Specials Board: Easy Stuffed Mushrooms Not

Vegan Mofo Day 29

Once again I'm late home and the light has gone before I can even start dinner. I wanted something comforting and easy, which was also quick. My go to comfort food is always going to be mushrooms, I love them and any dish with them in really cheers me up! I couldn't live without my 'shrooms :o)

I didn't want to slave over a pan making risotto or stroganoff and I didn't fancy pasta so I decided on making a simple and quick stuffing mix, filling the 'shrooms and popping in the oven. 

OK, So that was my plan! But disaster struck! Because I was rushing I forgot to put any seasoning in the stuffing mix, normally I add herbs and spices and at least salt and pepper, but today nothing! Then as I pulled the stuffed mushrooms out of the oven I dropped the tray as my oven glove wasn't enough protection. It seems I have a thin patch in the oven glove! So most of the stuffed mushrooms went on the floor but I did manage to save two.

I quickly took a photograph of the mushrooms on the floor before Marco found them and started munching his way through, then I took a quick photo of the two I saved. Again everything was done in a rush as I was starving and I couldn't wait to took into my dinner.

As I said before I didn't enjoy them as much as I hoped as I forgot to put in any seasoning! 

What else could go wrong? Everything! As I came to write up the recipe I found out that I had no memory card in my camera! So I have no pictures of the tasteless 'shrooms! So I thought I'd post some pictures of Marco instead.


If you want a recipe for stuffed mushrooms I posted one last year during vegan mofo.

Runner Bean Pie

Runner Bean Pie & Vegan Mofo Day 4

Firstly, apologies for the photographs, they really don't do this dish justice! It really was delicious, more so than it looks. Put it another way even though I've now got a freezer, I'm not freezing any as I'm going to take some to work tomorrow for lunch and save the rest for the weekend! I actually went back for seconds too!

My runner bean plants aren't thriving as they have done for the past few years but I think perhaps my seeds are a little too old. Four years ago I had an amazing harvest, I mean I was picking handfuls every morning, I was giving them away (no freezer in those days)! No beans were "stringy" and the taste was out of this world. I would literally eat bowls full of 'just cooked' beans with a splash of vinegar for lunch and dinner! The beans were that good that I decided to let some beans get really big and dry on the plant, once the harvest season was over. Once the beans had dried I removed the bean from the pod and stored in jam jars in a dark cupboard in my shed. The next season I used these beans to grow my next crop. I've been doing this ever since. Last year I did have an amazing crop but I did notice that if a bean was left on the plant for just one day more than I would have liked it did start to become a little stringy. AND there is nothing worse than finding a stringy bean on your plate! Trust me, it puts me right off!

This was my first harvest of the year and I must admit I did have to throw away a couple of beans. When I say throw away I mean on my compost, nothing gets wasted here! So next year I think I will treat myself to some new beans to sow. Unless anyone out there want to do a seed swap? Get in touch if you do!

OK So on to the recipe.


Ingredients
335g Runner beans, top & tailed weight (a good handful)
750g potatoes, peeled
350ml Almond milk (non sweetened)
1½ Tbsp Vitalite

250ml Water
75g Cashews
2 Tsp Porcini powder
4 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
1 Mushroom stock cube (I used Kallo organic)

Method

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until s knife pierces them easily. Drain and leave in the pan to steam dry for about 5 minutes. This removes the excess moisture.

Mash the potatoes with 100ml of the almond milk and 1 Tbsp of the Vitalite until creamy and lump free.

While the potatoes are cooking place the prepared runner beans in a pan of boiling water and bring back to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, or until they are al dente, you don't want to cook them too much, they taste better with a little bight in my opinion. Drain and transfer to an oven proof dish.

Saute the mushrooms in the remaining ½ Tbsp of Vitalite for 5 minutes and transfer to the oven dish with the beans.

Add the remaining 250ml of almond milk to a blender along with the last 5 ingredients and blitz until you have a sauce like consistency. Don't worry if you think the sauce is too thin it will thicken up as it heats up. Pour the sauce over the runner beans and mushrooms and top with the mas potato.

Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the potatoes are golden brown.

Now, don't judge me here, but I ate mine with baked beans! I don't know what it is but I love creamy sauces and baked beans together! If you don't agree with my taste buds then serve with extra vegetables.

Specials Board: Lentil Stuffed Mushrooms

I'm craving lentils recently, big time! So today is another recipe which uses green lentils. Green lentils don't go mushy when cooked so they give some texture to your food. The dried green lentils only take 20-30 minutes to cook but if you're short on time (like I was) tinned work just fine. Just remember to wash them thoroughly before adding to your recipe.

These little legumes certainly pack a mighty nutritional punch! They're tasty too, so its a win win in my book. What's not to like?

Ingredients 

Splash of Olive oil
6 Portabello mushrooms, destalked
1 Onion, finely finely diced
1 Red pepper, finely diced
100g Spinach
1 Tsp Wild garlic pesto
½ Tsp Ground coriander
60g Vegan soft cheese
1 Tin of green lentils, washed
2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast


Method

Saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent and add the red pepper, continue to saute for another 3 minutes.

Next add the spinach, and continue sauteing until the spinach wilts.

Add the wild garlic pesto, ground coriander and mix thoroughly.

Add the vegan soft cheese and stir till it melts and it os coating the vegetables.

Add the washed green lentils and nutritional yeast and give everything a good stir to combine all the ingredients.

Top each mushroom with the mixture and bake in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes.

Specials Board: Kale & Mushroom Pasta

A while back I promised you another kale recipe and after my gardening angel bought me a huge bunch round from her allotment that recipe was created.

The kale was so fresh as she had only just picked it, I ate quite a bit raw, it was so succulent. It would be great in a green salad or like me just to munch on while you think up how your going to use it.

The variety was a non curly leaf and the stems were tender and juicy, I think it was a premier kale.

I needed something quick so I decided on a pasta dish and made a kale and mushroom sauce to weave around the pasta.

Ingredients - Serves 4
250g Pasta, I used tripoline pasta
1 Onion, diced
220g Mushroom, chopped
½ Tsp dried thyme
3 Tsp English mustard
½ Tsp Herbamare
330g Kale, cut into thick ribbons
1 Tbsp Flour (heaped)
300ml Almond milk, unsweetened
1 Tsp Bouillon powder
200ml Boiled water
3 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
Good grind of black pepper

Method
Cook the pasta as per the cooking instructions.

Saute the onion until translucent then add the mushrooms and saute for another 4-5 minutes.

Add the thyme, mustard and herbamare and give everything a good stir, before tossing in the ribbons of kale. Keep stirring until the kale has wilted, you may need to add a drop of water to prevent the mixture sticking to the pan.

Add the flour and stir through ensuring all the mixture is coated, it may seem a little thick but don't worry. Cook for a minute to ensure the flour taste is cooked out. Gradually add the almond milk stirring all the time. 

Mix the bouillon powder with the water to make a stock and gradually add to the kale mixture continuing to stir until all the stock has been used. Continue to cook over a low heat until the mixture has thickened.

Add the nutritional yeast and black pepper and give everything one last stir. Drain the pasta and if you're using long pasta ribbons or spaghetti twirl a portion onto each plate then add the 'sauce' around the pasta. If you're using pasta shapes such as penne add the pasta to the pan and stir carefully to mix into the sauce before serving.

Mushroom and Kale Pie

Last bank holiday weekend we had some friends visit us which we hadn't seen for a while, since their wedding last August. We decided to stay in and catch up as it was the first time our dog, Marco had met their dog, Milly. We had nothing to worry about, they got on famously and Marco was even a little love sick after they left! Bless him.

We had a fabulous weekend full of fun and laughter, it was great to catch up and hopefully we won't leave it as long next time!

Earlier in the day my sister and I visited Stone Farmers Market and picked up some goodies for lunch and tea. I headed straight to the mushroom man and bought a large tray of assorted mushrooms to make for dinner. 

Ingredients  

1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Leek, sliced
400g assorted mushrooms, wiped and sliced
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
100g Curly kale, shredded
2 Tsp Porcini powder
2 Sprigs fresh rosemary, finely diced
2 Sprigs fresh tyhme, leaves only
1 Tbsp Flour (heaped)
300ml Unsweetened almond milk
320g Ready rolled puff pastry



Method

Saute the leek in the olive oil until tender around 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute for another 5 minutes, add the soy sauce.

Add the kale and continue to saute for another 5 minutes before adding the fresh herbs, stir to combine.

Add the flour and stir through, cooking for another minute to loose the flour taste.

Slowly add the almond milk and keep over a low heat stirring until the sauce has thickened.

Transfer to an oven proof dish and top with the ready rolled puff pastry. Bake for 30 minutes in a moderate oven. Serve with home made chips and peas.

Spaghetti with Five Vegetable Sauce

Just a quick posting tonight folks, it's been a heck of a day, in a good way but it has left me shattered and I'm ready for bed! However it is Veganuary and I didn't want to miss sharing another recipe with you.

Today's recipe is super quick, super tasty and super healthy! You can't get better than that can you? 

Ingredients - Serves 2
120g Dried spaghetti
½ Red onion, finely diced 
4 Baby Corn, finely sliced
½ Red pepper, finely diced
5 Chestnut mushrooms, diced
8 Cherry tomatoes, chopped
Handful of kale, shredded
2 Tsp Paprika
½ Tsp Chilli flakes
1 Tsp Porcini powder
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Mushroom ketchup
2 Tbsp Almond milk
Water, as required


Method
Add the spaghetti to a pan of boiling water and cook as per packet instructions.

Meanwhile, saute the red onion, red pepper and baby corn in a little olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add a splash of water if the vegetables start to stick.

Add the soy sauce and mushroom ketchup and stir, then add the paprika, chilli flakes and porcini powder and stir again. 

Add the mushrooms and continue to saute over a low heat for another 3 minutes adding another splash of water if the mixture is too dry. Add the kale and continue to cook for another 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and milk and cook over a low heat for another 5 minutes or until the tomatoes have broken down into a sauce.

Drain the spaghetti and serve at once.

Retro Saturday - Bean & Mushroom Wellington

Retro Saturday, what dishes does that conjure up for you? For me its the old favourites, the nostalgic culinary classics, a throwback dish from the 1970's! 

During vegan mofo I have made green bean risotto, green bean & mushroom pasta and bean stroganoff, to me all classic dishes but tonight I'm going all out there with a green bean & mushroom wellington, a real throwback from the 1970's! As you will notice my love affair with partnering green beans and mushrooms has not petered out! I'm still in the honeymoon stage!

This dish is so simple to make and only has 7 ingredients, yes only 7 ingredients (if you don't count the salt & pepper).

It is extremely easy to make too, and very tasty. With this dish you won't be in the kitchen for a long period of time you just throw the ingredients together and voila!

Ingredients
2 Onions, chopped
2 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped
300g Mushrooms, chopped
1 Tbsp Mushroom ketchup
2 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
30-40 Green beans, top and tailed
200g Ready made puff pastry

Method
First fry the onions in a little olive oil until soft and starting to brown.

Add the garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes. Next add the mushrooms and the mushroom ketchup and fry until all the liquid has reduced. Add the nutritional yeast and stir to combine.

Whilst the mushrooms are cooking, fry the green beans in a little olive oil until starting to brown. 

Roll out the puff pastry (you will need about two thirds of a pre-rolled packet. Top with the green beans, then the mushroom mixture, leaving about a 2cm edge.

Fold over the pastry to in-case the filling. Use a little almond milk to dampen the edges to help the two edges stick together. Press a fork around the edges to make a pattern and add some steam holes to the top of the pastry. 

Cook in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden. See I told you it was easy and quick. Now for the taste test..............................delicious!

Oh, one last thing HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sis!

Retro Saturday - Bean Stroganoff

You can't get more retro than a stroganoff in my book, so today I made a bean stroganoff with three beans. But before I give you the recipe let me tell you where I've been today. 

The small village where I grew up was holding a local food festival so I went along to show my support. I was told that it was a celebration of local food talent involving all sections of the community from near and far. There were tables full of local produce that had been grown by people from all ages, homemade preserves and flower displays. 

There was a lady there telling us all about hedgehogs and right up my street a vegetarian talk. Lance Bell, from the Vegetarian Society had been invited to give a talk on the benefits of being vegetarian. I was pleasantly surprised how many people attended. Lance, who is also a vegan gave a great talk on the social, economic and health benefits of being a vegetarian and the people attending were very interested in learning more about it. The approach Lance took was brilliant and he had people listening right from the start, people asked questions and we all had a fantastic time. It was a brilliant idea to invite Lance and include vegetarianism as part of the local food festival, a big round of applause goes to the organisers and of course Lance. 

At the end of the day there was an auction of all the local produce which was brilliant fun, I was outbid on nearly every occasion, but I'm pleased to report I did win two ball courgettes for a bargain price of 60p.  They were massive, see photo below, yes that's a ten pence piece! They will feature soon in a recipe, watch this space...............

Did I mention stroganoff? The green and purple french beans and the runner beans are out of my garden. I don't think the green and purple beans will be giving me any more food I think the harvest is over for them. On the other hand though, the runner beans are multiplying as I type. There is at least another 2 kilogrammes on my 6 plants, so I'm sure they will also feature in the remaining recipes for Vegan Mofo.

Ingredients
200g Green/Purple beans
200g Runner beans
250g Mushrooms
1 Red onion
2 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 Tsp Garlic puree
1 Tsp Dried thyme
3 Tsp Paprika
2 Tsp Garlic granules
1 Tbsp Flour
½ Tin of black beans
400ml Almond milk
125ml Soy cream
Salt & Pepper

Method
First prepare all your vegetables, cut the onion into half moon shapes, top and tail the beans and cut up into 3cm pieces and cut your mushrooms into chunks.

Fry the onion in a little olive oil for 3-4 minutes or until the onion is starting to go soft. Next add the green/purple beans and saute over a high heat for another 3 minutes.

Add the runner beans and continue to cook over a high heat for another 3 minutes. Next add the mushrooms and soy sauce, turn the heat down and cook for another 3 minutes.

Add the garlic puree and stir through the vegetables, then add the flour, paprika, garlic granules and dried thyme and stir to combine thoroughly. Slowly add the almond milk a little at a time, to prevent lumps. After adding ½ the milk add the black beans then the remaining milk and cook over a low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring regularly. This should take around 7 minutes. 

Slowly add the cream and stir to combine, do not boil as the cream may split. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with rice, pasta or as I did couscous.

Please excuse the mess I made of serving, I didn't mean to dribble the sauce over the couscous!

TV Tuesday - Julie & Julia Movie

Once again today's daily theme is TV Tuesday, where you cook a meal from a movie or TV show. 

Today I have chosen the beautiful and fabulous film Julie and Julia. I  love this film but why wouldn't I? Its about food and blogging! (the food however is not vegan friendly). For those of you who haven't seen the movie its about two women, Julie a chef in the early stages of her culinary career and Julia, a woman living in New York who aspires to cook all the recipes from the cook book written by Julie. Julia wants to create all 524 recipes in one year or 365 days and Julia detailed the challenge on her popular blog and announced that it would make her a published author. 

My favourite scene is where Julia has another complete melt down after a disastrous attempt at one of the recipes, which was worse than her previous melt down. She sits on the floor and cries like a spoilt child saying that she's a mess. She lies down on the floor and kicks her leg in the air in a massive strop when the phone rings and Eric, her husband answers it, its a reporter wanting to write about Julia! "He does?" She says.

My favourite quote from the movie is:

Eric: See, that's what's so great about blogs. You don't have to be published. You can go online, press enter and there it is, out there!

Obviously I'm not creating one of the recipes from the book, I can't remember there being anything vegan, but I am going to recreate a chicken recipe and replace the chicken with green beans! 

Beans with cream and mushrooms
When sauteing the mushrooms do as Julia says and don't crowd the pan!

Ingredients

200g Green beans

½ Tsp Freshly ground pepper

¼ Tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 Onion, finely diced

250g Chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced

160ml Vegetable stock

125ml Soy cream

2 Tbsp Fresh Chives or Spring Onions, finely shredded

Method

Top and tail the green beans and put to one side.

In a frying pan add half the oil and add the finely diced onion, saute until the onion is translucent. Add the finely sliced mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, about 2-3 minutes.

Pour in the vegetable stock and cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Next stir in the cream and chives and bring to a gentle simmer, turn down the heat you don't want the cream to curdle.

Meanwhile heat the remaining oil in a ridged skillet over a medium heat and add the beans. You're looking for charred lines across the beans, turn carefully so you get the lines on two sides. I would recommend using a good olive oil for this, it makes all the difference in the taste.

Transfer the beans to a serving plate and top with the mushroom and cream sauce. Serve with vegetables of your choice and a potato or bean side, like bean mash or new potatoes. I served mine with potato mash, carrots and cauliflower.

The mushrooms really complimented the green beans it was a match made in heaven. I'll definitely being pairing up the two again and soon.

Retro Saturday - Bean & Mushroom Pasta

Once again today's theme is Retro Saturday, where you dress up and veganise your favourite meal. I've always been a lover of pasta and whilst I was vegetarian I loved visiting Italian restaurants and devouring the creamiest pasta dishes. In the 25 years I was vegetarian that was a lot of visits to Italian restaurants. Since turning vegan, January 1st this year I haven't visited an Italian restaurant once, what can you eat as a vegan that you can't cook up at home just as delicious if not more so?

Today's recipe is creamy, without cream, extremely easy, quick and very tasty; even 5 meat eaters lapped it up when I cooked it up one camping trip.

I haven't posted many pasta recipes before, which is strange as I'm always cooking them as they are so easy and so quick to rustle up. Everyone will have something lurking in their store cupboard or fridge which can be transformed into a pasta dish. The two previous pasta dishes I've posted are garden pasta, which was rustled up from veg grown in the garden, hence the name and soba veganaise, which is a great recipe to use when you need to use up your vegetables lurking in the bottom of your fridge. Anyway on with today's recipe. 

Bean and Mushroom Pasta 
I am still harvesting green beans, from my garden, not many I grant you but they keep coming!

Ingredients
150g Green beans
150g Mushrooms
1 Onion
1 Courgette (optional)
2 Spring onions
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Tbsp Flour
1 Tsp Vegetable bouillon powder
500ml Soy milk or other alternative
2 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
2 Tsp English mustard
1 Tsp Dried parsley
½ Tsp Dried thyme 
400g Pasta

Method - serves 4-5
Prepare all the vegetables so you're ready to cook, top and tail the beans and cut to 5cm lengths, slice the courgette, spring onions, mushrooms and onion.

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and add the pasta of choice, cook as per the packet instructions. Drain just before you add the sauce.

Saute the onion until translucent about 5 minutes, and add the beans, continue to saute stirring regularly so the vegetables don't stick to the pan. Add a little water if they start sticking. After 5 minutes the beans should start to become tender so add the mushrooms, courgette and spring onions and saute for another 2 minutes.

Sprinkle the vegetables with the flour, herbs and vegetable bouillon powder (I use Marigold Swiss vegetable) and stir to combine. Continue to cook for about 30 seconds whilst turning the mixture with a spoon.

Add the soy milk slowly, a bit at a time, continually stirring until the mixture becomes sauce like thick. You may need to add more soy milk or not as much it depends on the age and type of the flour you are using. Add the mustard and stir through, then the nutritional yeast and stir again. 

Season to taste and tip in the drained pasta a little at a time and stir to incorporate the sauce and pasta. Serve with salad or as I did with a side of runner beans! I actually cooked the sauce at home and boxed it up. Then all I needed to do was cook the pasta at the camp site, heat up the sauce and combine - easy! The bottom photo was the left overs after first helpings, but as soon as I'd taken the photo the saucepan was gone and the 'leftovers' were on plates being gobbled up!

Soba Veganaise

No, the title doesn't mean I've been drunk and now sobered up! 

With all the fresh vegetables I bought on Wednesday I was excited about cooking tonight's tea. I randomly chose some vegetables from the fridge and decided to challenge myself to make something yummy. I was really pleased with the results.

The vegetables I chose were, mushrooms, carrot, onion, celery, red pepper, green pepper, baby corn and courgette.

After looking at the vegetables for what seemed ages, I decided I was going to make a vegan version of spaghetti bolognaise, no fake meats allowed. To do this I needed to add some standard store cupboard ingredients, which were, Vegetable bouillon powder, chopped tomato, paprika, oregano, herbamore salt, pepper, tomato puree and garlic.

I finely diced the onion, garlic and most of the peppers and then through all the other vegetables into my trust food processor to chop up.

I processed and pulsed until all the veg looked like this

I fried the onions in a little olive for about 5 minutes before adding the garlic and cooked for another two minutes before adding the chopped peppers and cooking for another 5 minutes. Then I added the processed vegetables to the pan and let them cook for another 5 minutes.

Next I added the chopped tomatoes and a little tomato passata  and stirred to combine. Next came the tomato puree, herbs and spices (including a pinch of chilli pepper), salt and pepper. I also added a little sugar, parsley and about a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. I let this mixture simmer slowly whilst I boiled the soba noodles.

After boiling the soba noodles for about 6 minutes drain and rinse with cold water, this will stop the cooking process. Pour into a dish and top with the veganiase sauce.

Eat it up! Even though I say so myself this dish was amazing and one that I will make time and time again, it truly was delicious. It turned out far better than I'd hoped.

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