Red Lentil Frikadellen Filled With Feta

Die DEUTSCHE ÜBERSETZUNG findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

Now that's a vegan title, isn't it? (Red Lentil) frikadellen filled with feta. But that's ok. It's just a combination of two previous recipes of mine! The Mediterranean Red Lentil Tomato Frikadellen and the Cashew Feta!

The outside is crispy, the inside is creamy! <3

It's really easy to make once you got the feta. I mostly did them because I wanted to see what I could do with the feta. I had made a batch two days ago and had frozen blocks of it. Remembering meat frikadellen filled with sheep's milk feat, I figured this might be a nice combination!

Adventures at the Asian Wholesale!

Finally, our food friends and us made plans to do something besides cooking for each other and eating food. We went on a little adventure trip to the neighboring city (Oberhausen, in case anyone cares) to pick up some products we had learned about in our Thai cooking class. Mushroom sauce, for example!

We got our obligatory must-buy list:

• 3l of coconut milk
• new green Thai curry paste
• sesame
• woks
• julienne slicer
• 1.9l Kikkoman soy sauce bottles
• fresh lemon grass
• fresh galgant
• and squishy tofu (yeah, that's my professional cooking term for the type of tofu that is softer than the stuff I get at the regular supermarket)

But we also took the gamble of trying some other stuff. We mostly stay in the safe zone, but here is what we bought!

Cashew feta - oh yeah!

Inspired by my friend Hanna over at Food by Hon, I made cashew "feta" again. It's just too good!
I made some slight changes to her amazing recipe.

Die DEUTSCHE ÜBERSETZUNG findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

Ingredients:

• 200 g cashews (soaked in water for 4+ hours!)
• 125 ml water (+ a little extra to prepare the agar agar)
• 1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons yeast flakes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (plus a little extra to grease up a form)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 40ml lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons agar agar (not "Agartine" or any other 1:1 gelatin replacement)

Cajun Spice? Cajun Fries!

Die DEUTSCHE ÜBERSETZUNG findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

I love Cajun fries, so when we made burgers and fries for a dinner with our friends, I figured a bit more than salt wouldn't hurt.

Cajun spice is easy to make and can be stored in a cleaned jam jar if you wish.

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons of sea salt
• 2 teaspoons of Cayenne pepper
• 4 teaspoons of garlic granulate
• 5 teaspoons (sweet) paprika
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons roasted onions (or onion powder)
• 3 teaspoons dried oregano
• 3 teaspoons dried thyme

Instructions:

• Throw everything in a blender and blend. 

• Store in an airtight container and sprinkle it on food (tofu, seitan, potatoes, fries, ... anything!).

Deutsche Übersetzung: 

Cajun Gewürz

Ich liebe Cajun Fries. Als wir für unser Drei-Gang-Dinner für unsere Freunde Burger und Pommes gemacht haben, dachte ich mir, dass die Pommes auch gerne etwas mehr als Salz vertragen könnten.

Cajun Gewürz ist sehr einfach herzustellen und kann wunderbar in einem alten (sauberen) Marmeladenglas aufbewahrt warden.

Zutaten:

• 4 Teelöffel Meersalz
• 2 Teelöffel Cayennepfeffer
• 4 Teelöffel  Knoblauchgranulat
• 5 Teelöffel Paprika edelsüß
• 2 Teelöffel frisch gemahlener schwarzer Pfeffer
• 2 Teelöffel Röstzwiebeln (oder Zwiebelgranulat)
• 3 Teelöffel getrockneter Oregano
• 3 Teelöffel getrockneter Thymian

Zubereitung:

• Alles ab in den Zerkleinerer und schön zerkleinern. 

• In einem luftdichten Container aufbewahren und auf Essen streuen (Tofu, Seitan, Kartoffeln, Pommes, alles!) 

Three-Course Dinner II

We looove having friends over. And feeding them. So this is the second time that we hosted a dinner for our four friends - and a couchsurfer from New Zealand.

Daffodils! <3

Product Test: Daiya Cheese - Cheddar Style Shreds

I had heard so many great things about daiya cheese, how it melts and pulls strings like cow cheese does! So when I recently had the chance to get some for a much lower price than usually (227g/8oz. sell for around €7! - I got 2 for the price of one!), I went for it.

What better way to try vegan cheese than on a pizza?

This is what the bag looks like. 

This is what the bag looks like next to homemade pizza dough!
How to make pizza dough and sauce!

The shreds look a little greasy and
taste okay-ish when they're not molten yet.

Before and after baking

Ooooh, the cheesy goodness!

I have tried a number of different types of vegan cheeses and I like daiya quite a bit! It melts beautifully and it's true: It melts like cow milk cheese, it's a bit stringy when you pull out a slice or take a bite. BEAUTIFUL! <3

I really like it, but I am most certainly not willing to pay €7 for 228g. That's over €30 per kilo. I understand that vegan cheese is more expensive because the production is much lower than animal milk cheese, because it isn't subsidized, because many companies avoid cheap ingredients that are harmful to the environment (like palm oil).... I understand all that and I appreciate that awesome stuff like daiya is being made. But it's just not in my budget on a regular day. 

Final commentary!

Mediterranean Red Lentil Tomato Frikadellen

English version below!

Ich habe ja eine gewisse Vorliebe für Linsen entwickelt. Wir haben im Moment drei verschiedene Sorten zu hause und ich mache verschiedene Gerichte damit! Ich habe zum Beispiel letztens eine Sorte mit Berglinsen gemacht. Geschmacklich geht des in die gleiche Richtung wie konventionelle Fleischgerichte. Aber die Frikos heute mache ich für eine Freundin die Fleisch noch nie mochte, darum versuche ich keine Geschmäcker oder Gewürze zu verwenden, die man traditionell mit Fleisch assoziiert.

Zutaten:

für 15-18 Minifrikadellen

• 200g rote Linsen
• 50g Paniermehl
• 4 EL Cashew Parmesan  (Supereinfaches Rezept hier)
• 5 getrocknete Tomaten
• 2 Zwiebeln
• eine Hand voll frischer Basilikum
• 100g Tomatenmark
• etwas Olivenöl zum braten
• 3-4 Zehen Knoblauch (optional)
• Salz

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is a family favorite. I would usually use arugula instead of the basil, but it's not in season right now, so it's super expensive. The fresh, organic basil was a special offer today! Hooray!

Ingredients: 

• 2 large zucchinis
• 300g of Hello Kitty pasta (the salad gets exponentionally better with Hello Kitty pasta, but regular pasta works, too)
• one glass of dried tomatoes (225g drain weight)
• 5 fresh tomatoes
• lots of fresh basil (I used as much as you can see on the picture - the whole thing!)
• 3 tablespoons vegan honey (agave sirup works, too)
• 60g (7-8 tablespoons) olive oil
• some extra olive oil for frying
• 60g (7-8 tablespoons) balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons mustard
• salt
• pepper

Lentil Balls/Frikadellen

I do like my soy-based frikadellen, but these are grand, too! Soy-free lentil-based frikadellen, high in protein, and super yummy! They can also be made gluten-free.

Ingredients:

• 150g lentils (I used Spanish pardina)
• 400ml water
• salt
• 60g gluten (you can replace this with corn starch if you wish to make this gluten-free!)
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon marjoram
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon pimento
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 1 onion

Frikadellen/Meatballs

Die deutsche Übersetzung findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

Our frikadellen are great for party buffets, picnics, bentos/work lunches, ...  and they also make wonderful burger patties if their shape is changed accordingly!