Preserved Lemons - bring a gentle citrus note to any dish, especially Mediterranean feasts. I’m very partial to them mixed with barley and parsley, stuffed in huge Portobello mushrooms and braised in stock and white wine. Cut some more through almonds, salt and tofu for extra indulgence. I buy them, but you can also preserve them yourself if it’s worth your while. Another ingredient brought to the public conscience from the great Ottolenghi.

I’ve been away for a few days with family and friends in the East of Ireland, so haven’t cooked much besides hearty breakfasts. I couldn’t entice anyone with asparagus over rashers but was delighted that there was another vegan in the group. The others cooked us up a suitable storm and I was stuffed (maybe over stuffed due to a surplus of hummus and pistachios) for the whole weekend. Since, I’ve stayed with my brother and his girlfriend who made me my first vegan barbecue last night and then a delicious curry today. I am overwhelmed by the consideration of others, I must say. So hats off to the rasher sandwich brigade! And here’s a picture from some of our hiking, since I neglected the food. It reminds me why it’s worth putting up with the rain 300 days of the year.

Quick Dinner #2 – Teriyaki Tofu Scramble with rice and carrot noodles in miso broth

This is wholesome, filling and will be ready in fifteen minutes. If you have any sniffles, this whack of ginger, garlic and broth will make you feel great. Otherwise, it’s still delicious, quick, healthy and satisfying. You can vary the vegetables in accordance with what it in the fridge. Also try courgette noodles. In moments of desperate laziness, I’ll simply add dried ginger powder, onion powder and chili flakes to the miso. I use a teriyaki marinade that is widely available in Ireland but if not, soy sauce, shoyu and garlic mixed together works well too.

Miso Broth – Bring a pot of water, enough for a generous bowl, to the boil. Add miso paste, chili or siracha to taste, a chopped spring onion (scallion), two sheets of torn nori seaweed and 1cm of ginger cut into matchsticks. Stick and allow to bubble for two minutes. Add 30g of dried rice noodles and cook according to instructions.

Teriyaki Tofu – While the noodles are cooking, finely dice 100g of tofu, I don’t bother pressing it when I’m hungry. In a teaspoon of oil, stir fry the tofu over a high heat. After a minute, add a tablespoon of garlic-teriyaki marinade. Mix often to keep the mixture from burning. Add 1/3 of a pepper, cut into bite-size chunks.

To serve – Mix half a carrot, in noodles (use a julienne peeler) into the noodle broth. Pour into a bowl. Pile the tofu on top and garnish with some chopped raw tomato and coriander or parsley.

Mama Yoc’s Kitchen

Pepperonata and Wagamama Yasai Chilli Men. ‘Nuff said.

Mama Yoc’s Kitchen

Caponata

It’s snowing. In May. So I’m revolting and dishing up a meal that makes me think of sun kissed late summer evenings in Sicily. Sweet and sour stewed aubergine salad heaven. Caponata is a notoriously oily affair and I don’t think it needs be. That said, it would be a travesty to use none. Measuring spoons are quite vital to try to control the oil use. This is a surprisingly soothing meal to prepare. I always thought that it would be a battle to keep the vegetables from burning and tiresome to cook off everything separately, but this takes less than an hour to prepare from the off. At a genuinely medium-low temperature and using a decent pan, this is perfect for lolling about the kitchen while chatting with friends over a glass of wine. Summer evenings deserve relaxed, rich vegetables to complement our unwound selves. Serves two.

• 1 Aubergine, in 5-6 rounds, each round quartered
• 1 red onion, halved and cut into thick slices
• 2 inner stalks celery, in thin, inch-long batons
• ½ red pepper, in inch chunks
• ½ yellow or green pepper, in inch chunks
• 20ml olive oil
• 50ml water
• 10ml (1 dstspn) white wine vinegar
• 1tsp tomato paste
• 10g (1 dstspn) sugar (use agave if you wish, but 5g)
• 10g raisins (1 dstspn)
• 10 green olives, pitted and halved
• 10g (1 dstspn) capers, without liquid

Salt the aubergine. Usually I don’t bother but it really will help to reduce the amount of oil that is absorbed. One batch at a time, gently stew the onion, red pepper, celery and yellow pepper in a frying pan over medium-low heat. It’s important that they are kept separate for both flavour and colour. Add a half teaspoon (2.5ml) of oil before each vegetable. Add each vegetable to a bowl when it has softened and just coloured. Allow them to cool. It should take about ten minutes for each batch, so after 40 minutes the aubergine should be ready to be rinsed and stewed in a similar manner. Use 10ml of olive oil for the aubergine. Add them to the same bowl. Mix the water, tomato paste, sugar and raisins. Pour into the pan to deglaze. Let it boil and thicken until the raisins are less wrinkled. Add the capers and raisins. Stir and mix into the vegetables. Taste, and season with plenty of pepper and a little salt if it needs it. Scatter with toasted pine nuts, if you wish. They’re a bit rich for my blood.

Best enjoyed at room temperature, if the room is actually a pleasant temperature (again, it’s snowing here). Enjoy with broccoli, walnut and seed polenta slices or simply with crusty bread. Today, I burnt my polenta. So I ate it on a spelt tortilla pizza. Definitely how to rescue dinner!

Mama Yoc’s Kitchen

Roasted Garlic

So sweet and soothing. This is perfect in ‘cheeze’ sauces, spread on bread, mixed into potato, stirred into dressings… There are endless delicious things to do with roasted garlic. Make up a few bulbs at a time, you’ll be alarmed by how much you’ll eat!

Mama Yoc’s Kitchen

Quick Dinner #1 - Peanut Siracha Tofu and Lemon Mange Tout & Baby Corn

Rapid preparation, little washing-up, nutritious and tasty with minimal ingredients. Now you have no excuse.

Spicy peanut tofu - crunchy lemon mange tout and baby corn - satisfying brown rice

Preheat the oven to 220 Degrees Celsius. Cut 70g of extra firm tofu into triangles with a 3cm base. Press if necessary. In a bowl, mix 1tbs each of siracha, soy sauce, peanut butter and shoyu. Toss the tofu in the marinade. Spritz a little oil onto a baking sheet and lay out the tofu. Put in the oven. Cut a handful of mange tout and babycorn at 2cm diagonals. Douse with lemon juice and season. In the bowl used for the marinade, heat up pre-cooked brown rice (I make a batch at the start of each week). When the tofu is golden and quite crispy, about fifteen minutes, rapidly stir-fry the vegetables on a very high heat for 40-60 seconds. Scoop the tofu and vegetables onto the rice and enjoy.

Mama Yoc’s Kitchen

Quinoa-Cauliflower Shepherd’s Pie

Be warned: I ate all of this. In one sitting.

This was born out of a desire for utter comfort food, because it’s May and the sky has been grey for days. However, it’s still May so fatty foods really aren’t on the table. However, I did recently find vegan Worcester sauce in my local supermarket (though tahini is still beyond them?!) so something very savoury, with a gravy kick and lots of mush was in order. I freeze little bags of cooked quinoa. It defrosts perfectly and is great for meals like this that need a little somethin’ somethin’ to fill you up. The low fat content leaves you free to inhale avocado dressed with Worcester sauce on toast (heaven).

The ingredient list seems long, but the broccoli, peas and spinach can be swapped out for whatever you have lying about.

creamy, crispy cauliflower top - savoury, rich mushroom gravy - chewy, crumbled quinoa vegetable mince

The Filling

• ½  a carrot
• 1 leek
• 1 field (large) mushroom
• 3 sticks of celery (from the centre)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 100g cooked quinoa
• 1/3 of a head of broccoli
• A handful of frozen peas
• 1 block of frozen spinach

The Gravy

• 150 ml vegetable stock
• A handful of dried mushrooms
• Siracha
• 2 tbs marinara sauce (I used some homemade that was lying around – use chopped tomatoes and a little tomato paste if needs be)
• Vegan Worcester Sauce (use mushroom ketchup if you can’t find this)

The Top

• ½ a head of cauliflower
• 1 tbs mustard
• 50ml soy milk
• 1 tsp corn flour

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Steep the dried mushrooms in the vegetable stock.

Assemble all the vegetables for the filling except the broccoli, spinach and peas. Divide each vegetable in half. Blitz one set in a food processor for 30 seconds. Dice the other half into small pieces. Put the hob on a medium heat. Sweat the leeks with a little stock or oil for a couple of minutes. Then add the chopped vegetables. Season. Let them sweat for a few minutes before adding the blitzed veg. Cook for 15 minutes until browning nicely.

Meanwhile, Blitz the cauliflower in the food processor. Steam in the microwave or in a pot until soft (about 3 minutes in the microwave). On high, heat the soy milk, mustard, corn flour and a little salt. Be sure to whisk it. When it has thickened a little, add the cauliflower and mix thoroughly. Keep on a low heat. Add some of the stock if it seems a little dry. Cover and leave on a very low heat, stirring occasionally.

Add the quinoa, peas, spinach and the broccoli, cut into small pieces, to the vegetable filling. Stir and leave for a couple of minutes. Mix in the marinara sauce, a squirt of Siracha and Worcester sauce to the filling. Stir and leave for a moment. Taste. Add about 100ml of the stock-mushroom liquid. Mix and gradually let the liquid steam down, about 10 minutes.

Assemble in an oven proof dish, with the filling on the bottom and the cauliflower mixture spread on top. Scallop the top with a spoon if you want a bit of crunch. Cook for about 30 minutes, until golden with some crunchy (read: burnt) bits.

Serve with homemade vegan baked beans or a rocket and carrot noodle salad. Or, just scrape that third serving right from the oven dish.

Mama Yoc’s Kitchen

Broccoli, walnut and mixed seed polenta in the making. Recipe to follow.

Carrot Courgette Noodles (with steamed bean curd and peanut)

Certainly not fat free, but brimming with protein and fresh, almost raw veggies. This zesty combination can be on the table within thirty minutes of languidly looking at the fridge. The carrot and courgette ensure that the peanut doesn’t cloy. These ingredients were made for each other. Make more or less of the dressing to your taste, I prefer it light and not too sweet.

• ½ a carrot, cut lengthwise and peeled into noodles
• ½ a courgette, cut lengthwise and peeled into noodles
• 3 mushrooms, sliced
• 100g steamed bean curd, cubed
• 1/3 of a red pepper, in strips
• 3 big broccoli florets, sliced from the root down into the heads to avoid the mini florets falling apart
• A handful of chives, chopped with a scissors in 2cm lengths
• 1 lime, zest and juiced
• 2 tsp each: soy sauce and peanut butter
• 1 tsp each: coconut oil, chili flakes and agave syrup
• Coriander, fresh

In a wok, cook off the mushrooms over a high heat until their water has drained away. While they are cooking, mix the soy sauce, peanut butter, agave syrup and chili flakes thoroughly. Heat for a few moments in the microwave to get the peanut butter to dissolve. Then add the coconut oil. Let it melt, then add the broccoli, pepper and bean curd. Let them char a little. Then add the peanut liquid. Toss the contents of the wok well. Then add the ‘noodles’, coriander and lime juice. Toss again and remove from the heat.

Mama Yoc’s Kitchen