Recipe Round-Up: One-Dish Vegan

Wow, it has been just over two years since I last posted a 'Recipe Round-Up' post. But even though there has been a long time between posting, I haven't stopped cooking!

One-Dish Vegan is the latest cookbook published by Robin Robertson, who is my favourite vegan cookbook author. I knew about this book for months before it was published, pre-ordered it early and then waited patiently by my mailbox for it to arrive. I was not disappointed!

One-Dish Vegan is packed full of a fantastic array of tasty recipes. It has a focus on wholefoods, so lots of grains, beans, tofu, tempeh and vegetables. There are a few dishes that call for seitan or vegan sausages, and only one or two that have an option of vegan cheese. The premise of the book is recipes that can be served in the one dish, though they are not all one pot. Some do dirty up a few pots and pans along the way, but there is nothing complicated. There are no photos in the book (except for on the cover), but this is not something that bothers me. Make the recipes and you can take you own photos. :) There are no starters or desserts here, just filling savoury dishes. Chapters include Soups That Make A Meal, Main-Dish Salads, Stovetop Simmers or Stews, Chili Today, Sautes and Stir-Fries, Pasta Plus, and Oven to Table.

I have been using this book a lot in the short time that I have had it, so I will split this into two posts. There are so many great sounding recipes!

Indonesian Noodle Soup with Tofu


This yummy laksa-type soup provides four giant servings of goodness. It calls for extra-firm tofu, which is what I used, but if you have access to fried tofu puffs these would be great here.

Wild About Rice Salad


This salad is an absolute delight - amazing flavour in every bite! Wild and brown rice are mixed with celery, carrot, peas, scallions, artichoke hearts, tomatoes and beans. There are a few options of fresh herbs to use and I chose dill, which was fantastic.

Citrus-Dressed Quinoa and Black Bean Salad


Cauliflower is the key to this great salad. Rather than cooking mine with the quinoa, I roasted it for extra awesome flavour. I didn't use yellow capsicum (because capsicum is ewww), and instead cut the kernels off a cob of corn and added it to the quinoa for the last few minutes. Again there is a choice of herbs, and I used coriander.

Three-Bean Rice Salad


Green beans, kidney beans and black beans are the three beans in this substantial salad. The recipe calls for pimientos, which I am yet to find here, so I just left them out.

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad



The first salad I picked from this book, it comes together in a flash and is full of great flavours. I should mention that all of the salads here keep well to take to work for lunches throughout the week.

Rice and Broccoli with Lemony White Bean Sauce



The first recipe I made! White beans are blended up to make a great lemony sauce. I found that I needed to cook the broccoli for a little bit more to make sure if cooked all the way though, and I added some extra white beans to the rice and broccoli (as suggested in the recipe notes) to make it a bit more substantial.

Risotto Primavera



When you find yourself with two bags of aborio rice, you have to make risotto. Carrot, zucchini and edamame are included here. The recipe suggested serving with salad and garlic bread, which I did. And of course I sprinkled liberally with nooch!

Jambalaya



Jambalaya is fun to say and fun to eat! The recipe called for 20 minutes to cook the rice, but my rice took much longer to cook. I always find this with cooked rice dishes! But after some patience I was rewarded with a great dinner. I didn't use the capsicum but added some green peas at the end when you add the sausages.

Moroccan Chickpeas with Couscous



Another dish that is generous in the serving sizes. The sauce has a lovely blend of spices that get soaked up by couscous. There is the option of topping with toasted almonds or scallions, and I chose almonds which gave a lovely crunch.

Brown Rice and White Beans with Shiitakes and Spinach



Is there anything in the title of this dish that is not good? Again I needed a bit more time and liquid for the rice to cook all the way through, but then I enjoyed a fantastic dinner. I chose dill as the herb option, because you should always choose dill.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Salad



This book has an entire chapter of chili recipes, though being a bit of a spice wimp I am slow to move through them. But when I do I will shameless decrease the heat in it until it gives me just a nice mild warmth. Sweet potatoes and black beans are a great combination. I only used one chipotle chile instead of two, and also decreased the amount of chili powder (in Australia our chili powder is much hotter than the powders in the US).

Tomorrow I will be back to post the second part of my initial round-up of this fantastic book.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post




Trying to take photos of cats can be tricky, they always seem to know how to move just as you are about to press the button! I was trying to take a photo of Sahara to send to Leigh (who is a great admirer of the red cat), and she was moving everywhere. But somehow I managed to snap this photo of her sitting pretty.