Go green! (March MiniMoFo)

[EN/NL]

Hi there. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I miss blogging! There are a few half-finished posts in my drafts that I’m hoping to get to at some point, but in the meantime, I wanted to show you what I’ve been cooking lately. I incorporated this month’s MiniMoFo theme*, Go green, into my most recent market haul:

I got fennel, leeks, fresh parsley and coriander, bok choy, spring onions, Brussels sprouts, baby courgettes, and mangoes (I needed some fruit so I chose green ones to match the colour scheme, ha). I bought this at the Haagse Markt, where produce is generally very affordable (this was €8.00 total).

The courgettes were a bit past their prime already, so I wanted to use those ASAP. I roasted them in the oven with olive oil and salt, and had them with a fennel risotto topped with Vivera’s vegan bacon pieces. I adore anything with fennel – this risotto was no exception and the bacon pieces made a great addition.

It hasn’t quite felt like spring yet, so I’ve been making a lot of soup. The one pictured above, with bok choy, tofu, sweet potato, spring onions and sambal, is perfect for cold spring days: a spicy broth to warm you up, and plenty of crunchy vegetables in case you’re already craving fresh, summery food.

I accidentally stored half the bok choy in the wrong spot in my refrigerator, and it came out partially frozen and limp. Not ideal for a crunchy stir-fry, but fine for a creamy soup. I paired it with leeks and basil, then stirred in some soya yoghurt and spring onions at the end.

The bread is Isa Chandra’s olive oil bread (one of my favourites). I added a parsley pesto swirl this time, because green!

I try to always have some kind of savoury spread or dip in the fridge. This time I made one using sunflower seeds and sautéed fennel. It was pretty good – especially on crackers with sliced tomatoes and gherkins – but not quite fennel-y enough for my taste. Next time, I think I’ll caramelise the fennel for a while to really concentrate the flavour.

Looking for a way to use up all those leeks (I think I bought about ten), I realised I rarely use them as the main ingredient of a dish. This recipe from The Kitchn has you cook them in the oven with white wine, garlic, and stock (I used Bio Today’s vegan chicken flavour stock) and then serve them over pasta. This was surprisingly tasty for such a simple dish, so if you find yourself with a surplus of leeks, this would be a good recipe to make and freeze for later.

The Brussels sprouts started out as a salad. I made a big bowl of it – thinly sliced Brussels, sweet potato cubes, spring onions, toasted sunflower seeds and a fresh coriander dressing – thinking I would be eating this salad all week and feeling very healthy as a result. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t very good. I’m sure Brussels sprout salads can be delicious and I’d like to try a different recipe, but this one – meh. After a few days of it sitting there untouched, I decided to turn it into something else.

The new dish was a savoury galette with a crunchy whole wheat crust, a creamy filling made with sunflower seeds and soya yoghurt, and the Brussels sprouts on top. This was actually really good. I’d like to write down the full recipe because I definitely want to make it again. It may not have been quite as healthy as the original salad – but hey, food can only be healthy if you’re actually going to eat it, and this was so much more delicious.

* MiniMoFos are monthly blogging challenges from the organiser of the Vegan Month of Food. I haven’t managed to do VeganMoFo (i.e. blog every day for a month) for the past few years, but the monthly themes seem like a great way to participate whenever inspiration strikes. If you’d like to join in too, visit VeganMoFo.com for monthly themes and round-up posts!