Tempeh bourguignon ... such a suprise!

Now, this is a twist of what we prepared for our Xmas dinner at Ernst's place (mushroom bourguignon with butternut squash purée) ... we happened to find  a big chunk of tempeh for just 2 euros and to have some of the wine we had used for the Xmas marinade still in the fridge - we put two and two together and came up with a recipe that could combine both of them ...

we started by marinating the chopped up tempeh in some red wine with thyme and rosemary for about one hour ... in the meantime, we chopped onions, shallots, garlic and carrots in big chunks and slowly cooked them in a little olive oil for about twenty minutes, until they were nice and soft ... we added some sugar, to caramelise them, then we added the tempeh (saving the juice) and cooked the whole lot slowly for about 10 minutes, then we added some concentrated tomato and started adding the wine, whilst turning up the heat to make the alcohol evaporate (you want the aroma, you don't want to get drunk) ... at the end, we added some chopped tomatoes and waited until they wilted and finally, a little bit of flour, to make the whole lot nice and creamy ... you can see the result below:

we served it with some polenta (the quick kind, just made with salty water) and it was nutty and flavoursome and just very, very good! definitely a nice way to use the otherwise a bit dull but very healthy tempeh ...

Okra ... this misterious thing!

It all started when Ernst saw some okras at the local Asian shop and convinced me to buy them ... after a week languishing in the fridge, I took the courage with both hands and looked up a recipe on the internet ... my first (and last) port of call was a German/English website from a fellow traveller, who also happens to be an excellent cook ... the original recipe is to be found on the following link:

http://www.lotusartichoke.com/sindhi-bhindi-masala/

Okras are a bit tricky, as I don't really know what they exactly are and I had never cooked them before, although I happened to eat them both in India and in Cambodia ... they can get a bit sticky if handled wrongly, therefore, I was a bit weary of them at first, but Justin's recipe of a "dry curry" somehow manages to get the best out of them ...

It's - again.- very straight forward ... I starting by frying some black mustard seeds in olive oil until they popped, then added some dry curry leaves, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli, onion and garlic (the recipe called for asafoetida or hing, which is impossible to find in Austria, so I just skipped it) ... at this point, my kitchen smelled a bit like Bombay but the fragrance from the wok was incredible ... then I added the chopped okras and some chopped tomatoes (not too much, as I didn't really wanted a sauce to develop, just some fluids to cook the okras with) ... when the whole lot was almost cooked, I added some water and chickpea flour, to make the remaining liquid a bit thick ... salt, pepper, some chopped coriander (omnipresent in my fridge) and voilà ... as I forgot to cook some rice to go with it, I simply accompanied it with some wholegrain bread ... I can assure you that it took us three minutes flat to finish our plates!

Love me two times - zucchini spaghetti with two different sauces ...

The zucchini-maker is a gadget I wanted for a long time, no surprised Ernst bought it for us for Christmas ... it is in fact a "spiralizer", meaning that it cuts all veggies in a spiral shape, which is at the same time cute and useful, especially if you are after veggie spaghettis - as I was ...

with the aid of two organic zucchinis, we managed to make two excellent dishes, inspired by the vegan master Attila Hildmann and his book "vegan for fit" ...

The first recipe is "Zucchini-spaghetti alla carbonara" and it takes literally 10 minutes to make, even if you are a slow veggie cutter ...

The picture is not really good (it was taken with my phone), but the result is ... I started by gently frying onion, garlic and some smoked tofu in a little olive oil, then I added some almond mousse mixed with water, lemon peel, some lemon juice and some coriander (the recipe asked for coriander, which I didn't have) and let it simmer until it thickened nicely ... in the meantime, Ernst cut two zucchini into spaghettis and added some salt and olive oil, before simply mixing them with the sauce - we let them combine in the pan for about a minute before serving and I can say that they were simply light and delicious - a great alternative to the "real" thing!

The zucchini-spaghetti reloaded was a simple recipe with tomato sauce and some green pepper - we added a couple of sun-dried tomatoes and concentrated tomatoes to keep it as thick as possible, as the zucchinis themselves release some water as soon as they hit the pan ...

Although it was not as delicious as the first recipe, it was still very good and very light, definitely a very nice dinner ... it may require some tweaking but we were quite happy with the result nevertheless!

Wholegrain orecchiette with radicchio, nuts and fresh tomatoes

This is a very easy, very quick and apparently very healthy recipe ... as the radicchio, like all bitter vegetables, helps to purify the liver, which is not a bad idea after Christmas ...

Gently fry shallots (or onions) and garlic in some olive oil until golden, then add the radicchio (we cut it in thin stripes) and let it cook, possibly covered, for a couple of minutes, until it wilts and slightly changes its colour ... at this point, add some salt, pepper, a bay leaf and something sweet (I went for maple syrup but agave or just some sugar will work) and let it caramelise - you need the sweetness to contrast the bitterness of the radicchio ... then some concentrated tomato and some fresh tomatoes, coarsely chopped - their stinginess works really well in this dish ... if you like it, some chilli is also welcome at this point ...

As the tomatoes start to wilt, add some roughly chopped nuts - pine nuts would be perfect, but I happened to have only Brazilian nuts so I did with them ... and finally, the wholegrain orecchiette (any other pasta would work equally well), cooked "al dente", of course ... put them in the pan with the sauce for a couple of minutes, just the time to be coated, and serve immediately - I chopped some coriander on the top and added a lit of bit of olive oil at the end, but that's just my taste - enjoy!

Oven-baked pizzoccheri pasta with cabbage

This is a great way to use something that may be otherwise a bit boring: cabbage!

We started by steaming the cabbage for about 10 minutes, then we pan fried it with olive oil, garlic and onion, adding some caraway to make it easier to digest and some maple syrup to ensure it wouldn't be too bitter ... spices: salt, pepper, cayenne pepper ... in the mean time we cooked the pizzoccheri pasta in some salty water (we used pizzoccheri as we had received them as a present from my brother, but a whole-meal pasta would have also worked well, I guess) ... when the pasta was ready, we mixed it with the cabbage, we let it cook for a couple of minutes and then we moved it to an oven-proof dish - we topped it with almond mousse and some nutritional yeast and we popped it in the oven at 200°C for about 20 minutes, until nice and crusty - yummy!!!

Improvised tofu bolognese with four tomatoes on chilli spaghetti

This is almost a regular veggie Bolognese but with a kick ... I started by gently frying some chilli paste in some olive oil, adding garlic, onion, finely chopped carrot and some natural tofu in small cubes ... then it was time for the four tomatoes: some sun dried tomatoes, some concentrated tomato, some tomato sauce and finally some fresh tomatoes ... as spices: some vegetable stock, some oregano and a bay leaf, salt, pepper and a bit of chilli ... on the top, just before serving: chopped coriander (basil would do, too) and some nutritional yeast to mimic the (missing) cheese ... we served the sauce with chilli spaghetti, but it would be great on every sort of pasta ... it took about 20 minutes to make and it was just delicious!

Quick and easy chicory and spelt risotto with salad

 

An alternative to the "usual" rice risotto - quick, easy and even healthier than the original!

 

The base is the usual - olive oil, minced carrot, onion, garlic and celery (if you like the taste), the original recipe called for chopped radicchio but I could not find it, therefore, I reverted to a kind of chicory that is still growing in my mother-in-law's garden ... it could actually work with any bitter veg, I guess ... then I just added 200 g of spelt (in corns), which was more than enough for two servings each for me and Ernst, and for Ernst's lunch the day after :) ... and let it simmer in some vegetable broth for about 25 minutes - the result is below (thank you, Ernst, for the pretty presentation) ...

 

it went very well with the tangy salad (dressing: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, some lemon zest, salt and pepper) but a carrot salad (maybe with some sesame seeds on the top) would have been equally good ...

  

 

 

 

Improvised, fridge-emptying chinese stir fry with shirataki noodles

For the first entry on my new blog, I really wanted to cook something amazingly special ... but then again, this is a blog from a semi-serious, beginner vegan cook (myself) addressed to the even less experienced vegan novice, therefore, I decided to start with an easy peasy recipe: a Chinese stir fry with lots of veggies and shirataki (Japanese noodles) ...

I basically used everything that had been lingering in my fridge for more than a couple of days (fresh ginger, fresh coriander, a carrot, a yellow pepper, a head of cabbage, some bean sprouts, a piece of firm tofu), scavenged the freezer for some frozen peas and the remaining frozen broccoli, added a clove of garlic and half a red onion and voilà - ready!

The beauty of this dish is that you can throw in it anything you like: cauliflower, zucchini, spinach, mushrooms and it will turn out delicious anyway ...

I used extra virgin olive oil as a base and a mix of three different soy sauces to coat the veggies (just because I happened to have three, one of which pretty thick and sweetly instead of salty) and decided to try some shirataki noodles that my brother had brought on his last visit ... I had no idea how they were, as the noodles are actually made from a Japanese root and not from wheat or rice, but they turned up to be extremely mild and neutral, as a matter of fact, they took the taste of the veggie sauce (so mainly soy sauce and spices), but they are apparently very low in calories, which may be a bonus if you are watching your figure ;) ... the usual rice noodles or even normal noodles would work equally well

As spices go, I used my last bit of "Chinese spice" and added some curcuma and coriander to it, and of course, a bit of chilli ... I could have added some roasted sesame on the top, but I thought about that half way down lunch, therefore, it will be for next time ...

sorry if the picture is not very good, I am not a food-porn addict ;) ... but I can assure you that it was very good and went down a treat!!