Main Dishes-Vegetarian – Page 2 – a hippie with a minivan

Quinoa salad…

I hadn’t tried Quinoa until last year but since then I have been hooked.

My favourites are the coconut quinoa that Annie shared with me… and this Quinoa salad…

it is so easy to make, simple and fresh and full of flavour…

It is one of those non-recipes…where you just throw things in and adjust the taste as needed…

First, cook the Quinoa the same as you would rice….

When cooked and cooled a bit (but still a bit warm), add some chopped up veggies…I like adding peppers and carrots and celery. Then add a bit of olive oil, some salt or tamari to taste, some fresh (or dried) parsley, a bit of garlic powder and I like adding a bit of curry powder which seems to bring all of the other flavours out…

This is just a simple salad that can be eaten as a side, and because it is so complete nutritionally it can also be a meal in itself and keeps well and travels well…

Caramelized Onion and Spinach Pizza with Peanut sauce…

Annie shared this recipe on her blog a while back and I have been dying to make it…

I used my favourite dough which I shared in this post…

For the sauce… (I changed it a bit to suit my taste and Annie’s recipe didn’t have water and it just doesn’t work without it for me)

Peanut Pizza Sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp Ginger, minced
3-4 heaping tbsp Peanut Butter
2 tbsp Tamari
1 tbsp Demerara Sugar
Garlic Chili Paste (to taste)
2 tbsp Green Onion, chopped (I use two)
1/3 cup of warm water (or more depending on how thin you want it)

Blend together to make a sauce

Ready to be blended…

Peanut sauce is done… this stuff is amazing… not only for pizza but for a dipping sauce also…

Caramelize the onions… I then added garlic, mushrooms and then some spinach…

Spread the sauce on the prepared dough and then add the toppings…

I then added some more fresh spinach and grated carrot…

Bake at 400 for about 15 min…

What a treat!

Crispy Tofu on Coconut Quinoa… two ways!

This is a variation of a recipe that Annie shared with me a while back and I love it!

Usually I make another variation of her way and make curried tofu (the recipe is at the end for that) and of course that is always delicious but I was craving spicy peanut sauce tonight…

What I love about this recipe also is that it takes very little preparation, takes little time to cook, is filling, delicious and nutritious…

For the Coconut Quinoa..

Chop up an onion and sauté in a pan until translucent (I sauté it in coconut oil)
Add 1 1/2 cup of Quinoa.. I like to leave it in there a few minutes and toast it a bit…
Add one can of coconut milk and one can of water and simmer until ready (about 20 min) and then fluff with a fork

Peanut Sauce

Mix together in a saucepan on low heat … 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, 1/2 cup hot water, 3 tsp tamari, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp brown sugar and garlic chili sauce (to taste)

Crispy Tofu

cube one block of tofu
in a container (with a lid) add a few tsps of corn starch, add a bit of salt and garlic powder and then add the tofu and shake so that it evenly coats the tofu
Add a few tsp of peanut oil to a wok or pan and toss and fry until crispy on all sides…

Serve the Tofu on the Quinoa and drizzle the peanut sauce on top.

If you want to make the curried version don’t make the peanut sauce and instead coat the tofu with the following spice mix:

1 tbsp of cornstarch
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne (optional if you want the heat or not)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp tumeric…

Fry the tofu in a bit of oil until crispy and serve over the Quinoa with veggie of your choice 🙂

(curried version)

Adventures with Seitan…

Since last week I have really felt really put off by meat… So last week my meal plan involved more veggie meal than meat based ones and this week they are all veggie based…

Yesterday when making my meal plan I looked over a few YouTube videos on how to make Seitan… and having Vital Wheat Gluten already in my cupboard today I decided to try it out and make some Seitan Souvlaki…

So I put about 1 1/2 cups of gluten in a bowl with nutritional yeast, a bit of flour and a few spices

Added Broth (water, tamari and spices)

Knead together and let rest…

Boil in Broth and simmer for an hour…

It doubles in size and looks… well… a little like a brain…

Took it out of the broth and patted it dry…

and then I cut it in bite size pieces and marinated it in a bit of oil, lemon juice, garlic, tamari and oregano for a few hours… and then took it out and placed it on a baking sheet…

Then Broiled it for about 10 min…

It turned out really good!!

I made some Tzatziki with some homemade yogourt that I drained a bit before mixing with drained shredded cucumber, garlic, salt and a bit of dill… and then served it on a pita…

I really liked the texture, especially after broiling, and the broiling added a bit of crunch like when you BBQ…. Simon and the kids liked it also…. So I think that I will be trying out different ways to eat it…

General Tso Tofu

Cut 1 block of Tofu into cubes or slices, marinate in a bit of Tamari for at least an hour or two… (I often forget this but it does add flavour)

Coat with a bit of Corn Starch and Fry in a bit of peanut oil until crispy… put aside…

Make sauce:

5 tbsp Tamari
3-4 cloves of garlic (minced)
minced ginger (about an inch)
2 tsp sugar
5 tbsp of hoisin sauce
3 tsp rice vinegar
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 tsp garlic chile paste

Stir Fry, in a bit of oil, 1-2 chopped onions and then add a clove or two of minced garlic (you can also add a bit of garlic chile paste for some spice), stir fry for a min or two and then add broccoli florets (about 2 heads) and cook until just tender but still with a bit of crunch. (you can also add other veggies of course) Put aside.

Add sauce to wok and simmer until thickened a bit.. add veggies and tofu back in and stir enough to coat…

Serve with Rice and garnish with sliced green onions…