Chickpea and Leek Soup

This is the soup that I always make when I'm feeling sorry for myself.. or when I just want soup. The chickpeas have a nutty, creamy taste that goes perfectly with the buttery leeks. I would nearly go so far as to say this is my never-fail soup, but then I seem to recall a nasty incident about 3 years ago involving an exploding blender and second degree burns. I still have the battle-scars to remember it by. Hmm, I never did clean that ceiling... So, this is my once-failed, non-pureed soup. Who needs puree anyway when you have teeth? Enjoy!

CHICKPEA AND LEEK SOUP

1 small onion, diced

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 carrot, diced or sliced

1 small leek, sliced

5 mushrooms, sliced

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 Tbsp flour

4 cups vegetable stock

3-4 Tbsp soy sauce, or to taste

Salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat a generous glug of olive oil on a low heat and gently saute the onions for about 8 minutes, keeping the pot covered. You want the onions soft and white, not browned.

Increase heat to medium and add the celery and carrot. Saute until soft, adding a splash of hot water to help heat through.

Add leeks and 1 Tbsp butter or margarine, and stir until soft and cooked. Add mushrooms, and more olive oil if needed, and continue to saute until cooked, stirring occasionally.

Add chickpeas, vegetable stock and soy sauce, sprinkling in the flour and stir to combine. Lower heat and let simmer for half an hour.

Taste and adjust seasonings. Tastes even better the next day

Creamy Mushroom Fettucine

There's nothing I love more than a big ol' plate of creamy pasta goodness. Creamy mushroom goodness, to be precise. This reminds of what I used to eat at a certain pasta house that I used to frequent back in the day.

CREAMY MUSHROOM FETTUCINE

2 handfuls of Fettucine pasta

1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup soy milk

1/2 head of broccoli, chopped into small florets

2 pieces fake 'chicken' or tofu, sliced

2 punnets (or handfuls) shiitake mushroom, sliced

1 tsp arrowroot powder, or flour

2 Tbsp Bacos
Salt, Pepper and Soy Sauce to season

Boil pasta according to packet directions.

Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of oil with a tsp of margarine on medium heat. Gently fry the onion for 2 minutes until soft. Add the mushrooms and stir, adding a little extra oil if the mushroooms look too dry. The mushrooms will release a bit of water later so don't go too crazy with the oil now. Once the mushrooms are nearly done, add the tofu or fake chicken and cook for a couple of minutes to brown.

Add the soymilk and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and let simmer.

The pasta should nearly be done, so add the broccoli florets to the pasta water to cook alongside the pasta. Cook for a couple of minutes making sure the broccoli turns bright green, then drain both pasta and broccoli.

In a glass, add a couple of tablespoons of soymilk from the pan, and mix together with the arrowroot powder and stir to dissolve. Pour back into soy milk mixture, and add Bacos, stirring to combine until thick and creamy.

Once thickened, add salt, pepper and soy sauce to season. Mix in the pasta and broccoli.

Serves 2

Vegan Scallops with Lime Butter

I made these while living in Thailand and exotic mushrooms were cheap and readily available: all the better for me to buy in abundance and experiment with reckless abandon... excellent.. I first tried these babies when in Korea and they had a satifying bite and meaty (for want of a better word) texture. I usually see them served cut lengthwise, but when cut widthwise they make cute little mishapen rounds which reminded me of scallops.

Next step: what the hell do I do with them now?? I've never had a real scallop so I had no idea how they are eaten, let alone a faux version. Then a lightbulb went off in my head and I realised "Wait, everything tastes better with lime, right?" I don't know if this is traditional, but it sure was damn tasty.

Vegan Scallops with Lime Butter

4 eryngii mushrooms

1 Tbsp rice bran oil

2 Tbsps margarine

1/2 a lime

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp soy sauce

In a large pan, heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of margarine over medium heat until the margarine has melted and merged with the oil. Add mushrooms and gently pan fry until lightly browned.

Add the second tablespoon of margarine, along with the lime, sugar and soy. Stir until melted. You may want to add more lime/sugar/soy sauce depending on how zingy/sweet/salty you want it. It should be a creamy, buttery, slighty zingy flavoursome sauce.

I served mine over mashed potatoes and a little salad of julienned capsicum, carrot and green mango.

Serves 2