This is an aromatic vegan and gluten free soup, light and delicious.
For the broth:
500 ml vegetable stock
1 can coconut cream or milk + one can of water (rinsing the coconut cream)
1 large yellow courgette (zucchini)
2 fresh red chilies
1 block of tofu
a pinch of freshly grated ginger
1 stalk lemon grass
a few coriander leaves
Simmer all together for a few minutes until the zucchini are soft but not mushy.
In the meantime soak the vermicelli in hot water until soft then divide between 6 bowls.
chop a few cherry tomatoes, and wash some fresh basil and some thai mint
Pour the hot soup over the vermicelli, making sure that each dish has equal parts of tofu and veggies.
Decorate with the tomatoes, basil and Thai mint and serve immediately.
Something filling yet light, done in a jiffy! I had very little left in the fridge, just a bit of salad mix, but in the pantry I had some rice paper, vermicelli and dried gluten meat. So I put the 'fake' meat in a pot with a little vegetable stock (made with an organic veggie cube) and cooked it until soft. Then I cut it into little strips (actually, Arantxa did it - see photo). I soaked the vermicelli in boiling water and then drained and rinsed them. To assemble the rice paper rolls you will need to line the table with clean tea towels, then soak the rice paper in hot water until soft, top with salad, the vermicelli and the gluten meat strips.
To see how to fold the rolls (step by step) you can have a look here. If you have time you can fold the rolls adding herb leaves and flowers. Keep the rolls covered with a tea towel until ready to eat. Serve with soy sauce or sweet chili sauce.
Eating from the veggie garden: even if I don't have 'quantity' I do have variety enough to make a colorful vegan curry. First I started with a simple paste made with a small piece of ginger (peeled), one shallot (also peeled), fresh coriander (with stalks), green chili (not too much for me, maybe one or two), and fresh lemon grass (one stick). If you have kaffir lime leaves or rind, the are good too, apparently, but I didn't have any so I added a little lemon juice. Mush with a mortar and pestle or with a blender (I used the blender, too hot for the mortar and pestle!) adding salt towards the end.
Now, the only thing in the paste that came from the garden was coriander, and frozen (from last year) as this year my plant died! I also have lots of frozen chills to use, and a little plant that don't even have flowers yet!
The veggies: 1 carrot, 2 yellow zucchini, a few tomatoes, a few broccolini, borage tips, the only tiny capsicum I had in the garden, Thai mint, basil, onion weed flowers (these were foraged in spring and frozen) and borage flowers to decorate.
From the supermarket: organic tofu and coconut cream.
I cut the tofu and placed it in a pot with the coconut cream plus one can of water (to rinse the coconut cream can). Added the green curry paste and simmered the lot for 10 minutes and then I added the rest of the vegetables in this order: carrots, borage tips, capsicum, zucchini, broccolini, tomatoes (leave a couple of minutes between each vegetable). To stir I used a lemongrass stalk. Then I tasted for salt then I added the herbs and onion weed flowers (because they were frozen), turned the heat off and cover the pot with a lid for 5 minutes. Then I added the borage flowers.
Actually, the curry paste took longer than the curry to make! Serve hot with rice.
Community Garden in Christchurch
This short video is about a community garden in South Christchurch I visited last winter. It is very inspiring to see how it was organized, and what it does for the local community. A must see if you work in or plan a community garden.
A garden in Clevedon
The other week I went with Slow Food Waitakere to visit a garden in Clevedon, South of Auckland.
Designed, built and cared for by James and Rebecca, this was one of the best gardens I have seen. Here are some pics, but click here to see even more photos: truly inspiring!
I want to grow beans on a pergola!!
Her name is Lilly, so sweet!
Even the pumpkin grows on the pergola!
Citrus all year round!
Fruit trees lovingly covered with nets, one by one!
Clevedon Farmers Market
After the garden visit we went for lunch and shopping at the Clevedon Farmers Market, and just look at these beautiful tomatoes and eggplants!
I had half a pumpkin to use, but just a little bit of Thai herbs mix (ginger, lemon grass, chili, garlic and coriander), certainly not enough to give my pumpkin a spicy flavor! Still, I felt like coconut, so I cut the pumpkin and two celery stalks with leaves and put them in my pot, then I added one can of coconut cream plus one can of water (to rinse the cream out), the remaining Thai herbs mix (about half tsp) and one organic veggie stock cube. I cook the lot until the pumpkin was soft, then I adjusted it for salt and added plenty of fresh basil leaves. I wanted to add some of my Vietnamese mint but it has all dried up (no rain in Auckland either) but the basil was strong flavored and I was surprised how nice this tasted in the end! I though of using this as a side dish (like in the photo) but I run out of time to make the main and since this dish had so much sauce I just added some cubed firm tofu to it when I warmed it up for dinner. I served with Thai rice. Very nice way of eating pumpkin in summer!
The original recipe is here, but this time I didn't roast the pumpkin because... I had time to cut it! (I don't like cutting pumpkin...). Also I had some celery so I put that in too, plus one carrot and one onion.
I added water and organic veggie stock (Rapunzel), and when the veggies were soft I blended them with an immersion blender.
At this point I usually add the coconut milk/cream, but I didn't have any, so I used this coconut powder my husband brought me from a trip to Hainan in China (the place is famous for coconut!). he was told to place the content of a sachet in a cup and add hot water to make a hot coconut drink. We did, and it is ok, basically it is just coconut... but I am not really used to drink hot coconut milk, so I added 4 sachets to the soup instead (we still have plenty more). I simmer everything for a bit longer and then added coriander and Vietnamese mint to flavour.
One of the things I like best about New Zealand are the little stalls on the side of country roads, unattended and with a few offerings, mostly fruit, vegetables and flowers. Usually they are alongside a driveway, near the letterbox, and sometimes you don't see the house from the road, often you don't see anyone, as a matter of fact! So how do you pay? You leave your money in a honesty box. I have a couple of these near my house, one sells cute flower bouquets from the garden, and sometimes little bags of fruit, another sells orchids. When I don't have enough cutting flowers in my garden I go there, it is unexpensive, honest fun.
Tofu and Brassica Green Curry
Ingredients: 1 tbs green curry paste (see recipe here) 1 can coconut milk 1 couliflower, cut into florettes half carrot, sliced (I sliced it in the shape of flowers) 1 block tofu, cut into pieces 1 large broccoli, cut into florettes 1-2 chili peppers Thai or regular fresh basil leaves Thai or Vietnamese fresh mint leaves
Place the paste in a pot with the coconut milk, the cauliflower, carrot, and the tofu. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the broccoli, cover and simmer for 5 minutes (I like my broccoli to be still green and a little crunchy). Add the chili peppers and the fresh herbs, cover and simmer for 5 more minutes. Add salt to taste and serve with Thai rice. Serves 4
Super Juice
To make 1 litre of juice I used:
10 carrots
1 red beetroot
6 green apples
1 piece of ginger
Put everything through the juicing machine, filter and serve immediately.
I had some green and yellow beans in the garden, a piece of organic tofu in the fridge, and some leftover green curry paste in the freezer. When I make green curry I usually have too much for one meal so I freeze the rest (it freezes really well). My paste is really simple, some fresh ginger (peeled) some shallot (also peeled), fresh coriander (with stalks), green chilli (not too much for me, maybe one or two), and fresh lemon grass (one stick). If you have kaffir lime leaves or rind, the are good too, apparently, but I didn't have any. You should use a mortar and pestle, but I just added a little salt and blended everything in the food mixer.
For the curry
1 tbsp of green curry paste
(see recipe above)
2 tbsp oil
Green and yellow beans
Tofu, cut in big pieces
1 can coconut cream
Water
Fresh Vietnamese mint
Chilli (optional)
accompany with a blend of long and wild rice.
Sizzle the curry paste with the oil, add the beans and tofu, and then the coconut cream. Fill up the empty can of coconut cream with water and add (this way you can rinse and save all the coconut cream that get stuck to the can). Add salt only if you need it (my paste was salty already). Cook for 20 minutes, then add the Vietnamese mint (but also fresh coriander or Thai basil, if you have them) and the chilli, if you wish. Serve with steamed rice.
I love setting the table for different occasions, so why not? My style? It changes with the occasion and food, but generally I like the 'minimalist' look, and since what I like is to source my food from the garden or from the wild, I wanted to source my mise en place in the same way too.
I have a corner in my garden that looks quite tropical, with a few banana plants.
I went out with my machete: dadadadaaammm!! Those of you who have meet me are probably giggling by now, I am not exactly a bush woman!
The leaves needs to be washed well, like you would do with china, and dried with a tea-towel.
For a romantic dinner share a leaf between two.
Food can be served directly on the leaf (use as a plate) so I put the rice on the leaf but left the curry (it has a liquid sauce) in a bowl. Then you can pour the curry over the rice (use a nice ethnic wooden spoon) and eat with... fingers?? I never managed to, so spoon and fork worked well for us.
With this recipe I would like to take part to the contest piatti unici, from the blog Burro e Miele.
This is the first contest that Eleonora of Burro e Miele hosts, and I really wanted to take part, although my
idea of a 'piatto unico' tends to be different from the traditional Italian types. This is Vegan, gluten free, fat free, light, and yet fully balanced and filling (or at least, it is for me :-)). Best consumed with beer, or with a glass of chilled Cracroft Chase Pinot Gris (please scroll to the end of this post for another Christchurch earthquake update).
Vegan Thai Salad Rolls
On Saturday I went to the Oratia Farmers Market and bought some smoked salt and garlic. The smoked salt is really nice and mixed with a few spices and herbs, so I thought of using it to marinate some organic tofu to put inside my Thai salad rolls.
I cut the tofu into thin strips and then I sprinkled the salt on. After 30 minutes I turned the tofu slices over and sprinkled the smoked salt on the other side too. After other 30 minutes I lightly fried the tofu slices with rice bran oil. I put it on some kitchen paper to remove the excess oil, and set aside.
I used Thai rice paper wrap, which are gluten free. You need to soak the rice papers for a few minutes in warm water (five at the time) and then place them flat on a dried tea towel.
For the filling I also used some Thai chillies in brine, but not in all of the rolls, for others I used leaves of Vietnamese mint, but you can also use Thai basil and Thai mint. Then I used thin slices of carrots, chives, bean sprouts, and of course the tofu (each slice broken into two pieces for easy rolling). You can also use shredded lettuce, and any other vegetable cut into Julienne strips.
Place the tofu and vegetable on the rice paper. Keep the decorative leaves/chillies a little to one side so that when you roll up your rolls they will be more visible.
Roll the rice paper, folding the sides in as you go, to seal the roll. The wet rice paper is sticky so it will seal well!
Herbs and chillies makes nice decorative motifs, and they are edible too. Make the most of them!
Place your rolls on serving plates, 5 or 6 per child (don't overdo it with the chillies for young kids) and 7 or 8 per adult.
To serve I used three sauces: soy sauce, Thai sweet chilli sauce, and miso sauce (just a little miso paste diluted with hot water). Each sauce makes the rolls taste quite different!
My little boy loves Thai sweet chilli sauce, so he just had his own little dipping dish. Eat with fingers!
And now some news from my friends Wilma and Alessandro from, Cracroft Chase in Christchurch (if you remember I have written about them here). They are safe, but their house had some damage, they are sleeping in a big tent (with beds and chairs) and cooking on the BBQ, but they are in great spirit (I really admire them), working to clean up and start anew.
Incredibly their vinery was fine, and all the wine is safe. I am thinking that the restaurants in Christchurch that used to sell their wine will not open for a while (if ever), and so if you would like to support a Christchurch business, and drink some excellent and well priced Pinot Gris, please check their website.
I wasn't asked to write this, it was my idea, Wilma and Ale, I hope you don't mind.
This is a lovely way to serve rice, one of my favourites in fact!
Ingredients
400 g Thai rice
1 x 400ml can coconut cream
half tsp salt
(In Thailand they also add sugar, but I prefer not to).
Wash the rice a few times with cold water, place it in a saucepan and add the content of the can of coconut cream plus half a measure of water from the same can (in this way you can also rinse the coconut cream out). Add salt and cover with a lid. Cook very slowly by absorption, if your lid is not very heavy line it with a tea towel to avoid loosing too much steam during cooking.
When the rice is ready turn the heat off and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. At this point you can also add some fresh leaves of Thai mint, they will perfume the rice and give it more flavour.
