The Recipe Room

This Philippines-inspired Pinoy style seitan curry is a vegetarian variation of  Ginataang Manok, which is chicken cooked in coconut milk.

I’ve substituted the chicken with seitan and added a few more spices to maximise the flavour.  If you have a wheat allergy, or just don’t like seitan for some reason, you can substitute tofu for the seitan.  I’ve tried this, and while I didn’t like the result as much as with the seitan, it was still a very good dish.

Just remember to press the tofu for 15 or 20 minutes before using it. Otherwise, it won’t absorb all the wonderful aromas of the spices.  I’d also recommend using a nice and firm tofu. If not, the results could be a bit mushy.

If you do use seitan, I strongly recommend making it yourself. It’s much cheaper and more satisfying  than buying it at a shop, and you can add appropriate spices directly to the dough to complement your recipe.  You can find my basic seitan recipe here.

 

What better way to start your day than with a protein-filled serving of delicious scrambled  tofu?!  It’s just as filling and flavourful as eggs, but without the fat or cholesterol.

You’ll notice that the recipe says to freeze the tofu and then thaw it before use.  This is a trick I learnt recently, and it adds a whole new dimension  to the tofu.  Due to the freezing process, the texture of the tofu changes; it becomes more crumbly and somewhat similar in appearance to minced beef.  This same method also works great for making vegetarian bolognese sauce or chilli, or anything that would typically call for minced beef.

This is my most basic version of the recipe, but tofu is so great at absorbing different flavours that I strongly encourage you to go ahead and try different variations of seasoning. Basically anything you might have used with scrambled eggs should work just fine.  You could also add some spinach or other veggies to the mix if you like.

I usually eat this for breakfast alongside toast smothered in apricot jam. But you can of course eat it at any time of the day you prefer!

If you like this idea, you will probably also like menemen – Turkish scrambled eggs.

 

Pico de Gallo is a typical Mexican garnish, or salsa, traditionally served with fajitas, tacos, burritos, and anything made with flour tortillas.  My recipe is a slight variation on the classic Mexican version which was given to me by a Mexican amigo.

I’ve reduced the number of chilli peppers by half compared to the original recipe, as I found it was almost too hot for my taste (and I like it HOT!), and definitely too hot for most of my friends and family.  If you’re particularly adverse to spicy food, you can go ahead and halve the amount again, or even cut out the jalapeños completely, although this will take away slightly from the authenticity of the dish.   If you’re a fire-eater, you can double it back up again to 4 or more jalapeños.

If you don’t have or can’t get fresh limes, lemons make a decent substitution. It won’t be quite as good, but it’ll work in a pinch.  The same thing goes for the fresh coriander. You could substitute it with fresh Italian parsley (they’re from the same family), but again, it won’t taste quite like it should.  Lastly, if you can’t get fresh jalapeño peppers, you could substitute any other fresh hot peppers.  If none are available, then you should use the dried variety, or dried pepper flakes.

This recipe doesn’t keep very well, so you should try to use it the same day as you make it. Why not try it with my vegetarian burritos?

I remember loving the meatballs in tomato sauce that my mother used to make when I was growing up, so the other day I decided to try and make a vegetarian version.  This chickpea falafel with tomato sauce recipe was the result.  The texture is, of course, slightly different than the lamb-based or peri-peri meatballs my mother specialised in, but the lemon, garlic and Italian parsley give them a subtle flavour that  is offset nicely by the tomato and thyme sauce.  Enjoy!

What you’re going to need:

For the falafel:

• 400g cooked chickpeas
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 bunch fresh Italian parsley
• 1tsp grated lemon zest
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the tomato sauce:

• 500g tomatoes
• 1/2 bunch fresh thyme
• 1tbsp pine nuts
• 170ml crème fraîche
• Salt and pepper to taste

What you have to do:

1. Drain the chickpeas well.
2. Peel and mince the onion and the garlic.
3. Wash the parsley and finely chop the leaves.
4. Place the chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley, and lemon zest in a food processor and blend to a paste.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Let the mixture stand for about 30 minutes.
7. Form the mixture into walnut-sized balls.
8. In a pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat.
9. Add the falafel and sauté for 10 minutes, shaking the pan at regular intervals so that they brown evenly.
10. Remove the falafel from the pan and keep them warm in the oven at the lowest setting.
11. While the falafel is frying, prepare the tomatoes for the sauce by removing the cores.
12. Submerge the tomatoes in boiling water for a few seconds, then transfer to a bowl of cold water to loosen the skin.
13. Remove the skin, cut into quarters, and chop finely.
14. Wash the thyme and strip the leaves from the stems.
15. Add the remaining oil to the pan.
16. Add the pine nuts and thyme and sauté for 20 seconds.
17. Add the tomatoes and simmer the mixture for 10 minutes over medium heat.
18. Mix in the crème fraîche and season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
19. Arrange the falafel on 4 plates. Pour the sauce over them and serve.

 

Preparation Time:  15 minutes + 30 minutes setting

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves:  4

Difficulty: Medium

This spinach and chickpeas recipe makes for a great starter or can even be served as a main course if you accompany it with some oven-warmed French bread and a bit of salad. (If you want to stick with the chickpea theme, try this carrot, chickpea and orange salad.)  As always, I suggest using dried pulses and rehydrating them overnight, but if you don’t have time, you can go ahead and use the precooked canned or bottled ones.

What you’re going to need:

• 300g chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 60ml olive oil
• 1 slice white bread
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/4tsp paprika
• 450g fresh spinach
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half
• Salt and pepper, to taste

What you have to do:

1. Drain the chickpeas and place them in a pot with enough water to cover them completely.
2. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes over high heat.
3. Reduce heat to low, cover and let cook for 1 hour or until the chickpeas are tender.
4. Remove from heat and drain off the water.
5. Heat 30ml of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the slice of bread until it’s golden brown.
6. Set the fried bread aside on a plate.
7. Sauté the onion in 15ml of olive oil over low heat until it’s translucent.
8. Add the tomatoes and continue cooking over low heat for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are dissolved.
9. Heat the rest of the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
10. Add the paprika and sauté for 30 seconds.
11. Add the spinach and cook for a few minutes until the spinach is tender.
12. Add the mixture of tomatoes and onions to the spinach, mix well and add the chickpeas.
13. Add the salt and pepper to taste.
14. Put the fried bread and the garlic in a blender and mix to form a smooth paste.
15. Add the bread and garlic paste to the spinach and chickpeas.
16. Add 170ml of cold water and cook over low heat for 20 to 30 minutes.  Add more water if necessary as you cook.
17. Serve hot.

Preparation Time:  15 minutes + 8 hours soaking the chickpeas

Cooking Time: 55 minutes

Serves:  4

Difficulty: Medium

I love Mexican food, and it’s so easy to make it vegetarian!  These bean and red peppers burritos are my take on the classic Mexican burrito.  Even if you’re normally not a fan of beans and pulses, I think this dish will get your taste buds smiling. They’re fun to make and even more fun to eat! If you want to make it even more entertaining for your guests, place the bean mix in the centre of the table along with the garnishing and let them heap their own burritos!

What you’re going to need:

• 2 x 400g tins red kidney beans, drained and mashed. (You can also use black beans.)
• 1 large Spanish onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• ½ red bell pepper
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 100g tomato purée
• 2 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1tsp ground black pepper
• 1 pack of 8 flour or corn tortillas
• 200g mature cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
• 150ml sour cream (optional)
• Diced tomatoes, sliced Jalapeños or Mexican salsa (for garnish)

What you have to do:

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat until it’s hot but not smoking.
2. Add the onions and red pepper and sauté until the onions turn translucent (approx. 4 minutes).
3. Remove the onions and peppers and set aside.
4. Sauté the onions, cumin, black pepper and paprika for about 1 minute, stirring constantly to avoid burning.
5. Add the onions and peppers back into the mix along with the tomato paste and salt and mix well with the spices.
6. Add the mashed kidney beans and mix well.  The mixture should be thick, not runny.  If it’s runny, cook a little longer to evaporate any excess water and add a tablespoon of  cornflour  to help thicken.
7. Remove from heat and set aside.
8. Remove the tortillas from their packaging and heat in the microwave on medium power for 1 minute to soften.
9. Place two tablespoons of the bean mix on each tortilla, in a line a little off-centre to the left and running from the top to about 4 cm from the bottom.
10. Place a slice of cheddar cheese, a spoonful of sour cream and a few jalapeños (if desired) on top.
11. Wrap the burritos by first folding up the bottom, then the left-hand side and then the right-hand side to make a kind of envelope.
12. Serve warm.
13. If you really want to add to the “bean theme,” try serving this borlotti bean, celery and tomato salad on the side.

Preparation Time:  10 minutes

Cooking Time:  20 minutes

Serves:  3-4

Difficulty:  Medium

Preparation time: 45 minutes (including 30 minutes setting in fridge)

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 8

Difficulty: Medium

This aubergine purée with cumin pitta bread is about as close as you can get to everyone’s favourite Greek restaurant aubergine purée.  It is intended to be an appetiser, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll find it hard to stop eating it and end up ruining your appetite for the rest of the meal.  So either make only half of the recipe, or make sure you’ve got plenty of guests to share it with.  Alternatively, just make a whole lot of it and eat it as your main course – you’ll only need a little salad and some black olives to complete the meal!

If you love aubergine like I do, I also recommend this baked aubergine parmesan with tofu pesto.

To make it pretty, I like garnishing it with black olives, lemon and a bit of red pepper. You can present the dip any way you´d like, or not at all. It´s all up to you.

 

Sometimes I like to vary from using tofu because a lot of my non-vegetarian friends claim that it can be quite bland and sometimes has a strange texture (although this really depends on whether you know how to cook it properly). They also say that it doesn’t resemble meat in taste or in texture.

On the other hand, I’ve never heard anyone make similar complaints about seitan, also known as “Wheat-Meat“, which is nice and chewy and really does resemble meat a bit.  The price, however, is a bit abusive if you buy it at the shop, so here’s a basic seitan recipe which will make about four times as much for the same price.

I personally like using seitan in hearty seitan stew, stir-fries, or even fried and eaten in a bun like a hamburger.  It’s very filling and really not all that hard to make, and once you get the hang of it, you can try other spices to make your own personalised flavour.

What you’re going to need:

• 250ml wheat gluten
• 180ml vegetable broth for the seitan mix.
• 30ml soy sauce
• 5ml ginger powder
• 5ml garlic powder
• 1.5 litres vegetable broth for cooking
• 4 onion slices
• 3 slices fresh ginger

What you have to do:

1. Mix together the wheat gluten, ginger powder and garlic powder in a large mixing bowl.
2. Mix the soy sauce and 180 ml of vegetable broth in a separate bowl.
3. Add the soy sauce mixture to the gluten and spice mixture, stirring gently with a spoon and then with your hands until they are well blended.
4. Kneed the dough gently10-15 times on a flat, clean surface.
5. Let the dough set for 5 minutes, then kneed again 4 more times.
6. Separate the dough into 4 chunks and stretch into 2 cm thick cutlets.
7. Bring the cooking broth to a boil in a large stockpot with the onion and ginger slices.
8. Add the cutlets to the broth and simmer slowly, covered, for 60 minutes.
9. When the cutlets are expanded and firm, they’re ready.
10. Place the cutlets in plastic containers and fill up with broth.
11. The seitan can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 4 months.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 60 minutes

Serves: 8

Difficulty: Medium

It’s funny, as a kid growing up, I always hated sweet potatoes (and pumpkin for that matter, as they’re virtually the same when cooked), and it was all my mother could do to get me to eat even the tiniest mouthful.  However, somewhere along the way, I developed a taste for them, especially when they’re mixed with other veggies or pulses that I like more.  I invented this Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup one day when I had some sweet potatoes I needed to use up before they went bad, and the result was an instant success both for me and my family.

The soup is very filling and the sweet potato provides lots of dietary fibre, beta carotene and vitamin C.  As I mentioned before, cooked sweet potato and cooked pumpkin are virtually identical in taste, so if you want, you can go ahead and substitute an equal quantity of pumpkin for the sweet potato to create a tasty pumpkin soup.

What you’re going to need:

• 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, washed and chopped
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• 500g red lentils
• 1.5 litres water
• 3 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1.5 tsp curry powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-2 tsps salt (to taste)
• 3 tbsps fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Spanish Sherry Vinegar

What you have to do:

1. In a large stockpot, sauté the chopped onion in the olive oil over medium heat for 3 or 4 minutes, or until the onion turns translucent.
2. Add the potatoes, sweet potatoes and lentils and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Add the salt, curry powder, ground coriander, black pepper and bay leaf and sauté for another minute.
4. Add the water and stir well, make sure you get any spices that may have stuck to the bottom.
5. Cover the pot, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes or until the potatoes and sweet potatoes are nice and soft, stirring occasionally.
6. Remove from heat and mash with a potato masher to make a slightly chunky purée.
7. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve in soup bowls and garnish with a teaspoon of fresh coriander and a splash of sherry vinegar.

Preparation Time:  5 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Serves:  4

Difficulty:  Easy