Tofu roast

 

I have made a tofu roast now for a couple of past Christmases/NYEs and it has been quite the hit and a great centerpiece at those dinners, so I decided to share this recipe with you. It is not my own recipe, I have adapted it from a Finnish one in Kotiliesi magazine, but I will provide a translation here. It could actually also qualify for the cheap eats, as it's quite a big roast made just with a few ingredients. I still have some leftovers in the freezer from the last batch and they will be good when I'm less inspired to cook.

Ingredients

600 g smoked tofu

2 onions

2-3 garlic cloves

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp vegetable stock powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp tomato purée

½ dl soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 dl almond flour

5 tbsp potato flour

For the topping

4 tbsp mustard

½ dl almond flour or breadcrumbs

Method

Chop the onions and garlic finely and cook them in oil until soft.

Blend the tofu to a smooth paste and add the onion and garlic to it.

Add the vegetable stock powder, smoked paprika, two tablespoons of oil, tomato purée, soy sauce and sugar. Then add the almond flour and potato flour and mix. Add more potato flour, if the mix feels too soft.

Shape the dough to a ball and wrap it in foil. Let it rest for 30-60 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C and cook the tofu roast for about 45–50 minutes.

Let it cool completely. It is best to leave it in the fridge overnight.

Brush the surface with mustard and sprinkle almond flour or breadcrumbs on top.

Enjoy the roast as part of any roast dinner or make sandwiches with it. It is very good either way.

 

Your VegHog

Curry with grilled tofu

 

I’ve had a wonderful weekend so far. Yesterday we went to a small outdoor beer festival and cooked a cosy dinner at home. Today there is a farmers market with loads of nice local produce. We will take the harbour bus to get there and that is a nice ride on water through Copenhagen city centre. The weather is due to get warmer again from today and throughout next week, so that’s quite nice to have some late summer feeling in September.

I’ll post this curry quickly before we head to town. I made just a basic potato and lentil curry with a grilled tofu topping. The scorched tofu was really tasty and added something special to the dish. I think I will be making more curries now towards the autumn. What is your favourite curry?

Your VegHog

 

Noodle broth

Hello February! A new winter month has started, and it's still not cold. It's just wet and rainy, but I'm in good spirits and excited to see what February brings. There are many changes going on at work and it can be a bit draining working on multiple projects at the same time. That's why I really appreciate my quiet weekends with no plans. I guess we'll stroll to the marketplace today to see, if they have any new interesting fruit and veg and then just cook a nice dinner at home.

A vegan noodle broth is occasionally a good idea. I made this coconut broth in Thai style and it was so comforting and nice. I used some of that cute confetti coriander in it too. Here is my recipe.

Noodle broth

Ingredients

200 g tofu

100 g noodles

1 fennel

2 carrots

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 red chilli

1 cm fresh ginger

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp palm sugar

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

1 tbsp vegetable stock powder

2 bay leaves

400 ml coconut milk

1 lime's juice

Handful of fresh coriander

Method

Chop the fennel, carrots, onion, garlic, chilli and ginger.

Start cooking onions in vegetable oil. Once they are softened, add the carrots and fennel to the pan. Once they have cooked nicely, also add the garlic, chilli and ginger and let cook for a while.

Add the seasoning and the coconut milk and let simmer.

Cube the tofu, fry it in vegetable oil and set to side.

Cook the noodles in water, cool and set to side.

Once the broth flavours have developed nicely, add the noodles and tofu to the broth and heat it through.

Serve and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Kimchi fried rice

I've been a bit quiet here on the blog side, but nothing to worry about, I'm still here. I've just been busy with various things and haven't found so much energy for blogging in the evenings and weekends. I've been cooking though, so I have quite a few recipes to share with you.

This vegan kimchi fried rice is actually my partner's recipe, but he taught me how to make it. I do enjoy a good fried rice, and I've been making this a few times now. We found a lovely jar of kimchi in our local supermarket, and it really adds something nice to this dish.

Kimchi fried rice

Ingredients

1,5 cups brown rice

150 g kimchi

200 g chilli and lemongrass tofu

1 yellow bell pepper

3 carrots

1 onion

3 garlic

1 green chilli

2 cm fresh ginger

Vegetable oil for frying

Sauce:

Sauce from the chilli and lemongrass tofu

Sauce from the kimchi

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp miso

Method

Cook the rice until it's done, cool it down, and set to side.

Make the sauce by mixing the ingredients. I had a flavoured chilli and lemongrass tofu with a marinade, so it was handy to use the marinade in the sauce. The sauce should be about 0,5 cup in volume, so you can add some water, if it's less. Taste and add more sesame oil or soy sauce, if needed.

Chop the tofu into cubes and fry them in hot oil until they are crispy and golden brown. Set them to side.

Chop the pepper, carrots, onion, garlic, chilli and ginger. Fry them in oil, first the pepper, carrots and oniong, then adding everything else, including the kimchi, after a few minutes. Set it to side.

Fry the cooled brown rice in oil in a hot pan for a few minutes.

Add all the components that you set to side and the sauce. Mix it all together and make sure that everything is heated through.

Then serve and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Thai noodles

I hope that you all had a nice festive period and are now ready to return to the normal routines and start the new year. I've already been working for three days this week, and it was okay, but now I'm still happy to have this relaxing weekend. It's fairly sunny today, but also a bit chilly, so it's a perfect weather for January.

So how many of you are having Veganuary? I'm not taking part myself, because I have too much cheese left from the Christmas period, but I admire everyone who takes this challenge. There is also a dry January, which I have sometimes done, but I'm not doing it this year. I'm happy to see these initiatives to be quite popular though. I will try to be more healthy and frugal in January otherwise.

I recently made these Thai noodles just as a change to my usual Thai curries with jasmine rice. I used soya spaghetti as the noodles and fennel and red bell pepper as the veggies. It's basically one of my golden Thai curries, but with noodles instead of rice. It was a really nice vegan meal.

Thai noodles

Ingredients

250 g tofu

1 fennel bulb

1 red bell pepper

1 onion

2 cm fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves

1 red chilli

Vegetable oil

2 tbsp white miso

2 tbsp tomato purée

2 tsp palm sugar

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 vegetable stock cube

1 lime

1 can coconut milk

Soya spaghetti

Method

Chop the tofu into cubes and fry them in vegetable oil. Set them to side and mix them into the curry towards the end.

Also cook the noodles, cool them down and set them to side. They will also be added to the mix later.

Chop the fennel and bell pepper. Also chop the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli finely and start cooking them in a pan until soft.

Add the fennel and bell pepper and fry them for a while. Then add the seasoning and stir it in.

Add the coconut milk and let the curry simmer until the flavours have blended nicely. Add any more of the seasoning to taste.

Add the noodles and tofu to the mix and heat through.

Serve and enjoy!

Have a really nice weekend everyone!

Your VegHog

Cabbage fried rice

It has been a busy week with quick meals and hot nights. The temperatures are still high, which makes sleeping at night very difficult. Now I'm finally a bit fresh again after sleeping a long night. I'm preparing late breakfast while I write this post. Today we'll have savoury oat porridge made with oat milk and oaty spelt rolls with cheese. Then we are planning to head to town to the vegetable market, where there is also currently a stage for the Copenhagen Opera Festival. I'm not the greatest opera fan, but if I can get a little bit of culture while shopping for my veg, I'll be very happy.

Now as the theme of the week was quick cooking, this is a really quick vegan stir-fry dish that I favour on many weekdays. Only the vegetables and protein are variable, but the basics are the same. It's always a good idea to hold a basic stock of soy sauce, miso, mirin and sesame oil, as you can make really flavourful meals with them. I chose crunchy red cabbage as the main vegetable for this dish, and of course there had to be some tofu.

Cabbage fried rice

Ingredients

125 g tofu

Vegetable oil for frying

1/4 red cabbage

4 small carrots

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

2 cm fresh ginger

1 red chilli

1 tbsp white miso

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 cup jasmine rice

Method

Cut the tofu into cubes and fry them in vegetable oil until golden brown. Set them to side.

Cook the rice while you do the prep.

Slice the cabbage, onion and carrots, and chop the garlic, chilli and ginger finely.

Fry the onion and carrots in oil, shortly followed by the garlic, chilli and ginger. Then also add the cabbage and the sauces to the pan. Let simmer for a little while.

Mix the tofu and rice into the vegetables. Serve and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Golden Thai curry

I recently ate a golden curry at a local Thai restaurant, and instantly fell in love with the dish. It was so good, containing different veggies, tofu and spicy coconut milk broth, just wonderful! I've previously only had green and red Thai curries, and obviously love them, but this was one step up.

Therefore I wanted to try to make a golden Thai curry myself, and I must say that my own one was almost better than the one in the restaurant! Well, that may not be true, but I'm sure that this recipe will become a household favourite of ours. I thought that the crinkle cut butternut squash chips also added a nice touch. I so want a crinkle cutter now to make all vegetables that shape! 

Golden Thai curry

Ingredients

Golden curry paste

2 lemongrass stalks

2 cm fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves

2 red chillies

1 lime's juice

1 tbsp white miso

1 tbsp tomato purée

2 tsp palm sugar

1 tsp white pepper

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp ground cinnamon

3 tbsp vegetable stock

Other ingredients

280 g tofu

300 g crinkle cut butternut chips

2 carrots

1 large onion

Vegetable oil

400 ml coconut milk

1 cup jasmine rice

Method

Make the golden curry paste by puréeing all paste ingredients together into a smooth paste.

Cut the tofu into generous chunks and fry them in vegetable oil until golden brown and firm on the outside.

Cut the carrots into about 2 cm long sticks and coarsely chop the onion.

Cook the onion in vegetable oil until softened, then add the carrots to the pan, and after a while the curry paste.

Cook for a couple of minutes, add the coconut milk and let simmer until the flavours have blended nicely.

Bake the butternut squash chips in the oven until done and add them to the curry.

Cook the jasmine rice and serve together with the curry and enjoy!

I want to share this dish with Jacqueline's cooking challenge Meat Free Mondays for the National Vegetarian Week.

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

Japanese style mushroom, tofu and noodle broth

Here comes another warming vegan dish that is just perfect for the autumn. As it is World Vegan Day today, it's only right to post an international vegan dish. I finally managed to make this style of broth, which I've been planning for quite a while now. Now that the weather is slowly getting chillier, this kind of dishes are just perfect for the season.

I used spiralised yellow carrots in this with mixed exotic mushrooms, radishes and chucky tofu pieces in a wonderfully spicy broth, and added thick udon noodles for slightly more substance. As a base for the broth I used Clearspring's Organic Instant Noodle Broth and found it to be very good. I still have some of it left, so another broth should come very soon.

Ingredients

1 large yellow carrot

200 g mixed exotic mushrooms

1 shallot

2 garlic cloves

1 cm fresh ginger

2 small chillies

100 g radishes

200 ml noodle broth

800 ml water

200 g tofu

200 g wide udon noodles

Mirin to taste

Soy sauce to taste

Sesame oil to taste

Green nori sprinkle

Method

Prepare the vegetables by cutting them to suitable shapes and sizes. Spiralise the carrot.

Cook the tofu cubes separately in a hot pan until golden brown and firm, and set them to side.

Cook the shallot, garlic, ginger and chilli. Add the other vegetables to them.

Heat up the noodle broth with water and combine it with the vegetables.

Cook the noodles until they are done and add them to the broth.

Season to taste with mirin, soy sauce, sesame oil and green nori sprinkle.

Enjoy!

I want to share this recipe with Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen, who is hosting No Croutons Required, a vegetarian soup and salad cooking challenge this month and in December. The event is hosted by Lisa and Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes.

Your VegHog

Udon noodles with tofu – Part 2

Yesterday I posted the first recipe of a two-part vegan udon noodle series (if it can be called a series as a two parter). Have a look at Part 1 here. Today I'm posting a slightly different recipe containing wide udon noodles and tofu. In this recipe I used bell peppers, carrots, ginger and chilli and slightly different sauces than in yesterday’s dish. The vegetables were also a bit chunkier and with more bite in this one. I enjoyed both dishes very much and will keep variating these kind of dishes. Do you have any favourite udon noodle recipes to share?

Ingredients

250 g tofu

Vegetable oil for frying

200 g udon noodles

2 bell peppers

2 large carrots

1 onion

4 garlic cloves

2 cm fresh ginger

1 green chilli

Soy sauce

Toasted sesame oil

Shaoxing rice wine

Miso

Method

Cut the tofu into large chunks, put a little vegetable oil into a hot pan and fry the tofu pieces until they are firm and golden brown. Also cook the noodles, cool them and set to side.

Then cut the bell peppers and carrots into pieces and slice the onion. Chop the garlic, fresh ginger and chilli finely.

Fry the bell peppers and carrots briefly in a hot pan until they get a little bit of brown colour. Remove them from the pan and start frying the onion.

After the onion is slightly browned and softened, add the garlic, ginger and chilli to the pan soon followed by the pre-fried bell peppers and carrots.

Add the soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, Shaoxing rice wine and miso into the pan, all to taste, but more seasoning can also be added later if needed.

Then add the tofu and noodles and serve once the flavours have blended nicely. I try not to cook the dish together for very long so that the vegetables and noodles still keep a little bit of bite.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Udon noodles with tofu – Part 1

I'm going to post two vegan tofu udon noodle recipes on two consecutive days, as I think that these dishes are just perfect for weekday dinners. I often have them for dinner and always take them to work for lunch the next day and then they almost taste better. I'm really fond of this kind of stir frys and adore the contrast between the soft wide udon noodles with the firmly fried tofu. Also other noodle types can be used to this, but the wide udon is brilliant in my opinion. You can also use pretty much any vegetable combination, which can be a really good use for example for left-over vegetables. As soon as you have the basic sauces handy, you can make these sort of dishes in no time. In this recipe I used shiitake mushrooms and spinach as vegetables and green nori sprinkle as a special touch.

Ingredients

300 g tofu
Vegetable oil for frying
200 g udon noodles
150 g shiitake mushrooms
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
50 g spinach
Green nori sprinkle
Miso
Soy sauce
Toasted sesame oil
Mirin

Method

Start by preparing the tofu. Cut it into cubes, put a little vegetable oil into a hot pan and fry the tofu pieces until they are firm and golden brown. Set them to side.

Also cook the noodles, cool them and set to side.

Slice the shiitake mushrooms and onions and chop the garlic finely. Stir fry the shiitake mushrooms and set them to side.

Then also stir fry the onion slices until they are slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for a while more.

Add the sauces and green nori sprinkle to taste. Then add the spinach, tofu and noodles into the pan. Stir for a while and serve.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Udon noodles in peanut sauce with tofu and broccoli

I made a comforting bowl of thick udon noodles in peanut sauce served with firmly fried tofu and steamed broccoli. I got the idea for this dish from The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit, as there was a description of the flavour combination of coriander leaf and peanut. I have to say that coriander really did add something nice to this dish and broccoli was a nice addition too.

This was a surprisingly fast and uncomplicated weekday dish and I will surely be refining this recipe further. Next time I'll probably try smaller tofu pieces and smaller broccoli florets mixed straight into the noodles. I will also try to this with other veggies.

So here's my vegan recipe of today:

Ingredients

300 g tofu

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves

3 cm ginger

Handful of peanuts

Sprinkle of chilli flakes

Splash of soy sauce

Splash of toasted sesame oil

3 tbsp peanut butter

Fresh coriander

200 g udon noodles

1 broccoli

Method

Chop the garlic and ginger finely and peel the peanuts.

Cut the tofu into large pieces and fry them in vegetable oil until firm and golden brown.

Cut the broccoli into florets and steam them.

Cook the noodles in water.

Start frying the garlic and ginger in a pan and after a while add the peanuts.

Add the chilli flakes, a splash of soy sauce, a splash of toasted sesame oil and peanut butter.

Once these have made a nice sauce, also add the udon noodles to the pan and season with fresh coriander.

Serve all components together and 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

Roasted potatoes and carrots with tofu cutlets

Sunday is the perfect day to enjoy a vegan half roast dish and half fresh dish. I combined some tofu cutlets with roasted potatoes, roasted carrots, steamed garden peas and fresh pea shoots and tomatoes. It was a good and colourful combination and went down well. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

500 g potatoes

Olive oil

Smoked paprika

Salt

2 large carrots

Olive oil

Salt

2 spelt and hazelnut tofu cutlets

1 onion

1 garlic clove

Olive oil

Fresh garden peas

Pea shoots

Tomatoes

Method

Brush the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle smoked paprika and salt on the top. Roast in the oven until nicely roasted.

Peel and slice the carrots and roast them in the same fashion as the potatoes.

Pan fry the tofu cutlets (or an alternative vegan Schnitzel). Also fry onion rings and finely chopped garlic in the pan.

Remove the fresh garden peas from their pods and steam them.

Serve the components together with fresh pea shoots and tomatoes and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Puy lentil, tofu and roasted courgette salad

I'm so sorry that I haven't been posting many recipes lately. The holiday threw me out of the normal routine a little bit and it was hard getting back during the first normal week. Luckily I didn't find work too bad and managed to cook a couple of times in the week. I have been eating a lot comfort food in order to get used to the routines again. Now I made a salad for a change where warm and cold bits are combined and it's quite filling with its lentils and tofu. Today was a really hot day again, so a salad is quite a suitable meal.

Ingredients

3 baby gem lettuce

200 g smoked tofu

1 tsp vegetable oil

200 g cherry tomatoes

6 mini courgettes

½ cup puy lentils

1 vegetable stock cube

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Salt

Ground black pepper

Method

Cut the tofu into small cubes and fry them in vegetable oil until firm.

Cut the courgettes into smaller pieces and brush them with olive oil. Roast them in the oven until soft with some roasting marks.

Cook the lentils in water with added vegetable stock cube until done. Then remove the cooking water.

Cut the gem lettuce and tomatoes into smaller bits.

Combine the ingredients. I prefer eating the warm components warm, but they are perfectly good cooled down as well.

Season with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and enjoy!

Your VegHog