Red Kidney Bean Hummus

Recently, in a attempt to eat healthier but also to economise, I unearthed my copies of vegetarian cook books from the 1980’s, a time when all may have been flash fast food and ready meals for the rest of the nation, but for vegetarians it was still very much D.I.Y.

I have a distinct feeling that I was a lot more healthy and, to a point, have eaten more healthily, the less money I’ve had available.  Only to a point, mind.  The months where I was living mainly off boiled barley and lentil soup mix (plain) and, a year or so before that, from flatmates’ donated leftovers, I don’t think I was getting much of a good balance food-wise.  But how different things are here and now where the cheap, processed food is everywhere.

My favourite veggie cook book ever has to be ‘The Vegetarian Cook Book 2’ by David Eno.  So old that there isn’t even an image of it on the Amazon listing (but you can pick up a used copy for 1p) and it’s DIY just about everything heaven for veggies.  Maybe I can learn something from the time of relative austerity, of health food shops with barrels of lentils and oats rather than shelves of food supplements and of eating in most nights because it’s only Pizza Hut that has any veggie options.

Buy the book (c’mon, I just said a used copy is 1p) and turn to page 31 and there’s a recipe for Hummus.   I’ve made it – it’s nice, it looks and tastes like hummus.  The variation below is something I thought I’d invented, until I looked online and discovered other people have had the same idea.

Kidney Bean Hummus 20140221_002529

  • 200g red kidney beans, cooked or from a can or carton
  • Little shake of salt
  • 2 small cloves of garlic or 1 large clove, chopped or crushed
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp tahini
  • Cayenne pepper to taste
  1. Blend

(that’s definitely the shortest set of recipe instructions I’ve ever written)

French Onion Soup

Some time ago, I attempted to veganize cream of tomato soup.  Today I attempted to vegetarianize French Onion Soup, which is traditionally made with a meat stock.  No mean feat, given the pre-warning that it is not nice if too salty and that I had been thinking Marmite would give it a meaty taste.  The mushrooms gave a bit of ‘meatiness’ to the stock without adding a ton of salt. Also, I can’t remember eating French Onion Soup.  I know I have done because I have a vague memory of making a version from a book I got when I was about 10; a version that I very much doubt contained alcohol – even if it was the seventies.  I’ll have to try the real deal at some point to see how the version below measures up but it all disappeared at the dinner table this evening so that’s a good sign.

  • 3 or 4 large onions
  • 3 or 4 cloves of garlic
  • Olive oil
  • Red wine (I used Merlot because it was open)
  • Stock: I used a level teaspoon of low-salt vegan bouillon, a handful of dried porcini mushrooms and 3-4 squirts of Bragg’s Aminos (soy sauce without added wheat or salt and made by some very strange people) to a pint and a half of boiling water
  • Agave nectar (sugar will do; I don’t know where ours is)
  • Bay leaves
  • Mixed herbs
  • Vegetarian hard cheese e.g. veggie Parmesan – Morrison’s cheap hard Parmesan-like cheese is vegetarian (although it comes from cows so I can’t have any)
  1. Slice the onions finely and cook in the oil over a low-ish heat for ages, stirring occasionally.  By ages I mean about half an hour.
  2. Squirt some agave nectar in after about 10-15 minutes to help the onions caramelize a bit
  3. When onions look just about ready (browning at edges and soft), throw in minced garlic and cook for another minute
  4. Add a splash of wine and the stock, herbs and bay leaves – simmer while you set the table
  5. Serve with grated cheese

I believe traditional French Onion Soup employs squares of cheese on toast instead of just a sprinkle of cheese, hence it looks interesting enough to take a photo of.  You may be reassured, however, that this tasted too nice for me to remember to photograph it.

 

 

Spring Rolls

Vietnamese spring rolls are not fried and thus a more salady option; if you’d like to make spring rolls similar to those you’ve had in restaurants and takeaways then brush these with oil and bake or deep or shallow fry.  If you’ve used too much water preparing the pancakes then there is a danger they’ll fall apart during the cooking process (this is why there isn’t a post-cooking photo in this post – ALL of the ones I put in the oven burst open, fortunately they still taste great).

springrolls

Yes, well spotted, they’re not perfectly formed tubes.  When the spring roll folding machine at the factory can do my job, be a good companion/family member/colleague, look good in jeans and be able to sing in a Welsh accent, then and only then will criticism be permitted.

Almost all of the ingredients for these I had in the cupboards and fridge already.  The wrappers for the spring rolls are Rice Flour Pancakes from a company called Blue Dragon and they contain rice flour, tapioca flour starch, salt and water.  The packaging does not say that they are gluten free but, as far as Wikipedia can tell, all of the ingredients are so I’m including this recipe as gluten free.

Mixture in the middle bit
Start with some salad ingredients in a bowl; I used leftover salad comprised of carrots, lettuce, cucumber and tomato with the carrots grated and the tomato, lettuce and cucumber cut up finely …and tomato seeds removed.  I added a pinch of Chinese 5 spice and a splash of soy sauce also some home-sprouted mung beans (although the ones you can get in the shop are fine too) and mixed it all together in a bowl.

Pancake rolling bit
Rice flour pancakes are kinda stiff, like poppadoms before you fry them.  In order to fold them around your mixture you need to get them a bit wet so they’re more pliable.  If you’re not intending frying them then go for it and stick them under running water.  If you want them more rigid then try pressing them against a damp tea towel (a clean one, not the one you’ve been using for a week).  With your pancake damp, place about a handful of your mixture into just off the middle and roll the pancake around it, sealing the (approximation of a) tube in place with a bit more water.  Now roll up the ends and seal in the same way.

Serve with dipping sauce of your choice.  And run an image search for Vietnamese Spring Rolls to see how lovely they can look when prepared by someone who isn’t me 🙂

 

Koftas

Some years ago, when I worked in Hackney, there was a family-run health food shop near to the office and I was a fairly frequent visitor. Alongside Decaffs with soya milk (don’t do it – it curdles), fruit and veg and branded health foods, the shop sold lentil koftas as made by one of them and lovingly presented with a slice of lemon. I found recipes for them online and tried making my own only to discover that online recipes tell you how to make a million koftas when you actually want 6 or 7 max and they all require you to use bulghur wheat which I can’t find in the shop. The recipe below uses quinoa, which is everywhere and makes enough koftas for a packed lunch plus a few extra to wait in the fridge for you and greet you when you get home.

koftas

It’s quinoa, not worms – it just looks like that, OK?

  • 50g lentils
  • 50g quinoa
  • small onion
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic
  • Olive oil for frying
  • tomato puree
  • fresh herbs (I used dill but mint and coriander are good too)
  • Pinch of cumin
  • Lemon juice
  1. Cook the lentils and the quinoa, drain and then mix together in a bowl
  2. Add lightly fried onion and garlic, tomato puree, herbs, cumin and lemon juice and stir in well
  3. Form into sausage shapes and leave in the fridge – they should become solid enough for you to pick up to eat (with luck!)
  4. Serve with lettuce and a squeeze of lemon

How to survive preparing Globe Artichoke

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Globe artichoke, not to be confused with Jerusalem or any other type of artichoke, is a small, alien being that will fight you every step of the way as you attempt to dismember it.  At the end of this grueling and painful process, once you are covered in plasters and committed to never ever bothering again, you are rewarded with dinner that tastes like heaven and you may do a quick about-turn, decide the preparation wasn’t so bad after all and then wonder how soon you can go out to buy another one.

Knowing what to do and in what order can help a lot when tackling one of these beings.  I hope the explanation below will be of assistance.

IMG_0156 Holding the artichoke by the stalk, use the scissors to chop the spiky ends off the leaves leaving them cut flat across – imagine you’re cutting toenails.  When the leaves get smaller near the top of the artichoke, ignore those because you’re going to cut the pointy end off anyway.
IMG_0157 Chop the pointed end off completely; this should reveal a centre with purple leaves.  You’ll need to pull all of these leaves out, which is tricky because they’re stuck in with superglue and have spikes that want to hurt your fingers.  Maybe bet someone they can’t get them out in under a minute … “Your minute’s not up yet…. no, not now either, keep going!”
IMG_0159 Your next challenge, hiding underneath the purple leaves is a load of spiky hair, which you can dig out by being vigorous with a metal spoon.  Remember to scrape it all off – it’s not edible.
IMG_0160 Stop digging when you hit hard ground – you have reached the heart of the artichoke.  It gets a lot easier from here.
IMG_0161 Place artichoke into a large pan of boiling water with a squeeze of lemon.  If you’re looking to save water, boil it in the same water you used to prevent it from browning.  Boil for about 35 minutes.  When you’re done, the water will have turned dark green – no need to be alarmed.

Drain upside down and serve drizzled with oil or with vegan spread / butter or margarine equivalent.
Eat by peeling off outer leaves, dipping into whatever you’ve put in the centre and then stripping the leaves with your teeth.  You can eat the heart as well – if you’ve prepared and  cooked it, you deserve the best bit.

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Garlic and Chilli Tofu

Tofu Cubes IMG_0010

Garlic and chilli tofu, sometimes and more honestly called ‘Garlic, Salt and Chilli tofu’, is a lovely dish when prepared and served in Vietnamese restaurants.  An even golden crispy layer coats soft, garlicky tofu almost lovingly and slivers of red chilli that look like they’ve been polished nestle among the accompanying crispy salad and glistening onions.  If it doesn’t come with sweet chilli sauce or similar for dipping then you can almost certainly ask for it.

At The Tea House we have currently run out of sweet chilli sauce and our home-made version of garlic and chilli tofu may not be as perfect as the real deal, but it still gets devoured pretty quick …making your lips tingle all the way.

  • 1/2 a block to a block of tofu, depending on how many people you have to feed
  • 1/2 – 1 cup of plain flour
  • 1/2 – 1 tablespoon salt
  • Teaspoon of dried chillies (or cut up a fresh chilli if you’re brave – I recommend wearing latex or vinyl gloves for this)
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic
  • Oil for frying (preferably something neutral like sunflower or rapeseed)
  1. Cut the tofu up into cubes
  2. Crush the garlic and squish it into the tofu cubes with a spoon OR shake both things in a bag or bowl together
  3. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and chillies
  4. Roll each cube of tofu in the flour mixture and transfer to a plate
  5. Heat oil in pan and fry cubes lightly on all sides
  6. Transfer to oven on a warm heat while you make your main course
  7. Serve with sweet chilli sauce, if you have any 🙂