Spicy Noodle Salad

This recipe is originally a Jamie Oliver recipe that I adapted and changed a bit. I have made it several times and tweaked it a bit each time, and this time I decided to use the opportunity to try and do something interesting with the stalk of broccoli - something I always feel wasteful throwing away but never really know what to do with! Using this method of slicing it really thinly and marinating with courgette and carrot worked really well

Ingredients:

1 stalk of Broccoli
1/3 Courgette
1 Carrot
1/2 cup White Cabbage (shredded)
2 tbsp Rice Vinegar (any nicely flavoured vinegar will work really)
1 tbsp Sake (optional - I didn't include this but it would have gone nicely)
1/2 tsp Sugar
1/6 tsp Salt (just a big pinch really)
3 Cakes Wholewheat Noodles
1 Chili
1/2 Red Onion
1 tsp Coriander
1 Lime
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 tbsp Sesame Seeds
1 tbsp Pumpkin Seeds
Salt and Pepper

Method:

First to marinate the vegetables, mix together the salt, sugar, vinegar and sake
Slice the vegetables thinly, about 3-4 mm thick (if you have a mandolin use it but I managed fine with a knife)
Pour the mixture over the vegetables and toss to coat, set aside
Boil a kettle and pour over the noodles, leave to soften and then strain with a colander
Cover with cold water to stop them from cooking, and also to stop them socking together
Heat a small pan, add the seeds and then the sugar
Once the sugar melts, take off the heat stir constantly to coat the seeds well - if they start to stick in clumps break them up now as it's easy while they're still hot but once they're cool it's much more difficult
Leave to cool (you might want to transfer them onto a sheet of baking paper and put the pan straight in to soak, burnt/melted on sugar is an absolute pain to clean off)
Chop the onion and chili and mix in a mug with the soy sauce, sesame oil and coriander
Juice the lime into this and add about half of the zest (feel free to add more if you like but I find this make the lime too overpowering - I'd usually go for about 1/3 to be honest)
Strain the noodles, then combine with the onion and chili mixture
Toss to coat well
Stir in the vegetables
Season to taste
Serve!

The vegetables used in this are pretty flexible, I thought it was a good and easy say to use up the broccoli stalk but you can make it with anything. Some mangetout or sugarsnap peas make a nice addition. The sesame oil and sweetness of the seeds go really well together. I like this about as hot as I can stand it but that's just personal preference. Let us know any suggestions you come up with at twocooksoneblog@gmail.com

Thai Chickpea Burgers

Tom's turn today! (alliteration win)

This is one recipe that is almost completely my own creation. After going vegan I had the occasional craving for something nice and hefty and filling and well....burger-like. Anyway, mushrooms burgers without goats cheese just weren't the same so I decided to invent my own recipe. It's similar-ish to falafel (in that it involves chickpeas - but what vegan food doesn't?) and has the spicy fresh flavours that come with thai food. This recipe can be gluten free or not depending on what you use to bind it (see the notes in the recipe list).

The nutritional values are listed here (as best as I could work them out), this recipe makes 8 small burgers or 4 large-ish burgers (I'd usually use this to make 4 dinners worth):

                        Calories      Carbs       Fat      Protein       Sodium        Sugar
   Total                530            73          32         18               36               9
  Per Serving         66              9            3           2                5                1

Ingredients:

1 can Chickpeas

1/2 an Onion (I prefer red)

1/2 a Courgette

3 cloves of Garlic
1 cm piece of fresh Ginger (I have absolutely no idea how much this weighs - maybe 40g? You can use Ground Ginger if you want, probably around 1.5 tsp will be alright)

1 Lime

2 tbsp Tomato Paste

1 small Red Chili

1 tbsp Olive Oil (or if you have it sesame gives a great flavour)

1 tbsp Soy Sauce

Either 4 tbsp Flour/Gluten Free Flour OR 5 tbsp Oats

1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp Cornflour

Salt and Pepper to taste

This works with a mixture of the two i.e. 2 tbsp Flour and 3 tbsp Oats. If you eat eggs and want to use one instead I would substitute the half the flour and the oil for one egg (you can omit all the flour if you want too but it helps to make the mixture the right consistency - as always, have an experiment). I know buying fresh ginger probably feels like a massive pain but trust me DO IT. It is undoubtedly worth it. At the risk of sounding pretentious (who I am I kidding? I'm vegan) ground ginger just doesn't even compare in flavour and you need so much more to taste it and it just isn't as nice. A decent sized piece of ginger is a staple of my weekly shop, I'd recommend it.

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celcius.

Strain and wash the chickpeas (you don't necessarily need to do this, I just hate the smell of the water they come in).

Smush them in mixing bowl - you can use a potato masher if you want but honestly, I find it easier to just use my hands. Punch them, physically punch them. Great stress release.

Chop up the onion, chili and garlic and add it into the bowl.

Grate the courgette and the ginger into the bowl.

Juice and zest the lime.

Add the tomato paste, soy sauce and olive oil and mix thoroughly.

Either sift in the flour and baking powder and cornflour or stir in the oats.

Season to taste.

Mix around with you hands until they are a good consistency (this doesn't always happen, add either more lime juice/water or flour until you can make them start to stick together).

Squash into burger shapes and place on a baking tray.

Bake for 20-25 minutes on either side (or until golden brown/it looks cooked - entirely your call).

Serve and enjoy!

I like to serve two of these with boiled new potatoes, steamed veg and/or a salad - having both takes this to about 500 calories a portion (based on 150g potatoes, a normal size of vegetables). Also protip: a glug of sweet chili sauce can save even the driest and most burnt of burgers (something you learn quickly if you have as bad a memory as mine).

This is just how I like these burgers HOWEVER, not everyone likes thai food (I don't know why it's just true) so feel free to scrap all the flavours from these burgers and just use the basic recipe (chickpeas, courgette, onion, oil, baking power and flour/oats) and make them how you want to.

Suggestions:

Add a stick of lemongrass (or ground lemongrass) for an extra thai flavour - I didn't put this in the main recipe as it's something of a specialist ingredient but it regularly makes an appearance in mine.
Add a tsp of cumin, paprika, tomato paste and garlic - more of a mexican vibe

As always, let us know your improvements at twocooksoneblog@gmail.com or leave a comment!

Spicy Garlic and Lime Prawns

Just Jess here today! Tom is busy being a student.

Sadly (or not), this recipe isn't vegan. I love seafood and will apologise to nobody for this. It is however, gluten free, easy to make and really versatile. The ingredients I used made enough for two - I ate half fresh with gluten free spaghetti and kept half overnight in the fridge to eat the next day with salad. I imagine it would also work well with any other type of pasta, rice, potatoes, veggies, anything you fancy.If cooking for more people, just double the ingredients up.

Ingredients
1 lime, zest and juice
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 chilli pepper (I used a small red one), chopped
A drop of olive oil
100g king prawns
1/2 tin/carton passata (or chopped tomatoes, up to you)
1/2 pack (or about 10) closed cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 courgette, sliced
Paprika and italian herbs to season

First, add half the lime juice to the prawns to marinate for a while. I just left it whilst I was chopping the veg but you could leave it longer.

Fry the chopped chilli and garlic in the pan and add around 1/4 of the lime zest. After a couple of minutes, add the mushrooms. When the mushrooms are softening, add the courgette. Fry until softened, then add the prawns and another 1/4 of zest. Fry the prawns with the veg for a couple of minutes, then add the passata/tomatoes, the remaining lime juice and zest. Cook for a few minutes until it starts to bubble a bit, then add the paprika and herbs. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. And serve.

Simple. I also added sweetcorn to the recipe, adding with the passata, but this is just a preference (and I had corn to use up...). If you like onion, fry one with the garlic and chilli. I'm weird and only cook onions with red meat. But again, just a preference. Oh yeah, and when I say italian herbs, I mean I literally used a couple of teaspoons of 'herbs italienne' that I bought in a French supermarket earlier in the year. Basil and oregano are probably what that means.