Nachos with char-grilled vegetables

Nachos with char-grilled vegetables are great. The beauty of the dish is that you can use any seasonal vegetables that you fancy. You can make the dish as colourful as you want and it's also a nice one to share with friends. For these ones I chose gem squashes, bell pepper and onion, which made quite a good combination. The making of this dish is so easy and the grilling and baking times are short, so this is fine to make when the weather is hotter as well.

Ingredients

2 gem squashes

1 red bell pepper

1 onion

Vegetable oil for grilling

200 g tortilla chips

100 g grated cheese

Chilli-tomato sauce for dipping

Method

Cut the vegetables into fairly large chunks and grill them in a grill pan until they have nice grilling marks.

Cover the tortilla chips with cheese and the vegetables and bake them briefly in the oven until the cheese melts.

Serve with a dipping sauce of your choice. I didn't have guacamole, sour cream and tomato salsa this time, but just a homemade chilli-tomato sauce.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Falafel with char-grilled vegetables and halloumi

I bought a new grill pan, a second one, which is a bit smaller than my first one. It's a neat little pan and it obviously inspired me to char-grill some vegetables. Then I was considering what to have with them and thought of homemade falafel, which are always nice. That's how this dish came to life, simple but oh so tasty!

As the making method for the falafel I chose baking in the oven in order to avoid an additional oil addition. They should be put into the oven only briefly under high heat so that they get some colour, but not too long that they dry out. All components are already cooked before, so they don't need any extra cooking. Have a look at my recipe below, which should make about 10 falafel.

Ingredients

1 cup dried chickpeas

1 can broad beans

3-4 garlic cloves

1 small onion

1 tsp vegetable oil

15 g fresh parsley

15 g fresh coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp salt

Sides:

Hummus

Tomatoes

Carrots

Baby bell peppers

Munchkin pumpkin

Halloumi

Method

Soak the chickpeas overnight and then cook until done.

Chop the garlic and onion and pre-cook them a little in oil in a pan.

Mix the chickpeas, broad beans, garlic onion and the spices and mash them into a mixture that sticks well together. I like to leave some of the chickpeas whole in this process.

Shape falafel from the mixture and place them on a baking tray.

Bake them in the oven at 250 C for a few minutes until the falafel have received some colour. Don't bake them too long, as they can then dry up.

I served my falafel with some homemade hummus and char-grilled vegetables and halloumi. I wanted to try my new grill pan, and indeed it was very nice to use.

I'm entering this recipe to this month's Eat Your Greens, a vegetarian cooking and blogging challenge hosted by Shaheen from A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table. The greens here are the broad beans and the lovely fresh herbs parsley and coriander.

Your VegHog

Veggie barbeque

I rarely do a barbeque, but a veggie barbeque can be a fine thing. When I'm here in Finland during the summer, a few barbeques are a must. This time I just char-grilled some vegetables, halloumi and rye bread, and that made a very filling meal. I have been eating quite a lot in general on this holiday, so a small diet could be in the cards when I get back to the UK, a healthy diet with affordable pulses etc. Okay, but back to the BBQ theme now.

Here are the components of my meal this time:

- new potatoes (pre-boiled), I could just barbeque new potatoes alone, they get divine after a bit of char-grilling

- bell peppers

- aubergine, rub the aubergine slices with barbeque seasoning and oil

- new season onions

- tomatoes, I put the tomatoes into additional foil bags, as they get very soggy

- halloumi

- rye bread, a must in a Finnish barbeque and so tasty slightly grilled and eaten with some butter

As a veggie barbeque drink I could recommend the Finnish Olvi Hiili 4,5 %, a very dark beer that actually tastes a bit like coal.

What kind of veggie barbeques have you been having?

Your VegHog

 

 

Veggie burgers with char-grilled vegetables and halloumi

A couple of weeks ago I posted my recipe for Lentil and pea burgers, and today's post is basically just a serving suggestion for those burgers. I don't know many things that are better than homemade veggie burgers with char-grilled vegetables and halloumi. I normally make a large burger batch and freeze the rest to have some homemade burgers always quickly available. It might be slightly naughty, but a veggie burger is also a great thing to have as breakfast after a long night out.

For these burgers I chose the following toppings and served them with a side salad:

- courgette

- pepper

- onion

- halloumi

Then you just need vegetable oil for grilling and a grill pan. Char-grill the vegetables and cheese on the hot pan until they have distinct grilling marks.

The burger Schnitzel itself can even be char-grilled. At least these lentil and pea burgers are very firm and hold their shape anywhere.

Also grill the cut sides of the buns. My buns were this time just granary buns from the shop.

Then just enjoy your burger!

What are your favourite veggie burger toppings?

Your VegHog

The VegHog's falafel burgers

Maybe you remember when I wrote in March about how I accepted falafel back into my life. I hadn't fully discarded them, but wasn't too fond of them either as they often tend to be the only vegetarian alternative available (at least back in the day). Anyhow, my homemade falafel feast reverted me again, and now we're back in the subject, as I have made my own falafel burgers!

This falafel recipe is very similar to my previous one, I only had frozen broad beans instead of the canned ones, but both seem to work well. And of course instead of small falafel, we are now making chunkier burger patties.

This is how you can make 8 falafel burgers.

2 cups dried chickpeas

2 cups frozen broad beans

5 garlic cloves

5 spring onions

15g fresh parsley

15g fresh coriander

1tsp salt

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp baking powder

Vegetable oil for frying

Soak the chickpeas overnight and boil them in water for about 20 minutes.

Chop the garlic and the spring onions finely and remove any large stalks from the herbs.

Then just purée all the ingredients together into a paste that should be easy to shape with your hands.

Shape burger patties from the mix.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan (or you can deep fry these) and fry the falafel burgers on both sides until they are golden brown with crispy surfaces.

Serve in a pitta bread with char-grilled peppers, hummus, fresh tomatoes and spinach (or any other veggies) and enjoy! 

Your VegHog

Falafel feast

Finally the weekend is here, and more time can be spent in the kitchen! Why not make a falafel feast for your loved ones like I made recently. Some years ago I'd had enough of falafel. Quite often they were the only, or the best, vegetarian alternative available, and so I thought that I had already eaten more than my share. However now I started thinking that I should give them another chance, and decided to make my own. It turned out that I still like them very much and will definitely have them more often again.

As an inspiration and guideline I read quite a few falafel recipes, but mainly based my own version on the Guardian article How to cook the perfect falafel and a recipe in the wonderful cookbook Veggiestan by Sally Butcher. The making of the falafel is surprisingly simple, and you can combine them with pretty much anything.

So this is how I made mine, and the recipe makes about 15 falafel.

2 cups dried chickpeas

195g broad beans (1 can)

5 garlic cloves

4 spring onions

15g fresh parsley

15g fresh coriander

1tsp salt

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp baking powder

Vegetable oil for frying

Soak the chickpeas overnight. Many recipes suggested that the chickpeas don't need to be pre-boiled, but I boiled them for 20 minutes anyway. The main reason being that I don't have a good food processor, just my old hand mixer. You can decide which version you prefer.

Chop the garlic and the spring onions and remove any large stalks of the herbs. Then just purée all the ingredients together into a paste that should be easy to shape with your hands.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan (or you can deep fry these) and fry the falafel on both sides until crispy.

This is how simple it is!

Serve the falafel with: homemade hummus, tahini, salad with mixed leaves, heirloom tomatoes and shallot rings, char-grilled peppers with harissa coating (chopped peppers first char-grilled on both sides, then brushed with harissa and baked in the oven for 20 minutes), char-grilled halloumi and pitta bread.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Grilled vegetable sandwich

I just realised that I haven't posted any sandwich ideas here, can it be true? I can only remember paninis, rolls, bagels, bruchettas... anyway, today I am indeed posting a sandwich recipe, and what could be better for a start of a new week.

I char-grilled some vegetables and halloumi slices and stacked them on bread – easy + I love the smoky flavour! These vegetable amounts should be enough to make four generous sandwiches.

1 aubergine

1 zucchini

1 halloumi

100g baby salad leaves

Bread slices

Vegetable oil for grilling

Slice the vegetables and halloumi into thin slices.

Heat vegetable oil in a griddle pan and char-grill the vegetables on both sides until they have distinctive grilling marks. Due to my pan's size I had to do several batches of grilling, so I placed the ones that were already done in a dish into the oven to stay warm.

When the grilling is done, half a large bread slice (or use two bread slices on top of each other) and stack the salad and vegetables on one slice and then place a lid on the sandwich. I decided not to grill the bread on this occasion, but feel free to do so.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Char-grilled pepper pesto

If you are looking for a quick dip or sauce idea, this pesto can become a good addition to the Christmas table. It's slightly smoky due to the char-grilling and thanks to the garlic a bit punchy.

Ingredients

2 bell peppers (red or orange)

2 sundried tomatoes

50g pine nuts

25g vegetarian pasta cheese

2 cloves of garlic

50ml olive oil

Groundnut oil for grilling

Method

Cut the peppers in half or quarter them and then char-grill them on each side until they have distinct grilling marks. Let them cool.

Chop the sundried tomatoes small and soak them in water for about 15 minutes. Then drain the water of them.

Grate the vegetarian pasta cheese (parmesan equivalent).

Once the peppers have cooled, put them into a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and puree with a hand mixer to a smooth paste.

Serve as a dip or an additional sauce with the Christmas meal.

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog

Aubergine stacks with hummus

In September I published my simple homemade hummus recipe and today I want to give you a dish idea using that hummus. I made char-grilled aubergine stacks with hummus on a bed of salad and it became a simple but funny looking vegan dish with several veggies. I always like the mix of warm and cold in salads.

For the salad:

1 aubergine

2-3 small peppers

Mixed salad leaves

Small plum tomatoes

Vegetable oil or groundnut oil for grilling

For the hummus:

200g dried chickpeas

2 garlic cloves

1 lemon's juice

4tbsp olive oil

4tbsp water

1tsp paprika

1tsp cumin

1tsp salt

Please read the making instructions for the hummus from my previous post. You can of course also use any other hummus.

Slice the aubergine and char-grill the slices in a grill pan on both sides. Also char-grill the peppers for the salad until they get charring marks.

Place the salad ingredients on a plate and stack the aubergine on the top of the salad. Put little hummus between each aubergine slice and build a stack as high as you dare. And there you already have it.

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog

Char-grilled mushroom, spinach and cheese bagels

Here comes a wonderfully tasty breakfast, lunch or snack idea: char-grilled filled bagels. Not many instructions needed or much cooking involved!

4 plain bagels

4 chestnut mushrooms

A few leaves of spinach

Red Leicester cheese slices

1 onion

Groundnut oil for grilling

Slice the mushrooms, onion and cheese.

Fill the bagels with the ingredients and grill in a griddle pan until the bagels have some grilling stripes, the cheese has melted and the veg has cooked slightly. Turn over once.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Char-grilled butternut squash and pepper risotto

I'm char-grilling again as I'm still excited about my newish griddle pan. I char-grilled the veg beforehand for my risotto and the result was rather spectacular if I may say so myself. There is a nice grilling flavour going through the dish that gives a twist to a normal vegetarian risotto. Making risotto from scratch isn't as complicated as people might think, you only need some patience and stirring strength.

Ingredients

1 Pepper

½ Butternut squash

A few dried porcini mushrooms

1 Cup arborio rice

1 Onion

2 Cloves of garlic

White wine

Vegetable stock

Vegetarian pasta cheese

Olive oil

Groundnut oil

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Parsley

Method

Wash and slice the pepper and butternut squash. The bits for the char-grilling should be much larger than those you put into the risotto. Heat the griddle pan, add groundnut oil and mark these vegetables so that they get grilling stripes on both sides. When the veg bits are grilled, chop them into smaller pieces and set to side.

In the meanwhile prepare the vegetable stock and soak the dried porcini mushrooms. Warm the vegetable stock up in a pan and add parsley into it. Chop the onion and garlic and grate the pasta cheese.

Heat olive oil in a pan and fry onions and garlic there for a while. Add the porcini and fry them for a while. Then add the butter and rice and fry until the rice is translucent. Then make a white wine addition. Let the wine evaporate almost entirely and put the grilled vegetables to the pan and stir through. Make a vegetable stock addition and let simmer under the lid.

Stir often and add more vegetable stock whenever needed. Let simmer at moderate heat until the rice is al dente. Season with grated pasta cheese, parsley salt and pepper and you're ready to serve!

Enjoy!

Your VegHog