Barb's Plant Based Kitchen
Sunday, 3 November 2024
HEARTY PLANT BASED STEW WITH RED WINE
VEGETABLE DOLMA ( STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES)
These vegetable dolma are easy to make, but do take a little time to prepare. This recipe uses about a half of a jar of grape leaves
Ingredients
1 onion, chopped, about 1 cup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup mushrooms, diced finely
1 small zucchini, diced finely
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tblsp dill, chopped finely
1 cup rice
1 1/2 tblsp tomato paste
2 Tblsp red pepper paste
1/4 cup roasted walnuts, chopped
2 Tblsp mushroom seasoning, or other bouillon powder of choice to taste
1 lemon , juiced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 jar grape leaves, rinsed and drained
2 cups broth of choice for baking.
Instructions
1. In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients, but the grape leaves and broth for baking. Mix well, ensuring that the tomato and pepper paste are well incorporated
2. To assemble, lay a grape leaf shiny side down. Take about 1 Tblsp of the filling and place it near the base of the leaf. Starting at the bottom, fold the leaf over the filling, and then fold in the sides. Try and keep it tight. Continue rolling the dolma until it is rolled up like a burrito. Continue making all of the dolma until the filling is used up.
3. Place the rolled dolma seam-side down in a small roasting pan. Stacking the dolma is okay.
4. Pour the broth over the dolma until it comes up to the top of the dolma, but does not cover completely.
5. Cover with a lid and bake at 350 F for 45-60 minutes.
6. Enjoy.
NOTE
Some of my grape leaves were small, so I combined two leaves side by side or cut a leaf in half and used it to make a bigger leaf by placing it across the bottom of a second leaf.
Friday, 25 October 2024
STUFFED SWEET POTATOES
These are a flavour packed bowl of goodness. The result is a soft stuffed sweet potato, and should be transferred to a plate with care so it doesn't break. They will still taste great, just not be as pretty.
Ingredients
4 medium sweet potatoes
1 19 oz can black eyed peas, or your favourite type of bean
1 cup quinoa, cooked,
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 small red onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 Tblsp nutritional yeast
2-4 Tblsp mushroom seasoning
1/4 cup cilantro
Instructions
1. Prick the sweet potatoes all over. Bake the sweet potatoes in a 400 F oven until soft and cooked through.
2. Meanwhile prepare the filling . Sauté the onion, red pepper and garlic for a few minutes until soft. Set aside.
3. Once the sweet potatoes are baked and cool enough to handle, carefully cut in half. Scoop out the pulp into a bowl without tearing the outer skin and reserve the skins
4. Mash the sweet potato pulp and add the onion mixture, quinoa, beans, and all the spices, including the cilantro.
5 Adjust the seasonings to your taste. If the sweet potatoes were quite large you may want to double the seasonings, but be sure to taste in order to avoid over-seasoning.
6. Serve warm. Garnish with additional cilantro and red pepper is desired.
7. These result in a soft sweet potato , so handle with care when transferring to a plate or serving dish.
8. Enjoy!
CHINESE VEGETABLES
This is probably my family's favourite way to eat vegetables. It is so simple, but packed with flavour.
Use your favourite crunchy stir fry vegetables in this recipe. It pairs perfectly with rice.
Base Ingredients
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices ginger, minced
Sauce Ingredients
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
2 Tblsp mushroom seasoning
2 Tblsp cooking wine, my favourite is Shao hsing rice cooking wine
4 Tblsp water, cold
Vegetables
4 cups mixed vegetables ( I use a combination of thinly sliced carrots and zucchini, red and green peppers in bite sized chunks, broccoli, and red onion
Instructions
1 In a large frying pan, sauté ginger and garlic in water until soft and water has evaporated
2. Prepare sauce ingredients by mixing everything in a large measuring cup.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Carefully, add the vegetables and cover the pot. Immediately set a timer for 3 minutes. ( you can cook less if you want your veggies crunchier).
4. Place a strainer in the sink and when the times goes off, strain your veggies and run cold water over them until it stops steaming. Keep draining veggies while you heat the sauce.
5 Place the frying pan with the ginger and garlic on a medium heat. Pour in the sauce ingredients and whisk until it thickens and is bubbly. Cook for about a minute.
6 Add in the well drained vegetables and stir.
7. Enjoy!
Note
1. This recipe doubles well.
2. This recipe reheats well. I often make it for holidays the day before.
3. If you do not have mushroom seasoning you could use your favourite bouillon seasoning, however you will need to adjust to taste.
STEAMED SOY CURL 'PORK' BUNS
These steamed buns are very simple to make and taste great served with a dipping sauce of your choice, although I recommend a sweet chili sauce. Please refer to the Note at the bottom of the recipe for instructions regarding the parchment paper.
Dough
2 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Tblsp Baking Powder
Filling
1/2 lb Soy Curls Rehydrated, and weighed after rehydrating
1/4 cup Green Onions, Chopped
1/3 cup Water
3 Tsp Soy Sauce
2 Tsp Hoisin Sauce
1 Tblsp Sugar
1 Tblsp Cornstarch
Instructions
- Place flour, sugar and water in the bowl of a food processor.
- With the motor running, add in 2/3-1 cup of hot water. Start with the lower amount and allow the food processor to work and add water until a ball is formed.
- Cover with plastic wrap and allow dough to rest for 30 minutes. Longer is ok.
- Chops larger pieces of soy curls into smaller pieces if desired using either a knife or kitchen shears.
- Place all filling ingredients into a small pot and cook until mixture is bubbling and thick.
- Allow mixture to cool.
Assembly
- Remove dough from plastic wrap and roll into a log shape.
- Cut log into 12 equal pieces.
- Lightly flour countertop surface and roll each piece.
- Place a small amount of filling in the center of the dough. Try to keep any filling from touching the edges of the dough.
- Pull the edges of the dough up above the dough and pinch the pulled pieces together to form a ball. Make sure it is sealed well.
- Place on a parchment lined steamer basket, being sure not to crowd the buns as they will expand during cooking. Cook in batches if required.
- Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove from steamer.
- Enjoy.
Note
I use parchment paper that has been manufactured for steamer baskets. It has holes already punched in it. If you do not have prepunched parchment paper then you can tear parchment paper into smaller pieces that will fit under each bun making sure the bun does not touch the steamer basket. This will allow the steam to come up nicely around each bun.
Sunday, 15 October 2023
SOY CURL CHICKENLESS STEW
Ingredients
Method
- Cook onion and garlic in a pot until onion is translucent.
- Add in poultry seasoning and black pepper. Stir.
- Add in carrots, broth, soy curls, potatoes and nutritional yeast. Cook about 20 until the potatoes are cooked through. stir as required to avoid burning.
- Stir in frozen peas and cook a few minutes until they are hot.
- Serve over rice.
- Enjoy!