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!

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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 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!

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!

Beatrice’s Vegetable ‘Stoo’ with Dumplings (vegan)

[tweetmeme source="VeganChickie"]I got this recipe from a Joyous Mama that I know online. Her recipe is vegetarian, but in honour of Vegan Month I’ve made a few adjustments to make it vegan. It is the perfect dish for this week as the weather is starting to cool down and those dumplings were oh so yum! Such deliciousness! I’m already looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch at work tomorrow!

Vegetable ‘Stoo’ with Dumplings
ala Beatrice

STEW:
2-3 onions celery sticks (celery is our new onion replacement!)
1 clove garlic – crushed
2-3 carrots – diced
4-5 potatoes – diced
1 small sweet potato – diced
1/4 cup barley
1/4 cup dried lentils
basil
a slosh of balsamic vinegar
1 cup frozen peas
black pepper & salt to taste
1 tsp vegeta (vegetable stock powder)

Method: Saute onions and garlic. Brown the diced vegetables a little. Add barley and lentils and cover with water, simmer gently until root vegetables are just tender. (make sure you check the water levels as the barley and lentils will absorb some of it).

DUMPLINGS:
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch nutmeg
1 tsp ground parmesan savoury yeast flakes
50g butter nuttelex
enough cold water to form a soft dough.

Method: combine dry ingredients, work in butter with your hands and then add water, kneeding to make a dough. Divide into 12 and roll into balls, before adding the dumplings to the stew, stir in frozen peas and fresh basil, add your dumplings and cover pan, leaving dumplings to steam for 10-15 minutes. Garnish with some fresh basil! Enjoy!

Vegan Vegetable Stew with Pesto

This dish is somewhere between a soup and a stew. It is choc full of vegetable goodness and is super delicious. I just love it!

Farm Stand Vegetable Stew with Basil Pesto
(Vegan Planet)

Ingredients:

For the Stew:
2 ears corn
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large red onion leek, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
8 ounces green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large, ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium sized zucchini, diced
1 small yellow squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch half moons

For the Pesto (there is a recipe for pesto in the book too but this is our own version, if you want you can just use store bought)
Fresh basil (1/4 bunch)
40g pine nuts
2 tablespoons ground linseed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Method:

For the pesto: Toast the pine nuts in a non stick pan, over medium heat, stirring occassionally, until browned.

Grind the basil, oil and salt in a mortar and pestle until it is a paste, add pine nuts and linseed and grind until pesto is at desired consistency.

For the Stew: Cut the kernels from the corn and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion leek, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper, green beans, tomatoes, stock and salt and pepper and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add the zucchini, yellow squash and corn kernels and cook until tender, about 10 minutes, adding mores stock if the stew becomes too dry. When ready to serve, remove from the heat and stir in the pesto.

We serve this with pita bread, baked in the oven until crispy.

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)

Lebanese Vegetable Soup

Tonight I had the delight of trying another Moosewood Soup. A work friend of mine – we’ll call her the Malaysian Princess – lent me her copy of “Sunday’s at Moosewood Restaurant” after hearing me rave about the Minestrone in the Moosewood book we own. Another work friend – soccer playing scoundrel – saw the book and instantly pointed out her favourite recipe to me.. Lebanese Vegetable Soup. I took note of the page number (#69! So easy to remember!) And here we are a few days later, full bellied and oh so satisfied. This is only the second Moosewood recipe I have tried, both have been soups and both have been wonderful! I am definitely a fan of these books.

Before we get started, just a quick note about our food choices since this is a new blog. We try to use organic ingredients wherever possible. We buy all our fruit and veg from an organic farmers market each Saturday, and always choose organic supermarket options over non organic. All our chocolate, coffee and tea is fair trade as well as organic. While chef extraordinaire is not vegetarian he does try to make ethical choices about his meat production where possible. We try to stay away from processed foods whenever we can.

So here we go..

(Note: The bare-chested chef is an optional ingredient!)

Lebanese Vegetable Soup
Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant
(Serves 8 generously)

1 large Spanish onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium carrots, chopped (2 1/2 cups)
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1-teaspoon ground coriander seeds
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups chopped potatoes
1-teaspoon salt (or to taste)
4-5 cups vegetable stock (bare-chested chef makes his own using a meat grinder to mince the veggies)
2 large tomatoes
10 artichoke hearts cut into eighths
3/4 cup canned or cooked chick peas
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 lemons cut into wedges

Method:

In a large soup pot sauté the onions in the olive oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrots. Cover. Stir again after 3 minutes. Add the ground red pepper, coriander and garlic. Cover and cook for a few more minutes. Add the potatoes, salt and 2 cups of the stock.

Cover the pot and bring the soup to the boil. Reduce the head and simmer until the potatoes are nearly tender. Be careful not to overcook them. Gently stir in the tomatoes, artichoke hearts and cooked chickpeas. Salt to taste. Cover and simmer for 3 or 4 minutes, just to heat the tomatoes. Add the remaining 2 – 3 cups of stock or even more if a brothier soup is desired. Heat gently. It is important not to overcook or boil this soup. The potatoes, tomatoes and artichokes should be heated just enough to blend the flavors or they might lose their shape and disintegrate.

Sprinkle each serving with fresh parsley and garnish with a wedge of fresh lemon.

The great thing is that is was ready in less than half an hour (though this is because we used canned chick peas, if you are using dried it will take longer than that).

Enjoy! We sure did!