Lunch Archives - Page 2 of 2 - A Vegan Obsession

Raw Coronation Cauliflower Recipe

September 4, 2012 by India Leigh

I’ve gone a bit cauliflower crazy lately. I posted another entree for a Raw Tagine last week. I just hope you are as keen on the pale, crunchy brassica as I am! Another raw recipe for you. Who wants to put the oven on when it is hot outside, right?

This recipe is simple to prepare. You do need to soak the cashews for the creamy ‘coronation’ sauce prior to making the dish, but that is hardly a chore! I thought the combination of rich sauce combined with the lightness of the vegetable would create a lovely combo.
The idea came from Coronation Chicken, a recipe of cold chicken and creamy curry sauce. According to Wikipedia it was invented in 1953 by English food writer, Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume, a chef, whist creating the menu for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Cauliflower is low in fat, low carb and packed with lots of fibre. High in phytochemicals with Indole-3-carbinol, that actually enhances DNA repair (phyto=plant in Greek). Keeping it raw retains all of these fabulous nutrients that would diminish during cooking.

Raw Coronation
Cauliflower

Serves 2 for a light lunch

Ingredients

1 cauliflower (size depends on your appetite and the veg to sauce ratio YOU like.. mine was a pretty hefty fella)

1/2 cup cashew nuts - soaked for at least 4 hours (this turns off the enzyme inhibitors and makes them easy to digest)

paprika

1 1/2 tsp curry powder (I use Juliet Mae - Cool vindaloo when I’m in the USA - I think it is the best. It is mellow and warm and doesn’t have the acidity that some curry powders have)

2 Tbs raisins (soak them for 10 mins in warm water to plump)

squeeze of lemon juice (1 tsp)
squeeze of lime (1 Tbs if you are measuring)
1 tsp lime zest
1/2 tsp coriander powder

1 small clove minced garlic

salt & pepper to taste. I’m partial to white pepper in this dish.

Method

1.cut the florets into bite size pieces

2. rinse the cashews and blend until smooth and creamy. Decant into a mixing bowl.

3. add the remaining ingredients to the cashew mix, along with the cauliflower and mix well to ensure full coverage. Leave flavours to develop for at least 10 mins. Serve at room temperature.

That’s it!

I’m sure that isn’t the last you’ve heard from me on the cauliflower front…

bye for now

India Leigh x

Simple Raw Zucchini Pasta Salad with Almond Alfredo Sauce

July 13, 2012 by India Leigh

My mum and I had a deal last weekend, whilst I was up visiting her. I make lunch, she pays for it.
She is brilliant. Open to new foods and giving new dishes a try. The funny thing is though, is that she will try it but then defaults back to the handful of meals she has been making since I was wee. Habit is just that I guess….habit. She’s still a bit scardy-cat of attempting to create a ‘vegan’ dish for me. I tell her it’s not big deal. I point out lots of dishes that traditionally don’t contain animal. After many years I think she finally ‘gets’ it. She has sampled so much of my food, she now gets that delicious desserts do not need dairy, sugar or white flour. Entrees are amazing without the use of any animal products. She called me in the week to tell me she’d been telling all her friends about this dish. It is so simple, I’ve a feeling she may give it a go herself. Maybe.

I used a spiralizer but it is just as good turning the zucchini into pasta with a box grater or fine ribbons with a vegetable peeler.

This pasta is light and summery for all you lucky people who are enjoying a proper summer, with sun and heat and everything! It’s filling, gluten free, dairy free and ALIVE! No wheat no worries.

Raw Pasta Salad with garden peas in Almond Alfredo Sauce

Serves 2

2 med-large zucchini (courgette)
2 cups peas
handful of fresh mint
a few basil leaves

‘alfredo’ sauce
1 cup almonds, soaked over night
1/2 cup water
1 clove garlic minced
2 - 3 teaspoons of lemon juice. Please use fresh. None of that bottled malarkey!
1/2 - 1 tsp Himalayan salt

freshly ground black pepper

Use a spiralizer to create curls of veggie ‘pasta’. Alternatively grate it in long strokes or use a good veggie peeler to create ‘tagiatelle’.

Put the almonds into a blender with the water. Then decant into a nut milk bag and squeeze out all the almond ‘cream’. It’s messy and feels wonderful as the silky almond cream oozes out of the bag.

Grate a clove of garlic into the cream. Squeeze over the juice of the lemon, about two teaspoons or one hearty squeeze should do it. Season to taste.

Add in the peas, chopped herbs and the pasta and gently fold the mixture with a spoon. It smells divine. The garlic fragrance lifts into the air as the acid of the lemon marinates the vegetables and softens the zucchini.

A flourish of freshly grated black pepper and an extra sprinkling of fresh mint and you are done.

Serve with a pert green salad and a citrusy summer mocktail.

Simple Raw Zucchini Pasta Salad with Almond Alfredo Sauce

Author: India Leigh

Recipe type: Salad, Raw Food

Cuisine: Vegan, Raw

Ingredients

Raw Pasta Salad with garden peas in Almond Alfredo Sauce
Serves 2
2 med-large zucchini (courgette)
2 cups peas
handful of fresh mint
a few basil leaves
'alfredo' sauce
1 cup almonds, soaked over night
½ cup water
1 clove garlic minced
2 - 3 teaspoons of lemon juice. Please use fresh. None of that bottled malarkey!
½ - 1 tsp Himalayan salt
freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Use a spiralizer to create curls of veggie 'pasta'. Alternatively grate it in long strokes or use a good veggie peeler to create 'tagiatelle'.
Put the almonds into a blender with the water. Then decant into a nut milk bag and squeeze out all the almond 'cream'. It's messy and feels wonderful as the silky almond cream oozes out of the bag.
Grate a clove of garlic into the cream. Squeeze over the juice of the lemon, about two teaspoons or one hearty squeeze should do it. Season to taste.
Add in the peas, chopped herbs and the pasta and gently fold the mixture with a spoon. It smells divine. The garlic fragrance lifts into the air as the acid of the lemon marinates the vegetables and softens the zucchini.
A flourish of freshly grated black pepper and an extra sprinkling of fresh mint and you are done.
Serve with a pert green salad and a citrusy summer mocktail.

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Summery and light, Sweet Onion Tart - RAW & VEGAN

May 24, 2012 by India Leigh

The seasons.
I am finally getting it. Us humans can try all we like to be in control but, basically, nature has us by the whatnot’s!
Grey wet weather = hermit. Slow like slug. FORCE required to exercise
Cold = storing food, hamster like. FORCE required to exercise
Overcast = mental fog. FORCE required to think straight AND exercise
SUN = and the living is easy!!! Running around at will with energy of a kitten!

I also tried to deny the ebb and flow of life for quite some time too. PUSH PUSH PUSH. Silly girl. I now realise sometimes life can be FAST and sometimes it can be SLOW. Sustainability = PACING YOURSELF, and stop overdoing it and take time to just….RELAX and chill. I used to fear that I’d become a sloth if I let go of the regime but I realise, after time, I just became weary. NOW, I see that when the time is right for me to run, I will run. When I need to WALK I will walk. When I need to sleep in. I SLEEP in. NATURE is in charge. For me, when I set the pace, I was just draining my ADRENALS. I have been working on replenishing my wonderful system for 6 weeks now and thing that is most clear is that I need to have a dialogue with my body and be respectful, grateful and KIND. LISTEN to its needs. It is rewarding me (MORE OF THAT IN THE COMING MONTHS).

The raw food diet is still on the top of my eating habits lately. Raw or ‘living foods’ are classified as wholefoods, lots of colourful vegetables and fruit. Nuts and seeds. Foods are left gloriously naked or ‘prepared’, rather than cooked. Foods are said to loose their enzymatic qualities and nutritional benefits are lost upon cooking so, on a raw food diet, nothing is ‘cooked’ above 115 degrees. It isn’t a regime that I am following, or new belief system, it is just what my body wants. I am really starting to get my head around the principles and have begun inventing lots of DELICIOUS new recipes. All ‘Raw food’ is naturally gluten free and processed sugar free.

This is perfect PICNIC food. Super light and so summery. The sweet onions deliver delightful bursts of intense flavour and together heighten the delicate flavours of the whipped filling. It is, as always, gluten free and vegan.

RAW CARAMELISED ONION TART

Ingredients

Base
1 cup sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat. Buckwheat is a funky triangular fruit seed and totally gluten free. It has been said that the seed helps to reduce glucose levels in the blood, thought beneficial to manage diabetes. It is tasty and wonderfully crunchy when dehydrated.
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 coconut oil (if solid put into a glass bowl over a pan of hot water to melt)
1/4 tsp salt

filling
1/2 cucumber
1 cup cashews (soaked for at least 2 hours)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

topping
Raw dehydrated caramelised onions - recipe here

Method

1. to make the base, put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until mixture holds together when pressed between your fingers. Press the mix into the bottom of a 9′ spring form pan. Place in the fridge to set.
2. for the filling. Rough chop the garlic and put all ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Carefully, spoon the mix onto the base and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. allow the onions to cool and cover the top of the tart. Use a sharp knife to cut into slices.

Serve with a green salad. A potato and chive salad would pair well with this too.

Can be made ahead. Will keep in fridge for 4-5 days.

Next time I will add some fresh basil to the filling. You could also sub the cucumber for chopped and deseeded tomatoes.

Happy summer! Long may it grace us. x

Thin Polenta Crust Pizza - Feta, sweet caramelized onion and wilted spinach - Gluten free and VEGAN!

August 15, 2011 by India Leigh

I don’t even remember how I came across it…it is a ssshhh..secret, anyway so..I guess it doesn’t matter how..BUT I’m IN. A new member of The Secret Recipe Club..Woo hoo! I BELONG.

It all sounds very childhood ‘swallows and amazons’ doesn’t it? Fun. That’s nice.

SRC assigns you to a fellow blogger. Your mission - should you wish to accept it - is to pick 1 recipe from their blog (It took me days to decide!) and then recreate it in your own style: sinfull to sinless or visa versa; swap an ingredient; spice it up perhaps; or push up the 4 to 5 of your ‘a day’ quota; doh! ruin it (oh dear God, hopefully not!)… anything..FREE REIGN.

For my FIRST assignment (oh the importance of it all!) I was given a link on a disk that self destructed upon reading (ok, that is a lie..I was emailed it). It revealed COOKIN CHEMIST to be my focus of culinary capers (no pun intended but..hey great foodie connection!). After much consideration I picked pizza to morph. They seemed to LOVE pizza…I was walking a tightrope.. They could either LOVE or hate my recreation. I’m a brave lass.

Here is Tessa of Cookin Chemist’s original recipe for Feta, Onions & Spinach Pizza. I decided to vegan..ize and gluten… ~~free…ze~~ free it.

But HOW?..I hear you cry. Hush sweet cook, the answer is within;

VEGAN FETA, CARAMELIZED ONION & SPINACH PIZZA ON GLUTEN FREE POLENTA CRUST

Serves 2- 4

For the polenta base

1 1/4 cup polenta

3 cups water

1 vegan stock cube

1 flax egg ( previous post recipe for ‘egg’ replacer. )

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp of each; basil, oregano, parsley

1/4 tsp black pepper

1.in a pan pour in polenta and add all but the flax ‘egg’ and stir gently until brought to a boil..turn down the heat to a simmer and continue stirring until polenta thickens.
2. remove from heat and mix in the ‘egg’.
3.pour into a cake pan, the type with a removeable base, and refrigerate for minimum of 30 minutes
4.place in a preheated oven - 375 degrees - and bake for 35mins. Leave to cool.

I had seen a few recipes on the web that bemoaned their base being delicate but with the use of the flax ‘egg’ it holds up (literally) very well. A great result.

For the topping

1 cup spinach (for some reason I prefer frozen as it is less ‘earthy’ and easier. just thaw and squeeze out excess liquid..drink this/put it in a soup or smoothie)

1 large onion cut into rings

marinara sauce (see below)

3/4 cup vegan cheese (I used Cheezly’s Cheddar..it’s light and tastes ‘feta’ like)

1 tbs olive oil

black pepper to taste

a swirl of balsamic glaze (optional)

To make the marinara sauce

1/2 can chopped tomatoes

a few basil leaves

1 tbs nutritional yeast (you can also a splash of Braggs Aminos or Tamari

1 clove garlic - chopped

1/4 tsp salt

cracking of black pepper

1. make the marinara - lightly fry the garlic then add all the remaining ingredients. Cook on a low heat for 10 mins.
2. put sliced onions into a pan on a low heat with oil. Put on the lid and leave to cook for 15 mins until caramelized and sweet.
2.grab your base (loosen it from the cake tin base) and spoon and spread over the marinara sauce
3.next up is the onions
4. dot the spinach over the top
5. crumble/dice over the ‘feta’
6.a flourish of black pepper
7.swirl over balsamic glaze if using
8.cut and serve to the hungry

Job done. Very yum. What a great way to find inspiration - thanks to the Secret Recipe Club & Tessa of Cookin Chemist!

Top Tips..

I made double the recipe for the base and froze the extra base to save time when the next pizza craving strikes.
I made the pizza as part of a party spread so I had a slice leftover. I put it in the freezer and it froze very well.

Tell all your yeast free, gluten free friends about the base…I am totally converted!

A week of VEGAN - Meal plan - Day 5 -

July 15, 2011 by India Leigh

Bonjour. Hola. Ni Hao. Aloha. G’day. Helloo, ect. It’s day 5 of this weeks meal plan.

Ok, lets do this thing. LUNCH

I thought I’d try a mock tuna recipe from Happy Herbivore. I couldn’t imagine how it would taste and I was intrigued. Now, hands up, I admit I didn’t follow the recipe to the letter - anyone know what a dill pickle tastes like? Well, I have not a clue, so for this ‘mock tuna’ recipe I used ‘mock dill pickle’. What?!…LIFE is an improvisation.

This was enough to make two rounds of sarnies.

Mock tuna sandwich

1/2 can of chickpeas drained
1 celery stalk
1 tbs capers
1 tbs dried dill
1/2 tsp onion granules
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tbs tamari or liquid aminos
1/4 tsp black salt (optional..it adds a little..erm, sort of…something?) if not use sea salt
1/2 nori sheet cut v.small or 1/2 tsp kelp

2 tbs vegan mayo
I used the recipe from the lovely Sarah Kramer - Vegan-Go-Go-Cookbook
3/4 cup tofu
2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Blend until thick

I mixed up all the ingredients retaining a couple of tbs of the mayo to layer on top of the mock filling.

How hard can it be to photograph a sandwich! I took loads of pics….I hold my head in shame. This is the best of the bunch. It tasted good, but when I make it again I’ll add finely chopped scallions to lift the flavours and, even though I LOVE my onion bread, it was not making BFF with the mock tuna. So sorry onion bread, you wouldn’t be on the invite list. Mock tuna needs to be the centre of attention between two slices of light, soft bread. I’m also going to try it as a mock tuna melt….one day.

To the sink..MORE washing up!

What did I have for dinner you ask?

I wanted something easy…tasty, and I wanted tempeh. That spoke to me of TEMPEH STIR FRY

Tempeh from Full of Beans at the Infinity foods store in Brighton. The BEST I’ve found in the UK to date. In the US, Trader Joes sells a rocking slab of fermented creaminess.

I splashed roughly a tbs of sesame oil into a pan and sauteed a clove of garlic and a chunk of ginger until golden. Then added the veggies.

I chopped enough of the following for my sweet self.

kale

broccoli

carrots

cabbage

snap peas

sesame seeds

I stir fried these in with sauteed chopped garlic (one clove) and an inch of fresh ginger grated.

to season I used tamari and rice vinegar. I heated through the tempeh for about 3 mins, once the vegetables were al dente.

Ready before you know it. Well, not literally….and, well it’s not my saying, it makes no sense to me either!

I sat with a fork and my bowl of plant offerings and watched some silly dating show on the TV about people being cooked for by blind dates. My dinner was delicious but my choice of entertainment was wanting.

Once my plate was empty I went back to the kitchen. It was filled with the aroma of warm, sweet almonds….

Dessert was an almond biscuit cookie type thing. (Any names suggestions welcomed)

Makes about 12 (btw that is a not a tiny grass daisy..so you know for proportions).

2 cups almonds
1/2 cup spelt or gf flour
1/4 cup agave or other liquid sweetener
1/4 cup almond milk (unsweetened) begin with this amount, add more if necessary. You don’t want a wet dough, just enough to bind.
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 tsp salt (I love the sweet n salty combo)
1/4 tsp bicarb of soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 cup flaked almonds

preheat oven to 175

1. sift the flour into a large mixing bowl (not the almonds as too coarse). Add almond flour.
2. add other dry ingredients and mix
3.add sweetener & essence
4.add vegan milk and mix gently to a dough
5.roll into crescents or rounds.
6. pop into the oven until turning light gold. Approx 10-15 mins. Check if cooked with a tooth pick.
7. put on a baking rack to cool. (I did not do this as I couldn’t wait!)

Sweet, salty, crumbly, almondy…bliss x

OK OK YOU ASKED FOR IT - You paid the ransom, You get the recipe

June 9, 2011 by India Leigh

I was absolutely hounded (this truth, as a concept…has quite a fair amount of elasticity!), to divulge the ingredients and ‘how to’ for the BLACK BEAN & WALNUT PARTY BURGERS I posted a few days ago. I have given in to the pressure, and I now lay what you have behest at your feet….

Black bean & walnut burgers….Copyright aveganobsession

YOU WILL NEED

1 1/2 cups cooked black beans (drained)

1 cup cooked brown rice

3/4 cup of walnuts

1 small finely chopped leek

1 small onion finely chopped (I have used without as I made caramelized onions to sit on the burger…otherwise add)

1 clove garlic

1/2 red pepper diced

1 small red chili

1 tbp rice vinegar (or 1/2 apple cider vinegar….the rice is sweeter and not as sharp)

1/4 - 1/2 cup soya/besan/quinoa/oat flour or cooked and cooled polenta, whichever you have floating about…they all work well to bind the mix. How much you use depends on the moisture in your mix.

2 tsp freshly roasted cumin. ground. If not powder is ok.

1 tsp paprika

1 tbs fresh herbs…I used a mint/coriander mix but you could use just coriander (ciltrano) or basil for a taste of the Med (add some sundried toms too….umm, that’d be nice) basically…I encourage you to experiment..its YOUR burger party right?!

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

2 tbp olive oil for frying Makes approx 8 burgers

ARE YOU READY? WE SHALL BEGIN

fry the leeks in the oil (and onion if adding) until soft. Add the garlic until it turns golden, careful not to burn, and 1/2 the chili. Remove with a slotted spoon. Retain oil in the pan for later.

In a bowl add 2/3 of the beans and rice (some will be added whole at a later stage), walnuts the leeks, garlic etc and the spices. Season with salt and pepper (I use 1 tsp pink salt and lashings of black pepper). Blend.

Add into the bowl the rest of the beans, rice, the flour, finely chopped chili and chopped herbs. Mix. Now, it should be holding together well, if not add a little more flour. Shape into burgers and put on a baking tray and pop into the fridge…YES, I did say fridge..leave for as long as you can…30 mins minimum..this firms them up nicely..ready for frying.

Gently place burgers into the pan the garlic etc was fried in and fry on each side for approx 4-5 mins. Lift them out gently when done. You could also bake them for 20-25 mins in the oven (if you want a low fat version).

Serve with salad, caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, sweet potato fries and polenta crisp (I flavoured the polenta with a dusting of vegan Parmesan) and a chipotle/tomato sauce…or Veganaise…or mustard….or cashew ‘sour cream’….Oh God..how about a side of sauteed plantains instead?….oooh the possibilities……..

Vlola! Now party!

Gourmet VEGAN party burgers with sweet potato fries AND polenta crisp

June 6, 2011 by India Leigh

It has been a month since I gorged on ‘out of this world’ tucker at SAGE and I was hankering bad for a black bean and walnut burger. Being a few thousand miles from Sage Bistro and not having a plane ticket handy it was time to EXPERIMENT. I had to come up with a copy cat recipe…AND FAST.

The aftermath was kitchen chaos..I never knew I had so many utensils!….but it was worth it.

Not only did I recreate a sublime burger but also parmesan crisp and chunky sweet potato fries with corn crumb.

AND I caramelised onions and sauteed mushrooms in garlic and oil to Lord it above my burgers. I was having a ball! Oh my God…THEY WERE GOOD!

If you subscribe today and leave a comment…..I’ll send you the recipe. Yes, it is a sneaky way to find out if people want my recipes….AND to share with you my kitchen creations……AND for you to be sinking your teeth into this mouthwatering recipe for your very own BLACK BEAN AND WALNUT BURGER. So excited to hear from you!

5 minute SPRING-TIME SOUP - nettle, pea & watercress soup with OLIVE BREAD -

May 24, 2011 by India Leigh

I seem to be having the urge to eat lots of green things. Like I don’t have enough green in my life right now, surrounded by fields and trees!

Last summer I frequently made this soup, its very simple to make and it is light and has lots of layers of flavour. The sun is making everything grow at a rapid rate and the nettles were calling. I was happy to get reacquainted with this tasty soup.

This serves 4 ..

Pick the top, freshest part of wild nettle,(use gloves or hold the stem firmly to prevent the needle like hairs ‘stinging’ you) about 20 plants should do it. Carefully remove the leaves and wash to add to other ingredients…

500g frozen garden peas.
250g watercress/spinach.
1 med onion (or a bunch of scallion/salad onions).
1 vegan, yeast-free stock cube.
1 garlic clove.
1 - 2 tsp whole grain mustard (I make my own..1:2 fresh ground mustard seeds/tbs apple cider vinegar.
1 tsp ground black pepper.
pink salt to taste - I use about 3 generous pinches.

The beauty of this soup is that it literally takes minutes and is such an eye popping vivid green, it impresses easily AND tastes fantastic. It is also really light and exciting with fresh mint.

The quickest method is to boil a kettle full of water (about 2- 2 1/2 pints) roughly cut up the scallions, pop in the whole garlic clove with the frozen peas, the nettles, watercress/spinach, mustard and stock/seasonings, pour on the boiling water, bring back to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. I use a hand blender to blend to a soup..add more water if needed (not too much as will dilute the flavour). (If you want to use onions, instead of scallions then you will need to chop and fry them first in oil until golden, this will add 5-8mins to the time) That’s it your done…serve and slurp noisily from your spoon!

Do you want to make the olive bread too?…yey! I made the BASIC RECIPE first and then, after poking around in the fridge, elected to add olives.

Basic Recipe

Equal amounts of any of the following; brown rice flour, coconut flour (low carb), quinoa flour (high protein), kamut/ spelt flour (some find more easily digested than wheat..me for one). Choose 2 plus 1/2 cup ground flax For this recipe I used

1 cup coconut /brown rice/quinoa flours

1/2 cup freshly milled flax

1 tbs mixed herbs

2 tsp ACV

1 tsp Himalayan salt

A little something extra…2 tbs chopped black olives. *instead of the olives you could use sun dried tomatoes infused with garlic in oil.

Sift flours into a bowl, add other ingredients then enough water to create a batter like consistency (you do not have to be too precise as the cooking process will absorb or evaporate the water…) Mix well then pour into lightly oiled tins (aim for approx 3/4 inch deep…note, it doesn’t rise) and pop it into a hot over @ 175 degrees for approx 20 mins. Poke the centre with a knife to see if it comes clean (it may stick a little if you use the brown rice flour due the starch). Remove to a cooling rack…or if you are like me, don’t wait and rub a garlic clove on it and slather with vegan ‘butter’.

I love this bread, it has no yeast, its vegan and low fat and has a good level of low GI. If you use the coconut flour then it is low in carbs too. What you put on top of it is up to you!

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