Vegan tomato and olive tofu spread

I think that it's difficult to find great ready made vegan bread spreads, so I decided to make my own. That way I know that all ingredients are fresh and I can make combinations just like I want them.

This is a very simple spread to make, so go on and have a try!

Ingredients

400g soft tofu

100g black olives

200g cherry tomatoes

1 orange pepper

½ red onion

1 garlic clove

Olive oil

Basil

Pepper

Salt

Method

First make a sauce, similar to a tomato sauce. Chop the onion, garlic and pepper finely. Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and add the tomatoes. Simmer them under the lid until they are breaking apart and forming a saucy texture. Then add the onion, pepper and garlic and let it simmer further. Season with salt, pepper and basil and let the sauce cool down.

Chop the olives and add them to the cool tomato and pepper sauce. Add the tofu, which you might want to press first to remove any excess fluid. Then puree everything into an even paste and it's done.

I served this spread with Peter's Yard artisan sourdough crispbreads and that was a lovely match. But you can combine this spread as you please.

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog

Marinated zucchini salad

This is a nice and fresh salad to be had in the summer. It's very hot at the moment in England, so it's nice to eat light and cool food. Also once again I'm harvesting the main ingredient from my own garden.

1 zucchini

1 small red chili

1 lemon

½ onion

A few basil leaves

Olive oil

Slice the zucchini thinly and chop the onion and chili into very small bits. Place these ingredients into a bowl and pour a little olive oil and the juice of one lemon on them. Cover with cling film and let the zucchini marinate for about 30 minutes.

Serve the salad cold garnished with some fresh basil leaves and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Rhubarb chutney

Now I truly must be becoming British as I have made my first ever chutney! I was inspired to this by some rhubarb I received from a nearby garden and wanted to make something new out of rhubarb.

This chutney is very easy and quick to make. I think I'm going to make more of this and other chutneys in the future.

400g rhubarb

1 onion

100ml Aspall cyder vinegar

200g sugar

Ginger powder

Peel and chop the rhubarb into small pieces. Also chop the onion.

Heat the chopped onion, vinegar, sugar and ginger powder in a pan and boil for about 5 minutes. Add the rhubarb and let simmer for about 20 minutes. The chutney should reach a thicker consistency. I first was reluctant adding so much sugar, but it really is needed and the end result is tasty.

I ate this chutney with some cider battered smoked cheddar and zucchini oven fries out of homegrown small zucchinis. It went really well with the smoky taste.

You can find my smoky cheese recipe here and the zucchini fries here.

Your VegHog

Char-grilled stuffed zucchini

I harvested a zucchini from my balcony again and made this dish. The taste of a homegrown zucchini is very intense, especially if you won't let it grow too big.

One zucchini is enough to make a light starter or a side dish for two people. It could be combined for example with potato mash.

Ingredients

1 zucchini

1 small onion

1 garlic clove

6 cherry tomatoes

Grated cheddar

Lemon & pepper bread crumbs

Fresh basil

Salt

Pepper

Vegetable oil

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Wash the zucchini, cut it in half and scoop the insides out and shaping two thin zucchini boats.

Put the zucchini insides into a bowl and add the chopped onion and garlic and quartered cherry tomatoes. Mix this stuffing with grated cheese and season it with salt and pepper and fresh basil leaves.

Heat some vegetable oil in a griddle pan and grill the zucchini halves from both sides until they have grilling marks. Place them into an oven dish and fill them with the stuffing. Sprinkle lemon & pepper bread crumbs on them. Use regular bread crumbs with pepper and lemon zest if you can't get this ready made variation.

Bake the zucchini at 180C for about 30 minutes and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Carrot and potato soup

The weather is a bit hot for eating a soup, I admit it, but I'm still going to post this recipe today. This is a perfectly good and tasty vegan soup and can be enjoyed anytime.

Follow these simple steps to make this soup.

Ingredients

4 carrots

1 cup red lentils

6 small potatoes (seasonal new potatoes are brilliant to be used at the moment)

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

500ml vegetable stock

Fresh parsley

Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Wash and peel the potatoes and quarter them or slice them into small pieces. Also wash and slice the carrots and chop the onion and garlic. Prepare the vegetable stock. You can make your own, use a ready made vegetable stock or mix one with vegetable stock powder. I find that the powder version is quite convenient as I often need vegetable stock and that's long lasting and easy to make.

Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and gently fry the potatoes and carrots. Then add the onions and finally the garlic. After these are glazed, make a vegetable stock addition. Pour in about the third of your stock and let it all simmer for a while. Stir occasionally and add more vegetable stock if needed.

After these ingredients have simmered for about 10 minutes, rinse the red lentils and add them to the saucepan along some more vegetable stock. Then let the soup simmer until the lentils, potatoes and carrots are cooked soft and season it with fresh parsley, salt and pepper. Puree the soup and serve it hot.

Enjoy now or save the recipe for the autumn!

Your VegHog

Mozzarella and pea shoot pesto stuffed peppers with new potatoes

A few days ago I posted the recipe for my pea shoot pesto and today I'm showing you what I cooked with it. I combined it with stuffed cheesy peppers and new potatoes and the whole thing is a fairly quick dish.

Ingredients:

500g baby new potatoes

2 yellow peppers

200g mozzarella cheese

Black pepper

Salt

For the pea shoot pesto:

250g pea shoots

1dl frozen peas

1-2 garlic cloves

Toasted pine nuts

Olive oil

Make the pea shoot pesto first by defrosting the peas and chopping the garlic. Then toast the pine nuts briefly in a dry frying pan. Put all ingredients into a bowl and puree them into a fine paste.

Chop the mozzarella into small pieces and mix it with the pesto. Season lightly with salt and black pepper. The rest of the pea shoot pesto can be stored for a few days in the fridge.

Cut the top off the yellow peppers and remove the seeds. Keep the lid. Fill the peppers with the pesto and mozzarella mix and close the lid. Bake them at 180C for about 30 minutes until the peppers are soft. During the baking also boil the new potatoes until tender.

And it's all done!

Your VegHog

The VegHog's garden update

I have promised to update you of my urban garden's progress throughout the summer, so here is a little post about it again. In the meanwhile my balcony is blooming and green and I'm so happy with it.

My first vegetable crops of the year were radishes. I ate the radishes, used the leaves for a pesto and now I let them flower. The flowers are edible and have a nice peppery taste, so I have used them to garnish salads.

The zucchinis are growing pretty fast and are trying to take over my whole balcony. First I didn't think they would grow that well in pots, but I was wrong. I have tried to be inventive with what to make with them. I've even made a courgette flower dish.

My bush tomatoes have been flowering for a good while now and I'm excited to see whether they can produce a fruit. Same goes for the French dwarf beans.

The outdoor and indoor herbs are also doing well. They love the light and warmth that will hopefully last for a while longer. I have recently planted some lettuce and chard, so we'll see how they'll come along when planted a bit later.

As decoration I'm growing sweet peas. They have lovely flowers and they also attract bees.

I will be posting another gardening update and more recipes I have cooked with my homegrown produce soon.

Your VegHog

Related posts:

The joys of balcony gardening 

Homegrown