumin and paprika to taste

equipment (there’ll be a little washing up):

• oven
• small baking tray
• food processor
• small saucepan
• small frypan

1. pre-heat oven to 200 degrees celsius. i have an electric oven, so i pre-heat to 250 degrees, then turn it down to 200 degrees just before i put the potatoes in.
2. wash the dirt off your potatoes. dry thoroughly, and prick the potato all over with a fork to let steam escape as your tater bakes. about 10 times will do it. this is strangely satisfying.
3. put a drop (really, just a little) of olive oil on the potato and rub over the skin. this will help it crisp up nicely, but not burn.
4. adjust oven temp (if needed) and place the potato directly onto the oven rack, with a tray underneath just in case there’s any drips. it’ll take between 1 – 1 1/2 hours to bake thoroughly (mine took 1 hour 25 minutes, and it was big).
5. get out of the kitchen for half an hour.
6. place two heads of garlic on a lightly greased tray, and pop in the oven. if you leave them whole, it should take about 30 minutes for the garlic to nicely bake. this also makes it steam a little so the skins will slip straight off.
7. return to your propaghandi sing-a-long for another 30 minutes while the oven does it’s job.
8. remove the garlic from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes.
9. melt a teaspoon of nuttlex in a small saucepan. stir in the rings of onion and sit on the heat, stirring every couple of minutes. caramelised onion requires dilligence, restraint and patience, all of which i find hard when hungry. it takes approximately 30 minutes for 0nions to properly caramelise to that brown, slightly crispy yet sweet goodness. good things come to those who wait! whilst the onion is caramelising, concentrate on making humous.
10. once you can bearably touch the garlic, remove the bulbs from their skin and pop straight into the food processor. add some olive oil (3 desert spoons?) and blend for until you have garlic paste.
11. add the chickpeas and tahini. blend again. add more olive oil if necessary!
12. add in the papprika, cumin, tumeric, salt*, and lemon juice, then blend one last time. taste and add more flavour if needed.
13. melt a teaspoon of nuttlex in a small frypan. stir in the sliced mushrooms and saute for a couple of minutes.
14. once the mushrooms are slightly soft, sprinkle in the paprika, black pepper, basil, thyme and oregano. continue to saute, and add salt to taste.
15. remove your potato from the oven. hopefully it is baked to perfection, and all your toppings are ready now!
16. split the potato in half. place a layer of soy cheese in the middle, then spoon on the mushrooms, followed by lashings of humous and topped with the caramelised onions. because i am a garlic fiend i added an extra sprinkling of fried garlic on top:

in case you haven’t notice, garlic is one of my favourite foods. second only to basil on my list of faves!

* do not underestimate the powers of salt! people love my humous, and i think it’s because of the copious amounts of salt, cumin and lemon juice i add.

new leaf! April 27, 2009

hhmmm, seems i am always planning on making more regular posts! this time i shall MO DEF try my best to become a regular blogger!

i’ve recently been receiving the jura books organic food co-op box of veggies – a fabbo decision! for $10 i get pretty much all the veggies i need for the week, plus a few bits of fruit. gives me an excuse to head down to addison road markets on a sunday and indulge in the best satay burgers you will ever taste!

these veggie boxes are also giving me a greater understanding of seasonal produce and expanding my recipe repertoire. i seem to be left with random collections of veggies by about wednesday. last week i had a nice colourful bunch:

people are constantly on at me about the health effects of a vegan diet – mostly on the negative side. i generally don’t worry too much about the ‘healthiness’ of my diet (cupcakes at 3am, anyone???) but one issue that does concern me is vitamin b12. if one become deficient in b12, irreparable damage is done to the nervous system. i think we need b12 for cell reformation, in particular blood making (so not enough leads to anemia).

i did a little research, and it seems we humans need about 2.4 micrograms of b12 each day – not too much! our bodies can store between 2 and 5 micrograms each day, so it’s possible to build up stores of the stuff. people (such as myself) generally have good stores from their meat eating days, but it’s a good idea to keep an eye on it.

(here is some great info from the vegan society)

some things i eat to get vit b12:

• marmite
• fortified soy milk
• seaweed (especially seaweed crackers)
• nutritional yeast flakes

something i do NOT usually eat is tempeh*. for some reason i just can’t get into it. i think it has to do with the texture. in the name of good health (and in an attempt to use the cookbook tempting tempeh which i haven’t cooked from in the 8 months i’ve had…), i decided to give it a crack!

creamy tahini tempeh and veggie leftovers

(* indicates modified according to what i had)

• a splash of vegetable oil
• 1 red onion*, diced
• 1 medium yellow capsicum , diced
• some green beans*, chopped
• wilting week-old mushrooms*, chopped
• 2 tablespoons white miso paste
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 packet of tempeh (300g?)
• 4 tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

to make:

1. saute onions in the oil. i really hate crunchy onions, so whenever they look ‘translucent’, i leave them for 2 minutes more to ensure mushy goodness.
2. add capsicum and beans. cook until warmed (only a minute or two).
3. add miso, veggie stock and cubed tempeh, then simmer for 30 minutes. if you are anything like me (greedy and impatient) this will make you very hungry.
4. combine the tahini and soy sauce in a bowl, then mix into the pan.
5. serve hot!

i ate mine with quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), the super grain! yummo!

quinoa is really easy to cook, kinda like rise. just make sure you rinse it first! otherwise you get all these little white bits in it – looks like maggots. gross! speaking of which, the final meal kinda looked a little off-putting. and the texture of tempeh still gave me shivers. yummy sauce though:

* even though everyone says the only way to get b12 in an absorbable form is with fortified foods, i think it can’t hurt to eat things that have “natural” b12, eg seaweed, miso and tempeh.