Ottolenghi's incredible vegan laksa.

CHEF'S NOTE:

This was so good, we were both sniffing and simmering like crazy in front of last night's Q and A (and I usually simmer in front of that anyway). 

A few notes:

1. I used Massel (vegan) chicken stock instead of vegetable stock.  I prefer the saltiness of Massel chicken stock with coconut milk.

2. We roasted half a butternut pumpkin and added it just before serving.

3. Instead of french beans we added choy sum (again, just before serving or else it goes brown), and instead of tofu puffs we just cut up some marinated tofu, along with tinned baby corn. Calf also put in some dried shiitake mushrooms early on in the piece, to give them time to soak up the soup.

4. We didn't use curry powder.  This laksa is perfect without it.

5. We topped it with fresh coriander, fresh mint, bean shoots (don't put them into boiling water first, I love Ottolenghi but this is clearly an idiotic instruction), fried shallots and cashew nuts.

YOU WILL LIKE THIS. x

100g peeled baby shallots
8 garlic cloves
25g peeled ginger, sliced
15g lemongrass (soft white stem only), sliced
2 tsp ground coriander
3 large dried red chillies
2 tbsp sambal oelek (or other savoury chilli paste)
4 tbsp vegetable oil
50g fresh coriander 
1¼ litres vegetable stock
3 branches laksa leaves (aka kesum leaves), or curry leaves, or both
2 tsp curry powder
1½ tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
400ml coconut milk
100g rice vermicelli noodles
300g bean sprouts
150g french beans, trimmed and halved
250g fried tofu puffs (optional)
4 limes, halved

Put the first seven ingredients in a small food processor bowl. Add half the oil, and the roots and stems of the fresh coriander, and process to a semi-smooth paste.

Heat the remaining oil in a saucepan and fry the spice paste on medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring all the time – you want to cook it slowly without burning. Add the stock, laksa branches, curry powder, salt, sugar and coconut milk, simmer gently for 30 minutes, then taste and add more salt if necessary.

Once the broth is done, steep the rice noodles in boiling water for three minutes and drain. Throw the bean sprouts into a pan of boiling water, drain at once and refresh. Cook the beans in boiling water for three minutes, drain and refresh.

Just before serving, remove and discard the laksa branches (the leaves can stay in the soup). Add the beans, noodles and half the sprouts, ladle into large bowls and top with the remaining sprouts, tofu puffs and shredded coriander leaves. Squeeze lime juice on top and throw one half of squeezed lime into each bowl.

Walnut crusted tofu cutlets.

CHEF'S NOTE - I put more tamari and salt in here for taste...basically, stick your finger in it and make sure it tastes delicious of its own accord before you put it on the tofu...salt, my friends, salt!

Ingredients

• Tofu marinade:
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 medium/large cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 1 (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained well
• Tahini spread:
• ¼ cup tahini (sesame paste)
• 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon tamari
• 
  
• Coconut-walnut crust:
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
• 3 tablespoon dried, unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 tablespoon minced Italian parsley (or basil, dill, cilantro or another herb)
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin or chili powder, optional
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. To marinate the tofu, place 2 tablespoons of tamari, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of water and the garlic in a 9-inch by 13-inch casserole dish and stir well. Slice the tofu lengthwise to form 4 cutlets. Slice each cutlet in half diagonally to make 8 triangles. Place the cutlets in the casserole dish to marinate for 5 minutes, flipping occasionally.
3. Place the casserole dish in the oven and bake the cutlets in the marinade for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the tahini sauce: in a small bowl, combine the tahini, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of water and 1 teaspoon of tamari and mix well. Depending upon the consistency of the tahini, you may need to add some more water for a smooth consistency. Set aside.
5. To make the crust: in another small bowl, combine the walnuts, coconut, parsley, ground cumin, red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt and stir well.
6. Remove the tofu from the oven. Spread a thin layer of tahini sauce on each cutlet and top with the walnut crust. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10–15 minutes, until the crust is golden-brown, before serving.
   
   

Zucchini, carrot and walnut loaf.

ingredients
2 cups of self raising flour
1 tsp of bicarb soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of roughly chopped walnuts
3 eggs lightly beaten (I used egg replacer, you could use a small mashed banana or half a cup of mashed tofu)
1/2 cup of oil (your choice)
1 cup of grated carrot
1 cup of grated zucchini (squeezed to the remove the juice)
1/2 cup of grated apple (squeezed to remove the juice)

method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a deep loaf pan. 

2. Sift flour and bicarb soda, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in sugar and walnuts.

3. Combine egg replacement and oil in a jug. Mix egg mixture, carrot, apple and zucchini into flour mixture until well combined. Spoon mixture into prepared loaf pan. Smooth top. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn onto a wire rack to cool. Ice!

cream cheese icing
I read quite a few recipes on the web, which calls for a tub of toffutti cream cheese (I use the Kingland stuff where possible I think its much nicer) and 1 cup of icing sugar. I just added icing sugar until it was a consistency I liked (I think about 3 cups). It was a BUTTLOAD of icing and iced 3 cakes so beware!

Broccoli carrot salad with lime maple dressing.

Blanch head of broccoli, rinse with cold water.  Grate carrot.


Dressing:

 

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

 

1 tablespoon soy sauce

 

2 teaspoons maple syrup

 

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)

 

Dalt and ground black pepper to taste

I also add sunflower seeds or chopped almonds to this.  It needs little else. x

Hoisin rice paper roll dipping sauce.

The bomb:

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil for stir-frying
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
6 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons water 
1/4 teaspoon salt
a few drops sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons chile paste, or to taste
1 tablespoon chopped peanuts
Preparation:
Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high to high heat. Add the garlic and ginger. Stir-fry briefly until aromatic. Turn the heat down to medium and stir in the other ingredients. Heat through and remove from the stove. Cool.

Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. 

Broccoli cheese pasta bake.

CHEF'S NOTE: I put grated Cheezly on top of this.  Because, GODDAMNIT I CAN.

From Vogue Vegetarian.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb whole wheat or brown rice pasta (shells, elbow, rotini, or other substantial shape)
• 2 cups broccoli, cut into small florets
• 1 1/4 cup non dairy milk
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp yellow or chickpea miso
• 1 tsp prepared yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp onion flakes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 – 12 oz package firm tofu, drained
• salt and pepper to taste
• a few dashes of cayenne (optional)
• 2 or 3 cooked black bean or other veggie burgers (they don’t have to be warm-I use leftovers I stashed in the refrigerator) see footnote for other alterations
• prepared or homemade breadcrumbs (see recipe below)

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente and then immediately rinse with cold water and drain.   Set aside.
2. Steam 2 cups of broccoli until crisp tender and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, whisk non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast, miso, mustard, onion flakes, garlic powder, paprika and turmeric together and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.
4. Meanwhile, place tofu and 2-4 tbsp water in blender and puree until smooth. (Start with 2 tbsp and add more as needed).  Set aside.
5. Once the non dairy milk mixture is boiling, turn off heat and add in the pureed tofu and a few dashes of cayene if using. Mix thoroughly and taste for salt and pepper.
6. Place the drained pasta in a casserole dish and mix in the “cheese” sauce, broccoli and crumbled black bean or veggie burgers (I like the taste of black bean burgers in this dish).  Stir to combine then top with bread crumbs.
7. Place in preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until heated through.

Easy homemade breadcrumbs

I never buy breadcrumbs as I usually have bread around.  I typically store mine in the freezer so I just take 2-4 slices out, break them into large pieces and thrown them in the blender until they are small crumbs.  Spread them onto a large baking sheet and splash a few dashes of olive oil.  Sprinkle on your herbs of choice (I like basil, oregano and garlic powder for this recipe) and stir to evenly coat.  Bake at 350 until crunchy, about 5-10 minutes.  These are way yummier than store bought, guaranteed!

Footnotes

You can use any vegetarian “meat” you like.  I love the taste of the black bean burgers and its a nice way to use leftovers from the night before when I had black bean burgers for a lunch or dinner.  Other suggestions would be chopped vegan sausage links such as Tofurky or Gimme Lean sausage-style veggie protein.  If you are using veggie burgers that you just cooked, you may want to crumble them then place them back on a cookie sheet and bake a few minutes. Otherwise they may be too moist.

Don’t be afraid of this being too saucy. It dries out in the oven so the extra sauce really helps.  When you pull it out of the oven, it will be perfect.

I like to add some cauliflower to this too.   The mix of broccoli and cauliflower also add some nice texture.