Vegan Hot Fudge

I had an urge for hot fudge, so this is what I made one evening. It wasn’t as thick as fudge, but it worked on top of Booja Booja ice cream – delicious.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup coconut milk (you can also use almond milk, rice milk, etc)

½ cup cocoa

6 tbsp caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla

 

Instructions:

1. Mix the ingredients together and warm them over low heat until slightly thickened.

2. Serve as desired.

Vegetable Korma

This seems somewhat involved, but it actually isn’t that complicated, and the results are lovely. The veg can be varied, and the sauce can also easily be varied – I added dried chilli flakes to spice it up for me.

 

Ingredients:

1 onion

water

50 g cashews

50 g almonds

2-3 dried apricots

1 tin coconut milk

rice (about 50 g per person, so 200 g would suit this amount of food)

1 pepper

1 head cauliflower

150 g other veg (frozen peas and beans are fine, but vary according to taste)

2-3 garlic cloves

1-3 tsp fresh or frozen ginger

1 tsp oil

1 tsp sugar

1-2 tsp tikka masala (or curry powder or garam masala or other spices)

1 tsp mint

 

Instructions:

1. Peel and quarter the onion. Simmer it in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Add the nuts and continue to simmer for 5-10 more minutes.

2. Drain the onion and nuts (save the water to boil the veg in, if you want). Remove any almond skins.

3. Mix the onion, nuts, apricots, and half a tin of coconut milk in a food processor until fairly smooth (though some pieces are fine).

4. Rinse the rice and cook according to directions. I usually add 1-2 tbsp coconut milk for extra flavour.

5. Meanwhile, wash, de-seed, and slice the pepper. Wash the cauliflower and break it into florets.

6. Boil the veg for 4-6 minutes in water, then add the frozen veg and boil for another 2-3 minutes.

7. Peel and dice the garlic and ginger and fry lightly in the oil. Add the sugar and spices and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add any leftover coconut milk.

8. Add the nut mixture to the spice mixture and warm through.

9. Serve the rice topped with vegetables and korma sauce.

Vegan Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream

This is a really simple, pleasant vegan ice cream. I like to serve it in the Scandinavian way, with jam (cloudberry jam is perfect).

 

Ingredients:

1 tin coconut milk

4-5 tbsp icing sugar, or more to taste

3 tsp vanilla

 

Instructions:

1. Blend all the ingredients together until smooth. Adjust amounts according to taste.

2. Freeze, then serve.

Chickpeas, Corn, and Spinach in a Coconut Sauce

This can be varied easily, depending on what legumes or vegetables you have at home. Have it over rice or with potatoes or sweet potatoes.

 

Ingredients:

oil

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cilantro

1 tin chickpeas

1 tin coconut milk

1 tin corn

400 g spinach

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

dried chilli peppers, to taste

 

Instructions:

1. Warm the oil in a sauce pan. Chop the garlic, ginger, and cilantro and add to the oil.

2. Rinse and drain the chickpeas and cook them in the garlic mixture for 2-5 minutes, stirring now and then.

3. Add the coconut milk and the other vegetables and cook for 5-10 minutes, until the spinach is wilted and everything is thoroughly warm.

4. Season with lemon juice, cinnamon, and chilli peppers.

Coconut Pasta Sauce

Stay with me here, because I know this sounds weird. But I had this ½ tin of coconut milk leftover from the rice pudding I posted in the last post and I was going to make a Thai red curry. But M’s tummy was being sensitive, so she suggested I use it to make a pasta sauce instead of something spicy. I lightly stir-fried some spring greens in sesame oil, added sugar snap peas, and then threw in the coconut milk. We had this with farfalle and it worked out really well. It was full of flavour and lightly sweet. You could also add smoked fish for an extra dimension, if you eat fish.

Dairy-Free Rice Pudding

Since my sweetie can’t have dairy but wanted rice pudding, I tried to think of a way of making a nice dairy-free pudding for her. You need very little sugar since the coconut milk is quite rich and sweet on its own.

Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

oil to grease the dish

½ cup pudding rice

2½ tins of coconut milk (save the other ½ tin for something else)

4 tsp cinnamon, or more to taste

1 tsp nutmeg, or more to taste

2 tsp vanilla, or more to taste

2 tbsp coconut palm sugar (or regular sugar), or to taste

½ cup raisins, or more to taste (I soak them in boiling water first, to plump them up)

Instructions:

1. Grease an oven-safe dish and put the pudding rice, 1½ tins coconut milk, and 2 tsp cinnamon in it.

2. Bake at 150 C for 40 minutes

3. Stir, then grate in the nutmeg. Add another ½ tin of coconut milk and the vanilla. Bake for another 20 minutes.

4. Stir again, then add the rest of the coconut milk and cinnamon, and the raisins.

5. Bake for another 20 minutes, then serve.

Sweet Potato and Aubergine Curry

I had sweet potatoes leftover after making the pancakes I posted the other day, so I thought I’d make a curry with them. I also had an aubergine that was verging on too old, so I decided to use it up. I wasn’t sure how well they’d go together, but luckily, it actually did work out quite well. The sweet potato tasted great with the spicy curry sauce and I would like to try it with courgette as well some time.

Ingredients:

1 aubergine

1 sweet potato

oil

1-3 tbsp red curry paste, depending on taste

1 tin coconut milk

rice

water

Instructions:

1. Wash and dice the aubergine. Peel and chop the sweet potato. If you want, you can boil it for 5-10 minutes first, to soften it.

2. Stir-fry the vegetables in oil until soft, then add some red curry paste and a bit of the coconut milk. Continue cooking.

3. Cook the rice in water. When it’s almost done, add about 1 tsp of the curry paste to flavour it and some of the coconut milk.

4. Add the remainder of the curry paste and coconut milk to the vegetables.

5. Serve the vegetables over the rice.

Fish Stew

You can vary this according to what you have on hand (for example, use coriander but not lime or curry paste) or which type of fish you like. You can also add prawns. I made this spicy for me by adding dried chilli and Tabasco, but I left it milder for my sweetheart.

Ingredients:

around 6 waxy potatoes

1-2 carrots

a couple of small pieces of lemongrass

water

one head of spring greens or a similar amount of spinach

oil

around 200 g fish (I used coley)

lime leaves

curry paste

coriander

black pepper

1 tin coconut milk

Instructions:

1. Wash and slice the potatoes. Wash, peel, and slice the carrots.

2. Put them and the lemongrass in the water and boil for about 10 minutes, until the potato has softened. Drain.

3. Lightly steam the greens and the oil.

4. Remove the skin and bones from the fish and chop it into pieces.

5. Put the greens, potatoes, carrots, and fish in a pot and season/spice according to taste. Add the coconut milk and cook, covered, for about 15 minutes.

An Unusual Tomato Sauce

I often make curries with curry paste and coconut milk and I was planning to do that one recent night when I suddenly discovered I didn’t have any curry paste. I had to quickly rethink my dish. I looked in the cupboard and found that there was a jar of tomato-olive pasta sauce that M had bought while I was out of town. I decided to use that instead.

Oddly enough, it worked quite well with the coconut milk. I stir-fried courgette, cabbage, and cauliflower together, added some coconut milk and tomato sauce, and let that simmer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I made some sticky rice, to which I added the rest of the coconut milk and another tablespoonful of the tomato sauce. The meal worked out quite well and I would actually make it again. I might also use the leftover tomato sauce to marinate some tofu.

Quiche with Feta, Artichokes, and Spring Greens

Quiche is heavy due to the eggs, cheese, and cream in it, but I try to lighten it up a bit with plenty of vegetables and fresh herbs. It’s not the healthiest of dishes, but it’s a nice treat once in awhile.

Ingredients:
pastry (500 g) (short crust or puff)
oil
1 onion
1-3 garlic cloves (depending on taste)
1 tsp herbs (I used mint this time, for variety)
1 tbsp mustard powder
300 g spring greens or spinach
200 g artichokes
50 g tomatoes (sun-dried or fresh, optional)
50 g mozzarella
50 g cheddar cheese
50 g feta cheese
300 ml milk or cream (single or double)
4 eggs
black pepper

Instructions:
1. Roll out the pastry.
2. Light grease an oven-safe pie dish or casserole dish. Place the pastry in it and use a fork to make a few indentations in the pastry.
3. Pre-bake the pastry for about 5 minutes at 190 C.
4. Meanwhile, dice the onion and garlic. Fry them lightly in oil with the herbs and other mustard.
5. Wash and chop the greens and add them to the pot with the onion. Wilt for about 10 minutes over low heat.
6. Dice the artichokes and tomatoes (if using) and add them. Do the same with the cheese.
7. Beat the milk or cream with the eggs.
8. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables.
9. Pour everything into the pastry.
10. Bake for about 45 minutes at 170 C.

Red Vegetable Curry

M pronounced this “very, very lovely”, which I think means it’s a winner of a dish. It’s simple and healthy and it’s really easy to vary according to your tastes and what’s in season.

Ingredients:
oil
red curry paste
1 tin coconut milk
vegetables (I used purple sprouting broccoli and asparagus, because they were in season)
tofu or other protein
lime leaves
Thai sticky rice
water

Instructions:
1. Warm the oil and add 1 tbsp each of curry paste and coconut milk. Warm so the paste releases its fragrance.
2. Add the vegetables, a few lime leaves, and the tofu, and stir fry.
3. Meanwhile, boil the sticky rice according to directions in the water. I use half the amount of water and half coconut milk.
4. Add more curry paste according to taste (I usually use 3-4 tbsp, as M doesn’t like it too spicy) and the rest of the coconut milk to the vegetables. Cook for a few more minutes.
5. Serve the vegetables over the sticky rice.

Cauliflower, Lentil, and Paneer Curry

Okay, so this isn’t a traditional curry by any stretch of the imagination. It combines Indian elements – lentils and paneer cheese – with Thai ones – coconut milk and curry paste – and with other ones – cauliflower and fennel. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t good nonetheless. The flavours all work well together and the dish is very healthy, if a bit flatulence-inducing. So don’t eat it before a romantic evening.

Incidentally, paneer is great to use in cooking. It softens when cooks and takes on all the flavours you throw at it. Plus, it’s completely vegetarian.

Ingredients:
½ cup puy lentils (or other lentils according to preference)
water
rice (I usually go for brown basmati)
1 head cauliflower
1 fennel (onion would be fine too)
oil
4-6 tbsp red curry paste (depends on how hot you like it)
1 container paneer cheese
1 tin coconut milk
onion seeds or mustard seeds (depends on the seasoning you want; I have been having an onion seed kick lately), optional

Instructions:
1. Wash the lentils and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. Wash the rice and cook over low heat for about 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, wash and chop the cauliflower. Dice the fennel. Fry lightly in oil for about 10 minutes, then add the curry paste.
3. Dice the paneer cheese and add it to the pan as well. Fry for another 7-9 minutes, then add some of the coconut milk. Add a dash of coconut milk to the rice as well.
4. When the lentils are ready, add them to the cauliflower mixture. Season with onion seeds, if desired.
5. Add the rest of the coconut milk to the curry and cook for another few minutes.
6. Serve the curry over the rice.

Thai Green Curry over Barley

As part of our quest to eat less wheat, I’m trying out new carbohydrates. So I got some pearl barley, which is a lovely, toothsome, gently nutty grain. I decided to use it as a bed for a spicy green curry. It could also be used instead of oats in a heartier porridge, or with beans or chickpeas, but do note that it takes over an hour to cook.

You can choose how much curry paste to add according to your taste. I add some of it to the barley and some of it to curry mixture to create more of an integrated taste, but many people prefer to only add the paste to the curry mixture. The same goes for the coconut milk. You can experiment with how much curry paste and how much coconut milk you use and whether you add those ingredients to the rice/barley/whatever other starch you use or to the protein mixture. You can also vary which protein/s and vegetables you use.

Ingredients:
80 g pearl barley
water
3 carrots
2 courgettes
oil
1 jar green curry paste
100 g spinach
tofu or other protein, as desired (chickpeas would also go well here)
1 tin coconut milk

Instructions:
1. Cook the pearl barley in the water in a pot according to the instructions on the packet. Note that it usually takes over an hour to cook, so start this part of the process in plenty of time, and not just when you are getting hungry.
2. Peel and slice the carrots into coins. When the barley is about 10 minutes from being cooked, add the carrots to it.
3. Slice the courgettes and fry them lightly in the oil. Add a few tablespoons of the curry paste and some of the spinach, and continue frying.
4. Add the rest of the spinach and more curry paste to the barley.
5. Add the tofu or other protein to the frying pan.
6. When the barley and carrots are almost ready and the water has cooked away, pour the coconut milk into the pot. Add more curry paste to taste.
7. Serve the courgette mixture over the barley.

Rogan Josh Curry with Carrots, Okra, and Brussels Sprouts

Once I realised that Brussels sprouts aren’t all bad, I wanted to try cooking with them even more. When a jar of rogan josh curry sauce caught my eye, I decided to make a curry with the sprouts and other vegetables. Curries can be varied quite easily; any curry paste you want to use works just fine, and you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. I happened to have okra (also called lady fingers, appropriately enough for our dykey household!) and carrots, so that’s what I went with, but I’ve made curries with broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn, and chickpeas, among other things. Sometimes I add tofu, too. In this case, I also included some coconut milk, which I like even though it isn’t necessarily traditional in Indian curries. And I served it all over brown basmati rice. The curry was lovely on an evening when we’d done a bit of shopping and then gotten caught in the unpleasant, snowy, slushy weather. It was nice to come home and warm up with curry, sitting on the sofa next to my beloved M.

Ingredients:
100 g brown basmati rice
1 bag Brussels sprouts (about 20)
1 bag okra (about 10)
2-3 carrots
oil
4-6 tbsp rogan josh curry paste
1 tin coconut milk

Instructions:
1. Wash the rice and boil it over low heat for about 30 minutes.
2. Shred or finely chop the Brussels sprouts, then dice the okra, and peel and dice the carrots.
3. Stir-fry the vegetables in a little oil, then add a tablespoon at a time of the curry paste, stirring it in well.
4. After the vegetables have cooked, add most of the coconut milk to the pan (leave about 2 tbsp). Add the remaining milk to the rice.
5. Serve the curry over the rice.

Vegetable Curry

On a cold and rainy autumn night, I crave dishes like stews, soups, and curries. A curry is so easy to vary, so as long as you have the basics at home – curry paste, coconut milk, and rice – you can use whatever else you happen to have on hand. Basically, you stir-fry some fresh veg (or defrost frozen vegetables) with curry paste, add coconut milk, boil some rice, and then top the rice with the vegetables. It couldn’t be simpler.

Personally, I prefer whole-grain basmati rice, for its nutty taste and slightly chewy consistency; also, it’s healthier than white rice. I also prefer green curry, because it’s a little spicier, but red and yellow work well too. I always add extra chilli sauce to my dish, because M can’t handle the heat the way I can. I like food so spicy I cry. But do watch out for curry pastes that use fish sauce, because clearly that isn’t vegetarian.

On this recent evening, I used aubergine, courgette, fennel, and tomatoes for the vegetables, plus a container of chickpeas. I like using a lot of vegetables for the variety and so I have leftovers for lunch the next day. But on other occasions, I’ve used onion, peas, and carrots, and I often add tofu, too. Use your imagination!

Ingredients:
rice (50 g per person)
1 aubergine
1 courgette
1 fennel
oil
jar of curry paste
4 tomatoes
container of chickpeas
tin of coconut milk

Instructions:
1. Set the rice to boil.
2. Chop the vegetables and fry them all except the tomatoes in oil.
3. Add 2-3 tbsp curry paste and continue cooking for 5-10 minutes.
4. Add the chickpeas and more curry paste, then cook a few more minutes.
5. Add the coconut milk and warm. Add more curry paste to taste.
6. Serve the vegetable curry over rice.

Vegetable and Coconut Stir-Fry

The other night, I wanted to use up a variety of odds and ends before embarking on shopping for some new recipes. So I made a vegetable and coconut stir-fry. M and I ate it from bowls while sitting in a cuddly fashion on the couch, and we had another bread and butter pudding afterwards. Plus I made so much that I had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Basically, I stir-fried red onion, tender-stem broccoli, pak choi, red chilli, and haricot together. Then I added fresh rice noodles and stir-fried some more. After that, I poured in a tin of light coconut milk, and I seasoned it all with leftover red pesto. It sounds odd, combining coconut milk, which we associate with Thailand, with Italian pesto, but it actually worked together. Curry paste or black bean sauce would have worked just as well. So this is a simple, healthy, quick meal to make that can be varied according to taste and according to what you've got around.

Ingredients:
about 400 g of mixed vegetables (onions, spinach or pak choi, broccoli, and cubes of squash are good choices)
oil
300 g fresh rice noodles
1 tin light coconut milk
3-4 Tbs pesto (or curry paste, or 1-2 Tbs black bean sauce)

Instructions:

1. Chop the vegetables into cubes or dice them, as appropriate.
2. Heat the oil and add the veg. Stir fry for 5-10 minutes, depending on what type of veg you're using.
3. Add the noodles and stir fry for another 5 minutes.
4. Pour in the coconut milk and let the whole thing cook for another 5 or so minutes, until the milk has warmed.
5. Add the sauce and stir well.
6. Serve.