Vegetarian – Page 21 – The Food Wife

Smashed Cucumber Salad

13th February 202113th February 2021
by thefoodwife

Serves 3-4

This salad is insane. Both in how easy it is to prepare and the flavour explosion in your mouth. I really struggle to not pick at this before serving. And although Iâ€™ve said this serves three to four people, I could devour it all by myself!

Adapt the ingredients appropriately to make it vegan/gluten-free.

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber

1 tbsp soy sauce (gluten-free if required)

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp fish sauce (optional – leave out if making this vegetarian or vegan)

1 heaped tbsp crispy chilli oil (gluten-free/vegan if required)

Sesame seeds (optional)

Step 1: Top and tail the cucumber (peel too if you like), make sure it is lying flat on a chopping board and then use a rolling pin to give it a few whacks. The cucumber should split in several places. Then use a knife to cut these pieces into one or two inch chunks.

Step 2: Place the chunks in a bowl and add the soy, vinegar, fish sauce and chilli oil. Mix.

Step 3: Arrange on a plate and scatter with a pinch of sesame seeds. Serve.

Blood Orange Curd

4th February 20214th February 2021
by thefoodwife

I picked up a bowl of blood oranges for Â£1 in the local fruit and veg shop (although Iâ€™m sure these will be from Italy rather than Wiltshire!) and two of them have just been turned into a gluten and dairy-free curd.

I think it will be destined as the filling for a cake (as long as it survives not just being eaten out of the jar with a spoon).

Ingredients:

1tsp corn flour
75g vegan baking block (or butter if not making dairy-free)
175g caster sugar
3 large free-range eggs, beaten
2 blood oranges (juiced, reserve the zest for later)
1/2 lemon (juice only)

Step 1: Put all the ingredients (except the zest) in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and very gently heat, stirring nearly constantly to avoid any scrambling.

Step 2: Cook until the curd coats the back of a spoon (10-15 minutes). Remove from the heat and then pass through a sieve. Now stir through your zest before pouring into a sterilised jar.

Apple and Blueberry Muffins (BLW)

14th January 202114th January 2021
by thefoodwife

Makes 12 small muffins

Low-sugar apple and blueberry muffins (easily made dairy free) for my little people to enjoy. Austin (3) and I made them together this morning and he and his 9 month old brother enjoyed them at lunchtime.

They are great to make with little ones as all it requires is a little mixing. Whilst they arenâ€™t too sweet (if you want these for a more adult sweet tooth you can always up the sugar by 50g) they are packed full of sweet juicy fruit.

These are not big muffins, the recipe makes 12 in normal cupcake cases.

Ingredients:
1 egg, beaten
60ml oil
120ml (dairy free if required) milk
200g plain flour
100g caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 small eating apples (or one large), peeled and cored then cut in to a medium dice
120g (frozen is fine) blueberries

Step 1: Simply mix all the ingredients together (donâ€™t over mix! It’s the secret to a light muffin) and then equally fill 12 cup cake cases in a muffin tin.

Step 2: Bake in a preheated oven (200c fan) for 22 minutes and then allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.

These can be frozen. Ensure they are suitably wrapped before hand.

Homemade (Eggless) Pasta

11th January 202111th January 2021
by thefoodwife

Serves 4

If youâ€™re looking for a simple, vegan, pasta recipe, look no further. After about 10 minutes of hard work kneading you will have a pliable dough ready to turn into the pasta of your choice.

I use this dough to make cavatelli, a small shell shaped pasta made without a machine. It might be rustic in appearance but it holds pasta sauces beautifully.

Ingredients:
200g Italian 00 pasta flour
100ml cold water

Plus extra flour for dusting

Step 1: Combine the flour and water in a bowl or on a clean work surface (if doing this on a work surface you will need to make a mound of flour and then create a well in the centre to pour the water into). Use your hand to bring the mixture together and then start to knead it. This is tough and will take about 10 minutes. By which point you should have a smooth dough.

Step 2: Wrap the ball of dough in clingfilm of grease proof paper and leave it in the fridge for half an hour to rest.

Step 3: Once the dough is rested, divide in to quarters and roll each into a long thin sausage shape. Use a knife to cut the sausage into pieces about 8 mm long. Each piece will become a piece of pasta. You need to roll and press each piece with your thumb so that it both flatten and curls (don’t worry if this takes a bit of practise to get right). I use a ridged wooden pasta board to do this as it creates the ridges on the pasta to help the sauce to cling to it. You could just do it on the work surface, but the result will be a smoother pasta shape. Transfer each piece of shaped pasta onto a lightly floured tray and move about so that it gets a light dusting and this will stop them from sticking to each other.

Step 4: Allow to dry out for an hour or two (or you could leave them to dry out completely and then store in an airtight container for a few weeks). When you are ready to cook them, bring a large pan of salted water the the boil and then add the pasta and cook for a few minutes until cooked through (if cooking from completely dried they will take a couple of minutes longer).

Serve with your chosen sauce.

Spiced Biscuit Dominoes

4th January 20214th January 2021
by thefoodwife

Makes 12

Weâ€™ve just made some vegan dominoes biscuits, with a super simple spiced biscuit dough and white icing. It was inspired by an old 90s Safeway magazine recipe my mother recently passed on to me.

Ingredients:
115g vegan baking block, softened
50g caster sugar
175g plain flour
5g mixed spice

Step1: Rub all ingredients together until you have â€˜crumbsâ€™ and then use your hands to bring together into a smooth dough.

Step 2: You can then either roll the dough out until about 1/2cm thick and cut into 12 rectangles, alternatively shape into a rectangular sausage shape, wrap in grease proof and chill until solid. Then simply slice into 12.

Step 3: Place your 12 rectangles on a lined baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 180c fan for 12 minutes.

Step 4: Allow to cool and then ice with a simple icing sugar and water icing.

Then you can play and/or eat!