Student kitchens
Easy, delicious, healthy(ish) recipes that won’t own your budget.Archive for vegetarian
Cous cous and wintery herby veges
I finally decided to grab some wholemeal couscous at Piko’s the other day, and I now really wished the other packet I’d bought was wholemeal too. Unlike wholemeal flour, which cooks differently in bread and has a definite flavour (bitter but nutty), wholemeal couscous cooks exactly the same as the normal stuff, and barely tastes any different. The texture is similar enough – but it keeps its shape much better, so really, I don’t see a reason to ever get white again. If you’ve ever considered getting more wholegrains into your diet, this is a great way to start – remember that couscous is the fastest, easiest grain to cook!
Perching atop that mountain is my fresh herb trio (they’re all shivering outside in the garden, along with the oregano which I now can’t find among the forest of rocket plants): rosemary, sage and thyme, the wintery herbs that make this combo feel as comforting a steaming bowl of noodle soup. Easy enough to adapt for vegan friends, too – just be sure to use vege stock and olive oil instead of butter.
Also, I was comparing the two different kinds of cous cous (plain & wholegrain) and wholegrain has a respectable amount of iron in it (1/3c gives 10% of your RDI of iron). It also had a small amount of calcium, as opposed to none in the white, and slightly more protein. Just a thought, even though I normally don’t espouse nutritional advice… I think it’s winter and the fact that everyone is getting sick. Take care of yourselves and eat well damnit!
Cous cous with cabbage, mushrooms, and wintery herbs
serves 2 hungry souls
1c wholemeal couscous
1c vege or chicken stock, super hot (bring to a boil, or use bouillon/stock cubes + just boiled water)*
about 25g butter or some olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
about 2c finely sliced cabbage
as many mushrooms as you want (or substitute matchstick-cut carrots if you hate mushrooms)
a small handful of fresh rosemary, thyme and sage leaves (discard stalks), or 1/2 tsp each dried, finely chopped with 4 cloves of garlic (hey, it’s good for the immune system!)
salt and pepper to taste (at the end)
more butter, or olive oil if you’re harbouring illusions of diet consciousness
about 1/4 cup powder-finely grated parmesan (optional)
*If you’re out of stock, to be honest I think this dish will work fine without it, as long as you compensate with salt.
Pour hot water over cous cous in bowl or saucepan and cover (not with clingfilm if you can help it, but just a plain pot cover – come on, it’s easier and cheaper). Let sit about 3-5 mins before uncovering, fluffing it up with a fork, and re-covering. If you’re a multi tasker, you can do this while your onions are cooking.
In a large frypan or wok, melt butter or heat olive oil (about 25g/3Tbs) on medium heat, and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Add onions, and cook on one layer until translucent, shaking and tossing every now and then. Once quite translucent and beginning to go golden, add cabbage, and let sit on one layer, cooking until the undersides are lightly golden, and then tossing. Keep doing this until the cabbage starts getting softer and starts taking on golden notes all over.
Mix in garlic, herbs, and mushrooms, and let cook on an even layer until the undersides of the mushrooms get golden fringes. Stir, and mix in all the cous cous. You may want to add the butter specified with the cous cous now as well. Continue cooking for a minute and then remove from heat. Stir in parmesan now if using, and serve up.
I haven’t tried this heated up the next day, but I can’t imagine it would be too bad, as long as you avoided the microwave. Just make sure to fridge it overnight, and you should be fine.
Curry-like vege stew
To be honest I wish I was having this tonight; it’s going to get down to 1 degree tonight apparently, and I am so not prepared for it!
This is similar to my first curry, but then it’s much less complicated and also vegan. You could experiment with different vegetables of course, as the ones below are quite summery, but I think in combination with tomatoes the veges I used taste pretty darn good. This also tastes good reheated in the pan the next day with a splash of water.
I pretty much made this up on the night, but I’m sure there are plenty of variations. If you felt like being really lazy you could just use curry powder, just don’t tell anyone I said so :P
I know…it doesn’t look pretty, but it sure was satisfying! With potatoes and tofu it made a complete meal, but you could add meat if you really wanted. I also served it with some 5-minute grilled cheese toasties, but I added some chopped garlic and cumin…so nom:
Curried vege stew
serves 2-3
bit of butter or cooking oil
2 potatoes, cut into 1 cm dice
1/2 large eggplant/aubergine, sliced into 1cm thick slices then cut into 1″ squares
beans of your preference, snapped into 1″ lengths
a large handful of cauliflower florets (approx 1″ wide florets)
1/2c extra-firm tofu, sliced or chopped as you wish (or use chopped chicken, cooked beans or chickpeas)
1 onion, chopped finely
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
ground coriander, cumin, cardamom, turmeric, salt, pepper to lightly coat all veges
1 can chopped tomatoes (best you can get, preferably organic)
garam masala to taste, and more ground coriander, cumin, cardamom, turmeric, salt, pepper later
optional: chili or cayenne to spice things up!
water
Grab the biggest frypan or wok you have, add a tablespoon or so of butter (don’t you dare use margarine! Use cooking oil if you want to make it vegan), and heat it on medium heat until the butter is bubbling or the oil easily slides around the pan when pan is tilted. You preferably want a non stick pan but because you’ll be adding liquid later it won’t matter too much. Add potatoes, aubergine, cauliflower, beans, onions, tofu, first lot of spices, and let cook until the onions start to smell fragrant. Stir, flip the vegetables, and let cook until the onions are golden and flecks of golden brown start to appear on the vegetables. Aubergine should be almost translucent. Add garlic, stir through for a minute and add tomatoes. Taste, and add more spices as necessary. Bring tomatoes to a simmer, and let cook until veges are as tender as you like.. Add splashes of water or cover while cooking in this period to prevent burning ans sticking, and create a stew like consistency.
Serve with cheesy garlic and cumin toasts (slice bread, throw over grated cheese, chopped fresh garlic, a pinch of cumin, and throw under the grill for 3 minutes at 200C or 400F until cheese is golden – make sure to watch them as they burn very quickly). Or if you want to keep the whole meal vegan, just serve with regular toast (maybe smeared with some avocado…mmm)
The perfect fried noodles
…Oh, how many attempts have led me to this final method. How many stubbornly stuck-on noodle bits on pans, how many over-greasy vegetables, how many PANS, may I reiterate that once more….I’ve finally found a method which requires no separate pan, no stickage, no straining of noodles and burning of skin, no need for fancy ingredients, no need for stress…indeed, it is perfect. Did I mention it’s also fast? Because you’re not worrying about maintaining two pots or cooking things, you can do this without much planning, and so it’ll be cheaper and as quick as if you’d run down to the takeaway store, waited for them to cook your meal, then returned home – but now you can have it straight out of the pan. Now before I take any credit for this, kudos must once again go to Kendra from My First Kitchen, who has posted about this sort of noodle perfection before.
A quick word about noodles: get them fresh (as in, not dried). They’re not more expensive, have no preservatives (according to the packet anyway), are made locally, and all in all, taste fabulous. They also take less time in the pan. Get them in the fridge at your closest asian market/foodstore, they will almost definitely have them (probably “Formosa” brand, which sells 500g packs, ideal for 4 people or 2 meals for 2 people). They won’t go off too quickly either, which is fantastic. You want “fresh ramen,” and the thickeness of the noodle is up to you – thicker of course will take longer. I’d recommend getting the white ones, although if you’re wanting to be really healthy you should try soba noodles – they’re grey, made with buckwheat flour, and have a sort of nuttier taste than your average noodles. Failing to get fresh noodles, don’t use two minute noodles if you can – there are plenty of other options in the pasta and noodle aisle at your supermarket. In terms of veges, this dish is very versatile – you can try substituting different ones, the following is merely a guide. I know cauliflower florets, mushrooms and peppers taste great in fried noodles too.
The key to making this really fast is to have all your ingredients out and ready before you turn on the heat for cooking. Then, there are plenty of opportunities for you to put things away while stuff is cooking in the pan.
The Perfect Fried noodles
serves two
half a 500g packet of fresh ramen/noodles
some deep fried tofu cubes, halved (also available at the fridge at asian foodstores)*
a few broccoli florets
fresh string/green beans, stalks removed and snapped into 2″ lengths (about a cup)
half a large/medium carrot, julienned (cut into matchsticks)
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, crushed and chopped finely
some spring onion, chopped on a diagonal, amount at your discretion
1 Tbs dark soy sauce mixed with about 1/3c water
salt and pepper
cooking oil
*if you’re looking for a chicken recipe, try Kendra’s original post, or just substitute leftover chicken. If you’re not cooking for many, freeze the tofu for another day (they don’t take long to defrost), as deep fried tofu doesn’t keep very long.
Put a jug of water on to boil – you want about 2-3cups at least (500ml-750ml).
Heat about 1/4c cooking oil in a very large non stick frying pan or wok on medium heat, and add a sprinkling on salt and pepper. Add beans and carrots, cover, and let cook for about a minute. Uncover, stir (or “toss” by jerking the pan forward and suddenly backwards), and cover again, letting cook for a further minute. Uncover, add halved tofu cubes and garlic, and another sprinkling of salt and pepper. Keep tossing and cooking until vegetables are about 80% done. Leave heat on, but take veges and tofu out of the pan, and set aside on a plate (preferably one you’ll eat off later, so as to reduce total dishes!).
Your water should have boiled by now, so tip enough of it into the hot pan to create a 1.5cm-2cm layer of water. Once water is boiling rapidly (should take next to no time), add the noodles to the pan. If using fresh noodles, aim to create a single layer, and separate the noodles out as much as you can. The noodles will now soak up all the flavour left in the pan, and the leftover oil should prevent stickage. Brilliant, huh? Let it boil and cook, stirring occasionally, and adding water occasionally when the noodles only have a little syrupy-looking water clinging to them, for about 3 minutes, until the noodles are almost done. Add the soy sauce and water mixture, and stop adding water after this addition. Once the noodles have almost soaked up the caramelly-coloured sauce, add the vegetables and tofu back in, stirring to coat the veges in the last of the sauce. Let cook for about a minute just to re-heat the veges, then taste and add more salt and pepper as needed. Turn off heat, add spring onions, and serve!
A three-cheese almost-lasagne
On perusing the pasta aisles recently, I realised that lasagne noodles are in fact more expensive than regular pasta. You get less (which I suppose makes sense, because you don’t use as much), but for some reason, you pay more for this. I scratched my head, and instead just decided to go with the spirals I had at home…and man, am I glad I did. This has got to be the best stumbled-upon thing I’ve made up on the spot, EVER, and it is packed with vegetables (ok, so it also has considerable amounts of cheese, but seeing as there’s no mince, your heart should come out alive), garlic, and onions. Seriously, don’t be concerned. It’s pretty cheesy, but not dripping in the stuff. How could you go wrong, right?
I served it Lone-Star styles (if you’re a New Zealander, you’ll know that Lone Star does HUGE meals, which no female would be able to finish) with roast pumpkin and potatoes, but this is fine (and certainly substantial enough) on its own (which is great, because you’ll have less to clean). Ok, so you’re still reading, but still you’re probably wondering: what on earth IS it, then? I guess it’s a layered three cheese vegetable pasta bake, but that’s really quite wordy, so if you have any name suggestions, I’d love to hear them!
Just to pimp this some more: As well as smelling absolutely drool-inducing (this is the dish vegetarians should use to convince carnivorous friends that they do indeed have a life), this is so much easier than lasagne, as you don’t have to carefully place the noodles on a single layer or anything. You get more for your dollar, and you don’t have to end up with left over pasta that you’ll only ever use with lasagna, because you’re using spirals (or whatever other pasta you want) which are much more versatile. It’s a win win win.
The recipe, already!
Three cheese layered vegetable pasta bake
serves two on its own (generously, as the cheese makes this quite filling).
I’ve put a * by the ingredients where you could easily try another vegetable in its place (suggestions at the bottom of this post), just to make things more versatile.
250g pasta (half a bag), any shape is fine, just not spaghetti-style noodles or cannelloni.
1 small eggplant, sliced into 1cm slices
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped (divided)
string beans, snapped into 1″ lengths (about 1c)*
4-5 mushrooms, thickly sliced*
1/2 an onion, roughly chopped
optional: pinch dry oregano
100g feta, cubed
1/4c finely grated parmesan (optional if you’re on a really tight budget)
2/3c grated cheese (edam is a good choice)
cooking oil
salt and pepper
Start some pasta cooking in a saucepan (no need for oil, just salt).
Meanwhile, heat 1/4c cooking oil in a large non stick frypan on medium heat, and arrange the eggplant slices into the oil on one layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cover, letting cook for about 2 minutes (you want the bottom to be flecked with golden brown bits and the tops to have started going translucent). Flip all the slices, add a splash of water, and quickly cover again, letting cook on the other side for a further two minutes until they are also flecked with golden brown. Uncover, add 3/4 of the garlic, and stir, mixing the garlic through. Continue adding splashes of water to get the eggplant to get mushy-ish, and stop adding water a minute before they’re cooked (they will have shriveled up a bit and changed from being white on the inside to brown). The garlic should not be burnt (ie, should not go darker than a golden brown colour). Transfer the slices to a baking dish with relatively high sides (a round 20cm dish is fine), keeping the eggplant all on one layer. Try to scoop out as much of the garlic as you can from the pan.
Preheat your oven to 200C or 400F, arranging a rack on the top third of the oven. Add a tablespoon of oil to the still hot pan, and add the onions. Cook until translucent and the edges start to go golden brown, then add beans, oregano, and garlic, and cook for about a minute before adding mushrooms. As soon as the mushrooms are coated in the juices and oil from the pan, turn off the heat, and let them sit in the pan.
Sprinkle the eggplant slices with 1/3 of the parmesan and regular cheese, and 1/4 of the feta. By now the pasta should be done. Turn off the heat on the pasta, and using a slotted spoon, scoop out about a half of the pasta and dump it on the cheese-covered eggplant slices. Don’t worry if there’s a little water that gets in, that’ll keep things moist. Top the pasta in the baking dish with all the beans and mushrooms from the pan, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the parmesan and regular cheese, and 1/4 of the feta. Spoon on the second half of the pasta, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Pop in the oven for about 20-30 mins, until there are golden flecks on the melted cheese top. This can be served all on its own as a complete meal…and you won’t regret it later!
Other vegetables that could taste awesome with this:
peeled cubed pumpkin – will require a longer cooking time though
chopped tomatoes
broccoli florets – will require slightly longer cooking time (about a minute)
marrow or zucchini/courgette slices
fresh spinach – will require no cooking in the pan, just layer directly
squash – will require a longer cooking time
If you want to up the protein (you evidently are a carnivore :P), add some pine nuts in there. Seriously yum.
Delish and moist cauli mushroom patties
This cauliflower, mushroom and feta patty recipe looked so good, but I’d not gotten around to making it because of a lack of feta. Last night I just used normal cheese, and they came out SO good, especially with the flat parsley. It’s similar in texture (moist, dense, and full of interesting veges) to the patties I posted earlier in the year, but slightly softer when you pick it up.
I’m sure they’d work on the BBQ too, making a really delicious vegetarian alternative (the ones I posted earlier in the year are great on the BBQ too). As cauliflower and mushroom are getting slightly cheaper (and cauliflower is always good to have anyway!), this is the perfect way to use them. Pack it in with some cheese, and you’re rolling.
Note that you can substitute other herbs if you want, althought I really liked the flat parsely in these (I’m not sure you’d get the same effect with normal parsley though, which I can’t stand personally).
Cheesy cauli mushroom patties – adapted from Culinarty
makes 6-8 (depending how big you make them)
1/3 c of flour (may need more)
1 free range egg
1 1/2 c tightly packed, chopped cauliflower florets (into pea-sized chunks)
150g chopped mushrooms (approx)
handful of fresh flat parsley, chopped
50g grated cheese (or more…ahem)
50g or so breadcrumbs (preferably wholemeal), and more if dipping in breadcrumbs
1 Tbs chopped spring onion
1 Tbs dijonnaise (mixture of dijon mustard and mayo) optional or 1/2 Tbs mustard
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying (and a dash in the mix too)
Heat a dash of oil in a non-stick frypan on medium high heat. Cook cauliflower until softened, and add mushrooms, cook until flecks of gold appear. Empty pan of veges into a bowl, then mix in everything else. Shape some of the mixture into a burger shape (here you can dip them in breadcrumbs for more crunch on the outside, although either way is yum), and place in the same frypan with a little oil on medium heat. Repeat until no more space is left. Fry burgers on each side until golden, then flip, cook until golden, and plate. Repeat until no more mixture is left.
Creamy sage vegetables over polenta wedges
I don’t think google cached this, so here is my version of The Well Seasoned Cook’s recipe (sorry for using cream! It is a lot cheaper than mascarpone). It was my first attempt at polenta wedges and I think I did ok. I personally would recommend making the polenta wedges a day (or at least a few hours) in advance so you can let the thing cool on the side before you stick it in the fridge (putting something hot in the fridge would probably lead to angry flatmates asking why the milk is now undrinkable and everything is lukewarm).
The two of us ended up with a ridiculous amount of food each (half the tart is a little much). So I think I’ll say this recipe is better for 3-4 people, depending if you want it as a side or not. It made an extremely filling dinner, thanks to the cream and dense polenta (this ain’t rice people, where half of what you’re eating is air). The flavours worked quite well too, although texture wise you might want to skip this one if you’re not a fan of mushrooms and creamy stuff (in which case, I pity you…just kidding).
Polenta tart
1 c fine cornmeal
3 c water + 1 tsp salt
2 Tbs cooking oil
Bring water and salt to the boil on medium heat, add polenta, and lower heat. Stir well, and let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring very frequently to remove lumps. Meanwhile get out an 8″ tart pan or springform cake pan (no need to grease). The polenta is done when it looks the consistency of thick porridge, and makes this “blugb blugb” noise. Pour into tart tin, and leave on the side to cool before transferring to your fridge for at least an hour.
After removing from the fridge, cut into 6-8 wedges and fry both sides on medium high heat in a greased frypan (large enough to fit everything on one layer) until golden yellow (about 10 mins on each side)
Creamy sage vegetables
1 1/3 c cauliflower florets, small/medium
6-8 button mushrooms, halved
2″ off the bottom of a medium sized leek, sliced
2 Tbs cooking oil or butter
approx 120-150ml cream
salt
sprinklings of flour
1 Tbs fresh cut sage or dry
Heat oil or butter on medium high heat, add a pinch of salt and cauliflower florets. Now is also a good time to put the polenta wedges in a seperate pan (see instructions above). Fry florets on one side until brown, then shake the pan, and continue frying until 3 different sides are browned. Throw in mushrooms and leek, frying until two sides of the mushrooms are golden around the edges. Add another pinch of salt and the cream, sprinkling flour on top (tr not to get big lumps of flour). Lower heat to medium low, and simmer to reduce the cream to a thicker consistency, adding more flour if needed. It should be a tan colour and a similar consistency to a thin caramel sauce. Add sage and turn off heat, leaving for a minute but stirring to prevent a skin forming. Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed. Plate the polenta wedges, and spoon over 1/3 or 1/4 of the creamy vegetables on each plate. Garnish with fresh sage leaves.
Lentil curry with veges
I’ve decided I like lentils. I had never really used them before, but they’re such a great way to add protein to your meal, and they last forever in the pantry (plus they’re really cheap – even if you go organic)! I barely need to soak mine (from Piko’s), but I do anyway for 15 minutes so my plants get some food too (see the new random tip on the bottom of the third column across). I’ll be posting a big post of tips on how to save money on food and other expenses, as well as a few tips about nutrition misnomers and eating that I learnt from “In defense of food” by Michael Pollan (BRILLIANT book, great writer, interesting topic). Anyway! I know this curry doesn’t look that pretty:
But it is quite nice (if a bit spicy for my liking). The recipe is over at Taste, but I didn’t do the fancy stuff on top, I just added some cauliflower and carrots chopped into inch long chunks (after I added the lentils). Also, I halved the amount, and that halved the cooking time too. So to serve 2 for curry, this recipe requires 15 minutes cooking. Great, huh? It lasts the next day on its own without rice too, and tastes even more flavoursome! Also next time I might add some coconut cream…
NOTE: If you’re a wimp like me, you might want to add a pinch of chili powder instead of just halving or whatever.
Lentil dressed salad, for lunch or tea.
This was such a delicious dinner…sweet, smoky, warming and fantastically healthy. There is no dressing – all the veges have their own unique flavour or texture, or are covered in yummy cumin-spiced lentils and caramelised onions. It’s also substitutable – you could use spinach instead of chinese radish leaves, omit the beetroot if you’re not a fan, and use any nut/seed combo you want. Vegan friendly (and thus easy to clean up after), and delicious with a slice of fresh bread to make a complete meal – veges, lentils, nuts and seeds for protein, and bread for carbs! It’s also quite oddly-pretty-looking…despite using some of the cheapest veges right now.
So pretty, in fact, that I’m going to post another photo of it…
Sweet and smoky lentil salad
serves 2-3 as dinner
ingredients underlined
If using chinese radish, slice about 1 1/2 c worth – stalk 1cm and leaves 3-4cm, soak in salted water for an hour. Or, if using spinach, pick leaves off the plant (or use baby spinach). No need to cook.
Chop 1 onion finely and throw in a medium frying pan with some oil, NO SALT. On medium low heat, stir frequently until golden. Once onions are in the pan, soak lentils (15 mins should do) While this is happening…
In a small saucepan, heat 1 1/2 c water until rapidly boiling, add 1/2 c lentils, 1 tsp salt and 1 bay leaf, reduce heat to medium, and let boil until lentils are yellow and cooked to your liking (they will not be covered in water). Do not cover.
In a medium frypan, fry 1 1/2 c cauliflower, broken into 3cm florets, in some oil with a sprinkle of salt, until browned on 3 sides. Medium high heat is good for this.
Once onion is golden, add 1 Tbs ground cumin, and stir in. Drain the lentils and add them to the pan, then turn off heat and leave in the pan for 5 mins. Meanwhile…
Grate 1 carrot, tossing into the serving bowl. Open a can of baby beetroot (or normal beetroot), and halve or quarter about 1 c worth (don’t throw in the serving bowl yet unless you want purple/pink salad!)
Cook radish leaves in some salt with 4 cloves of chopped garlic and some cooking oil, on medium heat until leaves are wilted and garlic is softened. While this is cooking, you can…
Throw the lentils in with the grated carrots (in serving bowl), and mix well. Mix in cauliflower (don’t worry if it’s cold), and radish leaves when done. Mix in beetroot (but not too well, or they’ll colour EVERYTHING), and top with sesame (black and white if available), pumpkin seed, pine nuts or whatever nuts you have (but not peanuts). If you’re having people over, it’s good to layer the rest of the salad with beetroot. Enjoy!
