Curried chickpea and broccoli burgers

I'm usually not a huge fan of the ready-made vegan burgers you can find, although not always easily, in shops. With a few exceptions, they don't taste of too much in my opinion. Still, there are days when a nice burger is exactly what I feel like. Well, no worries, as they say in Australia ;) A few months ago I got a fantastic book that has plenty of great burger recipes: 'The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet'. The book has 101 vegan burgers recipes. Some of them require ingredients which might be a bit difficult to get, for example textured vegetable protein (TVP), while others use easily available and affordable products, such as, well, vegetables ;), rice, nuts, oats or various flours. The below recipe contains vital wheat gluten flour, which in Belgium I usually get at Bio-Planet. It can also be bought online.

Curried Chickpea and Broccoli Burger

(for 6 to 8 burgers)

2 cans (or 840g) of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp. minced garlic

2 tbsp. tahini paste

1 tbsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. green curry paste (I didn't have any at hand, so I used the yellow curry powder, 1 tbsp., and cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp.)

1/2 cup (or 72g) vital wheat gluten flour

salt and pepper

1 cup (71 g) broccoli florets, steamed (I simply put them for a few minutes in boiling water) and chopped

oil, for frying (optional)

I increased the amounts by 50%, which gave me 10 burgers. I used more garlic and more broccoli than the recipe suggests.

In a bowl, combine the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, oil, curry paste (or powder), flour, salt and pepper. The recipe suggests mashing everything together using your hands or using a food processor. I definitely didn't manage to mash too much with my hands ;) I used a blender, leaving part of the mixture unblended, to have some whole chickpeas in the burgers. Then add the broccoli and combine. If the dough is too wet, add some more flour. If it is too dry, add some more oil (mine was just right). Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Now you can either fry the burgers, 4-5 minutes per side, or you can bake them. I hate frying ;) That's another reason why I like this book - most of the burgers can be baked in the oven as well. The recipe suggests baking them covered with a foil tent to keep the moisture for 15 minutes on each side at 180°C, until firm and beginning to brown. I baked mine under the foil tent for at least 25 minutes on each side. I was very positively surprised to see that they kept their shape really well and remained very moist. I served them with some homemade whole-wheat buns, ketchup and various vegetables. They were really delicious!

Vegan curry pancakes

I have to admit that this was my very first attempt at making vegan pancakes, except form the sweet breakfast ones. That's why I'm so happy it was a success ;) They were really delicious and surprisingly easy to fry. I will be experimenting with other types of flour, but the dark wheat/buckwheat combination has worked really well. I added a spoon of corn flour as a binding agent, I'm sure potato flour would also do the trick. I have a feeling that a pancake period has just started in my kitchen ;)

Batter (I got 9 pancakes out of it, the last one being quite small ;)

150g whole wheat flour

150g buckwheat flour

1 tbsp. corn flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. curry powder

250ml soy milk

500ml water

Filling:

2-3 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

3 medium leeks, sliced

250g mushrooms, chopped

450g frozen spinach 

250g tofu, crumbled

Mix all the dry batter ingredients, add the soy milk and approximately half of the water and start blending with a mixer. Gradually add the remaining water, until you have reached the desired pancake batter consistency. You might need to use more water than 500ml (I added some extra water when the first pancake turned out a bit too thick). Mix until the dough has little bubbles of air in it. Heat up a pancake pan, brush it with a bit of olive oil (just once) and fry the pancakes on both sides.

You can use any filling you want, preferably not sweet, though ;) I fried the vegetables mentioned above on some olive oil, then added the tofu and spices - salt, pepper and chili powder to taste. I put the pancakes with the filling on a baking dish and baked them for 10 minutes at 180°C. I served the hot and crispy pancakes with a super-fast tomato salsa (a can of chopped tomatoes or tomato passata mixed with minced garlic, salt, pepper and dried thyme, heated up in microwave).

Tomato, red lentils and smoked chili soup

Winter this year has been exceptionally warm and well... boring! It's more like a typical Belgian autumn, in fact, dark, rainy and windy. The last couple of days it has started to get colder, though. All that is still missing is some snow finally... Today after a very nice long run in the forest I really felt like a hot and spicy soup tonight. And so I decided for a slightly different tomato soup - with red lentils for extra thickness and some chilean merquén spice for a hot smoked flavour. Fast, easy to make and really delicious!

Tomato and red lentils soup

(makes 6-8 servings)

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

8 garlic cloves, minced

3 cans of diced tomatoes, 400g each

140g tomato paste

250g red lentils, picked over and well rinsed

2-2.5L vegetable bullion, depending on the desired thickness

1-2 tsps. merquén spice (a mix of dried and smoked Chilean chili seasoned with cumin, coriander and salt)

0.5-1 tsp. ground cumin

0.5 tsp. salt

chopped fresh parlsey or coriander to garnish

In a large pot heat up the olive oil, add the onions and garlic, fry for 5 minutes at a low-medium heat. Add the canned tomatoes and tomato paste, cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the bullion and the lentils, cover and cook at low heat until the lentils are soft, 20-30 min. Add the spices, simmer for 5 more minutes  and serve with chopped fresh parsley or coriander and a thick slice of fresh bread.

Spaghetti with eggplant and tomato sauce

This recipe is a modified version of the ‘Eggplant Spaghetti Bolognese’ from the Whole Foods Market website:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2843

I use their recipes very often, mostly through a very nice app for iPhone and iPad. You can search for recipes by ingredient, or a combination of ingredients that you have at hand, using filters such as ‘vegan’, ‘vegetarian’, ‘sugar conscious’, ‘low fat’, ‘gluten free’, etc. Other filters include the type of course and category, e.g. ‘make ahead’, ‘no cook’, quick and easy’. The app allows you also to create a shopping list directly from the recipe, then you can just delete the ingredients you already have. All in all, I find it very, very useful and so far all the vegan recipes I have tried have worked out great. I highly recommend it!

Here is my today’s version of the recipe. The first time I made this dish I didn’t have any almond milk and I have continued to do it this way. I might try adding it once to see how the flavor changes, but it works out great without it. 

I have to admit it made a lot of food, I would say 8 portions, so you might want to modify the amounts a bit. In fact that's the only problem with the Whole Foods Market recipes, I don't find their serving sizes very accurate - the original recipe says it serves 8, while in fact I even doubled some of the ingredients and I think now it might serve 8. Or maybe we simply eat much more ;)

1.5 cup red wine

2 small onions, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 small eggplants, chopped (I didn’t peel them)

250g dark champignons

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 tbsp. dried rosemary (as I forgot to buy fresh…)

3 cans chopped tomatoes

4 tbsp. tomato paste

2 cups vegetable broth

Cayenne pepper and freshly ground black pepper to taste

½ tsp. salt

5 tbsp. chopped fresh basil

Whole wheat spaghetti

Bring the red wine to simmer in a large pot. Add the onions, carrots, celery, 6 garlic cloves and cook over low/medium heat until most of the wine has evaporated. Add the eggplants, mushrooms, bell peppers and rosemary and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add the vegetable broth, remaining garlic (I always save some garlic to add at a later stage of cooking sauces or soups, but don’t do it if you don’t like a more distinct garlic flavor), tomato paste, canned tomatoes, cayenne, black pepper and salt, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and add half of the basil. Cook the spaghetti, drain, stir in the sauce and serve with the remaining basil.

My vegan Bailey's

I used to love Bailey's before going vegan. And while my love for other 'old times' foods, e.g. cheese, quickly faded away or turned into a 'how could I ever eat that?' feeling, my affection for Bailey's has stayed. Usually I am very much against trying to make vegan substitutes of non-vegan dishes. Why would I ever want to eat something that's supposed to taste like a cow or fish? I'd rather not, really, even if it's 100 percent vegan. But in case of Bailey's I see it differently, the only non-vegan ingredient is cream, which isn't the dominant taste in the drink as such. So I thought I would give it a try and make my own vegan version of it. I had a look at some online ideas, I compared them with my own memories of the taste, and here's what I came up with:

Vegan Bailey's

1 cup creamy coconut milk (I used 'extra creamy coconut milk' from Santa Maria) 

1 cup coffee

1/2 cup Irish whiskey

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsp. agave syrup (I think brown sugar would also work)

Blend all the ingredients at high speed, pour over ice and serve! Easy, right? ;)

It tastes great! The only difference is the consistency, the original is a bit thicker. I think it this could be achieved with coconut milk creamer, but that's unfortunately very hard to get here. But the taste for sure makes up for this little difference.

Cheers :)

Seitan piccata with white wine and caper sauce

This is my favorite seitan recipe. It is very elegant, perfect for serving for guests, yet it is pretty simple and not very time consuming. It comes from The Candle Café Cookbook.

Seitan piccata with white wine and caper sauce

(serves 4 to 6)

6 seitan cutlets

whole wheat flour, for dredging

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup diced shallots

1/2 cup diced onions

1 tsp. chopped garlic (I used more, 4 cloves)

1/4 cup drained capers (I used double the amount)

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup vegetable broth

2 tbsp. unbleached flour (I used whole wheat flour)

4 tbsp. soy margarine (I used 2)

1 cup chopped parsley

1 tsp. salt

freshly ground pepper, to taste

Dredge the seitan cutlets in the flour. Heat up 2 tbsp. of olive oil and fry the seitan, until crisp and golden brown on both sides. Put the seitan aside. Heat up the remaining olive oil in the pan. Add the shallots, onions, garlic and capers, sauté and stir until softened. Add the white wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the lemon juice and cook until the sauce is reduced a bit more. Add the broth and the flour. Bring to boil and then simmer for 1 minute. Stir in the margarine, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour over the seitan cutlets and serve.

I usually prepare the seitan and sauce (without the parsley) earlier and then just add the parsley to the sauce, put the sauce over seitan in a flat baking dish and heat it up in the oven just before serving. This way you can prepare it in advance. Today we had it with oven baked potatoes with fresh rosemary and cucumber-sesame salad. It also tastes great with roasted root vegetables and rice.

Lentil soup with lemon and garlic

Let's face it - after a really beautiful and warm autumn in Brussels, the winter is just around the corner. It is getting colder and darker every day. But so far it hasn't been raining too much and that itself is a reason to be happy ;) I have to admit that this is the time of the year when I don't always feel like preparing some elaborate and time-consuming dishes on weekdays. Often after coming home from work I prefer to lie on the sofa with a good book or go for an evening run, rather than spend a lot of time in the kitchen (which on the other hand I very much enjoy at the weekends). But I still like to eat, and I like to eat nice. Soups are a fantastic solution here, as I usually make enough to last for three days. Then we have them with dark break or rolls with some nice vegan spread on top. A fast, but super delicious and super healthy dinner.

Today I made one of my favourite soups: lentil soup with lemon and garlic from The Complete Book of Vegan Cooking by Tony and Yvonne Bishop-Weston:

(serves 4; I post the original recipe here - I doubled the quantities)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped
1-2 carrots, sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 potato, peeled and diced

250g red lentils, well rinsed

1 litre vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

1-2 lemons, halved

1/2 tsp ground cumin, or to taste

cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce, to taste

ground black pepper

lemon slices and chopped fresh flat leave parsley (I used regular parsley), to garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, half the garlic and the potato. Cook a few mintues until they begin to soften. Add the lentils and the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer under cover for about 30 minutes. Add the bay leaves, remaining garlic, half the lemons and cook until the lentils and vegetables are tender (10-15 minutes). Remove the bay leaves (I also removed the lemon halves, blending them later didn't really appeal to me...). Squeeze the juice from the remaining lemons into the soup and stir. Blend the soup, season with the cumin, cayenne pepper or Tabasco. Heat up the soup again, pour into bowls and serve garnished with chopped parsley and lemon slices.

And yes, it tastes as good as it looks ;)