Four vegan recipes even meat-eaters will love
Four recipes from Tobie Puttock's plant-based cookbook SuperNatural: 100 Easy Plant-Based Recipes.
Breakfast burritos
I'm about to make a big call. This could be my favourite breakfast EVER. I had breakfast at a place in Encinitas, California, many moons ago and it was kind of like this: super refreshing with heat and acidity, a whisper of "aren't I amazing" without the need for a lie down after.
INGREDIENTS
1 small clove garlic
½ red onion
1 large tomato, diced
½ fresh green jalapeno chilli, finely chopped
sea salt and cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
4 large corn or flour vegan tortillas
½ × quantity scrambled chickpeas, warmed (see below)
1 large avocado, halved and sliced
large handful (1 cup) coriander sprigs
2 limes, halved
METHOD
1. Finely grate the garlic and onion into a medium bowl. Add the tomato, jalapeno, a good pinch of salt and pepper and the olive oil. Stir until well combined and set aside.
2. Warm the tortillas as per packet instructions and lay them out side by side on a clean work surface. Pop a quarter of the scrambled chickpeas on one quarter of each tortilla.
3. Top with a couple of slices of avocado, followed by a spoonful of the tomato mixture and a few sprigs of coriander.
4. Fold the tortillas in half, then half again and serve while still warm with halved limes squeezed over.
Serves 4
Scrambled chickpeas
I'm not going to pretend to you that these are anything like scrambled eggs – they are not. I've never really liked eating eggs and so for me these are AMAZING. They are super quick to make and you can adjust the consistency with the aquafaba from the chickpeas (that's the liquid from the can) to make the scramble runnier or denser – and on that note, be sure to keep any leftover aquafaba if you are not using it so you can make a vegan chocolate mousse.
INGREDIENTS
1 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp ground turmeric
sea salt and cracked black pepper
2 × 400g cans chickpeas, drained and liquid (aquafaba) reserved
1 tbsp olive oil
small handful (¼ cup) flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
METHOD
1. Put the paprika, turmeric and a pinch of salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add enough of the reserved chickpea liquid to make a loose paste.
2. Add the chickpeas and roughly mash with a fork, making sure you distribute the spices evenly.
3. Fold through about ½ cup (125ml) of the reserved chickpea liquid to make the mixture nice and moist, add more if you wish.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the chickpea mixture and cook, stirring often, until golden in colour, about 5-6 minutes. Fold through the parsley and serve.
Serves 4
Eggplant parmigiana
I've made the traditional version of this dish so many times using so much cheese. It amazes me that when I simply leave the cheese out, rather than trying to substitute it, the vegies stand out strongly. You can really taste the richness of the tomatoes and, to be honest, I prefer this version to the traditional one. Whereas traditionally the eggplants are fried, here we get a fantastic result by grilling them and, as you can imagine, with only a fraction of the oil. Although this is delicious to eat straight out of the oven, it freezes well too.
INGREDIENTS
extra virgin olive oil, for greasing
4 eggplants (about 2kg in total)
3 cups (750ml) tomato basil sauce
large handful (1 cup) basil leaves
1 cup (70g) panko breadcrumbs
sea salt and cracked black pepper
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 5cm deep, 20cm × 28cm ovenproof baking dish with a little olive oil.
2. Use a sharp knife to remove the green end of the eggplants, then cut each eggplant lengthways into 1cm thick slices.
3. Preheat a barbecue or grill plate on high. Cook the eggplant slices for 3 minutes each side or until grill marks are visible and the eggplant starts to brown (see tip).
4. To assemble, spread a fifth of the tomato sauce over the base of the prepared baking dish, then tear 4 to 5 basil leaves over the sauce. Top with a fifth of the eggplant slices (they don't need to overlap but try not to have big gaps). Spread another fifth of the tomato sauce over the eggplant, followed by some more torn basil leaves, a sprinkling of breadcrumbs and a pinch of salt and pepper.
5. Repeat the layering, finishing with a layer of eggplant, tomato sauce, basil and finally breadcrumbs.
6. Drizzle with the olive oil and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling.
7. Set aside for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with salad.
Serves 6-8
Tips: You can also cook the eggplant slices in a 200C oven. Place on 2 baking trays and bake for about 10 minutes each side or until browned.
This dish will keep for up to 2 days in the fridge, covered, or can be frozen for up to 2 months, but be sure to portion before freezing.
Kale and cashew pesto
This recipe is of course different in flavour from the traditional basil pesto, but I have mimicked some of the typical flavours. Cashew nuts, when blended through food, can have a sort of parmesan flavour and they also give a beautiful creaminess.
INGREDIENTS
3 cloves garlic
½ cup (75g) unsalted raw cashews
3 cups (210g) packed kale, roughly torn
juice of 1 lemon
1½ cups (375ml) olive oil
sea salt
METHOD
1. Put the garlic, cashews and kale into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and blitz to combine. Have a taste and adjust with salt and a little more lemon juice if needed.
Makes 2 cups
Tip: The pesto will keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container in the fridge.
This is an edited extract from SuperNatural by Tobie Puttock, RRP $39.99 (Lantern Publishing).