Vegan Recipes

Aubergine Linguine

Aubergines are also known as eggplants or brinjals, and originate from India. Linguine are long, narrow, flat pasta noodles used in Italian cooking. Prepare the marinated aubergines well in advance so that when you are ready to eat, all you have to do is cook the pasta.

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Basil and Tomato Pasta

Basil is one of the more common herbs used in Italian cuisine. It is rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and phosphorus; and it is thought to have significant health effects, particularly for strong eyesight and healthy skin and hair, and in improving the health of the cardiovascular system.

Roasting the tomatoes gives a sweeter, smoother flavour to the sauce. Italian plum or flava tomatoes are ideal.

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Cashew Nut Paella

This vegan version on paella is packed with vegetables and nuts for a truly delicious and simple dish. Cashew nuts come from northeastern Brazil and are very low in cholesterol and sodium. They are a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, copper and tryptophan.

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Cauliflower Curry

Cauliflower is a vegetable that is, many times, overlooked. It is a member of the cruciferous family, a family which contains nutrients that fight against several diseases. There are 2 main ingredients in cauliflower, and in all of the cruciferous family, that are the main disease fighters. These are indole-3-carbinol, or 13C, and the photo-nutrient sulforaphane. So when having this dish, remember to say thank you to the cruciferous family for its 'gift' of health.

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Chow Mein Noodles

Chow mein is a generic Cantonese term for a dish of stir-fried noodles, of which there are many varieties. In this version, egg-free noodles are cooked and then fried with a colourful variety of vegetables to make this well-known and ever-popular dish.

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Chinese Tofu and Seitan

This is a Chinese macrobiotic dish that uses tofu, seitan and miso - a paste made from soy, barley or rice. It is served with pasta. Most people think that pasta comes from Italy, where it is thought that the ancient Etruscans ate it as early as 400 BC. However, people have been eating noodle-like food in China since around 3,000 BC, and the ancient Greeks and Palestinians also ate versions of 'pasta'.

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Enchilada Bake

An enchilada is a traditional Mexican dish. The name comes from the Spanish word enchilar - "to add chilli pepper to". The traditional enchilada sauce is dried red chillies soaked and ground into a sauce with other seasonings. Most enchiladas consist of a stuffed or layered tortilla, covered with a spicy sauce and baked. It is easy to make and packed full of flavour.

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Moroccan Tofu

Morocco is on the crossroads of many civilizations. Its cuisine is a testament to this with its Arab, Berber, Moorish, Jewish and Iberian influences among others. The most widely acknowledged dish from Morocco is probably couscous which, it is believed, is of Berber origin. It can be served with almost anything and is especially popular with vegans. The Moroccan Tofu dish that follows has been adapted from an ancient Jewish family recipe and is used as a main course.

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Oriental Vegetable Noodles

This dish has a mild nutty flavour from the peanut butter and dry-roasted peanuts. Peanuts and peanut oil are used extensively in Asian cuisine, especially Indian, Thai, Malay and Indonesian dishes.

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Penne Arrabiata

'Arrabiata' means angry in Italian and probably the name comes from the cooking style for this sauce. The sauce is cooked from a cold pan using cold oil, unlike most other pasta sauces which usually require the oil, onions and garlic to be hot before adding the other ingredients. In this case, an Italian with a hot temper dropped everything into a pan without thinking then started to cook!

Note that rigate is used as the penne pasta. Rigate pasta has a pitted surface that will better hold the sauce whereas penne lisce has a smooth surface.

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Puttanesca Pasta

'Puttanesca' is a derivation of puttana, which in Italian means 'whore'. Some say that the dish was served in the brothels that abounded in Naples, and was a cheap and easy sauce to make and serve to customers, keeping them occupied while they waited their turn. Others say that the name refers to the hot, spicy, flavour and aroma.

Whatever its origins, this sauce is generally served with pasta such as penne, and is a spicy melange of tomatoes, capers, black olives, onions, anchovies (this version has no anchovies), oregano and garlic, cooked together in olive oil.

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Saucy Borlotti Beans

Borlotti Beans are a classic Italian bean and are also known as cranberry beans. They are very popular in soups and Italian and Portuguese cuisine, and are an excellent source of fibre and protein.

Fresh sage, a herb used frequently in Mediterranean cooking, adds a subtle flavour to these pink and white speckled beans.

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Seitan with Cashew Nuts

Seitan is made from flour, by kneading and alternately rinsing in cold and hot water until all the starch is washed away and only the pure gluten remains. Then it is cooked in water with shoyu and some additional seasonings. There are several different recipes, and it's available ready-made in some food stores.

According to Aveline Kushi and Alex Jack in their excellent book "Complete guide to Macrobiotic Cooking", seitan was invented by zen-buddhist cooks in China and Japan, who used it as a meat replacement. Seitan is gluten extracted from wheat. It is rich in protein and gives strength and vitality.

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Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

Here's the simplest of Italian recipes - spaghetti aglio, olio e ... peperoncino (garlic, oil and chilli).

Fresh and easy with a hot touch, it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare. This dish is really fast food.

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Spicy Stir-fried Noodles

Pad Kee Mao quite literally means "fried drunkard" and it infers that the cooking style is quite hot and wild. This means that you can throw any vegetables into the dish since the list of ingredients is never the same from one restaurant to another; the only fixed items being the noodles, chillies, garlic and seasoning. Of course, you can adjust the number of chillies to suit your own taste.

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Spinach and Nut Pasta

Spinach originates from central and southwestern Asia, possibly Persia. It is a very good source of dietary fibre, protein, vitamins A, C and K, sodium, manganese and potassium, best retained by no or minimal cooking.

Use any pasta shapes you have for this recipe.

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Thai Green Curry

Gaeng Kiaw waan derives its name from its colour and is one of the spiciest curries of central Thailand. This dish can be made with or without tofu, or by using your favourite types of vegetable such as pumpkin or potato instead. Milder versions of the dish can easily be made be reducing the amount of chilli added. Thai green curry is usually served with boiled jasmine rice.

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Tomato Gnocchi

Gnocchi is a small dumpling most often made with potatoes, though it can also be made from flour, squash or polenta.

The spicy garlic-pepper sauce contrasts well with the mild flavouring of the gnocchi in this delectable dish. Top this north Italian favourite with a few fresh basil leaves and vegan Parmesan cheese, if available.

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Vegetable and Pasta Stirfry

East meets West here, in this dish flavoured with soy sauce, ginger and dry sherry. Prepare all the vegetables and cook the pasta in advance, then the dish can be assembled in a few minutes when you are ready to eat.

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