Yearly Archives: 2013

Some days, mushrooms is the way to go. Today was one of those days.

Mushroom pie

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 380 gr mushrooms, sliced
• 10 gr dry mixed mushrooms
• 1 pinch each dry sage, rosemary & thyme
• 1 tsp marmite
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 150 gr quorn “chicken” style pieces
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 320 gr peeled potatoes, cut in pieces
• 60 ml semi skimmed milk
• salt & pepper
• (freshly) grated nutmeg
• 80 gr goat cheese roll (1/2 roll), in slices 5 mm thick

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180-190°C.
2. Boil some water, put the dry mushrooms in a heat resistant bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for at least 10 minutes.
3. In a pot, cover the potatoes with water, add salt to taste and bring to a boil. Cook for 10-12 minutes, depending on taste. Drain, mash, add milk, salt, pepper & nutmeg to taste and mix well. Reserve.
4. In a big pot, heat the oil. Add the shallot & garlic and cook until golden. Add the fresh mushrooms and cook until the volume has more than halved and mushrooms are tender. Add the sage, rosemary and thyme, and season with salt and pepper.
5. Drain the soaking mushrooms and reserve the liquid. Chop the mushrooms and add them to the other mushrooms, add the soaking liquid and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the marmite & mustard and stir. Add the quorn pieces and cook for another couple of minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch in 1-2 tbsp of water and add to thicken the sauce.
6. Put the mushroom-quorn filling in an oven dish. Spread the potato mash on top. Place the goat cheese slices on top. Put in the oven and bake at 180-190°C for 25-30 minutes, until mash & cheese are golden.
7. Serve warm.

Makes 2 servings.

Nutritional info:

Calories: 478
Protein: 33 gr
Fat: 18 gr
Carbs: 47 gr

Back a while I showed what we did to our freezer to make it easier to see what we have (and don’t), and how long it’s been in there. There are several meals we like to eat that are quite work intensive and freeze well. So when I make them, I make a big amount and freeze the rest in containers with enough for two people, so that when we’re in a hurry or I don’t feel like cooking, we have something healthy and easy to eat.

So today I wasn’t feeling too well, and reached into the freezer for some braised red cabbage, boiled some potatoes, and heated up a carrot burger (store bought, sorry, no recipe for it) for lunch. Easy, quick and healthy.

Braised red cabbage, boiled potatoes & carrot burger

Ingredients:

• 2 1/1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red cabbage
• 1 big onion
• 3-4 cooking apples
• 1-2 tbsp sugar
• 90-120 ml (red or white) wine vinegar
• 2 cloves
• 2 laurel leaves
• pinch cinnamon
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Prep work: Cut the cabbage in quarters, remove the white core, and shred in 1 cm strips. Peel the apples and cut in slices. Peel the onion and chop it.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pot that can accommodate all the cabbage. Sweat the onion for 5 minutes, until golden, stirring regularly.
3. Add the cabbage and stir to cover in the oil. Add the vinegar (start with 90 ml and adjust as needed). Add the apples and cook for 3 minutes, stirring.
4. Add the cloves and laurel leaves. Bring it to a low simmer and cover. Let it cool gently for 1.5-2 hours, until the cabbage is soft. Stir regularly and check that it’s not dry. Add 1 tbsp of water as needed. When the cabbage is cooked there should be close to no liquid in the pot.
5. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Add the cinnamon and sugar and cook for 3 minutes until sugar is dissolved.
6. The dish has to have a good balance between sour and sweet, so adjust sugar and/or vinegar until this is achieved. Remove cloves and laurel leaves and serve warm.

Servings: 6-8 servings

Two controversial foods tonight: tofu and quinoa.

Tofu is bland, has a weird texture and is gross. Or that’s what some people think. Well, yeah, tofu doesn’t have much flavour of its own, it’s coagulated soy milk after all! But if you prepare it right, it will be delicious (in my opinion). The good thing about tofu is that you can make it absorb any flavour you want. Press it, slice it, marinate it, and then cook it.

Quinoa has been on the news lately. Ok, not as much as horse meat, but then, not eating meat, that doesn’t really affect me. But why has been quinoa on the news? Apparently it is exported so much, that the indigenous farmers that had quinoa as a staple in their diets can’t afford it any more. (Read more on The Guardian, the “first” to write about this). I don’t doubt them. I am not going to stop buying it, since we don’t eat it that often. And try to make sure it’s fair trade (probably another can of worms, but allow me to have some faith in fair trade, please).

Today I bring these two foods together, and I let them marry in a home made sweet and sour sauce, with a punch. Don’t expect your neon orange MSG laden sauce though!

Sweet and sour tofu with quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1 block (250 gr) tofu
• 100 gr (dry weight, about 1/2 cup) quinoa
• 230 ml (1 cup minus 1 tbsp or so) veggie broth
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion (or 1/2 big), sliced in quarter moons
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced in half moons
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped in 1 x 2 cm pieces
• 1/2 courgette, in quarter moons
• 90 ml (1/3 cup) orange juice
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar (or apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar)
• 20 gr (2 tbsp I’m guessing) ketchup (I like Heinz Balanz, more veggies & less sugar)
• 1 1/2 tsp sambal oelek (or to taste)
• pinch of sugar
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder

Instructions:

1. Press your tofu. Do not skip this step!  Drain the tofu, wrap it in a couple of paper towels and then in a kitchen towel. Put it between two dishes or cutting boards and place some weight on top (about 2 kg or so). Press the tofu for at the very least 30 minutes. The more the better. I aim for 2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, soak your quinoa in some water. After about an hour, drain the quinoa and rinse the hell out of it under running water. Bring vegetable broth (it’s fine if it’s from a cube or granules) to the boil. Add the quinoa and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. At this point the quinoa won’t have absorbed all liquid. Turn off the heat and let rest for 7-10 minutes. Then the quinoa is ready.
3. Unwrap the tofu and cut it in 5mm thick slices. Heat an anti stick pan (important) and put your slices in the pan. Cook, undisturbed, for several minutes, until tofu turns golden. Flip the slices and cook again until golden. Reserve.
4. Mix your sauce: in a bowl mix orange juice, ketchup, sambal, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic & ginger. Keep ready.
5. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed skillet / pot / a wok. Add the onion, carrot, bell pepper  and courgette and stir fry until everything starts to color. Then add the pineapple and cook for a couple of minutes until some pieces start to have some brown spots.
6. Add the sauce to the vegetables and cook, stirring, until thickened. If you want more sauce, make a slurry with 2 tsp of cornstarch and 3-4 tbsp of water or broth and pour over vegetables & sauce to make more.
7. Add the tofu to the sweet & sour vegetables and warm up. Serve over the quinoa.

Servings: 2 servings

Nutritional info:

Calories: 496
Protein: 27 gr
Fat: 17 gr
Carbs: 58 gr

It happens to be that my in-laws (a.k.a. Jan’s parental units) keep geese in their garden. They also keep hens. It also happens to be that a week or so ago, the weather went somewhat nuts and decided to go from below freezing to a balmy 15°C during the day. And so the geese decided it was a good time to lay some eggs. So when Jan passed by to fix their computer, he came back home with two geese eggs.

The first time I ate this kind of egg was also from the in-laws geese, a couple of years ago. I made some scrambled, and I also turned one into a sponge cake. The taste was quite surprising. Strong. Absolutely not what I’m used to. But then I had only eaten chicken eggs and quail eggs before. Not what you’d call strong flavor. So what is one to make when such an egg comes to reside in one’s fridge? Well, today it was an(other) oven omelette. The second egg might turn into cake. Or egg salad. I don’t know yet.

And here is where the goat cheese comes into place. I had one roll of it leftover after making the mushroom & pumpkin Wellington last Saturday, so it has to be used. Today was as good a day as any other, turning our plain oven omelette into something a bit more special.

Oven omelette with goose egg & goat cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 courgette, diced
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled (~300 gr)
• 1 goose egg
• 100 ml milk
• 90 gr goats cheese, in 8 slices
• salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes (whole) and cook for 8 minutes, until just cooked. Drain and cut in 5-7 mm slices.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a saute pan. Add the garlic and onion and cook until golden, then add the green pepper and cook until just soft. Finally add the courgette and cook until some pieces start to turn golden.
4. In a bowl, crack the egg (use a knife to crack it open, rather than the side of the bowl). Whisk, add the milk and whisk some more. Season.
5. In an oven proof dish, mix sliced cooked potatoes and courgette mix. Pour the eggy mixture over it. Then distribute the cheese on top.
6. Bake in the top half of the oven at 180°C for 20-25 minutes, until egg is set and cheese is melty to golden.

Servings: 2 servings

Nutritional info:

Calories: 491
Protein: 27 gr
Fat: 25 gr
Carbs: 41 gr

Last night we had guests over, and so I went all out with the cooking skills. Because while I love cooking for the two of us, it’s more fun when you can make more things and surprise people. The menu of the night was:

And today’s recipe is the Lavender tofu cheesecake with shortbread crust. It is elaborate? Well, yes, it’s a cheesecake. But at the same time it’s easy if you just follow the steps. So get baking and enjoy the vegan deliciousness.

Lavender tofu cheesecake with shortbread crust

Ingredients:

For the shortbread crust:

• 1 cup (wholewheat) pastry flour
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp water (if needed)

For the lavender tofu cheesecake:

• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 tsp + 2 tsp lavender
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 500 gr (= 2 blocks) firm tofu
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp agave syrup (*)
• 3 tbsp cane sugar syrup (*)
• 2 tbsp + 2 tsp cornstarch

(*) You can use both syrups, or just one, but make it 6 tbsp total. The cheesecake is not too sweet as it is!

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

For the shortbread crust:

1. Place the flour, nuts, and salt in a food processor and blend until finely ground.
2. With the processor running on low speed, slowly add the oil, maple syrup, and vanilla (water if needed). Process for a few seconds to form a crumbly dough, then transfer to a 9-in spring form pan. Press the mixture evenly over the bottom and about 1/3 of the sides. Set aside.

For the lavender tofu cheesecake:

1. Bring almond milk to a simmer, add 2 tsp lavender, simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Let infuse until milk is cool, then strain. 
2. Add lemon juice to milk. It will thicken. Set aside. 
3. In food processor, mix tofu, oil and agave syrup until smooth. Sprinkle cornstarch on top and add the thickened soy milk. Blend until smooth. With a spatula, mix in the last 2 tsp lavender.
4. Pour tofu mixture over crust. Place on baking tray, just below the middle of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Lower temperature to 160°C and bake an additional 15-30 minutes, until set. Cover with foil if it browns too much.
5. Let cool completely before removing from form.

Servings: 8 servings

Nutritional information:

Calories: 325
Protein: 12 gr
Fat: 18 gr
Carbs: 27 gr

Do you really need a recipe to make curry? In my opinion, no. But then most recipes are only guidelines! This is what our curry turned out to be this time, but it might be different next time.

Curry with chickpeas & quorn

Ingredients:

• 100 gr dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in cold water
• salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 big garlic cloves, minced
• 2 carrots, peeled, sliced in rounds
• 1 yellow bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 1/2 courgette, cut in 1,5 cm cubes
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 500 gr tin / tetrapack tomato pieces
• 300 gr quorn “chicken style” pieces
• 1 tin (160 gr) coconut milk

Instructions:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the bay leaf and chickpeas, bring to a simmer and cook for 1,5h, or until chickpeas are tender. Drain and keep chickpeas aside.
2. Heat oil in a big pot. Cook onion & garlic until golden, then add carrot and cook until they start to turn a lighter shade. Add the bell pepper & courgette and cook for a few minutes, letting them turn slightly golden.
3. Add the curry powder and cook, stirring, for a minute. Add the chickpeas, quorn, and tomato pieces. Add 1 dl water (approx, just enough to get the liquid to barely cover everything). Bring to a summer and cook for 10-15 minutes.
4. Add the coconut milk and stir through. Cook for a minute or so.
5. Serve with potatoes (as on the picture) or rice.

Servings: 4 servings

Nutritional info: (without potatoes or rice, per serving)

Calories: 334
Protein: 20 gr
Fat: 12 gr
Carbs: 35 gr

Stir fry with tempeh

This isn’t a recipe, as much as a what I threw together for dinner on Friday. But if you’re curious, it contained:

Ingredients:

• 200 gr tempeh
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 banana shallot, chopped
• 2 (fat) cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, peeled, in half moons
• 1 green bell pepper, in about 2×2 cm pieces
• 1/2 courgette, in half moons
• 125 gr egg noodles
• 1 tbsp dry chilli pepper rounds (or fresh), or to taste
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions:

1. Put a couple cm water in a bot with steam insert. Cut the tempeh in quarters lengthwise and then in 8 equal parts width wise. Place in steam basket and steam for 5 minutes. Remove the tempeh, discard the water, and rinse pot. Steaming the tempeh removes part of the bitter taste some people complain about, so don’t skip it.
2. Fill previous pot with enough water to cook the egg noodles in. Add salt, bring to a boil, and cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan (or a wok, your choice). Start by cooking onion & garlic for a couple of minutes. Add the chilli pepper, and cook for a minute, then add the bell pepper and cook for a couple of minutes, then the carrot and cook for two minutes, and finally the courgette and cook for another couple minutes.
4. Add the tempeh to the stir fry and heat through for a few minutes. Add the soy sauce and mix through.
5. Divide noodles over dishes. Divide stir fry as well and place on top. Enjoy!

Servings:  2 servings

Nutritional info:

Calories: 461
Protein: 28 gr
Fat: 9 gr
Carbs: 67 gr

Whole wheat pasta with roasted carrot sauce

Ingredients:

• 750 gr carrots, peeled and in 1,5 cm thick slices
• 1 onion, peeled, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic (big ones, if they’re small, put more!), unpeeled
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dry thyme
• 1/2 tsp dry sage
• 200 ml vegetable broth
• salt & pepper
• 60 gr fresh cheese (or crème fraîche)
• 250 gr whole wheat pasta (penne, spirelli…)
• 160 gr grated cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200-220°C.
2. In a big bowl, mix carrots, onion, garlic cloves, olive oil, sage & thyme. Place in oven proof dish and roast in the oven for 45 minutes, turning once or twice, until carrots have some brown spots. If garlic begins to brown too much, remove from oven earlier.
3. Take carrots out of oven and let cool slightly. Squeeze garlic cloves out of their skins, and add to the bowl of a food processor, together with carrots & onion. Add broth. Process until smooth. Add fresh cheese and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning.
4. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to instructions (minus a minute or so).
5. Drain pasta, reserve some of the cooking liquid. Add carrot sauce to the pot where pasta was cooked, add pasta, and cooking liquid if needed to make a smooth sauce.
6. Serve pasta warm with cheese on top.

Servings: 4 servings

Nutritional info:

Calories: 446
Protein: 24 gr
Fat: 12 gr
Carbs: 62 gr

Next time I’m probably skipping the cheese and serving the pasta & sauce as a side to a veggie schnitzel or something like that.