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.
Wow, here we are at day six already, time is flying by as usual. There should be a term “mofo time” kind of like tropical island time, but the opposite. In mofo land, time speeds up and flies by before you know it.
Beefless Wellington
Anyway back to mofo day six and our prompt “Re-create a restaurant meal”. I have two restaurant meal recipes for you. The first is Beefless Wellington. You see this at high end restaurants and I wanted to try and replicate the concept of roast beef smothered in a mushroom garlic pesto then wrapped in puff pastry and baked to perfection.
KFC (Kentucky Fried Cauliflower)
The second is a take on KFC, but this time it is Kentucky Fried Cauliflower. Now, there could be a debate on whether KFC is a restaurant, but I am not going there. Last summer I did a post on this and explained how I live one block “down wind” of a local KFC and the aroma that greets me almost on a daily basis has me drooling in my driveway. So for this post, I will link back to that post for the commentary regarding KFC and here for a recipe to satisfy your “finger licking good” cravings.
Enjoy,
Beefless Wellington
Beefless Wellington
Serves 4
1 beefless roast
2 Tblspns Dijon mustard
2 Tblspns olive oil
1/2 lb mushrooms cleaned and sliced
4 Tblspns dry red wine
3 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 tspn thyme
6 – 8 slices vegan chicken or turkey
1 packet vegan puff pastry
2 Tblspns non dairy milk
Beefless Roast
1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
4 Tblspns chickpea flour
4 Tblspns nutritional yeast
2 tspns onion power
2 tspns garlic powder
1 Tblspn vegan worsteshire sauce
1/4 tspn ground pepper
1 cup water
1 Tblspn olive oil
1 Tblspn tamari
1 tspn browning liquid (optional)
8 cups vegetable broth for simmering
Combine all liquid ingredients. In separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add liquid ingredients to dry and mix well. If necessary add a little more chickpea flour to make a dough like ball. Knead for 5 mins to develop gluten. Form into a loaf. Wrap in cheesecloth loosely and tie the ends.
Bring vegetable broth to a boil, lower dough in and bring back to a slow simmer. Cover and simmer (do not boil) for on hour turning occasionally. Allow to cool in broth. When cool, remove from broth and put in a Ziploc bag with 1/4 cup of broth and refrigerate overnight,
Brush roast with mustard on all sides. Preheat oven to 400 F,
Place mushrooms, garlic and thyme in food processor and process into a pesto. Add to frying pan with olive oil. Sauté for 10 mins until mushrooms have released their moisture and most of it has cooked down. Cool.
Lay out piece of plastic wrap on counter. Place turkey/chicken slices on top overlapping to make a square that is slightly wider than your roast and long enough to wrap completely around.
Spread mushroom pesto on top of turkey slices. Place roast in the middle and wrap with turkey slices using the plastic wrap to help you roll it up. Tuck in ends as you go. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 mins.
Lay pastry down on lightly floured surface and roll out to a rectangle slightly larger than the previous turkey square.
Place roast in middle of pastry and roll up inside pastry, securing the ends and making sure the roast is completed encased.
Place seam side down on a baking tray. lightly score the top with slits to allow steam to escape. Brush with milk, bake in oven 25 – 25 mins until golden.
Beefless Wellington
Let sit 10 mins before slicing and serving with your favourite gravy.
Well, it is hard to believe it is already the second last day of MoFo. Time has really flown by. I have enjoyed reading all the new blogs I have discovered and have a list a mile long of recipes I want to try.
I am ending the traditional soup recipes with a vegan version of a favourite of my children. When they were young, my son and daughter loved Hamburger Soup. This soup was filled with tasty vegetables, barley and ground meat.
This vegan version is equally tasty with finely diced mushrooms replacing the ground meat. The soft pretzels are fantastic. They are soft and light with a slightly sweet taste. Perfect for dipping in the soup.
My last post for September tomorrow will be a dessert. Strawberry Champagne Pearl Soup with Cashew Creme and Palmiers. A fitting finale for this years Vegan MoFo.
Enjoy,
Mushroom-burger Soup with Soft Pretzels
Mushroom-Burger Soup
Makes 6
1 Tblspn olive
1 Tblsp vegan butter
750g white mushrooms finely diced
1 onion, minced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery ribs, thinly diced
1/2 cup barley
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 cups water
3 cups vegetable broth
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
1 bay leaf
1 Tblspn parsley
1 tspn minced garlic
1/2 tspn dried thyme
ground black pepper, to taste
Heat olive oil and butter in large soup pot over medium-high heat, add mushrooms. Cook stirring until the mushrooms have softened and released their liquid.
Stir in the onion, carrots, celery, and barley. Pour in diced tomatoes, water, broth, and tomato soup. Season with bay leaf, parsley, garlic, thyme, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and cover; simmer for 1 hour, stirring frequently. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Mushroom-burger Soup with Soft Pretzels
Soft Pretzels
Makes 6
1 cup non dairy milk
1 package active dry yeast
3 Tblspns packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
2 Tblspns vegan butter, plus more for greasing
1 rspn fine salt
1/3 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons coarse salt
Warm the milk in a saucepan until it’s about 110 degrees; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Dice 2 tablespoons butter and soften; stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450 and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope, holding the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.
Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
When I told my boyfriend I was making “Clamless Chowder” he laughed so hard I though he was going to hurt himself. Apparently he thinks it is hugely funny to have Clam Chowder sans clams. Well the smile was literally wiped off his face when he tasted it. If I do say so myself, it tastes even better than the original.
Creamy and peppery with a hint of ocean taste from the Arame, perfectly paired with the Cheez Biscuites and nice cold glass of Chardonnay 🙂
Now this post is actually four recipes (does that mean I can take the next three days off?) but do not be intimidated, this is definately worth the extra effort. You can also make extra Cashew Cream and Chedah Cheez and keep them on hand for other recipes (yes they will be popping up in the next few days posts).
Enjoy,
Clamless Chowder with Warm Garlic Cheez Biscuits
Clamless Chowder
Makes 4 – 6 serves
Ingredients:
3 Tblspn vegan butter or coconut oil
1 large onion, diced
2 large ribs celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can mushroom pieces (or if you can find them, canned oyster mushrooms, drained and diced)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups vegan chicken or vegetable broth
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
2 bay leaves
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbspn Arame flakes (dried seaweed)
sea salt to taste
1 cup vegan cream, recipe below (you can also use full fat coconut milk)
In a large soup pot, melt the butter over med heat. Add the onions and celery and cook until soft. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook an additional min.
Add in the flour and stir to combine completely then allow to cook for 1 min.
Slowly add the broth, stirring to mix. Add the potatoes, bay leaves, black pepper and arame flakes. Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat and allow to barely simmer for 20 mins stirring occuassionally. Season with salt.
Stir in the cream and let heat through for one min before serving.
Clamless Chowder with Warm Garlic Cheez Biscuits
Vegan Cream
Makes one cup cream.
1/2 cup raw cashews soaked in water overnight
1/2 cup cold water
Drain the cashews. Add cashews and water to blender. Blend on high for 3 or 4 mins until smooth and creamy scrapping down the sides as necessary.
Clamless Chowder with Warm Garlic Cheez Biscuits
Gluten Free Garlic Cheez Biscuits
Makes 6
Ingredients
Cooking spray
1 3/4 cups all-purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix (see below for recipe)
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 tspn sugar
1/4 tspn salt
3 Tblspn vegetable shortening, at room temperature
4 Tblspn cold vegan unsalted butter
1/2 Cup chedah cheez (recipe below)
3/4 cup non dairy milk
For the garlic butter:
3 Tblspn vegan butter
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 tspn chopped fresh parsley
Directions
Preheat oven to 425
Pulse the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the shortening and pulse until combined. Add the butter, pulse 4 or 5 times, or until the butter is in pea-size pieces. Add the cheese and pulse 2 or 3 times. Pour in the milk and pulse just until the mixture is moistened and forms a soft dough. Turn out onto a clean surface and gently knead until the dough comes together. Do not overwork the dough or the biscuits will be tough.
Drop the dough onto the baking sheet in 1/4-cup portions, 2 inches apart, and bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the garlic butter: Melt the butter with the garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Brush the biscuits with the garlic butter and serve warm.
Clamless Chowder with Warm Garlic Cheez Biscuits
All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mixture
Makes 1 kg flour
Thouroghly mix together the following flours.
100g brown rice flour
100g buckwheat flour
100g millet flour
100g quinoa flour
100g sorghum flour
100g oat flour
100g teff flour
150g potato starch
150g cornstarch
Clamless Chowder with Warm Garlic Cheez Biscuits
Chedah Cheez
Makes one cup
3/4 cup plain unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup vegetable oul
3 Tblspn cornstarch
3 Tbspn nutritional yeast
2 Tblspn white miso
2 tspn lemon juice
1 tspn apple cider vinegar
1 tspn tomato paste
3.4 tspn onion powder
1.4 tspn dry mustard powder
1/4 tspn guar gum
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend on high speed until smooth and creamy.
Transfer mixture to a pot and heat over moderate heat stirring constantly. As the mixture heats up it will begin to thicken and appear lumpy. Stir vigerously while continuing to cook for another 2 – 4 mins until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Vegan Mofo is here…….and I have decided to go with a theme of Soups paired with different breads. When I first thought of this, I was only thinking how great all the soup and fresh baked bread would be. I didn’t really consider the fact that if I make and post about 20 different soups, that will also mean I will be baking 20 different breads. Well, I will certainly be busy, but one thing I know for sure…… my kitchen is going to smell great for the next month at least.
So here we are with the first soup and bread recipes for MoFo.
Packed Minestrone Soup
There is something wonderful about Minestrone Soup. it is so rich and full of flavours. Indeed a meal in itself. To enjoy with this wonderful soup, I have made a warm onion bread roll, full of whole wheat goodness. I will be making some Gluten Free breads as well during the month and will have an All Purpose Gluten Free Bread Flour mix for you as well in the coming posts.
Enjoy,
Packed Minestrone Soup
Protein Packed Minestrone Soup
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
1 yellow onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 zucchini, diced
1 cup fresh green beans, cut into bite size pieces
1 red pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable broth
1 (14 oz) can crushed tomatoes
3 cups water
1 handful fresh chopped parsley
½ tsp rosemary
½ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup dry quinoa – rinsed
1 cup dry pasta
1/2 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 (15 oz) can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Directions
Heat olive oil over medium heat in large soup pot. Add diced onion, carrots and celery and sauté about 5 minutes, until softened. Add in zucchini, green beans, red bell pepper and continue to sauté 2 additional minutes, then add garlic and cook 1 minute longer.
Add in vegetable broth, crushed tomatoes, water, parsley, rosemary, thyme, granulated sugar, season with salt and pepper to taste and bring mixture to a boil, add quinoa and pasta then reduce heat to medium and allow soup to gently simmer, uncovered until pasta is cooked al dente, about 12 minutes.
If necessary add additional water to keep soup at desired consistency.
Add cannellini beans, chick peas, and lemon juice and cook, uncovered for 5 minutes.
Protein Packed Minestrone Soup
Whole Wheat Onion Breadsticks
Makes 14
1 pkg active dry yeast
2 Tblspns sugar
4 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tblspn sea salt
2 Tblspns coconut oil, melted
For the Topping
3 Tblspns unsalted butter melted
1/2 tspn coarse sea salt
1/4 tspn onion powder
pinch of dried oregano
Place 1/4 cup warm water and sugar in a mixing bowl, stir to dissolve sugar, sprinkle in the yeast and set aside until foamy, about 10 mins.
Add the flour, coconut oil, fine salt and 1 1/4 cups plus 2 Tblspns warm water, mix using dough hook attachment of mixer, or by hand until slightly sticky dough forms, approx 5 mins (mixer), 10 mins by hand.
Knead the dough on a floured surface for 5 mins or until smooth and soft.
Roll into a 18 inch log and cut into 14 equal pieces.
Knead each piece and then shape into 7 inch breadstick. Place on parchment lined baking tray, leaving 1 – 2 inches spacing.
Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, approx2 hours
Preheat oven to 375
Topping:
Brush the breadsticks with half the melted butter and sprinkle sparingly with coarse sea salt. Bake until lightly brown, about 15 mins.
Mix together the remaining salt, onion powder and oregano.
Brush breadsticks with remaining melted butter and sprinkle with onion oregano mixture.
Recently my oldest granddaughter has had to adopt a gluten and dairy free diet. One of her favourite snacks are granola bars. So I thought she and I could create a special granola bar just for her. This is the second version, and while I have yet to get feedback from Hannah, I can tell you they are definitely yummy.
The first version was made and presented to Hannah, who was not impressed. “What is in them” she asked. After listing off the ingredients, I was informed that she “does not like oats”. Well, I am thinking it might be more the texture of the oats than the actual flavour, as oats, are very mild in taste. So this time around, I pulsed the oats in a food processor to break them down to almost a flour-like consistency.
All the other ingredients are Hannah’s favourites, dried cranberries, bananas, peanut butter, walnuts, and of course chocolate chips.
I will let you know Hannah’s verdict after she tries them tomorrow.
Enjoy,
Hannah’s Yummy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
Hannah’s Yummy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
Makes 12 bars
2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
¼ cup coconut palm sugar
¼ tspn cinnamon
¼ tspn nutmeg
1 cup dried fruit (Hannah’s choice was cranberries)
¼ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup nuts (raw cashews, almonds or hazelnuts)
6 Tblspns melted coconut oil
¼ cup agave or maple syrup
1 ripe banana mashed
¼ cup peanut butter (or other nut butter of choice)
½ cup vegan dark chocolate chips
Place oats in food processor and pulse until almost a flour consistency (this was done as Hannah “does not like oats” to remove the oat consistency). Add in the other dried ingredients, including dried fruit, seeds and nuts. Pulse a few times until fruit and nuts are cut into small pieces.
In separate bowl, mix coconut oil, agave (maple syrup) and mashed banana together. Stir in peanut butter. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.
Hannah’s Yummy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Place into greased 9 X 9 inch baking tin and bake at 325 F for 30 to 40 mins or until edges begin to brown.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in tin. When cool, cut into serving size pieces and store in the refrigerator.
What better way to spend a lazy Fall Sunday than with a nice slice of Banana Bread and a hot cup of herbal tea. Today was a perfect Fall day with clear blue skies, a crisp breeze but with a little heat still left in the sunshine. The sounds of leaves crunching underfoot and the smell of wood fires in the air.
While I am a summer girl at heart, there is something very soothing about a day like today. It calls for relaxing with a good book and the aforementioned slice (or two) of Banana Bread.
This recipe is not overly sweet, the coconut palm sugar used, is lower on the glycemic scale, for a healthier option than regular sugar.
The nutritional information at the end is based on one slice and the loaf being sliced into 12 pieces.
Enjoy,
Banana Sunflower Bread
Banana Sunflower Bread
Makes 1 loaf
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tspns baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/4 tspn cinnamon
1/8 tspn nutmeg
1/4 tspn salt
2 Tblspns ground flax mixed into 6 Tblspns water and allowed to gel
1 1/2 cups mashed banana
1 cup coconut palm sugar
1/2 cup flax oil
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
Prepare one loaf tin by lining with parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 350 F
In large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
In medium bowl combine gelled flax, banana, sugar and oil. Add banana mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined. Add sunflower seeds and mix lightly.
Pour into prepared loaf tin.
Bake for 45 mins (or until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean). Remove from oven and let sit in pan for 10 mins.
Coconut Vanilla Ice cream Sandwich with Chocolate Fudge Cookies
Vegan MoFo Recipe # 20, and for the grand finale, Drum roll please,………. Coconut Vanilla ice-cream Sandwiches with Chocolate Fudge Cookies.
A fitting end to a wonderful month of vegan blogging. This is the first year for both my blog, and, for me to find out and participate in Vegan MoFo. I have had a wonderful (although sometimes exhausting) time. The best part for me is all the other fantastic blogs out there I have found (whoever came up with the randomofo is a genius).
I wanted to end the month with something special. As I have mentioned previously, I do not have a sweet tooth, so tend to forget the dessert side of cooking, but back at the beginning of summer, I was as the Toronto Vegan Festival and had a coconut ice cream sundae that was sitting on a chocolate brownie. It was so good, I made a note to try to make it at home one day. Well, there is no time like the present.
I have combined a number of recipes to come up with this. The ice cream is the same basic frozen banana soft serve I have been making for a long time, but I added frozen coconut milk for the creamy texture and a little vanilla for taste. The cookie’s are a base of a traditional chocolate chip cookie, but with extra cocoa and no chips. I replaced the egg with the chia and water. The end result is perfect. Rich creamy ice-cream sandwiched in between two fudgey chocolate cookies….yum.
Coconut Vanilla Ice cream Sandwich with Chocolate Fudge Cookies
The cookies for the ice cream sandwiches were made oversize, but you can also make regular size cookies too. In fact, this recipe made three huge ice cream sandwich’s plus another dozen regular cookies.
Enjoy,
Chocolate Fudge Cookie
Coconut Vanilla Ice cream Sandwiches with Chocolate Fudge Cookies
Makes 6 sandwiches
1 can coconut milk
1 tblspn cornstarch
1 tspn vanilla
2 bananas
1 tblspn chia seeds
3 tblspns water
2 cups flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tspn baking soda
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups coconut palm sugar
1/2 cup soy (or other non dairy) milk
1 tspn vanilla
Ice cream:
Combine all but 1/4 cup of the coconut milk in pot with 1 tspn of vanilla. Heat gently until quite warm. Combine remaining coconut milk and cornstarch in separate bowl until cornstarch is dissolved. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into coconut milk, vanilla mixture. Increase heat to medium and cook stirring for 3 – 5 mins until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
Once cool, pour into ice-cube trays and freeze overnight.
Peel and cut banana’s into 1 inch slices. Place in freezer bag and freeze overnight.
When ready to serve, place frozen coconut milk and frozen banana into food processor. Process until smooth and creamy. This will take a few minutes, but the texture will be similar to a soft serve.
Chocolate Fudge Cookies:
Place chia seeds and water in small bowl and let sit for 5 mins to gel.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in bowl. Mix well.
In a separate large bowl, combine vegetable oil, palm sugar and gelled chia seeds. Mix well. Add soy milk and vanilla and mix to combine.
Add dry mixture into wet mixture and mix until just combined. ( add a little extra soy milk if necessary, mixture should be quite stiff but all dry ingredients should be incorporated)
For large sandwich cookies, take 1/4 cupfuls and roll into balls with your hands then flatten to around 1/2 inch discs.
For small cookies, use tablespoonfuls
Place on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 10 mins. Keep a close eye on cookies and make sure you do not over cook. The larger cookies might need a min or two more than the small, check middle of cookie with a toothpick to see if cooked.
Remove from trays and place on cooling racks.
When ready to serve, Take one large cookie, top with approx 1/2 cup ice cream and place another cookie on top. Press together gently.
Coconut Vanilla Ice cream Sandwich with Chocolate Fudge Cookies
Spaghetti (squash) with Roasted Tomato Sauce and Meatballs
Wow, it is amazing that we are already closing in on the end of Vegan MoFo. Here is recipe #19 with just one more to go.
This was an easy one for me. Sometimes it is hard to decide what to make, but this was a natural.
When I opened up our CSA share this week, there was a huge spaghetti squash. This was perfect timing as last weekend I had picked up three big bags of perfectly ripe Ontario field tomato’s. They had just been put on the “reduced” rack at the store. Home they went, to be roughly chopped together with onions, garlic, red peppers some olive oil and salt and pepper and then into the oven to slow roast for an hour or so. I then pureed this into a tomato sauce. I froze this in freezer bags holding approx 2 cups each. I now have about a dozen packages of sauce in the freezer to use in the winter when fresh tomato’s are less than prime and totally overpriced, One bag came out for the spaghetti squash. Now all that was missing was a fantastic meatball.
I have tried a number of different approaches to the humble meatball to find a nice tasty solid version. I was toying with using my “beets meat” recipe but I have posted that twice recently, so went to another old favourite. This meatball has a nice texture and is very easy to make. They also freeze well.
The best part about this recipe is that by using the squash as the pasta, you can go back for seconds (or, in my case thirds) without feeling guilty.
Recipe # 20 is next, and as I mentioned earlier, it is to be a Grand Finale. Stay tuned and get ready for a sweet ending to Vegan MoFo.
Enjoy,
Spaghetti (squash) with Roasted Tomato Sauce and Meatballs
Spaghetti (squash) with Roasted Tomato Sauce and Meatballs
Serves 6
1 large spaghetti squash
1 whole head of garlic plus 6 cloves
2 tblspns olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 onion, finely diced
1/2 tspn fennel seeds
1/4 tspn smoked paprika
1/4 tspn red pepper flakes
2 tblspns lemon juice
handful fresh basil
1/2 tspn dried oregano
1/2 tspn dried parsley
1/2 tspn dried sage
2 tspns nutritional yeast, plus extra for topping
1/4 cup water
4 large ripe tomato’s roughly chopped
2 medium onions roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large red pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
Extra olive oil
Preheat oven to 375
Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Remove seeds.
Grate one head of garlic and mix into 2 tblspns olive oil. Place squash cut side up on baking sheet. Cover with garlic oil mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake uncovered for 40 mins. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 10 mins. Remove “spaghetti” strands from skin with a fork. Set aside.
Note: Depending on the size of your squash, you will need to adjust the cooking times. In this case, mine was huge (straight from the farm) and took closer to 1 1/2 hours to cook. Just keep checking by poking with a fork until it is tender.
Spaghetti Squash
Spaghetti Squash Cooked
Meatballs:
Preheat oven to 400
Combine chickpea flour, sunflower seeds, 1/2 onion, 2 cloves garlic, fennel seeds, paprika, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, basil, oregano, parsley, sage and nutritional yeast in food processor.
Process until almost smooth, adding water as necessary. Mixture should be thick enough to roll into balls.
Roll into balls and place on baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 15 – 20 mins or until starting to brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 mins before serving.
Tomato Sauce:
Preheat oven to 375
Combine tomato’s, roughly chopped onions, 4 minced garlic cloves and roughly chopped red pepper with enough olive oil to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake uncovered for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally. The longer you bake this the better, you want the onions to caramalize.
Tomato, onion, garlic and olive oil
Roasted tomato onion and garlic
Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly then puree in food processor in batches.
To serve, place a nest of spaghetti squash on plate, top with 4 – 6 meatballs, ladle tomato sauce over the top and sprinkle with extra nutritional yeast if desired.
Spaghetti (squash) with Roasted Tomato Sauce and Meatballs
What beautiful weather today (and it looks like it is going to continue for the remainder of the week.
I have been in Toronto for a three-day conference for work, so my head is spinning with information. Fortunately I made this Apricot Tofu Curry before I left. I had planned to be clever and post this while I was away, but an unforseen computer glitch ruined that idea. I was still happy to have the meal ready and waiting for me in the fridge when I got home, no need to cook supper tonight, and this dish tastes every better the day (or in this case, three days) later.
This recipe is adapted from a family favourite. I have made Apricot Chicken for years, but now that I am vegan, I needed to make a couple of changes. I
The tofu is marinated overnight and then baked in the apricot sauce. This is a very easy recipe to make, but it looks stunning and tastes even better.
Enjoy,
Apricot Curry Tofu with Brown Rice
Apricot Tofu Curry with Brown Rice
Serves 4
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 lb firm tofu, drained and cut into pieces (can be cubes or slices, whatever you prefer, I cut mine into triangles)
Olive oil
Marinade:
½ tspn chilli powder
1 tblspn garam masala
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic minced
½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
Sauce:
1 cup dried apricots
3 cups apricot nectar ( you can replace with vegetable stock if unable to find)
2 tblspns olive oil
2 onions finely chopped
1/2 packet dry onion soup mix
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Combine all marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Add tofu and allow to sit for at least 3 hours in fridge or, ideally overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Remove tofu from marinade, reserving the marinade,
Coat shallow baking dish with olive oil. Place a layer of onions on bottom, then a layer of tofu, then a layer of apricots,
Mix together the apricot nectar and the onion soup mix, pour over the tofu. Drizzle with reserved marinade.
Bake for 1 hour covered. Remove cover and continue to bake for further 15 – 20 mins. Check often to make sure the top does not burn.
stairway to vegan 