Salad to Go with roasted Chickpeas and Yoghurt Dressing

Recipes for Take away treats are not so easy to find as it is not so easy to prepare things in advance and be sure that it will taste fine the next day..... In the morning I am to busy and also not enough awake ;) to prepare a dish for taking to the Office .... This salad is easy, perfect to prepare and deliccious!

You need (for 2 pers):

- 1 tin  Chickpeas, ready to use (275 g Net Weight)

- 1 ripe Avocado 

- 1 tbsp. Lemon juice

- 1 tbsp. Olive oil + 1 tsp. smoked sweet Paprika powder (Pimenton de la Vera for ex.) + a pinch Berbere + 1/4 tsp. Zataar.

- Mixed Green Salad 

- 6 tbsp. Soy Yoghurt + 2 tbsp. Olive oil + 1 tbsp. white wine Vinegar + 1 tsp. Mustard for the salad Dressing + salt and pepper

 To prepare:

1. In a pan heat up 1 tbsp. Olive oil and roast for a short moment Paprika, Berbere and Zaatar before adding the drained chickpeas. Stir all the Ingrediens and continue roasting for about 4 minutes until all the Chickpeas are well covered by the spices.

2. Meanwhile put all the ingredients for the salad Sauce in a small jar that you can cover with a good fitting lid and shake well until all is well combined. Reserve in the fridge until You intend to eat your salad as I recommend to pour the Dressing over the salad some minutes before you eat.

3. Cut the Avocado in slices and drizzle some lemon juice over to avoid that the Avocado turns brown.

4. In a take away dish put your salad and the Avocado and Reserve in the Fridge until serving.

5. After cooling down, put the roasted Chickpeas in a glass and reserve also until you intend to savour your salad. This Way the Chickpeas will stay crunchy.

6. So you have to take with you the salad, the Dressing and the Chickpeas and to adjust your meal reiht before you intend to have your Lunch or Dinner or whatever..... I pour the Dressing over the green salad, mix it well, then lay the Avocado on the salad and finish with the roasted Chickpeas.

Portobellos filled with Couscous

Long time I thought that Portobello is only a City in Italy since I discovered a sort of champignons named also Portobello. This are Special Champignons that are quite big and are ideal to be filled or to be grilled. As the "grill season" yet is not started, even if at the moment it seems that winter is over and springtime, I choosed a recipe for filling the Portobellos. As ever it's simple and quick done... The only workload is the preparation of the vegetables...so if you can found ready cut ones...take them... I did it :). Those filled Portobellos can be eaten as main course or as side dish or with a little salad.....

You will need (for 2 persons if served as Main course):

- 6 Portobellos 

- 5 Tbsp. ready cooked Couscous 

- 3 Tbsp. of different varieties of carrots and Spring Orion cut in small cubes 

- 100 ml SoyCream for cooking

- 1/4 tsp. Harissa paste

- salt and pepper to season and little bit olive oil

- Guacamole to accompaign the Champignons (I bought a ready prepared one)

To prepare:

1. Clean the Champignons with a brush. Remove the fungus stipe and cut them finely.

2. Preheat in a pan some olive oil and sweat the carrots. Then add the cut Fungus stipes. 

Remove from the heat. Add Couscous and soy cream and season with salt, pepper and harissa.

3. Preheat the oven to 180 C.

4. Fill the Portobellos with the Couscous-Vegetable mix and top with a little bit butter. 

5. Put in a oven prooved disch and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes... And then Serve..... Enjoy.....

Vegan Champignon Pie

Here is once again a very simple and quick done recipe that I found in the ccokbook from Jérome Eckmeier: Champignon Pies. Those Pies are ideal to take away or for a buffet and they can be eaten hot as well as warm.

You need (for 6 pies):

- 200 g champignons, cut in cubes

- 100 ml liquid soy cream for cooking

- 1 small onion cut in cubes

- 1 garlic glove, cut in small cubes

- Some baby spinach leaves

- 3 tbsp. Almond puree 

- 40 ml white wine

- 1 package puff pastry

- Salt and pepper to season, some olive oil and a little bit oat milk

To prepare:

1. In a deep pan preheat about 2 tbsp. Olive oil and add the onion. 

2. When golden brown add the champignons and garlic. Cook, while stirring, for some minutes.

3. Stir into the champignons the almond paste and pour in the pan the white wine. 

4. When the wine is more or less absorbed add the soy cream and cook for some minutes. Now fold in the spinach leaves.

5. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool down this mix before continuing.

6. Cut your puff pastry in squares with a length and width from about 10 cm.

7. Put 1 tbsp. of your cooled Champignon filling on each puff pastry square, fold so that you create a triangle.

8. With a fork squeeze together the edges. Cover each Pie with a little bit oat milk.

9. Bake in the to 200 C preheated fan oven on a baking tray armed with parchment paperfor about 15 minutes.

Vegan Hot Tex Mex Burritos

                 

Why should vegans not eat also some treats often beeing categorized as "fun food" or even Junk?

This Burritos are great and because of their ingredients not Junk at all but looks like.... It was my daughter who first tried this recipe out of Cookbook from Jérome Eckelmeier and adapted it to her taste. The result is GREAT! And ... it's quick done, it's easy to cook and it is also perfect as Take Away for Office Lunch or for Fun with some friends....

You need (for about 8 Tortillas)

1 package Soft Tortillas 

150 g Quinoa

450 ml Vegetable stock

1 small Onion, cut in cubes

1 garlic glove, finely cut

150 g Baby tomatoes, cut in pieces

100 g smoked tofu, cut in small cubes

3 tsp. Harissa paste 

Juice from 1 lemon

Some baby spinach leaves

2 tbsp. Soy cream

Olive oil, salt and pepper to season

(Some sweet peppercorn may also be great to be added to the filling...)

To prepare:

1. Cook the Quinoa for about 20 minutes in the vegetable stock and then let rest for about 5 minutes

2. Heat up some olive oil in a pan, add onion, tomatoes, tofu and cook until onion is golden brown. Season wirh salt and pepper

3. Mix lemon juice with 3 tbsp. Olive oil and Harissa

4. Mix together Quinoa, onion, tomatoes, tofu, lemon-harissa and soy cream. Season with salt and pepper    You may add more Harissa but be carefull it's really hot!

5. Put your filling on each Tortilla. But only on 2/3 of it, leaving free the sides and the upper part. Cover with some spinach leaves. ( you may also add some sweet peppercorn... I'll try it next time...)

6.  Fold toward the center the sides and start rolling the Tortilla until you get a roll.

7. Now it's time for big decisions! :

- Eat the Tortillas medium warm (only warm from the filling)?

- Eat the Tortilla really warm? Put the ready made Tortillas or in the preheated fan oven for some minutes or heat it up in the microwave oven for a few seconds ( depending on your microwave..)

- Eat the Tortilla later? Wrap each roll in some kitchen foil and reserve in the fridge until you eat them - or directly out of the fridge cold as they are or you heat them up....

- Waiting before eating them? Take them for Lunch to the Office?.......

One thing I'm sure: you will adore them! ;)

           

Spicy Roasted Butternut Squash with Rice

        

This is a very easy and quick done dish for all loving pumpkins. You only have to cut the pumpkin in wedges, put in a plastic bag with spices and some oil, shake it and then up on a  baking-tray and in the hot oven.... Sounds easy? It is easy! ;)

You need ( for 2 - 3 portions)

400 - 500 g butternut squash or any pumpkin you like, cut in wedges about 1,5 cm thick

1 tsp. Fleur de sel

1/2 tsp. sweet paprika powder

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. mild curry powder

1 tsp. dried wild oregano (if available you can also use fresh thyme and rosemary finely cut)

2 tbsp. Olive oil

1 cup of rice (I used a special rice that turnes violet when cooked. This looks pretty in contrast to the colour of the butternut squash...) and 2 cup water seasoned with a little bit salt

To prepare:

1. Preheat your fan oven to 220 C 

2. Put the pumpkin wedges in a bag with all the other ingredients and shake it until all the wedges are covered with the spices

3. Start cooking your rice for about 20 minutes

4. Put the wedges on a baking tray armed with some parchment paper for about 15 minutes until soft but also partly crispy

(depending on the thickness of your wedges the cooking time may be longer or shorter...) 

Serve together with the rice and enjoy!

Vegan Almond - Rice Balls

                       

Now I think any vegetarian or vegan people knows Falafel, those little spicy balls, common in every middle east kitchen. As I read the recipe for those Almond - Rice balls it remind me Falafels. In fact they look very similar but the taste is completely different. The difficulty from these little balls is to achieve that all the ingredients stick together and you'll be able to form balls. I am not sure if it could be easier when one use a sticky rice like risotto rice.... Next time I think I'll try it with some risotto rice because I confess I had some problems to get well formed balls.... I was using a normal rice....

You need (for 2 - 3 people):

- 100 g rice

- 50 g ground almonds + 25 g to roll the balls into before frying them

- 1 little onion, chopped finely

- 1 tbsp. Tamari or Wok Sauce 

- 1 garlic glove, chopped finely

- 1 tsp. dryed Oregano

- 50 g wholemeal bredcrumb

- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard

- 1 tsp. Carob gum

Salt, pepper and ground nutmeg

Some olive oil to fry the balls

Some salad or some vegetables as side dish 

To prepare:

1. Cook your rice as usual

2. Mix together with your hands rice, onion, garlic, Tamari or Wok Sauce, mustar and the ground almonds. Season wirh slat, pepper and nutmeg

3. Preheat in a deep pan about 1 finger high olive oil

4. Form small balls ( sized like golf balls) and roll in the rest of ground almonds

5. Fry the balls in the preheated oil until golden brown

Enjoy fresh and hot with some salad or savour them later cold...