food hits and misses

Seems to be everywhere I look someone is talking about reducing carbs, or increasing protein, or coconut being the answer to all of life's ills. Then there are the people who are avoiding gluten, soy and animal products. And then there are those who are proponents of the raw food movement. These little snacks tick nearly all of those boxes, and if you use honey, maple or agave as the sweetener, they even tick the last one. So what's the down side? Each tiny little ball contains over 400 kilojoules, with nearly 9 grams of fat each. That's fine if you're particularly active, but if you're sitting at a desk most days, then enjoy responsibly.* 

Lemon and coconut balls

Method

One of the benefits of getting a mystery fruit and veg box each week is that it forces you to cook and eat things that wouldn't normally appear on the shopping list. Call me boring if you will, but I had never eaten fennel until it turned up in the box one week.

It's so close to winter that the neighbours have started lighting their wood fires of a night. Even though the days have still been fairly warm, I really haven't been in the mood for salad. So had to come up with something to do with the mountain of tomatoes that have been arriving in my weekly fruit and vegie box. Slow roasting them seemed like the perfect solution, with the bonus  being that I could use up basil from my herb patch.

Here's the before shot, with all of the tomatoes looking particularly juicy.


There's no real recipe for this stuff. Basically you just preheat the oven to 120 Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper. Cut your tomatoes as small as you like them - probably halves for Romas, I went with quartering my Grosse Lisse - sprinkle them with shredded basil, add a couple of thinly sliced cloves of garlic and finish off with olive oil. Then cook them until they reach the desired amount of dryness.



Give it a shot. The smell of the kitchen alone is reward enough.

This week's theme was hearty, which lead to a discussion about what makes a meal hearty. We agreed that some soups are hearty, but not all soups are. I think stews are hearty, and that a stew that can't be described as hearty isn't a very good stew at all. My dining companion in chief disagreed. In the end, neither of us could describe what qualifies. I think this recipe is, he wasn't entirely convinced. Regardless, it's very enjoyable and certainly didn't leave me any room for dessert.

The recipe is from one of my newest books - Vegetarian Slow Cooker: Over 200 Delicious Recipes. I wanted dinner a little bit quicker than that, so cooked it all in my favourite French oven. It worked perfectly well this way, and I probably wouldn't get my slow cooker out unless I needed the oven for something else. I replaced the peanuts with cashews and cashew almond and brazil nut paste, as I prefer their flavour. Since they're not as strongly flavoured as peanuts, I think I'd use half a jalapeno next time, with the added benefit of letting the flavour of the ancho through, too.

All in all, my only quibble with the recipe is the name. Describing something as an "African stew" makes about as much sense as calling ratatouille "European". Still, that's the name the cookbook used, so that's what I'll go with.

African-style Peanut Stew

2 tbspn coconut oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbspn ginger, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tspn cracked pepper
800g tinned tomatoes, with juice
2 cups vegetable stock
1 sweet potato, cubed
2 dried ancho chillies
1/2 to 1 jalapeno chilli, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter
1/4 cup coriander, roughly chopped
1 capsicum, seeded and diced
1/4 cup roasted peanuts

Method

Preheat oven to 190 Celsius. Heat the oil in a large French oven or stockpot. Add onions, celery and carrots and cook, stirring, until softened.

Cook the vegies for around 7 minutes

Add garlic, ginger, slat and pepper, and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice and stir well. Add vegetable stock and sweet potato. Place lid on pot and cook for around one hour.

Ready to go in the oven

Meanwhile, soak the ancho peppers in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain, discarding the liquid and stems. Transfer to a blender, and add the jalapeno, peanut paste, coriander, and around 1/2 a cup of the stew liquid. Puree. Add to the pot along with the capsicum, cover and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes until the capsicum is tender and the flavours have melded. Serve over brown rice, garnished with roasted peanuts.

By now it should be fairly obvious that I'm a fan of soup. This one tastes fantastic, and has the sort of silky texture that you normally only get from adding loads of cream. Despite that, it's very light, and would be perfect as a starter or for a late supper. Garnish with grated parmesan or a dollop of yoghurt for a bit of extra zing.

Spinach and broccoli soup

1 tbspn olive oil
1/2 tspn cracked pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 leeks, chopped
250g spinach, chopped
2 heads broccoli
1 potato, peeled and cubed
4 cups vegetable stock

Method

Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan or stockpot. Saute the leek until softened. Add the pepper and garlic, and continue cooking until the garlic is fragrant. Add the chopped spinach (in batches if using fresh), broccoli, potato and stock. Cover and simmer until the potato is cooked - around 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Blend on high speed using a stick mixer.

It's definitely stew season at the moment; we're having the coldest winter in the past 15 years. Despite being a great lover of all things summery, I'm handling it pretty well. Possibly because I've been filling up on warm and hearty soups and stews.

This recipe is really simple to make, without compromising flavour at all. If you're looking for something low fat and full of fibre, then look no further. If, on the other hand, you're on a low carb diet, keep browsing because this recipe is defintely not for you.

Spinach and chickpea stew

1 tbspn olive oil
2 onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic
1 pinch safron threads
1 tbspn ground cumin
2 potatoes
2 x 420g cans chickpeas, drained
1 tspn paprika
2 tbspn water
1 tbspn red wine vinegar
200g baby spinach leaves

Method

Preheat oven to 180 Celsius. Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan. Saute the onion until translucent. Add the garlic, saffron and cumin and cook until fragrant. Grate the potato, add to pan and toss to coat. Stir through the chickpeas and remove from heat. Place in oven and cook for around an hour. Remove from oven and return to stove top. Combine paprika, water and vinegar. Add to chickpea mix and stir well. Add spinach in batches, and cook until heated through. Serve with your favourite stew accompaniment.

Now there are plenty of vegetarians out there who don't like to eat anything that even resembles meat. I'm not one of them. Given I've been eating fish for the past year, I can't even claim to be an actual vegetarian. Still, even when I was a proper vegetarian, I really enjoyed meat substitutes, especially when they meant I could continue eating my favourite meat meals without having any souls on my conscience.

When it comes to meat substitutes, seitan would have to be king. If you've eaten at a Buddhist restaurant, chances are you're familiar with the range of things it can be made to resemble. My favourite would have to be the tamarind "fish" at White Lotus in West Melbourne. If you're like me, and find the idea of making your own seitan to be too tedious, then lucky for you (us?) there's a growing range of mock meats available at supermarkets. The chicken style strips I used for the stroganoff come from the freezer section, and are pretty versatile. So far I've used them for fajitas and chilli plum stir fry. If you like your meat mock, give them a shot.

Stroganoff

300g mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tspn paprika
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 tbspn tomato paste
380g mock meat
1 tbspn parsley, chopped
3/4 cup yoghurt

Method

Heat around 1/2 tbspn olive oil in a heavy based pan. Saute the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and continue sauteing until softened. Add the mushrooms, paprika, lemon juice, wine and tomato paste. Stir well to combine, then allow to simmer until the mushrooms are tender. Add the mock meat and cook, following the packet directions. Finally, remove from heat and stir through parsley and yoghurt.

Tagines have to be one of the easiest ways to cook. Just whack all the ingredients in the tagine and stick the lot in the oven until it's done. Precisely what you want when you don't have loads of time to look after a meal.


The name tagine refers to both the pot and the style of dish. There are plenty of recipes out there for meat tagines, but I haven't come across that many vegetarian ones that I like. This is my favourite way of using my tagine.

If you don't have a tagine, the recipe will work just as nicely in a French oven or casserole dish.

Chickpea and lentil tagine

1 onion, sliced
800 g canned crushed tomatoes
1 capsicum, seeded and sliced
420g chickpeas
1 cup red or yellow lentils
1/2 preserved lemon
1/2 cup pitted olives
1 tbspn turmeric
1 tspn cumin
1/2 tspn paprika

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Layer the ingredients in the tagine base. Place the lid on top, and put in oven for around two hours. Remove from the oven and check the lentils have softened. If they are still dry, stir and return to the oven for up to another two hours. Serve with cous cous.

When you want something hearty and filling, you can't go past vegherd's pie. Plus it fills a gap in the comfort food list that appears when you become vegetarian or even start eating less meat. Why vegherd's pie? It's essentially a shepherd's pie only for vegie keepers instead of sheep keepers.

Vegherd's Pie

1 olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic
1 tspn curry powder
1 packet vegetarian mince
410g can crushed tomatoes
2 carrots, chopped
1 cup peas
6 tspns gravy powder
1 cup water
5 large potatoes
2 tbspn cream or butter
1 cup cheddar, grated

Method

Heat oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Saute the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the curry powder and stir. Add the mince and tomatoes. Break up the mince, then add the peas, carrot, gravy powder and water. Simmer until the mixture thickens. Meanwhile peel and chop the potatoes roughly. Boil until tender - around 15 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Add the cream and mash. Place the mince mix in a casserole and top with potato. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake until cheese has melted and is golden brown.

Normally I like to cook from scratch, but realistically, there are days when I just can't be bothered. On those days it's good to have a set of staples in the fridge or pantry to whip up some fast food. Vegie stir fry definitely fits the definition, and salt and pepper tofu, while not a staple, is definitely fast. All up, dinner was ready in around 20 minutes, which is faster than going out for take away, and most likely a fair bit cheaper too.

Salt and pepper tofu

Method

Beans again, baked, not fried this time.

Slow Baked Beans

250g borlotti beans, soaked

I didn't like refried beans until fairly recently. In fact, it wasn't until after I'd tried feijoada that I started liking bean dishes of any sort. Now beans of all sorts are amongst my favourite foods.

Obviously canned refried beans are the most convenient, but not all brands are created equal, Some of them smell suspiciously close to dog food, or have a strange consistency. With that in mind, I decided to try making my own. The following is what I came up with. I don't think I'll be buying tinned beans again.

Frijoles Refritos

2 tbspn olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic
6 slices pickled jalapeno
2 x 425g can kidney beans, drained*
1 x 425g can cannellini beans, liquid reserved
1 tspn smoked paprika
2 tspn cumin
1 can beer

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion, garlic and chilli and saute until the onion is translucent. Add the paprika and cumin and cook until fragrant. Add the beans, including the liquid from the cannellini beans. Add the beer and stir to combine. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer from one to two hours, until the beans are soft. Stir regularly to make sure the beans don't stick. When the beans are soft, mash with a potato masher to the desired consisteny - I like some of the beans to remain whole.

Serve with rice or as part of your favourite Mexican food.

Bean dip

Use the leftovers - if you have any - for a simple but tasty dip, by combining equal parts beans and yoghurt, with lime juice to make the consistency you like.

*If you prefer to use dried beans, prepare the beans by covering with water, bring to the boil then remove from heat and soak for at least an hour before cooking. This reduces the toxicity of the kidney beans and means you won't end up with what seems like a bout of food poisoning.

Pizzas really are a simple meal to prepare - here's last night's effort that went down very well with the primary care giver.

Artichoke Pizza

12 inch pre-sauced pizza base
Pizza sauce
Half green capsicum
Two button mushrooms
Pickled artichoke hearts (in vinegar)
Half stick of goats cheese
Pizza cheese

Start with the pizza base on a pizza tray - I've found the best ones are the refridgerated ones with preapplied sauce in the deli. There's never enough sauce, so I use Leggo's pizza sauce in a squeeze bottle - more flavour than plain tomato paste which I used to use, and a full tub of tomato paste is too much and you end up wasting some. Use the back of a dessert spoon to evenly apply the sauce. I usually add some garlic flakes at this point for extra flavour.

Light sprinkling of cheese directly on the sauce. Don't put too much cheese on - it will form a cheese bubble that burns and ruins the pizza. Add diced green capsicum, sliced button mushrooms, then add eight artichoke hearts evenly spaced - you want them to be the feature ingredient of each slice. Make sure the artichoke is well drained - too many liquidy ingredients are the death of a good pizza. Goats cheese can be a bit tricky - if it's a firm cheese, you can add medallions of it, but if it's soft, sticky or crumbly, you're stuck spreading it as best you can. Goats cheese is a personal preference - and the most expensive ingredient. $8 worth only does two pizzas, but complements the artichoke so well, it's worth it.

When applying your ingredients, remember that the finished pizza is going to be cut into slices - leave the middle fairly bare of toppings to help with slicing. Add more cheese on top to finish - leave a bit of a well in the middle, and don't spill cheese onto the edge of the crust - it will burn. Sprinkle with oregano to finish.

Pizzas don't take long to cook - 12 to 14 minutes in a fan forced oven at 250C should be enough - commercial pizzas are cooked in only 6 minutes! You want the cheese to be just brown. Cut the pizza almost immediately after coming out of the oven - it will cool quickly. No need for parmesan with this pizza - the flavour of the goats cheese and the artichoke is the main attraction.

Trust me, after having worked in a pizza shop - make your own at home :)

Cheesey broccoli soup

Soup. Although I absolutely loathe winter, soup just about makes it bearable. It's fast, gives you almost all of your vegie serves in one hit, and generally tastes pretty good too. So in the first of a series of thoughts on comfort food, here's to soup.