Parsnip & fennel patties, parsnip gnocchi, beetroot risotto, parsnip chips

I’ve written about the Haagse Markt before—the market is one of the main things that’s keeping my low-budget meals interesting and healthy. I love to take photos of all the stuff I bring home, so I thought it would be nice to share them on here a bit more often. I always want more recipe ideas for seasonal vegetables and maybe you do, too, so this could be a good way to keep track of what I make. Here’s what I bought this time:

Three boxes of cherry tomatoes for €1, six red and yellow peppers for €1, 500 grams of yeast for €2.50, a bag of garlic (about 10 bulbs?) for €2, two heads of broccoli for €1.50, four courgettes for €1, a big bag of rocket greens for €1, too many parsnips to count for €1, eight beetroots for €1, six fennel bulbs for €1, and a bunch of fresh coriander for €0.40.

And this is what I used it for: roasted tomatoes, rocket pesto, white bean patties with parsnip and fennel, parsnip gnocchi, broccoli & potato mash, beetroot risotto, parsnip stews, fennel soups, omelettes with stir-fried broccoli, roasted beetroots, roasted parsnips, roasted garlic, and several stir-fries, pizzas, and salads. I only took pictures of a couple of these, but here they are:

I had white beans I needed to eat, so I used them to make burgers with some of the fennel and parsnips. I sautéed the vegetables with onions and garlic until softened and then mashed them into the beans with herbs and fennel seeds for flavour, roasted sunflower seeds for texture, and rolled oats to hold everything together. These were definitely veggie patties with no resemblance to non-vegetarian burgers other than their shape, and they made for great sandwiches. In the picture above, I had one in a pita with rocket leaves, roasted tomatoes and onions, and rocket pesto (hidden underneath).

I wanted to try something new with my parsnips, so I used them in these gnocchi. The recipe is very similar to regular gnocchi—just with parsnip puree instead of mashed potatoes—but they were a nice change and I found the dough to be really easy to work with. If you want to make them too, just peel, dice, and boil two parsnips, mash them well (I used my stick blender) and mix in some olive oil and salt (I also added some chopped fresh parsley). Let the purée cool down a bit and start stirring in scoops of flour, adding just enough to make a kneadable dough. Then roll the rough into ropes and cut into small pieces to make the gnocchi. Cook the gnocchi by boiling them in plenty of boiling salted water until they float to the surface. For the meal pictured above, I pan-fried the leftover gnocchi in olive oil with red onion, pears, tempeh and rocket greens. I think these would be even better with something creamy to offset the sweetness of the parsnips—maybe a cashew cheese?

Speaking of creaminess, I love pairing root vegetables with creamy things but I’ve been looking for something a little more budget-friendly than cashews to make that happen. To go with the beetroot risotto pictured above, I made the cashew ricotta from Veganomicon but with sunflower seeds instead. It wasn’t quite as creamy, but it went well with the rest of the meal. I’m not sure the dish actually counts as a risotto, because I basically poured all the ingredients in a pot and went to take a shower while it simmered away, but it turned out pretty well for so little effort. I added some cumin seeds to the risotto and some oregano to the ricotta and we had it with smoky pan-fried tempeh.

I have to say we were almost getting sick of parsnips by the time we had consumed about twelve of them, but then I roasted the last two and it made me wish I’d bought more. I cut them into small crunchy chips and I had some mayonnaise left from another meal, so this was a great snack!

I think I’ve used up everything now except two beets, and I’ve already picked up new veggies for this week. I came home with more red cabbage than I know what to do with, so I need to go look for new recipes!

VeganMoFo 2: BBQ Balls and Cookie Sandwiches

Barbecue balls. This recipe from Have Cake, Will Travel combines two things that my boyfriend loves: vegan foods that resemble meat and foods that are smothered in some kind of sauce. In addition to that, they seemed very easy to make, and Celine’s recipes never seem to disappoint. Needless to say, I had to make these! I was amazed at how delicious they came out using such basic ingredients – I had everything on hand. Well, except the garlic powder, actually, but they tasted fine without it. I also had to substituted regular breadcrumbs for the panko (I’m not sure how much of a difference that would make). I’ll try and get both of those ingredients and make the balls as they were intended sometime. In the meantime, these came out great as well! I love the recipe and I’m definitely going to use it again.

Following Celine’s suggestion, I served the meatless balls in a sandwich of ciabatta with BBQ sauce and yellow bell pepper (raw, I was too lazy to roast one).

I used the Backyard BBQ sauce from Veganomicon to coat the balls:

 

Perfect! For some reason, I hardly ever make this recipe. It can’t be because it’s difficult to make – it was surprisingly simple. I think I always decide not to make it because the recipe asks for liquid smoke and I don’t have that. However, I just left it out this time and replaced the plain sea salt with smoked salt, instead. It was delicious with the smoked salt, and I’m sure this sauce would still be great without any of the added smokiness. I’ll still keep looking for liquid smoke, though.

Oh, and here’s another one of Celine’s recipes I made recently: the Rosewater Sablés recipe. Only they’re not rosewater sablés anymore, because I replaced the rosewater with vanilla and almond extract. Then I decided to turn them into cookie sandwiches!

 

Mmm, delicious. Using cookie cutters is a little more time-consuming than simply rolling the dough into little circles, but it’s a lot more fun as well. If I ever get my hands on some rosewater, I’d love to try the original version of the cookies.

Even though the cookies were good on their own, I really felt like making them into sandwiches. This was my first time making cookies sandwiches and I made them in two different flavours, using these as fillings:

 

Speculoos & chocolate spread! Oh my goodness these spreads are way too tasty. Once you have one speculoos sandwich, it’s hard to stop eating! They were really convenient to use for the cookies, because they make a delicious filling all on their own and I can get both these jars at my local supermarket (coopcompact, in case you were wondering). I don’t really let myself buy these on a regular basis, though, because they’re way too addictive!

VeganMoFo 1: Student’s Go Vegan Cookbook

For my first VeganMoFo post, I thought it would be appropriate to go back to the first cookbook I bought: Student’s Go Vegan Cookbook by Carole Raymond. I bought this book when I had just gone vegan because I was looking for simple recipes and a basic introduction to vegan food, and this book offers both of those things. There’s a little piece in the beginning on vegan nutrition and eating in general, and there are tips for vegan students in particular all throughout the book.

Even though the SGV cookbook was pretty much what I was looking for when I first went vegan, I quickly started buying many other cookbooks, too. After that,  I never used this one as much. I did make the Ten-Minute Brownies and the Rustic Olive rolls and enjoyed both of those, but I don’t remember much about the other recipes. In any case, I thought it was about time to try out a few more!

I tried four of the recipes yesterday. First up:

The Tofu Scramble Burrito-Style. I didn’t know what to expect of this recipe, as it looks very different from other scrambles I’ve made (no turmeric, no nutritional yeast!). However, the two spices (cumin and chili powder) apparently provide enough flavour on their own, because I liked it! I can’t say this is my favourite tofu scramble recipe (so far, I think it’s a tie between the one from Yellow Rose Recipes and the one from Vegan Brunch), but I really like the idea of putting the scramble in a tortilla, so I’m going to do that more often.

I didn’t follow the recipe for the scramble exactly, by the way; I added some kale and corn, since I had those around and I thought they would make tasty additions. I really wanted to top the burrito with avocado, but sadly, the supermarket in my village appears to have stopped carrying those. I chose to have a chopped tomato with some parsley instead.

Secondly, I made the Vegetable Pancakes with Sesame Sauce as a snack. You can see them in the above picture, cut into wedges and sprinkled with extra scallions. I thought the pancakes turned out well (although I probably I should have cooked them a little longer), but I wasn’t big on the dipping sauce. It’s just a personal preference, I guess. Maybe I’m just not very fond of soy sauce in things where you can really taste it? Or maybe it was just the combination. In any case, I’d probably pair the pancakes with something else if I made them again.

But yeah, the pancakes themselves were good! They were very filling, though. I had a couple of wedges and shared the rest with my parents, so if you’re not very hungry the recipe definitely serves at least two.

What I love most about these pancakes is that they uses very basic ingredients to create something unusual – apart from maybe the mushrooms and scallions, you probably have everything in your pantry.

Now, this is what I’m going to take with me for lunch:

Tofu-Basil Sandwiches! I didn’t have ketchup, unfortunately, so I just used more mayonnaise. This sandwich filling comes together very quickly and tastes pretty good. I’ve only had one bite so far, so I can’t say much about it yet. I do think I probably would like this even better if the tofu had been marinated first – I made sandwich fillings with baked tofu and mayonnaise before and they are always a lot more flavourful. I still like the filling this way, too, though. You can really taste the fresh herbs and the tofu mixture reminds me a bit of cottage cheese.

I’m not sure why the recipe is called “tofu-basil” sandwiches, because actually more parsley in there, but that’s not really the point. The point is that I have two tasty sandwiches to take with me on the train!

Lastly, this is what I’m having for breakfast right now: the Cinnamon-Maple Granola. You can’t see it in the picture, but underneath the granola are a few tablespoons of soy yogurt, some apple slices, and an extra dash of cinnamon and maple syrup. It’s delicious! I never realised how much fun it is to make granola. I think I’m definitely going to do this more often, with different variations… Yum!

It was incredibly easy, as well! My parents love it, too. I think my Dad said he might try it later today instead of the usual honey-covered cereal.

Well, I’m going to finish my granola and get ready to leave for my language acquisition tutorial today. I’m looking forward to reading all the other MoFo posts soon – even though that’s probably impossible? I read there are over 300 people participating!