Silverbeet, Pea and Watercress Soup with croutons

First up, the croutons…

…really added a lot to this soup. They came about because I bought a loaf of DELICIOUS potato & rosemary bread from Central Baking Depot, but forgot about it and it went stale. Not one to waste, I ripped it into chunks (crust and all) and baked it in the oven til crispy.

Now the soup…

Ingredients (are as always not weighed or measured as I make these things for dinner and am usually tired and hungry)

• onion
• few cloves garlic
• silverbeet and water cress in equal amounts
• about 15Og peas
• vege stock
• 1 carrot
• sprinkling dried mixed herbs
• goats cheese or sour cream to serve
• lots chopped parsley to serve

1. 1. Fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil to soften
2. 2. Add the chopped white stalks of the silverbeet and fry a little to soften
3. 3. Add the peas, herbs and stock and bring to the boil
4. 4. Add the green parts of the silverbeet and cook for about 15 minutes.
5. 5. Take off heat and stir in water cress leaves to wilt
6. 6. Blend
7. 7. Re-heat (but don’t boil extensively]
8. 8. Serve over croutons with a dollop of goats cheese or sour cream and a generous helping of chopped parsley

What do you do when all you have in the fridge is a fennel bulb and a can of lentils?

Lentil and Fennel Soup

1 can brown lentils
1 onion
Half a lemon juice
Teaspoon oregano
3 cloves garlic
vege stock
splash Tabasco
1 shallot

Fry onion in olive oil til softened. Add sliced fennel and sliced garlic and stir fry for a while. Squeeze in lemon juice. Add Tabasco and oregano then just cover with vege stock. Add lentils and serve.

Serve topped with sliced shallot.

more wasabi: Kale, Kumera and Tempeh with wasabi mayo

I'm trying to shop almost exclusively "in season" which means I am repeating a lot of ingredients here as they are what I can buy at Alfalfa House. Still it's nice to have options when you buy something in bulk, so here's my latest wasabi / sweet potato excursion.

Ingredients:

1 kumera / sweet potato

half a bunch or so of kale

2 carrots

1 packet tempeh (Alfalfa House sells amazing fresh tempeh, in a clear packet. If you live nearby GET SOME)

thumb-length nob of ginger, finely sliced julienne

3 large cloves garlic, finely sliced

2 spring onions, inc green parts

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 a lemon, juiced

1/2 lime, juiced (you could just use 1 lemon)

sesame oil for frying / roasting

water

wasabi mayo (which can easily be made by mixing wasabi paste and mayo - or vegan mayo - together to taste)

1. Cube the sweet potato and lay out on a sesame oiled baking tray. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and toss around the tray to coat a little with the oil. Roast in the oven on medium heat.

2. Meanwhile, cube the tempeh (about 1.5cm square) and fry in sesame oil, chilli flakes and soy sauce til crispy and just starting to burn.

3. Add the tempeh to the oven tray and turn the oven down, leaving the tray in the oven to keep it warm.

4. Rip the kale into pieces and cube the carrot small.

5. Fry the julienned ginger and garlic in sesame oil for a couple of minutes, then add 1 tbsp water, stopping them from browning.

6. Add the kale, carrot, lemon and lime juice (plus a little splash more soy) to the pan and stir fry, further cooking the garlic and ginger and softening the kale and carrot. (I like my carrot really crunchy so I actually didn't add it til a few minutes in).

7. Slice the spring onion

8. Place some kale & carrot on a plate, then top with tempeh and sweet potato. Garnish with spring onions and pop a dollop of wasabi mayo on the side.

Eat!

Sweet Potato, Red Lentil and Coconut Soup

Oh I really must start using measurements. But while I know them to be important, my brand of savoury experimenting just doesn't require them. I promise I will start. But not today. So, here goes - another vague recipe. Also, am aware crappy iphone pics of food are, well, crappy, but alas I cannot find the cord that connects camera to computer.

Years ago a housemate of mine, Lou, made a soup like this and it was divine. I decided to make it for a friend who came over last week to flush my nasal passages with salt water - a yogic practice of some sort that I agreed to mainly because I like the phrase "flush my passages" so much. He told me dairy was bad for the flu (which I know already but ignore) so I set about making vegan dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red lentils, soaked over night
• 1 large sweet potato, chopped into small pieces
• Half a can of coconut cream
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 3 large cloves of garlic
• 1 nob of ginger approx. 2cm square
• Vege stock
• 2 teaspoons dried chilli (or fresh chilli) - the amount of chilli really depends on your taste. I like to add little bit by little bit tasting along the way
• 1 heaped teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried coriander powder
• Salt & Pepper
• Sesame oil for frying (or vege or canola oil)

1. Soak lentils overnight in water, covered by a cloth.

2. Lightly fry the ginger (grated on a small hole grater) and onion in oil. Add spices. As they soften, add the chopped garlic.

3. Add the lentils and chopped sweet potato and cover the mixture with vege stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer til the sweet potato and lentils are very soft.

4. Blend til smooth.

5. At this point, you can leave the mixture overnight (if preparing in advance) or freeze portions. This soup was actually the most flavoursome on day 3!

6. Heat soup before serving and add coconut milk. Stir and serve.

I served this with cumin flat/crispbread. Shall be uploading various flat bread recipes soon!

...

Wasabi Vege Tortilla Wrap

The other night I attempted to make a sweet potato cous cous salad for my favourite homo, Cameron. I went about my cous cous making the same way I always do but it rapidly turned into a globby, gooey, mashed-potato-porridge lump! I think the cous cous belonged to my subletter from months ago and had been in the cupboard some time...

Anywaaaay, I quickly turned to my fridge-full-of-tortilla (the accidental purchase that just keeps giving) and made the following.

NB: Cameron said it was too much wasabi for him. Pansy.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 tortilla wrap per person
• Half a sweet potato, cut into teeny tiny cubes (1cm square)
• 5-6 snow peas
• 6 asparagus spears
• a few button mushrooms
• 1 spring onion, chopped (inc green part)
• 1 large garlic clove (I also used a couple of cloves I had pre-roasted)
• 2 teaspoons whole egg mayo (I can't emphasise the importance of whole egg enough. Do NOT use that sugary Praise shit)
• 1 teaspoon wasabi (or less if your guest is a pansy)
• Salt & Pepper
• Sesame oil for roasting / frying

1. Spread the sweet potato out on an oiled (sesame or peanut is best but vege or canola will do) oven tray, sprinkle with salt & pepper and roast in a medium oven til soft and browning.

2. Meanwhile, slice the other veges.

3. Fry the mushrooms first, in a little sesame oil. Then add the chopped fresh garlic.

4. Mix together the mayo and wasabi (in a little bowl - or, if you hate washing up, smear them together directly onto the tortilla). You can also smear some slow roasted garlic onto the tortilla if you have some (and if you love garlic).

5. When the sweet potato is done, turn off the oven and chuck the snow peas, asparagus and spring onion into the mushroom pan and fry til just cooked but still crunchy (only a few minutes!)

6. Place the veges on the wasabi-mayo-ed tortilla, wrap and eat like a burrito or soft taco.

Easy What's-in-the-fridge Quesadilla

I was hungry on the weekend and scanned an odd selection of ingredients in my fridge in the hope of inspiration. I had a party recently where I intended to make Mexican food, changed my mind at the last minute and ended up with a whole lot of tortilla. And so, my first attempt at a quesadilla (which doesn't really resemble a traditional quesadilla) was born. It was delicious so I blog it.

Ingredients:

• 2 wholemeal tortilla per person
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• teaspoon chopped fresh dill
• sliced red capsicum
• a few chopped green olives
• handful baby spinach
• grated mozarella
• some goats cheese or Danish feta (Meredith Goats cheese is cheese of the Gods and worth the cash. Just sayin')

1. Fry the onions and garlic til soft and a little browned if you like 'em that way

2. Meanwhile, slice the other veges and grate the cheese

3. Take the onions and garlic out of the pan and place the tortilla in, on a low heat

4. Place all toppings on the tortilla, like you would a pizza. Start with half the cheese, then add veges, then add the rest of the cheese. NB: I recommend placing some mozarella around the rim of the tortilla as, when it melts, you can use it to stick the top tortilla to the bottom

5. Once your toppings are on, place another tortilla on top and press down with spatula or hands til the melting cheese sticks them together

6. Carefully flip the quesadilla with a large spatula (or in whatever way you can without all the ingredients spilling out)

7. Toast on both sides til toppings are warm and tortilla crispy

8. Remove. Cut into quarters. Eat.

The toppings I used really were delicious, but you could of course use anything you liked.

Tofu, Black Bean and Spinach Stew with Tortilla

I made this on a whim, so didn't really use specific quantities... It was super hearty and delicious.

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 block of firm tofu, cut into little cubes (about 1cm square)
• approx. 1 cub dry black beans, which you have soaked overnight in water
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 1 large onion
• 1 heaped teaspoon of powdered chipotle chilli
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried coriander seed powder
• half a teaspoon of cumin
• vege stock (fresh or cubes added to water)
• generous handful of spinach

To serve:

• wholemeal tortilla wraps (or lebanese bread or mountain bread)
• cumin
• olive oil
• goats cheese (or sour cream)
• parsley

1. In case you missed it above, black beans must be soaked overnight.

2. Chop garlic and onion and fry in olive oil til softened but not browned

3. Add spices and tofu cubes and fry a little longer

4. Rinse black beans in a sieve and add to pot. Cover with vege stock and bring to the boil.

5. Slow boil for several hours. I cooked mine about 3 hours on a slow boil. If you have a slow cooker you could use that. I don't so I just used a little pan. You will need to check it regularly and add water as it evaporates so it doesn't burn.

6. Just before eating, add spinach leaves and stir to wilt.

7. Rub olive oil into tortilla and dust with cumin, salt and pepper. Place under a hot grill and toast til browning. When you first pull them out they will be soft - you can fold or shape them and then they will harden in the pretty shape as they cool a little.

8. Serve soup with a dollop of goats cheese (or feta, or sour cream or nothing if you are vegan), chopped parsley and the tortilla.

Note: This would be delicious with mushrooms I think. Just a thought!