There are only two kinds of people in this world, those that LOVE Tuna Casserole and those that HATE Tuna Casserole. Interesting side note here, would it be the same people who love or hate Christmas fruit cake…..I LOVE both 🙂
This recipe uses mashed chick peas as the Tuna substitute. I mashed them with a fork so that they did not get too smooth.
The “fishy” taste comes from dulse flakes, a mild seaweed with a fresh salty side to it, perfect for this recipe.
Enjoy,
Classic Tuna(less) Casserole
Serves 4
1 can chickpeas drained and mashed with a fork
2 cups cooked pasta (I used mini lasagne noodles)
1/2 onion finely diced
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1 or 2 Tblspns dulse flakes (depending on how much of a “fishy” taste you like)
1 tspn lemon pepper
crushed potato chips (enough to cover top)
2 Tblspns nutritional yeast
Combine all ingredients except potato chips and nutritional yeast,
Put in casserole dish. Cover with crushed potato chips, sprinkle with nutritional yeast,
Bake uncovered in 325 F oven for 20 mins till bubbly.
Make and/or eat some thing inspired by a book or film.
Day seven of Vegan MoFo and it is the delightful Bridget Jones Diary inspired, Blue Leek and Potato Soup.
The Diary of Bridget Jones is one of my favourite books and movies. I love how imperfect she is. If you want a good laugh, then this is the movie for you.
Bridget Jones Blue Leek and Potato Soup
Now, of course you do not have to turn the soup blue……I did , just for fun with a couple of drops of blue food colouring. Poor Bridget had the misfortune of using blue string to tie up the leek in her soup which gave her the blue version.
blue-soup
This soup is delicious in either colour.
Enjoy,
(Blue) Leek and Potato Soup
Serves 4 – 6
2 Tblspns olive oil
5 medium potato’s peeled and roughly chopped
3 leeks, trimmed, thoroughly washed and sliced
4 cloves garlic chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup coconut milk
1 Tblspn lemon juice
salt to taste
finely chopped green onions for garnish if wanted.
Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. (or you can wait until the soup cools a little then place in small batches in a blender and process. Be Very Careful that the soup is not too hot or it could explode out of the top of the blender and cause serious burns).
Add coconut milk, lemon juice and stir to combine.,
Day five of Vegan Mofo and we are sharing the best sandwich ever.
Toasted Ruben
Before I was vegan, I loved a good toasted Ruben sandwich. Layers of corned beef topped with sauerkraut, cheese, russian dressing and mustard, yum.
Toasted Ruben
Obviously, I no longer have the corned beef, but, through the wonders of seitan, I can now make a very close replica of this iconic sandwich.
Enjoy,
Toasted Ruben
Toasted Ruben
Bread of choice
Vegan Cheese
Saurkraut
Mustard
Corned Beefless
1 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
1 Tblspn dried onion flakes
1 Tblspn smoked paprika
1 Tblspn ground fennel
1 Tblspn ground caraway
1/2 Tblspn salt
1 tspn dry hot mustard powder
1/2 tspn ground cloves
1/2 tspn white pepper
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tblspn Maple syrup
1/2 Tblspn balsamic vinegar
Russian Dressing
1/3 cup olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tspn garlic powder
1 tspn Dijon mustard
1 tpn grated onion
1 Tblspn hot chilli sauce
Toasted Ruben
Prepare Corned Beefless:
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry. Mix together to form a dough. Knead for 2 -5 minutes to develop gluten strands.
Shape into a log and wrap in cheesecloth loosely, tying the ends.
Bring large pot of water to a boil (if you want to add additional flavour, add a cut onion, a few chopped garlic cloves and 2 or 3 tablespoons of soy sauce to the water). Place gluten log into the boiling water. Bring back to a slow simmer and allow to continue simmering (not boiling) for 1 1/2 hours. Remove pot from heat and allow to cool in simmering liquid.
When cool, remove from cheesecloth and place in Ziploc bag with 1/4 cup of simmering liquid. Place in the fridge and leave overnight. When ready to use, slice thinly.
Russian Dressing:
Blend all but the olive oil together in a blender. Once totally combined, very slowly drizzle the olive oil in while continuing to blend on high.
Toasted Ruben
To assemble,
Toast bread slices of choice, top with multiple slices of Corned Beefless,  add a generous amount of sauerkraut. Top with vegan cheese, mustard and Russian dressing.
Day three of MoFo and all is well……. Well, sort of.
Zucchetti with Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce
I was browsing around the internet, soaking in all the wonderful vegan posts, and wham, go attacked by a computer virus. Basically the virus attached a secret encryption to all my files and the only way to get my files back was to go to a website and pay to get the secret code…………..I think not……. fortunately I do regular back ups, so a quick loading of the original dvd’s that came with the computer, everything is wiped off and reloaded. Thank goodness for external hard drives and backups. A little inconvenient but nothing too serious.
Zucchetti with Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce
Continuing on with the theme of quick and easy (didn’t take too much time or effort to restore my computer) and delicious, todays recipe is for Zucchetti with Sundried Tomato Marinara Sauce. You could sub out they zucchetti (spiralized zucchini) with a pasta of your choice if you prefer.
This meal can be totally raw or if you like (as I did) you can add in fried mushrooms.
Enjoy,
Zucchetti with Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce
Serves 2
2 or 3 zucchini spiralized (or 2 cups of cooked pasta of choice)
1 Cup sun dried tomato’s soaked in 1/2 cups hot water for 10 mins (reserve water)
1 Tblspn olive oil
2 plum tomato’s
1 handful fresh basil
1 garlic clove
Sauteed mushrooms and nutritional yeast if desired to garnish
Place spiralized zucchini on paper towels to absorb excess moisture.
Combine drained sun dried tomato’s, olive oil, plum tomato’s, basil and garlic in a blender or food processor. Process until fairly smooth. Add reserved tomato soaking water a tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
So, I am cheating a little with this one. Technically, I did not have Mac and Cheese when I was a child. Growing up in Australia it was not something I was aware of, however, once I moved to Canada, I soon found this warm, gooey, cheesy, pasta and fell in love at first bite. I soon made up for lost time and probably consumed an entire childhoods worth in the first couple of years living here. So, I guess this is my “second childhood” meal memory.
Roasted Red Pepper Mac and Cheese
As a vegan, I searched around for a great version of this dish and finally found this recipe by Isa Chandra at the Post Punk Kitchen. If you have not yet visited her site, you should head on over there pronto. The recipe Roasted Red Pepper Mac and Cheese is so good, when I made it, I ate the entire pot full.
Enjoy,
Roasted Red Pepper Mac & Cheese
By Post Punk Kitchen
Yield: 2 large servings
1/2 pound macaroni or other small pasta
3/4 cups raw cashews, soaked in water for 2 hours
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced medium
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 tablespoons organic cornstarch
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
1 roasted red pepper (jarred or homemade)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons pizza seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2. Boil a large pot of salted water for cooking the pasta. Once boiling, cook pasta according to package directions.
3. Drain the cashews and add them to the blender along with the vegetable broth, corn starch, nutritional yeast, red peppers, tomato paste, pizza seasoning, salt, mustard and turmeric. Blend until very smooth. Scrape down the sides every 30 seconds or so and test for smoothness.
4. Transfer the sauce in the blender back to the sauce pot where you cooked the onions. Turn the heat up to medium and let cook, stirring very often, until thickened. This should take between 10 and 15 minutes. Taste for salt. It should taste slightly salty because you’re going to be pouring it on the pasta.
5. The pasta should be done while the sauce is thickening, so drain and place pasta back in the pot you cooked it in. Set aside.
6. When sauce is thickened, add it to the pasta in the pot, and use a large slotted spoon to mix well, taking care not to break the pasta.
With the new format this year of daily topic prompts we get to have an even better sense of community and connection. So, I am excited to see what my fellow Vegan MoFo’ers are having for breakfast.
For me, breakfast is not usually a daily occurence, I am more the “coffee till noon” type of gal. However, on special occasions (the start of MoFo for instance) or lazy weekend mornings I do like to have all the goodies.
For today, I have a fresh juice guaranteed to wake up your taste buds and energize your cells.
Cucumber Citrus Ginger Juice
Next, it is time for protein packed pancakes with fresh berries, a dollop of aquafaba (a relatively new phenomenon sweeping the vegan cooking scene) and a drizzle of local home-made maple syrup.
Banana White Bean Pancakes with Berries and AquaFaba Cream
Then you add a little high quality, organic coconut oil and blend it all together, the flavour of the coffee seems to intensify and become richer and the texture is wonderful. I couldn’t resist adding a dollop of the AquaFaba Cream and it magically transformed into a latte/cappuccino.
CocoLatte
Thanks for sharing breakfast with me.
Enjoy,
Cucumber Citrus Ginger Juice
Makes 2 servings
1 english cucumber
1 apple cored
1 orange peeled
2 carrots peeled if not organic
handful baby spinach
1 inch nob of fresh ginger
Process all ingredients through a juicer. Drink immediately.
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Banana White Bean Pancakes with Berries and AquaFava Cream
Banana White Bean Pancakes
8-10 servings
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white beans
1 banana
1 tspn psyllium husk
1/2 tspn salt
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/3 cup  soy or almond milk
1/2 tspn vanilla
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
Mix chia seeds with water and let sit overnight (or at least 1 hour)
Combine all ingredients together in bowl and mix or blend to pancake consistency.
Cook over medium heat until lightly browned on both sides.
Serve with fresh berries AquaFaba Cream and maple syrup.
AquaFaba Cream
Makes approx 2 cups
Liquid from a large can of chickpeas
1 tspn cream of tartar
1 tspn vanilla
1 Tblspn (or more depending on taste) fine sugar
Beat the chickpea liquid and cream of tartar on high for at least 15 minutes. The liquid will turn into a stiff “egg white” merengue type texture. Add vanilla and then the sugar gradually while continuing to beat until totally combined. You may need to adjust the amount of vanilla and sugar depending on your preference.
Use as a topping for your pancakes and also to add the foam top to your CocoLatte.
 CocoLatte
CocoLatte
Makes 1 cup
1 cup strong back freshly brewed coffee (I use an espresso bend)
1 teaspoon organic coconut oil
Add the coffee and coconut oil to a blender. Blend on highest speed for 30 seconds till frothy.
Pour into coffee cup and enjoy as is or top with AquaFaba cream.
The last day of MoFo and it is time to celebrate. Another month of blogging comes to an end. I will miss my morning fix of radomofo, browsing the blogs and seeing all the great recipes, ideas, pictures and funny stories.
While I will miss MoFo, I will also enjoy a short break. Just enough time to recharge the batteries and get the creative juices flowing again.
In the meantime, I have finished my month of “Soup and Bread” with a dessert.
This soup is nice and cold. It is not overly sweet, but the addition of the Palmiers will add in the sweetness. Confession time: the recipe uses Tapioca Pearls, however, I could not find any at my store today and had run out of time to look further, so I substituted them for Orzo pasta. I think the Tapioca would have given the soup a nicer, creamier taste. I also added a dollop of cashew creme and a few fresh Lemon Verbena leaves for garnish.
Enjoy,
Strawberry Champagne Pearl Soup with Palmiers
Strawberry Champagne Pearl Soup
Serves 8
4 cups water
1/4 cup tapioca pearls
9 cups strawberries (frozen can be used)
1 cup sugar
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup Champagne or sparkling white wine
6 mint leaves, plus more, for garnish or lemon vegans leaves
1 cup cashew creme (soak 1 cup cashews in water overnight, drain, blend with equal amount of cold water in blender until creamy and smooth)
In a saucepan, bring water, tapioca, strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and Champagne to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then add mint leaves. Let cool to room temperature.
Blend together with an immersion blender or in a standing blender, then strain through a sieve. Chill in the refrigerator, covered, for 3 hours.
Serve soup in glasses with a dollop of cashew creme and garnish with mint or lemon verbena leaves.
Strawberry Champagne Pearl Soup with Palmiers
Vegan Palmiers
Serves 8
1 cup  sugar
1 pinch salt
1 sheet Pepperidge Farm puff pastry (double-check, but I found this brand to be vegan), defrosted but still very cold.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the sugar and salt. Pour 1/2 cup of the mixture onto a pastry board or other flat surface covered with parchment paper and spread it around. Unfold the sheet of puff pastry onto the parchment and pour the other half cup of the sugar mixture on top, and spread it evenly to cover the puff pastry.Cover with a second sheet of parchment paper and using a rolling-pin, roll the pastry until it’s a 12” square and sugar is pressed in all around. Remove the top sheet of parchment paper. Fold the sides of the pastry square toward the center so they go halfway to the middle point. Then fold one half over the other, like closing a book. You should have 6 layers. Slice the pastry “book” into 8 slices and place them cut-side up on parchment-lined baking sheets leaving plenty of space between each one.
Bake the cookies for 6 minutes or until caramalized and brown on the bottom. Then turn and bake for another 3-5 minutes until caramalized on the other side. Transfer to rack to cool.
