Category Archives: Vegan

Patatas a lo Pobre or Patatas Panaderas in the Oven

Posted on by

 

PATATAS A LO POBRE

This popular Spanish dish slowly cooks sliced potatoes in olive oil with onions, green peppers and garlic. It is often served in restaurants, particularly in Southern Spain. Patatas panaderas is a similar version where the potatoes are cooked in the oven.

Rather than frying the sliced potatoes on the hob in a frying pan with lots of olive oil, I decided to cook them in the oven. They worked really well but I thought the times and temperatures suggested in the recipe I followed could be changed to cook them for slower and longer. Rather than using a glass dish covered with foil, next time I would use an iron lidded casserole. This recipe has the new times and temperatures.

Patatas a lo pobre


 

INGREDIENTS

  • 150g potato per person, peeled and cut into 4mm slices
  • 1 large onion, cut into thin slices
  • 1 green pepper, cut into thin slices
  • 5 (or as many as you like) cloves garlic, peeled
  • a splash white wine
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

METHOD

  1. Put the potato, onion, pepper and garlic into a casserole.
  2. Drizzle over some olive oil.
  3. Pour over the wine and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Put the lid on the casserole and place in the oven.
  5. Turn on the oven and heat to 180ºC.
  6. When it has reached its temperature, cook for 1 hour.
  7. Remove the lid and toss the potatoes.
  8. Turn up the heat to 200ºC and cook for another 30 minutes when it has reached the temperature.

Spinach Falafel

Posted on by

 

SPINACH FALAFEL

I don’t normally use spinach when I make falafels but as we have got plenty of perpetual spinach at the moment, I thought it would be a good to add some to my normal falafel recipe. We tried them today and they worked well.

Spinach Falafel

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight and then drained
  • 2 teaspoons of cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil
  • 30 large perpetual spinach leaves (or equivalent)
  • 1 small onion
  • 2 large cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons gram flour
  • juice of 1/2 lemon

METHOD

    1. Blend the chickpeas in a food processor.
    2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend again to form a dough.
    3. Heat some oil in a frying pan.
    4. Form the falafel mixture into small falafels and fry for a couple of minutes on each side before turning.

 

 

Tzatziki Cucumber Salad

Posted on by
 

TSATSIKI CUCUMBER SALAD

This Greek salad is made with grated cucumber and dressed with Greek plain yoghurt, minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and chopped mint.

Tzatziki

If you grow your own cucumbers, this is a great recipe for the summer if you have an overabundance.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • coarsely grated cucumber
  • 120g plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, pressed
  • a handful of finely chopped mint
  • 1 teaspoon salt

METHOD

  1. Put the grated cucumber in a colander and sprinkle with salt.
  2. Mix well with your hands, pressing to release as much liquid as possible.
  3. Cover with a small plate and place a heavy object on the plate.
  4. Leave a for about an hour and then squeeze again with your hands to remove any liquid.
  5. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl
  6. Combine the cucumber with the sauce and check for seasoning.
  7. Chill in the fridge beforehand.

 

 

Vegan chorizo

Posted on by

SPICY VEGAN CHORIZO

This is a great recipe for spicy vegan chorizo and it doesn’t take long to make. Its main ingredients are sun-dried tomatoes and almonds, two things we have plenty of here at the cortijo.

The red pepper is roasted over a flame. Turn it a couple of times until the skin begins to blister and then pop it into a plastic bag. Before you need to add it to the mix, rub off the blackened skin.

Spicy Vegan Chorizo

This recipe is quick to prepare and tastes delicious.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 220g dried tomatoes
  • 200g raw almonds
  • 120g soft rolled oats
  • ½ large red pepper, roasted
  • 2 teaspoons dried garlic
  • 2 teaspoons dried onion
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon spicy paprika
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 

METHOD

  1. Steam the dried tomatoes over boiling water for 15 minutes.
  2. Transfer the tomatoes to a boil, add a splash of boiling water and cover.
  3. In the food processor, blend the almonds and oats until coarsely ground and then transfer to a separate bowl.
  4. Blend together the tomatoes and red pepper.
  5. Put the almonds and oats back in the blender.
  6. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse a couple of times.
  7. Divide the mixture in half.
  8. Roll out each half on greaseproof paper to form an even sausage shape.
  9. Roll up in the greaseproof paper and store in the fridge for 24 hours.

Fried Aubergines and Tomato

Posted on by

fried aubergines and tomatoI invented this recipe for fried aubergines and tomato the other day and it doesn’t really have a name – it’s really just fried aubergines and tomatoes with a bit of salt – a bit like a simpler version of ratatouille but without the other ingredients. The aubergines are starting to ripen at the moment and it won’t be long before we have plenty of them so I’m trying out different ways of cooking them in preparation.

One of the problems with frying aubergines is that they absorb a lot of the oil. So, in this recipe I dry fry them for ten minutes in a frying pan or so before adding any oil, giving the aubergine pieces enough time to take on a lovely golden brown colour.

 

fried potato cake

Fried Aubergines and Tomato

This recipe is quick to prepare and is best served warm.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 medium-sized aubergines, halved lengthways and then cut into 1cm slices
  • 2 large tomatoes, coarsely grated
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt

METHOD

  1. Heat a frying pan on a high heat.
  2. When hot, add the aubergine slices, cover and cook for 5 minutes.
  3. Turn them over and cook for a further 5 minutes.
  4. Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and season with salt.
  5. Keep turning the aubergines every so often until they have got some good colour.
  6. Add the tomatoes and fry on a high heat for another couple of minutes
  7. Turn the heat down low and cook for another 5 minutes or so.
  8. Leave the lid on and leave in the pan until you need to serve them.