POTATO CURRY

Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two.

Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic. Cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about five minutes. Season with the spices and salt. Cook for two minutes more. Add the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, peas, and potatoes. Pour in the coconut milk, and bring to a simmer. Simmer five to ten minutes before serving.

ASPARAGUS ROLLS, WITH A DIFFERENCE!

Remove filo from packet and carefully place four to six sheets on a dry surface. Return remaining pastry to plastic sleeve and refrigerate. Slice filo into four equal, long rectangular pieces. Stack and leave covered under a damp (not wet) cloth to avoid drying out.

Lightly toast sesame seeds in a small dry pan over medium heat. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the sesame oil, lemon juice, maple syrup and half the lemon zest, finely chopping it before you add it in. Wash asparagus. Hold at centre and stalk base, and bend to break off end (nifty trick to find where it is no longer stalky!).

Take a filo sheet, lightly brush with oil mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds. On a slight diagonal, place an asparagus at one end of the filo strip and roll as tightly as possible. Repeat until all are done. Place rolls on a plate, cover with a damp towel and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 230 degrees Celsius. Remove the rolls from the fridge and transfer them to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, half of the lemon zest and drizzle with any remaining oil/lemon juice mixture.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes until lightly brown. Drizzle with a dash of sesame oil and garnish with any remaining lemon zest.

MEDITERRANEAN SALAD AND DIPS

Note: Quantities are up to you but you can't really go wrong with good taste buds and commonsense.

Kalamata olives
Great marinated in olive oil, garlic and lemon rind.

Hummus
Either soak one cup of chickpeas overnight and cook an hour until soft, or use one can for convenience. Put into a blender with garlic, lemon juice (up to 4 lemons), olive oil, tahini, salt and cracked pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Tabouleh
Pour boiling water over two cups of cracked wheat or couscous and leave to soak for half an hour. The water level should be a little above the level of the wheat. Set aside. Once cool, add chopped tomato, fresh mint and parsley, finely chopped red onion, salt and pepper. Dress with lemon juice and oil.

Baba ghanoush
Bake two or three aubergines split in half at 180 degrees Celsius until soft, split side up. Once soft, remove the pith and place in blender with garlic, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Drizzle in the oil until you have the right consistency. Add tahini or include the roasted aubergine skins too.

Bean dip
You can either use fava or white cannelloni beans. Soak beans overnight and cook until soft (or use canned beans). Place beans in the blender with garlic, lemon juice, salt, tahini, pepper and oil. Add cumin or sundried tomatoes or olives for variation.

Falafel
Soak equal amounts of chickpeas and fava beans (dried broad beans) overnight. Put beans (uncooked) into a blender with salt, pepper, cumin, fresh parsley and one to two teaspoons of baking soda to add lightness and add water until you get the right consistency. Shape into small patties and place in a hot pan with oil. Best eaten straight away!

Chutney
Serving quality chutneys on the side is a great way to give dips a bit of zing and adds richer flavours. Traditional tomato or anything homemade is good.

Breads
You can make garlic bread yourself or just get loads of different breads from a bakery or the supermarket. Mix margarine, minced garlic, salt and pepper and apply liberally on the sliced bread. Wrap in foil and heat in hot oven just 20 minutes prior to serving.

Tahini sauce
Thin down a couple of tablespoons of tahini with lemon juice and water and salt. Tahini requires quite a bit of liquid to make it runny so add the juice of a few lemons first, and then water until thin. You can try using plain vegan yoghurt instead of half the water to get a white and creamy consistency.

Stuffed vine leaves
Nice and easy. Just buy them!

THREE BEAN HUMMUS

Measure all the ingredients into a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Add salt and lemon juice to taste.

Empty into a bowl and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours, covered. Once chilled transfer hummus to a nice dish. Drizzle over a little olive oil and sprinkle with smoked paprika. Serve with warmed pita.

VEGAN CHEESE AND SPINACH PIE

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Wash spinach thoroughly and steam for two minutes. Place in a bowl and knead the tofu and bouillon into the spinach with your hands. The tofu should end up as small flecks.

Fry the onion in the oil until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further five to 10 minutes. Oil a pie dish and line the base and sides of the dish with the puff pastry. To join pastry sheets together, simply wet one side and overlay other section. Then in layers - and in the following order - place the spinach mix, sweetcorn and mushroom mix. Finish off with the grated cheese. Place pastry on top to make a lid, making sure you moisten with water around the edges so it sticks to the bottom pastry. Using the tip of a fork, press pastry edges together and pierce the top of the pastry.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until fairly well browned. Serves four.

SALT AND PEPPER TOFU

Place tofu on paper towels on kitchen bench. Place a heavy object on top for at least 15 minutes to squeeze out excess water. Change paper towels if required. Cut tofu into cubes.

Mix the salt, garlic powder and black pepper together. Coat tofu cubes and leave for 1-2 hours in refrigerator. Coat tofu with cornstarch. Heat oil in wok or large skillet. Carefully fry tofu in small batches until tofu is golden. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot.

PARSNIP AND TURNIP CHILLI

In a large pot, sauté the onion in oil until tender. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring frequently for a few more minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a slow simmer. Cover and cook for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

SAUSAGE ROLLS

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Take pastry sheets from freezer to thaw.

In a large mixing bowl mix together the filling ingredients. Stir until well mixed. Lightly grease a baking tray. Slice each pastry sheet in half so that it makes two rectangles. Spoon the filling down the centre third of each pastry rectangle; lightly brush another third with milk and then roll the pastry, starting from the empty third and tucking it into the brushed third.

Slice the roll into halves, thirds or quarters as you wish and place them on the baking tray. Make a couple of diagonal cuts in the top of the roll. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Repeat with the remaining filling and pastry.

Bake the rolls for about 20 minutes, until they're golden brown and flaky. Serve with lots of sauce.

3-4 frozen puff pastry sheets
soy milk for brushing pastry
sesame seeds

PUMPKIN AND SAGE RISOTTO

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Cut the pumpkin into eight large pieces. Remove seeds and place in a roasting tray with the skin on. Add half the garlic, oil, sage leaves and sprinkle over salt and pepper. Toss together and roast for 40-50 minutes until soft. Once cool peel off skin and roughly mash pumpkin mixture. Return to the oven on a low heat to keep warm.

In a heavy pan, add margarine, remaining oil and garlic and fry onion until soft. Add the rice and stir for one minute before stirring in wine. Slowly add stock a ladle at a time. Add remaining sage. Bring to the boil and then simmer while adding more stock as it absorbs into the rice. Regularly stir the rice to avoid it sticking. After about 20 minutes the rice should be cooked. The texture should be thick and creamy. Add extra stock if necessary. Add the pumpkin to the risotto. Serve topped with vegan parmesan.

POTATO PANCAKES

Coarsely grate potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Leave for ten minutes before draining off liquid. Add flour and mix well. Chop onion, garlic and chives finely, and mix with potato mixture.

In a heavy pan, heat half of the oil and margarine. Place two heaped tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the pan. Gently flatten and fry on medium heat for 4-5 minutes each side until brown. When you have fried half the potato mixture, add remaining oil and margarine and fry remaining mixture. Serve hot.

These pancakes go well with a fresh green salad and pickled onions.

CHICKPEA STEW

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add oil, onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and salt. Cook for 5 minutes or until the onions are soft, stirring occasionally. Add the chickpeas, water, cumin, turmeric and pepper and cook for a further five minutes, or until the water evaporates. Add the tomatoes and cook for another two minutes to soften. Remove from heat, stir through lemon juice and taste for seasoning. Stir through spinach leaves then set aside for a few minutes before serving.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 tsp ginger, grated
2 green chillies, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp salt
800g tinned chickpeas, drained
1/4 C water
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp lemon juice
250g cherry tomatoes
100g baby English spinach

PASTA TEMPEH

To make pasta sauce, blend ingredients until smooth. Put aside.

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and add a dash of oil and 2 C of your favourite pasta (serves 4). Cook until tender (al dente). Meanwhile make rest of the dish.

Sautee aubergine, zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli and tempeh in oil and garlic until tender. Add ginger, a splash of soy sauce and olives. Mix with pasta sauce and heat slowly.

Either mix sauce and tempeh mix with pasta or spoon over the pasta. Garnish with fresh basil, salt and cracked pepper.

Pasta sauce
1 onion, chopped and sauteed
1 garlic clove
1 can tomatoes or 6 fresh, skinned
2 roasted red peppers
Handful of fresh basil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Salt and pepper

Tempeh and vegetables
Olive oil
1/2 aubergine, cubed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1 zucchini, cubed
1 C mushrooms, cubed
1/2 broccoli, chopped
1 block tempeh, cubed
1/2 C olives
Soy sauce

THAI SPICED TOFU BALLS

Put all of the ingredients, except the sesame seeds and oil, into a food processor and blend until combined. Roll the mixture into approximately16 balls or patties as desired. Coat each ball in sesame seeds and place in fridge for 30 minutes. Cover a frying pan with about 1cm of oil over a low-medium heat.

Once hot, add the tofu balls in batches and fry for 5-10 minutes, turning regularly, until golden brown all over. Place on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

300g firm tofu
2 tsp grated ginger
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
4 Tbsp finely diced red onion
3 Tbsp fresh coriander
1 Tbsp fresh mint
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 Tbsp diced red capsicum
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tsp finely chopped lemon grass (white part only)
2 C cooked medium brown rice
1/2 C sesame seeds
Olive oil

LENTIL AND WALNUT PATÉ

Rinse and drain the lentils. Roughly chop the walnuts then blend with the garlic and half the lentils until smooth. Add the remaining lentils and blend until smooth. Add the olive oil, juice and soy sauce. Mix well. Season to taste. Add more lime/lemon juice if desired.

2 x 400g tins whole lentils
100g walnut halves
2 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
1-2 tsp soy sauce
Pinch of sea salt to taste
Black pepper 

MUSHROOM PATÉ

Sauté tempeh, onion, celery and garlic in oil over medium heat until tender. Add mushrooms and sauté for a further five minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook over low heat until the liquid is absorbed. Allow to cool (approx 60 minutes).

Place in a blender and process until the mixture forms a paste. Lightly coat a suitable dish (such as a loaf tin) with oil before evenly spreading mixture. Press in firmly, cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. Turn out and presto!

250g tempeh, crumbled
1 C onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
4 Tbsp olive oil
250g Portobello mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C walnuts, chopped
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp red wine

VEGETABLE CURRY

In a clean plastic bag, put half of the flour, curry powder and salt. Add the potato, kumara, onion and pumpkin and shake to coat. Tip into a roasting pan with the oil.

Roast at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes turning every so often. Repeat with remaining ingredients and add to the roasting dish. Cook for a further 20-30 minutes turning gently every so often. Toss with 1/4 cup chopped coriander and serve with rice and the sauce below.

To make the sauce heat oil in small saucepan. Add cumin seeds and cook for 20 seconds. Add garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for a minute. Saute onion until tender before adding remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes before serving.

Roast spiced vegetables
1/3 C flour
2 Tbsp curry powder
3 tsp salt
3 potatoes, cubed
1 kumara, peeled & cubed
1 onion, diced
1/4 pumpkin, peeled & cubed
1/2 cauliflower, cut into florets
1 eggplant, cubed
1 zucchini, cubed
1 red pepper, cubed
3 Tbsp oil

Sauce
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 knob of ginger, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
handful curry leaves (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 can coconut cream

Easy Yummy Samosas

Delicious samosas from vegetarian Indian cooking website Manjula's Kitchen: http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2007/04/19/samosa/. Makes 8 samosas.

Dough
1. Mix the flour, semolina flour, salt, oil and salt together to make a soft dough. (Add more water as needed.)
2. Knead the dough for about 1-2 minutes to make the dough smooth and pliable.
3. Set the dough aside and cover with damp cloth. Let the dough sit for at least 15 minutes.

Filling
1. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away, oil is ready.
2. Add cumin seeds as cumin seeds crack, add green chillies and coriander powder and stir for few seconds.
3. Next add green peas and turn heat to medium and stir until tender.
4. Add the potatoes and stir-fry for about 4 minutes. Stir in garam masala and amchur. Add more salt or amchur according to taste.
5. Let the filling cool to room temperature.

Making Samosa
1. Take 2 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour to make a paste and keep aside.
2. Knead the dough for a minute.
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and make into balls.
4. Roll each ball into 6-inch diameter circles and cut each circle in half.
5. Spread the paste lightly all along the edge of one semicircle. Pick the semicircle up with both hands and fold it into a cone shape. Pinch the side of the cone so that it is completely sealed.
6. Fill the cone with 3 tablespoons of filling. Press the filling down with your fingers. Now close the top of the cone into a triangle shape, pinching the top edge so that it is completely sealed.
7. Continue filling the rest of the samosas.
8. Heat about 1-1/2 inch of the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. To check if oil is hot enough, place a small piece of dough in oil and dough should sizzle and come to the surface slowly.
9. Place the samosas in the frying pan a few at a time.
10. After samosas are floating on top of the oil, turn them slowly. Fry the samosas until the samosas turn a light golden-brown color on all sides. If you use a high heat, the samosa crust will be too soft and not crispy.

Tips
1. Boil the potatoes just until tender. Be careful not to pierce the potatoes multiple times while they are cooking, as they will absorb the water. Drain immediately and keep aside until cool enough to touch.
2. The dough has to be kneaded well; otherwise, the samosas will not come out crisp.
3. If the filled samosas sit for too long, they will dry out. To avoid this, cover with a damp cloth.

• Dough:
• 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp semolina flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 11/2 Tbsp oil
• 1/4 C minus 2 Tbsp lukewarm water

Suggestions

1. Samosas can be prepared ahead of time and can be frozen for a month.
2. Before freezing, fry them until they change colour to a very light golden brown.
3. After samosas are at room temperature, bag them in zip lock bags and freeze them.
4. To use frozen samosas, take out as many as you need and fry them on medium heat.

Pumpkin and Chickpea Fritter with Jalapeno Salsa

By Nadia Lim, winner of the Master Chef challenge 2012

Amanda, SAFE's Promotions manager, recently met Nadia at a Heritage Hotel three-course vegan luncheon, where she shared this recipe with everyone.

These are similar to falafels, with a bit of sweetness from the roast pumpkin. You can buy Jalapeno chillies in small cans from any gourmet food store and many supermarkets - they add that authentic Mexican taste to any salsa.

Makes 12 fritters, enough to serve 4 entrees or 2 mains

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Lay pumpkin chunks on the prepared tray and toss with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 2025 minutes or until cooked through and slightly browned.
Toast spices (to bring out their flavour) by heating in the microwave on a small plate for one minute.
Roughly blitz the cooked pumpkin with the chickpeas and spices. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Roll into golf ball-sized balls and place on the same tray as used to cook the pumpkin. Using oiled hands, roll balls again to coat with oil. Lightly push down on each ball to flatten and form a patty. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds or dukkah. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until light golden.

To make salsa, pound garlic with the jalapeno chillies and a good pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle until a paste, (or alternatively just chop both very finely), then mix in the remaining ingredients.

To serve, divide baby spinach or rocket between plates and lay fritters on top. Top with some vegan sour cream and salsa.

400g pumpkin or orange kumara, skin off, cut into chunks
1x 240g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp sesame seeds or dukkah

Salsa
1 small clove of garlic, chopped
1-2 jalapeno chillies (depending on preference for hotness), chopped, optional
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 avocado, diced
2 Tbsps coriander or mint, chopped
Lime or lemon juice, to taste
1/4 C vegan sour cream to serve (optional)
Baby spinach or rocket leaves to serve