Tag Archives: onion

At last – a Greek salad for vegans

Posted in The vegan elephant, Uncategorized by

Greek Salad2

Last week I shared a vegan feta cheese recipe. My favourite way to use that cheese is in a Greek salad. I LOVE the mix of flavours, textures and colours in this classic dish and eaten with some pita bread (for sopping up all that delicious dressing and feta cheese) you have a complete meal.

Ingredients

For the salad

Salad ingredients

Vegan feta cheese – use as much as you want but half of the recipe should be more than enough

1 head of romaine lettuce – washed and torn into bite-sized pieces

½ of an English cucumber cut into half-moon slices

1 bell pepper (whatever colour you prefer) diced

2 tomatoes diced

½ of a red onion cut into half-moon slices

¼ cup sliced olives – green or black as you prefer

TIP: If you like an ingredient add more of it. If you don’t like something, leave it out. The beauty of cooking from scratch is you make it how you like it.

Salad Chopped

For the salad dressing

Salad Dressing ingredients

3 Tbsp good quality olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano (or about 2 Tbsp fresh)

1 ½ tsp dried basil (or about 3 Tbsp fresh)

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1-2 cloves garlic – minced or pressed

The juice from ½ lemon

1-2 Tbsp brine from a jar of lives – optional but it will make your dressing go further and make it salty if you’re a salt lover

Salad Dressing

Directions

Place all the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Place all the salad dressing ingredients in a jar with a lid. Shake the jar well to mix the ingredients. Pour over the salad and toss everything to combine. The feta cheese will become creamier and almost dressing like. If you want the cheese more whole, add the dressing to the salad but leave out the feta. Mix the salad and dressing, then add the feta afterwards.

Enjoy!

 

Chickpea mini muffins with lemon tahini sauce

Posted in The vegan elephant by

ChickpeaMuffins

These little cuties are savoury and satisfying. I love them served on a bed of millet with lemon tahini sauce and a big side salad.

The original recipe is from Esther’s Kitchen (Esther being the Wonder Pig). I have made a few alterations and embellishments to the original recipe to amp up the flavour because that’s how I like it. Feel free to leave out any of the seasonings –the herbs, garlic, shallot/green onion or salt as you prefer…. But why? Why?

You can eat these muffins hot or cold, they’re portable so they make a great snack or breakfast on the go, and they’re easy and affordable. What’s not to love?

Ingredients for the muffins

Makes 12 mini muffins

2 cups of chickpea flour – also called besan or gram flour

2 cloves garlic minced

2 shallots diced OR 3 green onions chopped

1 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped

1 Tbsp fresh dill chopped

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 cup water

Directions

Heat the oven to 400F. Grease a mini muffin tin.

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until everything is incorporated and moist. Spoon into the muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes. The muffins should be golden on top when they’re done.

Ingredients for the lemon tahini sauce

1/3 cup hot water

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 Tbsp maple syrup

Juice of ½ lemon

¼ cup tahini

Directions

Mix everything together in a small glass or bowl. Whisk until well blended and spoon over the muffins.

 

Happy cows’ French onion soup

Posted in The vegan elephant by

Fr.OnionSoup

Makes 3 servings

French onion soup… who doesn’t love this gooey, cheesey, savoury bowl of deliciousness?

Cows and cardiologists, that’s who. The original recipe is made with beef broth, cheese and butter.

My vegan version has all the flavour, heartiness and cheesy yum of the original recipe AND it keeps our bovine pals and your arteries happy.

While I’m not a big fan of packaged foods, I have to give a big shout out to Daiya for making an excellent product that tastes and acts like cheese. In this recipe, the shredded Daiya mozzarella and smoked Gouda flavoured products even give the broth the delightful creaminess I loved in the original recipe.

Big bonus – in just 45 minutes you will go from a bag of onions to a bowl of this soup. Half that time involves ignoring the soup pot while it simmers. It doesn’t get much easier!

Ingredients

4 cups vegetable broth

2 large onions, peeled, quartered and cut into thin slices.

2 cloves garlic minced

½ tsp sugar (even brown sugar is fine)

1 ½ Tbsp vegan margarine

1 bay leaf

1 sprig thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme

1 Tbsp sherry (optional)

1 Tbsp A-1 Sauce (a/k/a brown sauce)

1 Tbsp soya sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

3 slices stale bread (I use Ezekiel bread)

1 – 1 ½ cups shredded Daiya cheese or other vegan cheese that melts when heated

Directions

In a large pot, melt the margarine. Add the onions, garlic and sugar and sauté the onions for about 10 minutes until they start turning golden. Add all the other ingredients except the bread and Daiya cheese and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let simmer for 25 minutes. Fish out the bay leaf and the twig of thyme, if using.

Ladle the soup into three ovenproof bowls. Add a slice of bread to each bowl and sprinkle with a third of the shredded Daiya. Place the bowls in the oven and broil until the cheese is melted and turning golden.

Serve up and enjoy!

My salad days

Posted in The vegan elephant by

My salad days

It’s September 1st and the garden is bursting with goodies: yellow and green beans, savoy cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onion, green pepper, cucumber and tomatoes.

Summer is having a hot and steamy farewell this week so I opted for a quartet of salads for my dinner.

SaladDays

  1. Spicy Asian coleslaw (top of the plate)
  2. A creamy cucumber salad (on the right)
  3. A traditional bean salad (front and centre), and
  4. My mom’s potato salad (on the left).

Each recipe makes about 3-4 servings. Each salad is better after sitting overnight but you MUST let the bean salad sit overnight or you won’t get the full flavour effect.

Spicy Asian slaw

4 cups of green cabbage shredded or diced (that’s about 1/3 of a savoy cabbage)

1 carrot sliced or shredded

½ stalk celery sliced thinly

¼ of a large onion diced

¼ of a green pepper diced

2 Tbsp Vegeniase or other vegan mayo-type dressing

1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp hot chili paste (I use sambal oelek)

About 2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl and enjoy! I like this salad with roasted tofu too and a few chow mein noodles.

Note – if you have radishes they are great in this salad too and add pretty colour.

Creamy cucumber salad

About half of a large English cucumber. Do not peel. Cut into quarters and then slice.

1 green onion sliced – I use the white and green

1 tsp fresh dill or more to taste

A few grinds of black pepper

½ tsp salt

I Tbsp white vinegar

1 Tbsp Vegeniase or other vegan mayo-type dressing

Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl and enjoy!

Traditional bean salad

¾ cup fresh beans

15 oz can of mixed beans (not bean salad) – drained and rinsed

¼ of a green pepper diced

½ of a large onion cut in half and then sliced in thin rings

½ stalk (or more) celery thinly sliced

¼ cup white vinegar

2 Tbsp olive oil (or good vegetable oil)

3 Tbsp sugar (use raw sugar, processed, white sugar may have been made with animal bone ash – ugh)

½ tsp salt or to taste

A few grinds of black pepper to taste

Cut the stem end of the beans off and put the beans in boiling water until they are cooked – about 5-10 minutes. Drain the beans and let them cool. When the beans have cooled, cut into 1” pieces and place in a bowl with all the other ingredients. Toss everything together and let marinate for a few hours or overnight. You really must let this salad marinate!

My mom’s potato salad

3 cups of boiled potatoes (I live the skin on), cooled and cut into bite-sized pieces

¼ of a large onion diced

1 stalk celery sliced thinly

1-2 dill pickles diced

1 ½ Tbsp olive oil or other good vegetable oil

2 Tbsp dill pickle juice (the brine from the jar)

3 Tbsp Vegeniase or other vegan mayo-type dressing

Salt and pepper to taste (careful on the salt – the pickle juice is already salty!)

In a large bowl toss the potatoes, onion, oil and pickle juice together until the potatoes and onion are coated. Add the remaining ingredients and toss together.

p.s. My mom would not be happy that I shared her recipe. She would be delighted that we’re all still gushing over her potato salad though.