Vegan

(Not so) Fried Rice

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‘The best dinner in the whole world of ever time’ …. This is how Will describes my fried rice.  So nice when you get something right!!

This is a fairly regular feature on our menu because; it’s a meal that everyone loves, is easy to make, can be easily adjusted to cater for allergies, you can make most of it in advance, you can make it in bulk, it freezes well for emergency dinners later on and it is a muuuuch healthier option than the Fried Rice you’d get in a restaurant! What is not to love?!

  • 2 cups brown rice*
  • 4 cups of finely chopped veggies (peas, corn, carrots and bean shoots are our regulars)
  • 200g sliced mushrooms
  • 3-4 diced chicken thighs
  • 6 rashers short cut bacon, diced
  • finely grated, fresh ginger, to taste
  • 1/2 brown onion, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup coconut aminos
  • 2 tbsp garlic olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock (Massel for a store bought variety)

We have recently been increasing the veg to 6 cups and leaving out the chicken, to make this a cheaper meal. To make it a completely vegan meal we simply leave out the meat and double the mushrooms.

*We prefer to eat Brown rice, but if your family prefers white, go with Basmati.

 

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The night before (if possible, but even a couple of hours before is ok), cook the rice so that it is just tender, rinse and drain it well, then spread it out evenly in a baking dish and refrigerate.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onion, chicken and bacon and cook for a few minutes. Then add the ginger and aminos. Cook until the chicken is browned, then add in the sliced mushrooms. Continue to cook, stirring, until the chicken is cooked through.

Separately, steam veggies and keep aside.

Just before dinner (if you’ve made up to this point in advance), reheat meat in the frying pan, add rice,  stock and warm over low heat for a couple of minutes. Stir in meat, mushrooms and veggies.

If your diet allows, you could also mix through some fried and chopped up egg.

It takes a few minutes to all warm through. This quantity easily makes 2 meals for all 6 of us.

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Hugh’s muesli bars

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I mostly pack my own snack for our morning outing when I pack the boys lunch boxes the night before, that way there’s not as much temptation to cave in and buy pre prepared stuff that isn’t so great for me – especially when I know how yummy the snacks ready waiting for me are.

To aid in my baking adventures, I was given the River Cottage ‘Everyday’ cookbook for mother’s day (I have to confess that I am a little bit in love with Hugh and I often wish I lived at River Cottage … but given that I live in the middle of the desert and that I am a real veggie growing novice, I am just making do with some of his amazing recipes for now!). This muesli bar recipe is adapted from one of the recipes that I first saw on his show.

It is probably more of a ‘grown ups’ recipe but I have taken to packing some for my boys when I have them because otherwise they just pinch mine!

  • 250g nuttelex/butter
  • 250g Sunflower seed butter 
  • 1/2 cup honey/maple syrup
  • zest of 2 oranges and 2 lemons (I mix and match with lime too, depending on what’s hiding in my fridge)

Mix all above ingredients in a large saucepan and cook over low heat until all melted and mixed together.

Remove from heat and add;

  • 2 1/2 cups diced dried fruit (I’ve just used sultanas, dates, apricots and cranberries)
  • 75g sunflower seeds
  • 100g pumpkin seeds
  • 75g flax seeds
  • 75g chia seeds, and
  • 400g rolled oats.

Stir in thoroughly, press the mixture down firmly into a greased baking pan and cook in a preheated oven at 160 C for approx 45 mins, or until golden.

Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

I find it’s best to leave it in the fridge for an hour or so before I cut it up, then store it in the fridge in an airtight container and it keeps well for a fortnight.

This makes a large batch and it is quite calorie dense, but because of all the protein and good fats it is filling and you don’t need a huge serving to be satisfied. Great for school lunchboxes when you’re at a ‘nut-free school and it can also serve as a quick and filling breakfast.

To make this Coeliac Friendly replace the oats with equal weight of a mix of puffed rice, rolled quinoa and desiccated coconut.

Chicken Risotto

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My kids aren’t terrific at eating pieces of meat, so meals that have everything mixed in together usually go down well – and this risotto is no exception. It gets scoffed down by everyone – in fact, after a torturous few months it was the very first meal that my Harry ate when he was 9 months old!

It’s easy to make and easy to adapt with whatever veg you have left and lastly (and possibly best of all!) it sticks together well, so it stays on spoons when little people are learning to feed themselves 😉

See below the recipe for the vegan option

  • 5 cups chicken stock (for an instant variety I use ‘Massel’ stock powder)
  • 70g nuttelex/vegan butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 brown onion, finely diced
  • 2 cloves crushed garlic
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or about 1/2 tsp dried)
  • 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
  • 2 cups steamed veggies (green beans and corn or pumpkin and broccoli are popular combinations in our house, but you can use whatever your family enjoys)
  • Approx 300g coarsely chopped cooked chicken.

Bring the stock to boil in a saucepan

In a large frying pan, melt the butter and oil and cook onion, garlic and thyme, stirring until onion is soft.

Add rice and stir for about 1 minute, ensuring the rice in coated with the herb mix.

Add approx 1/2 cup of stock at a time and stir consistently over a low/medium heat until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is creamy and just tender.

Remove from heat and stir through the chicken and veggies. Serve immediately. Feeds 5-6 adults.

If your diet allows it, you could also stir though 80g of finely grated parmesan cheese before the chicken. Or use 1/4 cup of Nutritional Yeast for a cheesey flavouring.

For a vegan option for this dish, remove the chicken and use 2-3 cups of sliced button mushrooms. Don’t wait until the end to add them in though. Add them to the meal about 2 minutes after the onion and garlic go into the pan.

Total cooking time will be about 25-30mins.

I’m not sure about your house, but in mine, the half hour before dinner is filled with bathing, dressing and wrangling 3 hungry little people, so standing in front of the stove for 30 mins doesn’t work very well!

So I’ve experimented a bit and I’ve found that an hour or 2 before dinner, when I have a bit more time, I can follow all steps through until there is about 1- 1 1/2 cups of stock remaining in the saucepan. Turn off both pans and leave them covered. Then just before dinner, bring the stock to the boil and put the risotto on a low heat and finish adding the stock before following the final steps.

This one isn’t really suitable for freezing. If you do have leftovers, you could reheat it the next day, but add a bit of stock (a couple of tbsps) before you zap it.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Quick Falafels

Falafels
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As I was walking around in a bit of a daze, one of the first times I went shopping after finding out about Will’s food allergies, I was delighted to come across this pre-mix for Falafels.

Falafel mixIt is easy to make, in fact, so easy that it is slightly embarrassing to admit I use it! It is made of chick peas, broad beans, garlic, herbs and spices. All you need to do is add water to the dried mix and allow it to absorb for 10 minutes before forming into patties and cooking in a frying pan or oven. You can buy them from the “alternative” or health food section of the supermarket. The one packet costs about $5 and feeds our family of 2 adults and 2 little ones, making it quite economical.

They are delicious, my slightly (ok, more than slightly) carnivorous husband and even Harry – my biggest fuss pot when it comes to dinner – devours them and asks for more. They particularly love to dip them in sweet chilli sauce. We serve them with salad in summer and veggies in winter.

 

Falafels

Chocolate ‘mousse’

Chocolate 'mousse'
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I’m not going to lie … I love chocolate and I really, really miss it!!

So, here is my way to get a bit of a chocolate fix in an allergy friendly way … and sneak some goodness in on the side! I really know that you can’t tell that it is avocado based because even my 2 little avocado haters wolf it down!!

Chocolate 'mousse'

  • 2 large very ripe avocados
  • 3tbsp cocoa
  • 4tbsp honey/maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1/3 cup milk of choice

Whizz it all together in the food processor until smooth. (Speed 6 in 10 second lots, scraping down between each time).

Best served chilled. It keeps for a few days in the fridge or you can freeze it to make chocolate ice-creams.

Enjoy … I know I will!