Mushroom Paradise Pasta

Really this pasta was just an excuse to cook with grains of paradise. I can’t say that it actually tastes of paradise (it was okay) but I also got to put some alliteration in the title.

Ingredients

• 1 clove minced garlic
• 100 grams mushrooms (I used chanterelles), sliced
• 1 bell pepper or romano pepper, thinly sliced
• two handfuls of leafy green vegetables (I used one baby bok choy)
• 1/4 teaspoon red chilli flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground grains of paradise, or black pepper
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 200 ml vegan white wine
• 200 grams egg-free pasta
• 6 tablespoons cream substitute (I used oat cream)
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (optional)
• salt to taste

Methods

Set a pot of salted water to boil, for the pasta. When the water comes to a boil, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.

While the water is heating, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for half a minute. Add the sweet red pepper and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the wine to the mushroom mixture. If the leafy green vegetable has firm stalks (like bok choy), add it as well. If it is entirely soft (like spinach), add it after five minutes. Simmer the mushroom mixture until the liquid is completely evaporated.

Drain the pasta and add it to the mushroom mixture, along with the cream substitute. Add the fresh ground grains of paradise or black pepper. Season to taste with salt. Stir until the cream is absorbed. Garnish with parsley.

Serves two when accompanied by a salad.

Fusion Lunch of Leftovers

This is the sort of meal I throw together for lunch when I’m home. I had two king oyster mushrooms which I forgot to put in my mushroom pasta, two leftover baby bok choy, and fenugreek sprouts which I’d left to develop some leaves.

I started by heating some oil and adding two smashed garlic cloves, 1/2″ of sliced ginger, and 2 dried red chiles. Meanwhile I started some water to boil for rice noodles.

I chopped the bok choy and mushrooms and added them to the spices, along with the white part of a spring onion, then put on a lid and let it cook on medium-high heat, stirring from time to time. When the water was ready, I cooked the rice noodles, drained them, and set them aside.

When the vegetables were cooked, I removed the lid and added the rice noodles, a bit of soy sauce, some mirin, a touch of sesame oil, and ketjap manis. I removed it from the heat and stirred in the rinsed fenugreek sprouts and the green part of the spring onion.

I removed the chiles, garlic and ginger before serving.

Chinese Mushroom Noodle Soup

Using vegetarian oyster sauce, vegetable stock, and egg-free noodles makes this dish vegan. For mushrooms I chose Shiitake mushrooms and black fungus.

Broccoli Stalk Soup

I’ve been making a lot of soups lately, because it’s a good way of getting vegetables when the weather is chilly and a salad sounds unpleasant. This one tastes more exciting than it looks.

For this soup, I first fried half an onion in a little oil, then added thyme, a few fennel seeds, some fresh ginger, and chopped vegetables: half a head of broccoli plus the entire broccoli stalk, 6 mini bok choy, and one carrot. I cooked the vegetables until they were all soft, adding water as needed. Once the vegetables were soft, I puréed them with a little water and added salt and black pepper to taste.

I topped it with oat cream.

Asian Greens Soup with Squash, Tofu, and Enoki Mushrooms

I used this recipe, with some modifications. First, I fried the garlic instead of roasting it, in the same oil I later used for the tofu. Second, I used bok choy as the greens. Third, I used whole chillis which I later removed. Finally, I was unable to find mushroom broth, so I made my own. I took some black fungus and chestnut mushrooms and simmered them with black pepper, garlic, savory and a little tarragon. After some time I strained the broth and then continued with the recipe.

Vegan Kare Kare

This recipe already adapts the dish to make it vegan, but I had to make further adjustments. First, I was only able to find banana blossom canned. Second, I chose to get cheaper green beans rather than long beans. Third, I thought I had puffed rice – but I didn’t – so the sauce is a little thinner. And finally I had annato seeds but not powder, so I wasn’t able to get as pronounced a colour when I soaked them.

Garlic Mushroom Bok Choy

I worked off of this recipe, but replaced the shiitake mushrooms with a mix of basic white mushrooms and mu-err mushrooms. I like this and will probably make it again.

Winter Greens in Coconut Milk

I made winter greens in coconut milk again, this time using Savoy cabbage, oxheart cabbage, bok choy and beet greens. The latter turned the coconut milk slightly pinkish but the flavour was still good.

 

Cabbage in Coconut Sauce

Cabbage is not one of my favourite foods but I try to eat it regularly for its health benefits. Thus I’m always looking for ways to make it taste good. This recipe for Asian winter greens with panch phoran and coconut is a nice option. Instead of the vegetables listed I used what I had available: Savoy cabbage, oxheart cabbage and bok choy. I used frozen coconut instead of fresh.

Rating: Tasty – I will probably make it again.

This rating doesn’t do it justice: it’s probably the best-tasting cabbage I have ever eaten. I even ate some of the leftovers the next day, without bothering to heat it. If I’m willing to eat cold cabbage, it must be a good recipe. But it’s still cabbage, so I cannot promise it a regular place at my table, when there are so many more delicious vegetables available.

Green potato pancakes

Last week I made some chard potato pancakes, substituting another white radish for Dakon and bok choy for the chard.  I think it would be nice with a garlic yoghurt sauce like tzatziki.

I served it with courgette/zucchini salad.