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fiamma
Jan 19th, 2011, 09:51 PM
I'm always on the lookout for really fast, simple, tasty, healthy meals (fast=30 minutes or less :D) and would love to hear your suggestions.

I made up this recipe a while ago; it's called Leo's Speedy Seitan, and it's one of my faves, as well as being possibly the fastest meal on the planet. Sorry there are no measurements; you'll just have to guess and experiment :cool:

Leo's Speedy Seitan

Seitan
Cous cous
Green beans
Tamari (or soy sauce)
Lemon juice, fresh minced garlic and ginger (optional)
Olive oil
Salt or veggie stock
Raisins (optional)

Chop the seitan into pieces; add the lemon juice, fresh grated ginger and minced garlic to the tamari if you're using them, and marinade the seitan in this mixture while you prepare the rest.
Put the cous cous in a bowl and add boiling water; leave to stand for 5 minutes or so.
Meanwhile top and tail the beans and cut each into 2 or 3 pieces (or leave whole if you prefer). Put them into a large frying pan, add just enough water to cover the bottom. Add a little salt/veggie stock powder and blanch/cook the beans for 3-4 minutes (I think they're best if they remain a little "crunchy").
Drain the beans, rinse and dry the pan and put it back on the heat. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil, add the drained seitan (reserve the marinade) and fry for a couple of minutes until golden. Add the cooked cous cous and green beans and heat till thoroughly mixed and hot through. Add the reserved marinade to taste.
Throw in a handful of raisins at the end if you're feeling really wild :p lol

fiamma
Jan 21st, 2011, 02:04 PM
No-one?? :down:

harpy
Jan 21st, 2011, 02:36 PM
I don't really do recipes, but everything I cook is super-speedy :o

For example here's a sauce which we sometimes have with pasta and vegetables: one can or jar of artichoke hearts, drained; couple of tbsp lemon juice; couple of tbsp tahini; all whizzed until smooth in a food processor.

For minimal effort you can use vegetables which are nice virtually raw, such as chopped-up broccoli and carrots sliced thinly, and just toss them into the colander before you strain the cooked pasta to heat them through. Otherwise steam or saute the vegetables for a few minutes while cooking the pasta. The higher the vegetable-to-pasta ratio the more interesting (and the more healthy) the outcome. Then stir in the sauce at the end.

fiamma
Jan 21st, 2011, 04:29 PM
Harpy that sounds delicious, and just what I was looking for. :) Curiously enough I was thinking the other day in the health food shop that I should experiment more with veggie pasta sauces, instead of having to buy them; they're often very expensive and chock-full of salt. I will definitely be trying your suggestion :) How about a bit of crumbled smoked tofu thrown in?

harpy
Jan 21st, 2011, 04:34 PM
Yes, tofu improves anything ;) We often include beans in pasta dishes for a bit of extra protein but if you had the tofu you'd be sorted wouldn't you?

We don't bother so much with the jars of sauces any more as it's so quick to make your own with whatever you have on hand. The only one we tend to buy is vegan pesto (I know some people frown on pesto out of a jar but it's better than fresh made with out-of-season basil :p )

fiamma
Jan 21st, 2011, 04:43 PM
I've stopped buying vegan pesto, to be honest; I just find them too salty. I just stick to making my own when basil's in season. I've also seen rocket pesto for sale here, 'tho I think it always has some basil in it.

RubyDuby
Jan 21st, 2011, 05:15 PM
I love the idea for this thread, and the suggestions so far.
This is the best I can do for now.

Big Mac Salad for 2-

ketchup- 2 Tbs or so
eggless mayo- 3 Tbs or so
2 chopped dill pickles
bag of lettuce
chopped onion
croutons
2 veggie burgers
handful vegan cheese

mix together ketchup and mayo with one of the pickles.
Toss this dressing with the lettuce, onion, leftover pickle. Divide between 2 bowls.
heat the burger with cheese on top, chop and place on salad. Top with croutons and enjoy.

fiamma
Jan 21st, 2011, 05:26 PM
^ Mmmmm, awesome - that sounds delicious! :cool: Keep 'em comin'!!!!

khadagan
Jan 21st, 2011, 08:32 PM
Ooh I love this thread! Most of the things I make are under 30 minutes.

Pasta sauces I've been preparing in bulk. Basically whizzing up in blender 2 or 3 jars of tinned tomatoes with lots of vegetables (for extra nutrition, my daughter isn't always the best eater, but loves sauces). Then I freeze them, so I can use this sauce for a few quick pasta meals.

And maybe not the healthiest addition for pasta, but very quick and very tasty is cook pasta in one pan, in other pan onion, garlic, peppers (or add any veggies you like when boiling add to pasta or baking add to pan). Add bit of curry powder and paprika powder, then add soy cream from a carton to the veggies, stir and serve immediately.

Also, I often have pasta with vegan parmezan (nutritional yeast mixed with either pecan nuts or almonds and a tiny bit of seasalt whizzed in a blender).

RubyDuby
Jan 21st, 2011, 09:31 PM
yum!

sometimes I add 1/2 Tbs or so of vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt and few pinches of sugar to a can of diced tomatoes, then heat it up. Heat a can of black beans, and serve both on couscous that's been reconstituted with veg stock.

missbettie
Jan 21st, 2011, 09:53 PM
big mac salad?! yum!!!!!!! ruby always has the best recipes....I love that spicy buffalo chicken wings (made with seitan) with blue cheese dressing....omg my mouth is watering...

RubyDuby
Jan 21st, 2011, 11:02 PM
:D yeah, I wish those were super speedy.

Festered
Jan 21st, 2011, 11:57 PM
I am also a fan of cooking a massive vat of whatever, saves energy and resources do it all at once, freeze then use for whatever-sauces, curries, chillis, bean stews-good to put in wraps or heat and put over potato wedges... I cook beans and freeze them then put them to defrost in the morning then chuck them into salads or soups, add bread/mash/toppings..whatever..

harpy
Jan 23rd, 2011, 06:09 PM
Yes I go in for vats of soup etc too, Festered. Must admit I generally keep eating them over several meals until they're gone rather than freezing though :o

The mention of wraps reminds me of another speedy (and not particularly healthy) standby, but it does depend on some convenience foods that may not be available everywhere and is no good if you don't like fake meat (though you could probably just use stir-fried veg and nuts then).

Drain and chop a tin of "mock duck" (seitan - from health food shop or oriental supermarket, or you could use other seitan), stir-fry with chopped spring onions/scallions (or leeks) and any other veg you fancy. Add Chinese plum sauce from a jar (generally vegan but check ingredients) and warm through.

Warm some flour tortillas (again often vegan but check ingredients): you can do this in a pop-up toaster but be careful not to burn them. Wrap them round the seitan filling and eat.

fiamma
Jan 23rd, 2011, 06:17 PM
Thanks for all your replies people! Please keep on topic though; there are other threads with ideas for quick meals, but I wanted this to be more specific.... we want RECIPES!!!

I picked up a recipe recently for lemon and walnut pasta; while your pasta's cooking, remove the peel from a lemon using a potato peeler (only the yellow part, not the pith) and slice it into very fine strips.
Using a stick blender (or a fork too, I suppose!), whip some olive oil together with a little lemon juice. Throw in your sliced peel, a handful of shelled and chopped walnuts and some chopped parsley. Season to taste, and use it to dress your pasta.
Enjoy :)

(N.B.: The lemon may be a bit strong for some tastes, so experiment with the quantities of lemon peel and juice).

emmapresley
Jan 23rd, 2011, 06:35 PM
i always make a mega pan of soup..carrots onions, red and potatoes. stock, thyme, maybe a bay leaf cracked black pepper. make it so theres plenty of soup and not too vegetabley, but obviously loads of vegetables. eat whatever you want of it, then leave it to cool and bung it in the fridge. next day reheat..or two days later heat it up, throw in half a tin/tin of chickpeas/other beans and a generous shake of cous cous. bring it up to heat and lid on, leave for 20 mins or so or until you cant wait any longer. a healthy slart of chilli sauce and youre good to dish up.

Hemlock
Jan 23rd, 2011, 07:55 PM
I'm a big fan of Yotam Ottolenghi I'm afraid so when I do cook it generally takes around 2 or 3 hours. Everything else is soup.

Hemlock
Jan 23rd, 2011, 07:58 PM
I have been known to cook this, I only use wholewheat pasta though as I don't like processed foods much.
350g (12oz) dried tagliatelle or wholewheat pasta
3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
A pinch of dried red chillies
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
2tbsp sundried tomato paste
4tbsp freshly chopped flat-leafed parsley
Cook, toss all together and grate sone blue sheese on top

RubyDuby
Jan 23rd, 2011, 08:49 PM
We often make tofu salad (mock egg salad) for sandwiches.

2 blocks tofu, rinsed and squeezed
1/2 cup Spanish manzanilla olives, chopped
1/2-3/4 c eggless mayo
1 Tbs prepared yellow mustard
black salt (or regular salt) to taste

crumble tofu into a resealable container, mix in everything else, chill and eat on bread with lettuce and tomato if you'd like.
I prefer to put the crumbled tofu on a pan and broil for ten minutes, and then cool before mixing in the rest of the ingredients, but that's optional. My bf prefers the tofu "raw".

khadagan
Jan 24th, 2011, 12:45 AM
The mock egg salad sounds tasty, must try that!

If you don't like fake meats in a wrap you can also quickly fry up some tofu. My favorite and superspeedy tofu is:
Fry tofu in little bit of oil until browner on most sides
Then take of the heat, stir in soy sauce, ketjap (sweet variety of soy sauce, you can also leave out or if you want to make it sweeter add a teaspoon of agave syrup for instance. And add a generous amount of nutritional yeast flakes. Stir, the nutritional yeast will absorb the soy sauce and will stick to the tofu without burning it. I eat this tofu at least once a week, now for the last few years I love it!

Festered
Feb 1st, 2011, 10:20 PM
Get some flour, water and a pinch of salt. Put in a bowl knead to a dough. Blend in a processor, add herbs if you like and some oil or marg.Roll out making sure it's stretchy and pliable and not too wet or dry.
Oil a frying pan. Put dough in pan and turn on heat lowish.
Put tinned tomatoes, some garlic fresh or powdered, herbs fresh or dried, fresh tomatoes *optional, touch of oil, onions, any seasonings you like, into the blender or processor, whizz for couple of mins.
when dough is a bit cooked, put tomato mixture over dough.
Leave to cook further, then put parmezano or other fake cheese and any other desired toppings (cooked veggies any leftoevers really)
Shove under grill to cook/brown.
Voila. 20 min pizza.

RubyDuby
Feb 2nd, 2011, 12:03 AM
I'm emailing that one to the bf. sounds like a pain to me, but not if he makes it. :p I'll tell him you said it was easy. ;)

harpy
Feb 2nd, 2011, 01:13 AM
That recipe takes me back to my student days, Festered! There was something similar in Katharine Whitehorn's "Cooking in a Bedsitter" which we all had then - frying pan pizza, it was called.

emmapresley
Feb 2nd, 2011, 12:54 PM
i made something super nommy last night. took about 12 minutes maximum

ketle on and a stock cube in a pan..pop in a handful of vermicilli rice noodle type things..one of those batches that take really little time.

while thats doing its thing stir fry up real quick some mushrooms bit of fresh chilli, grated ginger i put in garlic powder, watercress and a smattering of chinese 5 spice.

put noodles plus stock (which has now conveniently become a broth) in a massive bowl, tip on contents of pan, sprinkle on crushed black pepper, slart of soya sauce, maybe some sesame seeds and its all done. i totally bet it could be done in under 5 minutes if you were all prepared with a boiled kettle. it was really good!

khadagan
Feb 2nd, 2011, 01:02 PM
i made something super nommy last night. took about 12 minutes maximum

ketle on and a stock cube in a pan..pop in a handful of vermicilli rice noodle type things..one of those batches that take really little time.

while thats doing its thing stir fry up real quick some mushrooms bit of fresh chilli, grated ginger i put in garlic powder, watercress and a smattering of chinese 5 spice.

put noodles plus stock (which has now conveniently become a broth) in a massive bowl, tip on contents of pan, sprinkle on crushed black pepper, slart of soya sauce, maybe some sesame seeds and its all done. i totally bet it could be done in under 5 minutes if you were all prepared with a boiled kettle. it was really good!

mmh, sounds delish!