Easy Vegan Cooking: Over 350 delicious recipes for every ocassion. Leah Leneman
pimentos are rarely used for anything more than a garnish, though they have a lovely, sweetish flavour. This is a side salad rather than a main dish.
1 tin (can) (c.225g/8 oz) pimentos
455g/1 lb/1 cup fresh or frozen sliced
green beans
2 carrots
4 tbs vegan mayonnaise
1) Drain the pimentos and slice them into thin strips.
2) Cook the beans until just tender; drain and leave to cool.
3) Grate the carrots coarsely.
4) Combine all the ingredients and serve.
Curried Butter Bean Salad
Nothing could be simpler than this dish. A quick recipe. Suitable for One.
455g/l lb/2½ cups or 2 tins (cans)
(c.400g/14–16 oz) cooked butter beans
140ml/1/4 pt/2/3 cup vegan mayonnaise 1 heaped tbs mango chutney 1 heaped tbs desiccated (shredded) coconut 2 heaped tsp curry powder
1) Drain the beans.
2) Combine the mayonnaise, chutney, curry powder and coconut. Add the beans, mix and serve.
Stuffed Pear Salad
This nutritious dish is sweet enough to act as main dish and dessert at the same time. A quick recipe. Suitable for One.
4 ripe pears
170g/6 oz/1 cup dates
85g/ 3 oz/2/3 cup walnuts 3 tbs vegetable oil 1½ tbs lemon juice As required crisp lettuce leaves
1) Peel and halve the pears, remove the cores and some of the flesh to leave a hollow for the filling. (The flesh can be chopped into the filling.) Chop the dates and walnuts.
2) Combine the dates, walnuts, oil and lemon juice with the chopped flesh and pile the mixture into the pear halves.
3) Serve on crisp lettuce leaves.
Stuffed Banana Salad
When I lived on my own I often made this for lunch. A quick recipe. Suitable for One.
30g/1 oz/1/6 cup raisins or sultanas (golden seedless raisins) 55g/2 oz peanut butter 4 small bananas 2 tbs vegan mayonnaise 2 tbs salted peanuts As required crisp lettuce leaves
1) Chop the raisins finely. Mix them together with the peanut butter.
2) Peel and split the bananas lengthwise and fill them sandwich fashion with the peanut butter-raisin mixture.
3) Spoon the dressing over the bananas and top with the salted peanuts.
4) Serve on crisp lettuce leaves.
Mexican-style Potato Salad
It is better to use freshly cooked potatoes for this so that the vinaigrette can soak into them, but if you have leftover potatoes, use these instead.
455g/1 lb new potatoes
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs cider vinegar or wine vinegar
1 tin (can) (c.340g/12 oz) sweetcorn (corn)
140ml/1/4 pt/2/3, cup soya (soy) yogurt As required sea salt As required freshly ground black pepper 1 bunch watercress 2 tbs Smokey Snaps (soy bakon bits)
1) Cook the potatoes until tender, drain and dice them.
2) Combine the oil and vinegar, pour this over diced potatoes and leave until cold.
3) Drain the corn and mix it with the yogurt and seasoning. Combine this with the potatoes.
4) Pile on to a serving dish and surround with sprigs of watercress. Sprinkle Smokey Snaps (soy bakon bits) over the salad just before serving.
Christmas Salad
This salad is perfect for the holiday season.
115g/4 oz/¾ cup hazelnuts or almonds
As required Chinese leaves
2 avocados
As required lemon juice
4 kiwi fruits
8 fresh lychees
4 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs cider vinegar or wine vinegar
As required sea salt
As required freshly ground black pepper
1 small onion
1) Toast the nuts and set aside.
2) Slice the Chinese leaves to make a bed on a large platter or four individual plates.
3) Peel and cube the avocados, sprinkling them with lemon juice at the same time. Arrange on the bed of leaves.
4) Peel and slice the kiwi fruits and arrange with the avocado cubes.
5) Peel the lychees and cut into small pieces. Scatter them among the avocado and kiwi fruit.
6) Mix the oil and vinegar together and sprinkle over the salad. Season to taste.
7) Scatter the toasted nuts on top.
8) Chop the onion very finely and scatter over the salad. Serve.
Tabbouleh
No vegan cookery book would be complete without a version of this Middle-Eastern classic.
225g/½ lb/11/3 cups bulgur wheat 55g/2 oz/2 cups fresh parsley 4 or 5 spring onions (scallions)2 tbs fresh mint or or 2 tsp dried mint (optional) Juice of 1 small lemon 4 tbs extra virgin olive oil required sea saltTabboulehAs required freshly ground black pepper
1) Cover the wheat with plenty of cold water and leave to soak for 45 minutes to one hour.
2) Line a colander with a clean tea towel (dish towel) and pour the bulgur wheat into it. allowing the water to drain through. Gather up the edges of the towel and squeeze the wheat, to expel as much of the liquid as possible. Place in a large mixing bowl.
3) Mince the parsley, spring onions (scallions), and the fresh mint if used. Add to the wheat. Pour in the lemon juice and oil and stir well.
4) Season to taste and serve.
American-style Tabbouleh
The addition of beans turns this into a substantial and filling dish.
170g/6 oz/11/3 cups bulgur wheat 55g/2 oz/2 cups fresh parsley 1 tomato 3 spring onions (scallions) 1 stick celery 4 tsp dried mint or 2 tbs fresh mint 1/2 cucumber 455g/l lb/2½ cups or 2 tins (cans) (c.400g/14–16 oz) each cooked drained chick peas (garbanzo beans) Juice of 2 lemons 4 tbs extra virgin olive oil As required sea salt As required freshly ground black pepper
1) In a large bowl put the bulgur wheat with lots of cold water to cover it. and leave to soak for about an hour.
2) Drain well and squeeze out as much of the water as possible. (For an efficient way of doing that see the previous chapter.)
3) Chop the parsley, tomato, spring onions (scallions), celery, mint and cucumber finely. Add to the bulgur wheat, along with the beans. Mix well.
4) Pour the lemon juice and oil over everything and mix in thoroughly. Season to taste.
5) Serve chilled.
Lentil