Udon noodles with smoked tofu and veggies

 

I’ve been extremely lazy at blogging lately. My apologies for that. If you are on Instagram, you will see more of me there, but I just haven’t had so much energy for blogging. I am fine though, cooking a lot and enjoying the summer. I’ve scheduled my summer holiday for later this year, from mid August to early September and I’m hoping to be able to travel home after over 1,5 years. That means that I still have quite a few weeks left at work until then, but usually it is very quiet there in July.

Now I thought that I would share this udon noodle dish with you. I found lovely fresh local sugar snap peas and regular peas on a farmers market, so I decided to use them in a stir fry style dish. I added some mini bell peppers and marinated smoked tofu to the dish and mixed them all with the noodles and a spicy soy sauce. It was a good spicy meal, as I haven’t made many noodle dishes lately.

So what have you been up to this summer and do you have any holiday plans? I hope you’ll have a nice weekend!

Your VegHog

 

Kalette stir fry

I still had some of this wonderful vegan and organic edamame and mung bean fettucine, so I thought that another stir fry would in place. Stir frys are in fact some of our absolute weekday favourites. You only need some noodles or rice, a few fresh veggies and maybe tofy for a more balanced meal, some seasoning, and that's it. It's so easy and fairly quick, normally a really satisfying dish to cook after work.

So in this stir fry I used the oh so lovely seasonal kalettes, a hybrid between kale and brussels sprout, as the main veg. They suited this kind of dish very well. I was quite pleased with it. Have a look at the recipe below, if you want to know more.

Kalette stir fry

Ingredients

150 g kalettes

200 g tofu

2 tbsp vegetable oil for

2 carrots

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

2 cm fresh ginger

1 chilli

Soy sauce to taste

Mirin to taste

Sesame oil to taste

100 g organic edamame and mung bean fettucine

Method

Cut the tofu into cubes and fry the cubes in a hot pan until firm. Remove them from the pan and set to side.

Chop the carrots into thin slices and also slice the onion and finely chop the garlic, ginger and chillies.

Heat again some oil in the hot pan and start cooking the onion and carrots. Cook until they are softened and slightly browned.

Add the garlic, ginger and chilli, and after a while the sauces.

Cook the noodles separately and then add them to the pan.

Also add the kalettes towards the ends, as they don't need much cooking.

Let simmer for a few minutes until the flavours have blended and add more sauce, if needed.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Quick stir fry kind of day

Vegan stir frys are just perfect for hectic weekdays. They are so quick to make after a bit of prep, taste good and are also nutritious and filling. I normally add tofu and noodles into my stir frys, as they make them extra wholesome, and this recipe was no different. The dish may look a bit pale and knackered, but I can assure you that it was tasty. I wish I would've had something green to add to it, but unfortunately not this time. These organic edamame and mung bean fettucine are made just from beans and water and they added an interesting (slightly rubbery) texture to the dish.

Tofu stir fry

Ingredients

200 g tofu

Vegetable oil for frying

3 carrots

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

2 cm fresh ginger

2 small chillies

Splashes of soy sauce

Splashes of mirin

Splashes of sesame oil

100 g organic edamame and mung bean fettucine

Method

Cut the tofu into cubes and fry them in a hot pan until firm. Remove them from the pan and set to side.

Chop the carrots into thin slices and also slice the onion and finely chop the garlic, ginger and chillies.

Heat again some oil in the hot pan and start cooking the onion and carrots. Cook until they are softened and slightly browned.

Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and after a while the sauces.

Cook the noodles separately and then add them to the pan.

Let simmer for a few minutes until the flavours have blended and add more sauce, if needed.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Pattypan squash stir fry

I made a simple and light stir fry. It's a vegan dish, where the pattypan squash replaces the noodles, and I would like to think that this dish is also fairly healthy. There is a little bit of chopping and cutting to be done, but otherwise it's a quick and easy dish. I exaggerated slightly with the chilli, as it happened to be a very hot one and I even left the seeds in it. Nevertheless the spiciness I was able to enjoy this dish.

Have a look at my recipe below.

Ingredients

1 pattypan squash

200 g smoked tofu

1 large carrot

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves

1 green chilli

1 cm fresh ginger (similar amount to garlic when chopped)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp sesame oil or to taste

3 tbsp soy sauce or to taste

2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine or to taste

Method

Cut the pattypan squash into thin strings with a vegetable cutter.

Also prep the other vegetables: chop the carrot and onion into thin strips, and chop the garlic, chilli and ginger finely.

Cut the tofu into small dices and cook them in hot oil until firm and golden brown and set to side.

Quickly fry the carrot stripes in hot oil and set to side. Do the same to the onion.

Start cooking the garlic, chilli and ginger in a pan in vegetable oil. Then add the pattypan squash, pre-fried carrot and onion and the tofu dices.

Pour the sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine into the pan and cook for a few minutes. Taste the seasoning and add anything that is needed more. The pattypan squash doesn't need very much cooking, such some seasoning through the sauce and most of the other components are pre-fried.

Serve instantly and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Stir fry with sprouts

I have been making vegan stir frys incredibly often this year. Today is one of those days. Now that I'm more confident with the spicing, it's an easy weekday meal to make after work and take for next day's lunch. It's a lovely and light, but filling meal and I've really grown to love these spices. For this one I had sprouted some mung bean and radish sprouts again. Have a look how easy it can be!

Ingredients

250 g hazelnut tofu

2 tbsp groundnut oil

1 red bell pepper

1 red chilli

1 shallot

3 garlic cloves

1 cm ginger (similar amount to garlic)

1 cup mung bean sprouts + radish sprouts

100 g buckwheat noodles

2 tbsp sesame oil

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

Method

Chop the tofu into small cubes and fry them in groundnut oil until firm and golden brown.

Chop the bell pepper into thin slices and separately fry the slices on a pan for a few minutes.

Chop chilli, shallot, garlic and ginger finely.

Cook the noodles in water al dente and set to side.

Start cooking the shallot and then chilli, garlic and ginger in groundnut oil.

Add the sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine to taste.

Then add the noodles, peppers and tofu and cook for a couple of minutes together and check the spicing.

Stir in the fresh sprouts, serve instantly and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Soya fillets on a vegetable bed

I've had a good week so far, a couple of days off and a short trip to Oxford, from which I will be posting a few photos soon. Here is a new recipe for a light meal that I cooked inspired by my new dried soya fillets. The fillets are quite versatile to use and now I combined them with a green stir fry type of a dish. All in all this is a quick and easy vegan dish and here is how I made it.

Ingredients

6-8 dried soya fillets

1 red onion

2 carrots

150 g radishes

230 g purple sprouting broccoli

230 g pak choi

1 garlic clove

1 small chilli

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp sesame oil

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

Method

Prepare the soya fillets and chop all the veg. My soya fillets needed to be cooked in water for 10 minutes and then they could be fried. Fry the soya fillets so that they get a bit firmer and add a little soy sauce.

Chop the red onion into half rings and the carrots into thin sticks. Slice the radishes and the pak choi. Chop the garlic and chilli finely.

Fry the onions, garlic, chilli and carrots in the vegetable oil. Season with sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine and add the radishes and purple sprouting broccoli. Let simmer until the vegetables are cooked, yet a little bit with bite or crunch. Add the pak choi only just before serving to warm through and get slightly infused by the sauce.

Serve the vegetables with the soya fillets and enjoy!

I'll share this recipe with the Eat Your Greens vegetarian food blogging challenge that's all about green vegetables. This challenge is hosted by Shaheen from the A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table.  

Have a nice week!

Your VegHog

Green pepper and sprout stir fry

This week and February are both drawing to a close and I must say that I'm pleased about my weekend without plans. Well, there are plans to take it easy and cook nice food, but that's about it. What have you planned for the weekend?

So, now to today's recipe. I added some lentil and radish sprouts to today's stir fry, and they make a very tasty and nutritious addition. I have been sprouting a lot lately again. I normally have phases when I eat more sprouts and then forget all about them for a couple of months.

Ingredients

100 g buckwheat noodles

200 g smoked tofu

2 tbsp groundnut oil

2 green bell pepper

1 chilli

1 shallot

2 garlic cloves

1 cm ginger (similar amount to garlic)

200 g mange tout peas

1 cup lentil sprouts + radish sprouts

2 tbsp sesame oil

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

Method

Chop the tofu into small cubes and fry them until firm in the groundnut oil.

Cook the noodles and set to side. They don't need to be fully soft, as they will cook a little in the stir fry later.

Chop the bell pepper into this strips and the chilli, shallot, ginger and garlic finely. The mange tout peas can also be cut into halves.

Fry the pepper strips in a hot pan with a little oil and set to side. I like to leave them with a bit of crunch.

Cook the chilli, shallot, ginger and garlic also in a little groundnut oil until soft and then add the tofu, peppers and mange tout peas followed by the noodles.

Pour the sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine into the pan and cook for a few minutes. Don't take my ingredient amounts for these liquids too seriously, just keep splashing and tasting while you stir.

Stir the sprouts in just before serving and serve instantly.

I'm also sharing this recipe with February's edition of the Eat Your Greens challenge by Shaheen from A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table. 

Your VegHog

Chinese style vegetable stir fry

Finally I have time to post a recipe again! I do apologise for the blog being a bit quieter now, as I haven't had so much time for cooking and writing. Thank goodness the weekend is soon here and I'm able to cook more, maybe even bake! I'm really looking forward to that, a really quiet weekend at home.

So, now over to the actual recipe. I hope you like today's dish, which is just a Chinese style stir fry with various vegetables and tofu – one of my favourite dishes at the moment. With a little bit of spicing and fresh produce, it's very easy to make such a dish. It's light, yet filling and full of flavour. Have a look below, how I made this. You can also get creative and variate the vegetables at will.

Ingredients

300 g tofu

Groundnut oil for frying

3 bell peppers

150 g shiitake mushrooms

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

3 cm fresh ginger (about the same amount as the garlic when chopped)

1 small red chilli

2 spring onions

100 g baby pak choi

85 ml soy sauce

85 ml Shaoxing rice wine

3 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp maple syrup

200 g wholewheat noodles

Method

Press the excess liquid off the tofu and cut it into cubes. Start frying the cubes in hot groundnut oil and in the meanwhile prepare the vegetables. The tofu cubes need to be firm and bouncy, at least that's the way I like it. And they can be set to side once you're happy with the texture.

Make the sauce by mixing the soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, sesame oil and maple syrup together. This will be added to the stir fry towards the end.

Chop the onion, ginger, chilli and garlic finely. Cut the bell peppers, shiitake mushrooms, spring onions and pak choi into suitable sized slices.

Quickly fry the pepper slices in the hot pan and set to side. Repeat the same for the shiitake mushrooms.

Start also cooking the noodles.

Heat a little groundnut oil in a pan and cook the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli until soft.

Add the spring onions, tofu, pre-fried peppers and mushrooms to the pan.

Pour the sauce on the vegetables and add the pak choi just before serving. I added my pak choi a bit too early, that's why the greenery looks like it has disappeared.

You can then either mix the noodles to the vegetables or serve them on the side.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog