Easy vegan rice salad

Credit and permission to share: Mars Food UK

As a young chef, most menus of the late 90s for vegetarians (particularly in the North East of England) were vegetable lasagne or vegetable chilli. 

Once, I was asked to prepare a meal for a vegan in the pub I was working at.  I would say I spent more time on that meal than any other meal as I wanted it to be perfect.  The customer simply wanted as much fresh vegetables as possible on her plate.  I spent ages scouring our larders to make it special.  It was plain and simple as per the customer request and to this day is the only compliment I remember from that pub because it was so special to that customer. 

Well, in homage to that, I would like to thank the people at Uncle Ben’s for reminding me of that experience and it is with the upmost please to share what I think might be our simplest recipe. 

You will need:

A rice salad recipe with colourful veggies, a tangy vinaigrette, and delicious rice.

TIME 5 minutes

4 servings

Quick, easy and packed with flavour, this vegan salad comes together in a flash. Loads of colourful veggies and a tangy vinaigrette make this a perfect option for a balanced lunch or side dish!

INGREDIENTS

 2 pouches (each 8.8 oz) Ben’s Original™ Ready Rice™ Whole Grain Brown Rice

 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

 2 tablespoons sesame oil

 2 tablespoons low sodium vegan soy sauce

 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

 1/2 cup chopped carrot

 1/2 cup sliced celery

 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

 1/2 cup chopped snow peas

 1/4 cup sliced green onions

 1/4 cup torn cilantro leaves

1 Prepare rice according to package instructions; let cool.

2 Whisk together lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar and pepper in small bowl.

3 Combine cooled rice with carrot, celery, red pepper, snow peas and green onions in medium bowl. Toss with sesame oil mixture until well coated.

4 Divide mixture evenly among 4 bowls. Garnish with cilantro.

*Tip: For an added kick, stir sriracha hot sauce into vinaigrette as desired.

Green curry with chicken of the woods

Credit and permission to share: Wild Food UK

We have a lush Thai green curry on the site already and I wanted a red one too, but then I saw another green one from the lovely people at Wild Food UK who are mushroom lovers like us.  

Spoiler alert, this ain’t got chicken in it.

There are so many lush recipes on their website that remind me of my childhood and foraging – except we never foraged mushrooms as we were actually taught by my Nanna to stamp on evil toadstools at every opportunity – strange activity but back then we never had expert guidance like these folks (or mobile phones):

You will need:

This aromatic curry is an excellent way to use chicken of the woods, and with ready-made spice pastes so widely available now it’s also very easy to make. Most or all of the non-foraged ingredients should be readily available at your local supermarket. We recommend using an authentic Thai brand of green curry paste, as they seem to have the best flavour.

(Vegans and vegetarians should bear in mind that green curry paste often contains fish sauce and/or shrimp paste. If you do manage to find a suitable curry paste, replace the fish sauce in our recipe with soy sauce or tamari).

Green beans are added in the last few minutes of cooking for a contrast of flavour and texture, but you could use any vegetables you like: mangetout, broccoli florets, baby corn, spinach or pak choi would all work well.

Serves : 4

Prep : 5 minutes

Cook : 25 minutes

• 400g chicken of the woods

• 2 tablespoons of oil

• 3 spring onions, thinly sliced

• 3 tablespoons Thai green curry paste (Kanchana's Kitchen recommends Nitaya brand)

• 150g fine green beans, trimmed and cut in half

• 1 × 400ml can coconut milk

• 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (or soy sauce)

• 2 tablespoons lime juice

• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves, plus a few whole leaves for garnish

  
  

Method

1. Clean the chicken of the woods with a pastry or mushroom brush, and wipe away any dirt with dampened kitchen paper. Cut into roughly 3cm chunks, removing any hard or fibrous parts, and set aside.

2. Set a large frying pan or wok over a medium-high heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken of the woods chunks. Cook over a brisk heat, stirring not too often, till the pieces are nicely browned.

3. Add the spring onions and stir fry for a couple of minutes, then add the curry paste. Stir well to coat the mushrooms and allow the paste to cook for about 5 minutes, till fragrant. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and lime juice and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, then raise the heat and add the green beans.

4. Cook for a few minutes until the beans are tender but still slightly crisp, then stir in the chopped coriander (add a little hot water if you feel the sauce is too thick). Transfer to a serving bowl, scatter over the reserved coriander leaves and serve with rice.

Zesty lime guacamole

Credit and permission to share: Avohass®️

**Read on for discount code.

A bit like my children, guacamole seemed to suddenly appear in my life and has been there forever.  Well, zesty lime guacamole is not one of my children’s names (it might have been if I was a rock star) but definitely worth making anyway.  There are so many versions of guacamole out there, some including jalapenos and even left over parsnip!  Why make your own?  Well, I would recommend you read what goes into some pre-made ones.

You will need:

Ingredients

• 4 ripe avocados 

• 1 medium tomato

• ½ cup red onion

• 1 medium jalapeno pepper

• ¼ teaspoon sea salt or Sriracha Lime Salt

•  1 Tablespoon Avohass Lime Infused Extra Virgin Avocado Oil 

•   ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

•  1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar or Key Lime Balsamic Vinegar

  
  
  
  

Peel and mash the avocado. Wash and finely dice the tomato and red onion. Wash the jalapeno pepper, cut open lengthwise, remove the seeds and mince.

In a medium mixing bowl, add in the avocado, tomato, onion and jalapeno. Mix with a spoon until all the ingredients are well blended. Add in the salt and pepper. Mix again and taste. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Add in the Avohass Lime Infused Avocado Oil and white balsamic. Mix again until well combined.

Serve with chips, on tacos, or hey, just eat it straight, we don’t judge.

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