Updated 2005-06-24
Occasionally I stumble across, create, or generally aquire a recipe that deserves to be shared with the world. When I find them, I'll stick them on here.
My housemate and I worked together to come up with this curry. It takes ages to prepare (allow at least an hour), but it makes 3-4 generous servings - you'd easily feed 4 people with it. Personally, I refrigerate it and live off it for days. It's pretty cheap to make, but you'll need to have a very large saucepan. It's not too hot, but it's not that mild either. You can adjust the spices to suit your palate. The vegetables are just suggestions, too - that's what I make it with, but you can put your favourites in and leave out ones you don't.
Put the lentils on to cook according to the instructions on the packet - they'll probably take at least half an hour. Use this time to wash and cube the potatoes, cut the courgette into circular slices then quarter each slice, and chop the pepper into small squares. Slice the mushrooms, then place all of these ingredients to one side.
Chop the onion, crush the garlic, and grate the ginger. Heat up some oil on a medium-high heat in a pan, then fry the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add the ginger and fry for about a minute longer. While doing this, drain and rinse the pulses, and open the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes, all the vegetables, the beans, and the lentils (they should be ready by now). Add the herbs and spices then stir them in. Simmer for 10-15 minutes - give it a taste around the 12-13 minute mark to check it's not too bland, adding more spices or black pepper to taste. Serve with boiled rice and poppadoms.
Another cheap dish, based off a recipe at Frugal in the UK. It's really like the spaghetti bolognese my mother used to make. It's also a rather cheap dish, and easily serves 3 (or you can refrigerate it and eat it over several days). Again, you'll probably need a fairly big saucepan. You can add whatever vegetables you like to this, really - it's got a similar ingredients list to the above recipe, mainly because I'm limited to what my local store sells.
Prepare your soya mince according to the instructions (I use dried mince that
must be rehydrated). Now is a good time to put the water on to boil for your
spaghetti and to make the vegetable stock. Chop the courgette into slices then
quarter the slices, chop the bell pepper and slice the mushrooms.
Heat some oil in a pan on a medium heat and fry the onion and garlic for
around 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the purée, the vegetable stock, the
vegetables and pulses, the soymince, and the herbs. You might need more herbs -
I normally add loads straight from the jar, so taste it to make sure it's OK.
Simmer for about 15 minutes then serve, with black pepper and vegan parmesan to
taste.
Bit of a cheat, this one, but very simple and quick. Serves two, or make up the sauce and save half of it before adding to the tagliatelle to refrigerate and eat the next day.
Put a saucepan of water onto the hob to boil. While it's heating up, slice the mushrooms and chop the leek into semicircles. Crush the garlic.
When the water is boiling, add some olive oil to it and add the tagliatelle. Heat up some oil in a seperate pan, then fry the leek for a couple of minutes until it's softened slightly. Add the garlic, mushrooms, beans, and herbs. Cook for another 4-5 minutes. Turn down the heat slightly then add the white wine sauce.
Drain the tagliatelle and return it to its pan (if you're saving half the sauce for another day, now's the time to transfer half of it to a tupperware container). Add the sauce to the tagliatelle and stir in over a medium-low heat. Serve.
I went to the supermarket today with the intention of getting a can of veggie chilli. They didn't have one, so I made one instead. It came out rather well. Serves 2, just.
Chop the onion and slice the courgette, then quarter each slice of it. Drain
the beans. Add the beans, courgette, and onion to a saucepan with
peanut* oil, and
sauté for a couple of minutes. Chop the carrot into half-discs and add it
to the pan. Chop the pepper into squares and add it to the pan. Chop the beans
into segments and add them to the pan. Chop the tomatoes and add them to the
pan.
Add some chilli powder - I used about 2-3 teaspoons of hot chilli powder,
which gave this a bit of a kick. Add around 250ml of water and leave to simmer
for around 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with rice and bread.
* I use peanut oil when cooking, as it's got a higher flashpoint than vegetable
oil (that is, you can cook with it at higher temperatures) and it has less taste
than vegetable oil. You can use whatever oil you prefer for this recipe.
Back to recipe.
I created this last night. It's not rocket science, but it is tasty. I was surprised how fruity the tomatoes tasted.
Halve the baguette along its length and place it under the grill, to lightly toast. Add some extra virgin olive oil to a small mixing bowl - I added enough to cover the bottom of the bowl. I'd guess somewhere between 3 and 5 tablespoons - use your judgement. Crush the garlic and add it to the bowl. Chop the tomato and onion, and add them to the bowl. Add basil, and stir gently. Leave it to sit for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally (this is a good time to toast your baguette).
Once your baguette is lightly browned, remove it from the grill and drizzle over the mixture from the bowl. Place it back under the grill for another 3-5 minutes, until your topping has been warmed up. Sprinkle with the vegan parmesan, if desired. Serve either on its own as a starter or with a salad for a simple meal.
This comes from a friend of mine, Sean, and it's rather good. I think it's got lots of ingredients that sound like they shouldn't work together, but they do. And yeah, I know it looks vile, but it tastes good.
Chop and then gently fry onions, garlic and ginger - not browning. Add curry
and or chilli powder and stir. Add tomatoes and lemon juice. Stir in half a
jar of peanut sauce adding water when necessary. Simmer. Add pepper to
taste. Cooking time approx. 20 mins.
Serve with boiled rice or bread.
