Vegan MoFo - Jambalaya

Day 10 already & I decided to make jambalaya.  This was delicious & easy, I loosely based it on a vegweb recipe & I made it using ingredients I had on hand - win!.

Ingredients (makes 4 large servings)

• 1 onion diced
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 red capsicum diced
• 1 medium zucchini diced
• 1 1/2 cups tomato passata
• 1/2 cups rice
• 3 cups stock (I used massel chicken stock)
• Cajun spice mix
• Artichoke hearts to serve
• Jalapenos to taste (optional)

Method

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot which has a lid and saute garlic, onion, capsicum and zucchini until all cooked.
    
2. Add  spice mix, rice, passata and stock to pot. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally (uncovered).
    
3. Cover pot and reduce heat to low
    
4. Cook for 30 minutes or until rice is done, stirring occasionally.
    
5. Top with artichoke hearts & jalapenos

Fry's Chicken Strips

Doing my grocery shopping recently I noticed Fry's chicken strips which I believe are a new product so decided to give them a go.

The first meal I made with them was Bibimbap which I made during a week of huge spicy food cravings - I loved this meal!  The chicken strips however, I had marinated for a couple of hours in soy sauce, garlic & ginger & they ended up almost inedibly salty.  Everything else was great though - marinated mushrooms, seaweed salad, kim chi & cucumber salad.

The next meal I made with them was a simple salad with a tahini dressing & I actually really liked them in this.  I wouldn't buy them all the time but they are quite tasty & a nice addition to salads.

Baked tomato risotto

I am a big fan of baked risotto - they are super easy & only use one pot.  One night recently with very little fresh food in the house after a ridiculously, crazy busy week I managed to throw together a quick, easy & tasty baked tomato risotto.  I would have liked to add other vegies, like capsicum & zucchini but I didn't have any and I think fresh herbs would have been really good, but it was raining & I didn't want to go out & pick some!

Ingredients (makes 4 large servings)

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 3/4 cup tomato passata
• 4 cups hot massel chicken stock 
• Half an eggplant 
• Semi dried tomatoes chopped
• Olives chopped roughly
• Artichoke hearts
• Rocket

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Heat the oil in an ovenproof dish (that has a lid) on the stovetop over medium-low heat.
3. Add the onion, eggplant and garlic and cook, stirring until soft. Add the olives & semi dried tomatoes.
4. Add the rice and stir.
5. Add the passata, bring to the boil then add the hot stock.
6. Cover and cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Stir once during cooking. 
7. Top with artichokes & rocket. 

Pumpkin risotto two ways

Continuing with my carb fest I made a pumpkin risotto last night because I had some pumpkin to use up. I wanted to make a baked risotto so I based my risotto on this recipe from Vegan Yum Yum. I have actually made that recipe before to the letter & it is delicious. I left out the tomatoes & herbs & added in roasted pumpkin & lots of fennel seeds. However given that my brain is not working so well at the moment as soon as I put the risotto in the oven & closed the door I realised I had used sushi rice rather than arborio rice but it still worked ok. Also, I should have added in the pumpkin later because it kind of turned to mush. I served it with a salad & it was quite nice but I am finding pumpkin super sweet at the moment.


I had heaps of risotto let over today so I made arancini. I shaped the risotto into balls, put a chunk of garlic & herb cheezly in the middle & rolled the balls in breadcrumbs mixed with nooch. I panfried these in a little bit of olive oil & then finished them off in the oven. I actually preferred the risotto this way & I had them with a salad of lettuce, roasted red capsicum, chickpeas & mango.