Vegetable Vindaloo (Slow-Cooker)

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”] Vindaloo is traditionally very hot and I’ve made my version suitably spicy, if you don’t like a lot of chili you might want to leave out the red chillies altogether and just rely on the cayenne pepper and Tabasco for heat. And of course if you like things super spicy it might worth adding an extra chili into the mix. It’s helpful to remember that some of heat will be lost in the cooking process as the slow cooker does often render some of the heat a bit flat after so many hours of cooking, so if you sneak a taste test two hours in and it’s hotter than you expected, don’t panic, some of the flavours will settle down by the time it’s ready to be eaten.

Vegetable Vindaloo

Ingredients:

2 tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 knob of ginger, minced (about 1.5 tbs)
2 red chillies, minced (or 2 tbs dried chillies)
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground mustard seeds
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp hot curry powder
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Tabasco sauce
1 medium leek, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 medium green capsicum, chopped
1/2 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
2 medium zucchini, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 cup chopped button mushrooms
2 cups vegetable stock
1 can red kidney beans
140g tomato paste
1/2 cup frozen green peas
Salt and pepper to taste
jasmine rice to serve

Method:

1. In a small bowl, combine 1 tbs of the oil, garlic, ginger, chillies, sugar, coriander, cumin, mustard seeds, cayenne, turmeric, curry powder, vinegar and tabasco sauce (to taste), mix with a fork until everything is combined and a paste is formed. Set aside.

2. Set your slow-cooker on HIGH and heat the remaining tablespoon of oil, add the leek and carrots, cover and cook for about ten minutes, until the vegetables are warmed, add the spice paste and stir to coat, cook for 5 minutes, until fragrant. Add the capsicum, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, celery and mushrooms and stir until vegetables are coated in the paste mixture. Turn the slow cooker setting back to LOW.

3. In a small bowl – you can use the one used to make the paste if you like this will pick up any remaining paste – combine the vegetable stock and tomato paste, pour the mixture over the vegetables, mix well, cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours.

4. 1/2 an hour before serving add the frozen peas, stir through. Add salt and pepper if required and start making your Jasmine rice as per packet instructions. Serve over rice and garnish with some fresh coriander.

________________

Become a fan of Vegan Chickie on Facebook

Advertisement

Peanut-crusted Thai Tofu with Cucumber Salad

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”] Bare-chested chef – who is not so bare-chested these days since we moved to chilly New Zealand – has guest starred in the Vegan Chickie kitchen tonight and come up with this beauty of a recipe. It was a huge hit, the spicy peanut crust on the tofu was delicious and a great match with the crunchy salad and beautiful salad dressing. All in all an excellent dish, I can’t wait to try it again! For the health conscious amongst us, the step where you brown the tofu in a frying pan can be skipped. Recipe below serves 4.

Peanut-crusted Thai Tofu with Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

2 pkg tofu, pressed
1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
1/4 cup red curry paste
1/2 teaspoon tamari
4 tbs sweet chili sauce
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
1 cucumber, sliced
2 cups bean sprouts
1/3 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, sliced
2 dried shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup water
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbs canola oil (for the dressing)
Jasmine rice, prepared as per packet directions
Peanuts & fresh coriander to garnish

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Firstly in a blender or food processor, grind your shiitake mushrooms to powder then, in small saucepan combine the ground mushroom with a 1/4 cup of water, bring the mixture to the boil, stirring occasionally and then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

2. In a blender process the peanuts, curry paste, 1 tbs of sweet chili sauce, tamari, coconut milk and half the coriander until combined.

3. Slice each tofu block into two slabs (as pictured below), heat 1 tbs of oil in a fry pan and fry the tofu for approximately 5 minutes – until it is browned, then flip and brown the other side. Place the tofu on an oven tray, spread the peanut mixture on each piece, roast uncovered for about 20 minutes.

4. While the chicken is cooking, cook your rice as per the directions on the packet and prepare your salad and salad dressing.

5. In a large bowl, combine cucumber, carrot, sprouts, mint and remaining coriander. In a screw-top jar combine the mushroom mixture, lime juice, sesame oil, 3 tbs sweet chili sauce and remaining canola oil, shake well to combine and then pour over your salad, toss well.

6. Remove the tofu from the oven, slice into 1 cm strips. Serve with salad & jasmine rice, garnish with coriander and peanuts.

________________

Become a fan of Vegan Chickie on Facebook

Vietnamese Pancakes rolled with Vegetables (vegan)

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”]The cookbook calls this one Vietnamese Pizza, but it’s about as far from pizza as you can get while still having vegetables on a doughy base! It was good though, and the Vietnamese dipping sauce was a very nice surprise. We will most certainly be using that one again. The pancakes are savory, chewy and a little bit crispy. Rolling them out was a bit fiddly but I suspect that will get easier with time.

Pancakes Rolled with Vegetables
Served with Picked radish and carrot and Vietnamese dipping Sauce
(The Asian Vegan Kitchen)

Ingredients:

2  cups rice flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion leek sliced
2 cloves garlic sliced
50g Daikon radish, julienned
1 carrot julienned
1 cup bean sprouts
4 tablespoons chives, chopped
Vegetable oil for drizzling

Method:
In a bowl, mix the rice flour, cornstarch, and turmeric with the coconut milk. Add the salt and baking powder and stir until smooth. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Heat the oil in the saucepan and saute the onion leek and garlic briefly. Add the daikon and carrot, stir over high heat for a minute, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. reserve the oil.

Heat a frying pan and grease it with a little oil. Pour in a quarter of the rice-flour batter and spread it out to make an even layer. Take a quarter of each of the sauteed vegetables, bean sprouts and chives and spread over the batter. drizzle a little oil around the edges of the pancake and cook for 3 – 4 minutes, until the underside is golden brown.

Fold in half and slide onto a serving plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and vegetables. Serve with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce or Pickled Radish and Carrot (or both!).

Pickled Radish and Carrot:

Ingredients:
100g white radish
1 carrot
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon castor sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon water

Method:

(this dish can be made with julienned cucumber, sliced chilies, water spinach stem or garlic cloves)
Slice the radish and carrot in julienne strips, in a bowl, mix the salt, sugar, vinegar and water and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the radish and carrot and leave to start for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce:

Ingredients:

3 Dried shiitake Mushrooms
3 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons castor sugar
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Method:

place your mushrooms in a pan with water, boil for 10 minutes, then, saving the water, puree the mushrooms in a blender. In the saucepan, combine the dashi with the soy sauce and the mushroom puree and bring to the boil. turn down the heat and simmer for 2 – 3 minutes. Add all the other ingredients and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Serve at room temperature. (we added a bunch of chilies to this one.. we love it hot!)

(the mushroom water can be frozen and used as a stock).

Vegan Pad Thai

This recipe is a nice fast one for a lazy night in when you aren’t up for cooking a feast. (or when you are already worn out from cooking cupcakes all afternoon!)

Brooklyn Pad Thai
(Vegan with a Vengeance)

Ingredients:
450g rice noodles

For the sauce:
6 tablespoons tamari
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons tomato puree
2 tablespoons chilli sauce
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons tamarind concentrate or lime juice

For the pad Thai:
6 tablespoons ground nut oil (we just used vegetable oil)
450g tofu drained and pressed and cut into small triangles
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon lemongrass, finely chopped
125 g bean sprouts
8 spring onions. sliced
2 small dried red chillies, crumbled
50g chopped roasted peanuts
4 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
Lime wedges for serving.

Method:
Prepare the rice noodles according to the directions on the packet.

Mix together the ingredients for the sauce.
Preheat a large nonstick frypan or wok over moderate-high heat, then quickly add the tofu. Stir fry for for 4 – 5 minutes, until the tofu is crisp on the outside. Remove from pan and set aside.

Pour 2 tablespoons more of the oil into the pan, add the garlic and lemongrass, stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the sauce and when it starts to bubble, add the noodles. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, then add the tofu, bean sprouts, spring onions, chillies, and peanuts. Stir for 30 more seconds.

Transfer to two serving plates and garnish with coriander and lime wedges.

Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls (vegan)

We have had this recipe a few times. In my old meat eating life I used to really love Japanese food, so sushi is one of the things I really get a hankering for now and then. This recipe is the first in the Veganomicon cookbook and we originally made it as part of a vegan yum cha feast, these days we have it on its own, it is the perfect Sunday lunch!

Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls
(Veganomicon)

Ingredients:

For the sushi rice:
1 cup sushi rice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (this is not the same as regular vinegar)
1 teaspoon sugar

For the spicy tempeh filling:
1/2 package tempeh
2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
1 teaspoon hot chile sesame oil
4 sheets nori seaweed
1 teapsoon wasabi (optional)
1 scallion, sliced lengthways in narrow strips
1 avocado, peeled and sliced into thin strips
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

Wasabi and Soy sauce to serve

Method:
In a heavy bottomed pot, combine the rice and 1 1/4 cups cold water. Turn the heat to high, bring the water to the boil and stir the rice just once. Lowe the heat to low, cover the pot and steam the rice for 20 – 22 minutes. Empty the hot rice into a large glass or plastic bowl. Sprinkle with the rice vinegar an sugar, folding the rice gently with a spoon. The rice should be moist and have a very mild vinegar flavour. Cover with plastic wrap and let cool for 10 – 15 minutes. When rice is slightly warmer than room temperature, it’s ready to work with.

While the rice is cooling, prepare the filling by steaming the tempeh. Allow the tempeh to cool for 10 minutes, chop into small cubes, and place in a medium sized bowl. Add the mayonnaise and chile sesame oil and mash until chunky.

Fill a shallow cup with about 1/3 cup of water and a tablespoon of rice vinegar, and keep near your sushi workstation. Follow these steps to the perfect nori roll:

1.   Place the nori sheet on the bamboo mat. With wet hands, take a snowball shaped handful of rice, about a cups worth. Gently pat onto the bottom two thirds of your nori sheet. The layer of rice should be less than 1/3 inch thick

2.   Place a small amount of filling across the centre of your rice. Lay them horizontally in a straight line. The less filling the easier the sushi will be to roll. Aim for about 1 1/2 teaspoons of tempeh and 3 strips of avocado.

3.   Using the mat, rently roll up that sushi starting from the rice topped end; try to keep your grip relatively tight for a firm roll. When you’ve reached the seaweed only end, pat gently with a little bit of vinegar water to seal the roll.

4.   Slice your roll into 1 inch pieces with a sharp serrated knife.

We serve with soy sauce and wasabi (and actually we also spread a thin layer of wasabi on the rice before we add the tempeh! We like it hot!

Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stir-fry (vegan)

There was some contention in the foodie household this evening about this recipe. I loved this dish, it was a lovely, light, tropical meal (perfect for summer!), but the bare-chested chef felt it was a little too sweet. I do generally have quite a sweet tooth so I guess that is why I liked it so much, but I think even if you don’t have too much of a sweet tooth it is still a really great dish, there is such great contrast between the sweetness of the fruit and the spicyness of the chili and the crunch of nuts.. I have to say that I am really loving quinoa at the moment, and the great thing about cheffy not liking it is that I get it for lunch tomorrow!!!

Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stir-fry
(Veganomicon)

Ingredients:
Quinoa:
1 cup quinoa, well rinsed and drained
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup cold water
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce

Stir-fry:
4 ounces cashews, raw and unsalted
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 scallions, sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, minced
1 hot red chile, sliced into very thin rounds
1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, rolled and sliced in thin shreds
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
10 ounces fresh pineapple, cut into bite sized chunks
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable stock
1 tablespoon mirin
Lime wedges for garnish

Method:

For the quinoa: Combine the quinoa, juice, water and soy sauce in a medium sized pot. Cover, place over high heat, and bring to a boil. Stir a few times, lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 12 – 14 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa appears plumped and slightly translucent. Uncover, fluff and let cool.

For the stir-fry: Use a large frypan or wok. Have all your ingredients pre-chopped and in reach. Place the cashews in the dry pan and heat over low heat, stirring them, until lightly toasted (4 to 5 minutes).

Remove the cashews from the pan, raise the heat to medium and add the peanut oil, scallions and garlic, when the garlic starts to sizzle, add the sliced chili and ginger.

Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, then add the bell pepper and peas. Stir-fry for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the bell pepper is softened and the peas are bright green.

Add the basil and mint, and stir for another minute before adding the pineapple and quinoa.

Combine the soy sauce, vegetable stock and miri. Pour over the quinoa mixture. Stir until the mixture is coated. Continue to stir-fry for 10 minutes (it helps to use two spoons/spatulas to scoop the quinoa around). Serve with lime wedges.

Ginger-Scented Vegetable Pot Stickers (vegan)

This is another of my favourite recipes, it is pretty well known that I am a bit of a dumpling fiend, I just can’t get enough of the stuff! My love of all things dumpling suffered in our move to Sydney; we are yet to find a dumpling house quite like the Camy Shanghai Dumpling house in Melbourne but in the meantime we have these delicious little pot stickers to keep me satisfied. The recipe comes from Vegan Planet, and calls for pre-made wonton or dumpling wrappers, but I have included the ingredients etc to make your own because that is how we do it. It’s pretty easy, and doesn’t add much more time to the recipe, just make sure you make the dough first and then wrap it and leave it to sit while you process the rest of your ingredients (or grate them on the microplane like we do) otherwise your timing will get confused.. anyway, without any further ado…

Ginger-Scented Vegetable Pot Stickers
(Vegan Planet)

Ingredients:

For the dumpling dough:
2 cups plain flour
1 cup boiling water

For the pot stickers:
1 cup minced wombok
1 cup drained and crumbled extra firm tofu
1/4 cup finely shredded carrots
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon tamari or other soy sauce
1 cup water

Method:

For the dough: In a bowl combine the flour and boiling water, stir with chopsticks until lumps appear.

Knead the dough for approximately ten minutes (you may need to wait for a while for the dough to be cool enough to knead) then wrap in cling wrap and set aside for 30 mins to an hour.

After an hour, roll the dough out on a floured surface and using cookie cutters cut out dumpling wrappers.

For the pot stickers: In a food processor, combine the wombok, tofu, carrots, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Process until well combined.

Place 1 wonton wrapper on a work surface and spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling mixture on the lower third of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper over the filling to form a semicircle. Moisten the edge of the wrapper with water to seal. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

Heat 1 tablespoon of peanut oil in a large nonstick pan over medium high heat (wait until the oil is HOT!) Place the dumplings in the pan and cook until golden, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the tamari and the water, cover, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.

Uncover and cook until the water evaporates, 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve hot, with dumpling sauce (preferably the spicy kind!)

NB: You might need to do that last step in two batches depending on the size of your pan.

Vegan Peking Mushrooms with Mandarin Pancakes

This is one of my favourite recipes and I bug chef to make it for me a lot.. which drives him up the wall I’m sure! It’s not from any cookbook that we know of, the original recipe came from an online search when I first became vegetarian and had a craving for peking duck. We googled ‘vegetarian peking duck’, found a recipe and over time it has morphed into the recipe below. The mandarin pancakes come from the ‘Asian Food’ cookbook by Charmaine Solomon. Because this recipe has been partly made up over the years the method etc may not be as clear as some of the others.. for that I apologise!

Here goes:

Mandarin Pancakes
Serves 2
(Asian Food)

Ingredients:

250g/2 cups of plain flour
185ml boiling water (+ 1 tablespoon extra)
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Method:

Combine flour and boiling water, mix then knead for 10 mins, wrap and stand for at least 30 minutes (during this time we make the vegan peking mushrooms). Roll dough out and using a large cookie cutter (or similar) cut into equal pieces – technically these could be as small or as large as you like. Lay one circle of dough on the bench, brush with sesame oil and place another on top. Flatten slightly with a rolling pin so that they stay together. Follow this method until all the circles are paired off. In a hot pan place the paired dough in and cook over a low head until they bubble. You should be constantly turning them. Once bubbling, remove from the pan and pull them apart.

Vegan Peking Mushrooms
Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 x dried shitake mushrooms
4 x dried cloudear mushrooms
100g fresh oyster mushrooms (shredded)
100g shimeji mushrooms (shredded)
4 x teaspoon light soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 cup bamboo shoots (shredded)
1 1/2 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 x bean curd sheets (or spring roll pastry)

To serve:

1 cup hoisin sauce
spring onions

Method:

Soak dried mushrooms, drain (reserving liquid) and shred. In a pan, heat oil, fry mushrooms (dried and fresh), add bamboo shoots until cooked then remove. In the pan, combine soy sauce, sugar, salt and 1 tablespoon of mushroom liquid, heat and reduce slightly with corn starch. Meanwhile, cut beancurd sheets into sections (they can be small or large, we either shred finely – as in the pictures tonight – or cut into rectangles 2cm x 4cm) and deep fry until crisp. You could also use vermicelli, and deep fry that instead. Pour soy sauce mixture over mushrooms and serve with deep fried bean curd sheets, hoisin sauce and spring onions.

And now the fun part – eating it!!
Using the spring onion sprig – which has been cut into a paintbrush shape by clever cheffy – spread the hoisin sauce onto the mandarin pancake:

Place some of the crunchy bean curd sheets/vermicelli on the pancake:

And then, on top of the crunch, we put the mushrooms:

TaDa!! now fold in half and eat! Delish!

Enjoy.