Neat Balls

So this isn't my idea....but well worth sharing! I had dinner at my friend Cat's house the other night - and she shared the idea with me, I loved it so much, I made my own version for dinner last night. Mine just included some baby zucchini in the sauce as I'm craving more greens (funny isn't it...a vegetarian, who eats loads of greens, but still craving more!)

Here is the link to the recipe.

http://www.vegangela.com/2010/10/05/vegan-meat-balls/

Thanks to my darling friend Cat and her boyfriend Jez for a delicious and satisfying Vegan winter dinner party xo



MUFFINS FOR DINNER

Sometimes a vegetarian simply runs out of ideas...and when this happens, they end up making something that you would normally eat for breakfast turn itself in to dinner....enter the dinner muffin! A savory muffin of your choice topped with a creamed spinach sauce and served with a hearty salad.

Muffin Recipe

2 Eggs

4 table spoons olive oil

3/4 cup milk

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup normal flour

Salt, pepper, and other seasoning like grated onion & diced herbs

1 cup grated cheese

4 table spoons Greek yoghurt

Mix all ingredients together well, spoon in to greased muffin tray and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

BEAUTIFUL BEETROOT

BEAUTIFUL BEETROOT

Thanks to my darling friend Val for another delicious dinner last night! Check out this stunning starter of beautiful beetroot and fresh salad greens on a garlic infused ciabatta drizzled with a totally tasty dressing. Val...you rock in the kitchen!

BIG MAMA BAKED BEANS

BIG MAMA BAKED BEANS

Home made baked beans are simple, delicious, cost effective and full of superb vegetable protein. I used "butter beans" - which are also known as "lima beans". The beans must be soaked over night and then boiled in a large pot with water - but no salt. These beans took about an hour to become soft, keep an eye on your beans though, you don't want them to go mushy. In the mean time I made up a simple chilli tomato sauce using onions, garlic, chilli and whole peeled tomatoes. When the beans are ready drain well and add to the tomato mixture. Let cook for a further 10 minutes.

Serve on mashed potato or whole grain toast. 

PAPRIKA BEANS WITH TAGLIATELLE

PAPRIKA BEANS WITH TAGLIATELLE

Prepare beans as per the below post
http://suevegetarian.blogspot.com/2012/01/paprika-chilli-beans.html
- and serve with your favorite pasta :)

PAPRIKA CHILLI BEANS

PAPRIKA CHILLI BEANS

This looks and feels like you are eating something naughty - but it is actually full of great vegetable protein and as long as you limit the nachos - and don't be tempted to put a pile of cheese or sour cream on top you will be eating a very healthy meal.

It is also super easy to make, it is my favorite "no think" dish.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Ingredients

1 carrot

1 onion

1 red pepper

1 red chilli

2 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon turmeric

3 tablespoons premium paprika

1 vegetable stock cube

2 tins kidney beans drain and rinse well

2 tins chopped tomatoes

Fresh coriander to garnish

Directions

Chop the veggies and saute in the olive oil until tender, add the tomatoes, stock, seasoning and kidney beans cook on a low heat for about 25 minutes. Serve with plain nachos.

p.s. This recipe will make loads - so invite your mates to dinner

or you will be eating it for the next week.

AVOCADO AND PISTACHIO PESTO PASTA

AVOCADO AND PISTACHIO PESTO PASTA

Thank you to my friend Sarah for testing out this creamy, garlicky mid week pasta dish!

Pesto Ingredients

2 Avo's

2 tablespoons of pine nuts

4 tablespoons of pistachio's

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 a lemon juiced

1 hand full of basil leaves

1 Garlic clove crushed

salt, pepper

Add all ingredients to a blender and chop - don't over do it as you want some texture to the pesto.

Mix the pesto through hot drained pasta and serve immediately.

CHINESE CABBAGE SALAD WITH HONEY ROASTED PEANUTS

CHINESE CABBAGE SALAD WITH HONEY ROASTED PEANUTS

Ingredients

1/2 a Chinese Cabbage thinly sliced

1 and a half cups of bean sprouts

1 cup of sugar snap peas sliced

1/2 a red pepper sliced

1/2 a cup of honey roasted peanuts

Dressing Ingredients

4 tablespoons peanut oil

a few drops of sesame oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic crushed

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and toss through the salad dressing,

this should be enough to serve 3 or 4 - depending on how hungry your guests are!

If you are preparing the salad ahead of time, hold off on adding the dressing

until just before you serve.

EGGPLANT AND ZUCCHINI CURRY

EGGPLANT AND ZUCCHINI CURRY

This delicious curry is inspired by my beautiful mentor

Jenny from http://two-days-at-a-time.blogspot.com/

Jen has a glut of eggplant at the moment, so I hope she can use this recipe to use them up!

Ingredients

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam marsarla

2 dried chillies

4 curry leaves crumbled

1 thumb of ginger grated

Oil for frying and for baking eggplant

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 onion diced

6 small zucchini

1 eggplant

5 Vine ripened tomatoes

1 tin organic coconut milk

1/2 a cup of vegetable stock

Directions

Lightly fry onions, garlic, ginger and spices

Meanwhile, peel the eggplant and slice in to bite size pieces, bake in a 250 degree oven drizzled with olive oil until tender - turn every 8 minutes to ensure they are evenly cooked.

Slice zucchini in to rounds and cut tomatoes in to quarters. Add coconut milk and vegetable stock to the onions, garlic and spices, warm through. Place cooked eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes in to a casserole dish and cover with the curry sauce, bake in a hot oven for about 25 minutes. Allow to sit in the oven for a further 15 minutes then serve with fluffy rice, Greek yoghurt and fresh coriander.

PIZZA NIGHT

PIZZA NIGHT

Home made pizza is soooo good, if you have the time!

My Dough ingredients are as follows:

280g skim milk

1 Sachet instant yeast

20g Olive Oil

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon sugar

500g Self Raising Flour

Allow at least 30 minutes for the dough to rise, then roll it out in to pizza type shapes - should make 4 fairly large pizza's

Top with delicious fresh ingredients, mushrooms, zucchini, capers, pine nuts, cherry tomatoes...the choice is yours, I added a drizzle of truffle oil to the mushroom one which was outstanding!

BUTTERNUT, ALMOND AND SUNDRIED TOMATO CANNELLONI

BUTTERNUT, ALMOND AND SUNDRIED TOMATO CANNELLONI

This recipe is for my beautiful friend Irene. It is a great vegetarian option for Christmas Dinner parties if you serve it with loads of salad and garlic bread.
INGREDIENTS
1 packet of Latina fresh lasagna sheets (or make your own if you are super clever)
1 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup drained sundried tomato strips
1 butternut, peeled, diced and baked in the oven with a little olive oil until soft
1 red onion diced and baked with the butternut
1 tub low fat cottage cheese
Cheese for the sauce and to top the bake
Home made cheese sauce (I use 2 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons of cornflour, 2 cups of milk a dash of salt and pepper and one cup of low fat cheese - i forget to stir it enough and it always goes lumpy, so I let it cool and whack it in the blender and blitz it for a couple of seconds until it is silky smooth!)
METHOD
Once everything has been prepared, it is super easy to construct your dish. Mix the butternut, onions, almonds, sundried tomatoes and cottage cheese together - don't mush up too much, you want it kind of rough, season the mix as much as you like.  Spoon some cheese sauce in to the base of your baking dish. Cut the lasagna sheets in half, dip them in some water, place the butternut mix along the one end and roll, place the cannelloni in the dish with the open side down, repeat until you have a full dish (I like to stick to one layer) Pour over the rest of your cheese sauce and top with further grated cheese if you like. Bake in a hot oven for 40 minutes or until brown and bubbling on the top. A little bit naughty - but nice for a treat!
Irene...ring me if you need assistance :)

ASPARAGUS SALAD

Asparagus Salad

Need something simple for lunch? Try this quick and health salad of asparagus, tomatoes and avo - drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice. I was lucky enough to get all the fresh organic ingredients from the Subiaco Farmers Market. Non vegans can add some fetta.

CRUNCHY COUSCOUS CRUSTED EGGPLANT

Crunchy Couscous Crusted Eggplant

Slice eggplant length ways and bake in a hot oven until soft, remove from oven and slightly cool. Make a mixture of cottage cheese and herbs and spread it on a piece of eggplant then top with another...just like a sandwich. Dip the eggplant sandwich in to cornflower, then egg, then couscous (I prepared the couscous with boiling water and some herb salt). Fry in some hot olive oil (or try baking)

QUICK POTATO AND ROSEMARY PIZZA

QUICK POTATO AND ROSEMARY PIZZA

Cut super thin slices of potatoes, arrange on a plate, cover with cling wrap and microwave for a 4 minutes. Using a tortilla wrap as the base, top with the par cooked potatoes, drizzle over olive oil, salt and dry rosemary, bake in the oven on high for a few minutes (until it starts to sizzle) then change to grill for about 2 more minutes...remove and serve with fresh salad.

OPEN MUSHROOM AND ZUCCHINI PIE

OPEN MUSHROOM AND ZUCCHINI PIE

Make a square pie base using vegetarian puff pastry. Bake for 15 minutes then top with some grated cheese and bake for a further 5 minutes. Meanwhile, make your pie topping - this one was simply; onions, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms and seasoning. Place the pie base in the middle of your plate and pile with the topping...serve immediately.

STUFFED BUTTERNUT WITH VEGETABLES

BROCCOLINI AND BABY SQUASH PASTA BAKE

BROCCOLINI AND BABY SQUASH PASTA BAKE

Pasta bakes are a great option for Sunday nights...they make a perfect lunchbox treat on a Monday! Simply mix cooked pasta with steamed veggies and stir through some cheese sauce (butter, cornflour, milk and grated cheese) and bake in the oven until browning on top.

Serve with a beautiful mixed leaf salad.

MUSHROOM AND CELERIAC RISOTTO

MUSHROOM AND CELERIAC RISOTTO

I have never claimed to make a brilliant risotto - but oh my goodness, I surprised myself with this one - it was outstanding! As always, it was the freshness of the ingredients that made all the difference, I will give you the ingredients and leave the method up to you - basically put it all in a pot and stir until the rice is almost cooked, then cover and let sit for about 10 minutes to absorb - then serve with a little grated Parmesan on top. The Celeriac in this dish was a winner!!!

3 Cups vegetable Stock

3 Tablespoons Butter

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Brown Onion

½ a celeriac bulb

1 Glass white wine

A few sprigs of thyme

1 bag of brown mushrooms

A handful of dry mushrooms – soaked in boiling water

1 Garlic clove crushed

1 Red Chilli

1 Red Pepper

2 cups Risotto Rice

RUSTIC MUSHROOMS WITH HOME MADE BREAD AND BUTTER

RUSTIC MUSHROOMS WITH HOME MADE BREAD AND BUTTER

Ingredients

Mushrooms - different shapes and sizes!

Grape tomatoes

Shallots or red onion

Garlic

Olive Oil

Salt, Pepper & fresh thyme

Directions

Line a baking tray with silver foil, then baking paper, place all ingredients in to the dish and cover with another layer of foil - scrunch the edges and make in to a silver foil bag. Bake in a hot oven for about 25minutes. Serve with hot bread and organic butter.  (I am lucky enough to have a bread maker, if you don't have one, warm a rustic bakery loaf in the oven) 

AFRICAN PEANUT BUTTER CASSEROLE

AFRICAN PEANUT BUTTER CASSEROLE

This nutty savory dish takes me back to childhood. It is sooo good served piping hot in front of a wood fire! Cue someone who can play the guitar and enjoy it with dark beer.

Ingredients

1 Large sweet potato (use the one with the pink skin)

1 Large bunch of silverbeet or similar dark leafy veg

3 tablespoons peanut butter

250mls boiling water

2 Vegetable stock cubes

1 tin chopped tomatoes

Directions

Mix the boiling water, stock cubes, peanut butter and tomatoes in a jug. Slice potatoes in to half moons and layer on the bottom of a casserole dish, top with chopped green veg, layer potatoes and green veg again then pour over the peanut sauce. Cover and bake in a medium oven for up to two hours - slow cooking intensifies the flavours. Serve hot in bowls, add a dollop of fresh yogurt if desired.