Vegan Irish Stew

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”]Another slow cooker recipe tonight, a nice accompaniment for the snow storm that unexpectedly swept over us this afternoon! Unfortunately due to technical difficulties with the camera (ie: a dead battery) I don’t have any progress pictures to go with this recipe, just the end result.

Almost Irish Stew
(Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion leek, chopped
1 1/2 cups baby carrots, halved lengthwise
6 very small white potatoes, halved or quartered
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons tamari or other soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 large kale leaves – or other dark leafy greens, chopped, cooked until tender and drained

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Add the onion, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Transfer the onions to your slow cooker. Add the carrots, potatoes, garlic, beans, stock, bay leaf, wine, tamari, thyme and salt and pepper, Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

3. About 10 minutes before serving stir in the cooked kale (we also added some browned vegan sausages at this point). Serve hot.

Serve up with some fresh bread rolls.. yum!

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Vegan White Bean Cassoulet

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”]I got a bit distracted while making this one and ended up making it over two nights instead of one, so rather than toasting the crumbs in a frypan and putting them on top of the cassoulet mixture like it says to do in the recipe below, I put the mixture in the fridge overnight and then reheated it in the oven with the breadcrumbs on top. Either way will work fine, and the oven idea might work best for any cassoulet mixture you are reheating from leftovers.

Slow and Easy White Bean Cassoulet
(Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion leek, chopped
10 baby carrots, halved
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can white beans drained and rinsed (we used cannellini)
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup white wine
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Method:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Add the onion leek, carrots and garlic, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Transfer the onion mixture to your slow cooker. Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, wine, bay leaves, and thyme; season with salt and pepper, cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

3. While the cassoulet is cooking, lightly toast the bread crumbs in a small frypan, with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over medium high heat.

4. When the cassoulet is ready to serve, remove and discard the bay leaves, top with the crumbs, serve hot, garnish with the parsley.

5. You may also like to serve with some browned vegetarian/vegan sausages.. delish!

Vegan Bean & Vegetable Ragout

[tweetmeme source="VeganChickie"]I have had a bit of a slow cooker fetish lately, I think it has to do with the cold New Zealand weather, there’s nothing like the smell of comfort food wafting through the house all day long while you sit by the fire.

This one is one of my favourites from the slow cooker so far, it’s super easy and very delicious!

Bean & Vegetable Ragout
(Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 medium sized onion, leek, finely chopped
1 large carrot, halved lengthwise and sliced into half moons
1 large turnip, peeled and sliced
1 large parsnip, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced into half moons
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups of cannellini or other white beans (or one can)
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup cooked chopped collards or other dark leafy greens (we used silver beet)
Method:
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot, cover, and cook until softened – about 5 minutes.

2. Transfer the cooked vegetables to the slow cooker. Add the turnip, parsnip, sweet potato, beans, stock, thyme, salt and pepper. Cover, and cook on low for 6 – 8 hours.

3. About 30 minutes before ready to serve, stir in the collards or leafy greens.

4. Serve hot! (for the non vegans, top with some grated parmesan for extra yum!!)

Nice and easy!

Vegan Sausage Rolls

[tweetmeme source="VeganChickie"]This is another recipe inspired by a Joyous mama, who will remain nameless because she hasn’t given her blessing to be named yet! I can really see this recipe becoming a staple in our house, it was fast, really easy and very delicious! It is especially good because the uncooked sausage rolls can be frozen and heated up in the oven whenever you want a snack! The original recipe asked for an egg to be added to bind the mixture but we found that we didn’t need it, the grated vegetables and mashed beans had enough liquid that the ingredients all bound together really well. The quantities below made HEAPS of mixture, be warned!!

Vegan Sausage Rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup mashed kidney beans
1 cup mashed berlotti beans
1 cup crushed roasted peanuts
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup gratedl pumpkin
1 cup grated sweet potato
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
3 celery stalks – chopped
1 tablespoon garam marsala
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup rolled oats
salt and pepper to taste

vegan puff pastry
soy milk (for glazing)

Method:

Combine all ingredients (except pastry obviously) in a large bowl and mix well.
Place mix onto puff pastry sheets and form into rolls.
Pierce the rolls with a fork and glaze with soy milk before putting in the oven for approx 25 mins.

Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”]This recipe was such a pleasant surprise.. I always feel a mix of anxiousness and excitement when we try a new recipe, never quite sure how it will turn out and hoping so much that it turns into another favourite dish. Tonight we tried something new from the Vegan Planet cookbook and it was so good that it has shot to the top of my favourites list. We modified the recipe a little because we didn’t have all the ingredients but I will explain that as I go along.

Ultimate Shepherd’s Pie
(Vegan Planet)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped (we – as always – used leek instead)
1 carrot, chopped
2 cups button mushrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons tamari or other soy sauce
1 cup basic vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
3 frozen veggie burgers, thawed chopped or crumbled (here, we used 1 can chick peas, 1 can kidney beans, 1/4 cup urid dahl lentils)
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/3 cup ground walnuts
1/4 teaspoon sweet hungarian paprika
3 cups mashed potatoes (mashed with Nuttelex)

Method:

Prehead the oven to 180°C. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan, add the onion leek and carrot, cover, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, tamari, stock, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper. If you are using beans instead of vegie burgers, add them now. Stir in the cornstartch mixture to thicken slightly.

Spoon the mixture into a lightly oiled baking dish. Stir in the peas and walnuts (and vegie burgers if you are using them instead of the beans).

Spread the mashed potatoes over the top.

Sprinkle with the paprika and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Bake until the potatoes are hot and bubbly and the top is golden brown – about 30 minutes. Serve Hot.

This is such a great comfort dish, it is so warming and hearty. Perfect for winter time and so delicious, I am really happy with this one!

Anasazi Chili with Quinoa

It is a accepted fact in our household that eventually I will become a vegan. Chef pretends to fear it, claiming I already make his life difficult enough with my food choices, but I know that deep down he is looking forward to the challenge. As part of this progression from Vegetarianism to Veganism, I try to eat a few vegan meals throughout the week at dinner time. Some weeks are more successful than others and this week so far is one of them. Tonights foodie adventure was a good one, another first time attempt of a recipe with a first time ingredient.. tonights feature guest: Quinoa.

According to good old Wikipedia Quinoa “originated in the Andean region of South America, where it has been an important food for 6,000 years. Its name is the Spanish spelling of the Quechua name. Quinoa is generally undemanding and altitude-hardy, so it can be easily cultivated in the Andes up to about 4,000 meters. Even so, it grows best in well-drained soils and requires a relatively long growing season”. I’m not sure why it hasn’t appeared in our ingredient list before, but we were pleasantly surprised with the result. This recipe is another one which we will be coming back for down the track. I must say it did look a little unnerving on the plate at first, like little white worms were enjoying my dinner but once I got passed that I really enjoyed the meal.

Anasazi Chili with Quinoa
(Vegan Planet)

Note: We actually used Adzuki beans instead of Anasazi beans in this one.. just because this is what we had. Also, we generally substitute onion with leek, I prefer the flavor of leek to onion.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons chilli powder (we made our own using chipotle chillies and Ancho chili seeds ground up in the bullet with hot paprika)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 can tomatoes drained and chopped
3 cups cooked anasazi beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups water
4-6 cups freshly cooked quinoa

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and bell peppers, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Add the tomatoes, beans, and water and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and season with salt and pepper if required. Too easy! We serve it with oven warmed taco shells. Just scoop up the chili and quinoa on a broken piece of the taco shell and munch away! Fabulous!