Spicy Green Bean Noodle Salad

This is kinda like a comfort food and salad all in one and it certainly hits the spot.

I think we should always aim to get the most out of each meal nutrition wise, but I was a bit short on the green stuff. So if you have a fridge or freezer full of greens, get them in there too. I’d recommend mange tout, broccoli or kale.

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Ingredients: 

  • Two large handfuls of green beans. (Mine were frozen.)
  • Half a cucumber, sliced thinly.

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  • 1 white onion, diced.
  • Half a packet of wholewheat spaghetti or rice noodles.
  • 1 teaspoon of dried chili flakes.
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce.
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar.
  • 1 teaspoons agave nectar.
  • The juice of half a lemon.
  • 3 tablespoons of toasted sesame oil.
  • 2 tablespoons of flaked almonds or crushed peanuts. (I used almonds.)

 

Method:

Get yourself a large mixing bowl. Place the diced onion, chili flakes, soy sauce, rice vinegar, agave nectar, lemon juice, toasted sesame oil and almonds in the bowl and mix together with a fork. Place to one side to allow the flavours to infuse.

Get a large pan of water on the boil and place the spaghetti in to cook for about 10 minutes or whatever the packet instructions recommend.

In the meantime, steam the green beans for about 8 minutes.

Drain both the green beans and spaghetti and place in a large serving dish, mixing together.

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Now add the dressing and mix through thoroughly.

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Now add the cucumber and mix again. (You add the cucumber last so that it doesn’t go soggy.)

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You can then season with whatever herbs you like. I used coriander.

There’s enough for 3 to 4 adults. 🙂

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You can connect with Queer Vegan on social media too.

 

@QVegan

Facebook.com/queervegan

 

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Mock Duck Curry

I figured the other day that I’d not really done a half decent mock meat recipe on this blog. One of my favourite mock meats is duck. This is mainly because you can buy it outside of specialty stores and I have absolutely no idea what duck tastes like. I’d say that this tastes like a very savory braised tofu, which is great! Here’s my enthusiasm for mock duck:

Ingredients (2)

Just kidding. 😉 I can show my appreciation on a far larger scale!

Ingredients (3)

So here’s your ingredients list:

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  • Enough basmati rice to feed two people.
  • A teaspoon of dried chili flakes.
  • Two cans of mock duck. (I picked these up from Holland & Barrett.)
  • Two tablespoons of mild curry powder.
  • A sprinkle of sea salt.
  • One tin of coconut milk.
  • 3 cloves of garlic.
  • A tablespoon of vegan butter. (I used Vitalite.)
  • Two red onions.
  • Two large potatoes. (Which you can see in the picture, but I only used one in the end.)

Method:

Place the butter, onion and garlic in a warm pan. Mix until butter has melted and then turn the heat down to it’s lowest setting.

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Add the chili, curry powder and salt and stir again.

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Dice your potato and add that in, ensuring that it gets fully covered in the spices.

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Now add the mock duck and coconut milk. If you have never cooked with mock duck before, you’ll notice it comes out of the tin looking like this:

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Just chop it up into smaller chunks and chuck it straight in.

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After about 20 minutes simmering on a low heat with the occasional stir, get your basmati rice on.

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You’ll notice that the colour of the source will begin to change and it will begin to thicken. This is absolutely intentional. Nobody likes a watery curry do they?

After another 10 minutes your rice should be done, so drain it and serve with some fresh parsley and of course the curry, which by now has been slowly infusing for around 30 minutes.

Believe me this dish is so simple to prepare considering for the layer upon layer of flavour you get at the end of it. I hope you enjoy and please remember to share far and wide so Queer Vegan can get some exposure!

Love and light! 😀

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