30 Minute Ragù alla Bolognese

I adore lasagna. Creamy, meaty, savoury, delicious sauces held in sheets of silky pasta... is there anything better? I rarely eat it, though, cause "real" ragù alla Bolognese takes 2 to 3 hours to make, and while the Homecooker means I don't have to stand around and stir it myself, that's a long time to wait! Is it worth it? Yes. Can I be bothered 90% of the time? Heck no.

Anyway, the other day after a tough day at work, all I wanted was lasagna, but after spending all day in the kitchen, I didn't want to spend all night either. A conversation a few months ago with Matt on how he was tweaking Bryanna Clark Grogan's amazing ragù recipe to make it a bit quicker had given me a few ideas, so I thought I'd give it my own shot.

After a couple more attempts, I think I finally cracked it. While this doesn't have the depth or complexity of the traditional ragù (which I'll still be making for special occasions), the speed at which it can be made more than makes up for that, and means you can have lasagna assembled and ready to go in the oven in about 45 minutes (if you make the béchamel in between stirs of the ragù, you can probably get it in the oven in more like 35, and have your lasagna (all from scratch!) in just over an hour!).

A few notes before we start:

• Watch the salt! You'll be adding a lot of salty ingredients into the sauce from the beginning, so refrain from seasoning the sauce until the very end.
• This makes more than enough for a mini lasagna (I used an 8" baking dish), so you can have lasagna for dinner and used the leftover ragù for lunch or dinner the following night. If you're making lasagna for a crowd, I would double the recipe.
• To make wheat/gluten-free, use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari, and double-check the ingredients in the TVP (some brands contain gluten).
• In order to speed up the process, you'll be cooking this on a much higher heat than you generally would, so don't leave it alone!

30 Minute Ragù alla Bolognese
Based on Bryanna Clark Grogan's Ragù alla Bolognese from Nonna's Italian Feast

1. To a medium saucepan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon each olive oil and vegan butter and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.
2. Roughly dice 1 carrot, 1 red onion, 1 brown onion, 6 cloves garlic, and 2 stalks of celery and add this to the pan. Increase heat to medium-high and saute, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened.
3. Add 2 cups TVP mince, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 chicken-style broth cube (or 1 tablespoon chicken-style broth powder), and 400g tomato paste. Stir together, then allow to sit for a minute or two before stirring again. Continue until mix has nearly dried out and is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
4. Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup dry red wine (you can use a dry white in a pinch) and reduce heat to medium. Stir until the wine has evaporated, then add 1/2-1 cup stock (homemade or store-bought), just enough to thin out of the ragù into an appropriately wet sauce. Stir in 1/2 cup soy milk (or other neutral-flavoured milk; don't use rice milk as it will add too much sweetness) and cook for a minute or two until it's combined. If sauce it too thin, reduce the sauce, stirring constantly, until it is the thickness you like. Season with salt and pepper; your sauce is done!

Either place on top of freshly cooked pasta and eat straight away, or use to assemble lasagna. If you're making lasagna, you can use Bryanna's delicious béchamel.

Enjoy!

Incidentally, if you don't own Nonna's Italian Kitchen, RUN DON'T WALK and get yourself a copy. It is a book that I go back to again and again for both recipes and inspiration.

Vegan Savoury Crepe/Omelette

I threw the original version of these together when morning when I needed to bring together an odd combination of leftovers and nearly-past-it vegetables I'd salvaged from the bottom of my fridge. Though I generally just guess the proportions when I make them these days, when I presented my vegan breakfast class at Laneway Learning last year, I realised I should probably have an actual recipe for people to follow, so here it is!

These aren't exactly like an omelette in taste or texture, and also in that you wrap it around the fillings rather than folding them into the batter, but what else do you call it? Most importantly, it's super delicious. Even better, it's a great way of repurposing leftovers, can be throw together in about 10 minutes (great for lazy mornings and hangovers alike), and the batter will last in the fridge for up to a week (possibly even longer).

Leftovers from making tacos or nachos are great for fillings, otherwise any mix of veggies sauteed are equally great. You don't need to do anything too fancy. Cook the fillings beforehand and set aside covered so they stay warm.

Blend (in an upright blender or using an immersion blender):

300g firm silken tofu
200g soy milk
80g besan (chickpea) flour
30g cornstarch (cornflour)
20g olive oil
6g nutritional yeast flakes
Big pinch each of salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder

Heat a non-stick (or very well seasoned cast iron) over medium heat. Grease with the fat of your choosing, then ladle about 1/2 cup - 1 cup of the batter into the pan; use the back of the ladle of cup to evenly spread the batter over the pan. Place a lid on the pan: glass lids are useful because you can see when it's drying, otherwise check after a couple of minutes to see if the top of the crepe has dried out a bit. Once the top has dried out, flip the crepe over and cook briefly on the other side. Adjust the heat of the pan as necessary to make sure they don't burn.

Set cooked crepes onto plates, and cover half with the filling of choice. Fold the free half over the top, dust with paprika and serve!

I'm about halfway through my Barcelona post (I went again this year) so, once again, I'm posting a recipe to fill in the meantime! Hopefully that'll be up soon, or I'll just have to share more recipes!

Quick & Easy Vegan (Yeasted) Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon Rolls. Cinnamon buns. I won't quibble over specifics - if there's bready goodness with a sweet, creamy, gooey, cinnamony filling - I will be there in a flash. With or without the glaze that makes them totally over the top.

Photo from James' attempt!

I grew up with a single, working Mum who didn't have a lot of spare time. But every now and then, I'd wake up to gorgeous scents floating through the house, jump up excitedly, and run to the kitchen to find that she'd made us cinnamon rolls. 

Now, my Mum was a busy, single working mother, so she didn't have time to mess around with yeast and kneading, so the cinnamon rolls she made were unyeasted - basically, a rolled and filled almost-shortcrust pastry. And they were darn delicious. My mum is actually extremely, horribly allergic to dairy and eggs, so I grew up with cinnamon rolls that were unintentionally vegan, which made returning to them as an adult even easier - they didn't even require any tweaking of the recipe. I still make them sometimes.

Me at approximately 4, baking with my Grandma. Look at my crazy eyes - I loved it.

As I've gotten older, I've also found an equally passionate love of cinnamon buns - which, are obviously more bakery style - and are yeasted, with a silky, tender, puffy, slightly chewy tender dough in place of that creamy almost-shortcrust I grew up with, but are otherwise pretty much the same. The yeasted nature gives them an almost un-explainable umami richness.

I have a Kitchenaid stand-mixer, so pretty much the only thing that stops me making either buns or scrolls is a) the unavoidable rolling-out of the dough and the sprinklings of flour that I know are going to get everywhere and b) the time component.

I'm now learning just to relax, put down a Silpat (silicone baking mat), and spread that flour everywhere, knowing that it won't be hard to clean up afterwards. If I just start, I'll overcome the mental hurdle of hatred of mess. Watching the way Nigella Lawson gleefully gets her hands right into every step of the cooking process has also helped me too. It just takes a quick wipe down and a hand-wash for her to revert to looking pristine. Maybe I could too... Now if only I had her lighting team, and luscious, luscious hair...

A screenshot I took from Nigella's 2005 talk show on dieting, as she announced she was giving the entire audience free Krispy Kreme donuts, because "you mustn't deprive yourself". You've gotta love her.

Getting over this hasn't helped fix the time component for yeasted buns. I'm pretty bad at delaying gratification - so making something and waiting four hours to eat them is akin to slow, painful torture for me. And then, this morning, the Universe smiled down on me, and I saw that my friend Kittee had made quick cinnamon buns, based on the recipe that Somer McCowan of Vedged Out had posted on Instagram. They're yeasted, but only require 10 minutes rising time, thanks to a special ingredient she (and I) had on hand after making Bryanna's palm-oil-free vegan butter, called Liquid Lecithin, an emulsifier and humectant which I've discovered has properties that greatly improve yeasted doughs, and require little or no rising time.

I thought I'd take a punt and give them a try, and they worked out gorgeously. You may still get covered in flour, but at least you won't have to wait. I can't find the recipe on her website, so thought I'd share it here. It's quick, little fuss, and very satisfying. Thanks very much to Somer for pulling this together.

Somer McCowan's Quick & Easy Cinammon Buns, re-written (so blame me, not her!):

1. Preheat your oven to 180 C / 350 F and grease a square or circular baking dish (I used a glass Pyrex pie dish and canola spray).

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the beating paddle, add:

1 cup warm water (not too hot, or you'll kill the yeast)
1 tablespoon instant yeast (I used Lowan brand)
1 tablespoon liquid lecithin (eyeball this, because it's near impossible to get it off either utensils, OR your hands - trust me, it's a very unpleasant feeling to have this all over your hands (James/Bryanna's note: spray the tablespoon with oil before measuring the lecithin and it will slide right off the spoon!))
2.5 cups + 2 tablespoons plain flour
1 teaspoon sea salt

3. Knead for 8-10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. My dough was pretty touchable, and not sticky.

4. Flour your work area and your rolling pin, and roll the dough out into an 8 x 14 inch rectangle (my silicon mat has inches marked, which is fantastic).

5. Mix together:

1/4 cup softened butter (I'm not going to get into naming wars. Use whatever you use as butter - whether nuttelex, earth balance, or dairy butter - just don't write to me proselytising and raving about how unhealthy butter/margarine is, because I truly don't care. Add salt as needed, if what you're using is unsalted. Salt makes things delicious).
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

6. Spread butter mixture all over the dough, right to the edges (I used a pastry brush)

7. Grasp both edges of the longest length side (bottom of the rectangle), and gently roll it forward, taking care to keep the filling even, until you end up with a cylinder which is spiralled inside. 

8. Cut cylinder into one inch rolls, turn them sideways (spiral visible from above), and place in your greased baking dish. Continue cutting and arranging until complete. I had to squish some of mine up, but that's okay, their will to rise is strong, and they will be fine.

9. Set the dish, packed with yummy buns full of potential in a warm (but not hot) place, to rise for 10 minutes, or until almost doubled (which I admit I forgot to do, I was so eager - and they turned out fine, with no "yeasty" taste).

10. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden.

They're good as they are, or you can make an icing sugar/butter/milk glaze to drizzle over them if you're feeling really Nigellicious and want your hands dripping with sugar and fat.

Unfortunately, I was pretty slap-dash and devoured half of them like a ravenous beast, so I don't have a photo of the outcome, sorry (not sorry). So here's a photo of my darling Devon Rex cat Sylvia, when she was a baby kitten and I had just brought her home. Today, she's a ferocious beast, but she's still gorgeous.

She's not shy. Work it, girl!

I'm also interesting in hearing about your experiences with liquid lecithin - I've read you can use it to make super fast-rising pizza dough as well. Let me know what you think.
And in the words of Nigella Lawson - "I don't believe in deprivation. Enjoy yourself".

Matt 

Veg Eats in West End

Up until embarrassingly recently, I bemoaned the lack of veg options in West End. It's so hip and alternative and dirty; it should be OVERRUN with vegetarians and food for them!

I spent so much time bemoaning this that I somehow failed to notice how often I was eating there. No longer must vegans be relegated to coping with The Forest (I don't care what anyone tells you; just no) or scrounging options from the outwardly-vegan-friendly-seeming-but-oh-wait-it's-not 3 Monkeys! Go forth, my veg friends, for there is food to be eaten!

I will attempt to keep this post updated as we go more places and existing places add new items. If you have a favourite place that isn't on this list, let us know in the comments so we can check it out!

Note on public transport and parking: All of these places are within a short walk of bus stops serviced by high frequency 199 bus, which can be caught from the city of the Cultural Centre. Most parking on main streets in West End are metered or are short parking, but if you look on side streets, you can sometimes find unmetered parking (for example, Thomas St is metered where it comes off Vulture Street, but is unmetered from about halfway down).

Zagyoza
Shop 1/60 Vulture Street (The West Quarter), West End
07 3844 6696 | www.zagyoza.com | facebook.com/zagyoza
Mon: 11am - 8pm | Tues-Thurs: 11am - 6pm | Fri: 11am - 8pm | Sat: 8am - 8pm
Parking around the back between the shops and the West Quarter Apartments, otherwise there is parking in nearby streets. Right across the road from a bus stop.
Wheelchair accessible from street and parking (there's a ramp next to The Cupcake Parlour, though it is quite narrow and the seating for the Cupcake Parlour is sometimes in the way). All tables are quite high, though the counter is not.
Vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous options available; no gluten free gyoza dumplings though some lunch specials may be gluten free.

Originally, Zagyoza was a stall at a few markets around Brisbane, but a few months ago they finally secured a permanent location in the West Quarter on Vulture Street.

The best part about Zagyoza are their daily lunch specials: $10 gets you either a salad and 4 gyoza, or a hot meal and 3 gyoza. They announce their specials on their facebook page every day around 11am, or you can just turn up and be surprised! I've had some truly fantastic meals here, and it's always something different. Sometimes they won't have a vegetarian or vegan special, so it's good to check the facebook page, but sometimes they'll be able to change the omni special to make it vegan or vegetarian, so it doesn't hurt to ask.

Left: Cold soba noodles with grilled tofu topped with house made BBQ sauce (which I could drink)
Right: Bean sprout and rice noodle salad with capsicum salsa and hot eggplant relish

As well as their permanent shop, they also regularly attend the Mitchelton Markets and the Powerhouse Markets; times they attend these are listed on their website. If you can't wait for them to be open, they also sell frozen take-home packs of gyoza which you can cook up at home (these are also sold at some delis, so find out from them if they're available closer to you). Last but not least, they also do catering trays in case you're having a party, or really want to see if you can eat 100 gyoza in one sitting.

Wrapture

71 Russell St, West End
07 3844 4444 | www.cafewrapture.com.au | facebook.com/pages/Cafe-Wrapture/152375321486467
Mon - Sat: 7am - 3pm | Closed Sunday
Onstreet parking nearby, none on premises. 2 minute walk from Boundary St bus stop.
Shop accessed directly off the street. Interior is quite narrow and tables are pushed quite close together. Meals are ordered and paid for at a counter. A mix of vegetarian, vegan, and omnivorous items; some vegetarian items can be made vegan by omitting certain ingredients. Unsure about availability of GF options. Inside, undercover and outside seating.

Matt went here a few months ago, and since then I have returned several times. The menu is small, but manages to pack a lot in (like a wrap! Oh, they're so meta...). The wraps themselves are the most delicious, puffy homemade panbread, and the fillings manage to strike a balance between tasting both wholesome and delicious. Wraps range between $9 and $12, so it makes a good quick lunch on the go (though I have often experienced quite a wait even at quiet times, so if you're in a rush, it's probably worth calling up). The Zen Wrap and Satay Tofu wrap are my favourites.

Unfortunately, there is no information on their website except their location.

El Torito
146 Boundary St, West End
07 3844 5977 | www.eltoritorestaurant.com.au | facebook.com/TORITOrestaurant
Lunch Wed-Fri: 12pm - 2pm
Dinner Tues - Sun: 5:45pm - Late | Kitchen closes at 9pm | Closed Mondays
Onstreet parking nearby, none on premises. Bus stop is right outside.
Shop accessed directly off the street. Toilets (individual cubicles) are accessible through a narrow doorway and up a bumpy path. There is table service but meals are paid for at a high counter.
Menu entirely omnivorous and vegetarian. Several items can be made vegan by omitting certain toppings. All items are gluten free UNLESS marked on the menu with an *.


Embarrassingly, the first time I tried this, I was desperate for a burrito after... quite a big night. As I'm sure you can imagine, I went on about how good it was, but I didn't return for a number of weeks, at which point we wisely went before drinking.
 
I cannot even express how delicious the enchiladas at El Torito are. The bean filling is perfectly cooked, soft and flavoursome, topped in an absolutely delicious tomato sauce. Just remember to ask for it without dairy!

There are a number of other items on their menu that look as though they could easily be made vegan, but I cannot go past the enchiladas. They have quite a range of alcoholic drinks available, and among the cheapest cocktails I've seen in a long time.

Burrito for lunch! $9.95

For lunch, they have a range of lunch specials (many of which are shared with their dinner menu; oddly, they don't appear to have a vegetarian burrito option for dinner, only lunch), all of which are $9.95, listed on their website. They have also recently started opening for lunch on weekends.

Otherwise, I cannot recommend highly enough heading there with some friends to share a jug of sangria and some excellent food.

Lock N Load Bistro
142 Boundary St, West End
07 3844 0142 | www.locknloadbistro.com.au | facebook.com/LocknLoadBistro
Weekdays: 11am - Late | Weekends: 8am - Late
Onstreet parking nearby, none on premises. Bus stop is right outside.
Entrance bar and lower dining area are wheelchair accessible (there is a wheelchair lift next to the stairs to the lower dining area). Upper dining area only accessible by stairs. Toilets are in lower dining area. The entrance bar is often crowded at night which may impede accessibility. There is often live music or a DJ, so the bar is quite loud, and sections of the interior aren't very brightly lit.
Menu is largely vegetarian (marked with (v)) and omnivorous, with many gluten free options clearly marked with (gf). Limited vegan options, also marked on menu (with (vv)). Their menu clearly states "NO SUBSTITUTIONS" (this includes sauces: if you ask for the chips without the aioli, they will come with aioli).

Initially, we only went to Lock N Load for their Beer Towers (which we're still suspicious of: is the 3L mark before or after the ice stick is added? And will you really care by the end?), but I was meeting a friend in West End for lunch a few months ago and, having always wanted to try their food, I suggested we meet there.

They only have the one vegan lunch and dinner option (it is also gluten free): sweet potato falafels with a warm quinoa salad, tomatoes, pine nut dressing and mint oil. I was pleasantly surprised as how good it was. They also have one vegan side, a warm cauliflower salad, which I haven't tried. I was sadly disappointed by both their regular "thick cut" fries and their sweet potato fries.

If you're going there for a drink in the evening, we found out from the kitchen that the tofu & shiitake spring rolls are vegan, though it isn't marked on their menu (according to them, this is because they use the same deep fryer for everything that they cook, and vegans probably make more fuss about that than vegetarians. Fair enough).

You can view their menus on their website. If you're feeding a large group of people, you can use their lunch order form to order larger amounts of food, and they also host group events.


And if you happen to be in West End on a Saturday morning, there are the West End Markets, which has it's own post dedicated to it! A little further off the beaten track, and more a destination than a quick lunch/dinner stop, is Mondo Organics, where we tried their vegan tasting menu (remember to book in advance!).

Let us know if you've tried any of these places, or if there's a favourite place of yours in West End that we need to visit and add!

Recipe: Quick & Filling Weeknight One-Pot Vegan Mexican-style Chilli (Aussie Friendly!)

So I've been ordering takeaway a lot lately. Now that I'm working in a commercial kitchen preparing food for everyone else, I'm finding that my "cooking for myself" mojo has gone right out the window. During the week I live on experimental potential menu items, and bite sized morsels of *anything* that I can slap on the grill, eat quickly and go about my day (how do they do it? how do gas-fired grills make EVERYTHING taste incredible?!)

Tonight, I was determined to ignore my intense desire to visit my local Indian restaurant (Taj Bengal in Ashgrove - it's incredible. The best Indian food in Brisbane I've come across), but I wanted something thick, hearty, smoky and delicious - like their famous spinach dhal. I wanted to eat as fast as possible and was looking through Isa Chandra Moskowitz' new book, Isa Does It, and saw an easy recipe for a thai lentil curry that reminded me of a sweet potato lentil chilli by Dreena Burton that I made a million times as new vegan. 

You know how it is when you're hungry - you start cooking and chopping to save time before you've even checked the pantry. It wasn't too far in to the process that I realised I had almost nothing I needed to make the/any curry, least of all curry paste or coconut milk (for curry, they're really non-negotiable ingredients)... So I turned this into a mexican chilli, and boy, it was delicious. Fast, easy, minimal mess, and it sure hit the hunger spot. It also reminded me of why I love cooking - the flavours you can achieve at home with minimal effort that you so rarely get when dining out. Sometimes you need a reminder that you can't make something awesome in just as much time as it takes to get in the car and pickup takeaway.

This is thick and "hearty" (gosh I hate that word - why does it always remind me of gross canned soup?) due to the addition of both black beans *and* tofu. I don't feel satisfied with a meal if I'm just eating one or the other - combine them for extraaaaa awessssomeeeneessssss!

Don't be put off by the list of ingredients - this recipe requires minimal effort, but a few spices to make it extra tasty. You're chopping a few things, and pouring/shaking/splashing a few other things in the saucepan. Easy.

One Pot Vegan Mexican-Style Chilli

Shazam:
Preheat a 4 litre (/quart) or larger saucepan/stockpot over medium heat.
Add:
2 tablespoons olive or coconut oil
1 large red onion, diced
2 red capsicum (bell peppers), chopped
Approx 300g pre-seasoned extra firm/pressed tofu, cubed - I used teriyaki flavour (don't get too hung up on what flavour it is - it'll take on the other flavours of the dish)
1 teaspoon of salt.
Saute for approximately 10 minutes, until the onion is sweet and soft, and the tofu beginning to brown.

Add:
1 cup of red lentils, rinsed
2 cans of diced tomatoes (or approx 5 medium tomatoes, diced)
1 teaspoon garlic powder (or two large cloves garlic - I realise they're not interchangeable, but I like the different flavour of garlic powder, and I didn't want garlic all over my hands tonight - that's not quick - or fun).
4 cups water
2 cubes vegetable stock (enough or 4 cups of water)
approx 500g sweet potato, sliced and diced into 1 and 1/2 cm wedges
approx 200g potato, prepared as per sweet potato
1 cup of fresh or frozen corn.
2 cups of frozen or canned blackbeans (I have black beans in the freezer at all times, if you're using canned - add them ten minutes or so later, after rinsing, so they don't end up as sludge).
1 to 1 and 1/2 tablespoons "mexican chilli" powder (I use "Masterfoods" brand. American chilli powders are far, far less spicy than Australian varieties, so add this to your taste)
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, ground
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
3 medium size zucchini, sliced lengthwise and cut into half cm half-moons.
a dash of your favourite hot sauce (tabasco chipotle, if you have it!)

Increase heat to high simmer, cover with a lid, and cook for approximately 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so (scraping the bottom to ensure the lentils aren't sticking), until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender and cooked through. Remove lid, taste for seasoning and spice intensity, then cook for an additional 5 minutes (replace the lid, on an angle, if the pot is splashing), to thicken the sauce.

Serve in deep bowls. No need for rice or a grain - this chilli should be thick, like a super-stew. Enjoy!

By the way - after being a little underwhelmed with the last few of Isa's books, I can't recommend "Isa Does It" enough. It's absolutely beautiful. The recipes are practical, fast, easy, informative and inspiring.  The book itself is packed full of photos, and beautifully laid out. Just add "Let Them Eat Vegan" by Dreena Burton, "Vegan Diner" by Julie Hasson, "Nonna's Italian Kitchen" by Bryanna Clark Grogan and "The Urban Vegan" by Dynise Balcavage, and you've got pretty much all your awesome vegan cooking bases covered.

Baking & Frying Tofu, Part 2 of: "Treat Me Right", The Tofu Story (with recipe!)

Welcome to Part 2 of our exploration of tofu and what to do with it. Hopefully you're been following along (come on guys, there's only one other part to read), but in case you haven't, the PREVIOUS episode concerned why people say they don't like tofu, the types of tofu and my tofu buying recommendations. If you haven't read it, you may want to give it a quick glance-over (or even a slow, considered read, followed by thoughtful comments and thanks) before starting here. Otherwise, if you've already read it or, like me, HATE reading instruction manuals, dive on in!

Without a doubt, one of the easiest things to do with tofu is to just season and bake it. Isn't that the easiest way to prepare anything?

Though you can technically bake any tofu, baking tofu is essentially "quick marinating" it: rather than leaving it in the fridge overnight or for a few days, you chuck it in the oven and all the molecules get all excited and jump around and... yeah, I'm not a scientist. Anyway, as such, it is best to use firm (or harder) tofu for baking tofu, as anything softer than that won't soak up (and hold) the marinade.

Rather than attempting my own recipe, I am deferring to Dreena Burton, whose Cumin Lime Tofu (from her third book, "eat, drink and be vegan" (which is actually my Mum's all-time favourite cookbook ever)) is one of my favourite dishes.

I will admit that I was very skeptical when I first read Dreena's recipe for this: "won't it taste like tofu? Won't it be soggy?"

Oh me of little faith.

It's essentially a matter of making the marinade in the baking dish, mixing it up, coating the tofu (which doesn't even have to be pressed!), and baking it. If you're still not quite accustomed to tofu (though the rather bold marinade does disguise it somewhat), use a good quality tofu to ensure that there's as little taste as possible (and what taste there is is delicious!). This is also a good one for making a large batch of and then storing the leftovers in the fridge for lunch or throwing in a stirfry or salad the next day.

The slices; covered in marinade; after the first 15 minutes; and DONE!

Cumin-Lime Tofu

This is another very simple tofu dish that yields bold, baked-in flavors. The lime juice, cumin, and touch of cayenne are in every bite, and the addition of pumpkin seeds adds just the right amount of crunch.

Makes 4 servings, about 24 squares.

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 1/2 -2 tbsp agave syrup
1 1/2 tbsp tamari
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 pkg (12 oz/350g) firm or extra firm tofu, cut in half lengthwise then sliced into 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick squares, and patted to remove excess moisture 

2-3 tbsp raw or pre-roasted pumpkin seeds (or pistachios, lightly chopped)

Preheat oven to 375 F/190 C. In an 8 x 12 baking dish, combine all ingredients except tofu and pumpkin seeds stir to mix well. Add tofu and turn to coat each side.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, turn tofu slices, sprinkle on pumpkin seeds and return to oven to bake for another 13-15 minutes, until tofu has soaked up most of the marinade. Serve warm, pouring any remaining marinade/spices over tofu.


I made this the other night and had it in a wrap with sauteed broccoli, homemade salsa, and a tart cashew & pepita cream. It was super delicious. Otherwise, you can just have it on sandwiches, with a side of veggies for dinner, chopped up and fried up with other veggies for breakfast, etc etc. If you don't eat it all in one go, wait until it's cooled then put it in a container and store in the fridge for a day or two. It becomes a little tough in the fridge, but it's still super tasty.

Fried Tofu
The other very simple way of preparing tofu is to simply fry it. You also don't need to press it for this because the heat of the pan will dry out the tofu. If you have fresh tofu, it will often crisp up by itself, but I love to coat the slices in cornstarch (just put the slices in a bowl, add cornstarch, and toss to coat), which gives them a lovely, crispy coating.

The sliced tofu (use a larger bowl, srsly); with cornstarch; beginning to fry, and fried!

Simply cut the tofu up (I'd recommend quite thin slices, around half a centimetre), give it a bit of a dab to dry it slightly, heat up a little oil (enough to lightly grease the bottom of the pan, or add about 1mm if you've coated it with cornstarch, so the thin edges are cooked) in a frying pan, and then add in the slices. Fry until browned on one side and then flip. This is great to do before adding the tofu to curries or satays, because it holds its shape and adds something chewy and crispy to the mix. Or, just coat with teriyaki sauce and enjoy!

The Urban Vegan also has instructions for dry-frying tofu, which is completely oil- and added-fat-free (but does require pressing), which you can find here. I will discuss pressing in the next part of this series.

And the journey continues! But not for another week or so. See you then.

I'll tag all of these posts "thetofustory", so if you want to see all of them together, just click on that label.

A Quick, Easy, Hearty Pasta Recipe (And a business update!)

It all begins with pizza...

 

Last night for dinner we had fantastic pizza, and if there's one thing I can say about fantastic pizza, it's that sure as anything, the next day, I crave fantastic pasta! Great pizza is highly dependent on the base being fantastic - and it is amazing the difference using a seemingly only slightly different recipe can make. If you haven't already - try The Sexy Vegan's pizza dough. I know it takes 90 minutes, then 40 minutes, but just between you and me - you can leave it to rest 60 minutes, then 20 minutes, and it'll turn out just fine. But, I digress.

All day I had these images of pasta floating through my head. Simple, fresh, spring vegetable-y pasta, bursting with rich, umami flavours, lots of colours, a silky, light, almost non-existent sauce, and bow tie (farfalle) pasta. I don't know why it had to be bow tie, but it damn well had to be. And white. None of the normal wholemeal spirals I usually eat (I know! I bet you didn't imagine me eating wholemeal pasta alongside my beer and hedonism, but I do!!). A nice soft gluten-free pasta would work wonderfully in this, also. I also wanted a sauce that was cooked in a fry pan or wok, and nicely browned. So I whipped this up, and it fit the bill beautifully.

Simple Spring Vegetable Pasta

This dish is fairly customisable - use your choice of protein (I like a duo - seitan and legumes, but instead of seitan - some italian-style marinated tofu would work well!), the freshest, most flavoursome vegetables available and a pasta with a bit of texture to bring it all together. I recommend the addition of some lightly toasted pine nuts or walnuts, for a delicious crunch.

This dish is fairly light, so it is important to use high heat and follow the method, to coax out as much flavour as possible from the ingredients. 

Ingredients:

500g farfalle pasta (gluten-free if desired)

1 tablespoon olive oil

One green capsicum (bell pepper), sliced into strips

One red capsicum (bell pepper), sliced into strips

2 cups smoky, spicy seitan, cubed (or your choice of protein - to make gluten-free or if you'd like to use all legumes, perhaps add some chilli, smoked paprika and a sprinkle of gluten-free soy sauce or tamari for a quick burst of flavour, and double the other herbs)

1 x 400g (14 ounce) can of diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped finely

One red/spanish onion, roughly chopped

1/4-1/2 cup of white wine, or vegetable broth

1 x 400g (14 ounce) can cannelini beans, rinsed (approx 1 & 1/2 cups, cooked)

1/4 cups pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped

2 cups baby spinach leaves, washed 

1/4 - 1/2 cup of water reserved when draining cooked pasta

2 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar

Optional: 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, or chopped toasted walnuts

Olive oil and seasoning, for serving

Preparation:

1. Start boiling plenty of water for pasta (classically, ridiculous amounts of water are called for, but I generally find double enough!)

2. Peel and chop your garlic, prepare and chop your vegetables.

If you are using the optional toasted pine nuts or walnuts, and I do recommend that you do, either spread them in a single layer in a frying pan and toss regularly over medium heat, watching carefully to ensure that they do not burn, or spread on a sheet of baking paper in an 180C (350F) oven, tossing occasionally. Remove and set aside.

3. Heat a large frypan (I use a wok) over high heat, and add the olive oil to heat.

Method:

1. Add the capsicum to the pan, and toss over high heat, until lightly charred in corners, shiny, and beginning to soften (approximately 5 minutes).

2. Add a drizzle more oil, and brown seitan and capsicum for approximately another 5 minutes, tossing regularly. 

3. Add pasta to boiling water (my farfalle suggests that it takes 12 minutes - but I recommend checking it at 10 minutes - you want it al dente, not sloppy!)

4. Pour the can of tomatoes into the pan, and stir regularly over very high heat until browned, thickened, and almost dry (approximately 5 minutes).

5. Add salt, oregano, basil, onion and garlic, and stir briskly for approximately 1 minute.

6. Whilst maintaining high heat, add 1/4-1/2 cup white wine, or vegetable broth, to moisten the ingredients and scrape to deglaze the pan - and allow to evaporate.

7. Stir in the cannelini beans and olives, and heat through.

8. Reduce the heat to medium whilst adding the spinach, stirring and allowing to lightly wilt.

9. Scoop out 1-4 to 1/2 cup of starchy pasta-boiling water, and add to the sauce mixture to achieve desired consistency - make it a *little* wetter than you think will be necessary - it will disappear quickly!

10. Drain pasta, and add to wok with sauce, stirring until lusciously combined.

11. Stir in balsamic vinegar to pasta and sauce. If using, add pine nuts or walnuts, and allow to gently heat through.

12. Season to taste with additional salt, adding pepper or nutritional yeast as desired.

13. Serve! Drizzle each serving with a glug of olive oil (don't dare leave it dry!), stirring through to ensure desired sauce consistency. If you're lucky enough to have homemade vegan parmesan (from Miyoko Schinner's excellent Artisan Vegan Cheese book), now is the time to effortlessly Microplane (yes, I would do advertisements for Microplanes if they asked) on top.

Enjoy!

Thank you to all who have reached out with well-wishes for the business. We are very, very busy, and getting excellent feedback, which has absolutely warmed my heart, and keeps me inspired. For more details (and photos) of what we are up to - check out our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/deliciousregardless - or, for those of you on Twitter, you can follow us @DeliciousRegard .

Take care of each other!

Potato Pizza

After going to our favourite haunt the other night with the ever fabulous Jane, we were feeling a little peckish so, after walking Jane home, we decided to get some pizza. One, we got from a pizza chain, the other from a restaurant/bar-style place. We won't even go into how awful the pizza chain veggie pizza was, as it was what I had expected, but what I hadn't expected was that the restaurant/bar-style place's pizza would be as awful as it was! I ordered a potato and rosemary pizza (hold the parmesan) and what came out was a dry cracker with about 10 pieces of potato.

I know potato pizza is a bit "done", but I still think it's delicious (because it is), so the next night I made us one for dinner. It's super easy, really tasty, and doesn't require chopping heaps of veggies! (and, though we often forget with what we're charged at restaurants / take-away places, very inexpensive)

Potato Pizza

What You'll Need
Ingredients
1 medium-large baking potato (I used royal blue)
Nuttelex (or your favourite non-dairy butter spread)
Olive oil
Rosemary (dried or fresh)
Garlic (1 clove, crushed; or powdered)
Salt (optional)
Nutritional/savoury yeast flakes
Pizza base (either homemade or store-bought)

Store-bought pizza bases tend to turn into cracker when cooked, but sometimes you just need pizza NOW and don't have time to make pizza dough (we've all been there). Take a look in the fridge or freezer section of your supermarket for "fresh" pizza bases, which are already rolled, but are dough (unlike the dried bread disks in the bread section). Also take a look in smaller grocers, as they sometimes sell ready-to-go pizza dough (Sugo Mi sell them at their shops but also in other smaller grocers/delis), which may be unrolled, rolled AND ALREADY TOMATO PASTED (!!!) We're not using tomato paste on the base in this recipe, so avoid those, but they're really useful for other pizzas.

Utensils
Slicer (our grater has a singler slicing blade on one side which is a heck of a lot less painful than assembling/using/washing the mandoline, but isn't quite as wide so isn't particularly useful for larger potatoes; or, if you're really good at slicing potatoes really thinly, do it with a knife!)
Pizza stone
Bowl
Spoons (for measuring and mixing)
Pastry brush (if desired)

Now That You're Ready
1. Turn the oven on full blast. Put 2 tablespoons of nuttelex in a bowl and either heat in the microwave for 30 seconds, or leave on the oven while it's heating to melt it.

2. To the melted nuttelex, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, around 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, and the garlic (if using powdered garlic, around 1/2 teaspoon). Check for how salty it is; remember this for later. (this will make enough for 2 pizzas, or 1 pizza and small garlic bread)

3. Roll out/place the pizza base on the pizza stone. Either using the spoon or a pastry brush (I always find pastry brushes to be a big hassle, especially to clean up, but use it if you like it), spread the nuttelex mix over the pizza base: while it should be focussed on the centre of the pizza base, get it all the way to the edge. Sprinkle a few pinches of nutritional yeast over the top.

4. Slice the potato using the slicer; one potato should be more than enough for one pizza. Starting from the edge, place the slices of potato in concentric circles on the pizza base until it's covered; it's ok for the pieces of overlap a little bit, but you don't want them lying on top of each other too much. If you have some slices left over, make some chips! Or just compost them.

Despite the photo below, I'd probably use a bit more potato, as they shrink slightly when they cook (this isn't so much of a problem when the base is larger, unlike the one pictured below).

5. If the nuttelex mix wasn't particularly salty (mine wasn't), grind some salt over the top of the potato; if it was already salty enough. If you're a real nooch lover, sprinkle a little more over the top (you can also use a little more of the nuttelex mix over the top if you like). Put it in the oven for around 25-30 minutes, until the potato has started to crisp up. Serve and enjoy!

Kale & Chickpea Salad with Spicy Avocado Dressing

I buy kale compulsively: whenever we go to any sort of fruit market, I catch even a glimpse of those curly emerald leaves and I'm on them like nobody's business.

I wish I could say it's because I love the taste, but unfortunately... well, before too long, those gorgeous emerald leaves are looking a little yellow and I either panic and make kale chips or just give in to the inevitable and chuck them out.

So, yes, unfortunately I buy kale because it's ridiculously good for you, not because I like the taste. Weirdly, I always seem to forget that with a little bit more work, it's tasty and good for you. So, today, I opened up the fridge, saw a bit of kale left over from... well, it can't have been that long ago (...) and decided to make myself a salad.

This is a bit of a fusion between the chickpea and avocado salad I take to uni and a massage kale salad. And it's ridiculously easy AND good for you!

Kale & Chickpea Salad with Spicy Avocado Dressing
What You Need
Ingredients
Medium to large bunch of kale
Good quality olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Dash of lemon / lime juice
2 large or 4 small avocados
Harissa, or your favourite hot spice mix
1 small capsicum
Can of chickpeas

Utensils
2 bowls (one for serving the salad, one for mixing up the avocado)
Fork
Knife & chopping board

Now That You're Ready
1. Strip the kale from the stem: the easiest way to do this is to hold the stem with your left hand, wrap the thumb and index finger of your right hand around the stem where the leaves start, and pull down. Cut into strips (place on the chopping board, bunch up, and cut across every centimetre or so) and place in the serving bowl.
2. Drizzle enough olive oil in the bowl that the kale will be coated (around 1-3 tablespoons, depending on how much you're using). Add salt (I did around 6 twists of the salt grinder: using a grinder is good because the more coarse grains of salt will really help with the next step),a twist or two of pepper, and the lemon/lime juice (a little more if you'd like the flavour to come through a bit more).
3. Get your hands in there and start massaging it! Rub the oil, juice, salt, and pepper into the kale leaves and almost knead them together. This will make the leaves softer (and thus easier to chew) and will also help get rid of some of the kale "taste". Continue for about 2 or 3 minutes (or longer or shorter depending on how you like your kale), then set aside.
4. In the other bowl, add the avocado flesh and mash with the fork. Add a pinch of salt (again, add a little more to taste if you'd prefer) and about half a teaspoon of the spice. Mix until combined, then add a little more salt and/or spice until you're happy with it. Set aside.

Is it basil and tomato???! No, it's kale and capsicum! Oh, I bet you're excited now.

5. Drain the chickpeas (I'd also recommend rinsing them briefly to get rid of the can taste). Dice the capsicum (as big or as small as you want it!). Add them both to the kale and mix through.
6. And finally, add the avocado dressing into the bowl with the kale and mix through. You're done!

If you recycle dishes like we do (ha), wash out and dry the bowl that previously contained the avocado, and serve up the salad in that. Or just use a clean bowl like normal people. Or just eat it out of the serving bowl like I do. Garnish with a sprinkle of salt flakes and a twist of pepper.

Enjoy!

Thai Basil Pesto

Thai Basil Pesto

We have heaps and heaps of Thai Basil: it seems to grow better than anything else in the garden! It's a beautiful plant, but its distinctive licorice flavour means it generally isn't appropriate for using in place of sweet basil. Unfortunately, it's also not as common so we seem to have about 2 recipes in 30 cookbooks that use it! I got talking about this to Dreena (whose new cookbook is out now!) about this and she suggested I make a pesto with it (always a great way to use up heaps of basil), so here it is.

What You Need

Ingredients

1 cup thai basil

1/4 cup coriander leaves (cilantro)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup roasted & salted peanuts

Optional: sprinkle of savoury yeast flakes (nutritional yeast / nooch)

Utensils

Knife

Mini-chopper / food processor

Measuring cups / spoons

What To Do

1. Put everything except the peanuts in your food processor / mini-chopper. Process until combined (a little chunky, i.e. not completely smooth).

2. Add in the peanuts. Process as roughly or as smoothly as you like.

If you want you can just throw everything in from the start, I just find that (because the peanuts are rather soft) it makes it very peanut butter-y. If you don't like coriander, try it with the coriander in. But if you really don't like it, leave it out and just add in more basil. Of course, easily doubles or halves, and adjust to taste (especially lime juice / salt).

And there you have it; easiest thing in the universe that will add something a little different to your sandwich or dip platter (or just eat it straight out of the bowl like we do).

Nan's Vegetable Soup

Everyone had a recipe that their Nan / Nans / Pa / Pas made for them when they were younger that just brings back memories of family, safety, and deliciousness.

For me, it's my Nan's vegetable soup. She made it often, but it didn't stop me from requesting it every other time!

I'm sure vegetable soups of this kind, with little or much variation, have appeared on the tables of many of you, but I thought I'd share this "recipe" with you because it's super easy to make, has basically no fat, and is super delicious! It makes quite a lot, so it's great if you have a few people (like a couple of hungry grandkids!) to feed, or just to eat over a few days at home. The advantage of the latter is that the longer it sits, the better it gets. As such, you can easily prepare it during the day and just heat it up when you need it, so there's even less stress around dinner. Or make a huge pot of it on the weekend, and then eat it over a few days of the week (great if you have to work or study late and don't want to have to think about dinner).

This isn't exactly the same as Nan's; typically she said "I just throw these things in and then it's done" so I've adjusted it slightly to make it recipable. As such, adjust to your tastes; if you hate turnip, leave it out! Use the legumes you like, use less or more garlic, etc. It's super basic, so it's pretty easy to customise.

Nan Lovejoy's Vegetable Soup
5 cups of water
2 vegetarian beef stock cubes (such as Massel)
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
2-3 cans of mixed beans, or individual cans of chickpeas, kidney beans, cannellini beans, black beans... whatever takes your fancy!
3 large carrots
3 medium or large stalks of celery
6 (either one type or a combination of) potatoes, turnips, etc.
1 onion
Garlic to taste (1-2 cloves, or a couple of tablespoons powdered garlic)
Oregano to taste (if dry, add at the start)

Put the water in a large pot over medium heat (we're aiming for a simmer). Add the stock cubes;
as the water heats, stir occasionally until the cubes are dissolved. While the water is heating (and the cubes are dissolving) chop all vegetables (potatoes can be chunky, but if they're too large they'll taste quite bland (unless you're leaving the soup sit)). Add the chopped tomatoes to the pot, followed by the vegetables, then the beans. Simmer for 20-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. As you feel the vegetables become tender, finely chop the oregano and garlic and add them.

Once vegetables are nearly ready, taste the soup and adjust seasonings to suit. When they're ready, serve immediately or store in the fridge until ready to serve. Heats up easily on the stove or in the microwave.

Variation: add a cup or so of uncooked barley at the start; by the time the soup is ready, the barley should be too (but check just to make sure!). If using cooked barley, add just before the veggie's feel about ready (around 5 minutes towards the end).


Now that wasn't too painful, was it! Not as painful as my feet are, anyway; what I'd give for a sit down...

We went to Stanthorpe over the weekend, so we'll have a post up about our adventures there soon!

A Quick Christmas Giveaway! (It's chocolate! and it's our first!)

Hi All!

I am very excited to announce our blog's very first quick GIVEAWAY!

We're in the final stretch - less than one week until Christmas! And there is still so much to do, and so much fun to be had in the kitchen!

The wonderful Steven and Andy (and Kuro the cat!), who have recently taken over your one-stop cruelty-free online shopping destination The Vegan Store, have ever so kindly donated a christmas rice-milk chocolate gift pack for us to give away to one lucky Australian reader (sorry, overseas readers!).

If you haven't tried rice-milk chocolate, you are in for a treat.. It's a perfectly, light, sweet complement to dark chocolate. And because it's made of pure, simple ingredients, it's all organic, fair-trade, soy-free, dairy-free and gluten-free! Perfect for a Christmas present (or for you to eat while wrapping Christmas presents!!)

To enter the giveaway:

All you need to do is contact us (as below) and leave a comment, answering my question.. so here it is:  

What is your favourite Christmas tradition?  

You'll also need to Direct Message us on Twitter straight away after you enter at @mattheworbit or @jameshultgren, or contact us by email so that we can contact you first thing Tuesday morning to get your address and arrange shipping. 

You'll need to be quick, as due to shipping cut-offs as this busy time of year, we are closing this competition at midnight, Monday 19 December 2011. You'll also need to be able to send me your address first thing Tuesday morning if you are the winner, otherwise I will need to randomly select another winner.

The winner will be randomly selected (using random.org) from the comments on this post.

My Christmas tradition is to make lasagne. Every year, without fail, I make a really decadent, rich, huge lasagne, from Nonna's Italian Kitchen by Bryanna Clark Grogan. It's made of number of components (as most of the best recipes are) - an almond parmesan, a soy or cashew-cream based bechamel, and a soy or seitan-based ragu. The ragu needs to simmer for 2 hours, but by gosh, it's worth it. The whole house smells fantastic, and you can taste the layers of complexity building in the sauces over time, ingredient by ingredient (like a mad scientist) as the sauces cook down. Mmmm. The only problem is making enough, as everyone who tastes it wants seconds, without fail! 

Merry Christmas everyone, and good luck. Please share this post with your friends, so as many people have a chance as possible to enter this quick giveaway! Also, thank you so much to the gentlemen at The Vegan Store for kindly offering us this gift pack to give away!

Update: Entries to the giveaway are now closed. Congratulations to rhubarbwine, number 5, who random.org selected as the winner (and also made me laugh with her entry!) Thank you all so much for entering, retweeting, and getting the word out about our first giveaway. And thank you for all your sweet Christmas traditions (and not-sweet ones!!). You've all made both of us smile, and warmed my usually non-hugely-christmassy heart.