Festive Nut Roast #1 (vegan)

Ingredients

• 1 cup ground peanuts
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp carraway seeds, cumin, coriander and turmeric (1 tsp of each)
• 1 cup cooked lentils
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1 vegetable stock cube dissolved in half a cup of water
• 1 egg-equivalent (Egg Replacer, Egg Like or No Egg)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 & 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp Marmite
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 tbsp tomato sauce
• Sprinkle sesame seeds

Method

1. Saute onions, garlic, celery and carrot in oil.
2. Add spices, then mix well with the peanuts, lentils, breadcrumbs, egg equivalent, vegetable stock, Marmite and tomato paste.
3. Press into a greased loaf tin, glaze with tomato sauce and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.
4. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes.

Notes

• Roasted almonds or cashews (or a combination of nuts) can be used instead of peanuts.

Meaty Meatless Lasagne (vegan)

You will need:     Main Ingredients:
          1 pack             Lasagne sheets
          1 tin                Sanitarium Nutmeat
          350g               Tofu
          2 large jars      Paul Newman’s spaghetti sauce
          2 tbsp             vegetable oil
     Cheez Sauce:
          6 tbsp             tahini
          3 tbsp             lemon juice
          1½ tsp            mustard
          30 ml              soy sauce
          300 ml            soy milk
          Method for cheez sauce:
          Mix well in saucepan over low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Method:     1  Fry large slices of tofu in 1 tbsp oil for 3-5 minutes until golden in a large,
         non-stick pan or wok. Turn tofu out onto a plate, slice into smaller pieces and set
         aside.
     2  Slice and dice Nutmeat into small cubes, then add to fry-pan. Fry gently in 1 tbsp
         oil for 10-15 minutes, or until Nutmeat is well broken up and browned (use wooden
         spoon to help break it).
     3  Add 1 large jar of Paul Newman’s sauce to Nutmeat mixture and simmer on low
         heat for 5 minutes.
     4  Make "Cheez Sauce" while Nutmeat simmers.
     5  Once the ingredients have been cooked, and the Cheez Sauce finished, begin
         building the Lasagne layers in a large, oblong baking dish. First, put down a
         generous layer of Paul Newman’s sauce from the unused jar. Then, lay down
         Lasagne sheets, and on top of them a few slices of tofu here and there. Then pour
         a shallow covering of Cheez Sauce over the tofu, then a third of the
         Nutmeat/tomato mixture. Next, lay down Lasagne sheets, tofu, Cheez Sauce and
         Nutmeat mixture. On the last layer of Lasagne sheets, cover with the rest of the
         tofu, Cheez Sauce, and a final, generous covering of the unused Paul Newman’s
         sauce.
     6  Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour. Serve with salad or side vegetables.
         Makes 6 large portions.

Cajun Vegetable Kebabs (vegan)

Ingredients

• 250g firm tofu-cubed
• 165gm jar cajun flavour base
• 2 baby eggplants - sliced
• 2 small zucchinis - sliced
• 1/2 red capsicum - cut into 2 1/2cm chunks
• 1/2 green capsicum - cut into 2 1/2cm chunks
• 250g cherry tomatoes
• 1 small pineapple - cubed
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Marinate the tofu in the cajun flavour base for a few hours, even overnight.
2. Soak the skewers in water for about 20 minutes (you'll need about 12).
3. Thread the vegies, pineapple and tofu onto the skewers allowing at least 3 cubes of tofu per skewer.
4. Lightly brush the kebabs with oil, then BBQ or grill them until lightly browned on both sides and cooked through.
5. Serve the kebabs with any remaining sauce and rice or cous cous.

Nutty Burgers (vegetarian)

This recipe was emailed to us from Evelyn. "I did a vegetarian cooking course at our local community college and this was one of the delicious recipes. I don't know what the original source was."
You will need:
     2 oz (50g)       brazil nuts
     2 oz (50g)       ground almonds
     1/2 tsp            mustard powder
     3 oz (75g)       brown breadcrumbs
     3 oz (75g)       onion peeled, finely grated
     1 level tsp       yeast extract (Marmite or Vegemite)
     1 level tsp       mixed herbs
     1                    egg, beaten
     1 tblsp            hot milk
                           seasoning to taste
                           vegetable oil for frying
Method:
     1  Finely grind brazil nuts in food processor or blender. Tip into mixing bowl. Add
         almonds, mustard, crumbs, onion, yeast extract and herbs.
     2  Bind together with egg and milk, stirring with a fork. Season to taste with salt and
         pepper. Shape into 8 burgers with damp hands. Leave to stand 1/2 hour to firm-up.
     3  Heat about 1/4 inch (5mm) oil in frying pan. Add burgers and fry until golden brown,
         allowing about 5-6 minutes and turning twice.
     4  Remove from pan, drain on crumpled paper towels and eat hot or cold.
These are delicious served warm as a burger with choice of salad; or eaten
cold with salad the next day.

Date Loaf (vegan)

Credit for this recipe goes to aunty Gale Hayes from Redhead NSW who made this delicious cake for VNV's David Ogilvie on a recent visit.
You will need:
     1 cup           chopped dates
     1 cup           chopped walnuts
     1/2 cup        brown sugar
     1 tbsp          olive oil
     1 tsp            bicarbonate of soda
     1 cup           boiling water
     1 & 3/4 cup  wholemeal self-raising flour
                        vanilla essence (to taste)
Method:
     Mix together first six ingredients and stand until cool. Add flour and vanilla essence and mix. Place into small loaf tin and bake at 180 degrees Celsius
    (350-375 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30-45 minutes. Test with skewer.

Fudgy Chocolate Coconut Cake

-3 cups plain flour (for a GF version you can use a mix of 1/2 brown rice and 1/2 barley flour, but expect a different texture) -1/2 cup raw cacao powder -2 teaspoons baking soda -1 1/2 cups raw coconut sugar -3/4 cup melted coconut butter -1 cup coconut milk -1 cup purified water -2 vanilla bean pods, scraped -2 tablespoons Braggs© apple cider vinegar -Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC -Line a non-stick springform cake tray with baking paper or a light spray of canola oil -Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and sugar into a large mixing bowl -In a small bowl, mix the melted coconut butter, coconut milk, water, apple cider and vanilla together -Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a spoon just until combined -Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean -If you would like to 'ice' the cake, melt 1/2 cup dairy free choc chips and 1/2 cup almond oil in a small pan and drizzle on top when the cake is cooled

Seaweed Salad

Ingredients:

Dehydrated seaweed or kelp noodles
Sesame oil
Sesame seeds
Avocado
Lemon juice

Method:

Soak seaweed until re hydrated
Strain
Place seaweed in bowl
Add 1TBSP of sesame oil
Chop up half an avocado (or as much as you like) and mix with seaweed
Sprinkle with sesame seeds
Add a drizzle of lemon juice
Serve

Cous Cous Salad (vegan) (serves 4)

You will need:     200 g               cooked cous cous
     2 tbsp              currants
     300 ml             hot vegetable stock or boiling water
     125 ml             olive oil
     2 tbsp              pine nuts
     2 tbsp              almonds (skin on)
     2 cloves           garlic, finely chopped
     1 tsp                ground cumin
     1 tsp               ground coriander
     1 bunch           shallots, sliced on the diagonal
     2                     zucchinis, sliced
     1                     capsicum (yellow or orange) cut into 2cm cubes
     1                     red chilli, finely sliced
                            sea salt
                            freshly cracked pepper
Method:
     1  Put cous cous and currants in a bowl. Pour over vegetable stock or hot water.
         Cover. Leave to soak for 10-15 minutes, fluffing grains occasionally with a fork.
     2  Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. When hot, add pine nuts and almonds. Stir until
         nuts are just turning colour, then add garlic and spice. Stir for another 30
         seconds, being careful they don’t burn. Toss in shallots, zucchini, capsicum and
         chilli.
     3  Cook over medium heat, stirring and tossing constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Stir in
         cous cous mixture, tossing to fluff up grains. Stir to combine for another 2-3
         minutes. Season to taste. Remove from heat and serve warm or at room
         temperature.
Tip:
     Cooked chickpeas are a nice addition to this salad. Add a cupful when tossing in the
     cous cous.

Potato & Carrot Pancakes (vegan)

These pancakes are fantastic for weekend lunches.

Ingredients

• 4 medium-sized potatoes
• 2-3 medium-sized carrots
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 heaped tsp self-raising flower
• 2 egg-equivalents (Egg Replacer, Egg Like or No Egg)
• 1/2 to 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Coarsely grate the potato and carrot. Finely dice the onion.
2. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix well.
3. Fry the mixture in spoon-sized quantities in a fry pan with sufficient oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Flatten into pancakes and cook on both sides until golden brown and the potato and carrot is cooked through.
4. Serve as a side dish or as a meal on its own.

Chickpea and Broad Bean Salad

Ingredients

Broad beans
Chickpeas
Red onion
Olive oil

Method

Lightly steam broad beans
Mix in bowl with chickpeas
Add some chopped red onion
Drizzle with olive oil

Serve

Hot Dogs

Hot Dogs
by Patty
Who doesn’t love a hot dog, especially with summer coming and the BBQ season on the horizon! There’s a wide variety of vegan hot dogs on the market now and none of them are made from the odds and ends of slaughtered animals (Oh, if the kids knew what was in a meat hot dog - Yuk!)

Packet of vegan snags (here I used Sanitarium Hot Dogs)
Hot dog buns
Mustard and tomato sauce
Fried onions (red onion finely sliced)
Nuttlelex or any vegan margarine (optional)
Pickles (optional)

Boil, steam or fry the hot dogs in a few drops of canola oil. 

Spread margarine on the bun, add hot hot dog, smear with mustard and ketchup, and if you’re a Yank like me you’ll add some pickle relish, or here there’s fried onions, the Aussie way!

Broad Bean Salad

Ingredients:

Fresh or Frozen Broad Beans
Sesame oil
Pine nuts

Method:
Lightly steam broad broad beans
Add 1TBSP of sesame oil and mix well
Sprinkle with pine nuts

Quick, easy and filling.
Can be eaten as a snack or meal accompaniment.