Chinese Cabbage Salad [vegetarian]

A few weeks ago we had some friends over for dinner. I was planning to make a Peking duck for the main course, and I knew what dessert I was going to make, but somehow I was stuck with a starter. I wanted to make a light salad without any meat or seafood, as having duck for main was already very meat-y. And this was when I realized that I had probably never made a Chinese salad fulfilling these requirements. I looked through some books and finally, I found a recipe that seemed just right.

In the book, a regular cabbage was used, so it had to be blanched after it was shredded. I decided to use a raw Chinese cabbage instead. The salad was very refreshing and light, just as I wanted it to be. And it was indeed a perfect starter for Peking duck!

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portions):

2 tbsp vegetable oil,

5 shallots, halved and thinly sliced,

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced,

0.5 chilli, thinly chopped,

1 Chinese cabbage (weighing approx. 0.5 kg), shredded,

2 tbsp coarsely chopped roasted peanuts,

Dressing:

2 tbsp fish sauce,

grated rind of 1 lime,

2 tbsp lime juice,

120ml coconut milk.

METHOD:

1. On a medium size frying pan warm up the oil, add the shallots, garlic and chili, and stir fry on a medium heat for 12-15 minutes until the shallots are brown (but not burnt).
2. In a bowl, mix the dressing ingredients.
3. Pour the dressing over the cabbage and stir very well.
4. Transfer the cabbage onto a big serving dish, and sprinkle the top with the fried mixture and the peanuts.
5. Voila!

This recipe is based on a recipe from "The Complete Wok and Stir-Fry Cookbook"

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Vegetable Salad [vegetarian]

Although I realize that outside my country, this salad is often called 'Russian Salad', here we all know it as 'Vegetable Salad'. It was the most popular salad in Poland for many, many years. No party, celebration or social gathering happened without this dish. Even preparing this salad was a bit of a social occasion, as it was always made in big quantities and very often, at least 2 people were cutting the vegetables and chatting while they were doing it. I remember from my childhood that the women from my family were always cutting the vegetables very thinly because we believed that if the cubes were too big, the salad would not taste as good as it should ;) Nowadays, I actually prefer the salad not to be made of such tiny pieces. It still tastes great, but the preparation doesn’t take as long as it used to in the past.

What I also like about this salad is that you end up with a great by-product – good quality vegetable stock that can be used as a base for many different soups. Obviously, it also works the other way around: you cook the stock that you need and then you use the vegetables to make the salad. Whichever way you are going to do it; you will enjoy the two results!

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portion):

4 carrots, peeled,

2 parsnips, peeled,

0.25 celery (approx. 200g), peeled and cut into 2 pieces,

1 small leek*,

1 celery stalk*,

2 apples,

3-4 sour gherkins,

1 tin green peas,

3 tbsp mayonnaise,

salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Put the carrots, parsnips, celery, leek* and celery stalk* to a big pan, pour 1-1.5l of water, add salt and pepper and bring to boil.
2. Lower the heat and cook the vegetables until they are tender (approx. 20 minutes).
3. Take the vegetables out from the stock, cool them down.
4. In the meantime, cut the apples and sour gherkins into 0.5-1 cm cubes. After you chop the gherkins, make sure to squeeze out the liquid.
5. When the cooked vegetables are cool, cut the carrots, parsnips and the celery into the 0.5 -1cm cubes (the celery stalk and leek can be discarded).
6. Put all the chopped vegetables, apples and gherkins to a bowl, add the mayonnaise, seasoning and stir well.

* optional, required only if you are making the stock as well.

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Leek and Potato Soup with Truffle Oil [vegetarian]

Although Leek and Potato Soup might be a classic in some countries, in Poland (or at least in the area I live) it is unknown. A few years ago we went to Italy for our skiing holiday. We reached our destination after two days of driving but since it was too early to go to our hotel, we found a busy, family type restaurant for lunch. And that was the place where I tried this soup for the first time.

Leek and Potato Soup is already delicious by itself but truffle oil really moves it up to quite another level. Although the below recipe obviously is not exactly the same as at that restaurant, the soup is as lovely as the one I had a few years ago. I have made it so many times since then and it is always greatly appreciated by everyone. It is important though to have a really high quality truffle oil: the one with truffle’s pieces rather than one with just its aroma.

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portions):

30g butter,

450g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-3cm cubes,

450g white parts of leeks, sliced,

1 onion, cut into cubes,

850-1000ml vegetable stock (it can be made with this concentrated stock paste),

250ml milk,

salt and pepper,

truffle oil for serving.

METHOD:

1. Melt the butter in a medium size pot.
2. Add the potatoes, leek and onions, season and then stir well to coat in the butter.
3. Scrape the sides of the pan with a spoon so all the vegetables are on the bottom, put a disc of grease-proof paper on top of them and cover the pot with a lid.
4. Decrease the heat to medium low and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Remove the paper, pour in 850ml of stock, bring to boil and cook for approx. 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
6. Liquidize the soup in batches and transfer to a cleaned pot.
7. Add the milk, adjust the seasoning and bring to boil again. If the soup is too thick, add more of the stock.
8. Serve the soup in bowls, drizzled with the truffle oil.

Based on BBC Good Food recipe

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Roasted Tomato Soup [vegan]

Tomato soup is probably the second favorite soup in Poland, just after rosół (chicken broth). Typically, the Polish version is rather thin, there is even a joke that on Sunday you have rosół, on Monday you have tomato soup as it is just a question of adding tomato purée to the chicken broth. It is not quite true (but it may be if you are in a rush!) as you can make it with fresh tomatoes and it does taste great then.

But I have always preferred thicker soups. So I make mine with plenty of tomatoes but also red peppers, onions and garlic. Roasting all these vegetables adds a really intense flavor which is so important especially in winter when – unfortunately – many tomatoes don’t really have taste. After liquidizing the vegetables, you can adjust the amount of stock to your liking: add more if you prefer to serve the soup with pasta but if you – just like me – prefer a thick soup, add only 750ml of the stock. This way you will end up with beautiful, flavorsome and creamy result.

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portions):

1kg tomatoes, cut into quarters,

250g red peppers, deseeded and cut into quarters,

2 red onions, peeled and cut into quarters,

4 garlic cloves, peeled,

2 tbps olive oil,

1 tsp sugar,

salt and pepper,

750-1000ml vegetable stock.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 190 degrees (170 for fan ovens).
2. Put all the vegetables to a baking tin, pour the olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar, stir and put to the hot oven to roast for approx. 50 minutes.
3. Liquidize the vegetables.
4. Add the required amount of stock, bring to boil.
5. The soup can be served with a drop of cream or/and pasta.

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Cauliflower Soup with Pear and Gorgonzola [vegetarian]

My passion for cooking extends also to reading recipes. When I read them, I try to imagine the taste of food prepared according to them and if I like it, sooner or later I test them out. This passion makes me buy more cookery books, find more recipes on the internet but also look for recipes everywhere: in all sorts of magazines or even promotional material in supermarkets.

The below soup recipe I found in a Waitrose (British supermarket) booklet. Straight away I liked “the image of the taste” in my mind and when I cooked the slightly changed version, I really did enjoy it. I also tested the soup on my friend who liked it so much that she took the leftovers back home with her.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

20g butter,

200g shallots, peeled and chopped,

1 stick celery, chopped,

2 Conference pears, peeled, cored and chopped,

1 cauliflower (weighing approx. 500g), broken into florets,

1 l vegetable stock,

60g Gorgonzola cheese (dolce), roughly chopped,

3 tbsp chopped parsley,

salt and pepper.

To garnish:

chopped walnuts, parsley and Gorgonzola cheese.

METHOD:

1. In a big pot melt the butter; add the shallots and celery and cook on medium heat for 5 min.
2. Add the pears and cauliflower, stir and pour in the stock; cook for approx. 15 minutes till the cauliflower is soft.
3. Add the Gorgonzola and parsley, cook for 5 minutes longer.
4. Blend the soup till smooth, adjust the seasoning and serve garnished with chopped walnuts, parsley and Gorgonzola.

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Spicy Pumpkin with Spinach and Cashews [vegetarian]

We all enjoyed the combination of flavors in Oriental Spiced Pumpkin Pie so much that I decided to use it in a similar but easier (and faster) to prepare dish. My idea was to create a type of vegetarian stew that could be served as a main with rice, couscous or quinoa, or as a side dish for duck/chicken.

I used coconut milk not only to create the sauce but also to enhance the taste of the dish. And – in case it is supposed to be served as a main vegetarian dish – I added cashew nuts for the extra proteins. The final meal is really delicious: creamy, spiced but not too spicy, wonderful for cold autumn and winter days.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions as a main, or 6 as side dish):

1 tsp ground coriander,

1 tsp ground cumin,

1 tsp cinnamon,

1 tsp sweet paprika,

0.5 tsp hot paprika,

0.5 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil,

500g squash, deseeded, peeled and cut in to 3 cm pieces,

100g shallots, peeled and cut into quarters,

2 tsp grated ginger,

40g cashew nuts,

40g raisins,

1 tbsp honey,

250ml coconut milk,

50g spinach.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees fan.
2. In a small bowl mix together the coriander, cumin, cinnamon, both paprika, salt an 2 tbsp of olive oil.
3. Put the squash into a baking tin and pour the mixed spices, coat the squash well in the mixture (can be done with your hands) and put to the hot oven for 30 minutes.
4. Warm up 1 tbsp olive in a big frying pan, add the shallots and fry them on a medium heat for approx. 10 min.
5. Add the ginger, fry for another minute and then add the cashews, raisins and honey, stir and add the baked squash.
6. Stir in the coconut milk and spinach; cook till the spinach starts to wilt.
7. Serve with rice, couscous or quinoa as a separate, vegetarian/vegan dish or as a side dish with chicken or duck.

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Sweetcorn and Spaghetti Squash Soup [vegetarian]

After I used the spaghetti squash for the first time and saw that its strands looked like noodles, I thought it would be a great idea to use it in a soup.

When I thought which ingredients would go well with squash; sweetcorn, sage and mushrooms immediately came to my mind. This time I decided to skip the mushrooms but added a green pepper instead for a bit of crunchiness and sharpness that contrasts well with the sweetcorn.

I cooked the soup with dried sage and served it with a sage butter. I know the butter adds the fat and calories but it enhances the taste of the soup, too. If you prefer to omit the butter, you can serve it with some grated Parmesan cheese, it will taste just as good – I tried it out with some of the soup leftovers ;).

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portions):

0.5 spaghetti squash, deseeded (approx. 700g),

2 tbsp olive oil,

1 tbsp butter,

1 onion, chopped,

2 garlic cloves, crushed,

2 medium potatoes (approx. 200g), cut into small cubes,

2 celery sticks, sliced,

1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into cubes,

700ml vegetable stock,

0.5 tsp dried sage,

300ml milk,

1 can sweetcorn,

salt and pepper.

To serve:

2 tbsp butter,

a handful of sage leaves,

or grated Parmesan cheese.

METHOD: 

1. Heat the oven to 180 Celsius degrees (fan oven) and when hot place the half of the squash skin side up on a baking tray covered with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 min until the skin is soft and can easily be pierced.
2. When the pumpkin is baked through, scrap its flesh with a fork to get noodle-like strands. The squash can be baked even a day earlier.
3. In a big pot warm up the olive oil and butter, add the cut onion, garlic, potatoes, celery and pepper, season, stir and when sizzling, lower the heat, cover the vegetables with a disc of parchment paper and the pan with a lid.
4. After 10 minutes increase the heat and pour in the stock and dried sage, when boiling, decrease the temperature and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the potatoes are almost soft.
5. Add the milk, sweetcorn (with the liquid) and the squash strands, bring to boil, adjust the seasoning.
6. In a small frying pan melt the butter, add the sage leaves and fry them on a medium heat till dry.
7. Serve the soup with the sage butter and sage or grated Parmesan.

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Plant Based Diet - is it safe to be Vegetarian?

I have never been much of carnivore: I could do without meat for days on end. But I do enjoy good meat or poultry dishes like Peking duck or roast lamb when I have it every now and then. That is probably why I never considered becoming a vegetarian myself and didn't even know there were actually a few variations of plant based diets:

			TYPE OF	FOOD
TYPE OF DIET	Plant-based	Dairy	Eggs	Fish	Polutry	Red meat
Vegans
Lacto vegetarians
Lacto-ovo vegetarians
Quasivegetarians (pescatarians)
"Far" vegetarians					occasionally
Semi vegetarians (flexitarians)					occasionally	occasionally

When my daughter announced she wanted to become a vegetarian, firstly I wanted to change her mind as I didn’t think it was safe for a teenager not to eat meat at all. But when I did not succeed in convincing her, I simply had to learn more about it as it is better the devil you know.

Proteins were my major concern at the beginning as they contain nine essential amino acids necessary for our body tissue to function properly and all animal products (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and diary) are their obvious source. However I have learnt there are luckily some plant foods that also include all the essential amino acids: soy products (tofu, edamame, tempeh, soy milk), quinoa and spirulina. Additionally, if you combine plant food that doesn’t contain the complete proteins with other (complimentary) foods, you can supply your body with the essential amino acids. Such combinations include amongst others: beans & rice, hummus & pita bread, tofu & rice, beans & corn, beans & tortilla, lentils & bulgur, peas & bread etc.

Even though getting enough proteins doesn’t seem to be a problem when you don’t eat meat, there are some nutrients that should be especially considered by vegetarians as not eating animal products may make it more difficult to obtain the required amounts. Here are the nutrients and also tips how to make sure a vegetarian gets enough of them:

Iron – although it exists in plant food, it is not as easily absorbed as iron found in animal food. So vegetarians should consume about 80% more iron than non-vegetarians. Soybeans, beans, legumes and fortified grains are good sources of iron. It is worth noting that Vitamin C intensifies absorption of iron.

Zinc – similarly to iron its plant “version” is less bio-available than the animal one. It is found in whole grains, legumes, soy products and nuts.

Calcium – vegetarians consuming dairy products are likely to get enough calcium but vegans may experience some deficiencies. Calcium fortified products as well as soy milk, tofu, leafy greens and broccoli may be a solution.

Vitamin D is mainly found in animal products, that is why vegans should consume Vitamin D fortified foods and expose themselves to sun (obviously without taking a risk of skin cancer!), otherwise tablet supplements might be required.

Vitamin B2 is found mainly in milk (so lactovegetarians should not have a problem with providing their bodies with sufficient amounts). If vegans’ diet is varied and they eat enough green vegetables, whole grains and fortified foods, they probably will get enough.

Vitamin B12 is found only in animal products so solution for vegans is either fortified food, or tablet supplements.

Omega-3 fatty acids are mainly found in fish products. Vegetarians not consuming fish may get some of omega 3 fatty acids from walnuts, soy, algae and flax-seed and fortified food.

Iodine typically is present in dairy products and seafood so vegans and some vegetarians may not get enough of it. That is why they should opt for iodized salt as a solution.

As it can be seen, people who completely eliminate animal products from their diet (vegans) may suffer some deficiencies of vitamin B-12 and D as well as of calcium, iron, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids. Therefore taking tablet supplements may be necessary. For other types of plant-based diets, if meals are well balanced and some fortified food is consumed, this problem may not appear at all.

So far I have only mentioned possible areas of concern of plant based diets but are there any health benefits? If a vegetarian diet is mainly based on nutrient dense food (whole products), it will result in lots of health benefits like lowering BMI, blood pressure and bad cholesterol as well as lowering risk of many chronic diseases e.g. type 2 diabetes, stroke, hypertension and some types of cancer.

So the answer to the question from the title is yes, it is safe to be vegetarian. In truth it may even be advisable to be vegetarian. But if you are still not ready to completely eliminate meat from your diet to take advantage from all the health benefits, please note that even reducing intake of red meat to less than 42g per day could reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cancer diseases and mortality by 8-9%. I think this small change could make a huge difference and certainly is worth making. 

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Mexican Salad with Avocado, Tomato and Red Beans [vegan]

I called this salad Mexican but in truth it could also be called Guacamole Salad because it uses more or less the same ingredients as the ones that are required to make this well-known dip. However – to make it more filling so it can be a proper, nutritious lunch option - I also added red beans.

Even though I know that eating salads are more associated with spring and summer, this one is still a good option for autumn or even winter, since the addition of red chilies (the amount of which you can always adjust) will surely warm you up ;)

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

2 big tomatoes, cut into cubes,

2 avocados, cut into cubes,

1 can of red beans,

1 small red onion, thinly chopped,

chopped coriander,

red chili, thinly chopped (the amount used depends on you but it is better to start with less at the beginning and then slowly add),

Dressing:

2 tbsp lime juice,

3 tbsp olive oil,

Salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Put all the salad ingredients to a bowl.
2. Make the dressing by mixing the ingredients.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad, season and stir.

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Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom Sauce [vegetarian]

I heard and read about spaghetti squash earlier and really wanted to check myself how it tasted, and if its flesh really looked like spaghetti. So when I finally managed to buy it, I was really excited. And because it just happened that in my garden there were lots of porcini mushrooms growing (I couldn’t believe it myself how many of them we had this year – please look at the photo below), I decided to make a mushroom sauce to serve it with.

After the squash was baked, I scrapped it with two forks and did indeed end up with strands. Ok, they were not really as long as spaghetti but did look like noodles. I served them just with the mushroom sauce and grated Parmesan but the whole dish tasted really delicious.

INGREDIENTS (for 3-4 portions*):

1 spaghetti squash (approx. 1kg),

500g mushrooms (champignons or wild mushrooms),

1 tbsp butter,

1 tbsp olive oil,

200ml vegetable stock,

2 tsp dry thyme,

200ml cream (30%),

salt and pepper

grated parmesan cheese to serve.

METHOD:

1. Heat and oven to 180 Celsius degrees (fan oven).
2. Wash the pumpkin, cut in half and with a spoon remove its seeds.
3. Place the halves skin side up on a baking tray covered with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 min until the skin is soft and can easily be pierced.
4. Clean and slice the mushrooms.
5. On a medium heat warm up the oil and butter, add the mushrooms, raise the temperature and fry for 3 minutes.
6. Add the stock and on a medium heat cook everything for 5 minutes.
7. Add the thyme, cream and seasoning and cook for 1-2 minutes longer.
8. When the pumpkin is baked through, scrap its flesh with 2 forks to get noodle-like strands.
9. Transfer the pumpkin to the frying pan with the sauce, stir it and adjust the seasoning. You probably will have to add quite a lot of salt and pepper, as the pumpkin has not been seasoned at all.
10. Serve with grated Parmesan.

*This dish is quite filing. But if you are planning to make it for 4 very hungry people, you may want to serve a light soup at first. 

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