Vegan Broccoli Hedgehogs
This tasty meal is built around broccoli florets, caramelised leek prepared in coconut milk. Preparation time 15 minutes, cooking time 15 minutes.
Ingredients
5 small broccoli heads.1 litre of vegetable stock.
30ml apple vinegar.
5 sprigs of fresh sage.
1 - 2 tablespoons of light coconut milk.
olive oil.
sea salt and ground black pepper to taste.
4 slices of Violife original slices.
1 leek finely chopped.
1 tablespoon Agave syrup.
Directions
Bring the broccoli to the boil in the vegetable stock, then turn off to cool down, this is to make is soft. Strain and put aside.Saute the leeks in a pan with the coconut oil until soft. Add the apple vinegar and Agave syrup and cook on low heat for a further five minutes.
Place the broccoli florets on a baking tray and make two small incissions. Stuff in the leek mixture and 1/2 slices of Violife slices. Drizzle over with a glug of olive oil. Place in a preheated oven at 220 deg C and bake for 10-15 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Our YouTube video can be seen on this link.
Notes:
Original Violife slices look like slices of cheese but are in fact made of coconut oil, sea salt, olive extract and B vitamins. They are soya, gluten, lactose, nuts and preservative free.Agave nectar is an organic sweetener from the blue webber agave plant in Mexico. It makes a good alternative to refined brown sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Chefs comments: After trying this recipe I would probably not use the sage, it doesnt add anything and is rather papery - try adding some mushrooms for added flavour.
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Celeriac and Butternut Cury
This is a very tasty vegitarian/vegan meal based around celeriac and butternut squash (you could also use pumpkin as an alternative).
The curry with a couple of Ryvita crisps.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil.500g butternut squash chopped into around 2.5cm squares.
500g celeriac, chopped into around 2.5cm squares.
1 medium or large onion, chopped.
1 large carrot, chopped.
4 cloves of garlic.
1 tablespoon of ginger either fresh or ground.
pinch of sea salt.
1 tablespoon of curry powder or in this case Madras curry paste.
1 teaspoon of chili flakes.
1 litre of prepared vegetable stock (2 knorr or oxo cubes), for use as required.
fresh lemon juice as an option.
200-400g of red lentils.
a few stalks of celery (not green part) chopped and some chopped kale as
an optional extra.
Instructions
In a large heavy bottomed pot, on a medium hot hob, heat the olive oil. When hot add the onion and cook for up to five minutes to make them soft. When soft, add the butternut squash, celeriac, carrot, garlic and ginger. Allow the vegetables to soften and simmer . Stir in the curry paste (powder) and chili flakes and stir for a minute. Add the lentils and vegetable stock (use water if preferred) and stir in. Add the celery stalks and kale (optional) replace the lid and simmer for 20 - 40 minutes, but keep checking that the vegetables are soft. Remove and serve with french bread or Ryvita crisps.Our YouTube video can be seen on this link.
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Celeriac and Coconut Soup
This is a deliciously creamy, dairy-free, coconut soup using celeriac with a flavour of lime and lemon grass.
Ingredients
300g of celeriac.6 celery sticks (not the green part).
1 whole lime (for the juice).
1 teaspoon of lemongrass (paste or dried).
200ml of water.
400ml of light coconut milk.
good pinch of sea salt flakes.
ground black pepper.
4 cloves of garlic.
1 medium sized onion.
Instructions - Ninja method
Place the chopped up onion and the garlic cloves with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in the Nija processor. Press CHOP, press SAUTE. Place the rest of the ingredients into the Ninja and set for smooth soup. It will take around 30 minutes. When it is done, check the consistency is how you like it and add ground black pepper and sea salt if you need to. Then it is all done and ready to serve with some french bread or Ryvita crackers. This is the easy way if you have a Ninja.Instructions - Ordinary method
Heat up a thick bottomed pan on the hob and add two or three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add the chopped onion and garlic for up to five minutes to soften.Add the remaining ingredients and slowly cook for 30 minutes or so until soft. Either put in a blender, use a stick blender or just a squisher to liquidise to your requirements. Add sea salt and ground black pepper to taste if you wish.
Our YouTube video can be seen on this link.