Sunday 26 January 2014

Simple Black Bean Wraps with Cashew-Tofu Mayo

Sometimes we get into a bit of a dinner rut during the week. Our days are so busy, and I'm not great at meal planning. I end up falling back on simple tried and tested recipes.

I'm mostly happy with very simple meals such as salads, but I like to experiment with different recipes for fun - and for the sake of the other people in this household!

Funnily enough, I always seem to find the time to line up a list of new desserts to try out, hmmmm...

Anyway, this meal was a nice change from the usual. I love black beans! And the cashew-tofu mayonnaise was a perfect light accompaniment.

These reminded me of our old but recently neglected favourite, tangy bean wraps, although the flavour of the filling is entirely different.

Now, with my leftover black beans I plan to try making black bean brownies. See? It's so easy to think of new desserts to try!



Simple Black Bean Wraps with Cashew-Tofu Mayo

1 tbsp oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Half a red capsicum, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1.5 cups corn kernels (I used frozen)
3 cups cooked black beans
1 tsp sugar
Salt to taste

6 homemade white flour wraps (you can actually use white flour or a combination of flours in these wraps) or bought wraps

Batch of Cashew-Tofu Mayo

Fry the onion in oil for a few minutes. Add the garlic and capsicum and cook a few more minutes. Add the tomato paste, sugar, salt, corn and black beans and cook for a bit more.

In the meantime make the mayo, and the wraps if making them yourself.

Add the bean filling and mayo to the wraps, roll them up and eat!





Sunday 12 January 2014

A Tale of Two Vegan Quiches

I've been on a bit of a quiche kick lately.

Before I was vegan, I didn't mind quiche but I always found it rather heavy.

Vegan quiche, in my opinion, is so much better!

Quiche #1

I made this quiche from Oh She Glows when our lovely friends came over for lunch on New Year's Eve. 


The filling is made with firm tofu, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and spinach. The crust (which I especially loved) is made with ground almonds, oats and herbs. No flour!

I really enjoyed it, and it was a hit with our friends.

My partner, however, was not so convinced. He said it tasted too much like scrambled tofu. Glaring at him, I said yes, and what's wrong with that?! 

Quiche #2

My partner loved this quiche from the Gourmet Vegan, which is made with besan (chick pea) flour. I made it with mushrooms instead of cauliflower. 


I didn't tell him that it was made with besan flour because he has some weird aversion to the stuff. So hopefully he doesn't read this!

Once it cooled, I thought the texture of this one was quite similar to the quiche made with firm tofu. 

I really liked this quiche too. It reminded me a little bit of the scrambled eggs I love. And everyone knows how much I love besan flour. Seriously, is there anything it can't do?

So the verdict? I liked them both equally and will make them both again! The first one was very tasty (loved the sun-dried tomatoes) and the second one had that lovely distinct besan flour taste. Quiche number 2 is probably a bit easier to make, no blending required. 

And now I think it's time to make a quiche with silken tofu. I remember making this one from Easy As Vegan Pie ages ago, and it was amazingly good.