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.

birthday brunch baked eggs

So, it was the girlfriend's birthday recently and I wanted to impress with brunch.*

*may or may not translate as, wanted to try out a new recipe on someone.

I did what I often do when I want to try something new - in this case, baked eggs. I googled and I looked at all my recipe books. Then I closed the books and the computer and thought about what I like I make something up based on what I've read.

The result was the "best birthday breakfast" she'd ever had.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
teaspoon paprika
splash tabasco
splash balsamic
1 red capsicum
bunch english spinach
handful kalamata olives, seeded and chopped
handful mushrooms, chopped
75 grams danish feta, crumbled
2 tablespoons canned tomatoes (or chopped fresh)
2 eggs
grated parmesan
pine nuts
chopped chives
chopped jalapenos (to serve)

lebanese bread
za'atar

1. fry onion and garlic in olive oil til soft but not brown
2. add mushrooms and saute
3. add slice capsicum, spinach, tomatoes and spices
4. add tabasco and balsamix
5. allow to cool a little then spoon into ramekins, adding crumbled feta
6. make a little well in the vege mix and crack in 1 egg per ramekin
7. sprinkle over grated parmesan, pine nuts and chopped chives
8. bake on high for about half an hour or until egg whites have firmed, cheese has melted and yolk is still a bit runny
9. meanwhile rub olive oil into lebanese bread and sprinkle generously with za'atar then grill until crispy
10. serve eggs sprinkled with extra chives and chopped pickled jalapenos, with za'atar bread to dip

tofu, leek and mushroom bake

Last night I had dinner at Yulli's a new(ish) vegetarian place on Crown St. The food was ok, not amazing, but filling and varied and tasy and most importantly, we were able to have an entire vegan meal for my brother's phd celebrations.

Anyway we had some mushroom, leek and ginger dumplings and they were good, but over-gingered. So tonight I decided to make something similar (as bake not dumplings as am tired after work).

and so here it is. it is neither exact nor measured as it is a thrown together dinner. and it is one of those chuck-in-what's-in-the-cupboard-and-see-wholefood type deals.

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
a nob of ginger (about the size of two thumbs)
good splash of soy
dessert spoon of kecap manis
spices (i used about half a teaspoon of mild curry powder, cumin, paprika)
1 leek
about 12 mushrooms (button or swiss brown or field...)
cauliflower and/or broccoli (optional - I used cos I had some in the fridge, any veges would be fine)
250g soft tofu
a cup of breadcrumbs (i make my own with leftover bread)
sesame seeds
1 egg (optional. dish is vegan without the egg)

1. Fry the onion, ginger, garlic and leek in sesame or peanut oil (vegetable oil if you must)
2. Add mushrooms and other vegetables if using as well as sauces and spices
3. Stir fry for a while and crumble in tofu, stirring to combine flavours and cook a bit. You could eat it at this point as scramble tofu, but I wanted something different.
4. Oil a casserole dish and add vegetables
5. Mix bread crumbs with salt and a pinch of each of the spices and top the casserole with crumbs.
6. (optional) Whisk the egg and drizzle over.
7. Sprinkle over sesame seeds.
8. Bake until browned and crispy. Eat!


GF: to make gluten-free use gluten-free bread or skip the bread and use lots of sesame seeds. If you want carbs in there, mix through cooked brown rice or quinoa. Yum!

...

lemony veges with feta salsa

I made this delicious fresh dinner tonight when the people I sent to the shops for pepper forgot to take their phones and so I couldn't call them and tell them to get butter for the lemon / butter / pepper sauce I was hoping to make. I wanted dairy in the dinner so came up with this:

Ingredients (serves 2):
3 cloves garlic
1 small white onion
1 large fennel bulb
1 bunch asparagus
a handful of mushrooms (swiss brown best or field)
handful spinach leaves
juice of 1 lemon
lots of cracked black pepper

for the salsa:
crumbled bulgarian sheep's milk feta*
a tomato, diced
a handful of mint leaves chopped

1. Dice the onion very small and fry gently in olive oil to soften

2. Add sliced mushrooms, fennel & garlic and fry til vegetabled soften and the mushrooms start to brown a little

3. Pour in lemon juice and add spinach and asparagus

4. Stir Fry for a while, but ensure vegetables are al dente - have a bit of crunch

5. Stir together salsa ingredients and serve salsa on top of the veges.

* A Note on Feta:
The kind of feta you use is important and if a recipe just calls for feta, it is stupid (unless I have done that in previous recipes...I am not stupid...) Seriously though there is such a difference in flavour and texture and fetas respond differently to heat. I like danish feta for cooking (especially sauces) as it melts well, bulgarian feta is beautiful as it is crumbly AND creamy, whereas Greek feta is great in salads as it is firm and salty.

...

tvp and noodle stir fry

So I've never cooked this tvp business before but a workmate bought some and didn't like it so she gave it to me. It's never a good sign when someone dislikes something so much they give it away, but I was willing to give the stuff a go even if it does look like dog food.

So! I made tvp stir fry and while the texture is a bit strange it's nice to have tofu in a different way and I'll probably use it again, though perhaps not often.

I haven't put very exact quantities (as if I ever do), because stir fries are so haphazard for me.

Ingredients:
1 cup tvp (you need to soak it in 1 cup boiling water for 5mins, I put a quarter of a vege stock cube in too)
rice noodles
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
small nob ginger, grated
small stick lemongrass, chopped finely
half an onion, chopped
1 red chilli
broccoli broken into florets
red capsicum, chopped
mushrooms, sliced
soy sauce
kecap manis
juice of half a lemon
sesame oil (or vege oil)

1. soak the tvp
2. meanwhile, fry onion, garlic, chilli, ginger and lemongrass in sesame til softened but not browned
3. add mushrooms
4. when mushies are starting to brown, add tvp
5. add soy, kecap manis, lemon
6. fry for a while
7. add broccoli and capsicum (and, well, any other veges you like)
8. add noodles, toss and fry

*this one isn't rocket science but it was my first go with tvp so i wanted to give it a post*
...

Alanta's Stuffed Eggplants

My lovely housemate Alanta left so we thought we'd throw her a dinner party. One of her favourite things is eggplant and thus, these stuffed eggplants were born.

Though, as with any recipe, acknowledgements are never so simple a one person's favourite veg. The stuffing stems from a rice bake my friend Amy used to make in high school...combined with a jaffle I had at a queer porn film fest a few weeks back.

YUM.

serves 8

Ingredients:
4 large eggplants
2 cups (uncooked quantity) brown rice
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic (depending how much you like garlic...)
button mushrooms
big bunch english spinach
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 blocks danish feta (sorry i don't know grams, a block should be about the size of your palm, and about an inch thick...)
a handful chopped parsley
good splash tabasco
seasoning (i use salt, pepper, cumin and paprika)
sesame seeds and parmesan to garnish

1. Halve each eggplant lengthways. Rest it on its side first to see where it will comfortably sit then slice lengthways accordingly.

2. You need to scoop out the flesh of the eggplant leaving about 1cm in. Use a small sharp knife and carve out the majority, setting it aside (you will use it). I then smoothed and got the leftovers with a spoon.

3. Salt the eggplant (innards and shells) and set aside. After 10 mins or so wash and press dry.

4. Chop garlic and onion and fry in olive til soft but not browned.

5. Add chopped mushrooms and eggplant and fry for a while to soften and mingle the flavours.

6. Meanwhile, cook the brown rice. I am lazy and use a rice cooker!

7. Stir together the rice, eggplant, mushrooms, spinach, feta* and flavours (tahini, salt & pepper etc)

8. When the filling is cold, add crumbled feta and parsley

9. Stuff eggplant halves with the mixture and place on oiled baking trays. Splash oil over the eggplants (this will speed up cooking, give a nice crispy skin and flavour).

10. Sprinkle the tops with parmesan and sesame seeds.

11. Bake til cases have softened and the top is browned and crispy.

tomato, sage and vege pasta

I made this for dinner, based on what was in the fridge and which herbs in the garden were looking most bountiful. It was surprisingly delicious for something thrown together so I thought I'd share.

Ingredients:
- Pasta (I used spinach spaghetti)
- Button Mushrooms
- Peas
- about 4 fresh sage leaves per person, chopped small
- a teaspoon of brown sugar
- half an onion, diced very small
- a cup of oven roasted tomato sauce (posted below) or any simple tomato / garlic pasta sauce
goats cheese to garnish (I stand by Meredith Marinated Goats Cheese as the best goats cheese, indeed the best cheese maybe in Australia)

1. Fry onion mushrooms and sage in olive oil (if you have sensibly purchased Meredith cheese, use a little of the oil in comes marinated in. I never chuck out this oil but use it for salad dressings and sauces. Fry for about 5 minutes

2. Sprinkle brown sugar into the mixture and fry for a further 5 minutes.

3. Add sauce and peas and cook to combine.

4. Cook pasta and then add to sauce and mix to combine.

5. Crumble goats cheese over the top and eat! Yum!