Vegan Month – part 1 (Chinese)

17 03 2011

After years of “issues” I thought I’d go see a nutritionist. Ange suggested I take a MetaMetrix BloodSpot test to check against 30 food types for any sensitivity. After much hesitation at the thought of deliberately and consciously injuring myself to take blood samples I went for it – a tiny prick on my middle finger. The samples were sent off to the lab and the results came back a week later. The results showed a severe sensitivity to eggs and milk! Great. So here I am just over two weeks into a month of being a vegan. After a month I can start to slowly reintroduce milk, eggs, cheese to see how my body reacts. I crave cheese on toast and omelettes.

I thought it would be easy, and in some ways it is, but I have to read the ingredients on EVERYTHING so shopping takes time and planning meals takes more thought. On the plus side it has helped me to stop snacking and I think I am losing a little weight.

So having tired of hummus and felafel I thought I’d try a tasty, protein rich stir fry, but with a twist. So here is my tofu and mushrooms in black bean sauce with buckwheat noodles served together with pak choi, stir fried with ginger, garlic and chili.

This served 4 with a little left over for tomorrow’s lunch

For the Tofu and Mushrooms
1 slab of firm tofu (Dragonfly is better than the more readily available Cauldron Foods)
approx 12 mushrooms – cut onto chunks
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
A drizzle of sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
handful of unsalted cashew nuts
3 tablespoons black bean and chili sauce
large handful of buckwheat noodles

Drain the tofu, wrap in a clean tea towel and place a smallish weight on top. Leave for 15 minutes until fairly dry. Cut into bite sized chunks.

While the tofu is drying put a pan of water on the hob to boil. When boiling add the noodles, simmer for 3 minutes then drain and set to one side.

Heat the oils in a wok. When smoking add the tofu and fry gently, stirring occasionally until browned and starting to crisp. Remove from the oil.

Put the cashews in the wok, fry for a second then add the mushrooms and soy sauce. Fry on a medium heat and keep stirring. After 3-4 minutes add the fried tofu pieces and black bean sauce. Stir then add the drained noodles. Stir to make sure everything is well coated with the sauce and heated through.

For the pak choi
Large pack of pak choi, bok choi, choy sum or Chinese broccoli. Large heads can be sliced in half.
1 red chili – finely chopped
1 clove garlic – finely chopped
3 spring onions – finely sliced
2 teaspoons root ginger – finely chopped
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Heat the sunflower oil in another wok or a large frying pan. When hot add the chili, garlic, ginger and spring onions. Stir fry gently for about one minute. Now add the greens, the sesame oil and the soy sauce. Stir well then cover the wok or pan with a lid and let the greens sweat down a little. When starting to wilt they are done. The stems should be crunchy while the leafy ends quite soft.


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Chinese Vegetable and Tofu Stew

29 01 2011

An early celebration of Chinese New Year. Inspired by (and almost copied from) Ken Hom.

100g or so of each of the following
- trimmed whole mange tout
- shredded savoy cabbage
- finely sliced red pepper
- sliced courgette
- mushrooms – halved of quartered depending on their size
- broccoli – cut into small florets
1 block firm tofu cut into cubes – I used Dragonfly’s deep fried tofu
600ml water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons black bean and chili sauce
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt

Take a large saucepan and pour in the water. Add the soy, hoisin and black bean and chili sauces. Bring to the boil. Now add the broccoli and cabbage. bring to boil then add the red pepper and mushrooms. bring back to the boil and add the courgettes, mange tout and tofu. Simmer for about 4 minutes then add the salt and sesame oil. Stir and serve with sticky rice and a side dish of pak choi stir fried with garlic, chili, spring onion and sesame seeds.


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Marinated Tofu Fritters

4 04 2010

I’d planned to make this for the veggies in my house and serve fish and chips to the others, but they all wanted this so I went without supper. 4 clean plates though made it all worthwhile.

4 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 red chili – sliced
1 spring onion – sliced
1 teaspoon honey
1x 250g block of firm tofu

Start my drying out the tofu a little. Drain from the packaging. Place in a clean tea towel then put something not too heavy on top – a large chopping board will do. This will gently squeeze some of the water out of the tofu. so it can absorb the flavours of the marinade.

After about 15 minutes unwrap the tofu and cut into two triangles, then cut each triangle in half across the breadth – in other words make them hafl as thick. Mix all the marinade ingredients well pour over the tofu making sure each piece is covered. leave for about 30 minutes by which time most of the marinade will have been absorbed.

Take each piece from the marinade, dip into flour, then beaten egg then seasoned white breadcrumbs. Fry gently in a little olive oil until crisp and golden on the outside.


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Stir Fry

12 03 2010

Stir fries don’t always have to be made at the end of the week from the left over veg. The trick with stir fries is not to overdo the number of different vegetables and to always use a base of finely chopped ginger and garlic, spring onions, chopped chili and cashew nuts.

For this version I used

sunflower oil
sesame oil
soy sauce – the light one is nicer I think
small piece of ginger – finely chopped
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
4 spring onions – sliced
1 red chili – deseeded and sliced
60g cashew nuts
1x250g block of firm tofu
broccoli – cut into smallish florets
a handful of mushrooms – quartered
half a red pepper – sliced into strips
2 courgettes – cut into rough chunks

basmati or long grain rice
2 eggs – beaten with a little sesame oil
handful of frozen peas

Start by making to rice as you will fry it again later. Place as much rice as you need in a pan. Cover with water – about 1cm over the top of the rice. Bring to the boil until peaks start to form. Cover with the pan lid and turn the heat off. Leave for 15-20 minutes until the water has all been absorbed.

Meanwhile drain the tofu, cover with a tea towel and place a heavy(ish) object on it – a large pan will do. This will gently squeeze the liquid from the tofu which gives it a better texture when cooked. After about 10 minutes, cut the tofu into chunks.

Heat sunflower oil in a wok or large frying pan. When starting to smoke add the tofu and stir fry for a few minutes until browned. Remove from the oil, sprinkle with a little soy sauce and leave to one side.

Return the wok to the heat and add the ginger, garlic, chili, spring onions and cashew nuts. Fry for a seconds than add the other vegetables except the peas. Drizzle with soy sauce and stir fry. When the veg is hot but still a little crisp, drizzle with sesame oil and stir well.

Now return to the rice. Take a large frying pan and add a little sunflower oil. Heat then add the scrambled eggs and fry gently until set. Chop the omelette up with a spatula then add the rice and peas. Stir again and then let it fry off until nice and hot. Stir occasionally.

Serve with sweet chili sauce if you like


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Healthy Junk Food

2 07 2009

It’s been one of those days. Stuck in traffic trying to avoid the A40 closure, thinking not only about how I can negotiate my way round West London to get home, but what to eat when I get there. West London suburbs seem to be teeming with fast food joints. The smell of fried onions and hot fat are overwhelming even with the car windows closed. Still, it made me think that I really fancy a burger – not a bought veggie burger that resembles plastic or cardboard, but a wholesome veggie burger full of nice things.

I managed to avoid making chips, mainly by the fact I had just bought three huge bunches of asparagus from a stall at Windsor farmer’s market on Saturday morning and wasn’t going to let them go to waste. So here it is – a mixed nut, seed and tofu burger in a bun, with a dollop of Boursin, lashings of ketchup (Heinz of course) and fried asparagus.

DSC_0248 (8)

Finally, after several requests, I found the scrap pf paper I scribbled the recipe down on. They weren’t bad, but lacking something. Not sure what. If you try making them let me know what you think. Perhaps a teaspoon of Marmite to strengthen the flavours would help.

3 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 onions – finely chopped
1 green or red pepper – finely chopped
8-10 mushrooms – finely chopped
1 teaspoon each of dried thyme, basil and oregano
A splash of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 egg – beaten
about 300g mixed nuts and seeds
about 300g breadcrumbs of oats – or breadcrumbs would work too I think

Heat the oil on a very large fyring pan and gently fry the onion until softened but not browned. Add the pepper, mushroom, herbs and soy and continue to fry until everything soft and most of the liquid has evaporated.

Transfer contents to a large bowl and add the tomato puree. Grind the nuts and seeds (I used hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds) and add these to the bowl. Stir in the egg then add the breadcrumbs or oats and mix until you have a fairly firm consistency.

Shape into about 10 burgers (I lay out muffin rings on a baking sheet and pack each ring firmly with the mixture then remove the rings). Bake in the oven at 180C for 20-25 minutes until firm.


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There’s no food, we want a Dominos?”

1 03 2009

I don’t know where it all goes. I go to the supermarket at the weekend and spent a small fortune, get a large veg box delivered and still we seem to run out of food by Wednesday. Determined not to succumb to the kids’ wishes I hunted around the back of the fridge and in the larder and managed to find a block of tofu, just on the verge of going past the use by date, a few mushrooms and some rice.

I managed to rustle up a Tofu and Mushroom Stroganoff with rice and potatoes.

Serves 4 (ish)

Start with the rice and potatoes
enough basmati rice for 4 people – about 2 mugfuls. You could use long grain, but basmati is better
2 medium potatoes – peeled and sliced into 1/2 cm slices
butter

Place the rice in a pan of water and bring to boil. Remove from heat and drain. Put the rice to one side. Return pan to medium heat and add a generous knob of butter. When the butter has melted line the base of the pan with the potato slices. Cut some of the slices to fill the gaps. You shouldn\’t be able to see the bottom of the pan. Add the drained rice, a splash of water and a knob of butter. Cover and leave for 30-40 minutes. the rice will steam and the potatoes will fry in the butter.

For the Stroganoff
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
250g block of firm tofu
1 onion – finely chopped
½ red pepper – finely chopped
mushrooms – I forgot to weigh these but think it was about 20 – roughly chopped or torn
1 teaspoon paprika powder
1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder
½ teaspoon dried thyme
284ml single cream or half cream
salt and black pepper
handful of fresh coriander – roughly chopped

Start by drying the tofu – wrap in kitchen paper of a tea towel and place a small weight on it to squeeze out some of the water. Leave for about 10 minutes then cut into 1cm cubes.

Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan and fry the tofu until nicely browned – about 10-15 minutes. Now add the onions and peppers and fry until soft. Add the paprika, bouillon, thyme and mushrooms. Stir, then cover and cook for 10 minutes until everything is cooked. Remove from the heat and add the cream. Season to taste.

Serve with the rice and topped off with a sprinkling of chopped coriander.


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