AIR-FRIED FALAFEL

These humble chickpeas turn into a delicious main dish without a lot of effort. My family enjoys them with a little mustard served on the side, although a sour cream dill sauce is  delightful too. Recipe  for dill sauce is below. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups          dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, but not cooked, drained and 

                           rinsed

1 small               onion, roughly chopped

3-4 cloves          garlic, minced

1/2 cup               parsley, chopped

1/2 cup               cilantro, chopped

2 tsp                   cumin

1 tsp                   coriander

1/2 tsp                black pepper

4 Tblsp               mushroom seasoning, or bouillon powder of choice, ( adjust to taste)

1/8 tsp                cayenne pepper powder

3 Tblsp               hot pepper paste

1-2 tsp                chili garlic sauce

2-3 cups             panko bread crumbs

Instructions

1.  Place all of the ingredients, except the breadcrumbs into a food processor or strong blender and blend until the mixture is finely ground, but not a paste.

2. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the bread crumbs.  Add enough bread crumbs so that the mixture  holds together to make a patty. I find adding half of the crumbs and  letting the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes allows the crumbs to  absorb the liquid. Add more crumbs if required. 

3  Preheat air fryer to 375 F. Place patties into the air fryer being sure not to crowd them too much. Cook for 15 minutes, turning when prompted to by the air fryer.

4. Enjoy!

SIMPLE SOUR CREAM DILL SAUCE

1 cup         sour cream

2 Tblsp      fresh dill, more if desired

1 Tblsp      lemon juice

1/2 Tblsp   mushroom seasoning

1/4 tsp       black pepper

1 clove      garlic, minced

Instructions

1.  Mix all ingredients together is a small bowl.

 

     

KOREAN POTATOES

While you can use the potatoes in this recipe right out of the instapot, the overall texture is better if they are allowed to cool overnight. But they can be made using potatoes right out of the instapot.

 1 LB     Potatoes, scrubbed and cut into large chunks

Sauce Ingredients

1/4 cup     Water

4 Tblsp     Soy Sauce

1 Tblsp     Cooking Sherry

2 Tblsp     Brown Sugar

1/4 tsp      Black Pepper

1 Tblsp     Maple Syrup

1 Tblsp     Korean Red Curry Powder, gochugaru

1/4 tsp     Garlic Powder

Instructions

1.  Place potatoes in instapot and set to 5 minutes pressure cook on high.  Allow pressure to come down naturally.  Drain and cool potatoes. Overnight is best, although you can use the potatoes right away.

2. Mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl. 

3. Add sauce to pan along with the potatoes.

4. Cook and stir until sauce is thick and coats potatoes well.

5. Enjoy!

NOTE

1. This recipe doubles or even triples well.

HEARTY PLANT BASED STEW WITH RED WINE

I love Instapot cooking. You can make it in the morning and let it sit on the keep warm function until you are ready to eat it. I used a 6 quart Instapot for this recipe.

Ingredients

1                         onion, chopped  

3 cloves              garlic, minced

1 cup                  dried, small mushrooms, rinsed

2                         carrots, cut in  large chucks

4-5 medium       potatoes, cut into large chucks

2 stalks              celery, diced

1 cup                 red wine,

1 1/2 cup           broth, I use mushroom broth

1  14 oz             can diced tomatoes

1  19 oz             can  black eyed peas, but any kind will do 

3-4 Tblsp          mushroom seasoning, use less if your broth is salted

1/2 tsp               smoked paprika

1/2 tsp               black pepper

1/4 cup              quick oats

Instructions

1.   Place everything but the oats into the Instapot and give it a good stir.

2.   Sprinkle the oats on top of the stew, but do not stir or you might get the burn notice while cooking.

3. Seal  and set Instapot to high pressure cooking for 6 minutes. Let pressure come down naturally. Stir in the oats. 

4. Adjust seasonings to your taste.

5. Enjoy!

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.

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

1. Place flour, sugar and water in the bowl of a food processor.
2. 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.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and allow dough to rest for 30 minutes. Longer is ok.
4. Chops larger pieces of soy curls into smaller pieces if desired using either a knife or  kitchen shears.
5. Place all filling ingredients into a small pot and cook until mixture is bubbling and thick.
6. Allow mixture to cool.

Assembly

1.  Remove dough from plastic wrap and roll into a log shape. 
2.  Cut log into 12 equal pieces.
3.  Lightly flour countertop surface and roll each piece. 
4.  Place a small amount of filling in the center of the dough. Try to keep any filling from touching the edges of the dough.
5.  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.
6.  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. 
7. Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Remove from steamer.
8. 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.