Norified Chickpeas

2 cans of chickpeas, drained

2 bay leaves

2 large carrots, grated

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground coriander

2 cans of chopped tomatoes

2 nori sheets chopped into 2cm squares 

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Fry the onion in the oil until soft. Add the carrot and seasonings and fry until the carrot is soft. Add the remaining ingredients except for the nori sheets and simmer for about 20 minutes to allow the flavours to combine. Add the nori, remove the bay leaves, and blend half the mixture in a blender. Add the blended mixture back to the rest of the mixture and serve with rice, baked potatoes or my sandwich press potatoes as seen in the photos.

Note: To make sandwich press potatoes, grate three to four potatoes, spread evenly onto a sandwich press and cook until golden on both sides. Spread with butter, sprinkle with salt and serve.

Sushi

 When I make sushi, the fillings usually consist of cucumber and avocado. It is yummy but I wanted to expand my horizons a little and that led me to come up with the following. It was delicious!

1 cup of sushi rice, cooked according to the instructions on the packet 

3 TBS sushi seasoning

3 eggs

1 TBS soy milk

Sprinkle of salt

Sprinkle of mixed herbs 

Olive oil for frying

1 carrot, grated

1 lebanese cucumber, halved and sliced lengthwise (I only used half of the cucumber)

1 avocado, sliced

4 nori sheets

mayonnaise

soy sauce for dipping

Instructions:

Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packet. Once it is cooked, add the sushi seasoning and allow to cool to room temperature (I spread it out in a small casserole dish and placed it in the fridge). While the rice is being prepared, beat the eggs with the soy milk, salt and mixed herbs. Pour into a heated and oiled pan and fry on both sides until golden. Slice the egg in preparation for being used in the sushi. Spread a quarter of the rice across the bottom two thirds of a nori sheet. Place the fillings an inch from the bottom edge (use a quarter of the fillings for each roll). Add some mayonnaise and then carefully and firmly roll up the fillings inside the nori sheet from the bottom edge to the top. Slice into eight pieces and serve with soy sauce for dipping. Serves 2.

Creamy Chickpea Pasta

2 cans chickpeas, drained
2 medium carrots, grated
1 large zucchini, grated
6 medium mushrooms, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
1/2 bottle pasata (pureed tomatos)
1 small can coconut cream
500g pasta

Cook pasta according to the instructions on the packet.  Fry the onion and then add the mushroom and garlic.  Once the mushrooms are soft, add the seasonings, carrot and zucchini.  Once carrot and zucchini are soft, add the chickpeas and pasata and simmer until the flavours combine.  Add coconut cream and serve over pasta.  Enjoy!

Serves: 8-10.

Chickpea and Tomato Curry

2 onions, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 large portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
270mL can coconut cream
2 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
Salt to taste

Fry onions.  Add garlic and mushrooms and fry until mushrooms are soft.  Add seasonings, chickpeas and tomatoes and cook until tomatoes have broken down and softened.  Add coconut cream and serve over rice or mashed potato with steamed vegetables.  Enjoy!

Serves 8-10

No Chew III: Borscht

3 large beetroots, chopped into 1cm cubes
2 onions, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
2 TBS of tomato paste
1 TBS veggie style stock powder
Oil
6 potatoes, chopped into 1cm cubes
2 cups of water
Salt to taste

Fry onion and celery in oil.  Add remaining ingredients and cook until the beetroot is soft.  Blend and serve.

Note: I would normally add cabbage, but due to COVID-19 I want to avoid going to the shops if at all possible and I didn't have any cabbage at home.

By the way, these beetroots were picked from my housemate's garden!

No Chew II: Red Lentil Dhal

1 onion, chopped
1 cup of red lentils
Oil
1 carrot, chopped
6 potatoes, chopped
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground corriander
1/4 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
3 medium garlic cloves, chopped
2+ cups of water
Salt to taste

Fry onion in oil.  Add remaining ingredients.  Cook until the lentils and veggies are soft.  Blend and serve.

No Chew I: Creamy Zucchini!

So, you have just had some teeth removed and can't chew anything.  What are you going to eat?  Enter the No Chew recipes!  No Chew recipe no. 1 is Creamy Zucchini!

This one is without the potato.

Make the Zucchini Soup recipe and add about a dozen potatoes (depending on the size) to the pot.  Make it about 2/3rds zucchini and 1/3 potato.  Cook until the potato is soft, blend and serve.

Potatoes make the soup more substantial so that you do not get hungry as quickly after eating it.

Apple Pancakes

I wanted to eat something fruity, but not cereal, so I came up with this...

• 1.5 cups of wholemeal flour
• 1 apple grated
• 2 TBS of olive oil
• 1.5 cups of soymilk
• 1 TBS of sugar
• 1/2 tsp of salt

Combine ingredients and let stand for 10 minutes.  Preheat sandwich press and scoop on 1/4 cup portions.  Close sandwich press and let cook for a few minutes (I didn't actually time it).  Makes 10 pancakes (they are more like waffles because of how I cooked them).  Serve topped with stewed fruit.  Serves 2.

Stewed fruit

I had some pre-stewed pears and peaches in my freezer which I combined with some frozen mixed berries.  After allowing them to simmer for a bit, add two teaspoons of cornflour that has been mixed with a couple of tablespoons of cold water to thicken.

Banana Pancakes

It has been a couple of years... It is about time that I posted something.  Here is a new recipe for you all!

1 cup wholewheat self-raising flour
1 banana, mashed
~1 cup soymilk

Mix ingredients together and spoon into a lightly oiled frying pan.  Fry on both sides until they are lightly golden and then serve with your favourite toppings.  Enjoy!

Serves 2-3.

Pumpkin Tofu

Wow!  It has been six months since I last posted on here!  It's about time that I post another recipe...

500g firm tofu, finely diced
1/2 butternut pumpkin, diced and steamed
1 onion, chopped
1  bunch pak choy, chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
Braggs and salt to taste

Fry all ingredients together (beginning with the onion and celery) and enjoy with rice or noodles!  Serves 4-6.

Tahini and Bean Dip

I really like simple recipes.  Here is another one...

1 small can of beans (chickpeas, borlotti beans, butter beans, or canelini beans)
1/2 small lemon, juiced
1/2 tablespoon tahini

Mash up beans (I use a fork).  Combine with tahini and lemon juice.  Spread on bread and enjoy.  You can add water if you do not want it so thick.

with borlotti beans

Frozen Fruitcream

Here is a recipe for a VERY simple and yummy dessert!

1 large can of fruit in juice
1 small can of coconut cream (I use green labled AYAM brand)

Blend fruit (including juice) and coconut cream, pour into a container and freeze.  Enjoy!

Recipe Review: Silverbeet and Potato Gratin

I was seeking for a silverbeet recipe when I found this one...

Silverbeet and Potato Gratin - from taste.com.au



It looked yummy and we had the ingredients, so I decided to make it with Mum's help.

Mum made the milky sauce, blending milk with a little bit of flour (to thicken it) and the garlic.  Once blended, she thickened it on the stove and then we added some ricotta cheese.  We fried the onion and wilted the silverbeet and then worked on assembling it all in a large casserole dish.  We made a much larger quantity of the recipe in order to meet our needs.  We did not use the grated tasty cheese or nutmeg.

The result...

 It was yummy! :)


From a church member's garden:
Silverbeet

Squash Something

A friend gave us a bag of squash after church on Sabbath.  I had never eaten it before, much less cooked it, but come Sunday morning I started brainstorming to find out what to make with it...  The result was "Squash Something".  It is a recipe that I made up but do not know what to name.  Suggestions are welcome.

Squash from Andrew's garden

Green beans from OUR garden

"Squash Something"

650g squash
120g green beans
4 tomatoes
2 large onions
2 garlic cloves
1 large red capsicum
4 large mushrooms
Salt to taste
Olive oil

Method:
Chop everything up into equal sizes, but crush the garlic.  Drizzle with olive oil and mix.  Pour into a casserole dish and cover.  Bake in the oven until tender.  We ate it with mashed potato, cashew and sunflower cheese, and brown basmati rice.  It was very nice.

Cauli' 'n' 'Chini Soup

I had cauliflower.  I wanted to make cauliflower soup.  So, I hunted for a recipe.

I found a few, chose one, and got started.  Finding a couple of zucchinis in the fridge, I decided to make cauliflower and zucchini soup.

Here is the recipe:
1 small to medium head of cauliflower, chopped
2 medium zucchinis, sliced
3 medium garlic cloves, crushed
3 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons (TBS) vegetable stock powder
8 cups (2L) water
1/4 cup raw cashews

Method:
Sautee onion until soft.  Add garlic, zucchini, cauliflower, and stir.  Add the water and stock powder, bring to the boil, and simmer until cauliflower is soft (about 30 mins).  Blend (in two batches) with the cashews.  Serve with toasted homemade bread!  I also made Minestrone with Black Turtle Beans when I made this soup to give the family more to eat. :)  Enjoy!

Gemista [Greek Stuffed Vegetables]

After eating a greek inspired salad for lunch, I thought it would be great to continue on the theme and assemble some greek food for tea.  Searching the internet, I finally found a recipe that I thought would appeal to my family and that would be authentic.  Interestingly enough, the blog was called Authentic Greek Recipes.

I printed out the recipe and got started.  A few hours later we sat down to eat...

Here is the list of ingredients that I used (slightly different to the original recipe):

8 large ripe tomatoes
2 red capsicums
1 medium round eggplant
12 tablespoons medium-grain brown rice
potatoes to fill in the gaps between the other veggies in the dish (I actually didn't count them all, I just used as many as I could fit)
2 large onions, finely chopped (I tried grating, but was not very successful and the fumes were terrible!)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bunch chopped (flat leaf) parsley
1 tablespoon (TBS) chopped mint
olive oil
1 teaspoon (tsp) salt

Additionally, here are the changes that I made to the preparation:

• I threw away all the eggplant insides (full of seeds).
• Before adding the rice to the tomatoes (etc.), I cooked it in an equal amount of water for 15-20 minutes.  
• Briefly blending the tomatoes (the only insides that I salvaged), I ended up with a simliar result as I would have achieved using a food processor.  By briefly blending, I mean turning the blender on and then off again almost immediately.
• Just prior to putting the filling in the veggies, I added a drizzle of olive oil to the filling.
• I oiled the whole dish and the potatoes.
• I did not add salt (or pepper) to the potatoes

The end result was that some people loved it, some people hated it, and some people didn't mind it.  My personal favourite was the stuffed tomatoes.

If you would like to make the recipe for yourself, here is the link to the original: Greek Stuffed Vegetables (Gemista).  Oh, and if you do make it, let me know how you like it by posting a comment! :)

From the garden:
Parsley
Mint

Note: The steamed cauliflower and broccoli were a familiar flavour to add to the different ones, they were not part of the recipe.

Cookies

The other day I made some Macadamia Cookies.  Here is a few photos of the finished product...

They were very yummy.  You can find the recipe to make these macadamia cookies here.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Roast Vegie Sandwiches

1 x 800gram sweet potato, sliced into 1/4" slices
4 tomatoes, sliced
3 medium zucchinis, sliced into 1/4" slices
4 large onions, sliced
1 1/2 tubs Garlic and Herb Tomato Paste

Cashew Sauce:
3/4 cup raw cashews
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chicken style stock powder
1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
2 cups water (start with 1) to blend

Blend all "cashew sauce" ingredients.  Heat on stove until thickened.

Method:
Grill or bake the vegies (sweet potato, tomato, and zucchini), after painting them with garlic oil.  Fry the onion till soft.  Serve with bread of your choice.  We made foccacia-like bread, spreading the tomato paste on the bottom half of the bread.  We layered up the vegies, spread cashew sauce on the top half of the bread, and then put it together.

Optional: Eggplant (sliced into 1/4" slices, and grilled or baked)

Potato Salad Dressing

1 cup water
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 clove garlic
1/2 small onion
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt

Method:
Blend all.  Add chopped parsley and mint, and mix in with 2 litres of chopped and cooked potatoes.  Serve with salad and a savoury like Kale Slice or Ricotta Cheese Loaf.

Alternatively, you can use this dressing as a spread.

Very Mild Curry Powder

2 tablespoons coriander, ground
2 tablespoons cumin, ground
2 teaspoons paprika, ground
1 teaspoon fennugreek, ground
2 teaspoons tumeric, ground
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ginger, ground

Method:
Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.