Plant-based Comfort Foods
You don't have to be on a vegan diet to appreciate the flavours of seasonal fresh veggies in a plant-based meal.
With the right ingredients, you won't even notice the absence of animal products!
Creating mouthwatering plant-based meals incorporates the innovative swapping of meats and dairy products with nifty plant-based alternatives.
An important aspect is incorporating the flavours and savoury tones of umami ingredients like mushrooms, oil-cured olives and fermented foods to add depth and complexity to your cooking.
Sure, there are plant-based recipes that require a trip to a specialty wholefoods store and invest hours into preparing a dinner for 2.
Don't let those put you off!!
There are plenty of easy, quick recipes using pantry staples too!
So here's a readily adaptable recipe for plant-based mince that wouldn't take any longer than your typical mince dish:
Ingredients:
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, finely chopped
- 1 stick of celery (or hunk of celeriac), finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 250g mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 can of brown lentils, drained
- 1 can of tomatoes
- ½ cup tomato paste
- 1 tsp veggie stock or ½ tsp marmite or 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Ground pepper, to taste
- Optional: 100g walnuts, finely chopped
Method:
Heat a large saucepan with olive oil, then add onion, carrot and celery/ celeriac and fry, stirring frequently, for 10 mins. Once the mixture has started to brown, add spices, garlic, mushrooms, lentils and walnuts (if you've got them) and stir fry for a further 5 minutes. Toss in tomatoes, paste, stock (or substitute thereof) and pepper, bring to the boil and leave to simmer for another 10 minutes.
This is a very simple, quick recipe that is a delicious plant-based substitute in a classic chilli con carne, spaghetti bolognese, lasagne, Shepherds pie… all of those wonderful winter comfort foods that make one's tummy happy!