soy division.

meat-eater tested, vegetarian approved.

Navigation
You are here: Home / Archives for sauce

Cashew Ranch Dressing

By Leave a Comment

_MG_7812

Ranch dressing isn’t something that I really loved when I lived in North America. It’s ubiquitous there. It’s easily taken for granted. Suddenly, when I moved to the UK and it was no longer available I started to realize what I had lost. But, despite their sad collection of salad dressings, what the UK does have going for it is MASSIVE bags of raw cashews for a very good price.

As they say, necessity (or desire is maybe a better word) is the mother of all invention. So here is my ranch dressing invention.

It uses something called rejuvelac. It’s the probiotic liquid from fermented grain and is a bit fizzy and tastes like mild lemon juice in water. It’s quite nice. If you don’t have it, or are scared of it (and you shouldn’t be) then feel free to use the lemon juice option.

After I made this, I caught Ben standing in with the fridge door open, dipping various food items into this ranch dressing. It began appearing on sandwiches, on stews, as a condiment on his dinner plate- he couldn’t get enough.

 
Print
Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • I cup of raw cashews soaked in water for 8 hours, drained
  • ¼ cup rejuvelac (Or substitute 2 TBSP of lemon juice in ¼ cup of water)
  • 1 TBSP vinegar
  • 1 TBSP nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 TBSP onion powder
  • ½ TSBP salt
  • ½ TBSP pepper
  • ½ cup of chopped fresh dill
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend away until lovely and smooth.
  2. It will thicken slightly upon standing.
  3. Enjoy!

 

Friday Night Dinners: Tempeh Meatball Subs

By Leave a Comment

_MG_7894

I hated meatballs as a kid. They were essentially meatloaf masquerading in as spheres. I remember them being served on toothpicks at dinner parties and infiltrating my otherwise perfectly good spaghetti. I remember recoiling in horror the first time I saw someone willingly eat a meatball sub.

I couldn’t have thought of something more horrific.

Oh, how times have changed.

The thick, flavourful tomato sauce, the little bites of savoury goodness, soft white bread with a crusty exterior, melty cheese.

I get it now.

And I’m craving it now.

They sure aren’t pretty. But they are definitely a perfect Friday night dinner.

_MG_7892

Friday Night Dinners: Tempeh Meatball Subs
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 8 oz tempeh, simmered in water for 10 mins, cooled, and chopped finely
  • ¼ cup (25 g) quick oats
  • ¼ cup (15 g) nutritional yeast
  • ½ cup (60 g) vital wheat gluten
  • 1 onion, grated
  • 4 cloves garlic, grated
  • 1 TBSP Italian seasoning
  • ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 TBSP soy sauce
  • 1 TBSP vegan worcestershire sauce
  • 2 TBSP HP sauce (or A1 steak sauce, or BBQ sauce)
  • 3 TBSP olive oil
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 onion, peeled and very finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
  • 120ml dry white wine
  • 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • 1 TBSP tomato paste (puree)
  • 100ml water
  • 1-2tsp caster sugar (to balance acidity)
  • 1 crusty baguette
  • Vegan meltable cheese (I used Vegusto No Moo Melty)
Instructions
  1. Mix cooled and grated tempeh in a large bowl with oatmeal, nutritional yeast, gluten, onion, garlic, and spices.
  2. Add soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and HP sauce and mix together with your fingers.
  3. Heat oil in a large frying pan over med-low heat.
  4. Shape tempeh mixture into 36 small balls.
  5. Fry in oil for 15 mins, turning regularly, until nicely browned on all sides.
  6. Meanwhile, to make tomato sauce, mix finely chopped onion and garlic together in a pot with oil.
  7. Cook over medium heat until onions are golden, but not burnt.
  8. Add tomato puree and cook for another minute.
  9. Add tomatoes, wine, water and 1 tsp of sugar.
  10. Simmer for 15 minutes.
  11. Season to taste.
  12. Add meatballs in tomato sauce and simmer for another hour.
  13. Sauce should be lovely and thick at this point.
  14. Place some shredded cheese of your choice on the baguette, top with hot tempeh meatballs and sauce.
  15. Enjoy and wipe your chin!

 

 

One Pot Wonder: Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

By 2 Comments

_MG_7803

It is day 25 of renovations and I am slowly losing the will to live.

For 21 of those days we have had a toilet that doesn’t work. 21 days and 4 plumbers later we finally have a working toilet and it feels like all of my Christmases have come at once. Small victories!

As I’m sure many of you know, and have probably experienced much worse, renovations have invaded EVERY aspect of life (yes, that is a dropcloth in my picture). Most evenings, I have to reorganize the entire kitchen like one of those annoyed puzzles just to access the stove-top.

Simple, one pot meals are my life saver at the moment.

I have been seeing variations of this meal around the internet and decided to give it a try. What I really love about it is how sticky and thick the sauce becomes when you cook the pasta in it.

I also really love the history of this dish. Pasta alla Puttanesca literally translates to “spaghetti of the whore”. Although its history is a bit disputed, there seems to be three main versions of how it got its delightful name.

1)   It was an easy dish for prostitutes to cook while “meeting with a client” and then quick and nutritious for her to eat in between clients as well.

2)   A restaurateur was faced with a problem when he had run out of ingedients to make a dish and a table of ladies was demanding to be fed. He just threw a bunch of random bits and bobs in a pot and served it to them.

3)  That when it was being cooked in the local brothel, the strong, salty fragrance of this sauce would lure men in off of the street.

I like all of the stories equally. So, whatever your reason for making this sauce- to save your sanity or to get your energy up in between clients, you’ll be very glad you did.

_MG_7807

5.0 from 1 reviews
One Pot Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Adapted from http://yupitsvegan.com/2014/03/12/one-pot-spaghetti-alla-puttanesca/
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 12 oz. spaghetti noodles (I used plain spaghetti)
  • 3 oz. sliced good quality black olives
  • 1 cup (1/2 of a 15 oz can) cooked chickpeas
  • 2 TBSP capers
  • 1 tsp caper brine
  • 4 sundried tomatoes, sliced (I used oil packed)
  • I onion, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 (14-oz.) can diced tomatoes, low sodium or no salt added
  • 2 large handfuls of rocket (arugula)
  • 2 TBSP italian seasoning
  • ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper to season
  • 4 cups good quality vegetable broth,
  • Shredded vegan parmesan cheese (I used Cheezly Dairy-Free Hard Italian Style)
Instructions
  1. Add the uncooked pasta to a large, deep pan over medium high heat.
  2. Top with the remaining ingredients finishing by topping the whole lot with the vegetable broth.
  3. Cover the pan and bring to a boil.
  4. Keep covered and reduce to low heat.
  5. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
  6. Should be finished in about 10 minutes.

 

Hotplate Cooking: Tomato Basil Sauce with Chickpeas

By 2 Comments

2014-04-16-11-41-26_deco

University student?

Bachelor?

Living in a small apartment in Chiang Mai?

Hot date coming over that you need to impress and you don’t have an oven? Don’t despair!

This dish proves that although cooking with just a hotplate, one sauce pan and one frying pan might not be the ideal situation, delicious, filling and from scratch meals can still be made fairly easily.

And, this dish is incredibly inexpensive to boot!

But wait… there’s more!

If you stick around over the next few posts, I’ll show you how to take a big pot of this pasta sauce and turn the leftovers into three separate meals!

That’s three separate dates that you can impress with this one recipe.

How’s that for value?

Tomato Basil Chickpea Pasta
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Tomato Basil Chickpea Pasta
Author:
Recipe type: Big Bites
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste (or puree if you are in the UK)
  • 400g can passata
  • 400g can whole, peeled tomatoes
  • 1 TBSP italian seasoning
  • 2 tsp vegetable stock powder or 1 crumbled stock cube
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 cups of cooked chickpeas (or 1 15oz can, drained and rinsed)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • few basil leaves
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat, add onions and cook until soft.
  2. Add the garlic, then gently fry for 1 min.
  3. Add tomato paste (puree) and cook until tomato paste has darkened, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add in other ingredients, except the basil, then bring to the boil.
  5. Reduce the heat, then allow to simmer, stirring occasionally. The longer it simmers, the more concentrated the flavours will get. I usually simmer for about 45 minutes.
  6. To finish, tear the basil leaves, then stir into the sauce.
  7. Serve over freshly cooked pasta of your choice!

 

BEN’S VERDICT (AKA A MEATEATER RESPONDS): 

[Exchange between me and Jen when I read this post]

Ben: Who’s this hot date coming over then?!  

Jen: You!  

Ben: What are doing cooking me cheap food!

Jen: You didn’t complain when you had your third helping!

I always forget how much I like spaghetti; it is the pasta from childhood and we tend to put it away as we grow older.  The sophisticated tagliatelli and the cultured fusilli have their merits, but there is always a place in my heart for a big bowl (or three) of spaghetti.

I am getting more and more amazed at the chickpea.  I thought it was only good for curries and hoummous but it appears to be more versatile than I imagined.  It added a good texture and flavour to the tomato sauce.

SDLogotiltRed

 

The owner of this website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking http://www.soydivision.co.yuk to Amazon properties including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com.