Halloumi pasta

It's another sunny Saturday morning, and I'm so happy to have a slow and quiet breakfast moment after I cleaned the flat a little bit. Soon we'll go to town to do some shopping, and then take the harbour bus to a lovely beer garden and street food market. This is all I need for today. Do you have some weekend plans?

During this summer I want to experiment more with halloumi pastas. I just love the contrast of soft pasta with firm fried halloumi with some added veggies. I made this pasta dish with of course halloumi and bell peppers and tomatoes as the main vegetables. It was a really nice mix.

Halloumi pasta

Ingredients

200 g halloumi

1 yellow bell pepper

6 medium tomatoes

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

Olive oil

Sea salt

Ground black pepper

Fresh basil leaves

Penne pasta

Method

Chop the veg and start frying the onion in olive oil. Fry it until it’s soft and add the bell pepper.

After a while add the tomatoes, garlic and seasoning and let simmer under the lid.

Cut the halloumi into pieces and fry the pieces in a separate pan until they are crispy and golden brown on the surface. Then mix them to the sauce.

Cook the pasta, and add a little of the pasta cooking water to the sauce.

Mix everything and serve!

Have a great weekend!

Your VegHog

Rainbow flatbreads

It has been a good weekend so far, and Sunday looks promising. The weather is good, and we will pop out in a minute for a walk, and maybe watch England's football game in a pub. I'll have to study for tomorrow's Danish exam though, so then we'll probably come back home quickly. I've planned a mixed platter dinner for tonight: maybe some corn cobs, fried halloumi, hummus, red cabbage, roasted carrots etc. Actually many of the ingredients are the same as in these flatbreads that I made earlier this week. I think that this sort of platters are brilliant in the summer.

These vegan flatbreads had nice vibrant summerly colours, so I thought it was appropriate to add rainbow to the name. It would've been easy to add even more colour, but I think that this was just a nice mix, which definitely hit the spot. I made a quick-pickled red cabbage, and added some of the cabbage raw, and both variants were really tasty. The main protein were seitan and soy chunks, a type of vegan “chicken”. It worked very well in this combination, also adding texture to the dish.

Rainbow flatbreads

Ingredients

300 g seitan and soy chunks

1 red bell pepper

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

2 mini aubergines

Olive oil

Chilli powder to taste

Smoked paprika to taste

Ground cumin to taste

Sesame seeds

Quick-pickled red cabbage

1/4 red cabbage

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pink peppercorns

Other ingredients

Rocket

Red cabbage

Hummus

Flatbreads

Method

Make the quick-pickled red cabbage first. Heat the water and cider vinegar with sugar and salt. Slice the cabbage thinly and place it in a glass. Pour the liquid over the cabbage and add the pink peppercorns. Seal the container and let set for at least 30 minutes.

Then start preparing the other fillings. Chop the vegetables first. Set some of the red pepper to side to be added fresh to the flatbreads.

Roast the mini aubergine pieces in the oven with some added olive oil and salt. Add them later to the protein mix.

Fry the onion, garlic and red pepper with the seitan and soy chunks. Season the mix and let cook slowly in the pan.

Heat the flatbreads and spread hummus on them. Serve them with the colourful toppings and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Vegan and vegetarian food scene in Copenhagen – Part 1

I think I've been promising you for over a year now to write something about Copenhagen's vegan and vegetarian food scene. So now finally, I got around to it. Today I'm starting a series of I don't know how many parts, but this is the start anyway. I would like to hear from you, if you are interested in more of this kind of posts.

In the first part I'm introducing a couple of my favourite veggie restaurants here, where I spend a lot of time, and one place, where I want to go more.

Veggie Heroes

• Blegdamsvej 106, 2100 København Ø

Veggie Heroes with their endearing logo is one of my standard hangouts, as you can eat a great Asian meal very cheaply. The restaurant is fully vegan, and they have an all-you-can-eat-buffet, but also a small menu for dumplings, soups etc. I usually am not a fan of buffets or all-you-can-eat, but this place is just brilliant and so convenient.

They have all sorts of Chinese sauces, noodles, rice, pancakes, fresh salads, vegan sushi and nice organic drinks on offer. The atmosphere is very relaxed, and it's genuinely a nice place to spend some time. Like I mentioned, the prices are affordable and the staff are very nice. I always feel like home here.

I have found some favourites in the buffet that I'm eating every time. These include: soy “lamb” with bell peppers, Chinese pancakes with vegetables, deep fried soy “chicken”, and lovely fried rice and noodles. There are many more excellent options, but I mostly stick to the same favourites. Maybe I'm boring, but these dishes are just too good to miss.

There are also nice organic lemonades, vegan wines and beers to go with the meal. I normally eat too much when we go here, but every now and again I think that's fine.

Madenitaly

• Holbergsgade 22, 1057 København

Madenitaly is a great little vegetarian café/restaurant, with lots of vegan options as well. Their wonderful Roman style pizza slices are definitely a winner with their crispy crusts and inventive toppings. They used to have a food stall at Copenhagen Street Food on Papirøen, before the place closed down, and now they have this great restaurant very close to the main touristic bits of Nyhavn.

The secret is truly in the pizza dough, and it makes probably the best pizza crust I've ever had. The dough is made with a high quantity of water and goes through a long rising process. In the end it's very fluffy yet crispy. Some of my favourite toppings have been potato and truffle, upside down baked onion and olive, and roasted peppers. My partner is very keen on the different seitan pizzas.

They don't just serve pizza, there are also pasta dishes, seitan frikadelles, sandwiches, sourdough bread and desserts on offer. I had a mushroom and truffle pasta once and my partner tried the seitan frikadelles. They were both excellent meals enjoyed with some crispy Pinot Grigio.

I also have their booklet A guide to create the perfect pizza, which I'm planning to follow in order to improve my own pizza making skills. They even hold cooking courses and tastings, so I might take part in those at some point.

This place is also very welcoming and you will be taken good care of here. I'm always happy to return.

Plant Power Food

• Fælledvej 15, 2200 København

I've only been once to this place, but I would like to go more. It's not far from my home, and every time I go past, I longingly look at the place and try to have a sneak peak of people's plates.

It's a fully vegan café, or plantbased, as people have started calling it. They have a good selection of tempting sounding brunch and tapas options, and the whole menu sounds so good.

When we went there a few weeks ago, I had a mushroom sandwich with miso and rosemary marinated mushrooms with mixed mashed roots, served with pickled red onions, spicy sauce and mixed baby leaves in a charcoal sourdough bun. It was an excellent and good looking lunch. Their food is very colourful, which is always nice.

They also do party catering, which is good to keep in mind in case organising some bigger parties.

How did you find this first part of veggie eating in Copenhagen series? Are you interested in seeing more places, or not so much? My apologies for lack of outdoor/indoor photos of the restaurants, I'll try to improve in this regard for the next post. You can also visit the websites of each restaurant, if you are interested in seeing more: Veggie Heroes, Madenitaly and Plant Power Food.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Your VegHog

Green bean and wild garlic curry

It's the weekend again, and soon we'll be heading to a new streetfood market. It's been around now for a month or so, and it has already become one of our favourite places. I'm not sure yet, what I want to have for lunch, as there are quite many vegetarian options. In the evening we will go to a public viewing of the football world cup game Peru-Denmark in our local stadion. Let's see how our home team will do, while we have some beers and picnic on the grass. So that's pretty much the plan for today.

I've been cooking more light summer food lately: pasta dishes, halloumi salads, corn cobs, new potatoes, fresh peas etc., but now I made a vegan curry again after a little while. It was very nice and surprisingly summerly due to the ingredients. Have a look below, if you want to know how I made this curry.

Green bean and wild garlic curry

Ingredients

2 shallots

3 cloves of garlic

2 cm fresh ginger

1 red chilli

150 g green beans

50 g potatoes

1 can coconut milk

Vegetable oil

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tbsp tomato purée

Wild garlic stalks

Jasmine rice

Method

Chop the shallots, garlic, ginger, chilli, green beans and potatoes.

Cook the potato pieces in water until they are nearly done.

Heat vegetable oil in a pan, and start cooking the onion, followed by garlic, ginger and chilli.

Mix the spices into the onions and let fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the coconut milk, green beans and tomato purée to the pan, and let it simmer.

Cook the rice while the curry is simmering.

When the curry is nearly done, add the potatoes and while garlic and cook them for a few minutes in the curry.

Serve with the rice and enjoy!

I'm sharing this recipe with this month's Eat Your Greens. The challenge is hosted this month by Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen, and co-hosted by me. You can read more about the challenge via the link, and do also visit Shaheen's lovely vegetarian blog from Wales.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Your VegHog

White asparagus pasta with a tomato and mozzarella salad

It has been a lazy weekend for me, and the Sunday shall continue the same way. We will just go to town shortly and then for dinner to a friend's place. It's still sunny, and the plants are desperate for some rain, but some has finally been forecast for next week. Before that, we will definitely enjoy this warm Sunday, as there is another busy week ahead.

Light pasta dishes are simply the best in this hot season, especially as you can get all the lovely seasonal produce. Now I made a white asparagus pasta with some fresh pea shoots on the top accompanied by a tomato, olive and mozzarella salad. It was a really nice light dinner, and I'm sure that I will have many more dishes like this during the summer.

White asparagus pasta

Ingredients

Fresh spinach tagliatelle

Bunch of white asparagus

1 fresh onion

2 garlic cloves

25 g butter

100 ml white wine

1 lemon's juice

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

Fresh pea shoots as topping

Served with a fresh tomato, mozzarella and olive salad on the side.

Method

Prepare the asparagus by peeling it and cutting it into small pieces.

Chop the onion and garlic finely.

Melt the butter in a pan and start lightly frying the asparagus.

After a couple of minutes, also add the onion and garlic, followed in couple of minutes by the white wine and lemon juice.

Let simmer for a few moments, and season with sea salt and ground black pepper.

Cook the pasta, and mix it with the sauce.

Serve with the salad and enjoy!

Your VegHog

In My Kitchen in June

Here is a little update from my kitchen in June. There seems to be quite a lot of pasta, but also some other things.

Fresh Danish peas have arrived! This means that my summer is saved! I love snacking on these peas, sometimes a bit too much. It just brings back childhood memories gathering fresh peas on huge fields. Those were the days.

There's new organic animal pasta in my kitchen this month, zoopasta tricolore, that looks so cute. There is also a nice game on the back of the box, surely it's not just for children! What sort of dish should I make with the pasta? I normally use animal pasta in soups, but it could also be something else this time...

I just had to get this blue masa harina flour for making tortillas to bring some more colour to my dishes. I already added some of the flour to homemade rolls, but not enough to turn them blue.

This Upton's jackfruit has such a nice branding, and I hope that it will be tasty too, as I haven't tried it yet. I got natural and barbecue flavours, and if they are any good, I might try the Thai flavoured one as well. I just need to decide, what kind of dish to make with them.

As you may know, I often bake rolls with vegetables myself, especially with carrots. I was now delighted to detect a new product in my local shop, rolls containing spinach, beans and carrots. They were very nice, but of course I will still be baking my own ones as well.

I was planning to use this vegan pasta topping in a dish for a vegan guest, but then I forgot about it, and ended up cooking something else than a pasta dish anyway. This means I have yet to try this topping, but I'm sure it will be savoury and herby.

Kuhbonbons are legendary sweets, and actually these vegan versions of the classic were very nice. 

I absolutely love wild Danish cider by Æblerov, and now had this pear cider of theirs. It was wonderful and refreshing, and just the perfect drink for the summer.

I got these beautiful flowers for myself to cheer me up. I divided them into two small vases and they were absolutely delightful and quite durable.

I bough these black olives mainly because of the tin, and I may not open them anytime soon.

We had a vegan visitor from England, and he wanted to have vegan English breakfast. Hmm, I do prefer the continental one and he hadn't been outside of England for that long yet, but sometimes a veggie fry up can be nice. So I made this slightly non-traditional cooked breakfast with vegan sausages, potato rostis, mushrooms, tomatoes, fresh spinach, toast and baked chickpeas (as I didn't have any suitable beans at hand, but chickpeas were maybe nicer in my opinion). 

Here is just a random weekday pasta with tomato and mozzarella, a frequent visitor in my kitchen, especially now in the summer season.

We've also had a lot of homemade mac'n'cheese lately. This one was made by my partner, and he adds a little bit more spices to the mix than I do, which is nice.

I am sharing this post with Sherrry from Sherry's Pickings, who is hosting the In My Kitchen challenge as usual.

Your VegHog