Specials Board: Couscous Stuffed Vegetables

Couscous Stuffed Vegetables & Vegan Mofo Day 8

Yesterday I made a big batch of couscous with roasted courgettes and I told you to keep back 160g of couscous for another recipe. Well today I am sharing with you that recipe!

Because I didn't have my mammoth cooking session at the weekend I am making dinner each night by creating a different recipe just so I can post for Vegan Mofo. Now that's dedication for you. I like to keep mid week meals simple if I'm cooking from scratch and I'll double up when cooking certain ingredients so I have a base for the next days recipe. So yesterday I cooked more couscous than I needed so I could use it today.

Ingredients (Serves 4 - 8)

160g Cooked couscous from yesterdays recipe 

175g Courgette, grated

1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast

Salt & Pepper

50g Soft vegan 'cheese'

4 Field mushrooms, destalked and peeled

2 Yellow peppers, halved & seeds removed

1 Garlic clove, thinly sliced

Method

Place the mushrooms, gill side up on a baking tray and the peppers cut side up. Add a slice or two of garlic to each mushroom and half pepper.

Bake in a moderate oven for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms start to lose their juices.

Meanwhile mix the couscous and grated courgette in a big bowl, add the nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and mix again.

Add the soft vegan 'cheese' to a microwaveable bowl and heat for 20-30 seconds so that it becomes more mixable. Add the cheese to the courgette and couscous and mix well so that all the ingredients are well combined. The mixture should actually hold its shape if you were to roll into balls.

Spoon the mixture into each pepper half and pile on top of the mushrooms. Press it down so it keeps its shape.

Bake in a moderate oven for another 10 minutes or until the couscous is golden. Serve with a salad or just on there own.

Stuffed Courgette

When I put my Monthly Menus together I have created recipes which help celebrate different food holidays or what fruit and vegetables I need to harvest from my small kitchen garden. I very rarely have a recipe waiting in the wings!

Even though I have had courgettes coming out of my ears I didn't get round to stuffing one until earlier this week. As usual it was a case of sitting in front of the fridge deciding on what needed eating up first to create the stuffing mixture.

I had a packet of Cauldron Falafels that were fast approaching their use by date, which I'd picked up with the intention of speedy work lunches but never got round to using them. So they needed to be the main ingredient in the stuffing. After scanning the fridge I also picked out a few ingredients that also needed eating up and this is what I came up with.

Ingredients - Serves 2 on their own or 4 as a side
2 Courgettes
1 red pepper
4 Celery sticks
1 large onion
6 mushrooms200g Falafels
1 Tsp Dried parsley
1 Tsp Garlic salt
1 Tsp Vegan Worcestershire sauce

To serve
Cooked spaghetti
Handfull Fresh basil, shredded
1 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

Method

Finely dice the onion, red pepper and celery sticks.

Cut the courgettes length ways and scoop out the seeds. Put the two halves for each courgette back together and wrap in silver foil. Place in a moderate oven while you make the stuffing.

Fry the onion in a a little olive oil until translucent, add the red pepper and celery and saute for another 2 minutes.

Dice the mushrooms and add to the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the mushrooms have released their liquid.

Crumble the falafels into the pan and give everything a good stir to combine all the ingredients.

Add the parsley, garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce and give everything another good stir.

Remove the courgettes from the oven and unwrap, careful they will be hot! Spoon the stuffing mixture into the courgette troughs and pat down so the mixture is compact. Return to the oven on a baking tray for another 15 minutes or until the courgettes are cooked.

To serve toss the spaghetti in the extra virgin olive oil and shredded basil and sit the courgette halves on top.

Chill Bean Stuffed Mushrooms

Two days ago I blogged about the Mexican Bean Deli Filling that Caroline of Tea and Sympatico sent me which I used in the Mexican Bean Deli Wrap. I didn't use all of the jar so I needed to come up with another recipe idea that used the rest of the deli filling. 

I needed something quick, I was ravenous after a long day at work, so I stopped off on the way home and picked up a bag of frozen chips and paired this with stuffed mushrooms.

I put a dollop of the Mexican Bean Deli Filling in the centre of each mushroom and then topped it with a piece of roasted red pepper from a jar and chopped jalapenos from another jar. Finished with a sprinkling of vegan cheese and baked in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes.


Result a very tasty stuffed mushroom that was quick and easy to put together with store cupboard ingredients.