Specials Board: Aubergine & Cauliflower Burritos

Do you remember that cooking programme "Ready Steady Cook"? Where a member of the audience used to bring a carrier bag of food and the chef had 30 minutes (I think) to make something from the ingredients. Well, that's what it's like in my kitchen most nights! I open up the fridge and see what 'needs' to be used first. I really should start to plan my meals again, but I like challenging myself to see what I come up with. The majority of times I have managed to create something tasty, thank goodness, but believe me there has been the odd time when my composter has been fed instead!

Today, I'm pleased to say, things worked out well. After opening my fridge there were 3 things that needed using up, half a cauliflower, an aubergine and a packet of ready prepared butternut squash & sweet potato chunks that I had picked up in the mark down section at the local supermarket. Sometimes, when my fridge is bare and I fancy a challenge I go to the mark down section in the local supermarket and buy three items & along with store cupboard ingredients I challenge myself to come up with something tasty for dinner.

It would have been easy to make a curry with these ingredients but where is the challenge in that? So, I decided that the packet of ready prepared butternut squash & sweet potato chunks would be turned into a 'cheese' sauce similar to an earlier recipe I posted here. I would normally serve this with pasta, but the aubergine and cauliflower didn't appeal to me as a pasta dish. After looking through my store cupboard I noticed a packet of tortillas had gone past there "best before" date so that was it, they had to be used. Aubergine & Cauliflower Burritos were born.......

Ingredients 

350g sweet potato & butternut squash, cubed

1 Tbsp White miso

30g Nutritional yeast

200ml Almond milk, unsweetened

1 Tsp Marmite

1 Onion, finely diced

250g Mushrooms, chopped

1 Chilli, finely diced

1 Aubergine

240g Cauliflower

215g Spicy refried beans

1 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Tsp garlic puree

2 Tsp Tomato puree

5 Tortilla's

Method

Boil the butternut squash and sweet potato until soft, drain and place into a blender. Process to a puree and then add the white miso, nutritional yeast, almond milk and marmite and process again to combine everything. You will have a thick 'cheese' sauce. Pour into a saucepan and put to one side.

Saute the onions in a little olive oil until translucent, then add the mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the chilli and cook for another 2 minutes.

Meanwhile add the chopped aubergine to a food processor and pulse until the aubergine is very finely diced. Add to the onion and mushrooms and cook over a low heat for another 5 minutes.

Next place the cauliflower into the food processor and pulse until you have 'cauliflower rice' and add to the pan. Cook for another 3 minutes, stirring regularly to stop the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the refried beans and stir to combine everything evenly.

Add the smoked paprika, garlic and tomato purree and give everything one more stir.

Lay a tortilla onto a flat surface and spoon 2 tablespoons of the mixture down the middle, wrap and place in an oven proof dish. Repeat with the other 4 tortillas until all the mixture has been used.

Gently heat the 'cheese' sauce and pour over the rolled tortillas and bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes.

Serve with a few salad leaves and guacamole.

Lentil & Kale Loaf

By now, you must have heard about the health benefits of kale. It's all over the place, the new superfood! Don't get me wrong this vegetable is SUPER, and I'm glad that everyone is finding out about it, but to some of us, "the grow your own crowd", it's been a staple vegetable grown in our gardens or allotments for some time. 

Personally, I would never not grow it, it really is so versatile. It looks after itself, it can tolerate drought, heat, wet and cold weather and has a long growing season. For the lazy gardener it is one of the best vegetables you can grow, just sow the seed and wait for the magic to happen.

What other vegetable do you know that makes a fine smoothie, a crunchy crisp, tastes fantastic in a soup, stir fry or salad and tastes great just steamed? OK, so there are a few.............

My kale has fed me over the winter months and I still have some growing, last weekend I decided that I would try something new and I created the lentil and kale roast. I was really pleased with the results and you should definitely give this one a try.

If you've never tried kale before and the thought of it in a smoothie sounds weird then this recipe is the one for you. Rather than packing the roast full of kale I decided it was best used to dress up the lentils, ready for a party on your plate! 

Ingredients - Serves 6
1 Aubergine, about 225g
75g Kale, leaves only
150g Red lentils
400ml Water
1 Tsp Vegetable bouillon powder
1 Tsp Fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 Tsp Fresh mint, finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 Tsp Dried mixed herbs
75g Rolled oats
2 Tbsp Ground flax seeds
4 Tbsp Water
Black pepper
½ Tsp Herbamare salt

Method
Wrap the aubergine in foil and put in a moderate oven and bake for 1 hour or until very soft to the touch and the skin peels off easily.

Mix the ground flax seed and water together and set aside.

Put the lentils in a saucepan, add the bouillon powder to the 400ml of water and pour over the lentils. Bring to a boil and simmer for 25 minutes, remember to stir a lot towards the end to stop the lentils sticking to the bottom of the pan. After 20 minutes add the chopped rosemary and mint and stir through the lentils.

While the lentils are cooking, prepare the kale, boil for 5 minutes and drain, set aside and leave to cool. Once cool squeeze all the water out and chop up the kale into smaller pieces.

Saute the onion and celery in a little olive oil for 5 minutes and add the garlic, saute for another 5 minutes over a low heat and then add the dried mixed herbs. Add a splash of water to the pan if the vegetables start to stick.

Remove the aubergine from the oven and leave till it is cool enough to handle. Peel and chop/mash the flesh.

Transfer the lentils to a large bowl, add the onion mixture, chopped kale, oats, aubergine and the flax egg. Season with black pepper and herbamare salt. Give everything a good mix making sure that everything has been combined and transfer to a prepared loaf tin. Push the filling down so that the mixture is compact. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes and the top is golden brown. Serve with vegetables and an onion gravy.

Thankful Thursday - Vegan Swap Box & Moussaka

It's Thankful Thursday again and the last one of Vegan Mofo, so I thought it was appropriate to do a post on my fantastic Vegan Swap Box I received earlier this month from Heather. 

It was A-M-A-ZING! It was full of vegan goodies which I'm working my way through. If you've not heard about the vegan swap box before take a trip over to To Happy Vegans who organise the whole thing (unfortunately for UK residents only, but I have heard there is other swap boxes organised in other countries). Every month you are assigned a partner to send a parcel of vegan goodies to and in return you receive your own parcel of vegan goodies. It's really good fun and every month you get a parcel to open up and the contents are a complete surprise! Try it and see what you get.

I was lucky enough to get Heather again this month, Heather sent me my last parcel in July (I didn't participate in the August swap box as we were on holiday). Funny enough I got the same person to send to as I did in July, Michaela from Miss Chaela Boo. I'll let you know what I sent to Michaela in tomorrows post.

Don't worry there's a recipe of sorts too! But first here is what Heather sent to me:

• Co-op After Dinner Mint Thins
• Sweet Freedom Choc Shot
• Yu! Jus Fruit Mango
• Hapiness is Homemade Organic Desiccated Coconut
• Naked Noodle - Sweet & Sour Flavour
• Cooks Coatings for Roasties
• Pureety Gourmet Tangy Tomato, Black Pepper & Thyme Marinade
• Itsu Miso Soups x 3
• Jamie Oliver Pink Himalayan Salt
• Greenfields Ras Al Hanout
• Tyrrells Habas Fritas - Fried Broad Beans! YAY more beans!

As you can see a real good selection of vegan goodies, aren't I the lucky girl! I was chuffed to bits with the parcel including something bean like and I've used some of these on top of my leek and runner bean soup as croutons! Yummy!

I've never tried pink himalayan salt before, I know, I know where have I been! That's what I love about the vegan swap boxes you get to try stuff you've never had before. The Naked Noodles were enjoyed for lunch at work and I was pleasantly surprised with them. I've tried Sainsbury's own brand of something similar and I was bitterly disappointed with their version. I shall look out for the Naked Noodle brand as it's good to have as a standby lunch at work when you've forgotten to bring your own packed lunch!

I've not yet tried the miso soup, again this is a brand I've not seen before, but I love miso soup! I've not yet tried the roasties coatings either and I'm thinking maybe this Sunday, I'll try it out on my family. I think the marinade will be fabulous over tofu and can't wait to try this. I'm also thinking of making a bean tagine to use the ras al hanout, I have so many ideas and not enough time! 

The Co-op Mint Thins were a lovely surprise! It's my sisters birthday on Saturday and we're all going to Mum & Dads on Sunday for lunch so the Mint Thins can be enjoyed by all, I'll make sure I get my fair share though! Heather told me that she's addicted to the Choc shot and every time she goes into the kitchen she eats a teaspoon of it. Well Heather, I'm addicted now too! I've not had chance to use it on anything and I've been doing as you do and sneaking a teaspoon of the gooey chocolate sauce every time I make a cup of tea! I've not seen this before so I'm hunting it down, drop me a line and tell me where you get yours from.

The mango pieces didn't last long either they were gone the day after I received the parcel and enjoyed as a work snack. I'm planning to do some baking once Vegan Mofo is finished and the desiccated coconut will be used then.

All in all I think you'll agree and absolutely fabulous vegan swap box! Thanks Heather I love it!

You'll note that I mentioned that I'll also share a recipe (of sorts) with you today and I'm using some left over from yesterdays meal. As I have no freezer and I'm the only vegan in this household (although Marco is heading that way, he loves his veggies) I only made one portion of the aubergine and bean rolls which meant I had a lot of the aubergine, mushroom and butter bean filling left. I also still had some of the sweet potato "cheese" sauce left over so I put my thinking cap on and decided there was only one thing for it a moussaka.

All I did was slice up another aubergine, yes I bought another one! This is progress! Give an oven proof dish a quick spray of olive oil and add a layer of aubergine slices. Top with some of the aubergine, mushroom and butter bean filling and repeat finishing with a third layer of aubergine slices. Top with a layer of the sweet potato "cheese" sauce and then a layer of thinly sliced potatoes. Finish with another layer of the sauce and bake in a pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are soft.

I served mine with chips (naughty I know) and peas, and I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. I even went back for another taste as I couldn't believe how good it tasted. I will make this time and time again, its that good!

Apologies for the photo, it doesn't do the dish justice at all, but I was way too hungry and way too excited to try the moussaka, to faff around with photographing it! 

In other news, my sister won a cake decorating competition today! Yay! Go sis! I shall ask her if I can publish a photo of the cake and share it with you all. It was fantastic and shaped like a watering can, yep 3D and all!

Work With It Wednesday - Aubergine & Bean Rolls

I honestly can't believe how quick Vegan Mofo is going, but I must admit I am shattered, cooking a new recipe and posting it every day takes its toll. Especially when you work full time and you don't get in till late. Today I wanted to finish early so I could get home and do a little experimenting, but as always that didn't work out! Today's recipe was just thrown together but I'm so pleased with the results.

As today was the last "Work with it Wednesday" I decided to put the three ingredients I didn't like (which I have written about on previous "Work with it Wednesdays" posts) together in one recipe. As a recap the three ingredients are Aubergine, Butter Beans and Peanut Butter.

What on earth could I make with these three ingredients, I needed to bring out the big guns. Enter the food processor. I was making it up as I went along, but thankfully I weighed every ingredient and wrote everything down. I even used left overs from a previous recipe, which is always good to do as I hate throwing food out.

I remember reading about  a post from another Vegan Mofo blogger a while back, who visited a restaurant and had aubergine rolls stuffed with a walnut mixture. I'm sure it was in Germany and I'm pretty sure she also posted a photograph of some very cute puppies, but I could be mistaken. Apologies but I can't remember who it was, if its you, thank you, your post must have stuck in the back of my head and tonight the aubergine came to life!

Ingredients - serves 4-6
1 Onion 
3 Cloves of garlic
Olive Oil
2 Large Aubergines
200g Chestnut mushrooms
1 Tin of butter beans
1 Tbsp Peanut butter
50g Breadcrumbs
20 Basil leaves

3 Tsp Balsamic Glaze
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 Tsp BBQ sauce

Method
First roughly chop the onion and peel the garlic, add to a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add a little olive oil to a pan and saute for 5 minutes.

Whilst the onion is cooking, finely slice length ways one of the aubergines and set aside, you should get at least 16 slices. With the other aubergine, cut it into cubes and add to the food processor and process until finely chopped. Add to the onions, stir and saute for another 5 minutes.

Next wipe the mushrooms clean and dice, add to the food processor and process until finely chopped. Add to the onion and aubergine mixture, stir and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the teaspoon of peanut butter and stir to thoroughly combine.

Next drain the tin of butter beans, add to the food processor and process until pureed. Add to the onion, aubergine and mushroom mixture and stir to thoroughly combine.

Stir in the breadcrumbs, finely shred the basil and add to the mixture along with the balsamic glaze, soy sauce and BBQ sauce, stir to combine thoroughly. The mixture will be fairly wet, cook for a further 5 minutes in order to lose some of the moisture.

Meanwhile fry the aubergine slices in a  little olive oil for 2 minutes each side until golden brown but still pliable. Add a teaspoon of the mixture to each aubergine slice and roll. Place the rolls in an oven proof dish and bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes.

As I said above I also used some leftovers, this was some sweet potato 'cheese' sauce I made two days ago for "Mac 'n' Cheese Monday". I poured the sauce over the aubergine rolls (about 3 tablespoons for each 4 rolls) before putting in the oven.

The verdict, absolutely delicious and a recipe which I will make again, I might even add another tablespoon of peanut butter and I never thought I would hear myself say that! The Vegan Mofo "Work with it Wednesdays" have been a roaring success and I have found food which I previously disliked and turned them into foods I now enjoy.

Work With It Wednesday - Aubergine & Bean Cassoulet

Time for another post, where I take a food item that I don't like and cook with it to create something that I do like. 

A quick recap, the first work with it Wednesday was about peanut butter and I made Bean & Noodle Salad which I really liked. The second work with it Wednesday was about butter beans and I made Bean and Cauliflower Mash, which was delicious. So all in all two successes, but could I make it a third?

Today my food dislike is cannellini beans, yep another bean! Would you believe it especially when my theme is everything bean like! 

Once again I believe it's the texture of the bean more than anything, I find them quite 'floury' if you know what I mean. Perhaps I'm not having the greatest love affair with these beans because the only way I have tried them is from a tin. Perhaps it's time that I bought dried beans, soaked them overnight, boiled them and then used them in my cooking. But that has always sounded such hard work! The last two recipes for work with it Wednesday have taken the food item and broken it down so it wasn't in its original form, so today my recipe kept the bean whole.

In order for me to enjoy the bean in its truest form I needed other ingredients that would 'over power' the texture and taste. Enter another food dislike, aubergine, I'm not a huge fan of this vegetable and I've had disastrous attempts of cooking with it. The only recipe that I have enjoyed which included the aubergine was a curry! Time for a double whammy I don't do things by halves! What could I cook up which included both these food dislikes that would tickle my taste buds. Enter the stew or cassoulet! The weather has turned and the nights are drawing in and its getting cold outside so a warming stew was just the ticket.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Aubergine
1 Large red onion
1 Sweet potato
1 Red pepper
1 Green pepper
1 Tsp Chipotle paste
1 Tsp Smoked paprika
1 Tin chopped tomatoes
1 Tin of cannellini beans
600ml Vegetable stock
1 Courgette
1 Tsp Cornflour
1 Small bunch of Corriander

Method
Prepare all your vegetables, cut the aubergine, peppers and potato into cubes and thinly slice the onion. Cut the courgette length ways and cut into chunks. 

Pour ½ the olive oil into a pan and heat, add the cubed aubergine and cook over a high heat until golden brown, about 4 minutes. The aubergine will soak up the olive oil so you may need to add a little more. I know, it can't be that good for you adding loads of oil but once in a blue moon can't hurt and it does make it taste so nice.

Add the onion with the remaining oil and cook until the onion is soft, stirring every now and again, about 2-3 minutes. Next add the sweet potato and peppers, giving everything a good stir and cook for another 3 minutes until the peppers are starting to go soft. Add the chipotle paste and smoked paprika and stir to combine thoroughly. 

Drain the tinned beans and rinse well then add to the vegetables with the vegetable stock and chopped tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring every now and again so the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add the courgette, stir and cook for another 10 minutes. If the mixture becomes too dry add more vegetable stock. Once all the vegetables are soft (don't cook for too long you still want a little bite) mix the cornflour with a little water and add just enough to thicken the mixture.

Serve at once with the chopped coriander sprinkled on top.

Mexican Lasagne

There's a theme emerging from this blog and its of the Mexican variety! So far I've posted the following Mexican recipes; Fajitas, Tacos, Mexican Stuffed Mushrooms, Guacamole, Salsa and a Refried Bean Wrap!

I'm now going to add to that list and share with you my version of a Mexican Lasagne. This uses flour tortillas instead of lasagne pasta sheets. 

Ingredients
1 Aubergine, diced
1 Courgette, diced
1 Onion, diced
1 Red pepper, diced
1 Packet fajita seasoning mix
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic granules
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 Carton tomato passata
3 flour tortillas
1 tbs plain flour
1 tbsp vitalite
400 ml soy milk

Method
Fry the diced onion in a little rapeseed oil until translucent. Add the diced aubergine and courgettes and stir to combine. Continue to fry the vegetables for around 5 minutes, if they start to stick add a little water. Add the red pepper and cook for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle over the fajita seasoning mix, paprika, chilli flakes and garlic granules and mix thoroughly. Add the tomato passata and stir through. Cook over a medium heat for another 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile make your 'cheese' sauce. Add to a saucepan, the soy milk, vitalite and flour and cook over a low heat whisking all the time until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the mustard and nutritional yeast flakes and whisk to combine. Taste and add more mustard or nutritional yeast flakes to your liking.

Spread a third of the vegetable mixture in an oven proof dish and top with a flour tortilla, its best to half the tortilla and put the straight edge of the cut tortilla to the edge of the oven proof dish. Spread another third of the vegetable mixture over the tortilla and continue to layer until you finish up with the third flour tortilla.

Pour over the 'cheese' sauce and bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes. Serve with mexican rice and guacamole.