Vegan recipe: Mexican Mushrooms - hola!

My love of Mexican-inspired food is well known by now and it's just so easy to Veganise that it's a win-win situation.

This is a simple dish, quick to prepare, yet has real depth of flavour and is one the non-Vegans in your life will want the recipe for ;)

Enjoy!

Chantal xx

Proving that Vegan food is delicious - one dish at a time.

Mexican Mushrooms

[serves 2-4 (!), takes approx 30 mins] 

Perfect for lunch or supper!

Gather:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 brown onions - chopped

2 green chillis - finely chopped (keep seeds in if you're a heat freak, like me)

2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped

750g mushrooms washed (or peeled) and sliced [a mix of white and chestnut is good]

500 ml tomato passata

250 ml vegetable stock [I use Swiss Marigold Vegan Bouillion powder]

2 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig of rosemary

1 bay leaf

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp celery salt [or 1 tbsp finely chopped celery leaves, if you have some] 

Sample ingredients (adjusted for a smaller portion).

Create:

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan or wok on a medium heat and sautee the onions for 2 minutes.

2. Add the chilli and garlic and continue to gently fry for a further 3 minutes or until all are softened.

3. Add the mushrooms, turn up the heat a little and fry for a further 5 minutes.

4. Add the passata, stock and stir well to combine.

5. Add all of the other seasoning ingredients and simmer gently until the sauce thickens (approx 15-20 minutes).

6. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference with pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

As well as being as spicy as you like, this dish is incredibly aromatic!

Enjoy:

This is great served in warm bowls with some corn tortillas on the side for scooping and mopping up juice - as well as some crispy lettuce and Vegan sour cream if you fancy something cooling. Nachos and taco shells would also work well! [Old el Paso brand is Vegan]

Messy to eat, but delicious, so who cares?!!

 

#Toptip: For extra nutrition you can throw some baby spinach leaves in at the end and use hemp oil instead of vegetable oil for omegas.

Let's do (Vegan) lunch darling...!

Never has there been a better time to learn about and experience a plant-based lifestyle.

A lifestyle that's kind to you, to animals and to our beautiful planet.

Whatever you've either heard about veganism or think about veganism - perhaps: how hard it is, how boring it might be, how bland the food must be - FORGET IT!!!

Negative perceptions - are just that - PERCEPTIONS - because a lot of industries want you to doubt how good a life vegans have.

But I'm here to let you in on the world's best kept secret - being VEGAN is WONDERFUL!!!

Of course veganism is a whole lifestyle, but starting with changes to your diet is the most fun way to get started. So let me show you that it's never about deprivation - more about liberation! Through scrumptious breakfast, brunches, lunches, suppers and treats.

Right then - let's do lunch!

[All the meals you see here have been made by me, from scratch, in my kitchen at home. I take my inspiration from everywhere and love to be creative too. No time to add all the recipes, so please contact me if something takes your fancy and I'll send you your very own recipe sheet.  
Much love - Chantal xx]


 

Hoisin 'duck' wrap.  

Exactly like your crispy Chinese favourite & you'd never know the difference! I use tins of braised gluten, drained, dried, shredded & fried! Then add shredded spring onion, cucumber & a vegan hoisin sauce in a vegan tortilla wrap.

  

Minestrone soup with canellini beans and garlic parsley flatbreads on the side. Nutritious, delicious and a meal in itself - this soup is one of my all time favourites. Add several bay leaves for that wonderful fragrant finish.

 

Maple glazed tofu on a bed of mixed grains and fresh spinach salad.  

This is officially now my favourite way to eat tofu! It's absolutely delicious - sticky, sweet, tangy. The grains underneath are 'Seeds of Change' brand Tamari infused. 

 

Cream of broccoli and asparagus soup. 

Ever chop off or throw away the stalks of these incredible veg? This soup was made with stalks! They are still so nutritious and tasty and blended like this with shallots, veg stock and some soy cream it's an incredible lunch. 

 

 

Spiced mixed vegetable pakora with mango chutney.

Add plenty of cumin and coriander to the gram flour batter mix and I think Geetas mango chutney is by far the most delicious brand to go with this (registered vegan too).

 

Spicy black bean tacos.

This is a simple dish to make using smoky chipotle paste and any beans you like. Top with guacamole and shredded iceberg. Old el Paso taco shells are vegan.

 

Posh beans on toast!

Just to 'pimp' them up a little bit & add extra nutrition - try adding onions, mushrooms, peppers etc & I love them with added BBQ sauce. This is amaranth quinoa rye from Biona.

 

Vegan BLT !

I did really use to love a BLT and whilst I'm not keen on the faux bacon products, I do love these bacon flavour spinkles! You can get them in Tescos and Sainsburys in the salad condiments aisle. They add a lovely crunch and Plamil vegan mayo is a must :)

 

Raw shoots & super seeds apple, omega salad.

Even the healthiest dishes are delicious. This combines sprouted shoots, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, fresh apple, dried apricots and I added some Cauldron marinated tofu pieces. The dressing is lemon and an omega oil such as the one from Biona. 

 

 

Thai-spiced butternut squash and sweet potato soup.

For the Thai spicing I use red Thai chillis, a lemon grass stalk (not blended in) & coconut milk. The sprinkles are some remains of the raw salad above! 

 

Hummus with warm wholemeal pittas and raw veggie crudites.

This is my absolute favourite 'go-to' lunch so I always have hummus in the fridge or a tin of chickpeas at the ready. Warm pitta and crunchy sugar snap peas is the ultimate :) but for the best vegan nutrition, remember to 'eat a rainbow'.

 

Gazpacho with focaccia.

I made this chilled soup with the end of season tomatoes (great if you can grow or buy cheaply) with diced cucumber and plenty of garlic! Perhaps too much garlic. Jus-Roll now do vegan focaccia! Just add olives, rosemary & salt!

 

Spicy bean quesedillas with a 'cheese' sauce & rustic avocado, tomato, cucumber salsa.

I love Mexican food & these are so easy - you could use any veggie filling really. I fill the tortillas, fold them in half & griddle. Vegusto make the best ready-made cheese sauce (in my opinion).

 



Griddled vegetables with a herby mayonnaise in hot ciabatta bread.

I love these style of vegetables - so juicy and flavourful when grilled, griddled or roasted! Great with lots of fresh black pepper too. 

 

Griddled basil tofu with vegetables, fresh spinach and tomato salsa in a flatbread wrap.

I used Taifun basil tofu for this - and it makes a delicious change. Healthy and high in protein low in fat. 

 

Ginger and miso vegetable noodle stirfry with cashews.

Literally made using miso paste with a little water, tomato puree and fresh ginger.I used spelt noodles here, but buckwheat and rice are great too - although rice are more delicate. 

 

Spicy chickpea & quinoa salad.

Tinned chickpeas are so handy to have in your kitchen. Dust these in gram flour, cumin and paprika, then fry in a little oil and add to some cooked quinoa with a lemon, coriander, oil dressing. Simple! 

 

Leek and potato soup with granary sourdough.

This is a perfect autumn / winter classic - you can add carrots and celery to the base and I find Marigold Swiss vegetable bouillion the best stock powder by far. I blitz half the soup & mix back in.

 

Pesto mushroom pannini.

Pesto can be made using any combination of nuts, herbs, oils and seasonings. Experiment! This one was made by blitzing cashews, basil, garlic and hemp oil! 

 

Sweet potato wedges & dips (fresh guacamole, tomato salsa, mayo, sweet chilli).

You can bake or fry these. If frying then bake first, cut into wedges then fry (more crispy!) and guacamole is simply mashed avocado, pinch of cumin, squeeze of lemon juice & black pepper (tomato pieces if you like too). 

 

Bruschettas with salsa, guacamole and coleslaw.

Using up the remaining dips from the dish above (or any dips for that matter). Just have them on toast & go all Italian about it! :) 

 

Packed lunch - vegan style! Cucumber & marmite sandwich, date & oat cookies, savoury almonds, fresh apple & soya milk. 

Just trust me on the cucumber and marmite combo.

 

Sweetcorn chowder (clam-free).

Onion, carrot, leek, garlic, thyme, sweet potatoes, sweetcorn, stock. Done. Throw in some lentils too if you'd like it even more hearty. 

 

Warm mixed grain and vegetable bowl.

This is great for leftovers! Any combination, hot or cold with any dressing for extra flavour. Open the fridge and raid... 

 

Thai vermicelli soup.

This is so light and fresh. Use a Thai red curry paste, vegan stock & soy sauce for the broth & simply add crunchy fresh veg, shiitake mushrooms & then cook the vermicelli rice noodles in the soup for 2 mins. 

 

Raw cashew hummus with herby tomatoes & fresh onion bread.

Hummus is basically a blend of nuts or beans or peas - usually with added tahini (sesame paste), oil, lemon juice and seasonings - to this I added garlic and onion powders. 

 

Mexican mushrooms with corn tortillas & green salad.

Mexican food uses a lot of fresh herbs sometimes, plenty of thyme and rosemary in this which create an amazing flavour with the chilli tomato base.

 

Walnut pate on warm 'buttered' toast.

I was never a fan of tarragon with chicken & now I know it's better with walnuts! Blitz with walnut oil, red wine, red onion, soy sauce, chives & some breadcrumbs. Yum. 

 

Mushroom burger with fresh salad and mayo.

This is a burger from Vegusto - and it's very tasty. It makes a light, quick lunch.

 

Lemony kale fusilli.

And lastly... where would vegans be without kale?! This was sauteed with onions, pine nuts & artichokes, added to fusilli pasta and mixed with an olive oil lemon dressing & loads of black pepper! [ The vitamin C in the lemon helps us to absorb the iron in the kale - top tip :) ] 

So another 30 ways to make the change to plant-based living.
How varied and tasty does that look?! Do vegans struggle to find things to eat? Ummmm NO!!

Enjoy :) 
GO VEGAN. FOR LIFE.

Recipe: Sweet potato and chilli empanadas with lime mayonnaise.

'Hola'!

I've gone all Mexican in my house lately. I discovered a little freebie Mexican cook book tucked in my bookcase which turned out to be vegetarian and actually 90% vegan! So it's revived my love of this tasty cuisine.

Empanadas are basically fried Mexican pasties and while the recipe I've used (as you'll see from the 'chaos' pic below, was tasty - it sure as hell was messy! So I've rewritten it, with my slant on improved flavour AND a methodology that won't have you getting sweet potato and dough up the walls for 3 hours (sorry Dave).

 I've been meaning to make these for ages and I'm so glad I finally have. These are 'deliciosa'! and I unapologetically scoffed 4 of them and then needed a siesta...

Chantal xx

sweet potato and chilli empanadas with ribbon salad & lime mayonnaise

[ makes either 12 or 24 large empanadas - enough for you and a mariachi band :) ]

Gather                                                                                                                                       

Kitchen stuff you'll need:

Food processor, large pan, kettle, chopping board, peeler and knives, 2 large roasting tins, rolling pin, pastry brush, pastry cutter, large bowl, dessert spoon, fish slice and spatula, sense of adventure, poncho, apron... 

ingredients

Filling (for 24, halve if you only want to make 12)

600g sweet potato - peeled and cubed

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 small brown onions - finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic - grated / crushed

1 red jalapeno chili - deseeded and very finely sliced (leave some seeds if you like it hot!)

1 green jalapeno chili - deseeded and very finely sliced (leave some seeds if you like it hot!)

30g raisins

30g ground almonds

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

Dough (for 12, make 2 lots if you want to make all 24 empanadas)

350g plain flour

50g soft sunflower margarine (I use Pure)

1/2 tsp salt

200ml boiling water

Oil to cook - approx 200ml+

Extra flour to dust your work surface and rolling pin.

Dip

4 heaped dessert spoons of mayonnaise (I use Plamil Organic Egg Free)

Juice and zest of 1 lime

Create

1.  Cook the sweet potato in simmering water for about 10 minutes or until soft. Drain and add to your large bowl.

2.  While the potatoes are cooking sautee your onions in the oil on a low to medium heat until they start to soften and go translucent. 

3.  Add the garlic, chillies and raisins to the onions and continue to cook gently for another 5 minutes.

4.  Add the onion mix to the potatoes, sprinkle over the ground almonds, cinnamon, salt and pepper and mix really well to combine. It is fine if the potato mashes up a little.

5.  Switch on your oven to warm up and pour enough oil into the roasting tins to completely cover the bottom - up to about 5ml deep. Place the trays in the oven.

6.  Next prepare your dough - add all of the dry ingredients to your blender, switch it on and carefully add the boiling water. Keep the blender running until a dough ball has formed -
** this will not take very long - just a few moments**.

7.  Flour your work surface and tip the dough out onto it. Cut the dough into 12 pieces - half, half again and then each piece into 3 will help to make them equal.

8.  Flour your rolling pin and roll a piece into as round a shape as you can manage - about 3mm thickness and 18cm diameter. Don't worry too much about getting a perfect round though as you can trim them to tidy them up.

9.  Place a heaped dessert spoon of your sweet potato mix onto the dough circle. Place it on the half furthest from you (there's a good reason for this). 

10.  Use a pastry brush to brush a little water in a crescent shape around the filling on the far side from you.

11.  Gently fold the dough nearest you over the filling using a cupped hand to press the filling down and expel excess air. Then press the dough together where the water has been brushed to form a tight seal. (NB the dough should be big enough that no filling will ooze out of the sides.)

12.  You can then trim excess 'scruffy' dough either using a sharp knife or a serrated pastry cutter to form a neat & pretty edge and a large crescent shape.

13.  Gently lift the empanada with a fish slice and set to one side on a lightly floured surface and repeat with the remainder of the dough and the filling. (You can either make a second batch of dough as mentioned above or keep the remaining filling to make chimichangas or enchiladas!)

Tip: I used a 'fish slice' spatula to lift the empanadas off the work surface as they are quite delicate to lift by hand and you don't want to risk tearing them.

14.  By the time you've made all 12 your oven should be up to temperature, so take out the roasting trays and carefully add 6 empanadas to each - flipping them over gently with two spatulas so that they are covered in oil.

empanadas gently place on tray of hot oil

15.  Place the trays back in the oven and bake for approx 8 minutes. (you can make a salad accompaniment during this time). Then carefully remove the trays and turn each empanada over with your 2 spatulas (I say carefully as they can still be a little fragile at this stage and the oil will be bubbling hot.)

16.  Return to the oven and bake for another 8 minutes or until you can see that the pastries are a lovely golden brown colour. (You can make the mayo dip during this time by simply combining the ingredients listed in a small bowl with a fork or small whisk).

17.  Once the empanadas are cooked, carefully remove them from the oven and rest on some pieces of laid out kitchen roll to absorb some of the excess oil.

chaotic aftermath - but worth it!

Enjoy!

Serve with a fresh crisp salad (as you can see, this time I used a mixed baby leaf salad with ribbons of cucumber and carrots topped with tomatoes slices, drizzled with a little omega 3,6,9 oil and some grinds of fresh black pepper. I had the mayo as a dip on the side but ended up pouring it all over the salad!

Cooks tip: for an authentic taste use Serrano chillies - which are a little hotter than jalapenos. If this has inspired you to get your sombrero on I'd recommend these great Mexican food product websites:

http://www.mexgrocer.co.uk/home.php

http://www.mexgrocer.co.uk/home.php

Recipe: 16 minute 'Chilli non Carne' ...

Yep - that's right- in just 16 minutes I made a delicious (if I say so myself) Vegan chilli non carne. Who says fast food has to be unhealthy?

Having spent all day trotting round the Devon County Show - with little sustenance on offer for Vegans (no shock really) belly rumbles spurred me into a bit of 'power' cooking.

Now I've been making chilli con carne for years and loving it, but since going veggie (now Vegan) all I really changed was the meat and stock content, and, guess what - I think the flavour of this Vegan version is better! And with no nasty saturated fat and dead cow in the pot it's a total win win.

Now I do have my own perfect secret recipe filed somewhere - but this was my quick fire version and it turned out pretty well, so I'm jotting it down here for you while I think of it.

'Hola'! deliciousness...

 [Serves 6 - so it's really good value]

Gather:

1 tbsp oil (I used olive)

1 large brown onion - finely chopped

good squirt of garlic puree (or 3 - 6 cloves of fresh, finely chopped garlic)

1-2 fresh chillies - finely chopped (I used one 'medium heat' red one)

2 bell peppers (1 red & 1 green) - chopped into small squares

1-2 tsp chilli powder (I used 1 tsp of hot chilli powder)

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried oregano

2 vegetable stock cubes (or 2 tsp vegetable bouillion powder)

3 tbsp tomato puree (approx - I just squeezed the tube 3 times!)

1 pack meat substitute (such as Tesco frozen Vegan soya mince 454g)

1 x 400g tin chopped plum tomatoes

1 x 200g tin cooked red kidney beans (I never use a whole tin, as I only like a few)

boiling water to make up the vegetable stock

Create:

Set your timer...ready, set, go!

1. OK - fill the kettle and put on to boil, run around demented and grab your ingredients while you heat the oil in a large pan on a medium heat.
2. Chop the onion, throw in the pan and while you gently fry the onion chop the fresh chillis and the peppers.
3. Add the garlic puree, chillis and peppers to the pan and fry a little more.
4. Add in all of the spices and the stock cubes/powder, mix well and cook gently for a minute or so.
5. Add the 'meat', tomato puree, tinned tomatoes and kidney beans and then add boiled water to the level of the top of the mix.
6. Give it all a good stir, bring to the boil and then turn down to a gentle simmer.

Phew!

This should take you up to the 16 minute stage (or thereabouts).

You can simmer the chilli for another 10-30 minutes until it reduces down and the sauce thickens beautifully. (Don't be tempted to thicken with cornflour, as, in my opinion you need the sauce to be lovely and rich - so reduction is better than thickening a weak sauce.) Have a little taste and add some salt and pepper to your liking.

Meanwhile get your rice/tacos/tortillas/nachos and condiments ready and prepare for some hot mouth-tingling food action!

Enjoy! 

On this occasion I cheated and microwaved some Veet basmati ready-rice and served with some homemade coleslaw I already had in the fridge from dinner the night before.

But the other picture above was of more of the chilli making an appearance a couple of days later, along with some homemade nachos and a dip.

The final batch will get used on a baked potato with some Vegusto Vegan 'cheddar cheese' I would think!
Great accompaniments include Vegan sour cream, guacamole and some jalapenos as well if you love it super spicy!

Cooks tip: Add a strip of dark chocolate and melt into the chilli at the very end. This is a genuine Mexican addition that really elevates this dish in a way that you can't quite put your finger on...

p.s. Let me know if you beat my 16 minutes!

Chantal xx