Leftovers!

The past day or two, I've been ruling the leftovers. Usually mine are gone by the day after they're made (if not on the day!) and they don't last in the fridge for too long. Me being me, I got overxcited at the markets on Wednesday and bought ridiculous amounts of food. So I've been doing my best to eat it all... perhaps a little too enthusiastically, but hey, everyone has something that they get ridiculously excited about. I just have many things, and they don't tend to excite quite so many other people. This week, I definitely moved a step closer to becoming a crazy cat lady. But I'm a crazy cat lady who heats vege burgers in the oven, in an inspired step that makes them look like they're made of meat, which freaks out a housemate. Win.

I also enacted a massacre scene, by peeling and grating a cucumber, to make a salad using an idea that I stole from the mother of a Czech friend. I ate this salad when I was at their house, and it was great - perfect for the warm weather because it was so refreshing. I only wish I could say I needed something refreshing here, but the weather has been miserable. We're really into Autumn now, when the high for the day is only ten degrees Celsius.

To make the grated cucumber salad, just grate a peeled cucumber (I used a telegraph cucumber, but feel free to use other varieties - I think a few lebanese cucumbers would be amazing, because they're extra-crisp) and mix it with the dressing. The dressing, for the record, is just a little sugar (maybe a teaspoon?) mixed into a few tablespoons of white vinegar. I used white wine vinegar this time, and it was great. This salad releases a lot of liquid, so keep it in a separate bowl, or wring it out severely before you put it onto a plate with other foods. It'll stay good in the fridge, but won't be so crunchy as when it's fresh.

You've seen this salad before, when I made it into more of a tabbouli-like mixture. Lately I've just been chopping two bunches of parsley, adding some finely chopped ripe tomatoes (if they're not vine-ripened, they're probably not worth bothering with, sorry!) and more salt than I'd care to admit to. No oil, no vinegar, no dressing. Add pepper to taste. Let it sit at room temperature for a couple of hours before you eat it - the salt draws the moisture from the tomatoes and that creates the 'dressing' of sorts. I'm not usually into raw tomatoes - I'll eat them, but I don't tend to use them much in salads. Here, however, I'm more than willing to make an exception.

Above is yesterday's lunch. Leftover lettuce, a couple of vege burgers, grated cucumber salad and the parsley-tomato salad. It was really good. I actually ate a third burger, too, but shhhh you didn't hear me admit to that.

And this is today's lunch. Leftover roasted tomatoes (I'll post about those separately), cucumber salad, parsley-tomato salad, and leftover olives. I also ate a few chilli-olives, but I think I might use those in a puttanesca-style dish tonight, so I won't spoil you with photos of those. They're good, though. I expected them to be spicier, and ate the first one with extreme caution, but barely noticed the chilli. I think it's just for show... either that or it's designed for German tastes, and it's secretly made of mostly capsicum. It's possible. ;)

Cheat's Banh Mi.

Attention, fanatics: this is not a real Banh Mi. I'd like to say that I'm Vietnamese and that it's my great-great-grandmother's secret recipe, but sadly, I look as white-and-western as a slice of sandwich bread. So, this is one of those recipes that I've pilfered, made properly a few times, and then turned into one of my regular lazy-dishes. Sorry about that. This little sandwich is one that I devised when I was absolutely starving, with precious little in the house. Fortunately, I'd just been to the Asian Supermarket here, and I did have some tofu in the fridge. A leftover carrot, chinese cabbage, and a bread roll later - and here you have it. Warm sandwich full of flavour, and a stomach contented. I did actually have two on the plate, but I ate the first one before I thought to take a photo. Oh dear.

So, the basic premise is pretty simple. The French decided to make Vietnam their personal colony, as we all know. The Vietnamese, apart from adopting some fantastic desserts, took french bread and put into it delicious Asian fillings. I know that pulled pork Banh Mi are pretty popular in blog circles at the moment, but honestly, who can be bothered? Give me a slab of tofu any day, so that when I want a sanger, I don't have to have the oven on for 4 hours. I'm not that into meal planning. If I do think ahead, I marinate the tofu in a collection of sauces, but it still tastes mighty fine without the extra sitting time. If I'd thought ahead this time, I might have had a cucumber or a lettuce in the fridge, but hey, these things happen. Usually I make my carrot "pickle" (we all know that this is a cheat's recipe) with some kohl rabi in there as well, for that extra crunch without the slight bitterness that I find in many radishes here. Needless to say, I didn't have any of those either, so I just made do. I'll transcribe the recipe as I usually make it, and you can adjust it according to taste. Just add what you have, leave out what you don't. We all know that I'm incapable of following a recipe, so I don't expect anything more of anyone else! :)

Cheat's Banh Mi

1 block (about 250g) firm tofu, drained

1/3 cup sweet chilli sauce

1/3 cup kecap manis

2cm piece of ginger, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed

1 tbsp siracha (or sambal oelek)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

1/2 kohl rabi, peeled and grated (or use about 1/2 cup grated daikon)

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp whole-grain mustard

1/2 tsp salt

salad vegetables (lettuce and cucumber are my favourite)

coriander, to taste*

4 crusty bread rolls

oil

Cube your tofu into 2cm pieces. Mix together the sweet chilli, kecap manis, ginger, garlic, siracha and soy sauce in a bowl, and marinate the tofu cubes in it until you're too hungry to wait any longer.

Meanwhile, combine the carrot, kohl rabi, vinegar, sugar, mustard and salt in a bowl. Make sure it's thoroughly mixed and leave it for as long as you need. The longer you leave it, the more moisture it will release, but the better the vinegar seeps into the vegetables. Wring it out firmly before you use it, otherwise your bread will become soggy.

Fry the tofu in a little oil until browned, 3-4 minutes. Add the leftover marinade and cook until the moisture has evaporated. Your tofu should be dark and sticky, and smelling heavenly.

Cut the bread rolls in half and add a layer of tofu. Throw on as many coriander leaves as you like, and add your salads - the carrot 'pickle', lettuce, cucumber, etc.

Replace the top half of your bread roll and devour greedily. Then eat another. :)

*Because I buy my coriander with roots still attached, I often finely chop these, along with the lower stems of the plant, and add them to the tofu marinade. I hate wasting food, and the roots have a slightly different flavour to the leaves, so please, utilise them wherever possible.

Thanks, Hendrick's!

I got a surprise in the mail today, from Hendrick's. They're a small specialist gin company in Scotland, and their gin is hard to get one's eager hands on. It's also awfully expensive, which is generally a fair barrier for students such as myself. However, I'm presently in posession of a bottle sent to me by a friend from home, so I certainly have the little luxuries under control!

Hendrick's is produced using cucumber, plus a plethora of secret herbs and botanicals (ok, they're not secret, but let's just pretend). It's served with a garnish of cucumber, instead of the traditional lime that accompanies drinks such as a gin & tonic. And mixed with cucumber juice in a cocktail, it's unbeatable.

So, in celebration of being the recipient of a small cocktail and garnish book, plus an incredibly cute notebook, I'm posting a recipe for gin & tonic.

Gin & Tonic

30 ml Hendrick's gin

300ml tonic water

Mix together, garnish with a slice of cucumber, and enjoy in the best weather you can find.

I'll point out that the amount of tonic water is completely guessed, and could be completely wrong, so just adjust it if you're a more staunch drinker than I am, or worse, even more of a lightweight. ;)

A few simple salads!

This post is in honour of the lady running my favourite stall at the Dom Markt. She's always friendly, seems to understand my faltering German, and always has a smile for me when I show up at 7am. She also seems to like the phrase "like Summer!" which applies to tomatoes, basil and cucumber. She's perfectly on the mark, because honestly, her vegetables are brilliant. There's a reason why I eat two cucumbers a week, and it has something to do with how delicious these particular cucumbers are.

So, here's a couple of easy things that I do on a regular basis to make the most of the great produce from my favourite stall. The first is just a green salad with a simple dressing, and the second is a spelt tabbouli, into which I frequently mix kidney beans, in order to make a meal out of it. These are so good, and so easy, that I just eat them straight from the salad bowl. I seem to always make them at the same time, because they each call for a 1/2 tin of pulses and 1/2 lemon. It just makes sense, in my strange brain. And it really does taste like summer!

Green Salad

1/2 head of lettuce lettuce (I prefer oakleaf - it has the best texture!)

1/2 telegraph cucumber, or 2 lebanese cucumbers, sliced

1/2 tin red kidney beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp dried oregano (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Wash the lettuce thoroughly to remove sand and grit. Dry lettuce and tear into pieces.

Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Taste for seasoning, and don't skimp on the salt and pepper!

For an alternate dressing, mix 1 tbsp olive oil, 1tsp wholegrain mustard, and 1 tbsp red wine vinegar.

Spelt Salad

1 cup cracked spelt

1 small bunch parsley, chopped

1t tsp finely chopped or crushed garlic

1/2 tin kidney beans or chickpeas (optional)

1 tomato, diced (optional - I'm not big on raw tomato)

salt and pepper to taste

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

Cook spelt in water until tender - about 20 minutes. Drain thoroughly and allow to cool slightly. (If your spelt is too hot, your parsley will discolour, but if you're eating it immediately, this salad is nice served a little warm).

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, and eat!

Beet Drop Burgers

I have an updated, simpler recipe here, where I'm not trying to use up certain tasteless tinned ingredients... ;)

I have a confession to make: I don't like dry burgers. Now, when I phrase it like that, I'm sure that everyone agrees. But the truth of it is, that my burger of choice is one full of vegetables, and that I want it to be extra juicy. I want a burger that has some texture, that’s still crispy-fried on the outside, but that isn’t all loamy inside like commercial vegie patties tend to be. So what do I do? Make a burger out of vegetables that make good juices. Am I crazy? Most definitely. But did I make some delicious burgers? You bet.

Yep, I know you’re probably recoiling at the colour. The truth is that I love colourful food, and honestly, a couple of beets aren’t going to scare me away. I think beets are great – in moderation. By themselves, I can’t eat all that much. They can be overly sweet, and they’re best mixed with something refreshing, like cucumber or fresh greens. They’re also great roasted with sweet potato, pumpkin, or whatever other vegies you like in your traditional roast, provided you don’t mind a little of the colour spreading to the other veg. Hey, I like a decorative meal…!


You’re going to have to excuse the over-exposed photos. My camera loved the colour as much as I did, so I chose not to change the colour settings. Sometimes the idea of eating a fluorescent meal is just too good to tamper with.

Both the carrots and the beets in this recipe came in bunches from the last Dom Markt – that was on Saturday. I believe that per bunch, the beets were €1.80 and the carrots €1.20. Both veg are long-lasting, but if you’re like me and love beet greens, then you’ll want to eat those within a couple of days. Carrot greens can be used in place of parsley, but they tend to get overpowering very quickly, so use them sparingly. Or, if you prefer, you can always compost them. We don’t have compost, and I’m a student, so it’s easiest just to eat what I can! The herbs I used were less than a Euro per bunch, but I only used half a cup, so really there’s just more left for pizza and tabbouli. Win!


Oh, and in the case of frying these burgers, thinner is better. Honestly, the crispier you get the outside, the greater they are to bite into. If you’re one of those people who likes thicker burgers, add another ¾ cup flour and a teaspoon of baking powder, to give them a little rise. If you want lighter burgers, omit the chickpeas. I used a tin of hommus because it needed to be used – I discovered that hommus simply shouldn’t come from a can. Enough said.

These burgers are probably technically fritters, because they’re dropped into a hot pan and spread to the desired size – except that I tend to make my fritters using more flour. The idea is that these are moist, but still firm enough to hold together when you fry them. I recommend, against the advice of any health professional, to allow them to get pretty dark when you fry them – it’s the toasty, crispy bits that really make the flavour. They’d probably be great with a touch of garlic or ginger in the mixture, but I was a little too hungry to bother.

Check out that colour! :)

Beet Drop Burgers

2 Medium Beets
2 Medium Carrots
1 380g can Hommus (or 1 can Chickpeas, blended)*
½ cup Fresh Herbs, chopped (I used parsley and basil)
1 tsp dried Thyme
½ tsp ground Chilli or Cayenne
2 eggs-worth of egg replacer (I used ground flax with hot water)
¾ cup all-purpose Flour or Breadcrumbs
Salt and Pepper to taste

Peel and grate the carrots and beets.
Thoroughly mix all ingredients in a bowl. You don’t want your mix to be too liquid, but this depends on how juicy your veg and your chickpeas are. You want your mixture to become quite sticky and hold its shape when you stir it, but you don’t want it to be so thick that you can’t shape it once it’s in the pan. Add more flour or breadcrumbs if you need.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Drop about 1/3 cup mixture into a preheated, oiled pan. Spread it out to form a layer about 1cm thick, and allow to cook until brown, then flip to allow the other side to cook. If they fall apart when you flip them, then you need to allow them to cook for a little longer.
Once they’re cooked, do as you do for all freshly-fried items: sprinkle them with a little salt. Serve with salad, or in a burger roll with avocado and a slathering of dijonnaise.

Makes 10-12 burgers… which might seem like a lot, but you can’t stop at just one. Or, if you’re me, you can’t stop at two… or more…

*You can omit the chickpeas entirely if you want a lighter burger. Like I said, I was just trying to hide the hommus in another food, because I can't bear the thought of throwing something out...