Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 cubes veggie stock
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 3 cups mushroom (or less, depends on how much you love mushroom really - we used Portabello and Button)
• 1 tbsp Nuttelex
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion finely chopped (we used red as that's all we had)
• pinch salt and pepper

Method:

1. Fry mushrooms, onion and garlic in butter.
2. Cook brown rice in water with veggie stock, until just cooked.  I used about 2 cups of water and it turned out okay.  We put the parsley, salt and pepper in this.  All up, the rice took about half an hour to cook.  It depends on the type of rice you use.
3. Add mushrooms to rice, along with nutritional yeast.

Makes about 2 serves.

Vegan French Toast

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2/3 cup nondairy milk
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• bread

Method:

1. Mix together bananas, milk, cinnamon and vanilla.
2. Soak bread in mixture on both sides.
3. Fry in pan at medium heat with a bit of butter or oil.

Makes: 4-5 slices of bread

Potato and Spinach Curry

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 packet of fresh spinach, chopped
• 4 large potatoes, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup of brown rice

Method:

1. Put rice on to boil.
2. Put potatoes on to cook.
3. Fry up onion and garlic in pan.
4. Drain potatoes, add onion and garlic mix, add some water, add herbs and spices, allow to simmer.
5. Add spinach for the last few minutes.
6. Mix in rice and eat.

Jam Filled Donut Muffins

I've yet to find any normal store that makes vegan donuts, so I searched around for recipes and found this one on vegweb.  I fiddled with it a little and you can find the results below:

Ingredients:
Muffins

• 2/3 cup nondairy milk
• 1.5 cups self raising flour
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup Nuttelex (vegan butter)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup raw sugar

Topping

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Filling

• about 6 tbsp of your choice of jam - I use strawberry.

Method:

1. Mix all muffin ingredients together.  You may want to add a little more milk to make it a bit easier to spoon into patties.  You may also want to add more nutmeg if that's how you roll.
2. Spoon into the muffin tray; about 1/4 - 1/3 full.  Make a small hollow in the batter.
3. Spoon some jam into the hollow.
4. Cover with more muffin mix.
5. Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes.
6. Mix together topping ingredients and sprinkle on top.

Green Lentil Curry

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• 1 cup green lentils
• 1 tsp each garam masala, turmeric, cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tin coconut milk
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper

Optional: add chopped spinach, vegetable stock and/or onion.

If you're prepared, soak your lentil overnight so that you don't have to cook them for as long.

Method:

1. Put lentils, 1 cup of water, spices, coconut milk and garlic in one pot.  You may need to add more water as it cooks.  Cook for about 35-45 minutes, until lentils are tender.
2. Cook rice as per packet instructions.
3. Mix together and nom!

Mac N Cheese

I have never had mac and cheese, due to being lactose intolerant, so I never thought about making a vegan version.  Until now.

It was a bit yellower than this, but my camera is not great :(

Ingredients:

• 250grams pasta
• 2.5 cups nondairy milk
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1.5 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cauliflower
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper
• various herbs and spices at your discretion: we added paprika, thyme, ginger and chili powder

Method:

1. Cook pasta in one pot.
2. Combine milk and butter in another pot, turn down to simmer, add soy sauce, garlic and flour.  Try your best to destroy any lumps.  You may want to add more flour to make it thicker.
3. Add cauliflower to the pasta pot for the last five minutes to let it get tender.
4. Drain pasta and cauliflower.
5. Mix in sauce, add herbs and spices.

Pumpkin Chips

It's that part of the week again; there's almost nothing in my fridge.  I decided to make pumpkin chips out of the 1/4 of a pumpkin I had in there.  They're really yummy, but not as firm as the potato chips.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 Butternut pumpkin
• 1-2tbsp oil
• 2tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• paprika, oregano, thyme, any other herbs & spices you want to add

Method:

1. Chop up pumpkin.
2. Put in a container with herbs and spices.  Shake until evenly coated.
3. Bake at 220C for 20 minutes.

Mung Bean Dahl

The co-op at uni had a sale on mung beans (I got just under a cup for 55c; I'm horrible at guesstimating weights) so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to finally try some out, after having a delicious mung bean dahl at Vege Rama.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp each turmeric, pepper and cumin
• 1/2 tsp chilli
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 an onion
• 1 cup dried mung beans
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 2 handfulls spinach
• 1 cube vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 cups of water

Method:

1. Put mung beans,water, vegetable stock, herbs and spices into a large pot on high, then turn down to let simmer.  You may need to add more water to keep it nice and liquidy.
2. Put brown rice and water in another pot to cook.
3. Fry onion and garlic in a pan with oil until onion is see-through.  Add to mung bean mix.
4. Take brown rice off heat once cooked.
5. Add finely chopped spinach to mung bean mix once there are 10 minutes to go (should have been cooking for about 25 minutes now, no need to worry about being exact, we only want the spinach to be wilted).
6. Take mung beans off heat, serve with rice.

Split Pea Dahl

My best friend absolutely hates chickpeas (I know, I know, how could you hate them?!) so I had to find something easy and cheap to make for them while they were over.  I found this recipe and modified it a little below, and added the price of the ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup yellow split peas, uncooked      80c
• 3-4 cups water
• 2 cubes veggie stock                           40c
• 10 mushrooms                                   $2.20
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp Nuttelex
• 1/2 onion, diced                                  30c
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 cloves garlic                                     5c
• dash pepper and salt, to taste
• 1 cup rice                                           90c

Method:

1. Place water, stock, peas, chopped mushrooms and turmeric in a large pot and let simmer for 25 minutes. You may need to continue adding water to ensure it's not too dry.
2. Cook rice in water in seperate pot. 
3. Fry onion, garlic, Nuttelex and cumin.
4. Add onion mix to pea mix.  Allow to simmer for another 10 minutes, until peas are soft.
5. Serve with rice.

Makes: 2-3 serves

Total: $4.65

Spiced Chocolate Cookies

I had a lot of random ingredients laying around the house so I tried to make some cookies using a recipe that I made up on the spot.  They ended up being a bit bland, but could probably be helped along with nuts/chocolate chips.  My friends suggested that they would make good cookies for dipping in soy milk.  Let me know what you think and how they go!  Any suggestions would be great too of course :).

 Ingredients:
*1 tsp cinnamon
*1 tsp cloves
*1 tsp ginger
*1/3 cup + 1 tbsp Nuttelex
*1/4 cup raw sugar
*1 cup flour
*2 tbsp cocoa
*2tbsp non-dairy milk

Method:
1.  Mix all ingredients together.
2.  Roll into balls and squish down.
3.  Bake 180C for 15-20mins

Makes:  About 12.

Want to do a guest spot recipe?  Contact me at kommonerkraft@yahoo.com.au!

Eggplant Steaks

This post is more of an idea starter than a recipe.

There are many ways that you can prepare the eggplant.  I sliced mine into 1cm thick 'fillets' and then put them on a tea towel.  I sprinkled them with salt to help drain the moisture away (the longer you leave it, the better their texture).

I then mixed together some paprika, vegetable oil and chili powder and covered them with it.

I put them in the oven (with my casserole) for 30-40 minutes at 180C until soft (I poked one with a fork to check).  Remember to flip over and brush with oil on the other side at the 15 minute mark!

You can use them on burgers, by themselves with some veggies, chopped up on a wrap...  They're very versatile!

"Egg" Salad

Ingredients:
*1/2 cup shallots (green onions)
*1/2 tsp turmeric
*2 tbsp parsley
*1 tsp pepper
*1 tsp salt
*1 tsp dill
*300grams tofu
*1/2 cup mayonnaise
*1/4 tsp paprika
*1/2 tsp garlic powder


Method:
1.  Drain tofu then crumble into a bowl.
2.  Chop up shallots.
3.  Add all ingredients to tofu and mix up.
4.  Taste test and adjust as required.

Potato and Corn Patties

Cooked without oil, gummy.

Fried in oil, crispy.

Ingredients:
*1/2 onion, finely chopped  $0.27
*1 clove garlic
*1 tin corn kernels               $1.46
*parsley, salt, pepper, oregano, paprika
*4 potatoes                          $1.68
*1 tbsp flaxseed
*1/4 cup water
*1/2 cup plain flour            $0.05

Method:
1.  Fry onion and garlic.
2.  Boil potatoes and then mash.
3.  Mix all ingredients together, spoon into fry pan and cook.

Makes: 10

Note:  I don't think that I made them quite thin enough.  If you make them thinner they're more likely to cook nicely through to the middle.  I have not tried baking them but I'd be interested to hear if you do!

Total: $3.46 or $0.35 each.

Lentil Spaghetti

I was scrounging through the remains of my food and discovered that I had enough left to make me some awesome lentil spaghetti.  I had originally intended to make spaghetti and meatballs but I used all my tvp on pies!  I used this recipe and this one for inspiration, as well as a few others I looked at.

With tin of tomatoes

Without tin of tomatoes.

Ingredients:
*1 cup dry red lentils        $1.00
*1 onion, chopped            $0.54
*1 zucchini, grated           $0.84
*1 carrot, grated                $0.34
*2 garlic cloves, minced   $0.10
*2 cubes vegetable stock  $0.54
*basil, oregano, thyme
*handfull of spaghetti      $0.35
*1 can diced tomatoes      $0.80

Variations:  Add chopped celery, mushrooms, make some tvpballs.

Method:
1.  Prepare 2 cups of water with the veggie stock, boiling.
2.  Add the lentils, zucchini, carrot (and/or celery, mushrooms) and tomatoes.
3.  Fry onion and garlic in pan.
4.  Cook pasta.
5.  Add onion and garlic to lentil mix.
6.  Pour lentil mix onto drained pasta (add tvpballs if you made some).

Makes:  Two serves.

Total: $4.51 or $2.25 per serve.

Banana Pudding

This recipe is mainly based off another of Chooseveg.com's recipes.  It's a pretty healthy dessert, all things considered.

Ingredients:
*300g tofu                      $3.24
*2 tsp vanilla
*3 large ripe bananas      $1.08
*1/2 cup raw sugar         $0.29
*1/4 cup nondairy milk  $0.25

Optional: I reckon you could add banana chunks if you wanted to.  Want it chocolatey?   Add a few tbsps of cocoa.  You could add some cinnamon or maple syrup if you wanted to as well.

Method:
1.  Blend.
2.  Taste.
3.  Adjust.
4.  Chill.
5.  Eat.

Total: $4.86

Calories: 1206
Protein: 44.5 grams

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
*1 medium zucchini, grated  $0.63
*1.5 cups self raising flour   $0.16
*1/4 cup water
*1.5 tsp cinnamon
*1/2 cup raw sugar               $0.10
*1/2 tsp salt
*1/2 cup vegetable oil         $0.57
*1/2 tsp nutmeg
*1 tsp vanilla

Method:
1.  Mix all the ingredients together.
2.  Pour into a tin.
3.  Bake at 180C for 25-35 minutes until top is golden brown.

Makes:  8 slices.

Total:  $1.46 or 18c/slice.

Calories: 2176 or 272/slice.

Protein: 24.8 or 3.1/slice.

Potato and Gravy Casserole

I made this recipe up based on what I had available to me at the time.  The sauce that I made ended up being like gravy which is why this is my Potato and Gravy Casserole :).  To make it cheesy instead of gravy-y, I'd use 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast instead of the beef stock cube.  It was very delicious!

Ingredients:
*3 medium potatoes       $1.02
*salt and pepper
*2 tbsp Nuttelex
*2 tbsp flour
*1 cup non-dairy milk   $0.49 (for gravy)
*vegan cheese (optional - can make some out of nutritional yeast)
*~1/2 cup non-dairy milk  $0.25 (to fill dish)
*1 tsp each paprika, basil, parsley
*1 cube Massells beef stock  $0.24


Method:
1.  Peel and thinly slice potatoes.
2.  Melt butter on stove.  Add milk and stir, then flour, stock and spices.  Stir occasionally until thick enough.
3.  Layer potatoes and sauce until all ingredients used up.
4.  Sprinkle with vegan cheese.  I used Notzarella.
5.  Fill halfway with non-dairy milk.
6.  Bake at 200C for ~45 minutes.

Shred up some vegan cheese (I used Notzarella) and sprinkle on top.

Options:  Add some onion, nutritional yeast and garlic.

Makes:  4 serves.

Total:  $2.49

Calories:  982 or 246 per serve (without cheese)

Protein: 38.9 or 9.73g per serve.

Breaded Tofu

Inspired by a photo that Sarah posted on her facebook page, I checked out her recipe for breaded tofu.  And then I made some and I REGRET NOTHING!  Seriously, delicious.

Ingredients:
*1 block tofu (500gm)
*1/4 cup flour
*2 tsp paprika
*1/2 tsp chili powder
*1 tsp each garlic powder, turmeric and ginger powder
*pinch each salt and pepper

Method:
1. Put all ingredients except tofu in container.  Shake.
2.  Cube tofu, put in container.  Shake.
3.  Either bake at 180C in oven or fry in frypan til brown.

Note:  I ended up with a lot of leftover breading stuff, so maybe halve it :).

 Find out more about Vegan Month of Food.

Pizza - Mushroom and Spinach

Pizza.  Delicious and easy and meal of champions.  So versatile and open to anything new.  Here is my plain old boring contribution to the pizza world :p.

Ingredients:
*9 mushrooms, sliced                     $2.00
*9 cherry tomatoes, halved             $1.24
*half an onion, diced                      $0.16
*handful of fresh spinach leaves    $0.50
*pizza base/pocket bread                $0.62     ($2.14 for gluten free, depends on brand)
*BBQ sauce
*garlic powder, salt, pepper, chili powder

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 180C.
2.  Fry up onion and mushrooms.
3.  Put base on alfoil on tray.
4.  Put BBQ sauce on base, then layer toppings as desired; I went spinach leaves, mushroom and onion, tomatoes.
5.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until spinach leaves are sufficiently wilted.

Total: $4.52 ($6.04 for gluten free).  I eat the whole pizza, every time hehe.

Variations: Use three cut up veggie dogs, some capsicum, pumpkin, grated carrot and/or Toffuti cream cheese.  Even try different sauces :).

 Find out more about Vegan Month of Food.

Strawberry Cupcakes

I had a lot of strawberries left from smoothie making (turns out I'm not that keen on strawberries) so I decided to fiddle with the blueberry cupcakes recipe and see if I could make some yummy strawberry cupcakes.

Ingredients:
*1/2 cup raw sugar         $0.10
*1 tsp salt
*2 tsp vanilla
*1 tsp cinnamon
*1/4 cup veg oil              $0.29
*3/4 cup dairy-free milk $0.36
*1.5 cups of SR flour      $0.17
*1 punnet strawberries    $2.00 (on special)

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 190C.
2.  Blend strawberries.  I used a stick blender and a large container.  Don't worry if there are some chunks.
3.  Mix all ingredients together.
4.  Bake for 20-25 minutes (check with a skewer).

Makes:  6 muffins or 12 cupcakes.
 
Total: $2.92.

 Find out more about Vegan Month of Food.