Mango-Chili-Tofu Stir-fry

Hello everyone. Well I'm still here, but have been a little bit lazy with posting - sorry. 

I was just too absorbed with work again and making my fotobook from the holiday in Croatia. 
Anyhow that's no excuse for my lack-out of posting. 

Lately I was going to visit a friend of mine in another town called Luzern. A beautiful city at a lake and with a famous very old wooden Bridge. 

Walking trough the city I saw a small organic store with fresh products all made by hand and 100% organic. (Dips, food, handcreams, sesambutter and so on). At the store I bought chili garlic sauce, a small tin of sesambutter, vegetable dip etc. 

The owner was very kind and friendly and she gave me a hint how about to use the stuff. Then she said that she uses to make a Chili-Chicken-Stir fry with the chili garlic sauce.

AND so was born this dish - just changed the chicken and added the mango for the sweet side. 

JUST GREAT I have to say. Thanx Luzern!

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Mango-Chili-Tofu Stir-fry

4 Servings

Ingredients:
1/3 cup mango pieces
2 tsp. chili garlic sauce
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. oil
dried chilipepper (or flakes)
500 g firm Tofu, well pressed and cut into triangles
1 red sweet pepper, cut into strips
black sesam

Side: cooked rice

Preparation:
For the sauce mix in a small bowl the chili garlic-sauce, ginger and garlic, set aside

In a large wok or very larg nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chilipeppers and cook and stir for 10 seconds.

Add pressed Tofu and cook while stirring for 3-4 minutes. Then take the tofu out and add sweet pepper strips, cook till they are soft. Give back the tofu and add the sauce, stirring to coat all and heat through. 

Serve sprinkled with black sesam and rice.

Carrot-Pasta with creamy garlic-tahini sauce

Already one week pasted since back from croatia. 

Still I'm very inspired by the trip, I'm up to prepare food, I would have probably not eaten before or tried to. 

While standing in the kitchen my parents suddenly passed by and brought me some stuff they don't needed anymore such as a old chest and some pictures from myself being a child. About the chest I'm really glad about - though the colors does not really fit into my apartment (green as grass), but the chest is a old childhood memory and wasting? NEVER! For now the chest's up on my screed, ready to filled up with stuff still having in boxes from my moving into the apartment 5 years ago.  

After they left, I finished my lunch.  A crunchy carrot salad with a creamy sauce. Topped with fresh herbs some nuts - great and so fresh. Perfect on this hot day and ready go back for work in the garden ;)

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Carrot pasta with a creamy zesty garlic-tahini sauce

Total time: 15 min

Serves: 1

Ingredients

For the noodles:

1 big carrot, made into noodles (you can use a veggie noodle/pasta machine or a julienne peeler)

For the sauce:

1 full Tbsp tahini

1 Tbsp oil 

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp tamari

1 tsp grated ginger

1 small garlic clove, grated

To top: handful of parsley (chopped), sesame seeds, pine nuts and anything else you fancy for.

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce until you get them all combined.

Cut your carrot into noodles and pour sauce over the carrots and gently mix them by hand to coat.

Top with parsley, sesame and pine nuts and serve fresh.

Keeps well in the fridge overnight.

Eggplant-rolls "fancy squash"

I love vegetables in any way and of course every day. A day without vegetable and a salad - a no-go. 

Every month I received a vegetarian magazine called "vegetarian fit" and about half of the recipes in there are vegan (more or less). The magazine's sometimes a really inspiration and sometimes I can't find any recipe I wanna try. 

In a recently received magazine I saw a recipe I wanna try but forgot about it, and lately while going trough the magazines I came again across it. The eggplant rolls where filled with pumpkin but this season is defenetly over, so I decided to fill them instead with one of my own harvest round squash.  

Fresh bought eggplants I had on hand and so was born the "fancy squash". 

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Eggplant-rolls "fancy squash" 

40 min
2 Persons

Ingredients: for 12 rolls
400 g Eggplants
1 Tbsp. oil
salt

squash-spinach-filling:
350 g squash
salt
2-3 Tbsp. oil
1 1/2 onion, chopped (about 130 g)
2 clove garlic
150 g Babyspinach
black pepper from the mill

Tomatoesauce:
200 g Tomato
1 clove garlic
50 g dried tomato in oil, drained
35 g Tomato paste
1 Tbsp. finely chopped basil
salt and pepper

Almondcreme:
50 g Almondpuree
35 ml still mineral water
salt and pepper

Preparation:
Preheat oven up to 200 ° C. 
Wash the eggplants and cut lengthwise into 12  0.5 cm thick slices, mix with olive oil and some salt. 

Wash the squash, cut in half, remove seeds and dice small. Mix with salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. 

Separatly distribute eggplant and squash on two lined baking sheets. Bake the the eggplant on the middle rack for about 14 minutes, slide the plate with the squash under the eggplant and bake for 10-12 minutes. 

Remove the plate with the squash, let slightly cool and finely chop the squash cubes. Peel the onions and garlic and chop finely. Heat the remaining olive oil in a pan and sauté both about 4 min. 

Wash the spinach thoroughly, shake dry and finely chop the leaves. Give into the pan, heat 1 minute and season with salt and pepper. Afterward add the chopped squash with the spinach.

Take eggplant slices from the oven, place on a wooden plate and spread on each dice 1 tbsp Spinach-Squash mass, then roll up carefully and place in a oiled baking dish. 

For the tomato sauce wash the tomatoes, remove the stalk and the flesh and cut into quarters. Peel the garlic. 
For the sauce give all ingredients- except basil - blend then stir in basil and season with salt and pepper. 

For the almond cream mix almond paste and mineral water, season with salt and pepper. 


For the finish spread tomato sauce over the eggplant rolls. Top each rolls with a little almond cream. 
Place the baking dish in the hot oven  at 180 ° C for about 7 min. 

Take out when done and melted and garnish with chopped basil and a little olive oil.

Back at home and in the kitchen

Back from vacation down in Croatia. 

I spend one great week on a vegan Cruisetrip in Croatia. In fact it was my first and defenetly not my last one, as I was never on holidays like this. And all I can say - when ever you'll see or find something comparing - Take part!!!

The Ship was about 30 meters long and 8 meters wide. 

We were about 29 guests and a crew of 8 persons. The people on the boat were all so friendly and we had good time together. 

The food they served was very good - some food I never had or tried before, but I knew I would try it out later at home. 

The vegan cook (a women) sold two vegan cookbooks and in there I found some recipes she served us - I immediately bought them. 
Unfortunatly - as every holidays - the week was too fast over.

When I came home on Saturday morning, first I felt like a stranger in my apartment. But this past after a while. 

After I unpacked my backpack and before unpacking my luggage I went for groceries and back at home I put myself into kitchen - trying food from the cookbook I've eaten on the boat.

For first I looked trough the book what else I could prepare. To begin with I started with a cheese I ate on the boat (breakfast). SO GOOD!

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Vegan Pimentocheese 

Ingredients:
100 g red pepper, deseeded
375 ml water
2 tsp. Agar-Agar

90 Cashews
2 Tbsp. sesamseeds
1 1/2 tsp. seasalt or normal salt
2 tsp. onionpowder
1/3 tsp. carlicpowder
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp. lemonjuice

Preparation:
Clean red pepper and cut into cubes. Pour water in a small pan and add pepper and Agar-Agar and let it cook for 5 minutes. (beware from overcooking). 

Meanwhile blend the rest of ingredients in your blender, add the cooked pepper, including the water and blend again till smooth. 

Oil a form and pour the liquid into the form and place in the refrigerator. 

After cooled down, the cheese can be overthrown and sliced.

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Bread Salad with Beens, Peach and Onions 

4 Persons

Ingredients:

400 g green Beens

salt

200 g old bread

0.5 dl vegetable broth

3 Tbsp. vinegar

1 bay leaf

2 peaches

1 red onion

4 Tbsp. Oil

pepper

100 g green salad of your favorite

black olives

Preparation:

First cook beans in salted water till soft. When done drain well and pour cold water over them. Cut into 2 cm wide pieces. 

Cut bread into large cubes. 

In a frying pan without fat lightly fry the bread.

In a saucepan bring vegetable broth, vinegar and bay leaf to a boil and turn off the heat. 

Cut the peaches in half, remove the stone and cut into slices. Peel and quarter the onion and with some little oil sauté for 2 minutes, add sliced peach and sauté briefly.

Mix with the bread and the beans, pour over cooked vinegar and the left oil, mix everything well and season with salt and pepper. 

Let the salad stand for 15 min before serving (to soak up the spices). Then serve on green salad, serve with black olives. 

Enjoy!

Vegan Cauliflower Pasta

Tomorrow I will be gone on vacation on a vegan little cruise ship down in Croatia for one week. I'm really exited as I share a room with a unknown person. I will post more after the vacation - telling you what I ate and how it was. 

 Ingredible how much stress and preparation vacation needs. Packing the luggage, deciding what kind of dresses and t-shirt you want to pack -  etc. Beside, making sure showing that all perishable food are either eaten or given away. 

Though I thought that I really good prepared - there were more to do than I thought. And I my flight is at 6 a.m - which means getting up very early.. uah. But I knew I will be to exited for really sleeping. 

Today in the morning I brought my cats to their holiday (a cathotel). I don't like leaving my cats somewhere else, as I knew they are very scary and being without them - I felt so alone at home without the miau, cuddle and so on. 

Anyway, after I've done what I had to do, it was already dinner time. Though my stomach is quite tens, I had wanted to eat something but eating relaxed would feel much better........

I kept it simple of course, with the left vegetable I had in the refrigerator. 

If you're not having cauliflower at home -  us another vegetable - guess the taste will be similar. Now enjoy your dinner. 

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Cauliflower Pasta 

30 min 
2 People

Ingredients: 
400 g cauliflower 
salt 
4 spring onions 
200 g  rigatoni (noodles)

1 clove of garlic 
15 g basil leaves 
10 g pine nuts
120 ml olive oil 
Grated zest and 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon

Preparation:
From the cauliflower break florets. In a pot boil water, add salt. Then cook cauliflower for 5 minutes, drain, rinse with cold water and drain. 
Clean and cut 4 spring onions into 1 cm thick rings. 

In a frying pan without fat roast the chopped hazelnuts and then let cool. 

In plenty salted water cook 200 g rigatoni according to the package directions.

Meanwhile peel and press 1 clove of garlic. Coarsly shop basil leaves and puree with the pine nuts, garlic and 100 ml olive oil.  Season to taste with salt. 

Cut the caulifower florets into thick slices and in a large pan with 20 ml oil fry until golden brown about 5 minutes. Add the Spring onions and fry 1 more minute. 
Wisk under the grated zest and 2 tablespoons lemonjuice, season with salt. 

Serve the paste with the vegetable and top with the pesto.  

Raw Salad Bowl with "damm good Sauce"

After a day with appointments and lying in the sun I rushed into my kitchen to prepare a fresh dish. I was sweating by only standing in the kitchen and all I could think of is eating something to cool down -  off. 

First I had to drank a few glasses from my selfmade peppermint cooled tea - this helped, but still not in the mood for warm dish but anyway I was in the mood for vegetables. 

Perfect for a raw salad. The dressing for the salad - just perfect. I made an almost similar dressing before and for this one I just added some more ingredients and so it happen and the damm good Sauce was born. 

Hope you like this summer salad with the dressing. Enjoy the salad.

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Raw Salad Bowl with a "damm good-Sauce"

Ingredients:
julienned carrots
julienned zucchini
julienned radish
wakame (soaked and rinsed)
sprouts
shredded red cabbage

hot-blooded Sauce:
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 maple syrup of Agavenectar
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup tahini
1 clove garlic

Direction:
Sauce: Blend all ingredients and store in the refrigerator till us. (Keeps fresh in a glass jar 
about 4-5 days

For the salad, prepare all the vegetables and place zucchini in the center and arrange the other vegetables around the edges. Dizzle with the Sauce. 

Vegan Aioli

Sometimes I hardly can stop myself from preparing food, condiments after and after. The only thing about always preparing something - there got be someone eaten it. 

I often heard about the Aioli but always only saw non-vegan-recipes - till yesterday evening. Happy about finding a recipe in a magazine I decided to prepare it the next morning.  AND I like it much more than mayo (I hate mayo - even vegan). The recipe immediately went into my own recipebook - saved for another time. 

A usual dip for cooked fresh artichokes, sweet potatoe frittes or oven roasted baby potatoes. 

Too bad I hadn't known this recipe when artichokes are in season. 

Anyway the Aioli was very good just by dipping in roasted baby potatoes or whatever. 

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Vegan Aioli

Simple, Fast

Ingredients:

2-3 knob garlic (depending on their seize AND how much garlicy like of your aioli)

100 ml nature Soydrink

1 Tbsp. Lemonjuice

200 ml Oil

Preparation:

Peel the garlic and finely chop. 

Together with the Soydrink puree well. 

When it get foamy slowly add the oil by pouring it along the mixingwall. At the end slowly pour in the lemonjuice (by constantly wisking).

Taste and season with some salt if necessary. Set aside in the refrigerator till use.