Secret of a vegan Kitchen. The humble Cashew

Back in the seventies, I  met a Fijian Guy, who was (and is) an interesting vegan cook.

He showed me how to make cashew cream.

Take about 1/4 cup of cashews. They must be fresh and raw and unsalted. Using cashew pieces is fine.  Put them into your trusty blender, and cover them with water. The more water, the thinner the cream. Turn on at slow speed, then fast speed, and Voila! you have made cashew cream.

That's fine, but how do you use it?  My cafe allowed me to come us with many uses.  The obvious one was on fruit salad.

Organic  fruit and veggies were just becoming available at that time, so I would cycle to Harmony Foods, in Bondi Junction, and buy whatever fruit and veggies I thought I could use in my cafe. 

There was a new variety of sweet potato, called Kumera.  I bought a few, and decided to bake them.  I used baking paper on a tray, because I figured they would leak. Well they cooked beautifully, and I pulled them out when they were soft, but not mushy.  I had already worked out how I would serve them.  I had bought ones which were longish, and not too fat. I made some thickish cashew cream, but I made it with a combination of sage and dill.  Not too much. but enough to give the cream a wonderful flavour.  I would put one potato on the plate, next to the main meal and the salad.  I would cut it into slices to open it up, and then pour some cashew cream along it.  It was sensational. The  kumera was bright orange, and very sweet. No-one had had it before and wondered what it was. They also wondered about the cream. They loved it.

I soon discovered another use for this magic cream. Read on

Secrets of a Vegan Kitchen 2 Pumpkin Soup

I guess you have made pumpkin soup before, but never like this. Choose a piece of pumpkin which is bright orange.  Cook till still firm, and add carrot juice (fresh) and celery juice (fresh) and a small amount of fresh beetroot juice. While making juice, add a small piece of fresh ginger Add a handful of parsley (thickly cut) Also add virgin olive oil and a small amount of lemon or lime juice. Let simmer for a while longer then mash in usual way.   Serve with a thick blob of cashew cream in the centre, made with a selection of herbs. My favourite is basil with a hint of cardamon. Serve with organic wholemeal toast, spread with Bertolli Virgin olive spread, or croutons (made with virgin live oil), or zwieback (home made).

Who says vegan food is boring?

Secrets of a Vegan Kitchen 3 Greek Food

Lots of Greek food has seeped into the Aussie psyche.  Having a Greek background, is  is satisfying to have seen this Greek cultural cuisine history  being absorbed to some extent into the inquisitive and acquisitive Australian appetite.

Fetta cheese is well established in our diet.  You can buy it packaged or loose in delis and supermarkets. It takes its place on a cheese platter next to the cheddars and camembert, and no-one bats an eye, or asks "what is that"?    

Fewer people realise that it is traditionally made from sheep and goat milk.  And the nicest variety comes from the region of Dodonis in Greece.  To much info? Not really - you can specify that next time you buy it loose From Coles supermarket, or your local deli. They will have it.  Ok, fetta cheese is one reason why I'm no vegan.  Another reason?  Well... what do you tell your Mum when she presents you with a pullover that she has knitted herself out of expensive prime Australian wool?

There is a word in Greek which means made with olive oil - "lathero".  What even some Greeks don't realise, is that such food tastes infinitely better if kept in the fridge overnight and eaten the  next day. Also it can be eaten either hot or cold.

This is  such a dish, called "spunacoriso".  Different to the "spunacopita" which you know.  This is spinach and rice,  made without the pastry.

Warning! This is addictive, hot or cold.

We start off with brown rice, which you might have mastered by now.   Well this is a bit different, we still need it cooked by absorption method, but we need it a bit undercooked (so less water).

The proportion of rice to spinach is really up to you, but lets start with a quarter cup of rice, to two bunches of fresh spinach (ok, silver beet). If spinach is a bit wilted, soak in cold water for a few minutes.  Cut the really thick stalks out, but leave the smaller ones. Roughly  cut the spinach into two inch thick strips. 

In a largish saucepan heat virgin olive oil, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup!  Add one large bunch of cut shallots, and some fresh dill, cut fine.  When the shallots are  translucent, add the rice, stir well, then add  the spinach, stir well so that all surface is covered by oil, (add more oil if you think it can take it). Now add a little salt.

The purpose of the brown rice, apart from complementing the rice and creating a substantial meal, is that because it is undercooked, it will cook more, and absorb excess liquid. This works well and although the traditional way is to use white rice, this is about  eating food of peak nutrition, and food which tastes much nicer.

Cook under low heat until rice has expanded. If it's a bit sloppy, that's fine too. Squeeze a whole lemon over it, and stir it in.

Now go outside, take a deep breath, then walk back into the kitchen, and appreciate  the wonderful aroma of your food.

It's ready to serve up, but to get the full flavour, I recommend you let it cool, refrigerate it overnight, and eat the next day.  Try it cold - it's heavenly!  Your kids will skip Macs, if they can come home to this.