Chickpea and Gherkin Smørrebrød

I said I would post another recipe for using homemade vegan mayonnaise soon and here it is.  After formatting the Triumph of the Lentil Kindle edition, cooking celebration meals, and editing my wilderness photos for sale as calendars, cards and prints, I now have a moment to post about smørrebrød.

Smørrebrød is a Danish open-faced sandwich, and is perfect for using slices of hearty wholegrain breads that aren’t so great for using in a two-slice sandwich.  In Denmark it’s traditionally made from a dark rye sourdough, but I use my 100% wholemeal wheat bread with great results.  Traditionally butter is spread on the bread (that’s what ‘smørre’ means), but I’ve used homemade vegan mayonnaise on mine.

There are heaps of different traditional toppings which are definitely not vegan, and although I never ate the ‘real’ thing in Denmark, I think these ones I’ve made topped with salad greens, chickpea salad and pickled gherkin slices resemble them.

Kitchen time 5-10 minutes.  Serves 2.
Soy-free, onion- and garlic-free, nightshade-free, no speciality ingredients

Ingredients:
4-6 slices fresh wholemeal bread (preferably rye, or my wholemeal wheat bread recipe)
homemade vegan mayonnaise
salad greens
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 400g (14oz) tin, rinsed and drained) (use 2 1/4 cups if you’re extra hungry)
pickled gherkin slices

Method:
Spread some vegan mayonnaise on the bread.  Mix the salad greens with some more vegan mayo and place this on top of the bread.  Using a fork, mash the chickpeas with plenty of vegan mayonnaise and cover the salad greens with this.  Top with gherkin slices and serve right away.

Seitan Roulade with Parsley Root Stuffing

We haven’t had many celebration-worthy meals of late, instead falling back on many of our comforting favourites from Triumph of the Lentil (especially the lentil lasagne, penne pasta bake and seitan ‘steak’ with onion and pepper gravy) while I focus my kitchen creativity on baking for my next book.  With the release of the Kindle edition of Triumph of the Lentil and it quickly reaching #1 bestseller status in Germany for English language Natural Foods cookbooks, a need for a tasty celebration meal arose.

The Kindle edition is available from Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr

Parsley root is a strange looking and delicious vegetable.  I grow my own but if you’re lucky you might find some of these at a farmer’s market or CSA from late summer to early spring, depending on your climate.  Growing it is pretty much the same as parsnip, but the seeds sprout a little easier, it’s also sometimes sold as “Hamburg parsley”.

With this recipe it’s possible to have an impressive meal to serve to guests in under an hour.  It can also be made ahead and stored in the fridge until baking, perfect when you’re having friends over and want to spend time with them rather than rushing around cooking stuff.

This stuffing is really unique and tasty.  It’s grain-free, so people on gluten-free or grain-free diets could use this instead as stuffing for a nut roast or lentil loaf.

Kitchen time 15-20 minutes.  Makes 4 serves. (if you’re cooking for less people, the other rolled and tied-up roulades can be kept unbaked in the fridge for up to 5 days and baked when needed).  Best served with roasted veggies, miso gravy (recipe below) and a green salad.

Soy-free, Onion- and garlic-free, nightshade-free (depending on your worcestershire sauce ingredients)

New improved baked seitan mixture (makes 4 serves)

Dry ingredients:

1 1/4 cups gluten (vital wheat gluten)

1/3 cup chickpea flour (besan)

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (savoury yeast flakes)

1 teaspoon salt (omit if using tamari)

Wet ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegan worcestershire sauce, soy-free tamari or coconut aminos

2 tablespoons oil (olive, sesame or sunflower)

1 cup water

Method:

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Add the wet ingredients stirring, and then kneading to combine.  Leave to rest for at least 5 minutes.

Parsley Root (or celery root, or parsnip) Stuffing

Ingredients:

2 cups finely diced parsley root, celery root or parsnip

1/2 cup hazelnut meal or almond meal

2 tablespoons dijon mustard (or 2 teaspoons yellow mustard powder plus 2 tablespoons water)

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, or 2 teaspoons dried

optional 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

optional pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (add if using mustard powder instead of mustard.)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 160-200c (320-390f).

Prepare the seitan mixture from the directions above and set aside to rest for at least 5 minutes.  Prepare your side dish and stuffing ingredients while it rests and the oven heats up.

Grease a baking sheet and stretch the seitan out into as large a rectangle as you can without it breaking (if you want to make two or four roulades instead of one, divide the mixture into pieces and then stretch it and bake).  Place on the sheet and continue to press it out until it gets bigger, without it breaking.  It should be less than 1cm (1/2″ thick).

Brush the top with oil and bake for 7 minutes.

Bring a tiny bit of water to the boil in a small pot, then add the parsley root and boil for 5 minutes.  Drain.

In a mixing bowl, mix the parsley root, hazelnut meal, mustard, thyme and parsley together.

Place the least browned side of the seitan down on a plate and place the parsley root mixture in the middle third of the rectangle.  Roll the shorter end towards the other shorter end, overlapping it a little bit.  Tie it up with cotton string and stuff any of the fallen-out stuffing back in it.  Leave it seam-side down until you’re ready to cook it.

When your roasted veggies have 20 minutes to go, place the seitan on the same tray as them, or a separate greased tray, and brush liberally with oil.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Miso Gravy

This gravy really compliments the crispy seitan, which is a little dry on its own, and is delicious with roasted potatoes.

Serves 4.  Kitchen time 5 minutes.

Soy-free option, gluten-free option, low fat option, nightshade-free

1 medium onion

4 tablespoons flour (whole barley, spelt, wheat or gluten-free)

2 cups water

3 tablespoons miso*

3/4 teaspoon dried thyme (or 2 teaspoons fresh)

1/4 teaspoon dried sage (or 3/4 teaspoon fresh)

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary (or 3/4 teaspoon fresh)

cracked pepper, to taste

1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Place the onion in a frying pan with a little olive oil, stirring to coat.  Put on a medium-high heat and continue to stir until the onions are tender and fragrant and starting to brown.  Stir through the flour, then stir through the water, a little at a time so that no lumps form.  Add the miso, herbs, pepper and vinegar and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for at least 5 minutes.

*For details on soy-free and gluten-free miso, see this post.

Chickpea and Potato Salad (and homemade cashew mayonnaise)

With the approach of summer here in Tasmania it’s nice to have some filling meals that can be made ahead of time and served for a quick lunch, or as part of a picnic or BBQ.  This salad can be served straight away at room temperature, or kept in the fridge for a few days.  It has more protein than a typical potato salad, thanks to the addition of chickpeas, so it only needs a green salad to complete the meal, but in these photos I’ve served it as a side dish to the lentil and sunflower pie from Vive Le Vegan.

Gluten-free option, soy-free option, under 45 minutes

Kitchen time 5-10 minutes.  Cooking time 20 minutes.  Makes 4 side dish serves.

Ingredients:

700g (1.5lbs) potatoes (9 small-medium ones)

a handful of chopped fresh chives

half a handful of chopped fresh parsley

optional 1 tablespoon mellow light miso*

10 tablespoons (2/3 cup) vegan mayonnaise (I used homemade cashew mayonnaise, recipe below)

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 400g (14oz) can, rinsed and drained)

Method:

Bring a pot of water to the boil.  Scrub any dirt off the potatoes and chop them into bite-sized pieces.  When the water is boiling, add the potatoes.  Cook with the lid on for 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium-low if it’s boiling over.  Drain and rinse with cold water until they cool down.

In large mixing bowl combine the chives, parsley, miso and mayonnaise, stirring until the miso is thoroughly mixed in.  Stir through the chickpeas, to coat in the dressing, then stir in the potato.

Cashew mayonnaise

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup water

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup vegan milk

1/4 – 1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste (I use around half a teaspoon of each)

In a blender, soak the cashews in the water and vinegar for at least a couple of minutes, or up to 24 hours.  Blend until smooth, then blend in the vegan milk.  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while blending.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  This will keep in the fridge for up to a week (I’ll post another recipe to use this in soon).

*Not all misos are gluten-free and soy-free.  See this post for more information.