Showing posts with label vegetarian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegetarian. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Fresh Summer rolls with Tofu

This one i also made a while ago. Fresh summer rolls are so good and to make them, is not so complicated either. This recipe is with marinaded and fried tofu in them and also couple of sauces to dip. It takes a while until you learn how to roll a perfect roll, but it's not rocket science so anyone can do it! You can basically put anything inside the rolls, what you feel like. Here's a recipe of how i made these ones.
You need:

For Rolls:
Rice paper
Firm Tofu
Glass noodles or thin rice noodles
Carrots
Paprica
Iceberg salad
Cucumber
Sprouts
Fresh Coriander

Spices for Tofu:
Sesame oil
Chilipowder
Soy sauce
Salt
Pepper

First cut the Tofu on long slim slide cubes ( see the picture) and marinade the tofu for about 15 min with the spices listed above. Then fry the tofu on oil in a hot pan. Set a side when the tofu has golden brown skin. Prepare the vegetables and the glass/rice noodles. Chop the vegetables also long slim slides. Boil some hot water and put the noodles in for about 10 min to them to get soft. Pour out the water and rinse some cold water thru the noodles. Let them cool down. Meanwhile you can do the sauces, so jump in the sauce recipe. After the noodles and tofu has cooled down a bit you can start making the rolls. First put some warm water on a deeper plate and dip the rice paper in. Set the wet rice paper on a clean cutting board and start piling stuff in, salad first, then tofu and vegetables, noodles and some fresh coriander. Then roll it once forward, turn both sides (left and right) on top of the roll and roll the rest paper over. The roll should just close by it self since the rice paper is sticky. Set the ready roll on a plate and cover it with wet towel. This prevents the roll to get dry. Keep on rolling the rest same way, probably the first ones don't go so well, i messed up some in the beginning too, hah!When you're done, take the dips out from the fridge and dip rolls into them. Enjoy!

Coconut-Curry sauce:

You need:

1 can of creamy coconut milk
Salt
Curry powder
Hint of pepper

Just mix about 3 tea spoons of curry powder in to a bowl with the creamy coconut milk. Add salt and a hint of pepper. Taste that has nice and smooth curry flavor. Put to fridge to spice up for a little while.

Sweet chili sauce: 

You need:

Fresh coriander
Garlic ( one small clove)
Fresh Chili ( as much as you like to heat it up)
Ginger ( tiny piece)
Fish sauce (optional soy sauce)
Honey (running)
Sugar
Salt

Add a hint of warm water in a bowl, about 1/5 dl.  Add some sugar and honey. Mixx well to make them melt in the water. Add thinly chopped chili, garlic and ginger in. You can also mash those in a mortar if you want to make more like a pasty to add in. Add fish sauce and hint of salt. (optional soy sauce), Add fresh chopped coriander. Taste that has enough sweet taste and also same time a bit salty from the fish sauce. Add more if needed. The sauce is supposed to be sweet but also a bit salty at the same time.

Smoky Soy File & Tabasco Potatoes

I haven't been publishing anything for a while, since i've been really busy but now i will start doing it again! Here's a recipe for a dish i did a while ago. I try to remember all i added in, since it's a while ago and i always cook from my head, hah! I was in a mood of making barbecue flavored food, so i made up this great recipe!

You need:

Dried Soy files
1 can thick Tomato sauce
Tabasco ( hickory and normal)
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Chili powder
Bacon salt or smoke salt
Potatoes
1 bottle of beer
Oil
Vegetarian broth cube

First put the dried soy files boiling in a vegetarian broth. Peel the potatoes and heat up the oven up to 225 celsius degrees. Chop the potatoes on half thin pieces and place them in a bowl that has some space for broth too. Add salt, pepper, 3-4 cloves of garlic (chopped), Tabasco (hickory and normal), chili powder and in the end beer and a bit of water. Put the potatoes in oven and cook about 30 min, until they are soft and you can smell the delicious spices. Meanwhile pour the water out of the files and squeeze the extra liquid out. Heat up a pan and add some oil. Fry the soy files on the pan until they get nice crispy skin. Then add tomato sauce and a bit of beer. Add Salt, pepper, chili powder, tabasco and my key spice in this dish is "Bacon Salt". You can find that in extreme food stores or online, just google it, but it's damn good stuff! I used the normal and the Hickory bacon salt. This stuff does not contain bacon, only just artificial flavors. So it's suitable for vegans too ( and makes everything taste like bacon, haha! If you don't have that stuff, you can use smoky flavored or hickory flavored salt too. Let the soy "suck" all the flavors in for about 10-15 min with a small heat. Taste that there is enough flavor and serve with the potatoes and some apple-radish salad. DE-Licious!


Monday, September 2, 2013

Find Mastertofu in Facebook!

Hi!

I haven't been updating the blog for a while now, so sorry for that. I have been busy organizing my wedding.. So yes i just got married! I will be adding new recipes soon, since i just got a new computer, so it will be easier to work with the pictures and update new stuff to the blog. So just be patient for a little while, new stuff coming up soon ;) Meanwhile go like my Mastertofu Facebook page, i will be updating that also along with the Blog! Find it here: Mastertofu

Here's some pics of my recent foods:




Saturday, February 9, 2013

Stir fried Tofu Wok with Sesame sauce

As most of my Blog readers have allready probably notised, i really like Asian food. Just because they are full of  great and delicious flavours and actually quite simple to make. This dish i made couple weeks ago, just from some stuff i had in the fridge. Turned out to be really delicious dish! This dish is completely vegan, if you use the vegan oyster sauce. You can also make this ofcourse without the oyster sauce. Here is a recipe how to make this dish:

You need:

  • 1 package of firm Tofu
  • Half Zuccini
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Leek
  • Carrot
  • Cabbage
  • About 3 Garlic cloves
  • Sesame seeds
  • Sesame oil
  • Soy sauce
  • Oyster sauce
  • Chili oiil
  • Sunflower oil
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Jasmin Rice
First put the rice on boiling. I have a Rice cooker, which is really handy, since you can just let the cooker cook the rice and you don't have to stir or watch after the rice. But if you don't have a cooker, just prepare the rice fist, since the rest of the dish comes ready really fast. 

Then chop the Tofu on cubes. I like little smaller cubes, but it's up to you what size you prefer. Prepare the rest of the vegetables. For this dish i chopped the cabbage and carrot as a thin slices. After you have chopped the veggies, heat up the pan. Pour some Sunflower, Sesame- & Chili oil on the pan. Add the Tofu and Garlic. Add some salt, pepper and soy sauce. Let it fry for like 5-10 minutes, depending how crispy you want the tofu to be. Add then all the vegetables. Add some oyster sauce, soy sauce and more sesame oil.  Mix well and stir fry about 5-7 minutes until veggies get more softer. In the end sprinkle some seseme seeds on top and serve with Jasmin rice. Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Warm Quinoa salad with fried Tofu

This is a salad i made a while ago. Really refreshing, filling, tasty and healthy dish. People who say, they hate salads, have propably always eaten tomato-lettuce-cucumber salad with some crappy dressing or without anything.. and that's all. I have heard so many times from peoples mouth, SALADS are BORING. Honestly, i just think people are ignorant and not willing to try out stuff. I really believe in the saying "Better food, Better mind" and i think people should really start thinking what they put in their mouth. Not eat the same crap all the time like most people do. Try out something new, live out a bit! You could be suprised how much you actually might enjoy things more!

Well back in business, here is how to make this delicious, fast and easy salad!
  • 1 packet of Firm Tofu
  • 1-2 dl Quinoa 
  • Celery (fresh not the root)
  • Cucumber
  • Chickpeas ( i used the ready canned ones)
  • Some mixed salad ( I used salad mix with lettuce, carrot, cabbage etc.)
  • Sunflower seeds or seed mix. Pine nuts are exelled too!
  • Olive oil
  • Sesame oil
  • Herbsalt ( I use Herbamare)
  • Salt & Pepper
  • For dressing i used some Fig balsamic vinegar dressing which goes really well with this
First cut the tofu on cubes. Heat up pan and add olive oil & sesame oil on the pan and the tofu cubes.
Add some pepper & salt ( or mixed up spices if you want to spice up the tofu some more). When the tofu is fried nice and crispy, put it a side to cool down a bit. Prepare the salad. Wash salad mix, cut the celery and cucumber on small pieces. Put them on a bowl. Add some chickpeas, sunflower seeds or pine nuts. Mix well and add some herbsalt and pepper. Boil some water and add the quinoa in the boiling water. Let it boil about 5 minutes until the quinoa is soft. Stir all the time while boiling. Pour the water out from the pot. Add the warm quinoa and the fried tofu in the salad. Mix well and serve. Add some Fig balsamic vinegar dressing and enjoy!

Vegetarian Noodle soup with Tofu

I have made this type of dishes a lot lately, just because i love noodle soups. Especially here in Sweden, there is lot's of Thai/Vietnamise restaurants that have exellent noodle soups on their menus. So i have got my inspiration of these from those restaurants. This is quite basic soup, lot's of differet veggies and tofu stir fried in oyster sauce and served with rice noodles and vegetarian broth. Here is a recipe how to make this delicious dish:

You need lot's of vegetables, you can choose what you want to use,  but here is a list what i used:
  • Zuccini
  • Carrots
  • Fennel
  • Cauliflower
  • Broccoli
  • Fresh champions/shiitake mushrooms
  • Leek
  • Cabbage
  • Garlic
  • Bamboo shoots
  • Fresh Coriander
  • Chili
  • Mixed salad ( i used mixed salad bag with fresh spinach, lettuce, etc)
You also need: 
  • Rice noodles 
  • Tofu ( i used the ready fried one)
  • Oyster sauce
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Vegetable broth
  • About 1/2-1 liter of water
  • Ginger 
  • Olive oil
  • Sesame oil
First prepare all the vegetables, wash well and chop to pieces. Boil some hot water on a tea boiler and also measure about half or one liter water on a pot on a stove. Add vegetable broth in it, some fresh chili, garlic and graded ginger. Add Some pepper and salt. Taste that has enough taste. Let it come to boil and after that put a side to wait. Same time that you are making the broth,  the tea boiler is also ready, so add the rice noodles in a big bowl with a lit. Pour the water in so that it covers the rice noodles. Add lit and let it stand there about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile start preparing the stir fry. Add some olive oil, sesame oil, fresh chili and garlic on a pan, heat up and add tofu. Fry it like a minute or so. Then add carrots, cauliflower and broccoli.  Add some salt, pepper and oyster sauce. Mix well and cover with lit for 1-2 minutes. After that add rest of the chopped vegetables (not the salad and coriander). Pour some more oyster sauce in, add oil if needed. Add again some pepper and salt. Mix well and cover with lit like for 3 minutes. Then mix again. Keep the heat enough down, that the vegetables don't go too soft. They need to be still a bit crispy.

Then pour the water out from the ricenoodles. Add some noodles on a deep plate.First add some salad on top, then some stir fried vegetables on and  last pour some broth in. Sprinkle some coriander  and little bit oyster sauce on top and enjoy. So "Helvetin Hyvää" as we say in Finnish ( which means so "F*king good, haha)

Monday, January 28, 2013

Finnish Style Cabbage dish

I haven't updated my blog since November so i had a lot of pictures in my camera. I have made lot's of Finnish traditional dishes lately, maybe also because have missed Finland so much. And yes i am a Finn, living in Stockholm now thou. Anyways back to business. This is a really traditional old school food from Finland. It's Finnish name is "Kaalilaatikko" and normally it's made with minced meat, but i have again made my vegetarian version of it. This dish is really good when it's made well. Some people hate it, but it think it's because they have got the bad version of this at schools in Finland. Here is a recipe how i make it delicious!

  • Half of a Cabbage
  • One onion
  • Minced soy meat
  • 3-4 Garlic cloves
  • About 3-4 dl porridge rice 
  • Oil
  • Butter
  • About 3-5 dl Cream
  • About 3-4 dl Vegetable broth
  • Salt & pepper
First boil the rice until it's allmost soft. Heat up the oven to 225 degrees. Fry some soymeat with onion on the pan. Add spices and garlic. Put a a side to cool down. Fry the cabbage on pan in oil just like about 5 minutes, until it's shiny. Don't fry it done, cabbage needs to be crispy.  Add some salt and pepper. Spread some butter on a flat long oven bowl, that the butter covers all the inside of the bowl. Pour the rice and the soymeat mix on the oven bowl and mix it until their mixed together. Add the vegetarian broth and cream on the bowl. Pour it all over that it fills up the bowl with liquid. Cook the dish in the oven about 30-40 minutes, until the surface looks golden brown. Serve with some Cowberry jam and enjoy.


Minced Soybean sauce

Another typical Finnish food is "Jauhelihakastike", which is a creamy meat sauce made from minced meat. And again really simple and fast to make! Ofcourse i make my own vegetarian version, since i don't eat meat. This is the kind of food i like to make when i am tired after work and really don't have any energy or time to make any complex food. And this is really delicious too!

Here is what you need:

  • Minced fake meat (minced soybeas, i used Häslans Kök frozen Sojafärsh)
  • One onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • Cream (optional Soy cream if you want to make a vegan version)
  • Fresh Thyme
  • Salt & pepper
  • Paprica spice
  • A hint of soy sauce
  • Olive Oil
Fry the soymeat in oil on a pan with the onions and the garlic. Spice up well with salt, pepper, paprika and hint of soy sauce. Add cream and thyme, mix well and taste that you have enought spices. Serve with some boiled potatoes and steamed vegetables like cauliflower. Easy, fast and delicious!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Tofu steaks, Creamy Garlic Potatoes & Fennel sauce

I was on a experimental mood couple days ago. So i wanted to try out to make my own recipe of tofu steaks. I also love the taste of fennel so i decided to try out to make a sauce by using it, and damn it was good! Here is a recipe how to make this delicious dish:

Tofu Steaks
  • 1 packet of Tofu ( i used the ready marinated one)
  • About 3 dl Frozen Spenach
  • 3 cloves of Garlic
  • 1 Onion
  • 2 eggs ( i used one for these, but i think it wasn't enough)
  • About 1 dl bread grumps
  • About 2 dl Flours
  • Olive oil
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Chili powder
  • Santamaria Roasted Cummin-Pepper mix
  • Santamaria Garlic & Pepper mix
First chop the tofu on small cubes and  melt the spenach. Chop the Onions and garlic too. Add everything in a big bowl. Use Hand plender to chop the mix down to almost like a puree. Add the spices and eggs. Mix with using a spoon. Add the bread grumps and the flours (not all at one time) and some olive oil (about 1/2 dl). Mix until it comes more stiff. Add more flours, if it looks too soft. Add some Olive oil on pan and heat it up. Make flat handsize steaks with your hands and put them on the hot pan. Fry both sides until the steaks get colden brown. Ready to serve!

Fennel Sauce
  • About half of the Fennel
  • Half Onion
  • 4-5 dl Cream
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Santamaria Cummin-Pepper mix
  • About 2 tablespoons of flours
  • Olive Oil  
Chop the fennel and onions in to a small cubes. Pour some olive oil on a pot and heat the fennel-onion mix in it. Let it cook until the fennel gets smooth and soft. Put the heat down to smaller heat and add the cream. Mix the flours with a hint of cold water in a mug, until it's liquid. Pour it into the the pot. Sterve well until the the sauce starts to get thicker. Add a hint of salt and pepper( I use mixed black and white pepper roast). Add also some roasted Cummin ( I used Santamaria Roasted Cummin-pepper mix). Ready to serve!

Creamy Garlic Potatoes
  • About 10 potatoes
  • 5 Cloves of Garlic
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Olive Oil
  • Santamaria Garlic-Pepper mix 
  • Santamaria Barbeque & Grill mix
  • About 4-5 dl cream
Peel the potatoes and chop them into small cube shaped slices. Heat up the owen to 225 degrees. Pour some olive oil on a flat oven bin. Add the potatoes, chopped garlic and spices. Mix well and then last add the cream. Let it cook in the oven about 30-40 minutes, until the surface looks colden brown. Ready to serve!

"All you can Find"

I made this veggo-plate one day when i was too lazy to go to food store and just crabbed stuff that i had at home and made food from them. I cook like this quite often, haha! So i found some dry soyballs, green longbeans, beetroots and full grain couscous. Here's how i made this delicious dish:

  • Dry soyballs/Soy bites (about 2-3 dl is enough for two people)
  • Beetroots 
  • Green beans ( i used frozen ones)
  • Couscous
  • Butter
  • Garlic 
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Olive oil
  • Spices like, garlic-pepper mix, grilling spice and cummin-pepper mix

First peel the beetroots, cut them in cubes and put in a boiling water. Add a hint of salt on the water. Put the green beans on a bowl to melt. Boil some water on a waterboiler and pour it into a bowl, where you add the dry soyballs and cover it with the lit. Let them stay covered for about 10-15 minutes, until they are soft. (Optional: You can also boil them in a pot). Then when the soyballs are soft, pour the water out, run some cold water on top of them (to make them cool down quickly) and squeeze the water out of the balls with your hands. Add the balls into a bowl, add olive oil and the mixed spices. You can use your own imagination to spice them up. I always mix different spices.After that pour some olive oil on pan and heat it up. Fry the balls until they are crispy. Put them on side to wait. Add some oil on the pan and fry the green beans. Just add hint of salt and pepper. Put them on the side to wait. Meanwhile boil some water with the water boiler again. Add about 3 dl couscous into a bowl. Pour about 2 dl water in and mix, add more water if looks too dry. Add some salt and a big chunk of butter. Mixx well, cover with a lit and put a side to wait for about 3-5 minutes. The beetroots should be ready at this point. Pour the water out, add some butter, chopped garlic, salt & pepper and mix. Serve everything together and enjoy. This was delicious!

Potato-Leek soup

I eat soups often. You can make them normally quite fast and simple. There is so much great options for delicious soups! This on is one of my favourite soups, that my mom always made me when i was sick. It's fast and simple to make and really good. Here is a recipe for you to make it:

  • About 8 potatoes (normal size)
  • One Leek
  • 1-2 Vegetarian stock cube
  • 3-5 Garlic cloves
  • Salt & pepper
  • Some mixed herbs like thyme, tarragon, oregano ect. 
  • About 1 liter water
  • 1 dl cream (optional soy cream if you want to make it vegan)
  • Couple drops of Olive Oil
  • Some grated cheeze on top (optional)


First you peel the potatoes and cut them on small cubes. Add  the potatoes, water and the vegetarian stock in a pot, let it come to boil. Meanwhile cut the Leek and garlic. Add them to the boiling water. Let it boil about 20 minutes or so, until the potatoes are soft. Pour the stock in a bowl, leave about 2 dl on the bottom of the pot. Use a hand blender to mash the potatoes and leek into a smooth puree, add the stock a little bit more to make it more like a soup, but not too much. Save space for the cream. Put the pot back on the stove and add cream, hint of olive oil, some salt & pepper and some herbs. Sterve well. Serve with some fresh bread, sprinkle some grated cheese on top and enjoy. So good!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Beetroot Risotto with fried Tofu & Eggplant

I love Risottos. This one i tried out, since beetroots were in the season and really cheap at stores. They give a lovely color for the risotto. Normally my favourite risotto is basic mushroom risotto, but this one simply got one of my top lists! I served it with fried tofu that i just marinade with soy sauce, pepper, garlic and some herbs and fried it in pan. Also served it with pan fried eggplants and some salad. Here is a recipe how to make this delicious risotto:

  • 1 pack of risotto rice (Aborio is good one for risottos)
  • About 2- 3 small beetroots
  • 1 onion
  • Pecorino cheese
  • White wine
  • Vegetable broth
  • Water
  • Salt & pepper
  • Olive oil
First mesure about 1 liter water in a pot and add the vegetable broth into it and some pepper and salt. Taste that it has enough salt. Let it come to boil and keep in small heat. Meanwhile peel the onion and beetroots. Cut them both in small cubes. Add some oil on the convex shape pan and add the beetroots in. Let it heat up about  5-10 minutes that the cubes start to get a little soft. Add onions into the mix. Then add the rice. Pour some more oil and start turning the rice over and over until it gets "translucent gloss". Start adding the vegetable broth little by little, that the rice is covered with the broth. Add some white wine, about 1dl is fine, depends how "winy" you like it to taste. Put a lit on and let it boil. Stir the risotto often and add broth when the rice has sucked in the last added broth. Let the risotto cook in medium heat about 30-40 minutes, depending how good stove you have. Remember to stir it a lot, that the rice don't burn. When rice starts to be soften add some grated Pecorino, salt and pepper and stir again. Serve with the tofu or what ever you like, or just eat it like that. Grate some Pecorino on top before eating. Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Veggie Burger




I love burgers, well who wouldn't? I love to make different variations of vegetarian burgers. Mostly i use soy-meat ( the fake meat made from soy), tofu or variation of beans. Today i tried out a new recipe. This one, i made up in my head while cooking. That's the way i love to cook. Just use things that you like and you think might go well together! People who are not vegetarians, usually say that you cannot make a good vegetarian versions of some basic meat dishes. That is so not true! The key is to know how to use spices! No one likes a steak that tastes like cardboard, so remember to be bold and just play with the flavours! I made the fries also by myself.

 




Here is what you need for the veggie steaks (8 pc): 
  • One packet of Beans ( I used a "Zeta" ecological beans-mix)
  • One packet of Red lentils ( I used ready cooked " Go Green" ecological lentils)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • Pecorino cheese
  • Fresh coriander
  • Half red onion
  • 1 red chili (or just half if you want it to be milder)
  • 1 dl flours
  • 1 dl breadcrumps
  • Salt & pepper
  • Spices like: Ginger powder,  Santamaria Garlic & Pepper, BBQ pepper, Lime-pepper -mixes.
  • Cheddar cheese ( I used one called " Red Devil" -a spicy cheddar)
  • Vegan ham ( Optional, i used  Astrid och Aporna fake ham)
  • Tomato, cucumber & pea sprouts
  • Mayonnaise (mixed basic mayonnaise with some honey, smoke flavoured salt and paprika powder)
  • Burger buns



First pour the beans and lentils in a bowl. Add the garlic, onion, fresh coriander, chili, all the spices and some grated Pecorino cheese into the mix. Mix with a hand blender (or in blender) to make it like a smooth paste. Don't mix too long, so that it still has good texture. Taste the mix, add some more spices if you think it needs more taste. Add 2 eggs and mix it with using a spoon. Add the flours and breadcrumps into the mix. The pastry should be stiff enoug to mold stakes with your hands. Mold some some flat stakes with your hands and fry them in the hot pan with some oil on it. 

Heat the buns on the pan. Pile some Cheddar cheese,  veggie stake,( fake ham), tomatoes, cucumber, mayonnaise and pea sprouts on the buns and serve with fries. Enjoy!



Thursday, October 18, 2012

Spaghetti Soy-Bolognese


Today i made fast dinner. Spaghetti Bolognese by using Swedish product "Anamma sojafärsh". I have just recently found Anamma - vegetarian products and i really like them!  Read more about Anamma products on their webpage. Anyway, this dish is so fast and easy to make. I make it quite often, when i am tired and want to eat some simple delicious food, that i can make fast. Here is a recipe for you to make this too:

Ingredients:

  • Soy "Meat" (groats) You can use the frozen one or dried one. I used one bag of frozen Anamma groats. 
  • 1 Onion
  • 2 Cloves of Garlic
  • Tomato paste
  • Pecorino cheese
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • Heinz ketchup
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Santamaria Garlic & Pepper and BBQ & pepper spice mixes
  • Olive oil
  • About 2 dl Cream
  • About 2 dl water
  • Full-grain Spaghetti
First put the Spaghetti on boiling (add some salt & olive oil on the water). Cut the onions and garlic. Add some olive oil on pan and pour the frozen soy in. Let it come to heat so the soy melts fast. Add some more oil and the garlic & the onions into the pan. Start frying the soy. Add the spices. When soy & onions has fried a bit (starts getting more brown), add some water and then the tomato paste. Mix well all the time. Add some ketchup also in. Pour the cream into the mix, lower the heat on low level. Grate some Pecorino cheese in, mix well and taste. Add more spices if needed. Spaghetti should be ready at this point (after about 10-15 minutes). Pour the hot water out and pour little bit olive oil into mix with the spaghetti. Place the spaghetti on a plate, add some sauce on the top and sprinkle some grated Mozzarella on top. Garnish with fresh basil. Fast, simple and Delicious!



Vegetarian Loaf from Soy "meat"


This was experimental test how to make vegetarian "meat loaf" by using soybean groats. Turned out to be really good! I served it with mashed potatoes, creamy pepper sauce and a salad. So here is a recipe for how to make the Loaf;

Ingredients:

  • 1 Onion
  • 3 big cloves of garlic
  • 3-4 dl frozen spinach
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 package of Halloumi cheese
  • About 2 dl flour
  • About 2 dl breadcrumps
  • About 5-6 dl Soybean groats (this you can find in most eco stores or Asian stores, if your local store does not sell it. You can also use Quorn if you choose to)
  • Olive oil
  • Butter
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Mixed spices ( i used Santamaria's Garlic & pepper, BBQ & pepper and Jamie Oliver's Barbeque mix)
First you need a casserole which is oblong-shaped. (or you can make it in folio, but i prefer in casserole). Butter the dish well. Fry some onion, spinach and garlic in oil and add the Soybean grouts (You have to boil them first/let them stand on a hot water to make it soft, if you are using the dried ones) and the spices to the mix. Cook it for a while and then add halloumi that has been hacked into small pieces. When the cheese has melted a little bit, put the mix on a bowl to cool down for a little while. Add the eggs and the flours and mix it well. Add more flours, if the mix is not thick enough. Pour some olive oil also in the buttered casserole and pour the mix in. Smooth the top even. Cook the loaf in oven  for about 30 min (might be less or more,depends on the ovens power) in 200 ºC until the surface looks nice and brown. Take out from the oven and let it cool down for a bit. Cut nice thick slices and serve with whatever you prefer. Delicious!

I love Sushi



Sushi is one of my favorite foods. You can make so many different variations of maki-rolls / nigiris. Simply love them! I love the pickled ginger too, so that pink one is my favorite. Nowdays you can find almost all the ingredients from local food stores, but ofcourse you can find them in Asian stores too.  Here's one little recipe how i like to make Tofu-maki rolls.

You need:

  • One packet of hard Tofu
  • Avocado
  • 1 Carrot
  • Cucumber
  • Iceberg lettuce
  • Nori (Seaweed)
  • Wasabi
  • Rice vinegar
  • Sesame seeds
  • Soy sauce
  • Heinz tartar sauce (or cream cheese, mayonnaise)
  • Sushi rice or plain porridge rice
  • Sesame oil, Chili oil, salt, pepper & Soya sauce for the marinade for tofu
  • Cooking oil for frying the tofu. 
  • Rolling mat
First cut long thick slices from the tofu and marinade them. Put the rice in a rice cooker or in a pot. I myself use rice cooker, because it's easier to cook rice in it and you don't have to watch after it. Nowdays you can find rice cookers really cheap in basic home elektronic stores. Start preparing the vegetables next. Cut long thick slices and put them a side. Prepare some big wide slices from the lettuce. Fry the tofu slices in oil on a hot pan until all the sides are nice and golden brown. Put the tofu on cooling down. Meanwhile the rice sould be ready. Pour the rice on a flat bowl/dish and let it coold down. When the rice has cooled down, pour some rice vinegar all over ther rice, but be carefull that you don't pour too much! The key of making really good sushi is to make perfect rice. It takes a long time to learn it, but practise makes perfect! Mix the rice gently. Prepare the nori on top of the rice mat. Be sure that you have the right side on top. So put the shiny side down. First add some tartar sauce with using knife (you can also use mayonnaise or cream cheese, but i like tartar in my maki)Then add the lettuce. Then add rice, make a nice little ball in your hands and put it on top and start pushing it flat on the matt. Make sure you leave about 2-3 cm free space on top of the nori. Add  a little stripe of wasabi by using your finger in the middle of the rice and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top. Then add some tofu, carrot, cucumber & avocado evenly on top. Start rolling the maki with the mat. Squeeze it tight in every roll and when you come near to end, stripe some water on the end of the nori seaweed with your finger and roll the maki to the end. Cut about 2-3 cm thick pieces with using a sharp knife. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger. Enjoy!



Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Vegetable Stew


Warming stew with lot's of flavors and vegetables. Such a wonderful dish! Perfect on a cold winter day. I made this over a year ago, so i'm not sure if i remember the correct recipe, but i'll try. So here it comes:

Ingredients:

  • About 5 Potatoes 
  • 2 Carrots
  • 1 big Onion
  • 1 Broccoli
  • 1 Sweet potato
  • 1 Zucchini
  • About 2 dl Meat substitute made from Soy (You can find these in most of the food stores and also in Asian stores or ecological stores.) 
  • 3 cloves of Garlic
  • Fresh Parsley 
  • Vegetable broth
  • Olive oil
  • Chili
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Soy sauce
  • Fresh Tarragon
  • Santamaria Garlic & Pepper mixed spices
Peel the potatoes, onion, carrots and sweet potatoes. Chop them into small pieces and add into a pot of boiling water (about 1-1 and half liter, depends how much vegetables you are using). Add vegetable broth (cube or fresh, i used couple of cubes), chopped chili and garlic, salt and pepper and some olive oil into the stew. Let it boil for about 5 minutes. Add the meat substitute (soy meat), broccoli and Zucchini into the pot. You can add some soy sauce and other spices according to your taste. Let the stew boil until all the vegetables are soft and the broth looks nice and thick. Finally add some fresh Tarragon to the mix, and let it rest for a little while. Serve with some garlic bread and enjoy!

Breakfast





I have always loved to make different kind of sandwiches. It's easy to make delicious breakfast with simple things. I Just love to use differet type of cheese like Pecorino, Mozzarella, Smoked creamy cheese, Emmental and Brie. Add some capris, jalapeno, pepper and herb salt if you want a spicier sandwich. Fresh basil, cherrytomatoes, avocado with some Garlic & pepper goes really well together. I also love Avocado with a hint of lemon pepper on top and that vegetarian caviar which is made from seaweed. Delicious!






 Bake it in oven, eat fresh, use your imagination and use spices! Those are the keys of making delicious simple sandwiches!

Spinach-Halloumi Pie


This one is one of my favourite salty pies. Really tasty and simple! Here is a recipe for you:

Ingredients:

  • 3 cloves of Garlic
  • 1 Onion
  • 1 dl Cream
  • 1 box of frozen puff paste (or you can make fresh one yourself)
  • About 2-3 dl frozen spinach or if you use fresh, i think one big bag is enough
  • Half box of Philadelphia cream cheese (i used the Spring onion & Pepper one)
  • 2 Eggs 
  • 1 packet of Halloumi cheese
  • Pepper
  • Butter
First fry some onion, spinach and garlic on the pan with some butter until the onions look soft. Add pepper to the mix. Then add some chopped Halloumi to the mix ( i chopped it in small cubes) and let it cook for about 5 minutes on a low heat. Add the Philadelphia cheese and cream, mix it well. Put a side, let it cool for a little moment. Mold melted pastry on buttered casserole, that it goes all the way up on the sides. Save some pastry for use later on the top of the pie. Add the eggs on the cooled down spinach-halloumi mix and pour it on the casserole. Put the leftover pastry slides on top and cook the pie in the oven in 225 ºC for about 30 minutes, until it looks golden brown on top. Enjoy with some fresh salad !

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

My first blog

Welcome to my food blog! I finally started up my own blog, since my friends have been asking for me to start one. So here i go! I will start posting here the food i have been making. I am a Pesco-vegetarian, which means that I only eat vegetarian- and seafood. No read meat or chicken at all. I have been vegetarian since i was 16 and never looked back, so about 17 years without meat. I mainly started to be a vegetarian, because i loved animals so much. I love vegan food also, but simply could not start to be a vegan because i love cheese too much, hah! Seafood i started eating again about 5 years ago, mainly because health issues and also because i have always loved fish the most. In this blog, you will be seeing food that i have made mostly with my own recipes. I love to make up recipes from my head, also get inspiration from other recipes and do variations of them.  I'm also gonna post some food reviews from different restaurants i have been eating. So i hope you enjoy the ride!