Green Vegetable Fritters (Vegetarian)

 

Fritters have always been part of my family's diet.  When Mum got out the chopping board and the remains of the Sunday Roast we knew it was fritter night.  If there was no roast left it was usually vegetables in the fritters, mostly corn, but on frugal nights probably before pay day, it could have simply been potatoes and parsley. 

Take your favourite fritter batter or follow this one.

Ingredients

125g (4oz) s/r flour or plain flour and add 1tsp baking powder

1 egg beaten

pinch salt

milk

Handful green vegetables I used cavelo nero, sorrel, rocket, silver beet (chard) leaves and some coriander chopped up finely.  The borage I used in my side salad.

 

 

Method

Put flour salt and egg in bowl and add a bit of milk, beat till smooth and add vegies. Now add more milk till it is dropping consistency, (the amount depends on how much moisture is on the veg after washing and drying)

Heat some oil or butter in fry pan (I use a mix as Then the temp doesn't get too hot.  Add tablespoons of batter and fry till bubbles appear.

Flip them over and cook tilt the bottoms are brown. Place on oven proof plate and put in a low oven to keep warm while you cook the rest.  Makes 10.

Serve with a side salad of choice.

Next time I make these I might add some corn and perhaps a pinch of cumin and coriander powder or just curry powder.  The variations are limitless.  Anyways, a marvelous way to use up a tired greens.

Crunchy Tofu and Cauliflower Satay

I love the flavour of satay!  Back in the day when I ate chicken, satay skewers were one of favourite meals.  In fact I still get cravings for them, the other day I was pressing the tofu for my usual crispy tofu, when it occurred to me I could replicate the chicken  satay with tofu. It was a duh moment. lol.  When I made the chicken satay I used to marinate the chicken in my favourite satay sauce (Watties A Bit on the Side Satay) cheat I know, but it so quick and yummy. So I marinated the tofu squares and as I had put in too much sauce I added sprigs of cauliflower. Then I dunked them in Panko Breadcrumbs and I was away laughing, so delicious, I will never crave the chicken again

Ingredients

• Firm Tofu (pressed and cut into cubes 1 1/2- 2 cm)
• Satay Sauce homemade or bottled (recipe below for homemade)
• Panko Breadcrumbs, soft homemade breadcrumbs work well too.
• Cauliflower florets
• Oil for cooking

Method 

Place the cubes of tofu in a bowl pour over satay sauce, leave for 10 minutes or so. Take the tofu out of bowl and place on a plate  that has the Panko breadcrumbs and roll the cubes around till all sides are covered.
Put the cauliflower sprigs in the sauce and make sure that the sauce has covered them well.

Heat oil in frypan and place the cauliflower in pan and fry tossing from time to time, add tofu after 5 minutes turning tofu  as the sides brown (don't to as I did  and put the tofu in first as they only take minutes to cook)

 A lot of crumb falls of the cauliflower and tofu, but not to worry as they make nice crunchy bits.  Just be sure you keep an eye on it as the sugar content in the sauce can catch and char.

Serve with noodles or on a bed of rice and vegetables

 Homemade Satay Sauce

• 1/2 cup salted crunchy peanut butter
• 2-3 Tbsp tamari. if soy-free sub coconut aminos (opt, if leaving out taste at end you may need to add more salt)
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 1-2 Tbsp brown sugar or sweetener of choice
• 1/4 tsp chili flake or 1 red Thai chili, minced adjust to preferred spice level, chili can be left out
• 2-3 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/4 cup coconut cream

Add all ingredients together and mix well.

Jackfruit Goulash

This is a story of how Minestrone Soup turned into Jackfruit Goulash! Its also a story of how in these Covid-19 days we need to think on our feet as we cant just nip down to the supermarket for that missing item.

The weather has been telling us finally that winter is on the way, and I thought that a nice warming pan of Minestrone Soup was in order,  So I got underway fried of some onion,  carrot and celery added some capsicum, a nd while that was doing it thing I rummaged around in my store cupboard, no cannelloni beans, oh well I will cheat with a tin of Baked Beans, er only one can, which I really didn't want to use, as I like to keep a tin on hand for times that I am too tired to cook and beans on toast hits the spot.  But, somehow I have over stocked on Black bean 5 tins?!  So I started thinking Mexican or Brazilian, then I spied a tin of Jackfruit,  ummm I have been meaning to try Jackfruit in a stew as I kept on thinking that it was a bit like chicken. Goulash  popped into mind and I was away. Totally delish and even a lot better the next day as the sauce had a chance to permeate into the Jackfruit.  Have a go!

Ingredients

Serves 4
1 onion sliced
1 celery stick sliced
1 carrot cut into small chunks
1 capsicum sliced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin of Black beans
1 tin of young Jackfruit in brine drained, rinsed and liquid squeezed out
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp of smoked paprika or ordinary sweet 
1 tbsp of fresh marjoram or origami   Use 1 tsp dried if fresh is not available
1 vegan chicken flavoured stock cube 
1 tsp sugar
squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste 
bunch of  sliced kale (optional) 

Method 

 Fry the onion, celery and carrot for 5 minutes add the sliced capsicum and fry another 5 minutes gently.

Add the paprika and herbs and fry for 1 minute then add sugar, tomatoes, Jackfruit, beans add 1 cup of water with stock cube, bring to boil  and simmer gently for 20 minutes, add kale if using and cook a further 10 minutes or till  the sauce thickens.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste. 
Serve with mash potato or rice.

NOTES
If leaving till the next day you may need to add more water as it thickens on standing.
About Jackfruit, I find that the briny taste can be vanished with soaking it in water for 2 hours, just make sure you squeeze all the liquid out. 
Freezes well. 
 

Twice Baked Potato

I have a new favourite meal, cheesy Baked Potato with no cheese!  What is the secret ingredient, it is hummus!

This is not really a recipe but a method.

Simply take your potato, I used my fave - Agria, bake it as usual till it is soft and the skin  is nice and crunchy.  Cut the potato in half and scoop out the potato leaving the crunchy shell. 

 Now the magic happens, take your hummus, plain or flavoured (I used pumpkin and kumara) and add it to the mashed potato to your taste, I used about 2 desert spoons, but it can be more or less, it is en entirely up to you. Season with salt and pepper.  

Put the mix back into the shells and if desired add a topping of breadcrumbs with a tsp of nutritional flakes and drizzle with olive oil.  Put bake in oven and cook till the top is crunchy about 10 mins at 200C.

Serve with a salad, it was so delish that I got greedy and ate both halves, and it was a big potato!

Chia Banoffee Pie

Want a gooey sumptuous desert?  This chia pudding is the answer and it is  relatively healthy too!

Ingredients

Chia pudding - 1/4 cup chia seeds, 1 cup plant milk (almond or coconut are good), tbsp maple syrup. 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Caramel Sauce - 2 tbsp coconut oil, 3 tbsp maple syrup. 2 tbsp tahini, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

Yoghurt of choice or cashew cream, 1 banana sliced. 

Method 

Made the chia pudding ahead of time, I prefer to make it the night before so that it is very thick.
Melt the coconut oil add the maple syrup and tahini with the vanilla stir and leave to cool.
In a glass put a layer of chia pudding, then yogurt or cream, than spoon on the caramel, add some sliced banana and there you have it - ambrosia!

Notes 

- The caramel sauce is also delicious spooned over fruit and coconut rice.

- Maple syrup can be expensive, I think you could get good results  with golden syrup or by making your own caramel, but then you would have that special smokey flavour, lol.

- You can lessen the amount of coconut oil if you find it too rich. Please note that the coconut oil causes the caramel to harden in the fridge, but softens again once out of the fridge. 

 

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry

Sweet potato or kumara as we call it here is one of my favourite vegetables. When I was growing up, there was only red kumara and occasionally yellow, in recent years the orange fleshed kumara has become very popular, it is not as dense as the red and has fewer carbs.  I had switched to the orange and rarely bought the red, however by mistake I clicked on the red kumara when I doing my grocery shopping online and never picked it up when I was checking the order.  All I can say that it was a happy mistake.  It is so suitable for stews and curries as it does not breakdown like the orange, also it is not so sweet. I  think you will be seeing other recipes using it.

This curry is more of a gentle spiced curry, it can be given a bit of fire by adding chilies, just a matter of taste. 

Ingredients

1 large kumara cut into chunks

2 tomatoes or 2 whole tomatoes from a tin

1 onion sliced

1 stick celery chopped into chunks

tbs oil

1 tin chickpeas drained

vegetable stock cube dissolved in 1 cup of water

small  tin of coconut milk

1/2 ts ground cumin

1 ts ground coriander

small knob of ginger

1 ts garam masala

chili powder to taste ( I wanted this to be mild and spicy so didnt use it)  

chopped parsley

Method 

 Heat oil and add onion and celery, fry gently for 5 minutes, add spices and cook a further minute.  Add kumara and the stock cube and water, cook till the kumara is nearly tender, add tomatoes and chickpeas and coconut milk.  Cook till the kumara is soft, and another 10 minutes to thicken the sauce I served this with brown basmati rice and quinoa.

Serves 4

This recipe can be easily doubled  and freezes well.  The next day I used the leftovers (both curry and rice) to make a pie as I had some flakey puff pastry sheets in the freezer that needed using.  I just added some dried potato flakes to make sure that the mix was not too moist. Lay one sheet on tray, top with the curry  and lay a sheet on top and seal, glaze the top with some coconut milk and bake at 200C till pastry is golden.  Beautiful, reminiscent of samosas!

 

 

Lentil and Spinach Balls

These balls or fritters come together very quickly and are a great store cupboard standby.  They are like a lighter falafel and are very versatile, a snack, in a wrap or pitta bread or just on top of pilaf rice or a salad.  The recipe doubles up well, which is good as they are moreish!  The balls also freeze well. Another plus factor is that they are baked so low on fat.

 

Ingredients

tbsp oil 
1 finely chopped onion 
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 ts ground cumin
1 ts ground coriander
1 ts turmeric 
pinch cayenne or to taste
1/2 cup of dried red lentils, picked over, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cup of water
1/2 ts salt
3/4 cup finely chopped fresh spinach or half cup frozen thawed 
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley 
squeeze of lemon juice
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs or oats slightly pulsed in food processor

Method

 Heat oil in pan and fry the onion and garlic till onion is soft. Add spices and lentils and cook for 1 minute stirring to combine.

Add water and salt and cook for about 10 minutes, add spinach, parsley and lemon juice and cook until the lentils are soft and all liquid is absorbed. (The mixture will be soft).

 Taste and adjust seasonings. Let mix sir for a couple of minutes drain if there is too much liquid. Transfer to a large bowl and add chia seeds, flax seed and sesame seeds and mix, Chill the mix in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven 220 C, Add the breadcrumbs to the mix, if it too sticky add more ( the mix should be soft, but still can shaped in to ball with a sticky mess)
The simplest way to make the balls is to use an ice cream  scoop! Place the balls on baking paper lined tray, spray or brush with oil ane for 20 minutes or till they are firm to the touch.

 These are yummy served with lemon tahini sauce.