The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Chargrilled Sweet Chilli Mango and Tofu Salad

Mangoes are absolutely delicious and in season at Christmas for us Aussies. This is a very substantial salad that could either be a main or side. Chargrill them to make them even sweeter!

Ingredients
4 firm mangoes, cut into slices 5mm thick
1 block firm tofu cut into thick slices
1 small bunch spring onions, finely chopped
3 carrots julienned
4 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 bunch kale finely shredded
1/2 cup sweet chilli sauce
1/4 cup white tahini
1/4 cup black tahini
1/4 cup sunflower seeds toasted
Gsarlic infused olive oil to drizzle

Method
Toss tofu in sweet chilli sauce, and chargrill, set aside.
Chargrill mango slices, set aside to cool
Whrn ready to serve, toss kale, tomatoes, carrot, and onion with tofu and mango.
Drizzle both tahinis over the top and sprinkle sunfloer seeds over.
Finish with a drizzle of garlic olive oil.
Serve immediately.

Warm Beetroot & Blue Lentil Salad with Caramelised Walnuts

This is one of those salads that we always go back to because it is so hearty. You can have it warm when the weather is a bit cool, or cold when the days are heating up. It has the lovely earthy taste of beetroot with the nutty savoury lentils, a little pop of sweetness from the walnuts, and lovely peppery rocket to round it off. 

Makes 6 serves

Ingredients

2 large beetroot, roasted

1 cup cooked blue lentils

4 cups rocket

3/4 cup walnuts

2 tablespoons margarine

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tsp ground cumin

3 tablespoons garlic extra virgin olive oil

cracked black pepper

salt to taste

Method

1.Roast beetroot in their skins in alfoil until soft, and allow to cool.

2.While beetroot is roasting, cook lentils according to packet directions, drain, and set aside.

3. Caramelise walnuts by melting margarine in a frying pan with sugar until syrupy. Toss walnuts through mixture, and then spread out on a tray lined with baking paper and allow to cool.

4. When beet is cool, gently rub off skin - it should slide off easily - wearing gloves to make things less messy! Thinly slice. If you are having the salad warm, toss the beetroot, oil, and cumin in with the lentils and gently warm through on a low heat, or just toss through without warming.

5.  Mix beetroot and lentils into rocket, sprinkle walnuts over, and sprinkle a little sea salt and cracked black pepper on the top

Vegan Potato Slaw

Whenever I think of coleslaw I think of my friend Phil over at Adventureland Games. I remember making a slaw for a tiki night once and he declared he could swim in a pool of it (perhaps taking a mouthful with each stroke)! Potato slaw and coleslaw are one of those things that everyone loves at a BBQ but they are ridiculously high in kilojoules and mayonnaise. I decided to merge the two with a far healthier, and vegan dressing. Many of the ingredients came out of my garden which made it easier just to use a little of this and that, and I ended up with four generous serves.  You can use whatever greens you like, I just have all of these in the veg patch.

Ingredients

6 desiree potatoes, quartered, and cooked, skin on

3 thin slices of fennel, chopped fine

1 large carrot grated

1 cup shredded red cabbage

1 cup mixed greens shredded – I used red Russian kale, rocket, and Chinese mustard

1 stalk celery finely chopped

3 tablespoons finely chopped leek

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Dressing

3 tablespoons tahini

½ avocado

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped thyme

Juice and rind of 1 small lemon

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

½ cup water

Pinch sea salt

Plenty of cracked black pepper

Method

Boil the potatoes until just cooked and still firm, and rinse in plenty of cold water. Set aside.

Prepare all other salad ingredients and toss together in a bowl with the cold potato.

To make the dressing, put all the ingredients in a blender and whizz until well mixed. Toss through potato slaw and serve.

MoFo is Coming...and a Grilled Fennel Salad

Hello vegheads, MoFo 2013 is just around the corner! Spade and Spoon is definitely participating again this year and I have a heap of things I want to do and share with you over the next month. You know what I love about MoFo (apart from drooling over all the food porn of course)? It's Spring for Down Under!!! Since we are vegging it out a month earlier MoFo starts on the first day of Spring, what better way to celebrate than using some really great ingredients that have been missing from the veg supplies over winter. Just when you think you can't eat anymore winter stodge and you're too afraid to step on the scales, the weather warms up, the days get longer, and lovely Spring veg becomes available. I'm looking at you asparagus! On the other hand, I fear baring my winter legs may just blind everybody and perhaps I should hand out the sunnies until the shock subsides. Or the glare.

I have a winter salad to share with you before we delve into MoFo, grilled fennel and blood orange with a tahini dressing. It's pretty simple. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 fennel bulb cut into thin slices lengthways
2 blood oranges, peeled and cut into rounds
2 cups mixed salad leaves
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 tsp olive oil
cracked black pepper to taste
pinch sea salt

Method
Pan grill fennel until softened on each side, and set aside.
Pan grill blood orange, it only needs about 30 seconds on each side as the sugars will burn otherwise!
Whizz tahini, lemon juice, water, oil, salt and pepper in a blender or use a hand mixer.
Assemble salad leaves, fennel and orange on a plate and drizzle with the dressing.

Serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main.

Warm Roasted Cauliflower & Spinach Salad with Dukkah

Just because the temperature has plummeted does not mean I have to give up on salads. All it means is that I can be a bit more creative and enjoy some warm salads with some of my favourite vegetables. Some people do not like brassicas like cauli or broccoli, but I love them! Cauliflower takes on a beautiful nutty flavour when roasted, and it tastes very different to the plain steamed version. Lemon myrtle dukkah pairs pretty well with the salad, but you could use any kind you like.

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower

1 cup baby spinach

3 heaped tablespoons of lemon myrtle dukkah

sunflower oil

garlic infused olive oil

Method

Break the cauliflower into florets and wash, draining well.

In a 180C preheated oven, lay the florets on baking paper and drizzle with sunflower oil.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, and then give it a shake, turning the pieces over. They should be dark golden on the side that was down. Bake for a further 10 minutes.

Wilt the spinach in a saucepan, and toss through the cauliflower. 

Gently warm through the dukkah in a dry frying pan and toss through the salad, drizzle with alittle garlic oil, and serve while warm.

Vegan MoFo: Balsamic Strawberry, Asparagus & Chickpea Salad

Strawberries and asparagus are two of my favourite things – and both are ridiculously cheap and in season at the moment. The glut of strawberries has seen some farmers feeding them to cattle! But although the chookies have been getting the scraps, mine are going in this seriously easy and seriously yummy salad. Definitely a Spring winner!

Ingredients

1 punnet strawberries, hulled, and cut into quarters

2 bunches of asparagus spears, trimmed and blanched

1 400gr tin of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Bunch of rocket, washed, dried

Bunch of baby spinach washed, dried

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil

Fresh mint and chives, finely chopped

Freshly cracked black pepper

Pinch sea salt

Method

Mix vinegar, oils, and salt and pour over strawberries. Leave to macerate for a couple of hours, at room temperature, covered. The salt draws out the juice into what will be the salad dressing.

When you are ready to serve, add herbs and pepper to strawberries.

Toss remaining ingredients into a large salad bowl, remove strawberries from vinegar mixture and toss through. Drizzle dressing over the top and serve immediately.

Sprout and Bean Tasting Dinner

A couple of weeks ago Mrs Bean and myself did a tasting dinner for a couple that would like us to do their wedding. The focus is share food so we did an assortment of salads, a cheese plate with dukkahs, chutney, and cheese straws, and a few other things. I only took some pictures of the salads and cheese plate but it was all rather yummy if we do say so ourselves! My only concern at the time was that when I rolled the goats cheese in some fresh chopped herbs it looked a little like compost...although tasted nothing like it (I hope). Mrs Bean made the cheese straws, and I made the dukkahs - one was a tradtional dukkah with hazelnuts, and the other was an Aussie inspired one I concocted on the spot with some macadamias and Aussie herbs and spices.

Mrs Bean's amazing chickpea quinoa salad with feta - it was just as good without the cheese, but for a vegan version I might sub almond cheese.

One of my simple faves, orange, fennel, and spinach with pepper and an orange viniagrette

Beetroot and apple salad with pine nuts and goats cheese - again, a vegan version would be good with an almond feta

Mrs Bean's winter slaw with sesame...It had a tahini dressing, and I could swim in it!

The Rawmazing Race: Tabbouleh in Beirut

I love Lebanese food - there is a fantastic restaurant called Sahra in Parramatta that does the best vego banquet, and it can be adapted to be vegan. They have the creamiest hummus I've ever had, and  the fattoush is perfect! The only tabbouleh that has ever beaten it would be the one made by a Lebanese neighbour we had when I was in my teens -she used to bring all sorts of things over for us to try, a lovely and very hospitable lady! So I thought I'd give it a go. Ok, so I know most people think tabbouleh is raw anyway right? It is apart from the traditional cooked cracked wheat. I substituted the wheat for soaked  red quinoa which was perfect, apart from the fact I forgot how much it swells and had heaps left over - it ended up sprouting in the fridge, and I had it for lunch as well! I also put some pomegranate in it as it is currently in season and I love it! On the side I have some raw cashew hummus, carrot and celery sticks, and some fennel infused olives. It was very filling, but I think it was basically because by this point in the week I was accustomed to eating so clean and I didn't need much to fill me up. Then again, maybe it was the quinoa? 

The Rawmazing Race: Waldorf Salad in New York

Tonight I'm in New York, sitting in a posh restaurant with Donald Draper, wearing a fab frock and looking glamorous having ordered a stylish and ever popular Waldorf Salad...Who am I kidding? I'm sitting with my husband on the sofa watching an episode of 'Ello 'Ello and not in any state of glamour at all. But I am eating a Waldorf salad.Yes, I know it's just a salad. But this is one of the most famous salads in the world and was created at the Waldorf in New York some time in the 1890s. A typical Waldorf salad contains copious amounts of egg layden mayo with celery, apple, and walnuts (with or without lettuce). Tonight, I made some cute Waldorf stacks and drizzled raw vegan mayo made with cashews over the top. It was pretty yummy if I do say so myself, and the cashews add some protein, good fats, iron, zinc, and copper to my nutritional intake for the day. The walnuts add some folate, B6, and thiamine. So have a go at this little salad and make your own raw vegan mayo.

To make the mayo, I blended raw cashews, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar, water, and a little nutritional yeast. I just added  a little at at time until I found the balance I liked, but used probably 2/3 cup cashews. Leftover mayo will make a great dip for some veggie sticks tomorrow!

So where to next on this raw vegan plate hopping adventure? Not sure, but stay tuned!

Ribbon Zucchini Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

I know this is just a salad. But it was really nice, and a good way to use some of the zucchini straight from the garden. It has a bit of a zing to it, and would be really nice as a side with pasta or a quinoa dish. Or you can just have a big plateful! I used my mandolin to make nice thin zucchini ribbons, but you can just use a vegetable peeler. I added some baby spinach, and some toasted pinenuts or sunflower seeds would have been nice too.

To make the vinaigrette, I put 1/2 cup white wine vinegar in a saucepan and crushed a small handful or raspberries into it, heating it gently on low - don't let it boil, just bring to a simmer and turn the heat off.  Pour into a container and leave in the fridge to cool. Strain the vinegar and add some extra virgin olive oil ( I use 1/3 oil to vinegar). Give it a good shake and toss through zucchini and spinach. Add a little cracked black pepper and voila! There you have it. 

Rocket, Spinach, and Apple Salad

Yeah, I know, it's just a salad. But I made it today and since I have nothing else to post that is ready at the moment I thought I'd share this. It's pretty easy - rocket, baby spinach, sliced apple, yellow capsicum, and toasted almonds. The dressing was a very fresh mint and white balsamic vinaigrette. It's a sort of variation on the rocket and pear salad - nice and fresh for a Summer day.

The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Slow Roasted Tomato & Peach Salad with White Wine Vinegar

You may be thinking peaches would not go very well with tomato, but tomatoes are so lovely and sweet when slow roasted, I think the peaches go rather well with them! Back off the sweetness with some white wine vinegar, and a sprinkling of  onion and fresh basil, and some cracked black pepper and salt. Easily made the day before so there's less to do on Christmas Day. Delicious! If you drain this well, the salad would go beautifully in a tart with some pine nut parmesan.

Ingredients

Equal amounts of tomatoes and peaches (1 each per person for a side dish)

olive oil

sliced onion

fresh basil

cracked black pepper

white wine vinegar

Method

In a roasting pan, put quartered tomatoes and chunky slices of peach. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with foil. Roast at 130C for about an hour. Fruit should still hold together but be soft. Take out and allow to cool. toss some raw sliced onion, fresh basil, a splash of vinegar, and the salt and pepper to taste. Voila! 

Zucchini & Tomato Salad in Creamy Dressing

In another attempt to eat raw food despite the temperature seeming more like autumn than summer, this was yesterday's dinner (and today's lunch).  It reminds me of potato salad when the zucchini is prepared this way. You could probably omit the tomato, and it would be a bit more like potato salad, but I like the tomato in it. I got about 6 servings out of this.

Ingredients

5 medium zuchhini, peeled and chopped into chunks

5 large tomatoes chopped into wedges

1 small onion, sliced very thinly (I used a mandolin)

chopped parsley and chives

For the Dressing

2 Tablespoons tahini

1/2 avocado

1/4 cup water

1 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

After chopping the salad ingredients, make the dressing. I put all the ingredients into a container and blended it with my bar mixer. Then I just poured over and tossed through. It's my favourite dressing, sometimes I jazz it up with a bit of lime zest or juice, you can even add a bit of chili to it!

Vegan MoFo: Gluten Free Warm Pasta & Potato Salad

The Beloved was out tuning again last night (he does pipe organ tuning still to keep up his skills), so the Kitchen Fairy and myself had a simple dinner.  I roasted some chat potatoes; cooked some gluten free penne; sauteed some mushrooms, onions, and pinenuts; and added some salad leaves, tomato and olives. I tossed some olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the lot, with some lemon and pepper, and voila! Dinner for some can't-be-very-bothered people!

Vegan MoFo: Root Vegetable Salad with Mushroom Pinwheels & Beetroot Relish

This recipe isn't mine, so I won't reproduce it here, but it is certainly a bit gourmet LOL. Browsing through gliving.com for something to try I had a go at this a while ago. This recipe looked so attractive on the plate I couldn't resist. It's pretty quick to put together and certainly looks elegant. Did I mention it was tasty? All those mushrooms are so full of flavour, but a word of caution, I used WAY less salt than the recipe called for, a pinch is really enough. The first time I made it the filling was like a mouthful of seawater to tell you the truth, but much better second time a round with  a bit of tweaking. The beetroot and pumpkin are a nice savoury - sweet contrast with the robust mushrooms, and a bit of extra beetroot as relish was definitely a keeper. Caramelised onion would also work really well.

Celeriac Stack with Sweet Mustard Dressing

Celeriacs are in season at the moment.  I have grown a patch that was sown last spring, and left over winter to sweeten, and pull up as needed. Considering they can start at about $5.00 each at the greengrocer, if you like the taste it could be well worth growing your own instead of celery. The stalks are not as fleshy as celery, but they can be chopped up for soups and salads, and are march more cold hardy and frost tolerant than their tender cousins. The bulbous root is what I'm using for this recipe, similar to the French roulade, but without all the mayo! You will need to work quickly to get the celeriac into some lemon juice to prevent discolouration.

Ingredients

1 large celeriac

1 cup baby spinach

few green olives

For The Dressing

1 tablespoon seeded mustard

2 tablesppons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon agave syrup, rice bran syrup (or honey if you consume it)

Method

Coaresly grate the celeriac, and lightly toss in lemon juice. Set aside.

Warm the syrup gently, then add to all the other dressing ingredients.

Toss through celeriac, set aside.

Saute spinach in a hot pan until just wilted. Set aside.

Using a food stacker, or a deep cookie cutter (or even a clean narrow tin with both ends cut out), press a few spponfuls of celeriac into the bottom, followed by a layer of spinach, and repeat. Top with some sliced olives, and gently remove stacker. Wallah!

Of course, if you don't have any kind of stacking implement, you could just neatly pile it up. But it looks so elegant as a small entree this way!

Spade to Spoon:Warm Brussel Sprout and Kale Salad

This week we happen to have an abundance of kale in the garden, as well as the brussel sprouts that survived various taste testings by Miss Penny and her feathery friends. I've seen small bunches of tuscan kale in the shops at the moment for about $3.00 a bunch! You've got to be joking, we grow lots of it for less than that! Kale is a sturdy, hardy plant that tolerates cold weather and frost. It's flavour I think is a cross between cabbage and spinach, and I use it in everything from pesto to pasta to fritatta. Tossed with brussel sprouts, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and lemon, it is really tasty! (And the lemon and garlic were home grown too by the way).

Ingredients

1 Bunch of kale

1 cup brussel sprouts

1 Tablespoon pine nuts

1 clove garlic

olive oil

Lemon for serving

Method

Slice brussel sprouts and kale and set aside

Chop garlic finely

In a frying pan on medium heat ( I used my indispensable wok) saute garlic and pine nuts in a little olive oil until fragrant.

Put in sprouts and kale, and toss through for  minute. Add a tablespoon of water and let "steam through" until hot but not overcooked. The vegetables should still be bright green and have a crunch when you bite into them.

Turn onto a plate and drizzle with olive oil and lemon.

Happy cooking!



Fennel & Pomegranate Salad with Lime and Ginger Dressing

Yes, I know it's a salad...  and it's winter. But I love pomegranates, and now is the time you will find Aussie ones in the greengrocer, for although I have planted a pomegranate tree alas I will have to wait a while before picking my own. So before you get stuck into all the winter stodge, why not try this lovely seasonal salad. Or make it as  a starter or side salad to the main meal like a vegie casserole, or a risotto? This ingredients are currently in season, and I promise you won't miss the half ripe winter tomato or the boring lettuce.

1 fennel bulb

1 pomegranate ( half to juice, half to scoop out)

1 cup baby spinach

1 carrot

1 teaspoon crushed fresh ginger

2 limes juiced

1 Tablespoon flaxseed oil

Using a vegetable peeler, slice the fennel into thin slivers. Cut the pomegranate in half and scoop out all those jewel like seeds. Juice the other half. Julienne the carrot. Toss fennel, pomegranate, carrot, and spinach in a bowl.

In a small container put the lime juice, pomegranate juice, ginger, and flaxseed oil. Shake vigorously to combine, and then toss through salad just before serving. It should just coat, not swim in dressing! If you make the dressing ahead, the flavour is more intense. Enjoy!