Aromatic pumpkin soup for Halloween

   I must tell you that I'm not particularly found of the Halloween "tradition" that has been growing  here in Lisbon for the last years, but the fact is that with the arrival  of the day, my daughter’s euphoria grows and,  when there are children, the best we can do is to surrender ourselves to surrounding atmosphere.

    Trying to make the most of this atmosphere, I thought that cooking dishes using pumpkins would be the most appropriate and so I came up with this pumpkin and turmeric soup, which resulted particularly rich in aromas and in unique qualities gathered in a simple soup. Turmeric is one of the roots that I most use in my dishes: either raw, in juices, for teas or cooked in a variety of ways. My preference for this Asian ingredient is due to its aromatic flavor and especially to its  medicinal properties, such as being a cancer prevention agent, detoxifying, antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and an excellent natural painkiller.

    In the fridge I always have fresh turmeric root that I usually buy at a local biological supermarket here in Lisbon but you can also buy it in Indian food stores.

    And as the "night of the monsters" can also be celebrated with a beautiful and healthy dish, my suggestion is this comfort soup.

ingredients:

(serves 5​​)

1 kg  pumpkin

400 gr pumpkin for roasting + parsley + salt + olive oil

1 onion

3 tbsp olive oil

2 turmeric roots

1 liter water + 300 ml

salt to taste

cumin Seeds

Preheat oven to 200º

Cut 400gr pumpkin, unpeeled, into thin slices and place on a tray.

Sprinkle with salt and bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove it from the oven and add chopped parsley and olive oil to taste.

Put it back in the oven for 10 minutes more.

* This cooking time may differ according to the thickness and quality of the pumpkin, so it is best to have this time as a reference only.

Meanwhile:

Chop the onion and sauté in olive oil.

Add the turmeric root, peeled and cut into slices.

Add the pumpkin, unpeeled and cut into small pieces.

Combine well.

Add the water and add salt to taste.

Cook until soft.

Turn off the heat and blend.

Check the salt.

Lightly toast the cumin seeds.

Serve and garnish the soup with the roasted pumpkin and the cumin seeds.

Bon appétit!

© veggie delicious food, October  2014

Typical Portuguese starters

  

     The spirit of traditional Portuguese cuisine can also be present in a vegetarian dinner, especially when you gather a group of friends where the only vegetarians are the hosts.

  Keeping this idea of ​​typical food adapted to vegetarian alternatives I chose some of the most  precious Portuguese ingredients such as olive oil, garlic, olives and chorizo which I used to prepare several starters, to go with  by a delicious bread, baked in a wood oven.

  The diversity of flavors helped to create a warmy and cozy environment around a good Portuguese table – a vegetarian one, of course!

Ingredients:

(serves 4/5)

1. Starter with olives:

15 to 20 Black olives

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 + 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp oregano

2. Starter with radishes:

8 radishes cut into thin slices

1/4 cup of olive oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tbsp soy sauce

chopped parsley according to taste

3. Starter with chorizo​​:

1 spit for sausages

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toothpicks

1 portuguese soy chorizo ​​

 basil leaves

1/2 garlic clove, finely chopped + 2 tbsp olive oil + 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Wash the olives.

Mix the olive oil with the  balsamic vinegar. Add the oregano and then the olives. Let it stand for  20 minutes before serving.

2. Wash the radishes and cut them into very thin slices.

Mix the olive oil with the soy sauce, pepper, garlic and parsley.

Add the radishes and let them stand for 20 minutes before serving.

3. Cook the soy chorizo in the spit. Turn it for several times until nicely roasted.

Remove the skin and cut it into slices.

Garnish each slice with a basil leaf and season with chopped garlic, olive oil and vinegar.

 Bon appétit!

© veggie delicious food, October  2014

Aubergine slices with tofu and tomato sauce

   

     In one of the first vegetarian cooking classes I attended, I remember they told me that aubergines did not offer great nutritional values to the body. At that time I was very very disappointed, especially because I have always appreciated the flavor of aubergines. The fact is that I went on eating them over the years and today I'm glad  I did it because the information they gave me during  that class was not correct. In fact, aubergines have medicinal properties as they are very  digestive and they also help to reduce bad cholesterol (LDL).  Aubergines are also low in fat, rich in magnesium, fiber, vitamin B6 and vitamin K.

    With a huge basket of them, as well as tomatoes, this past week, here at home, we had a lot of gazpacho, paté and this delicious roasted auberginee-shaped lasagna.

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

 2 large aubergines + olive oil as needed

1 onion sliced ​​

2 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove 

250 gr grated tofu

10 mushrooms on slides

1 large grated carrot

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp oregano

salt to taste

For the sauce:

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

2  garlic cloves 

650 gr tomato peeled and seeded

1 tsp coconut sugar (optional)

 salt to taste

Prepare the sauce:

Place the olive oil and the chopped onion in a pan. Brown until golden.

Add the garlic cloves and mix well.

Add the tomatoes and sugar. Wrap well and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.

Add salt and simmer at low heat for another 10 minutes.

Check the seasoning and use the food processor to obtain a creamy sauce.

Reserve.

Cut the eggplants into thin slices.

Rub each slice with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt.

Let them stand while you prepare the tofu.

Preheat oven to 200

Cut an onion into rings and sauté in olive oil.

Add the chopped garlic and let it simmer.

Add the tofu and season with salt. Wrap and cook on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the mushrooms. Wrap again and cook  for 2 minutes.

Add the carrot, soy sauce and oregano. Wrap well. Check the seasoning and cook for 3 minutes on medium heat.

 On a baking tray, add a layer of tomato sauce and then start to spread the aubergine slices (remove excess salt from the slices if they have).

Spread  a layer of tofu evenly and go on using the aubergines and the the tofu until you use all the ingredients.

Pour  the rest of the tomato sauce and sprinkle with black sesame seeds.

Place in oven and bake for 45 min.

Serve with a green salad.

Bon appétit!

© veggie delicious food, September  2014

Raw yellow zucchini with natural flavors

  

    Nature is always surprising us with a great  variety of fruits and vegetables that allow us to eat rich, diverse and colorful food.

   I really like stuffing vegetables, especially round zucchinis and I have recently found, for the first time,  some gorgeous and fragrant yellow  big round zucchinis, for sale, which I bought.

   I thought the most natural  would be to eat them raw and I prepared a natural dish which I ate using the zucchini as a plate.  A simple recipe, taking almost no time to prepare, and full of natural flavors and bright colors  that  seduce just to look at it. I served it with a vegan mayonnaise sauce that I learned to prepare at  the event "Easter Princess", in a workshop given by Marta Varatojo, some months ago, here in Lisbon.

Ingredients:

(serves 2)

2  round or long zucchinis

1 long zucchini for the pasta

½ red pepper cut into small squares

3 yellow tomatoes

1 red tomato

6 strawberries

For the sauce:

300 ml of grapeseed oil

200 ml of soy milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp rice vinegar

1 full hand of basil  

1 bunch coriander

 salt to taste

Prepare the sauce by mixing grapeseed oil with soymilk.

Process until thick and add the remaining ingredients. Grind again and rectify the seasoning. Reserve.

Wash the zucchinis, cut the top of it to make a lid and with a spoon scoop the entire interior.

Grate the zucchinis or use the vegetable machine.

Cut the tomatoes into quarters and stuff the zucchini with the grated pieces of zucchini ,  the tomatoes, the red pepper and, on top, the strawberries.

Add the sauce to enrich the vegetables flavor.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bon appétit!

© veggie delicious food, September  2014

Small apple, banana and cinnamon cakes & Grapes smoothie

   

   After a short Summer break, the return  to blogging matches with the beginning of the school year for most kids, here in Lisbon, including my daughter.

  Entering  a new school where children have no friends awakens some excitement associated with nerves.

   With the return to school,  it also comes the concern with what snacks to take. Although seasonal fruits are the first choice, I sometimes prepare a sweet treat, which is also good if not eaten on a regular basis. And because the first day at a new school is always special, I thought it would be nice to take a sweet snack.

    It is precisely that what I’m blogging about -  apple, banana and cinnamon cakes and to go with  a grape smoothie.

Ingredients:

(it makes 12 small cakes)

200 gr flour

50 g whole spelt flour

180 gr demerara sugar

300g apples peeled and cut into slivers

1 + 1/2 smashed bananas

200 ml of warmed coconut oil

1 tbsp of cinnamon powder

1 tsp of baking powder

Preheat oven to 200

Mix the flours.

Add baking powder and cinnamon. Wrap with a spoon.

Add the demerara sugar, the bananas and finally the apples. Mix well.

Add the coconut oil and mix everything.

Put the mixture into shapes and bake for 20-25 minutes depending on the size of the shapes.

Grapes smoothie:

Select a good quality bunch of grapes and remove the pips.

Place in a blender and add 200 ml of vegetable milk. Grind and serve with the cakes.

Bon appétit!

© veggie delicious food, September  2014

Plantain soup with Sishuan pepper

       Today I’m writing about one of the soups I have been eating during this special period of my diet: a plantain soup and one magic ingredient – Sishuan pepper.

       I have recently eaten a plantain soup at the restaurant The Food Temple, in Lisbon- The Food Temple -  and I loved it! The following days were devoted to trying to reach the taste I had experienced.

    Each chef gives his own interpretation to every recipe but the result obtained with my soup was just delicious!

    My final touch was to add a few grains of Sishuan pepper that my friend Catarina brought from China - Stepping Out of Babylon | Travel Blog : a hot and fragrant flavor pepper , filled with a strong and stimulating aroma. It activated  some of my tongue’s nerve fibers  which were completely unknown to me! 

   Plantains are a super fruit, rich in natural sugars, fiber and potassium. A nutritious and very energetic fruit which is low in fat. This type of bananas is not yet well known here in Portugal -large and green, less sweet than other varieties and not to be eaten eaten raw.

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

3 big plantains 

1.5 l  home made vegetable stock ​​(approximately)

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 medium sized onion

3 tbsp olive oil

salt to taste

Sishuan pepper to taste  (you can buy it in chinese supermarkets)

Wash the plantains and put them in the pressure cooker. Cook between 25 to 30 minutes, depending on how green the plantains are.

Meanwhile, chop the onion and sauté in olive oil.

Remove the pressure from the pressure cooker. Peel the plantains and cut them to small pieces.

Add the plantains to the onion and add the curry powder. Mix it well and add the vegetable stock. 

Blend, season with salt and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the garam masala and taste.

If necessary, add more vegetable stock, depending on the consistency you want the soup to have.

Serve and garnish with Sishuan pepper.

Bon appétit!

© veggie delicious food, July  2014