Flicking the Vs: March 2010

A friend of mine - let's call him Nick, because that's his name - maintains that he doesn't like tofu.

Madness, I tell you, madness. How can anyone not like tofu?

Sure I'm a bit biased, because I could quite happily mainline the stuff and because I'm vegan and not liking tofu is probably against the ten vegan commandments but, to me, it's impossible not to like.

The beauty of tofu can take on the taste of anything you put on it, so if you don't like it, you've probably just not flavoured it with something you like. Or you've just not flavoured it at all, which would be the equivalent of trying to eat slightly damp, farty cotton wool crossbred with rubber and, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't like it then.

But if you flavour it with a load of nuts, some veggies and some other gubbins you've found in your cupboard, like I have here, there's no reason tofu can't be all warm and comforting.

The tofu I used in this is Clean Bean, made by a company in Brick Lane, I think. It's got a nice fluffy texture. Try it. You'll like it, honest.

You can't not like tofu, right? That would be madness.

Carrot, courgette and corn bake

Ingredients

Two shallots

Two cloves of garlic

1oz of pumpkin seeds

1oz of cashew nuts

325g of firm tofu (Clean Bean is pretty cracking)

One heaped dessertspoon of gram flour (or normal white flour)

Three heaped dessertspoons of tahini

Two dessertspoons of soy sauce

One dessertspoon of mirin

One dessertspoon of white miso

One medium carrot (about 4oz)

One medium courgette (about 4oz)

3oz of sweetcorn

Salt and pepper

How you do it

In a food processor (or in a mixing bowl with a stick blender), pulse the garlic, shallots, pumpkin seeds and cashew nuts together until completely blended.

Chop the tofu, add to the mix and blend again.

Stir in the flour, tahini, soy sauce, miso and mirin.

Top and tail the carrot and courgette and grate them both into a clean tea towel. Then gather the tea towel's corners together and wring out the liquid from the veggies.

Stir the carrot, courgette and sweetcorn into the tofu mixture, mix well and pour into a pyrex dish.

Cook at 200C for 45 minutes, or until set. Serve with new potatoes and a salad.

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Did you know it was British Pie Week this week?

Yes, like every food stuff worth its salt in need of a bit of PR puff, the pie has been given its own week of shameless self-promotion.

Being a bit of a sucker for anything involving pastry, coupled with my own need to clear out my pantry of all the under-loved ingredients that seem to accumulate in there when I'm not looking, I've come up with this recipe for smoked tofu and leek roly-poly.

Oh alright, it's not technically a pie, but there's stuff wrapped in pastry and that's close enough right?

Feel free to leave out the morels if you've not got any lying around. Alas, I've had a bag lying around for a year, crying out to feature in some haphazard vegan recipe, so who I am to deny them?

Smoked tofu and leek roly poly

Makes one large roll - probably about eight slices

Ingredients

For the filling:

Oil

One brown onion

Two cloves of garlic

3 small leeks, cut in half lengthways then sliced into 1cm lengths

3 dried morel mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced finely

One block of Taifun smoked tofu or equivalent, cut into 1cm dice

A few sprigs of thyme

The zest of a third of a lemon

Two tablespoons of non-dairy cream

Salt and pepper

For the pastry:

8oz of self raising flour

4oz of vegan suet

Pinch of salt

A little non-dairy milk

Fry the leeks, garlic and onion in a little oil for 5 minutes or until lightly softened.

Put the leeks into a bowl, add the the rest of the ingredients, mix well and set aside.

Onto the pastry: mix together the salt, suet and self-raising flour. Then add the non-dairy milk, a teaspoon at a time, kneading with your hands as you go. You should end up with a lump of dough that comes away cleanly from the side of the bowl and isn't wet or tacky to the touch.

Flour a chopping board or work surface, and a rolling pin (a wine bottle will do if you haven't got one to hand!) and roll out the pastry until it's about 25cm by 35cm, and about 3mm thick.

Spread the leek and tofu mixture over the pastry, leaving a border of about 2cm around the edge.

Roll up the pastry fairly tightly - like you're making a swiss roll - and then place the completed roll on a greased baking sheet, with the join on the bottom. Tuck the raggedy short end under the roll, so you've got a neat rectangle in front of you.

Brush with non-dairy milk.

Put the whole thing in the oven at about 180C for 40-45 minutes, or until browned and crispy all over.

Cut into slices and serve with some tart green veggies - wilted spinach or kale would do the trick, I reckon.

Below - the uncut roly poly, Above - the roly poly with a couple of slices cut in.

leek

Smoked tofu and leek roly poly

Did you know it was British Pie Week this week? Yes, like every food stuff worth its salt in need of a bit of PR puff, the pie has been g...

About me

Hi, I'm Joey. I'm vegan, and I'm chuffed about it. Seriously, it's cool right? If you're a vegan, you'll know what I mean. I've never learnt to cook so much tasty, experimental food since I went herbivore a few years back. I live in London, and I like that too.

I'm a journalist when I'm not writing here, and I don't mind that either. If I'm not cooking, then I'm reading vegan blogs, making stuff, down the pub, or studying. If I'm not doing that, I'm probably asleep.

If you'd like to get in touch, drop me a line at flickingthevs [at] yahoo co uk