kimchi buffalo cauliflower with simple slaw

Wow well December 18, 2012 was the last time I posted a recipe on this blog. How time flies. It's close to 3 years later - how ya been?

Things are well with me. Crazy as ever. I've been cooking up a storm the past year and experimenting with lots of different things. Mainly making everything from scratch. Stock, pasta, sauces, preserves - I've been getting my inner Mormon on. It's been wonderful to get back to basics and has improved our health to no end.

We get a box from Ceres each week and I love the ways you have to experiment with using things up. We went through a time when we were getting a lot of cauliflower so here we are.

I tinkered with this original recipe but felt using 2/3 of a cup of hot sauce was such a waste of resources and an expensive ingredient. The amount of kimchi, blended, isn't an exact science but neither is a 'medium head' of cauliflower. Use your judgement if the sauce looks took thin - up it, too much - save some for a dipping sauce.

I should say this didn't go too 'crispy' for me. It was more like sauce covered wings. Still delicious though.

kimchi buffalo cauliflower
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup of chickpea flower
1/2 cup of water
1 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of hot sauce
3/4 cup of vegan kimchi

method
1. Preheat oven to 230 degrees celcius

2. Mix chickpea flour and water to create a batter.  Toss cauliflower in batter, get a good coating on it.

3. Bake cauliflower bites in the oven on a non stick pan - tossing half way through to roast evenly. Repeat battering and roasting process if you would like an even fluffier batter.

4. Toss roasted cauliflower in the hot sauce mix. Bake on baking sheet for 25 minutes. Serve with celery sticks and veganaise.


simple slaw
1 half head of cabbage, shredded (you can use a mixture of cabbages)
2 carrots, shredded
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch salt

method
1. Toss ingredients together. Use additional seasoning to taste.

jumbo chilli dip

This is my first Nigella recipe! I've always loved her presence but have never watched her tv show until recently (I just assumed that I wouldn't be able to handle the meat imagery). The shows I've seen haven't been too full on - she always cooks one dessert and vegetarian offering so I can get around it.

This is EASY AS. Though I did find it's missing something, it's missing a bit of weight. I think next time I make it I'm going to add half a cup of pine nuts. It's really lovely and refreshing on a hot day.

I'm making tacos this week and think this will be a perfect hot sauce for them. I'm also thinking a little dark rum wouldn't go astray and you could use it as a marinade.

recipe from Nigella - Kitchen (Devilishly Good episode) can't find recipe published on web

ingredients
1 500gm jar of roasted capsicum (drained and rinsed)
3 birds eye chillis
1 lime (juice and zest)
2 garlic cloves
3/4 bunch of coriander (including stalks)
big pinch of salt
90 mls of neutral oil

method
1. WHIZZ!

broccoli slaw

I've been eating raw broccoli obsessively lately, I can't get enough of it. So when Deb mentioned this slaw recently on her blog I leapt at the chance. The buttermilk dressing is a variation of what I created for the Ottolenghi eggplant recipe; it's tangy, creamy and marries perfectly with the sweetness of the cranberries. I use Kingland cream cheese as its much much better for you than Toffuti. This recipe is straight veganised from Smitten Kitchen.

ingredients
2 heads of broccoli, roughly chopped
1/2 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries, (you guessed it) roughly chopped
1/2 small red onion, (to mix it up) finely chopped

buttermilk dressing
1/2 cup soy cream cheese, room temperature
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1-2 tablespoons rice milk

method
1. Make buttermilk dressing by whisking together the cream cheese and vinegars.  Whisk in the first tablespoon of milk and taste to see (depending on what kind of milk you use you may only need 1 tablespoon). Dressing should be tangy and creamy. Whisk in another tablespoon of milk if need be or a little bit more apple cider vinegar. This dressing needs a bit of playing around with. Thin out with a little water if you need to.

2. Drizzle the dressing in the big salad bowl full of deliciousness. Toss to dress. This keeps for quite a few days.

broccoli and potato soup

This soup is delicious and so easy to make. This recipe is adapted from Veganomicon but is off the top of my head. Y'all know how to make soup right?

ingredients
2 medium sized heads of broccoli, trimmed to florets
2 large potatoes, sliced thinly
Vegie stock, enough to cover the veg (about 4-6 cups)
1 medium carrot slices
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup of fresh mint
1 tbsp of fresh dill
4-5 strands of tarragon
salt and pepper

method
1. Sweat the carrot and onion in some oil for 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent.

2. Add the fresh herbs and stir for about a minute.

3. Add the rest of the veg and stock and simmer for about half an hour until the vegies are tender. Drain most of the vegie stock into a container and blend the vegies, adding a little more stock if required for consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Nom!

notes: I then save the stock and freeze it for the next time I'm make that soup.

potato bake

Kids this was off the hook. Talk about starchy, carby, garlicky, cheesy, creamy. Potato bake is infinite with what you can put in there. I sliced all my potatoes thinly, added a layer of leek, sliced garlic, salt/pepper, cheezly and cheatin salami and layered on repeat to the top. I then poured enough rice milk in to halfway up the pan, a few globs of marg on the top, baked in a 200 degree oven until cooked/brown on top (I *think* it was about 45 minutes). Anyway its really hard to stuff this up. Go forth and carb coma!

cheese and spinach rolls

I kind of winged it with these and they turned out great! I got the idea from miss Vicki Vegan but tweaked it a little.

ingredients
2 boxes frozen spinach (thawed & drained)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 packet extra firm tofu
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 cup grated mozzarella cheezly
1 tbsp light miso paste
1 squeeze of fresh lemon
2 sheets pastry

method
1. Drain the tofu then put everything in a food processor and pulse about 5 times. You want to be blended but still chunky.

2. Roll in pastry and bake bake bake. TASTY! Perfect winter food, so yummy.

fried banana pancake sandwich

A perfect way to start a Sunday. We always have an over abundance of bananas each week and I'm finding more and more ways to 'hide them' from myself (I hate bananas! not so much the taste but the texture). I present the banana pancake sandwich.

Recipe from Veganomicon

ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons raw sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 to 1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup of water
1 banana sliced
1 tbsp of marg
Syrup for serving

method
1. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, milk and water until a smooth mixture is formed.

2. Slice the banana on an angle in medium slices and fry in the margarine until golden brown. Remove the bananas from the heat and fry up your pancakes.

3. Smoosh the bananas into the first layer of pancake and add a layer of syrup, then douse the top pancake with margarine and syrup. YUM!

notes: To make this extra decadent throw in a handful of dark chocolate chips into the pancake batter or spread a layer of peanut butter in the sandwich middle.

zucchini fritters

I just winged this recipe, a combination of a couple from Veganomicon. The mixture was almost like pancake batter which I then pretty much cooked just like a pancake. They were super yummy!

ingredients
2 zucchinis - grated
1/4 cup of chutney
1 tsp of tomato paste
1/2 cup of flour
1 small onion diced
1 clove of garlic - minced
salt
pepper

method
1. Combine. Heat a pan with a thin layer of oil on medium heat. Scoop with a ladle into pan and thin out the surface of fritter so it resembles a thick pancake. Flip when brown.

note: I served with Nanna Pats tomato relish and rocket pesto. This would rock with some grated Cheezly in it as well, you could also add some corn!

chiara's roasted garlic and carrot dip

This is my friend Chiaras favourite dip recipe. I love seeing what other people do with food it's always so interesting to me, especially when it turns out delicious like this.

ingredients
3/4 kg bag of carrots, peeled and quartered
1 knob of garlic
1tsp cumin seeds
1 can of butter beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup of tahini
1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp of dukkah
1 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of chipotle (optional)

method
1. Roast the garlic and carrots in oven with the cumin seeds and a drizzle of olive oil. Then blend with the rest of the ingrediants. Really play around with the flavours. Sprinkle with dukkah and drizzle with olive oil and serve.

sweet potato latkes with dill sour cream

Again apologies for the crap pic, I really need to sort out lighting in my flat. Ok this recipe is really super easy.

ingredients
1x large sweet potato
1x tbsp olive oil
1 x tbsp flour
salt and pepper
0live oil for shallow frying

If you don’t have a food processor get one. I got mine for $50 on ebay and its changed my entire existence in the kitchen. I shredded the sweet potato finely, added the flour/oil/salt and pepper and mix well. The mixture should be wet enough to mould into patties and press down firmly into a heavy bottom pan with a thin layer of hot olive oil (make sure the oil is HOT!). Don’t flip until very very brown! They are hard to keep together, but add a bit more flour if you think you need it to the mixture. Drain on paper towel.

Sprinkle sea salt and pepper on them and serve with a dollop of dill tofu sour cream.

lentil stew

ahh lentil stew. An oldy but a goodie. Total TOTAL pov food, cause I always have a can of tomatoes and some dried lentils in the cupboard.

ingredients
1/2 cup of lentils (I used green lentils, if you use red lentils cook them for half the amount of time)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp of tomato paste
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic sliced/diced/minced whatever
1 carrot, diced
1 small glug/splash of balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
6 cups of vegie stock (maybe more see how it goes)
1/2 cup of short pasta (gluten free pasta is great in this)
I chuck in a bit of dried oregano but any fresh/dried italian herb would do
some Sriracha because I'm a chili nut

method
1. Fry up the onion and garlic in some olive oil until translucent.

2. Chuck everything except the pasta into the pot and cook for about 20 minutes or until the lentils are just about tender.

3. Add the pasta and cook for another 10 minutes or until it is tender. Yum yum.

4. Serve with a bit of toasted sourdough drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt.

lentil burgers

A quick and easy meal.

ingredients
1x can of lentils - rised throughly
1/4 onion, small dice
Salt and pepper
1 glug of olive oil
fresh chilli sliced (I put chilli in everything dont mind me)
burger buns
salad greens/burger sauces of choice
1/4 cup of cooked cous cous
1x onion thinly sliced and cooked

1 can makes about 3 patties.

method
1. Mash the lentils till about half mashed. Add the salt/olive oil/pepper/diced onions/chilli/whatever seasoning you want and form lentils into patties.

2. Roll patties in cooked couscous until 'breaded'. Dry fry in a non stick fry pan.

3. Dress the burger. I used the left over basil pesto from the other day, veganaisse from Radical Grocery (yummiest once I've found) and a bit of tomato sauce, cause I'm a bogan like that.

mushrooms on toast

Drunk. I caught the last 55 tram home to Union Square silently chanting for hot chips. Boo! No! Chastising myself I thought, I'm an industrious young lass, surely I can knock something greasy up, myself when I get home. Yes, bring on mushrooms on toast.

ingredients
olive oil
2x large mushys
2x cloves of garlijavascript:void(0)c thinly sliced
handful of sundried tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
tsp of dried thyme or fresh
fresh or dried chilli to taste
salt/pepper
handful of greens like spinach or rocket(arugula)

method
1. Fry up! I served on sourdough with a drizzle of olive oil and salt. I inhaled it so quickly I almost choked to death. Total. Win.