Cashew Nut Stir Fry

Stir fries are one of the simplest vegan recipes to make. Just throwing whatever veggies you have left into a pan with a delicious sauce. Here is one of my favourite recipes for a stir fry.

Ingredients
1/2 cup raw cashews
4 servings rice, cooked
1 block tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, sliced into half-moons
1 capsicum, sliced
1 broccoli, cut into small florets

Sauce
4 tbsp soy
4 tsp brown sugar
2 cloves garlic
Pinch ground pepper
2 tsp cornflour
1/3 cup water

Method

Toast cashews lightly in a large fry pan. Set aside then use the same fry pan to fry veggies and tofu until softened and browned.

Mix together sauce ingredients in a bowl then add to softened veggies. Add cashews then serve with cooked rice.

Lentil Greek Salad

This is a filling, fresh and tasty version of Greek Salad. Perfect for a quick lunch. I topped it with some vegan feta. My two favourite brands of vegan feta in NZ are Angel Food Cheese and Zenzo.

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 cans lentils, drained and rinsed
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 block vegan feta
Optional: 1/2 cup olives, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 lemon juice
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Salt & pepper to taste
Pinch oregano (optional)

Method:

Mix all salad ingredients together in a bowl. In a jar, mix dressing ingredients and shake to combine. Pour over salad and mix then serve.

Vegan Thai Peanut Curry

Anything peanut flavoured is always a winner and this curry is no different! A tasty meal for the whole family with wok fried vegetables and tofu to top the delicious coconut, peanut sauce.

Ingredients:

4 portions rice, cooked

Marinated tofu:
600g tofu, chopped into bite-sized cubes
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp sesame oil

Vegetables:
1 carrot, sliced
1 broccoli, cut into florets
1 can baby corn, drained

Thai Peanut Curry:
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, diced
1 chilli, chopped
1 inch ginger, grated
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
500ml veg stock
3 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp coconut sugar (sub brown sugar)
1 tbsp soy sauce
Optional: 1-2 tbsp vegan fish sauce (I used Culley’s )
400ml coconut milk
Salt to taste

Method:

First marinate your tofu by placing marinade ingredients in a container, adding the tofu and shaking until tofu is coated. Set aside.

Add onion, garlic, chilli and ginger to a large fry pan and fry until soft. Add spices and fry for a minute or two. Add stock, peanut butter, sugar, soy sauce, vegan fish sauce (if using) and coconut milk and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt.

Meanwhile cook rice and fry veggies and tofu in a separate pan until golden. Once golden add any remaining marinade to the veg/tofu.

Serve curry, rice and veggies together topped with sesame seeds and coriander.

Banoffee Pie

This is a favourite dessert among even my non-vegan family members. They are always going in for seconds.

Ingredients

Crust
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup oats
1 cup soaked pitted dates
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 tbsp any nut butter
Pinch sea salt

Filling
1 can Nature’s Charm vegan condensed milk
1 cup pitted dates
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp any nut butter
Pinch sea salt

Extras
3 bananas
Nature’s Charm coconut whipping cream
Chocolate shavings (optional)

Method

Blend crust ingredients together in a food processor. Press into a tart dish covering the entire thing evenly. Place in the fridge to set.

Blend filling ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. Pour over the crust evenly.

Chop up some bananas and cover the filling with them. Top with some coconut whipping cream, some more bananas and some shaved chocolate. Place back in fridge for a couple of hours.

Cashew Parmesan

I use this recipe all the time! It is a great topper on your fave meals or using to make things like pesto!

Ingredients

1/4 cup cashews
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/8 tsp salt

Method

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until a crumb texture.

Eggplant Spaghetti Bolognaise

This is seriously the best best best spaghetti bolognese I have ever made. A super tasty meal that you can make for the whole family.

I found some tins of already fried eggplant in tomato sauce at Moore Wilson’s which you can use instead. Just replace the eggplants and 1 x can of tomatoes with 2 x tins of Tamek Fried Eggplant 380g.

Ingredients

3 eggplants, sliced into strips and fried with salt and pepper to taste until they’re soft
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3 cans of crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 can lentils, drained and rinsed
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp maple syrup
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste

4 portions of spaghetti

To Serve
Cashew Parmesan
Parsley

Method

Heat olive oil in a fry pan (you can reuse the one you fried your eggplants in) and add in the onion and garlic. Fry until translucent.

Add spaghetti to a pot of boiling water and cook for 20 or so minutes until soft.

Add fried eggplants and the rinsed lentils to the frypan. Cook for a few minutes then add in the rest of the ingredients and simmer until reduced. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with the cooked spaghetti and some parsley and vegan cashew Parmesan.

Enjoy!!

The Ultimate Vegan Bagel

This is my absolute favourite bagel filling combination. I just had it four days in a row for lunch, I’m so obsessed! You can also add hummus to this bagel for something extra, but it is also good as is.

Ingredients:

1 block tempeh, cut into slices

Vegan cream cheese

Tomato slices

Balsamic glaze

Basil

Salt & pepper

Bagels

Tempeh Marinade:

3 tbsp tamari

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

A few drops of liquid smoke

Method:

Place tempeh slices in a container and add all marinade ingredients. Close the container and shake it until the marinade has spread throughout evenly. You can either place this in the fridge to marinate further or cook tempeh straight away.

Cut your bagels in half and toast. Spread cream cheese over both halves (or one half hummus, if using, and one half cream cheese). Top one half of the bagel with tomato, salt & pepper, balsamic glaze, the cooked tempeh and basil then place the two bagel halves together and enjoy.