Gulin My Vegan Kitchen

Delicious plant-based recipes for everyday
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-78879-667-5
Verlag: Ryland Peters & Small
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 144 Seiten

The perfect collection of recipes to equip and inspire anyone starting out on their vegan journey. 60 deliciously achievable recipes from creative chef, teacher and nutritionist Dunja Gulin that will convert even non-vegans! Clear, accessible information about key vegan ingredients, getting all the essential vitamins and minerals on a vegan diet, making clever substitutions and how to make and buy everyday storecupboard basics. Recipes range from tasty breakfast and brunch ideas to simple, fun food for every day, including spicy burgers with sweet potato wedges, tofu sandwiches and a versatile pizza base. Stylish dishes such as warm spelt and asparagus salad, minestrone with pearl barley, hazelnut panna cotta and cheat's ice cream make delicious vegan entertaining easy. Also included are instructions on how to make nutritious nut milks and cheeses so that vegans don't have to miss out on their dairy favourites.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gulin, Dunja

Leseproben

basics

cooking grains

Whole grains are an essential part of a healthy diet and a great source of complex carbohydrates, fibre/fiber, vitamins and minerals. A vegan diet rich in refined grains cannot be defined as healthy, so, in case your pantry isn’t already packed with whole grains, grab your reusable shopping bag, run to buy the whole grains on my list, and never look back!

As you can see from the table, some grains can be soaked or dry-roasted before cooking, but it’s not essential. Soaking hard grains (brown rice, barley, spelt etc.) makes them easier to digest, as does cooking them in a pressure cooker. Dry-roasting results in a nutty flavour. Adding soft grains (millet, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat etc.) to boiling water cooks them more evenly and reduces stickiness.

cooking legumes

Legumes are a class of nutritious vegetables that include peas, lentils and beans. They are a great source of protein, minerals and fibre. Eating vegan means, among other things, that you’ve decided to stop eating meat, but you need to have some protein on your plate, and legumes are just that: full of protein and low in fat!

Cooking dried legumes from scratch requires following a couple of steps to make them softer and easier to digest (reducing the gas-factor). I use the shock method, which involves cooking the legumes in enough water to cover them, and then adding a little cold water when needed – this ‘shocks’ the skins and makes the seed softer. I always add a piece of kombu when cooking legumes (Japanese style), as well as a bay leaf (my grandma’s style), both of which are supposed to aid the digestion of beans and lentils.

TYPE OF GRAIN

GRAIN : WATER RATIO (CUPS)*

COOKING TIME/MINS

OPTIONAL PREPARATION, BEFORE COOKING

BROWN RICE

1:2 (COLD WATER)

40–50

SOAKING FOR 8 HOURS IN MEASURED AMOUNT OF WATER

WHITE RICE

1:2 (BOILING WATER)

20

–

QUINOA

1:2½ (BOILING WATER)

15–20

–

SPELT & BARLEY

1:2 (COLD WATER)

40–50

SOAKING

AMARANTH

1:3 (BOILING WATER)

25

–

BUCKWHEAT

1:2 (BOILING WATER)

15–20

DRY-ROASTING

MILLET

1:2 (BOILING WATER)

15–20

DRY-ROASTING

* 1 CUP = 240 ML (FOR LIQUID MEASURES). FOR DRY MEASURES, THE EQUIVALENT CUP WEIGHT IN GRAMS DEPENDS ON THE TYPE OF GRAIN. I FIND THAT MEASURING GRAINS AND WATER IN CUPS IS THE EASIEST AND QUICKEST WAY TO PREPARE THEM.

TYPE OF LEGUME

SOAKING

COOKING TIME/MINS

TYPE OF POT

LENTILS (BROWN, GREEN, BELUGA, PUY)

NO

30–40

NORMAL, SHOCK METHOD

LENTILS (RED, YELLOW)

NO

20–25

NORMAL

SOFT BEANS (AZUKI, MUNG)

OPTIONAL

45–60

NORMAL, SHOCK METHOD

HARD BEANS (KIDNEY, HARICOT/NAVY, CHICKPEAS, TURTLE, BUTTER/LIMA ETC.)

YES

60+

USE PRESSURE COOKER FOR BEST RESULT

stocking your vegan pantry

Have a quick look at the list of staples that follows. Are there a lot of foods that you are already eating? If yes, that is really a good sign! But you might also find some more unusal ingredients that you feel are too exotic and you will never be able to incorporate them into your diet. A long time ago I thought so too, but just stay open and be patient…you’ll see how wonderful new foods can be. They’re not only tasty, but also rich in some nutrients other ‘ordinary’ foods cannot give you. It would be a shame to reject them just because they aren’t part of traditional Western cooking traditions.

pantry staples

grains & pasta

Brown rice, millet (and millet flakes), quinoa, polenta and rolled oats are the grains and grain products that I use most frequently in my daily cooking. However, you will most probably also find amaranth, spelt, barley, wild rice and buckwheat stored somewhere in the back shelves, and I use them occasionally – in soups, stews, crackers and salads, as you will see in this book. Different types of whole grain and gluten-free pasta are great pantry staples too, for quick weekday meals.

dried beans

I love to have both soft and hard beans available in my pantry – soft beans like red, green, brown and beluga lentils and azuki beans can all be prepared faster without soaking, while kidney, haricot/navy, borlotti beans and chickpeas which take a bit longer to cook and need soaking. Beans are a very important part of my diet and they are packed with nutrients and rich in protein. I never use canned beans, but there’s no harm in having a couple of cans of organic beans in your pantry, for emergencies.

oils & vinegars

The oil I use most frequently in cooking and seasoning is definitely olive oil. I always have two types of olive oil on hand: cheaper, neutral oil for cooking and extra-virgin olive oil for use in salads or to sprinkle at the end of cooking. I’m lucky that my grandma still supplies me with her own high-quality Istrian olive oil, but if you have to buy yours please try to invest a bit more money, as good-quality olive oil transforms the simplest foods. Sunflower and coconut oil are especially good for deep-frying and baking, and flaxseed and toasted sesame oil for seasoning. As for vinegars, it’s useful to have apple cider vinegar and brown rice vinegar for seasoning salads, in small quantities. I should also mention umeboshi plum vinegar, which I use more as a condiment than as a vinegar – its salty, sour and fruity flavour deepens the taste of creamy soups, stews and vegetable dishes, and I highly recommend it as a staple on your pantry shelf!

salt

Unrefined sea salt is the type of salt I use most frequently, but unrefined rock salt is also a great source of trace minerals and can be used on a daily basis. Both coarse and fine unrefined salt is good to have on hand; coarse for adding while cooking, and fine for finishing dishes. Avoid using table salt, and salt with added iodine!

nuts & seeds

There are so many kinds of nuts and seeds, and I love all of them! Almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts are local to my area so I use them more often, and save the exotic kinds (such as cashews and macadamia nuts) for special recipes, especially in baking. From the seeds list, I highly recommend using sunflower, pumpkin and unhulled sesame seeds almost daily, since they are so rich in vital minerals. Flaxseed and chia seeds are both beneficial for digestion and especially rich in Omega 3- and 6- fatty acids, and I often soak or grind them and add them to breakfast porridge, soups, salads or desserts.

herbs & spices

You’ll notice that my style of cooking includes a lot of Mediterranean herbs and spices, which is not surprising since I grew up on the Adriatic coast! Dried oregano, thyme, basil, bay leaves, ground turmeric, ground ginger, fennel seeds, chilli powder, sweet paprika, peppercorns and curry powder are on my favourites list, but I sometimes also use cumin, cayenne pepper, cloves and cardamom powder to enhance the flavour of a particular dish. Choose your favourites and experiment substituting my suggestions with your own mixtures of herbs and spices!

dried goods

Apart from grains and beans, which are also dried, there are a couple of other dried foods that I use regularly and suggest you use them too! Dried foods are concentrated and therefore richer in taste and nutrients; some dried foods even have healing properties (like shiitake mushrooms, for example, which boost the immune system and lower blood pressure, among many health benefits). Dried fruits such as raisins, apricots, dates, prunes, etc. are all great to have on hand to nibble on or to use in desserts. Sundried tomatoes and sundried shiitake mushrooms are two dried delicacies I have to have in my cupboard, and I use them to make some dishes even more yummy and creative!

Among the more exotic vegetables are dried sea vegetables, or seaweed. They are completely neglected in most Western cooking-styles, but I urge you to include them in your everyday cooking. As a great source of minerals straight from nature, seaweed is cheaper than multi-mineral supplements, and much tastier too. I use kombu, arame, wakame, nori, hijiki and agar-agar, and since all types of dried seaweed have an almost infinite shelf life, you don’t have to worry that they will go bad if you don’t use them as often as I do!

vegan baking & dessert essentials

It’s a good idea to have the following flours at home: unbleached plain/all-purpose flour, wholemeal/whole wheat flour, millet flour, fine cornmeal and rye flour. To make your vegan baked goods rise, you will need aluminium-free baking powder and a little bicarbonate of soda/baking...