WALNUT & CABBAGE STIR-FRY

This looks lovely and tastes absolutely delicious. I'd like my cabbage like this from now on, please!

WALNUT & CABBAGE STIR-FRY

This is a good light meal or an excellent side dish to a regular meal. It does work without the walnut oil, but I really recommend you try it with! Lovely lovely lovely.

12 ounces red cabbage, very thinly shredded
12 ounces white cabbage, very thinly shredded
4 Tbsp oil (your choice)*
1 Tbsp walnut oil
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
7-8 green/spring onions, chopped
225 g / 8 ounces firm tofu, cut into cubes
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
3-1/2 ounces walnut halves
2 tsp Dijon justard
2 tsp caraway seeds
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oils together in a heavy skillet and addd the cabbage, garlic, green onions and tofu, stirring for about 5 minutes.

Now add the walnuts, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and salt and pepper and cook until the cabbage is tender, around 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with the caraway seeds and serve.

*NOTE: This recipe has more oil than I usually use, so I used half the amount shown. It is still a little higher than I like, but makes a lovely 'special occasion' dish.

BEANS IN A SWEET SPICY SAUCE

You can serve this with just about anything you like - and for a snack or light lunch it goes great on toast. We usually serve with brown basmati (which gets used for most things here) and some quickly sauteed vegetables in whichever herbs and spices suit our mood of the day.

BEANS IN SWEET SPICY SAUCE

2 Tbsp dried wakame/seaweed, soaked and cut into tiny pieces
1 Tbsp (or as little as you can get away with) canola oil
1 tsp grated ginger
1 small carrot, grated
3 green onions or scallions, finely chopped
2 cups soybeans, cooked and drained
2 Tbsp molasses (or use brown sugar if you prefer)
1 tsp sea salt
large pinch of crushed chillies (OK, this is optional - but it is a great addition!)
1 tsp dark sesame oil

Put the canola oil in a skillet and when it reaches medium to high heat add the ginger, grated carrot , green onions, crushed chilies and stir. Then add the seaweed, stir again, and then the beans plus 1 cup of water (or their cooking liquid if you have it). Throw in the sugar and the salt and stir again and bring it back to the simmer.

Turn the heat down to low, so that it keeps on the simmer, and cook it for 30 minutes with the lid partially covering the pan.

Keep an eye on this, for when you have a wonderfully thick mass of beans in a syrup you're done! Adjust seasonings, avoid eating it out of the pan, remove from heat, avoid eating it out of the pan, add sesame oil, avoid eating it out of the pan- and serve.

It's remarkably simple and very good!

SPICY CHICKPEA AND VEGETABLE STEW

This was our main meal yesterday - with huge leftovers, I might add.

SPICY CHICKPEA AND VEGETABLE STEW

2 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp curry powder (use your own mix, if you have it, or a good commercial brand)
1-1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1 small fresh red chilli, finely chopped (or more if you like it HOT)
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 Tbsp wholemeal plain flour
2 cups water
1 large vegetable stock cube, crumbled
1 medium carrots, chopped small (carrot cooks in its own good time, so keep it small)
1 medium potato, chopped
1/2 small cauliflower, chopped
250 g green beans, chopped
1 medium apple, peeled, chopped
425 g chickpeas, drained (I use two cups my own pre-cooked chickpeas)
200g carton plain soygurt *
2 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)** - or more to taste
1/4 cup chopped roasted cashew nuts

Heat oil in large pan, add onion, stir over medium heat for about two minutes or until onion is translucent. Add garlic, curry powder, other spices, chilli and ginger, and stir over medium heat for 1 minute. Stir in flour, stir over high heat for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and gradually stir in the combined water and stock cube, stir over high heat until mixture boils and thickens slightly from the flour.

Now add the carrots, potatoes, cauliflower and green beans, cover, simmer for about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add apple, chickpeas, soygurt* and coriander/cilantro leaves, stir over medium heat until heated through.

Sprinkle with nuts before serving and add another sprig or two of the coriander leaves/cilantro if you like.

SERVES 4 generously.

*NOTE 1: I cannot readily buy plain soygurt, so I often make do with a substitute such as thinned-out vegan sour cream OR I zap soft silken tofu in the blender with a squeeze of lemon and use that. Works just fine :)

**NOTE 2: For those who cannot abide cilantro (coriander leaves) - and it seems to be a genetic thingie - you could leave them out or add a little chopped basil or parsley for flavour and color.

Vegan-friendly Places

Ever wonder how people who are vegan in the rest of the world are doing? I do so, every time I go out and get blank looks because of my food requests :) As a result, I'm always heartened by such information as is contained in the links below. Vegetarian isn't necessarily vegan, but there's a goodly chance that they'd know what we're on about! LOL

The Top 5 Vegetarian-Friendly Cities in the World (from Happy Cow Dec. 2006)

http://www.happycow.net/travel/top_five.html

North America's Most Vegetarian-friendly cities

http://vegetarian.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.goveg.com/f%2Dvegcities.asp

The Most Vegetarian-Friendly Universities in Canada (PETA Press Release 29 Nov. 06)

http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=9266

The most Vegetarian-Friendly Universities in the US (PETA Press Release 29 Nov. 06)

http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=9264

There we go! LOL

BLACK BEAN CHILLI

Here is my recipe for Chilli - no great surprises here, but we love it. Obviously you will adjust the seasonings and garlic to taste. Some may prefer to skip the oil and 'saute' in a little stock.

BLACK-BEAN CHILLI

1 Tbsp or less olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup or more chopped mushrooms
1 cup reconstituted tvp OR crumbled firm tofu
3 Tbsp tomato paste
3 Tbsp ground cummin
1 or 2 tsp cayenne or more to taste
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp paprika (for taste and colour)
(for the previous four seasonings you can use commercial Mexican Chilli Seasoning, but it's not the way we make it or like it.)
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 large can tomatoes, chopped, with juice
2 stalks celery, finely sliced
1 large green bell pepper (capsicum), cut in chunks
1 large red bell pepper (capsicum), cut in chunks
1 medium carrot, finely grated
2 cups cooked black turtle beans
1 Tbsp Marmite or Vegemite (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Also, about 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) and a couple of coarsely chopped tomatoes to be added 10 minutes before serving.

In a large pot put the oil and onions, sautÈ until soft and starting to brown, add the garlic, the TVP or tofu, and the mushrooms and stir until they all brown together a little. Add the tomato paste and stir around to coat the mixture then add the spices, stirring well again, then the tomatoes and the rest of the vegetables and the beans. Bring to a boil and stir in the Marmite. Cook for something like 45 minutes over low heat. You may need to add a little water, tomato juice or stock from time to time to keep to your wished-for consistency.

If you want to eat the chilli now, add the fresh tomatoes and the fresh cilantro, stir and cook for another ten minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve with rice or brown bread and whatever garnishes you like with your chilli - avocado slices, vegan sour creme, chopped green onions, chopped fresh chillies, grated vegan cheeze, corn chips, etc.

If you want to eat this later, cool and refrigerate (it's always better for sitting for a few hours). When you are ready to eat, bring it to the boil, add the tomatoes and cilantro and turn the heat down to simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings and serve as above.

NOTES:
Sometimes we add a small can of sweet corn niblets and sometimes some finely chopped zucchini (courgettes), but this is the basic recipe and one I prefer for its clean taste and bright colour.

I find this freezes fairly well, despite the fact that the bell peppers/capsicum tend to go softish. (You can always add a little fresh chopped bell pepper/ capsicum after defrosting along with, yes again, some fresh chopped tomato and simmer for a few minutes. Doing this snaps up the flavour and texture.)

CURRIED BEAN, TOMATO & MUSHROOM SOUP

Keeping to the chosen theme, here's a soup we had last evening from the freezer. We enjoy this soup as a start to a meal or, with homemade bread or a salad, as a light meal in itself.

CURRIED BEAN, TOMATO AND MUSHROOM SOUP

1 cup of a mix of beans (kidney, garbanzos, turtle), cooked and drained
1 small carrot, grated
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 lb (125 g) small mushrooms, sliced
1 can tomatoes, crushed
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp (or to taste) commercial curry powder (or better still use your own homemade mix)
2 or 3 Tbsp chopped parsley or herbs of choice

Combine all ingredients in a large pan and cook until done, around 40
minutes, add more water and reheat if soup has become too thick, adjust
seasonings (salt and pepper), and stir in herbs. Soup freezes well.

GREEN BEAN AND POTATO CURRY

OK, this was for lunch yesterday - served with a side salad only - made from scratch. I didn't have green beans in the fridge after all, so I substituted yellow wax beans and it turned out just fine :)

This is an easy fix, although it does take a few minutes for those vegetables to cook. It reheats very nicely the following day.

(If you’re really really in a hurry, you can use canned tomatoes (although they won’t look as pretty as the fresh sliced ones), canned or frozen green beans, and ginger and garlic out of a jar. The vegetables will take less time to cook, especdially if you cut the potatoes into a smaller dice. Making it from scratch, obviously, tastes nicer.)

GREEN BEAN AND POTATO CURRY (INDIA)

1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp crushed red chilies - or use whole fresh ones, to taste
3 or 4 fresh tomatoes, sliced
1 tsp salt or to taste
1-1/2 tsp fresh gingerroot, finely chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp cayenne pepper - or to taste
1/2 lb fresh green beans, cut in 1-inch lengths
2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
1-1/4 cups water
Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, finely chopped fresh green chilies

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the cumin seeds and mustard seds together with the chilies, stirring well. The seeds will start to pop - stand back! Quickly add the tomatoes (which will stop those seeds from flying out of the pan) and stir for about 3 minutes or so.

Add the rest of the ingredients, except for water and garnish, to the pan, stirring well for about five minutes.

Add the water and reduce the heat, simmering for 12 to 15 minutes or until everything is nicely tender but not mushy.

Turn out onto a platter, garnish, and serve with hot boiled rice.

Very easy and very good.

Small Beginnings

Herewith my first post!

If the messages which follow are mostly about food, then so be it; it's the way it's meant to be. If that happens, know that most things are going well and that our kitchen is a happy place. If from time to time other thoughts and ideas get mixed in, then take what you want from them and ignore the rest. Deal?

Thanks for listening :) And now to see what's for lunch today!!!

Affectionately,

'River'