Mexican, Rice and Bean Soup

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YOU NEED

250 grams of long grain brown rice

1 brown onion, peeled and finely diced

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

2 teaspoons of smoked paprika

1 ½ litres of vegan chicken stock

1 ½ teaspoons of tabasco sauce

2 small red capsicums (also known as bell peppers, cored and diced)

2 x 400 gram cans of red kidney beans, rinsed *well* and drained

1.5 cups of corn kernels

1 bunch of coriander, washed, roots finely sliced and leaves roughly chopped.

a double batch of my guacamole recipe

 

YOU DO

Put the rice into a pot of boiling water and boil until cooked.

While the rice is cooking, place a large pot on a low to medium heat. Place a small amount of water in the pot, add the onions and cook them for a few minutes until they have softened. Add the garlic and paprika and cook another or minute or 2.

Add the, stock, tabasco, capsicum, beans and corn and bring it all to the boil. Then turn it down to a gentle simmer, for 5 minutes to allow the flavours to blend. Turn the heat off and make the guacamole.

Once the rice is cooked, add it to the pot, and bring everything to the boil once more.

Throw the coriander in at the last minute. Top with a generous blob of the guacamole and serve.

I serve it with spicy corn chips and use the corn chips like a spoon. So easy. So tasty. For a SUPER quick dinner have your rice cooked and in the fridge ready to go. Great for lunch the next day at work on a cold day.

 

Servings: Serves 4.

Time: Takes about 30 – 40 minutes to make unless you have the rice cooked ready the night before. If you do that dinner will be on the table in 20 minutes.

Freezing: Not suitable.

Notes: #Note if you have left overs, you will need to add some more stock, as the rice and/or beans soak up loads of the liquid when it’s stored in the fridge.

You can replace half a litre of the stock for a can of chopped tomatoes for a richer flavour but I like the fact that this is like a broth. With the guacamole, coriander and the crunch of corn chips there is plenty going in with this dish.

Orange, Ginger & Coconut Ripple Cakes

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These have been such a hit with everyone. It is my version of ripple cake that I use to enjoy in childhood. So many of you have made these and enjoyed them. Many of you have made them again and again and posted pictures of your efforts on my Facebook page. It’s quite the thrill for me that you all love this recipe so much and one of the reasons I love it.

 

YOU NEED

1 packet of Macro Gingernut biscuits (I get these from the health food section of the supermarket)

1/2 can of Ayam Coconut Cream (It’s the only coconut cream that I have found that is thick enough for this kind of dish. I like to pop this in the fridge the night before)

1 tablespoon of agave syrup (I get my agave syrup from health food shops. If you don’t have agave syrup, use the equivalent measurement of icing sugar or pure maple syrup)

3 oranges

#optional some dairy free chocolate for garnish

 

YOU DO

Open the can of coconut cream and scoop out all the thick stuff (which is most of the can). Put the watery stuff that is left in the can in a container and back in to the fridge to pop through a smoothie or curry another day.

Grate the zest of 2 of the oranges and add that to the coconut cream and the agave syrup to the coconut cream and mix to combine.

Place 1 biscuit on the bench and spread some of the coconut cream mix onto it. Place another biscuit on top. Repeat this until you have 4 biscuits in a stack.

Pick the stack up and hold it between your pointer finger and thumb. Now using a butter knife, spread more coconut cream around all the edges of the stack until it is covered. Put the stack back down and spread some coconut cream mix on the top and set aside. Repeat until you have 4 stacks.

Pop the 4 stacks on a plate and on the fridge for a couple of hours. When you are ready to serve them grate the zest from the 3rd orange and garnish the top of each stack with the zest and also grate some dairy free chocolate over the top.

Don’t worry if they don’t look perfect. They taste amazing.

 

Servings: Serves 4.

Time: This all takes me less than 30 mins.

Freezing: Not suitable.

Notes: You can refrigerate the stacks for a lot less or a lot more time. The longer they are in the fridge, the softer the biscuits get. They are lovely either way.

If you make these in hot weather refrigerate the coconut cream for a few hours or overnight before you prepare the stacks.

Don’t worry if you can’t get them looking super neat. The taste is all worth it. Alternatively you can break your biscuits up, mix the cream and all the other ingredients together with the biscuits and place them in 4 small glasses for serving. When I do this I tend to use more biscuits per serve though. Don’t forget to still garnish them generously with grated chocolate and/or orange zest.

# I can NOT recommend a citrus zester enough for recipes like this.

Carrot & Coriander Relish

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Ever since I stopped relying on a slab of meat to be the main component and “highlight” of my meals I have become more creative, eat a more diverse diet and ridiculously more experimental with the plethora of diversity the plant world offers. A favourite these days is a creamy hummus, fragrant pesto and also ……………spicy, tart relishes.

 

YOU NEED

200 grams carrots, peeled and grated

1 small brown onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

juice of 1 small lime (you are after 1-2 tablespoons juice)

1 small red chilli, seeds out and finely diced

1 bunch coriander, washed and roughly chopped

 

YOU DO

Blend all ingredients except for half of the bunch of coriander and the chilli.

Stir the other half of the coriander and the chilli through the mixture.

Serve as a condiment, as spread in a salad sandwich or on a grainy biscuit or any way you would normally have relish.

 

Serves: Makes about 1 cup of relish.

Time: Takes me about 20 mins.

Freeze: N/A

 

Indian Spiced Swede Patties

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YOU NEED

1 swede, peeled, cut into cubes and steamed or boiled until tender

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1 small brown onion, peeled and finely diced

1 cup breadcrumbs (use gluten free breadcrumbs if you wish)

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of ground turmeric

1 teaspoon of ground coriander

¼ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes

1 bunch of fresh coriander, washed and roughly chopped.

salt/pepper to taste

 

YOU DO

Sauté the onion in a small pan, on low heat with some oil until softened. Add the garlic and cook another couple of minutes.

Add the cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and chilli flakes and cook for a further couple of minutes.

Mash the cooked swede. Add the onion and spices. Add the bread crumbs, the coriander and season.

Form small patties with the mixture. Then cook in a pan with a little heated oil for a few minutes on each side. Pop them in a pre heated oven for another 10-15 minutes to really cook them through also if you wish.

Serve with rice and salad or with relish and rocket in a pita pocket.

 

Servings: Made 8 small patties

Time: This all took me less than 30 mins.

Rhubarb, Rosewater & Lime Sorbet

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Rhubarb reminds me of my late grandma whom I adored. She and my Pappy use to grow it in their garden that they had for almost 60 years. Grandma would stew it and serve it with mountains of ice cream. Memories of my Grandma are centered around the food she use to make. She use to smell like roses too and would put rose scented soaps in her draw. She had the loveliest soft pink cardigan she use to wear also, so blossom trees in bloom with their beautiful pink buds and the scent of rose remind me of her as does rhubarb, short bread yo yo’s, caramel slice and warm hugs.

The colour of this sorbet and the ingredients are a tribute to a beautiful, kind and loving lady. I miss her every day, all these years later. I wish she was still here to see and share my passion for food.

 

YOU NEED

275mls of rhubarb juice (approx 2 bunches of rhubarb)

1/8 cup of fresh lime juice

1/2 cup of agave syrup

1/2 cup of water

3/4 teaspoon of rosewater

 

YOU DO

Bring the water and agave to the boil. Stir well to combine.

Add the rhubarb and lime juice, stir to combine, remove from heat and add the rosewater.

Pop the mixture into a metal tray and place in the freezer for a couple of hours till frozen.

Once frozen it’s still icy so just blend it and pop back in the freezer until it firms up again (approx 45 mins to an hour) and serve.

Apart from the freezing time this is SO fast and SO easy to make.

 

Servings: Made 2 decent serves or 4 more dainty serves 🙂

 Time: The preparation and cooking time took me less than 20 mins.

Daikon Patties

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I had never in all my years of cooking, made anything with daikon, but someone asked me on The Kind Cook Facebook page about it. It got the little wheels in my head churning and then the other day I was at my organic grocers and I spotted a daikon.
I just threw in a bit of this and a bit of that, so you may want to change some of the ingredients. But I just went with Asian flavours that I thought would complement the daikon. I also wanted texture and crunch which is why I added the nuts.
I also really wanted little chunky patties. This meant the middle warmed through but essentially remain uncooked. Daikon can be eaten raw though, so I have no concerns there and the outside has texture. I guess if you flatten them if you wish to.
I didn’t think I would daikon, BUT I love these. It’s always cool to experiment with something new too. And the outcome was incredibly fragrant with the sesame oil and spring onions

 

YOU NEED

2 loose (ish) cups of daikon, peeled and grated

1/2 cup of spring onion aka “scallions”, washed and finely sliced

1 very generous teaspoon of sesame oil (mine over flowed by accident but turned out to be a nice amount)

3 teaspoons of sesame seeds

3 teaspoons of egg replacer, mixed well with 3 teaspoons of water until it forms a watery paste

1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder (I didn’t have any fresh on hand)

2 tablespoons of roasted and salted peanuts, crushed or roughly chopped

4 teaspoons of flour (I used red rice flour but use whatever is at hand and gluten free if that’s what you require)

1/2 cup of bread crumbs (always check the ingredients as most bread crumbs contain some dairy, eggs, fish etc)
oil for cooking

YOU DO
Once you have peeled and grated the daikon, place it on a plate and sprinkle a teaspoon of salt over the top. Leave it there while you collect and prepare all your other ingredients.

Once you have all your other ingredients washed, chopped and ready to go, throw them all into a large bowl.

Then go back to you daikon plate and grab handfuls of the daikon and squeeze all the water out of it. You want it to be as dry as possible. Once you have done that just throw it into the bowl with all the other ingredients.

Combine all the ingredients together and form into small balls, then flatten slightly into patties.

Press each patty down into the bread crumbs. Repeat for the other side.

Heat some oil in a large pan and cook the patties for a few minutes on each side until they are a golden brown.

Serve immediately with chilli and or tamari.

Yields: 8 small patties

Time: 30 mins

Freezing: Not suitable.

Cinnamon Scented Pumpkin & Black Bean Curry

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Just as the name suggests this is a sweet curry. It’s a quick fragrant nourishing meal for a cold night. It’s also beautiful to have for lunch the next day.

 

YOU NEED

1 small brown onion, peeled, cut into large dice

1 small red chilli, halved lengthwise, seeds removed and finely sliced

1 large tablespoon of curry powder

½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 can of good quality crushed tomato

1 cup of vegetable stock

2 cups of pumpkin, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 can of black beans, well rinsed and drained

 

YOU DO

Get your rice cooking If you are going to serve this with rice.

Heat a small amount of oil in a large pan and gently sauté the onion and chilli until they have softened and the onion has started to *caramelised. See Notes.

Put the curry powder in a small dry pan and carefully dry roast it over a low heat. Stir it as you go and only roast for a minute or 2 to bring the aromatics of the curry out.

Add the curry and the cinnamon to the onion and stir them over a low heat until they are well combined. Add the tomatoes, stock, black beans and pumpkin. Bring it to the boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cover the pan and continue cooking until the pumpkin is tender.

I serve this with steamed brown rice and garnish it with loads of fresh washed coriander just before serving.

 

Yields: 2 large serves

Time: 25 minutes

Notes: Caramelising the onion is an important step. It means to cook the onion until it starts to brown and the natural sugars have come out. This gives the onion a sweeter, caramel flavour.

You can get black beans at well stocked health food stores and some supermarkets.  If you can’t find back beans just substitute them with kidney beans or chick peas.

Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad

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Spicy, sour , fragrant, crunchy, simple and delicious. This salad packs a punch!

YOU NEED (for the salad)

2 x100 gram packs of vermicelli rice noodles

1 large red capsicum (also known as bell peppers), core removed, seeds out and very finely sliced

2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks

a handful of spring onion (also known as scallions), washed, cut in 1/2, sliced into thin strips lengthwise

1 bunch of Vietnamese mint, washed and roughly chopped

a good handful of sweet basil, washed and gently torn

1 cup of crushed, salted and roasted peanuts

 

YOU NEED (for the dressing)

2 limes, juiced

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

1 small red chilli, halved and finely sliced (I have some that are REALLY hot at the moment and decided to live on the edge and not remove the seeds)

2 lemon grass stems, finely sliced. If you don’t have lemon grass stems, use a tablespoon of bought minced lemon grass. Do get fresh lemon grass if you can though, as it adds a nice crunch and is so fragrant).

1 tablespoon of coconut sugar (alternatively use soft brown sugar)

5 kaffir lime leaves, roughly chopped

 

YOU DO

Combine all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl until they are well combined and set aside.

Prepare the noodles as per the packet instructions. If you are using hot water refresh them in cold water immediately and drain them. Grab handfuls of the noodles and roughly chop them with scissors. Shorter noodles make the salad easier to eat.

Combine the noodles with the rest of the ingredients (except for the nuts).

Add the dressing to the noodles mixture and stir well to combine.

Garnish with the crushed peanuts and serve.

 

Yields: Makes enough for 4. Or for 2 very hungry people

Time: 25 minutes

Notes: Just use normal mint if you can’t get Vietnamese. It’s not the same but you need mint because it gives the salad a cooling element.

Chilli Sans Carne

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Chilli con Carne is a recipe my mum likes to make and I love bean recipes so it was only a matter of time before I played with a veg version.

For those of you looking for a fast, easy dinner. I just used what was in the pantry and honestly it was up in 20 minutes flat.

It’s rich, warming tasty and uncomplicated. If making it for children you can simply leave the hot cayenne powder out.

 

YOU NEED

1 large red capsicum (also known as bell pepper), seeds and core out and cut into a smallish dice

2 large brown onions, peeled and finely diced

1 can of baked beans

1 can of red kidney beans, well rinsed

1 can of chickpeas, well rinsed

1  can of crushed tomatoes

1 can of good quality tomato soup

2 cups of vegetable stock (I use Masell brand)

1 teaspoon of cumin powder

1 teaspoon of hot cayenne powder

# optional – oil for cooking

 

YOU DO

Get some rice on and cooking to serve this with….

Heat some rice bran oil in a large pot (alternatively just heat a little water instead of oil). Add the onions and cook on a low to medium heat till they are soft and browned. Add the garlic, cumin, cayenne and capsicum and cook for another minute or so.

Add the rest of the ingredients, stir to combine, bring to the boil and gently simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with rice, vegetables or salad.

# I would also suggest a teaspoon of smoky paprika would be awesome in this, to add depth and a “meaty” tone to it.

# This is S#P#I#C#Y, so if you are cooking it for the family, reduce or eliminate the  cayenne.

 

Servings: 4-6

Time: Takes me about 20 minutes to make this one.

Freezing: Should be fine for freezing.

Sweet Red Onion & Lentil Dahl on a Mushroom Steak w Mash

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YOU NEED

2 portobello mushrooms

½ can butter beans, well rinsed and drained

1 small potato, peeled and cut into chunks

½ cup cauliflower florets

1 red onion, peeled, cored and sliced

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 cup of  dry lentils (I used puy lentils as they retain their shape but they also take ages to cook so brown would be fine to use instead)

2 x 1/2 cup red wine

4 button mushrooms, chopped, stalks and all

1 tablespoon tomato paste

½ tablespoon soft brown sugar

3 cups vegetable stock

1 bunch of fresh oregano leaves, washed

oil for cooking

Salt and pepper for seasoning

 

YOU DO

Give the lentils a good rinse then soak them in cold water for a couple of hours.

Heat some oil in a large pot and gently cook the red onion until it has softened. Cut the stalks off the portobello mushrooms and roughly chop them up.. Add the stalks and the button mushrooms to the red onion and cook till softened. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the lentils, 1/2 cup of red wine and 2 cups of the vegetable stock to the pot.. Bring  everything to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook gently until the lentils are cooked. Keep checking and add more stock if you need to.

Put the other ½ cup of red wine, the soft brown sugar, the tomato paste and the other 1 cup of vegetable stock into a small pan. Bring to the boil and reduce until nice and thick.

Steam the potato and cauliflower till tender and mash.

Blend the butter beans and stir through the mash and season with salt and pepper.

Once the lentils are cooked, stir through the oregano leaves.

Once everything is ready, heat some more oil in a small pan and cook the portobello mushrooms for a few minutes on either side until cooked through.

Put the portobello mushrooms onto a plate each, top them with the mash, then top with the sweet onion and lentil dahl. Pour some of the red wine sauce over the top and serve.

 

Servings: 2

Time: Takes about 45-60 mins. A lot less if you use brown lentils.

Freezing: Not suitable for freezing

Note: If you use brown lentils instead of puy lentils, use less stock and only add more if needed because brown lentils will cook much faster and your lentils will be too watery.