Vegan Food. Tested on Carnivores.
While I’ve made scrambled tofu one hundred different ways, this gorgeously soft, lightly spiced version, inspired by the clever cooks at Smith & Daughters, is hard to beat. With pan-fried tofu, garlic and peppers tossed through a wonderfully creamy, cheesy sauce this Inspired Scrambled Tofu is the perfect partner to a rainy Sunday morning.
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I get food crushes all the time; I am a bit of a tart that way. However, I think this Twisted Mushroom Reuben Sandwich might be the real thing. Pan fried spiced mushrooms, homemade red cabbage sauerkraut, Russian dressing and pickles combine in each wonderfully messy and textured bite.
Eating a plant-based diet is a challenge for me. I didn’t turn the corner and all of a sudden start hating the taste of chicken and bacon or loathing goat’s cheese. I love animals and don’t want them on my plate but guiltily admit, they are a bit delicious. This path would be a lot easier if the smell of bacon didn’t still make me salivate just a little. I wonder if after all this time my reaction is a primal one or simply sense memory rushing to the fore after a mini lifetime of eating meat.
Given this, my dirty little secret, it is no wonder many of my recipes on this blog are veganised versions of foods I once enjoyed or simply variations on classics. My One Pot Tomato Olive and Lemon Spaghetti is a twist on Puttanesca without the anchovies while there are no prizes for guessing the root of my Sneaky BBQ Mushroom Steamed Buns.
This Twisted Mushroom Reuben Sandwich is another twist on a classic.
With a thirty-minute quick and dirty sauerkraut, meaty mushrooms and dill pickles finished in a spicy Russian dressing, this is a vegan version even the carnivores will love.
While I would no sooner eat a pile of corned-beef these days than I would eat my dog, this Twisted Mushroom Reuben Sandwich is a “meaty” dish I can get behind. Earthy spiced mushrooms invoke just enough meat essence to fool my tastebuds while the vibrant red sauerkraut and spicy dressing add texture and balance.
While my challenge continues each day, it becomes easier with a little invention and inspiration from the classics.
Enjoy.
*Elizabeth Weil offers a wonderful and funny account of the Reuben Sandwich’s contentious history and her family’s part in it, here; it is well worth a read.
Yield 2
Sautéed spiced mushrooms, homemade red cabbage sauerkraut, Russian dressing and pickles pack a flavour punch in the Twisted Mushroom Reuben Sandwich.
4 slices rye bread (for 2 sandwiches)
vegan butter
vegan cheese slice or a good swirl of my sneaky cheese sauce made with three vegetables
My quick and dirty sauerkraut can be stored in the fridge for a week.
After months of inspecting our beautiful tomato plants for signs of fruit, we finally have a harvest in the first week of Autumn. Globed beauties like Aunt Ruby’s Greens, Beams Yellow Pears, Green and Blacks and Green Zebras have emerged to decorate our heavy vines.
In celebration of the arrival of our long hoped for tommies, I have made a deliciously simple, vegan vine-ripened tomato tarte tatin. Perfect for brunch and looking far fancier than it is, this twist on the French classic might just be my new Sunday brunch go-to.
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These Utterly Awesome Gluten-Free Cauliflower Fritters have blown my mind just a little bit. Inspired by Sarah Britton’s Revolutionary Pancake recipe, these wonderfully moorish savoury rounds are made by soaking and blending buckwheat groats with water to create a perfect fritter batter.
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This Fresh Wasabi Pea Avocado Toast is my new food happy place. Wonderfully simple, fresh and vibrant it is a gorgeous pick-me up snack ready in minutes. If you love your asian flavours, you’re going to love this.
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Last weekend we celebrated the Elf’s third birthday with a party set in a log cabin in the woods near our home. Ten small people, at first shy, ran wild, their faces painted with unicorns and flowers while the big people kept watch. It was such a beautiful few hours watching our little girl with her friends and I remember having a moment when I thought, “I can’t believe she is three already” but in the next breath a feeling that she had always been with us. Sigh. So blessed are we.
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Many moons ago, the Husband and I lived in a small town called Carjamarca in the northern highlands of Peru. The city sits around 2,800 metres above sea level and is either a bumpy 2-hour flight from the capital Lima or a terrifying 13 hour bus ride. Carjamarca is famous for being the location of Atahualpa’s last stand signalling the end of the Incan Empire lost to the Spanish. The resulting town is a beautiful but sad hybrid of Incan and Spanish tradition and as a side note, the home of the biggest turkeys I have ever seen. Scary big.
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Impossibly delicious, these Spiced Eggplant Brunch Pitas are the start of my new regime in the lead up to Christmas. While we navigate the festive merry-go-round I want to keep my food quick, simple but sumptuous. With steamed eggplant tossed in cumin and coriander spices, hummus, mint and a yoghurt dressing on warm spiced pitas, these rounds are quick, easy and ridiculously yum. A good start to the season if I say so myself.
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Weekend Yum Cha is something of a family tradition in our little brood. Ever since the Husband and I were dating we’ve frequented our local Chinese restaurant for the soft, plump dumplings sitting prettily in their bamboo baskets. These days we are a party of three and while the Elf isn’t terribly adventurous she loves the BBQ pork steamed buns.
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I have a very large food crush on these Japanese inspired vegetable potato cakes. Golden grilled potato and vegetable rounds topped with red miso mayonnaise, shallots and pickled ginger, these are a delicious and vegan twist on the traditional Osaka-style okonomiyaki pancake.
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