Vegan Lentil & Vegetable Pie

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”] With the temperature dropping so radically here in the last few days (farewell Summer! We will miss you!) I thought today would be a good day for a nice Wintery Vegetable Pie. I cheated a little by using puff pastry from the freezer instead of making it from scratch but I wanted to take photos of the pie before I lost the light. You could make your own pastry if you wanted though! As for the pie mixture, I personally like my veggies nice and firm but if you want them more mushy and pie-ish you might want to cook the pie for an hour or so, instead of my 45 minutes.

Vegan Lentil & Vegetable Pie

Ingredients:

2 1/2 sheets puff pastry
2 tbs non dairy butter
2 tbs plain flour
2.5 cups water
2 vegetable stock cubes
1 leek, finely chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1.5 cubes
2 cups button mushrooms, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 head of brocolli, chopped into small florets
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 can lentils
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tbs dried marjoram
Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Bring a medium saucepan filled with water to the boil. Add the potatoes and boil them for 1o minutes, drain the water from the saucepan and put the potatoes aside. NOTE: They do not need to be totally cooked through at this point.

2. Melt the butter in a large frypan on medium heat. Add the leek and cook for 2 minutes, or until leek is softened and partly translucent, add the flour and stir well so that the flour and butter form a thick sauce. Cook for 2 minutes and then add the water and stock cubes. At this stage the mixture will start to look like a gravy.

3. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Add the brocolli, carrots, zucchini and frozen peas, cook for a further 2 minutes. Make sure the vegetables are coated and remove from the heat.

4. In a large mixing bowl mix the vegetable mixture and the potatoes together. Add the lentils, basil and marjoram and mix thoroughly, add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Line your pie tin with puff pastry (I needed 1 1/2 sheets to do this but you may only need one depending on the depth of your tin, fill with your mixture, top with the other puff pastry sheet. Poke some holes in the top, decorate with any left over pieces of pastry and put in the oven for 45 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Moroccan Vegetable Stew with Couscous

[tweetmeme source="VeganChickie"]

While I didn’t use a tagine for this recipe, it could actually be cooked in one easily enough (I don’t have one, or it would have been), I used my slow cooker for this, (you all know how much I love my slow cooker!) but if you don’t have one, it could just as easily be done in a big pot on your stove top at a low temperature.

Moroccan Vegetable Stew with Couscous

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium carrots, chopped roughly
1 medium butternut pumpkin peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
2 potatoes peeled and cut into 1.5cm cubes
1 medium leek, chopped
4 large mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup pitted prunes, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon chili flakes
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

1 cup couscous, prepared as directed on packaging
Chopped walnuts and raisins for garnish

Method:

1. Turn your slow cooker to LOW heat, add olive oil, leek, carrots, potato, pumpkin, mushrooms, prunes, walnuts, chickpeas, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, cumin, coriander, paprika, chilli flakes and vegetable stock. Stir well, cover and cook for 6 – 8 hours.

2. Prepare the couscous according the directions on the packaging.

3. Before serving, stir parsley into stew and season to taste with salt and pepper, remove the cinnamon stick and serve over hot cooked couscous. Garnish with parsley and a few chopped walnuts and maybe a handful of raisins for some extra sweetness.

NOTE: Almonds are more traditionally used in Moroccan cooking so you could substitute the walnuts for almonds if you like. If you don’t have prunes, raisins would work equally well.

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Vegan Lentil and Barley Soup

[tweetmeme source="VeganChickie"]My love affair with my slow cooker continues! Today’s recipe: Lentil and Barley Soup! Jam packed with veggies and lovely and spicy, this one is definitely going to become one of my stand by recipes, especially once winter comes. Serve with some crusty bread rolls.

Lentil and Barley Soup in the Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

1 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbs minced ginger
1 small red chili finely chopped
1 leek, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
3 ribs of celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup pearl barley
1 cup brown lentils
2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1cm cubes
5 cups water
1 cup vegetable stock
2 tbs tomato paste
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Turn the slow cooker to high, add the oil, garlic, chili and leek, cook for 10 minutes with the lid on.

2. Turn the slow cooker on low and add the rest of your ingredients, stir well and cover. Cook on medium for 8 hours.

3. Remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Serve!

Garnish with fresh coriander or parsley! YUM!

Note: The longer you leave this recipe, the more stew-like it becomes. The first night we ate it as a clear soup as pictured and reheated it the following night as a stew – delicious!

Mock Mince Vegan Bolognese

[tweetmeme source="VeganChickie"]Based on a recommendation from T over at Blog-of-Nathan, I bought some Planet Organic Vegetarian Mince last week. I’m not usually one for mock meat products, I use them every so often but they aren’t really a staple in my vegan diet, but I stumbled across the box when we were checking out the new organic grocery in town so I thought I would buy it and give it a go. I didn’t actually take photos of the progress of this recipe because to be honest, I wasn’t really expecting it to be that good. Well, boy was I surprised! Lucky it was good, because I made a GIANT batch of the stuff. I’ve got masses of the stuff stored in the freezer now, but I don’t know if it was last very long because I’m pretty sure I’m going to eat the whole lot in a matter of days.. this bolognese is just that good! Beware, the amounts below make a massive quantity. Use your discretion for a smaller batch.

Mock Mince Vegan Bolognese

Ingredients:
1tbs olive oil
1 Leek, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small red chili, finely chopped
1 carrots, chopped
250g button mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup vegetable stock
4 large cans of chopped tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 packet planet organic vegetarian mince
Fresh basil
Pasta of your choice

Method
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the garlic, chili, leek, carrot and mushrooms and cook for 5 – 10 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Add the red wine and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, dried herbs, sugar, salt and pepper, mix well and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Add the vegetarian mince, straight from the box, mix well, and simmer for a further 10 minutes (minimum, after this stage you can leave the pot cooking for as long as you wish, the longer you leave it, the more delicious it will be!). 5 minutes before serving, add the fresh basil. Serve with pasta of your choice.

Vegan Conchiglie Cacciatore

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”]Technically this recipe is called Pappardelle Cacciatore, but I’m quite lazy when it comes to eating pasta and eating pappardelle or fettuccine really is a lot of effort, so generally I prefer to use Penne or Shell pasta, which is the reason for the name change. The recipe is from “Vegan Planet” and is based on a chicken cacciatore recipe. Vegan Planet is one of my favourite cookbooks and it’s yet to let me down, this recipe was no exception. The recipe actually calls for tempeh, but I wasn’t able to find any tempeh at all in our town so instead I used some vegan sausages (sundried tomato and kalmata olive). It worked quite well, I cooked it the same as the recipe suggested for the tempeh. Personally I think the recipe would be fine with just the vegetables, but tempeh is a great source of protein so I can definitely see the benefit of including it.

Note: The second time I made this I made it with mashed potato instead of pasta and I actually enjoyed it even more that way, so that is definitely an option as well.

Vegan Conchiglie Cacciatore:
(VEGAN PLANET)

Ingredients:

2 tbs olive oil
1 8oz package of tempeh cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 green capsicum, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large can undrained diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon minded fresh marjoram, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pasta of your choice

Method:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the tempeh and cook, stirring, until lightly browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Deglaze the pan with the wine, stirring to scrape up any browned bits of tempeh from the bottom. Reduce the wine by one-half on medium heat and set aside.

3. Heat the remaining oil in the pan. Add the celery, carrot, capsicum and garlic. Cover and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, marjoram, salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the tempeh and wine and simmer for 15 minutes to blend the flavors. Reduce the heat to low and keep warm.

4. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, drain and plate, top with the sauce and serve immediately.

Vegan Minestrone (slow-cooker)

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”]Well after the success of slow-cooker week I think I’m going to declare next week slow-cooker week too. All of these recipes were so easy and SO cheap as well, which is good because the foodie car needs new tires!

All-Day Minestone:
(Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion leek, minced
1 celery rib, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 medium sized zucchini or yellow summer squash – diced
6 cups vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup raw ditalini or other small soup pasta
1/4 cup pesto

Method:
1. Pour the oil in the bottom of the slow-cooker. Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic. Cover and cook on high while you assemble the remaining ingredients.

2. After they’ve been prepped, add the green beans, chickpeas, tomatoes, zucchini and stock. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for for 7 to 8 hours.

3. About an hour before you’re ready to serve, add the raw pasta to the slow cooker and cover.

4. Just before serving, stir in the pesto.

NOTE: you can use cooked pasta if you prefer instead of raw, just add it to the soup when you add the pesto.
The omnivore of the household sprinkles grated parmesan cheese on top for extra delish.

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 Lentil Bolognese

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”]I’ve decided that this week is going to be slow cooker week in the foodie household, starting with Vegan Lentil Bolognese.. and oh wow, this recipe was good! And I don’t just mean that in the being polite to the cook kind of way, I mean that in the oh my goodness I need another bowl even though I’m so full I can barely move kind of way. Bolognese was always one of my favourites when I was a kid and it’s one of those dishes that I have really missed as a vegetarian (that and the Hainanese Chicken Rice I used to love to eat when I was in Singapore – Anyone got a good vegan substitute for that recipe?). Well, I will no longer be pining for the bolognese of my past because I’ve definitely found a replacement for this particular comfort food.

The inspiration for this recipe came from “Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker” but I’ve modified it quite a bit.

Note: Although I used fettuccine in this recipe I actually prefer to use a shell pasta, that way the lentils are cupped in the pasta and more evenly distributed throughout the meal.. with fettuccine or other long pasta then you are likely to end up with a pile of lentils on your plate at the end.

Vegan Lentil Bolognese

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 medium leek, minced
2 carrots, minced
2 celery rib, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red chili, minced
1 800g can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 tablespoons tomato paste dissolved in 1 cup of hot water
Pinch of mixed spice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
Fettuccine or other pasta of your choice
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese or soy Parmesan to serve

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the leek, carrot, celery, chili and garlic. Cover, and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the wine and simmer for 2 minutes.

2. Transfer the vegetable mixture to the slowcooker. Add the tomatoes, lentils, tomato paste mixture, mixed spice and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours (couldn’t be easier!!!)

3. When ready to serve, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally. Drain well.

4. Just prior to serving, stir the parsley into the sauce. Place the cooked pasta in a serving bowl, top with the bolognese and serve immediately with the cheese (or not, it’s just as good without it!).

Tomorrow I’m pulling out the slow cooker again but I’m not sure yet whether I’ll make White Bean Cassoulet, Minestrone, or Irish Stew, they are all on the menu for the coming week.. any requests?

Vegan Lentil Cottage Pie

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”]This is an old favourite of mine that I’ve been making for years. It’s not very pretty, but it sure is delicious!
Note: This recipe is fine to make and eat right away but is INCREDIBLE when made 24 hours before hand and left in the fridge overnight to let the flavors really mesh.

Lentil Cottage Pie

Ingredients:
800g potatoes
40g vegan butter
1 medium onion leek, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
100g button mushrooms, quartered
415g can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/3 cup dry red wine
2/3 cup red lentils
2 medium carrots, chopped finely
1 small red chili, chopped finely
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Boil, steam or microwave potatoes until tender. Drain and mash in a large bowl with half the butter.

Melt remaining butter in medium saucepan. Cook leek and garlic, stirring until leek is soft. Add mushrooms and chili, cook for 2 minutes. Add undrained tomatoes, vegetable stock, water, tomato paste, wine, lentils and carrot. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add peas, parsley, salt and pepper, cook, uncovered for 20 minutes. Stand pie for 10 minutes before serving.
NOTE: If you’re not concerned about keeping this dish vegan, you can stir 1/2 cup of finely grated parmesan cheese into the potato mash.

Yum!

Vegan Corn Chowder!

Bare-chested chef – who as I type, is lying on the couch reading Eclipse and avoiding doing the dishes – was delighted to discover this afternoon that he has a starring role in my blog, I dare say he is feeling a little famous. It’s the least I can do I suppose since he cooks for me every night – and cleans too for that matter! What a lucky woman I am to have such a devoted domestic goddess!

Tonight’s meal: Chowder! I didn’t enjoy this one as much as last nights Quinoa discovery but it was still very good. It probably belongs more in a winter menu, although the actual recipe name contradicts me on that since it is called ‘midsummer’ chowder, perhaps that is more to do with the seasonal ingredients than anything else? It is bursting with vegetable goodness!

The cookbook we got this recipe from (Veganomicon) is one of our newest favourites. Dear chef borrowed it from the library so many times that eventually we decided to buy our own copy. I love it! One of our favourites from this one is the kale and potato enchiladas.. I will make sure we cook that one again soon so I can get some photos etc and share.. in the meantime though:

Midsummer Corn Chowder with basil, tomato and fennel
Serves 6 – 8
(Veganomicon)

Ingredients:

6 ears fresh corn, husks and silk removed
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 large onion, cut into fine dice
1 small bulb fennel (about 1/2 pound, diced)
1 stalk celery, chopped finely
1 large carrot, diced
1 pound white, waxy potatoes, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 quarts fresh corn stock, vegetable broth or water
1 pound tomatoes, seeded and chopped finely
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, tightly rolled and chopped into thin strips
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

On a large cutting surface or in a large bowl, slice off the kernels of corn from the cob.
(Note from us: corn cobs can be saved for using in home made vegetable stock!)
Preheat a large soup pot over medium-high heat, saute the garlic in oil for 30 seconds, then add the onion. Stir and cover, sweating them for about 5 minutes. Add the carrot and celery, stir, cover and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes; then add the chopped potato, stir, cover, and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Finally add the corn, stir, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the stock, stir, cover and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat to medium and allow the soup to simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Turn off the head, ladle 1 1/2 cups of the soup into a separate large bowl, and allow to cool until only slightly warm. Puree the bowl of soup then add back into the remaining soup in the pot. Place the pot over medium heat, add the chopped tomatoes and basil, and simmer for an additional 10 minutes until the soup is hot.

Serve!

(we had the soup with some pita bread, warmed in the oven until it was super crunchy)