vegetables » Thrifty Living

Spicy Spanish potato salad

Jun 272011

Yes, another potato salad recipe! This one is completely different than the mayo-based Potato salad with garlic & herbs. It is a super quick and easy recipe, and uses common kitchen ingredients.

With this recipe, the potatoes are cooked with a chilli, and then dressed with an olive oil and lemon juice dressing. The cooked chilli plus raw garlic in the dressing makes the salad nice and spicy. You can adjust both to your taste.

I’m not sure how authentically Spanish this recipe is, but it sure is tasty. It’s from the book In Praise of the Potato.

Remember to gently simmer the potatoes, and check often so you don’t overcook them.

Enjoy!

Spicy Spanish potato salad

British		American
450g	new or other waxy potatoes	1 pound
1	jalapeno or other chilli, or to taste	1
1 tablespoon	olive oil	1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon	lemon juice	1 tablespoon
1 or 2	cloves garlic	1 or 2
3/4 teaspoon	salt	3/4 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon	mild paprika powder	1/2 teaspoon

1. Scrub potatoes and cut into bite-sized chunks.

2. Boil water in a medium-sized saucepan; add a bit of salt to the water, and then potatoes. Return to a gentle boil, then lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are just tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Drain and let cool until they can be handled.

3. Mash garlic clove with 3/4 teaspoon salt in a mortar and pestle until a paste forms. Put olive oil in a mixing bowl and gradually whisk in lemon juice. Whisk in the garlic paste and paprika.

4. When potatoes can be handled, peel them (this is optional if the skins are thin). Peel the chilli and chop it into bits. Place potatoes and chilli in a serving bowl. Drizzle dressing over top and mix gently. Serve warm or cold.

Makes two generous servings. Also keeps vampires away.

Jerusalem artichoke rösti

Mar 162011

Last year we grew Jerusalem artichokes for the first time, down at the allotment. They were a resounding success, reaching over 10 feet in height and producing lots of delicious tubers.

Jerusalem artichokes can be kept over winter in the ground, and dug as required. It’s now that time of the year when all the remaining Jerusalem artichoke tubers need to be dug up, as they’re starting to sprout and grow.

If you’ve never had Jerusalem artichokes, I can best describe them as tasting like a sunflower-flavoured potato. In other words, yum! They can be eaten raw; or boiled, roasted or made into soup. We’ve mainly been having them roasted, but with the coming glut, I wanted to find more creative ways of using them.

I also wanted to find some ways of preparing them so they could be frozen and used over the coming few months. (Unlike potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes don’t store very well after they’re dug.)

First up: Jerusalem artichoke rösti. I started with this recipe for potato rösti, but used half potato and half Jerusalem artichoke. I omitted the thyme, and didn’t pre-fry the onion nor add fat to the rösti before shaping into patties and frying. I liked the idea of using a cookie cutter to shape the rösti (especially after I saw the price of rösti rings… over £6 for two!). And finishing them off in the oven ensured that they were cooked all the way through.

I made these to have with an evening meal last week, and we had them again with scrambled tofu for breakfast on the weekend. The remaining ones were frozen, so we’ll see how successful that was.

Both the Jerusalem artichoke and the potato I used were homegrown, so these rösti score very well on the food miles scale. The potatoes were “Cara”, which is a maincrop variety suited for baking, roasting etc. I’m not sure if a waxy new potato would work in this recipe.

Verdict: the addition of Jerusalem artichoke takes these rösti to a new level. Crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, with the delicious flavour of Jerusalem artichoke complimenting the potato perfectly. Simply scrumptious!

Jerusalem artichoke rösti

British		American
450g	Jerusalem artichokes	1 pound
450g	potatoes	1 pound
90g	onion	1 medium
1 teaspoon	salt, or to taste	1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon	pepper, or to taste	1 teaspoon
	olive oil for frying

1. Scrub the Jerusalem artichokes and the potatoes well, but do not peel them.

2. Steam the artichokes for 15 minutes over simmering water, and the potatoes for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, mince the onion.

4. When the artichokes and potatoes are finished steaming, remove them to a plate to cool.

5. When they have cooled, peel the artichokes and potatoes. Grate them into a big mixing bowl with a large grater. Add the minced onion, plus salt and pepper. Mix well.

6. Using a large cookie cutter (see photo here) or rösti rings, shape the mixture into patties, pressing firmly.

7. Fry the rösti in batches until golden, then gently turn and fry the other side. Remove to a baking tray.

8. Bake at 180C until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.

Makes about four servings.

Veggie haggis perfection

Jan 262011

In celebration of Burns Night (January 25th) I decided to again try making homemade veggie haggis. My first attempt turned out pretty well, but was too moist. Second try resulted in a haggis a lot like a commercial vegetarian haggis, though a bit dry.

Third attempt, this past weekend… veggie haggis perfection!

Now again I hear you asking the question… why would a vegan seek to recreate a Scottish speciality traditionally made with sheep innards and oatmeal? And again I answer: because it tastes really good, and it’s a very thrifty dish.

Veggie haggis is made from oats, lentils, mushrooms, onion, tomato and seasonings. It’s steamed for three hours, then finished in the oven to give it a crispy top. (The last step being optional, but really good.)

In case you haven’t read my previous haggis posting, I will again share the source for the recipe I based my haggis on: the 1904 book Reform cookery book: Up-to-date health cookery for the twentieth century by Mrs. Jean Oliver Mill, which was brought to my attention by Nac Mac Vegan.

And for those of you who are wondering what Burns Night is all about, why it’s a celebration of the life and poetry of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. The very same one who wrote Auld lang syne. And Address to a haggis, of course.

Vegetarian haggis

British		American
45g	red lentils	3-1/2 tablespoons
70g	uncooked porridge oats (oatmeal)	2/3 cup
1 teaspoon	margarine	1 teaspoon
50g	raw mushrooms, minced	2/3 cup
40g	onion, minced	1/3 cup
60g	fresh tomato, minced	1/3 cup
1 tablespoon	ketchup	1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon	Marmite	1 teaspoon
2 tablespoons	boiling water	2 tablespoons
	salt & pepper to taste
42g	vegetarian suet	1-1/2 ounces

1. Cook lentils in water in a small saucepan until tender and beginning to fall apart, about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a heavy skillet (I use cast iron) over low heat, dry toast the oats until lightly browned. Remove to a mixing bowl.

3. Heat margarine in same skillet and saute onion and mushrooms until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes.

4. Add tomato and continue to cook until tomato softens, another few minutes.

5. Add cooked vegetables to oatmeal and mix well. Dissolve Marmite in 1 tablespoon of boiling water and add to mixture, along with ketchup. Add additional tablespoon on water, and season with salt & pepper to taste. Thoroughly mix in vegetarian suet.

6. Spoon haggis into a ceramic bowl or dish, and cover with foil. Steam over simmering water for three hours.

7. Remove dish from steamer. Brush top of haggis with a bit of vegetable oil, then put in a hot oven to lightly brown the top.

Makes two generous servings.

Black bean soup and roasted Jerusalem artichokes

Nov 182010

Another chilly day, another soup meal!

The black bean & sweetcorn soup is a favourite in the Thrifty household. It’s simple and cheap to make, very healthy and — of course — delicious.

We served the soup with a few slices of baguette, as well as a small plate of roasted Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes.

If you’ve never had Jerusalem artichokes, I suppose the best way of describing the taste is like a sunflower-flavoured potato. The texture — when roasted at least — is very creamy. Although I only tried them for the first time last year, they are now one of my favourite vegetables.

Jerusalem artichokes are not commonly found in shops, though I have seen them in the past at Sainsburys. We grew them this year at our allotment, and I can say with absolute certainty that we will be growing them from now on. Ours grew to an impressive 12 feet high! In case you’re wondering about the name, Jerusalem artichokes have nothing to do with Jerusalem, and are not related to globe artichokes; they are in the same family as sunflowers.

But back to the kitchen. The Jerusalem artichokes were peeled, then halved and roasted in coconut oil. They cook more quickly than potatoes, so if you are cooking them with potatoes, be sure to parboil the spuds first.

Vegan lemon curd

Nov 172010

Question: What do you do with a couple of overgrown courgettes [zucchini] that have been languishing in the cupboard for the past, well, several weeks?

Answer: why you make vegan lemon curd, of course!

I’d seen recipes for lemon curd using marrows (just to be clear: I’m talking the marrow vegetable here, NOT the stuff that’s inside of bones), and most reviews of said recipes came to the same conclusion: nice, but really, really sweet.

Then I came across this recipe from nipitinthebud, who made three batches of marrow cream, reducing the sugar each time. When I made it, I reduced the sugar by one quarter yet again. Most of the recipes you see for marrow cream use almost as much sugar by weight as marrow (3-1/2 pounds sugar to 4 pounds marrow), but I used about 84% less sugar than this, and find it plenty sweet enough.

Other than reducing the sugar, I followed the recipe pretty closely, substituting vegan margarine for butter and using more lemon zest. And of course using overgrown courgettes instead of a monster marrow. I steamed the marrow flesh instead of boiling it, as I was making only about 1/5 of the recipe and this amount fit into my steamer. After I cooked the mixture for 45 minutes, it didn’t look thick enough, but I didn’t want to accidentally burn it, and thought it might thicken more as it cooled. It did, but not enough. So after a couple of days of eating it over Swedish Glace, I reheated it and added some cornflour [cornstarch] mixed with a bit of cold water, to thicken it up. (In restrospect, I probably added a bit too much cornflour.)

Okay, so how does it taste? Well — both to me and Mr Thrifty — it tastes exactly like lemon curd. Or at least, what we remember lemon curd tastes like.

I am psyched now to make orange curd, lime curd and grapefruit curd. Nom!

Vegan okara “meat”loaf

Nov 142010

One of the great British traditions is the Sunday Roast. Never mind that a Sunday Roast usually consists of carved up pieces of animals, vegan roast dinners are just so much better!

Today I decided to make a “meat”loaf, and chose this recipe from Hardcore Herbivore, made with TVP, oats and seasonings.

I took the suggestion in one of the comments to substitute half the TVP with okara. I wasn’t sure whether to use “wet” okara (straight out of the soymilk maker), or okara that had been squeezed dry. I ended up using squeezed-dry okara, but with enough water added to make it about the consistency of okara straight from the soymilk machine.

I used leftover pasta sauce instead of ketchup. (There is somewhat of a ketchup emergency here at the moment.)

I made half a recipe, and instead of baking it in a loaf pan, used three ramekins instead.

The “meat”loaf turned out really well, though it was still a bit soft on the inside after baking, so I’ll tweak the recipe slightly next time.

We also had roast potatoes (obviously), brussels sprouts, maple roasted squash & parsnips and braised leeks. And gravy, of course.

Which just proves that a delicious, satisfying roast dinner can easily be made without any animal products whatsoever. Yay!

Mezze meal and a Methuselah squash

Nov 132010

Tonight’s meal was what we call a mezze meal. Basically it’s bits of this and that, not related by cuisine or theme.

One of our mezzes may include: fried snacks, eg. samosas or spring rolls; hot nibbles like veggie sausage rolls or chips; storecupboard stuff eg. dolmades; assorted salads and pickles; and so on.

Tonight’s mezze included maple-roasted squash, chips, Greek giant beans, broccoli salad with sesame dressing, pickled beetroot [not shown in photo] and some crusty rolls from Waitrose.

The squash was one that we grew last year… yes that’s right, grown and harvested over one year ago and residing in our garage ever since. (Okay, so not quite Methuselah). I’d grown quite attached to it, but it was time for it to finally go under the knife.

I cut the squash into chunks, removed what little dried-out innards remained (along with some very fat seeds, destined for planting next year), trimmed off the rind and roasted the flesh with coconut oil and maple syrup. Yum!

This got me wondering if squash usually keeps this long, or if this was a freak of nature. Anyone who can enlighten me, feel free. For the record, it was a blue banana squash, with seed purchased from Real Seeds.

Reggae reggae [veggie] ribs & tater tots!

Nov 052010

Today, November 5th, is Guy Fawkes Night, which originated as a celebration of the failure of Mr Fawkes, a Catholic, to carry through to fruition his plan to assassinate the Protestant king of England with a cellar full of gunpowder, back in 1605.

Nowadays it’s an excuse to light bonfires and set off fireworks.

So what better for this night of fire than a meal to set the tastebuds alight?

Okay, so the veggie “ribs” weren’t actually that hot. They were pleasantly spicy, though.

I used this recipe for the ribs (which are made using “bean curd sticks”, which taste much better than they sound), using Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae sauce for the barbecue sauce. Since the bottle is only 315g, I made up the difference to 500g [2 cups] using passata [tomato sauce]. Ribs made from bean curd stick turn out pleasantly chewy, with none of the nasty fatty/gristly bits you get with the “dead-animal-parts” type of ribs.

Then to give Mr Thrifty his potato fix, I made homemade tater tots. OMG were they good. The first batch fell apart in the oil, though, so a couple of tips. First, press the tots firmly into shape before frying. Secondly, don’t shake the frying basket whilst frying… let them cook in peace until they are done.

We rounded the meal off side dishes of sweetcorn and broccoli salad with sesame dressing.

A most taste-tastic meal.

Tofu pot pie

Nov 042010

Chunks of pan-fried tofu, potatoes, mushrooms, peas, carrots & leeks in a creamy finger-licking sauce, all topped with crispy puff pastry…

Little bit o’ comfort food heaven.

Recipe to follow, if anyone should request!

This recipe is wide open to your own creative interpretation. Instead of tofu, you can use chicken-style seitan, or chickpeas. You can vary the vegetables… a lot of people like celery in pot pie (I don’t, though I do like the taste of it, so I add celery seed to the sauce). Or sweetcorn, or green beans. Whatever. Just make sure all of the vegetables are cooked before putting the pie into the oven.

I used unsweetened homemade cashew milk for the non-dairy milk, but any kind will do, as long as it’s not sweetened or flavoured. I added a couple tablespoons of vegan sour cream to the sauce, because I had some in the fridge to use, but it is totally optional, as the sauce is delicious without it. If you’re not using sour cream, add a couple extra tablespoons of non-dairy milk.

There is enough sauce to our taste in the pot pie, but if you like a really saucy pot pie, either increase the sauce ingredients, or decrease the filling ingredients.

Enjoy!

Tofu pot pie

British		American
4 teaspoons	olive oil, divided	4 teaspoons
250g	tofu	9 ounces
200g	mushrooms	7 ounces
200g	potatoes	7 ounces
100g	peas	3-1/2 ounces
100g	carrots	3-1/2 ounces
3 tablespoons	vegan margarine	3 tablespoons
1 clove	garlic, minced	1 clove
1 medium	leek	1 medium
3 tablespoons	plain (all-purpose) flour	3 tablespoons
420ml	chicken-style vegetable bouillon	1-3/4 cups
2 tablespoons	non-dairy milk	2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons	vegan sour cream (optional)	2 tablespoons
1/4 teaspoon	salt	1/4 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon	freshly ground pepper	1/4 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon	celery seed	1/4 teaspoon
	puff pastry to fit baking dish

1. Start by thawing puff pastry (this will have to be done well ahead of time… check the package directions).

2. Cut tofu into 1cm (1/2-inch) cubes. In a heavy skillet, saute tofu in 2 teaspoons olive oil until golden brown. Remove from pan into a medium-sized casserole dish.

3. Roughly chop mushrooms. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in skillet and saute mushrooms until their moisture is released and they are starting to brown (5-10 minutes). Add garlic and continue to saute for another minute.

4. While tofu & mushrooms are cooking, scrub potato (do not peel) and place into small pot of boiling water. Bring back to boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, until potato is just tender. Remove from water and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel potato and cut into chunks. Add to casserole dish.

5. Cook peas in boiling water until tender. Cook carrot in boiling water until just tender. Add both to casserole dish.

6. When mushrooms have finished, remove from skillet into casserole dish. Trim leek and cut in half lengthwise, then slice. Heat margarine in the same skillet and cook leeks, covered, until soft, stirring occasionally (about 10 minutes).

7. While leeks are cooking, heat chicken-style vegetable bouillon.

8. Preheat oven to 200C (400F).

9. Add flour to pan with leeks, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon. Continue to cook for a minute or two. Gradually add the hot bouillon to the skillet, whisking or vigorously stirring all the while, until all the bouillon is used and you have a nice smooth sauce. Add non-dairy milk, and sour cream if using (add extra milk if not using sour cream).

10. Pour sauce over vegetables in casserole dish.

11. Roll out puff pastry (if you haven’t bought ready-rolled), and cut to size of casserole dish. Top pie with pastry.

12. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until puff pastry is puffy (duh) and golden brown.

Makes four servings.

Roasted new potatoes with garlic & herbs

Jul 222010

This is a delicious way to cook new potatoes. It’s from Jack Bishop’s Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook.

Soaking the potatoes in cold water helps remove some of the starch so they don’t stick to the roasting tin. Adding the garlic and herbs halfway through ensures the garlic doesn’t burn. You can use thyme and/or oregano instead of rosemary and sage.

Thanks for the great recipe, Jack!

Roasted new potatoes with garlic & herbs

British		American
450g	new potatoes	1 pound
2-1/2 tablespoons	olive oil	2-1/2 tablespoons
2 cloves	garlic, minced	2 cloves
6	fresh sage leaves, minced	6
1 teaspoon	minced fresh rosemary leaves	1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon	salt, or to taste	1/2 teaspoon

1. Preheat oven to 210C (425F). Scrub potatoes and cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) pieces. Place in a bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Drain potatoes but do not blot dry. Place them in a roasting tin large enough to hold them in a single layer. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and toss to coat evenly. Roast, turning once, for 30 minutes.

3. Crush garlic in a mortar and pestle with salt until reduced to a paste. Add sage and rosemary and ombine remaining 1-1/2 tablespoons oil, garlic, sage, rosemary and salt in a small bowl. Drizzle over the partially roasted potatoes. Toss gently to distribute the seasonings. Continue roasting, turning the potatoes occasionally, until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Older Entries

Thrifty Living

Spicy Spanish potato salad

Spicy Spanish potato salad

Jerusalem artichoke rösti

Jerusalem artichoke rösti

Veggie haggis perfection

Vegetarian haggis

Black bean soup and roasted Jerusalem artichokes

Vegan lemon curd

Vegan okara “meat”loaf

Mezze meal and a Methuselah squash

Reggae reggae [veggie] ribs & tater tots!

Tofu pot pie

Tofu pot pie

Roasted new potatoes with garlic & herbs

Roasted new potatoes with garlic & herbs

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