Showing posts with label Paprika. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paprika. Show all posts

Monday, October 26, 2015

Vegan Goulash with tofu


Ingredients:

2 blocks of tofu, frozen for one day and then defrosted
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp hot paprika (or to taste)
2 carrots
4 large potatoes
1 green capsicum (bell pepper)
1 red capsicum (bell pepper)
2l l vegetable broth
Salt to taste

If you freeze the tofu and then defrost it it becomes porous and easy to cook in stew without breaking up. Also it will absorb flavors really well! Once the tofu is defrosted cut it in big cubes. Chop the onion and sauté with the olive oil. When the onion is translucent add the paprika, the sweet paprika will give flavour, and the hot one… heat, so use this according to taste. Then add the tofu cubes and stir well. Add the vegetables and the hot vegetable broth. Simmer until the carrots and potatoes are ready, but before the potatoes start to break up. Goulash is more like a soup than a stew. If you prefer a thicker stew just cook it for longer, stirring often and breaking up the potatoes. Add salt to taste (no necessary if the broth is salty enough).

 Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Spicy Chickpea Snack






I am used to Italian cats eating almost anything, but New Zealand cats seem to be fussier, so I was very surprised when Marameo jumped on the bench to grab the cooked chickpeas that I was rinsing. I had to give her some, she could not wait, and ate them all. I gave them seconds and then she stopped bothering me. Strange cat! 

With my remaining chickpeas, I wanted to make a spicy snack: this one from the blog of Araba Felice.



Smoked Paprika Chickpea Snack




The original recipe calls for:
400 g can of chickpeas,
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp sweet paprika, or your favourite spice (in my variation I used smoked paprika instead)
1 tsp salt, about
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
I also added a few cumin seeds.




Rinse and pat dry the chickpeas, and mix with the other dried ingredients until the chickpeas are nicely coated. At this point I left the chickpeas in the bowl for about 30 minutes so that the flour and spices could really get 'caked' around each chickpea.


Pour the olive oil on a baking tray (no baking paper), add the chickpeas and roll them around so that they are not one on top of the other. Bake at 200°C, rolling them on the tray again from time to time to make sure that they get crispy all over. The original recipe says 30 minutes, but my canned chickpeas were quite small, I though, so 20 minutes were sufficient. Serve as a snack, warm or even cold (I think that they will go well with beer so I will make them again when my husband is back!)


Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Cauliflower and Borage Curry



This turned out to be a fantastic vegan curry, and quite innovative too: I have never seen a curry made with borage!!!






Borage is a beautiful plant to have in the garden, loved by the bees and with pretty blue flowers. It is also versatile: you can eat the flowers, the stems and the leaves. It is prickly, but that goes away with cooking. If you don't have a garden sometimes you can find borage growing wild in meadows, and forage it.




The only thing to remember is to discard the pods with the seeds that have already formed (they are too hard), like the one in the photo below. Flowers and flower buds are soft, and can be cooked.




Sizzle one tsp of fenugreek seeds and one green chili with one tbsp of vegetable oil.


Add one small tsp each of turmeric, ground coriander, ground fennel and paprika, and also a good pinch of salt.


Add one onion, chopped, and sizzle for two minutes, and then add half cauliflower, cut into florettes. Coat the cauliflower well with the spices.


Add one can of coconut milk, and then one can of water (to rinse the coconut milk can). Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.


Add the borage, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.


Add one tsp of masala powder and simmer for other five minutes, or until all the vegetables are soft. At the end decorate with fresh borage flowers.



Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©