How do I add texture to vegan pulse, pasta and rice dishes so my non-vegan household can’t complain it’s simply mush?
Signe, Brighton
“It’s all a few drizzle, a dollop and a crunch,” says Bettina Campolucci-Bordi, creator of Celebrate: Plant-Based Recipes for Every Occasion. “I add at the very least two to each meal, and that immediately creates totally different textures.” A drizzle might be one thing so simple as good-quality olive or flavoured oil (chilli, garlic, basil) or date syrup, whereas a dollop is basically one thing creamy: “Hummus constituted of butter beans or chickpeas, a pesto or flavoured yoghurt, say.” As for the crunch, that’s “chopped toasted nuts, a chunky dukkah or za’atar, pomegranate, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, roast chickpeas flavoured with issues like tandoori spice”. Briefly, Signe can be clever to undertake Campolucci-Bordi’s mantra of “extra is best”.
One other tactic for avoiding the mush issue is to think about the way you chop your veg. “With greens that want extra cooking, resembling potatoes, chop them small, whereas should you’re including courgettes to the identical dish, chop them greater, in any other case they’ll go comfortable and mushy.”
For additional oomph on the feel entrance, Craig and Shaun McAnuff, whose newest e book, Natural Flava: Quick and Easy Plant-Based Caribbean Recipes, is out this month, favour roasting their veg (“for an unimaginable crust on the surface and melty insides”) or grilling it (“it provides you that crispy texture and smoky flavour”). Vivek Singh’s texture methods, in the meantime, embody frying mustard seeds and urid lentils with curry leaves and spices in oil, then tipping the lot right into a lentil broth. Another choice, says the chief chef and founding father of The Cinnamon Collection restaurant group, is to prime lentil and bean dishes with uncooked, pickled or calmly sauteed greens (assume chopped broccoli or cauliflower). “You may also experiment by including chopped nuts, fried shallots, and puffed or toasted flaked rice to the highest of huge, hearty bowls of lentils and rice for additional substance.” Some spicy scrambled tofu wouldn’t go amiss, both.
Singh additionally recommends khichdi to maintain Signe’s household’s objections at bay. “It’s a standard, home-style rice and lentil dish tempered with cumin, turmeric and greens [cauliflower, peas, carrots, chopped tomatoes].” He ups the ante by serving it with a roast aubergine relish: “Stuff two aubergine halves with cloves of garlic and rub with mustard oil. Char the aubergine over an open flame, turning ceaselessly, till blackened evenly on all sides.” As soon as cool, take away and discard the pores and skin and the garlic, chop the flesh and blend with sea salt, crimson onion, chillies, coriander and mustard oil.
Lastly, when all routes level to pasta, Shaun McAnuff is a fan of a “creamy, crunchy” vegan mac and cheese. He caramelises onion, garlic and chilli, mixes that with cooked pasta and vegan “cheese” sauce, and seasons. “Spoon right into a deep baking dish, prime with vegan mozzarella and breadcrumbs [you could even use broken crackers], and bake.” His brother, Craig, in the meantime, is all about pesto made with callaloo, a leafy Caribbean inexperienced. “All you do is caramelise garlic and mustard seed, then blitz with callaloo [or spinach], nuts, avocado, scotch bonnet and spices.” Toss that by means of cooked pasta and prime with a sprinkling of nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews) for that all-important crunch.
