Easter Delights

I know it's not the weekend and it's not quite Easter, however I am on my easter holidays so I thought it only appropriate to get my cook on. I asked a friend for menu inspiration this morning and when the reply came back with Japanese I knew there were two things I have always loved however never attempted in my own kitchen.... Teriyaki Sauce and Wakame salad.
Surprisingly, I had most ingredients in the kitchen including the wakame (from a failed attempt at a Japanese pesto), so a quick trip to market and five simple ingredients, I'm ready to go.
This amount is perfect for 300 gms of tofu.



1/3 cup of soy sauce-I used Japanese
1 tbsp of mirin or rice vinegar
1 tbsp of sugar
1 garlic clove, crushed
Small piece of ginger, chopped finely. Quantity to your taste.

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add more/sugar mirin to taste if required.
Allow to cool. Marinate tofu for at minimum one hour


Wakame is such a healthy food option and is often overlooked.. Seaweed-yuk! Every time I go out for Japanese or even buy a sushi roll I can never go past buying a container of this delight.
Preparing the wakame is a little pain staking but totally worth it.

Soak 30 gm of wakame or mixed seaweed-this will swell but trust me, when you squeeze the water out, it is perfect for say four people.

1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1-2 red chilli
2 spring onions

Dry toast the sesame seeds over a low heat until slightly browned and fragrant. Combine soy, mirin and sugar and stir. Add to wakame with sesame seeds and garnish with chilli and spring onions

Cucumber and pear salad
1 cucumber
1 pear
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
6 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt

Slice the cucumber in half and remove the seeds. Slice pear, combine with cucumber and lightly salt-set aside. Combine other ingredients and add to cucumber mix. Add a little more salt and combine. Let rest for approximately an hour as the salt will draw the sugar from the fruit-yum.

I served this meal with miso to start and accompanied the above with some brown rice. Enjoy
NB- the wakame salad makes a lot. I used mine in some sushi and added smoked tofu.

Saturday Comfort Food

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon, the mundane chores are done for the day and I'm home alone-perfect for cooking up a storm. I've always had a passion for food and cooking, since becoming vegetarian fourteen years ago I have developed this even more so. The decision was a no brainer on many levels. Humans treat our animal friends in such terrible manner for their own gains. Disgusting treatment in and outside of abattoirs, product testing, accelerated growth, destruction of land masses for grazing the list goes on. It was a choice I am proud to say that I committed to for the rest of my being.

Now people hear vegetarian and think tofu and mung beans, yeah sure they both form part of the diet but really?! Over the course of time the introduction and availability of different fruits, vegetables and grains has opened up a wealth of new foods to tantalise the taste buds, quinoa, pomegranates, a dozen different types of mushrooms, the catalogue of asian greens-vegetarian paradise. All of this has prompted me to share some of my favourite receipes to highlight that vegetarians don't just eat chickpeas and rice.

I'm starting of with two basics, it's raining and I feel like comfort food.

Roasted pumpkin and garlic dip
0.3kilo of butternut pumpkin, diced
2 cloves of garlic-husk on
0.5 cup of Greek yoghurt-not that low fat stuff either
0.5 tsp of cumin
Pepper to taste.
Handful of fresh coriander

Dice the pumpkin and lightly coat with olive oil. Roast the pumpkin and garlic until soft until the edges become slightly crispy. Leave to cool. Once cooled remove the husk of the garlic and place in a bowl with the pumpkin. Using a potato masher, mash until the pumpkin has broken down however still maintains some texture. Add the remaining and combine. Notice salt is omitted from this receipe however you can add if you think it needs it-I don't.
Serve with toasted flat pita bread.