Spanish Inspired Share Plates

Living in a town that still has an independent bookshop feels like a big luxury to me. Being time poor I probably only find myself in there six or so times a year. However each time I do visit I walk out with an armful of books. Denise who owns the book shop seems to always have a new vegan cook book in stock so even though I may originally go in to purchase a novel or even just a birthday card I will be drawn to purchasing a vegan cook book or two.

 

 

My latest acquisition is Vegan Recipes from Spain by Gonzalo Baro. The other week with a few hours to spare I decided to sit down and read through the book and then created three recipes for a shared lunch from inspiration gained from the book. 

 

 

What I love about Spanish food is share plates of food, having not just one dish to sit down to but a few and sometimes even many. I decided three dishes would be a great variety and these are the recipes I share with you this week. All of the recipes can be eaten at room temperature or you can serve the mushrooms and potato, mung bean salad warm.

 

 

Algas means seaweed in Spanish and I thought this dish would sound better if I added a Spanish word in the title. Zucchini Algas has a better ring to it than Zucchini Seaweed.

 

1 zucchini peeled with a vegetable peeler to make nice long ribbons

2 tsp dulse flakes

½ tsp salt 

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup water

15 or so olives, green and Kalamata

1 tbsp rinsed capers

 

Place the zucchini strips in a flat container (that has a lid) and sprinkle on the dulse flakes and salt, then pour in the apple cider vinegar and water and let sit covered and in the fridge for 3 hours.

 

In a frying pan dry fry the olives and capers until the olives are warmed through and the capers are crispy.

 

Place the zucchini strips on a plate and then sprinkle on the olives and capers.

 

*Note; if you like raw garlic you can marinade the zucchini strips with chopped garlic.

 

 

 

Many of the recipes in the book Vegan Recipes from Spain called for sherry. I am not sure what sherry tastes like so looked up substitutes, many sources suggested vinegar or apple juice. I had some Kambucha in the fridge so thought I would give that a go and it was delightful.

 

1 large king mushroom

3 tbsp Kambucha

1 tbsp roughly chopped parsley

1 tbsp avocado or olive oil 

 

Cut the king mushroom into strips and fry in the oil adding a sprinkling of salt once one side of the mushrooms is browned. 

Once brown on both sides of the mushroom add the Kambucha and cook until it has evaporated. 

Place on a plate and sprinkle on the parsley.

 

 

Mung beans are by no means Spanish and I don’t think I have ever seen a Spanish dish with mung beans but they were the beans I had so that’s what I used and they tasted great with the other ingredients.

 

½ cup cooked mung beans

1 large potato sliced thin

2 tomatoes cut into 8 wedges each 

A few splashes of olive oil 

6 florets of broccoli

4 asparagus spears cut in half on an angle

Salt and pepper

 

Place the tomato wedges in a baking dish with a splash of oil and some salt and cook in 180°C oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until cooked through but still holding their shape.  

Par boil the potato slices for 5 minutes.

Place some oil in a frying pan and fry the potatoes on both sides until they are quite crispy or to your liking.

Steam the broccoli for 2 minutes then add the asparagus and steam for a further 3 minutes. 

Season the mung beans with salt and pepper. 

Arrange on your serving platter the mung beans first then place the potato and tomatoes in a circle and then add the broccoli and asparagus to the middle or if you want something more rustic just mix everything together in a mixing bowl then spoon onto your platter. Serve with the coriander sauce.
 

½ bunch coriander well washed

2 cloves boiled garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

½ tsp cumin seeds

¼ cup lime or lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil 

1 chilli (optional)

 

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

 

After a two year break the decision has been made that I will make a Christmas cake this year. Christmas cake is more delicious if made a few months before devouring so it does take some planning ahead to remember to make it. So here is a reminder to those of you who are Christmas cake fans that now would be a good time to get baking. My gluten free and vegan Christmas Cake recipe is a winner and every year I get people writing to me to say how good it is and sending me photos of their creations.  Please do try out the recipe and hash tag #veetsvegancookingschool on instagram and facebook so I get to see your creations. 

 

This weekend I facilitated the 26th Vegan Foundation Cooking Course and five very enthusiastic people turned up to participate in the three day course. They had so much energy and I thoroughly loved every minute of showing them delicious recipes and assisting them with getting super creative in the kitchen. Once again I realised how much I love the vegan foundation cooking course and the content that we cover in these three days. 

 

When I first started Veet’s Vegan Cooking School I used to teach one day courses and I realised that a lot of people just came along to do short cooking courses and then never really followed through with what they learned. So I decided to create a three day course where people will get inspired to keep on cooking as soon as they returned home from the course.  And then continue to keep creating great vegan food years after doing the course. I see the three days as a life time investment and this is a lot of the feedback I am getting from people who have attended the vegan foundation cooking course. 

 

We have two more Vegan Foundation courses in 2018 . The one on the 8th to 10th of November has four places left. So why not come along either on your own or with a friend or family member, this can be a lot of fun to spend the three days with a friend or loved one. 

 

Have a great week everyone.

 

Love Veet