Vegan Mac n Cheese

Vegan Mac n' Cheese

Without the mac. Or the cheese...

Nom Nom Nom 

Ok, so I couldn't find any wholemeal macaroni in the supermarket...so I opted for these little twirly pasta things instead. 

Just use whatever pasta you want really, it's really easy and only took me about 10 mins to put together!

Ingredients

feeds 2-3 

Macaroni/any pasta (I used miniature wholemeal twirly pasta)

400ml unsweetened soya milk

2 cups nutritional yeast

1/2 block of Vegan cheese (I used Cheezly's Mozzarella)

1 tblesp Dijon mustard (optional)

1 teasp Turmeric

2/3 cup of cornflour

Salt

Pepper

2 cups frozen spinach (defrost)

1. Put pasta on to boil. Make enough for 2-3 people.

Wholemeal macaroni why don't you exist.

2. Heat soya milk in saucepan till bubbling, then turn down the heat

3. Add nutritional yeast, turmeric, mustard & grate the vegan cheese in. STIR!

4. Add a little warm water to the cornflour in a separate cup, and mix till smooth. Make sure the soya milk is piping hot or bubbling through, then add the cornflour mixture to it. Stir quickly & constantly till the sauce has thickened.

5. Add a teasp of salt. Taste. Add more salt if required.

6. Turn off heat & grind some black pepper into the mixture

7. Drain your pasta & then mix with the cheesy sauce

8. Dish up your mac n cheese. Warm your spinach in the microwave & top your pasta with it.

NOW EAT YOUR NON-COW RELATED CHEESY PASTA WITH THE GUSTO OF A PARTICULARLY ECCENTRIC VEGAN.

Lentil Burgers & Oregano Potato Wedges

Lentil Burgers & Oregano Potato Wedges

Because who needs McDonalds when you've got these bad boys to come home to...

Unfortunately this is the only photographic evidence of my accomplishment :(

I decided to cook for the masses and feed a few of my housemates this evening...

These burgers are pretty simple to make and had the seal of approval from all those involved in consuming them. 

I've put measurements of seasoning in the ingredients list below, but to be honest...nutritional yeast, ketchup, lemon juice etc; I just throw them in and sample it along the way until I think it tastes delicious. 

Obviously with it being vegan, you can eat it raw and not worry about salmonella...

So please feel free to add more or less of this or that to get it tailored exactly to where your taste-buds want it

Apologies for the lack of 'along the way' photos. For pretty much the whole time my hands were covered in mushed up lentils so I couldn't touch my phone ;(

Ingredients

Feeds 6 hungry mouths

Potato Wedges

2kg Potatoes 

Dried Oregano

Salt & Pepper

Sunflower oil

Burgers

6 x wholemeal burger buns

250g French style or green lentils

1 cup nutritional yeast

1 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 cup wholemeal flour

1 white onion

1 orange

1 1/2 cup Tomato ketchup

squeeze of Lemon Juice

1 tblespoon paprika

1 1/2 cup crushed almonds (I crushed mine up with my pestle & mortar)

Sesame Oil or Virgin Olive Oil

1 small bunch of fresh coriander

Potato Wedges

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C 

2. Peel potatoes & chop into wedge shapes. Boil them for 5 mins till a little softer. 

3. Drain and spread onto baking tray. Rub potatoes in sunflower oil, dried oregano, salt & pepper. Put in oven for approx 1 hour (don't forget to turn them over every so often)

Burgers...to make whilst your wedges are roasting away

1. Cook lentils according to instructions on packet (30-40 mins) Drain cooked lentils & empty into a mixing bowl

2. Add flour, breadcrumbs & nutritional yeast. MASH! 

3. Chop onion & fry in olive oil. Add sprinkle of brown sugar to caramelise & cook till very soft.   

4. Finely grate half the orange rind into the mix (I squeezed a little of the orange juice in too), add caramelised onion, ketchup, crushed almonds, salt, pepper, lemon juice & a glug of sesame or olive oil. 

If mixture is too dry then add a little water. 

If mixture is too wet then add more flour &/or breadcrumbs. 

It needs to be firm enough to make into patties, but not so firm that it starts breaking into pieces. 

Obviously.

5. Taste mixture (VERY IMPORTANT!!) & add further seasoning to taste if needed. More tomato ketchup is always a good shout if it doesn't quite taste right...

6. Chop coriander finely & add to mix

7. Heat oil in a large frying pan (low-medium heat) & shape 6 burger patties from your lentil mix.

8. Pat the top & bottom of each patty with a little wholemeal flour before frying briefly for 2-3mins on each side

9. Keep you patties warm in the oven whilst you prepare your burger buns!

Fill your burger with salad, avocado, tomatoes, onions...whatever the hell you fancy. I had mine with vegan garlic mayo, mustard & BBQ sauce (don't judge)

SCREW BURGER KING. YOURS TASTES BETTER.

Chinese Cabbage

Chinese Cabbage

Beijing style baby.

Crunchy between my teeth bones.

A few years back I travelled through China for a few months. 

Surprisingly, one of the most memorable dishes I had was a simple plate of chinese cabbage leaves. 

Crisp, fresh & green, this recipe is quick & easy to make as well as being a sure winner for anybody who likes the taste of authentic Chinese food (like my Asian self)

You'll find all of the ingredients in your local Chinese supermarket so no fucking excuses.

Ingredients

serves 2 vegan humans

Brown rice or noodles (optional)

1 chinese cabbage

1 tblsp Shaozing Rice Wine

Sesame Oil

3/4 cup Light Soy Sauce

1 piece of fresh Ginger (the size of your thumbnail)

1 Garlic clove

1 medium hot chilli

1/2 teasp sugar

Dirty cabbage. 

1. Wash your cabbage. Chop!

2. Heat a good glug of sesame oil in a large frying pan or wok. Chop your ginger, garlic & chilli finely & fry for 1 minute on medium heat.

3. Add all chopped cabbage & stir till mostly wilted (approx 10mins)

4. Add a tblespoon of rice wine, sugar soy sauce. Fry for further 5 mins.

Saucy minx that cabbage...

5. Taste and add more soy sauce &/or sugar if needed

Serve with rice or noodles...or alone if you're feeling wild.

NOW GRAB YOUR CHOPSTICKS AND TRY MISERABLY TO NAVIGATE THE CABBAGE TOWARDS YOUR FACE.

Vegan Quiche

Vegan Quiche

Quiche minus the egg...

Looks like egg but isn't. Tastes better too!

Pre-veganism you would never have convinced me that mushed up tofu has similar qualities to scrambled egg. But it fucking does. 

This was a sweet potato, spinach & caramelised onion quiche, but you could use any vegetables that don't tend to excrete a load of water whilst heating up. 

Having never made pastry prior to this moment, 'Vegan quiche' is without a doubt one of my proudest cooking achievements as of yet. 

If I can do it, then you definitely can too.

Ingredients

Pastry

1 1/2 cup of plain white flour

1 cup wholemeal flour

1 handful of finely crushed cashew nuts

1/2 cup of coconut oil

tblsp salt

1/3 cup of ice water

Quiche filling

1 block of firm tofu (press the water out of it)

1/2 cup of Nutritional Yeast

1 cup grated Vegan Cheese (I used Cheezly's Mozzarella)

small bunch of fresh coriander

250g frozen spinach (defrost in microwave)

black pepper

tblsp salt

1 sweet potato

1 white onion

1 teasp chilli powder

1 teasp turmeric powder

1 garlic clove (finely chopped)

a small handful of pumpkin seeds & flaked almonds (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 180(°C). Combine all the pastry ingredients together in food processor. BLEND! 

2. Remove pastry dough from blender & place the pastry dough on a floured surface. Roll out relatively thin.

Pastry pre-rolling

 3. Place pastry in a greased (with vegan butter substitute) tart tin and use your fingers to get the pastry where you want it.

Press that pastry in yo tin

4. Put your pastry lined tin in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Set aside.

5. Peel and chop your sweet potato into small cubes. Partly boil them (takes about 5-7mins). Drain them, rub them with olive oil and put in the oven to roast for 20 mins.

6. Finely slice the onion & fry in olive oil with a sprinkle of brown sugar to caramelise. Add the chilli powder, garlic, nutritional yeast, spinach & sweet potato once the onions are cooked. Turn off heat.

My sweet potato was white not orange :'(

7. In a mixing bowl mash up the tofu with your fingers. Add the grated cheese and all of the contents from your frying pan. Add the tumeric, black pepper & coriander (chopped). MIX.

8. Fill the pastry with the tofu mix

Quiche-licious

9. Bake in oven for 15 minutes (or till pastry is cooked through)

Remove from tin. Top with flaked almonds & pumpkin seeds if you're feeling fancy. 

CONSUME!!

The pastry was crisp and the filling was tofu heaven. #PleasedWithMyself

NOW STUFF THAT FAKE EGGY, PASTRY CASED MUSH INTO YOUR HUNGRY OPEN MOUTH-HOLE.

Cheezy stuffed squash

Cheezy stuffed Squash

Butternut Squash stuffed with 'cheesy' mustardy leeks

SO ORANGE!

People keep asking me if I miss cheese. The answer is no. Purely because there's plenty of cheesy tasting alternatives available out there for my hungry vegan mouth hole...

Ingredients

1 butternut squash

soya butter (or any vegan butter alternative)

1 large leek

150ml soya/vegan cream

3/4 pack of Vegan Cheese (I used Cheezly mozzarella)

1 tsp english mustard

1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast

1. Chop butternut squash in half. Remove seeds & carve out some of the flesh

Don't squash your squash. CHOP IT.

2. Wash & chop leeks finely. Fry with soya butter till soft.

I used more then one leek because these are tiny ones fresh from the garden. ORGANIC GOODNESS.

3.  Add the soya cream, nutritional yeast, cheese (finely grated), nutritional yeast & mustard. Turn off heat.

Creamy.

4. Pack the 'cheesy' mix into the carved out squash

5. Place the squash halves in a oven proof dish, cover with tin foil and bake for 45mins-1 hour (dependent on size of squash)

SERVE. EAT.

NOW EAT YOUR FUCKING VEGETABLES.

Mushroom Risotto

Mushroom Risotto

There won't be MUCH-ROOM in your stomach after this.

Ho-Fucking-ho.

SO oozy and nutty and SPECIAL.

Made this for New Years Eve dinner...it even went down well with my non-vegan boyfriend. 

It's a Veganised version of Jamie Oliver's 'Oozy Mushroom Risotto'

Ingredients

serves 4-6 humans

300g Arborio Risotto Rice

1 cup Nutritional Yeast

500g of mushrooms (I used a mix of portobello, button & chestnut)

4 sprigs fresh Rosemary

1 stick celery

1 onion

1/2 glass dry white wine

1 veggie stock cube

2 garlic cloves

1 pack Vegan Cheese (I used Cheezly's white cheddar)

Soya Butter or any Vegan spread

Balsamic Vinegar

Agave Syrup

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Rice.

1. Put onion and celery in food processor. BLEND.

2. Fry this mixture in a tall sided pan for 5-8 minutes using olive oil

Fry that shit. I also put a portobello mushroom in my blender. 

3. Chop 2 sprigs of Rosemary finely & one clove of garlic. Add to mixture with rice. Stir for 2 minutes.

4. Add wine and stock cube. Stir for another 2 minutes until wine has boiled off. 

5. Add a good glug of boiling water. Stir constantly or the rice will stick to the pan!

Don't let that shit stick.

6. Cook until water has almost gone, then add more boiling water. Continue to do this for approx 20 mins. 

7. Tear up half the mushrooms and add to the rice. Cook for another 10 minutes. Keep adding glugs of boiling water if needed.

Tear it up.

8. Stir a big knob of 'butter' into rice. Turn off heat. Grate all of the cheese finely & mix into risotto. Add salt, pepper, nutritional yeast & balsamic vinegar to taste.

9. Put a lid on your risotto to keep it warm. 

10. Tear the remaining mushrooms into a big frying pan, drizzle with olive oil, agave syrup & add some 'butter'. Add salt & pepper & tear up the remaining rosemary. Fry for 5 mins, then put under the grill for another 8-10mins until cooked.

GRILL TO PERFECTION.

10. Dish up your risotto. Sprinkle with your grilled mushrooms.

SERVE.

How brown and delicious.

NOW TASTE THAT MUSHROOMY RICE.

TASTE IT.