Yellow cauliflower soup with shitaké and pink pepper

     Autumn  gray colors bring us some melancholy and invite us to  be with ourselves and to contemplate  landscapes, especially on rainy days. During this time of the year, it feels so good  to comfort ourselves with warm food ,  as  roasted chestnuts and comforting soups.  It just warms our soul.

   Last  weekend there was time to do a bit of everything, even to go for a small walk to contemplate the colors of Autumn. Coming home and enjoy a delicious yellow cauliflower and shitaké mushroom soup, satisfies any final Autumn walk.

     During this time of the year colored varieties of cauliflower begin to appear in the street markets, mainly yellow and purple. 

Cauliflower gives a creamy consistency to the soup and a very distinctive flavor as well. I particularly like to cook cauliflower soup with no more vegetables to keep the flavor of this cruciferous intact. To enrich the nutritional value of the soup, I added at the end, a medicinal mushroom, the shitaké.

     Shitaké mushroom is rich in proteins, it has 9 amino acids and it helps to strengthen the immune system, which is very important in these cold and rainy days.

Ingredients:

(serves 3)

1 onion

2  garlic cloves

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cauliflower

5 cups cabbage broth

salt to taste

200 gr shitake mushrooms + 2 tbsp olive oil

pink pepper

Wash the cauliflower and separate the leaves from the flowers.

Reserve 400g  flowers for the soup.

Place the leaves in a pan with water and let boil for 5 minutes. Reserve.

Cut the onion into small pieces and sauté in olive oil.

Add the garlic cloves (chopped) and cook for 1 minute.

Add the cauliflower flowers, mix well.

Add 5 cups broth cabbage and season with salt.

Cook in medium heat until soft.

Meanwhile:

 Clean the mushrooms, cut into strips and sauté in olive oil. Reserve.

Grind the soup until you get a creamy consistency.

Garnish the soup with strips of pink mushrooms and freshly ground pepper.

Bon appétit!

© veggie delicious food, November  2014

Spinach and mushrooms in puff pastry

    A week after the excitement  plans for the Halloween’s party, it was time to tidy up the house, and Saturday was devoted to pack "webs" and all other decorative objects for next year's journey. I was so tired for having slept just a few hours and  spending so much time cooking... But Sunday turned out to have a catalytic effect, where relaxation and light meals set  pace in the company of good music.

    I prepared a puff pastry filled with spinach and mushrooms, a tasty and quick lunch or snack. And to go with, a rich vegetable salad.

ingredients:

(yields 7 puffs)

400 gr broadleaf spinach

200 gr  mushrooms + 2 tbsp olive oil + salt

¼ cup of white sauce (optional)

300gr puff pastry

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

greens for a rich and tasty salad

For the white sauce:

1.5 dl oat milk (150 gr rolled oats + 150ml of water – you can use more water but I prefer using a thick milk for the sauce)

40 gr  vegetable butter

25 gr wholemeal flour

pinch of salt

pinch of nutmeg

Wash the spinach and steam until tender (2 minutes). Let them cool and slice finely. Reserve.

Clean the mushrooms, cut into blades and sauté in olive oil. Season with salt. Reserve.

For the white sauce:

I prefer to make my nondairy milks at home. They are healthier, economic and without sugar. Moreover, they are quick to prepare, especially oat milk that does not require a long time to hydrate.

I used 150 gr of oat flakes, hydrated in mineral water for at least 1h. Then rinsed and drained and put into the food processor with 150 ml of mineral water and a pinch of salt water. Then strain to get the milk.

Start preparing the white sauce: 

Place the butter in a saucepan on low heat and let it melt, add the flour and stir quickly to engage fully. Add the milk and stir until thickened. Season with salt and nutmeg.

Drain all water from mushrooms and spinach. Mix the white sauce, add black pepper to taste and rectify the seasoning.

Preheat oven to 200º

Roll out the dough using a rolling pin.

Cut pieces into the desired shape, place a serving of spinach and close  well using your finger or a fork.

Place in the oven until they are golden.

Serve with a colorful salad!

Bon appétit!

© veggie delicious food, November  2014

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

alcohol

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