Soba Noodles with Broccoli and Peanut Sauce

I know I've been awfully quiet on the blog lately, but it seems that the Festive Season is catching up with me! I've been so busy I haven't had the time to cook anything new! Anyway, today I am sick in bed so thought I'd catch up with a little recipe or two.

I made this delicious soba noodle dish over the weekend. Soba noodes are made from buckwheat flour and have many great health benefits. They are naturally gluten free, low GI, low in fat and cholesterol and fairly high in protein compared to other grains.

 I buy my soba noodles at the local Chinese supermarket, but I have also seen them at Pick 'n Pay. If you are following a gluten free diet, be sure to check that they are 100% buckwheat, as some do contain wheat.

Ingredients:

2 blocks soft tofu, cut into bite size pieces (squares about 1cm thick)
1/2 pack soba noodles
1 medium head broccoli, cleaned and cut into florets
1 tbs coconut oil
1 large spring onion, white part thinly sliced - set green part aside for garnish
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 handful peanuts
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
1/4 cup mirin
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp corn flour
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs crunchy peanut butter
1/8 cup boiling water
5-6 radishes
pinch salt

Bring a medium pot of water to boil and add your noodles and a pinch of salt. Boil for 5-6 minutes. If you have a bamboo steamer, use it to cook the broccoli atop the pot of water. Otherwise, put the broccoli in the boiling water 2 minutes before the noodles are done and then drain the whole lot through a colander and rinse with cold water.

In a large saucepan on medium to high heat, fry the tofu pieces in coconut oil until they are crispy. Turn the tofu and repeat on the other side. Once the tofu is done, add the sliced garlic, spring onion and chilli and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

For the sauce, use a fork to dissolve the peanut butter into the boiling water. Add the soy sauce/tamari, mirin, corn flour, sugar and sesame oil and stir.

Return the saucepan with the tofu to the heat, add the noodles, broccoli and the sauce and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and coated all the ingredients.

Serve with thinly sliced radish, chopped spring onion greens and a sprinkling of peanuts.

Makes about 4 servings. Enjoy!

Black Forest Cupcakes

I recently did a vegan baking course with the wonderful Wida from Cupcake Richard (@cupcakerichard on Instagram) and my sweet tooth has been feeling inspired ever since. I have always wanted to give vegan baking a try, but I tend to sway from recipes and make them up as I go, which doesn't always cut it with baked goods. So, it was fantastic to do a hands-on class and learn from someone with many years experience. Plus, her course is so beautifully presented in her very pretty home, and the gift bags and champagne made it all the more exciting!

In the course, Wida teaches you how to make a basic cake batter, which can then be adapted to various cupcake flavours, cakes and muffins. In the class we made two delicious cupcake variations and were given a recipe guide with an additional three flavours.

I found some cherries at a very good price this weekend, so decided to give the recipe my own Black Forest spin. They are decadently chocolatey and would make a wonderful vegan Christmas dessert.

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cup cake flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup cocoa powder
175ml agave nectar or xylitol syrup
100ml coconut oil
120ml apple sauce
½ tsp vanilla extract
125ml warm water
15 ml lemon juice (juice of half a lemon)
24-30 fresh cherries, pitted and halved (keep 12 whole for topping)

For the topping:

80g dark chocolate
1/4 cup coconut cream
30ml agave nectar/xylitol syrup (only if you are using unsweetened dark chocolate)

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line a cupcake pan with twelve paper cupcake wrappers. Sift all the dry ingredients together and mix thoroughly. Add the coconut oil, apple sauce, vanilla extract and agave nectar/xylitol syrup (if you have xylitol granules, dissolve 1 cup granules in 1/2 cup water in a small pan) and mix well with a metal spoon until fully combined.

Add the lemon juice to the warm water and pour half into the batter. Stir until it is completely incorporated, then add the remaining lemon water and repeat.

Pour the batter into the cupcake pan, you can fill the wrappers about 3/4 of the way as they don't rise too much. Drop about 3 cherry halves into each cupcake and using a wooden skewer, gently push them into the batter.

Bake for 20 minutes, then allow to cool completely on a cake rack.

Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler, or in the microwave and stir the coconut cream and syrup in until it is completely smooth. If it is a little lumpy, pop it back in the microwave for a few seconds and stir a little more.

Pour the chocolate topping over the cool cupcakes and top each one with a whole cherry.

xxx

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

Let me just say, I am a HUGE fan of dim sum! I have it almost every week at our local fresh food market, but have never actually made it myself. So I decided to give it a go this weekend, and it was so much fun!

I decided to go the simple route for my first try, so I just did a basic mixed vegetable filling. Next, I'd like to try some more exciting flavour combinations and introduce fresh herbs, spices and nuts.

I used a pasta maker to roll out my dough. I bought it online for only R120 about 5 years ago and completely forgot about it when we moved house. It made it super quick and easy, but if you don't have one a rolling pin will do just fine. Have some cornstarch available to dust the dough. It is the best flour to use to prevent the dumpling skins from sticking to surfaces and one another.

This recipe makes just over 30 dumplings. You can freeze them for later use, or you can steam them straight away because who can wait, really?

For the skins:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 tsp salt
cornstarch for dusting

Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the middle. Use a spoon to incorporate the water as you slowly pour it into the flour. Once the flour and water are combined, form a ball with the dough and knead it for about 3-4 minutes on a clean surface. Wrap with plastic or a clean dishcloth and allow to sit for 30 minutes (you can make the filling in this time).

After allowing the dough to rest, divide it into 4 manageable balls, dust with cornflour and roll to about 2 mm thick with either your rolling pin or pasta maker. Keep the dough you aren't busy with covered so that it doesn't dry out.

Cut the thin sheets of dough into circles with a cookie cutter or a glass. Make sure they are well dusted before stacking them. The remaining dough can be rolled into a ball again to make more sheets. If it seems a bit dry from the cornflour, quickly run the ball under the tap and knead the water through.

Once you have got as many circles as possible (I got 33 exactly and had only a tiny bit of dough left over), you can begin to fill them.

For the filling:

Ingredients:

2 carrots
2 courgettes
1/2 baby Savoy cabbage
6 button mushrooms
handful baby spinach
1/2 purple onion
1 clove garlic
1 small knob ginger
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tbs coconut oil
1 tsp salt

Clean all your veggies and chop them as finely as possible. I cheated and used the chopping function on my food processor, which made it way quicker and easier!

Begin by sauteing the onions, ginger, garlic, chilli, salt and coriander powder in the coconut oil for about 5 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and continue for 5 minutes. Then add all the other ingredients and stir fry for 10 minutes. Taste the mixture, if you feel it needs more seasoning go ahead and add some more salt, a little soy sauce, pepper or spices.

Place the filling in a bowl and allow to cool before you begin your dim sum production line!

Make sure your hands are clean and create a little work space on a large cutting board with your bowl of filling, your pile of dumpling skins and a little bowl of water.

Dip your finger in the water and run around the edge of the skin to allow it to stick together when closing. Place the filling in the middle of the skin (I used about a teaspoon and a half each) and pinch the edges together to create a little half moon. 

Once you have created all your beautiful dumplings, place them in a bamboo steamer on some wax or rice paper. I used wax paper and learned the hard way that it's very important to pierce holes in the paper before steaming, as this helps to prevent the dumplings from sticking.

If you don't own a bamboo steamer (I can highly recommend buying one, I use mine daily), you could use a colander over a pot of water.

Serve with a homemade dipping sauce (I have a great recipe for one here) and a side of fresh coriander or salad. As you can see below, I had none of these things in the house on a late Sunday afternoon, so had them as is with some sweet chilli sauce and they were AWESOME!!

Follow Miso Coco on social media for daily inspiration and recipe ideas! xxx

Lu's Banana Bites

My lovely friend, Lu, keeps bringing these delicious banana bites to work. She makes them as a healthy treat for her and her husband to take to the office. I have had them a few times now and can't believe its taken me this long to make them myself because they are SO easy!

The base recipe is very simple: bananas, dates, oats and oil. You can then dress them up as you please, with seeds, nuts, chocolate, berries, dried fruit etc. I have just made this batch with some seeds that I had in the cupboard, but will definitely be a little more creative next time. 

 I also adapted the recipe slightly by baking it flat in a dish and then cutting them out like cookies. Lu originally rolled them into balls and then baked them, so you can do whichever is easiest.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

2 large or 3 small bananas

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup dates, chopped

Additions:

2 tbs chia seeds

2 tbs sunflower seeds

Place all the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. You can either blend the bananas beforehand and mix it all with a spoon, or if you want to have some fun put the bananas in whole and smoosh the whole lot together with your hands until its all evenly mixed. Just make sure your hands are very clean!

Line a baking dish with wax paper (my dish is more or less 30cm x 20cm) and press the mixture in until its flat. Bake at 200 degrees C for about 20-30 minutes. The top will be lightly golden when it is ready. 

Remove and allow to cool to a warm temperature before cutting your shapes out. Roll the leftovers into balls (we don't want to waste any do we?).

Makes about 18-20 bites. These are packed with good energy and make a fabulous mid morning or afternoon snack! Take some to work to share with your colleagues xxx 

 

Chocolate Mousse and Strawberry Tartlets

I dreamed this recipe up after I made chocolate mousse for a picnic last weekend, and have been DYING to make it all week!

Ingredients:

400g roll puff pastry, defrosted (ensure it is vegan)
250ml Orley Whip non-dairy cream
90ml aquafaba (brine from a can of chick peas)
2 x 100g slabs Albany dark chocolate (or any vegan dark chocolate - you may need to add some powdered sugar if you are using a very dark, bitter chocolate)
20g cocoa powder
400g fresh strawberries, sliced
1 tsp vanilla essence

Begin by melting your chocolate in a bowl over a pot of boiling water. I usually make a little tripod with three chopsticks to allow the steam to escape and avoid boiling over.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Lay a sheet of baking paper on a large oven tray and roll the pastry out flat. Using a cookie cutter, cut the pastry into pretty shapes and remove the excess. I used a sweet blossom shape and got about 12 of them out of my roll of pastry.

Bake the pastry until it is well risen and golden, this should take about 15-20 minutes. Check on your chocolate, if it is completely melted, give it a stir to make sure it is smooth. Then remove it from the heat and allow to cool.

While the pastry is baking, whip the non-dairy cream and aquafaba with an electric beater in separate bowls until each is firm and peaky. Spoon about a quarter of the cream into a separate bowl for topping later.

Add the aquafaba to the cream and mix with the beater at a slow speed. Then, pour the chocolate in slowly while continuing to mix. Finally, add the vanilla essence and sift the cocoa powder into the mixture and beat slowly until it is all combined.

Remove the pastry from the oven and allow to cool before splitting the bases in half, as below.

Once the pastry is completely cool, spoon a thick layer of chocolate mousse onto each one. Arrange a few slices of strawberry on each tartlet and top with a dollop of cream.

This is possibly one of the most delicious vegan desserts I have ever had. What a wonderful end to the weekend!

Makes 24 tartlets. Share and enjoy!!!! xoxo

Oh Hello!

This is a collection of my kitchen and craft experiments. I love cooking and creating. 

All my recipes are vegetarian and often vegan. I tend to make things up as I go in the kitchen, so measurements and cooking times may be estimated. Anyway, its all about having fun and making delicious and conscious nourishment.

All illustrations and background patterns are my own.

Happy creating! xxx