Spiced Squash Pasta: A Thai-Italian Fusion

This is entertaining made easy and it’s extra tasty.

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Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Red curry paste to taste (I used roughly 100g)

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 can of coconut milk

Fresh coriander

1 tbsp lemon grass paste

500g tagliatelle pasta

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Method:

  • Heat the oil in a large pan or wok.
  • Add the curry paste, squash and lemongrass. Fry for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat.
  • Pour in the coconut milk, stir well and bring to the boil.
  • Allow to simmer for about 25 minutes. Add extra paste and coconut milk if sauce becomes too thick.
  • When the squash is almost done, cook the pasta according to packet instructions, then drain well.
  • Pour half the sauce from the pan into a big bowl and mix with the pasta.
  • Plate up and place remaining squash and fresh coriander on top.
  • Add siracha if you fancy some extra spice, which I always do.

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Chilli, Ginger & Coconut Japanese Vegetable Broth

Firstly let me just say, that I am really into Japanese style food at the moment. Secondly and I’m just going to put it out there, this is probably one of the best dishes I have ever made. The only thing that could have made this better was if I had used a pestle and mortar instead of a blender to make the broth paste. (Arthur our lovely ginger cat decided he didn’t like it anymore and smashed it on the floor.)

Also ASDA AKA Walmart is totally rubbish for all things Japanese, so I had to make substitutions left right and centre to make this work. It’s ok though because the bearded one absolutely loved it! \M/

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We have six rescue cats by the way so whenever we are taking pictures that are not just purely of food, you’ll see a couple here and there. 😛

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1 carrot, peeled and chopped.
  • 4 large leaves of savoy cabbage, chopped.
  • Lemon grass herbs or paste.
  • 10 black pepper corns.
  • 1 large red onion.
  • 5 cloves of garlic.
  • 1 red chilli pepper.
  • A peeled slice of fresh ginger the length of your little finger.
  • 250ml water.
  • Sea salt to add for your taste.
  • Half a head of fresh broccoli, chopped.
  • A handful of fresh coriander, chopped.
  • 1 tin of coconut milk.
  • Sugar snap peas, de-podded.

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The method:

  • Get your wok out and place a small amount of oil in it. Turn up the heat and place the chopped red onion and peppercorns in the pan.
  • Stir fry for about 3 minutes and then turn the heat off.
  • In the meantime deseed your red chilli and place it in a food processor with the garlic and ginger. Now add about 100 ml of water and wizz it all up to form a paste. (You may need to pulse blend here depending on how good your blender is. I’m not like other food bloggers. Vitamix has yet to endorse me, but hey if you’re listening guys, I don’t mind. :P)
  • Place your paste into your wok and crank up the heat again for another 3 or 4 minutes to reduce it down a bit.
  • Now it’s time to start adding ingredients one by one, each time stirring and covering in the tasty mixture you just made. I started with the carrots and and worked my way through the rest ending in coconut milk.
  • Make sure you have mixed everything in well.
  • Turn down the heat and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes so that the vegetables aren’t entirely raw.
  • Serve with some fresh coriander and chop sticks.

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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:

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

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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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Red Lentil Dahl

This is a dish I have been making for years. It’s really simple and totally yummy! 🙂

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Firstly you’re gonna need some ingredients:

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* Two handfuls of red lentils

* 800 grams of chopped tomatoes

* 4 cloves of garlic, crushed

* 1 can of coconut milk

* 2 cubes of vegetable stock

* 2 white onions

* 1 tablespoon of garam masala, cayenne pepper and cumin (each)

 

1) Heat some oil in a large pan. I used a wok because this makes plenty.

2) Now add in your two chopped onions and garlic. Give it a good stir to cover everything in the oil.

3) Turn the heat off and place the red lentils in the pan. Mix through thoroughly adding all the spices as you go.

4) Now add the whole can of coconut milk and again mix and stir through. (Turn the heat back on now.)

5) Open and pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan.

6) Place your stock cubes in the pan, add half a pint of cold water and again mix through.

7) Turn the heat right down to it’s lowest and stir the pan every few minutes for about 20-30 minutes, or until a good chunk of the liquid has been absorbed.

8) Serve with garlic and parsley vegan buttered chapatis.

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