Zucchini & Corn Muffins - Revisited

I first made these muffins in April last year. I made them quite a few times after that, as they are yummy, and versatile, as in you can add lots of different veggies.

I had forgotten all about them, until this week someone in the "Australian Vegan Foodies" facebook group posted their own version of yummy savoury muffins and reminded me about them.

I set out to make them again, but this time, I wanted to add a little extra protein to them, in the form of a plant based protein powder.

They seem to have worked, warm, they are delicious. The test will be tomorrow morning when they have completely cooled. I will post an update then.

Nutrional Panel Source
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/npc/Pages/default.aspx

Ingredients

1/2 (140 gms) grated zucchini -
1/2 (55gms) a sliced red onion (I cut the onion in half then quarters, and then sliced the quarters thinly)
1 cup of fresh (175 gms) corn kernels
Handful of parsley (15 gms chopped)
Handful of chives (10 gms chopped)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 tsp (15 gms) baking powder
2 cups (305 gms) of white spelt flour
3 TBS (45 gms) Orgran No-Egg
1 tsp (5gms) salt
1.5 cups (375 gms) of light soy milk
1/2 (95 gms) cup of olive oil
2 TBS pumpkin seeds
1 TBS sesame seeds
1 TBS sunflower seeds
35 gms natural protein powder
1/4 cup (70 gms) coconut yoghurt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2. Prepare a 12 hole cupcake pan by greasing each hole with vegan butter or a little oil. Set aside.
3. Place all dry ingredients (including only 1 TBS of the pumpkin seeds) in a bowl including the veggies, mix with a fork to combine.
4. Place milk, yoghurt and oil in a cup/jug and mix well.
5. Pour milk/yoghurt/oil mix over the veggie/flour mix and combine with a fork. (do not over mix)
6. Place in the pan, sprinkle with pumpkin/sesame/sunflower seeds and bake for half an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

These are delicious as an afternoon snack or for breakfast. Each muffin has 7.9gms of protein, the regular ones I made previously, had 5.6 gms of protein if made the same size.

Sticky Maple Sesame Tofu

Please note that the suggested amount of thickener for the sauce is 1 to 1.5 teaspoons. Start by adding only 1 teaspoon to the sauce, and only add the extra 1/2 teaspoon if you find it is too thin and it requires further thickening. The tofu from Aldi is the perfect texture for this.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

500gm block of firm tofu
2 tablespoons of maple syrup (40mls)
2 tablespoons Thai seasoning sauce
1 clove of garlic sliced
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1-1.5 tsp tapioca or corn flour
2-4 tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons rice bran or other low flavour oil (for stir frying)
1 tablespoons of sesame seeds

Method

1. Place the two tablespoons of maple syrup in a 1/3 size measuring cup, then fill the rest up with water.
2. Cut tofu into cubes. 
3. Place all ingredients except for tofu, sesame seeds and rice bran oil in a bowl. Process with a stick blender.
4. Add tofu and gently mix through. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes.
5. Heat a large wok, and add oil.
6. Stir fry tofu until it has become a nice golden colour.
7. Add marinade and allow sauce to thicken.
8. Adjust sweetness or saltiness and serve with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Fisherman's Eggplants

Fisherman's eggplant is one of my all time favourite dishes.
The way I make it is not at all authentic, but the flavour is pretty close to the delightful dish I first tried at "Ant's Bistro" on Little Bourke Street.

Here is my version

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant
1 medium red capsicum
4 cloves of garlic (finely sliced)
3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of oil (I used olive)
2 tablespoons of light soy (I used a Thai soy which is very flavoursome and less salty)
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
1 cup of water
1 tsp of tapioca flour (cornflour will also work)
1 large red chilli (finely sliced) *optional

Method

1. Cut eggplants and capsicum in thin strips. (Should be slightly thinner than what I have in the picture below, otherwise they take too long to cook.
2. Heat up a large wok, and add oil.
3. Stir fry eggplants and capsicum together for a few minutes, until the eggplants caramelise slightly.
4. Add all other ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the eggplants are soft, and the sauce has thickened. Stir every few minutes to avoid sticking. If the sauce has dried considerably and your eggplants are still not soft enough, add a bit more water, and continue to simmer. 
5. Serve with steamed rice.

Sesame Prawns - Vegan

In December 2016  I bought myself an air fryer. I love this gadget and I use it all the time.

I had been meaning to make sesame prawns for a very long time, but I just never got around to it. Finally, today was the day.

These are so easy! You just need to find yourself some mock prawns from your local Asian Grocery store. They usually have them in the freezer section.

Ingredients

250gm packet of mock prawns

1 tsp tapioca flour

4 slices of square bread (I used Rye, will use white next time)

1/2 cup of sesame seeds

oil spray

sweet chilli sauce

Method

1. Remove the crusts from  you bread and set aside.
2. Place prawns in a food processor and add tapioca flour.
3. Process until prawns resemble a mince.
4. Divide "prawn" mixture into four.
5. Spread the mixture onto the bread, pressing lightly to make it stick.
6. Cut each slice of bread diagonally.
7. Place the sesame seeds in a shallow bowl.
8. Carefully dip the "prawn" side of the bread into the sesame seeds. 
9. Spray each toast, on the bottom(bread part) and top ("prawn" part) with the oil spray.
10. Place in the air fryer at 200 for 12 minutes. Check after 8 minutes to ensure they are not burning.
11. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.