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Caesar Salad

I’ve been dreaming of creamy, delicious caesar dressing for a while. And there it was! I mixed to recipes from @nora_cooks_vegan and @thehiddenveggies. I don’t like the sharp taste of raw garlic, so I sautéed them gently before mixing. I served the dressing (yes – the dressing is the star here!) with Romaine lettuce, fried mushrooms, bread croutons and carrot “bacon”. (I’ll get back with a recipe for that. Fake bacon is great for us like pigs to be kept alive – check out the hashtag #gillagris – hijacked by vegans in an initiative from the great @javligtgott).
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Dressing
2 dl soaked cashews
3 cloves of garlic, sauteed
1 tsp soy sauce
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp capers, drained
1 dl water
1/4 nori sheet
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Mix all the ingredients in a blender or food processor until very smooth and creamy. Add generously to your Caesar salad. Store any leftovers in a jar in the fridge and use within 2-3 days.

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Summer Rolls

What better food for a hot day than summer rolls? Vermicelli rice noodles, red cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, mango, salted peanuts and green soy beans, all wrapped in a thin rice paper. A simple dip sauce with lime, soy sauce, chili and ginger on the side. And the crispy tofu sticks that I prepared but forgot to add to the rolls… Better luck next time – but these rolls were pretty great anyway!

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Layered Salad with Miso Dressing

Crisp cabbage thinly sliced, carrots and cucumber cut with a potato peeler. So simple! And poured on top is a umami flavoured dressing with:
3 tbsp miso paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
10-15 drops of roasted sesame oil
3 cm finely chopped fresh ginger
juice from 1/2 lime
1 tsp cane sugar

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Vermicelli Noodle Salad

A fresh and tasty salad perfect for dinner on a warm summer evening.

Ingredients
Vermicelli rice noodles
Tofu + soy, sesame oil and green curry for marinade
Sesame seeds
Green soy beans
Mango
Carrots
Cucumber
Fresh bean sprouts
Coriander
Salted peanuts

Dressing
2 limes
0,5 dl Japanese soy
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 – 1 red chili

• Press the tofu, cut it in cubes and marinate it in soy, sesame oil and green curry for at least an hour and up to a day.
• Use a potato peeler to make carrot and cucumber “noodles”. Mix with bean sprouts, soy beans and mango.
• Make the dressing with the juice from the limes, soy, sugar, ginger and sliced chili.
• Roll the tofu in sesame seeds and fry on medium heat in cooking oil until golden.
• Cook the rice noodles as instructed and rinse in cold water.
• Put the noodles in the bottom of a big bowl. Add vegetables, tofu, coarsely chopped peanuts and lots of coriander. Drizzle with dressing.

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Maki Rolls

Rich sweet potato, creamy avocado, crunchy cucumber and spicy sriracha – the perfect combo in vegan maki rolls!

Ingredients
sushi rice, cooked
nori sheets
avocado
cucumber
sweet potato
vegan sriracha mayo
sesame seeds
Japanese soy
pickled ginger
wasabi

Peel the sweet potato and cut like thick chips/French fries. Bake on a tray in the oven, 200 degrees for about 15 minutes. Don’t bake them too long, they should be soft but firm and just starting to get som colour.
Cut avocado and cucumber the same way as the sweet potato.
Use a bamboo mat I you have one, it makes it a lot easier to roll, but it’s not a must. Put a nori sheet with the blank side down on the mat or the table. Cover half of the sheet with sushi rice.
Put sweet potato in a line on the rice near the edge of the sheet. Add a line of avocado and cucumber, and a line of sriracha mayo. Carefully roll the nori sheet, making sure that you start with the vegetable side to get it in the centre of the roll. Squeeze tight.
Cut in 2 cm thick slices, using a very sharp knife. Plate and drizzle with sriracha mayo and sesame seeds. Serve with soy, ginger and wasabi.

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Noodle Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

This is like mash-up of Pad Thai and satay. Good? Yes, indeed! Especially if you like peanuts, and who doesn’t? You can add any veggies you like to the stir fry, just make sure to fry them quickly on high heat so they don’t go too soft. Start with the sauce, so the stir fry is hot and fresh from the pan when serving.

Peanut sauce
200 ml creamy coconut milk
1 dl crunchy peanut butter
2 cloves of garlic
3 cm fresh ginger
2 tsp red or green curry paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp Japanese soy
10 drops of sriracha or 0,5 tsp red chili, finely chopped

  • Finely chop garlic and ginger. Sauté on medium heat in a saucepan in cooking oil.
  • Add curry paste, peanut butter and coconut milk. Stir until the peanut butter melts.
  • Add brown sugar, soy, and sriracha or red chili. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  • I like the crunchy peanuts, but if you prefer a smooth sauce, just mix it.

Noodle Stir Fry
300 g rice noodles
100 g cabbage, thinly sliced
2 carrots, coarsely grated
10 cm leek, thinly sliced
100 g fresh bean sprouts
100 g baby corn, cut in pieces
300 g tofu, marinated and fried
salted peanuts, coriander and lime for serving

  • Cook the rice noodles and rinse in cold water. In a large pan, fry cabbage, carrots and leek on high heat in cooking oil.
  • Add noodles, baby corn and tofu.
  • When all is heated, pour the warm peanut sauce over the stir fry and mix well.
  • At last, add bean sprouts, squeeze lime juice on top and sprinkle with lots of fresh coriander and salted peanuts.
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Vietnamese Pho

Pho is a new acquaintance for me. Vietnamese noodle soup with lots of spices and fresh vegetables sounds like something I’d really like. So I tried a recipe from Green Kitchen Travels, and I must admit that it wasn’t really what I expected. With spices like cinnamon and cardamom it smelled more like a drink for Christmas than Asian street food. But lime, thai basil and coriander balanced it up, and when I tasted it I was pleasantly surprised. The best bit is pouring the steaming broth over the fresh veggies!

Let’s do it step by step.

  • 400 g firm tofu, pressed to get the water out
  • 0,5 dl soy sauce
  • 0,5 dl sesame oil (not the roasted type!)
  • 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce

Cut the tofu block in cubes, and marinate in soy, sesame oil and sweet chili sauce.

Then start with the broth:

  • 2 large onions cut in quarters
  • 10 cm of fresh ginger, finely sliced
  • 3 sticks of cinnamon
  • 4 star anis
  • 4 cloves (Not garlic! In Swedish – kryddnejlika)
  • 2 tbsp cardamom
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 2 liters of vegetable stock
  • 2 tbsp soy
  • 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 fennel

Quickly fry all the spices in a dry pot. Make sure they don’t burn. Add vegetable stock and soy together with onions, ginger, carrot and fennel. Bring to boil and let simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare the veg and noodles:

  • 4 servings of rice noodle, cook according to instructions and rinse with cold water.
  • 1 pak choy, sliced
  • 1 carrot, finely sliced like matches
  • 100 g bean sprouts
  • 2 limes, cut in quarters
  • 4 sprigs of Thai basil

Take the marinated tofu, roll it sesame seeds and fry it in oil.

Now pour the broth through a fine sieve to get rid of the vegetables and spices, then heat the broth again.

Prepare bowls with noodles, pak choy, carrot, bean sprouts, tofu, Thai basil and lime quarters. At the table, pour the steaming broth into the bowl, squeeze over lime juice and tuck in!