vege2go, east brunswick

Despite living less than a fifteen minute walk from vege2go, before last week we had never tried their food! So when the opportunity to sample their wares in the company of Kristy and Toby arose, we took it.



Because I had heard around the place that vege2go now no longer does dine in, we ordered a takeaway. But Kristy and Toby reported back that there were people dining in! So now I don't know. If you have heard either way, please let me know!

Anyway, vege2go is all vegetarian, and has a range of vegan and gluten free options.

Danni and I decided to pick two dishes to share, going for the lasagna and the quinoa casserole. The lasagna was excellent, had a great taste and texture, nothing too overwhelming or bland. I would definitely eat it again.

The quinoa casserole (gf) was a bit bland and uninteresting, and there was something about the combination of quinoa and vegetables that I didn't like. Not a repeat for me.

Kristy ordered the stuffed capsicum (gf), which was filled with rice and some sort of sauce. This (which I sampled) was pretty good! And now I'm on a bit of a stuffed vegetable roll.

Toby went for the vegan parmiggiana. Not as good as the EBC parma, he declared, but still good.

We shared two sides, the roast winter vegies and the Mediterranean rice salad (both gf). The roast vegies were excellent, and there was something about them that I'd love to replicate. The rice salad was not great, Kristy insisted it tasted like cat pee, which is hardly a recommendation.

Finally, Kristy and Toby decided that we needed to splurge on dessert. The tiramisu, about which I've heard a lot, was delicious (and I don't like coffee). The chocolate mousse (gf) was good, and interestingly gooey.

All in all, would try again for a takeaway dinner, but nothing spectacular.

vege2go Vegitalian Food Store
452 Lygon Street
Brunswick East

GF options available
not open Sundays

super awesome tempeh and quinoa lasagne

A few Saturdays ago I arrived at FoE, as I often do on a Saturday, at about 12:30. Esula called out to me as I sauntered past; "Hey Steph," he said, "You need to get yourself a lunch plate right now."

I wandered into the kitchen (after tying back my hair, I am a good girl) and discovered that Gen had made a super awesome vegan lasagne. She had also made a vegan and gluten-free one! The lasagne (not-gf) had her secret white sauce, and was thick with all sorts of deliciousness, including quinoa, and I knew that when I went home that night I had to try to make something just as awesome.

AND I DID.



super awesome tempeh and quinoa lasagne

These proportions made a third again extra filling and tomato sauce, but I'm okay with that because I used them to make pies the next night. If you had a bigger lasagne tray than me, you could just dump the extra filling in and make a bigger lasgane. I'm not sure how this extra filling will translate when I don't have leftovers to work in, as I've noted through this recipe.

ingredients
tempeh filling
400g tempeh, crumbled
450g spinach (this weight measurement included stalks and roots, as I was weighing bunches), washed and shredded (leaves only, though)
a tablespoon of nuttelex, and a little olive oil
half a red onion, diced
one third of a cup of red wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
half a cup of raw quinoa (or equivalent cooked)
leftover pasta + sauce OR half a cup of the red tomato sauce you will make at the same time

red tomato pasta sauce
1200g canned diced tomatoes (three small cans)
your favourite herbs and spices (I used a combination of dried chilli and fresh oregano and basil)

white cashew sauce
1 cup cashews
1 cup boiling water
shake of salt
some basil leaves

also: lasagne sheets
a tray, approx 15 x 30cm


method

to make the super tasty filling: in some nuttelex and olive oil, fry the onions and the tempeh. after a few minutes, add the garlic, and keep on frying. if it starts to stick as it sucks up the oil, add some more nuttelex or oil. occasionally, add some red wine, and let it suck it up. keep on frying until the onion is soft and the tempeh is mostly or all the way cooked, and you've used up all the red wine. at this point, gradually add the spinach, and let it wilt. at the same time or earlier, cook the quinoa if it's raw (remembering to wash it well first). then stir through the cooked quinoa, as well as the tomato pasta sauce (or the miscellaneous leftover pasta that you need to use up before it goes off), and let simmer for about five more minutes. set aside!

at approximately the same time, you need to make the red tomato sauce for the lasagne. this is super easy! on a medium heat, cook the tomatoes (juices and all), along with some fresh and dried herbs and spices, with the lid on, for about fifteen to twenty minutes, or until it's reduced and looking like a pasta sauce. set aside!

while this is all going on, soak your cashews in the water for about twenty minutes, and then really quickly, in a blender or food processor combine the cashews, water, basil leaves and salt for your white cashew sauce.

then you are ready to combine!

to put the lasagne together, begin: spread a thin layer of the tomato pasta sauce across the bottom of the tray. put out some lasagne sheets. put down some more tomato sauce, then some of the filling (about a centimetre thick), then about half of the cashew sauce. repeat a second time - lasagne sheets, tomato sauce, filling, cashew sauce. finally, put down the last layer of lasagne sheets, then some more tomato sauce.

heat that oven to 200C, then bake that lasagne for about 40 minutes, or until the lasagne sheets are soft.

EAT IT.

lasagne with cashew cheese and spinach

I love lasagne. I love it a lot.

So last week I tried this lasagne with cashew cheese and spinach by The Messy Vegetarian Cook. I modified it a little bit, and recommend some further modifications, but it was AWESOME.



I didn't use smoked tofu, but only because I had forgotten to buy any. I increased the amount of tomatoes (I went up to about 800g of canned tomatoes, which is two cans ish. Next time I will probably even increase this more to make more sauce). I used tempeh instead of a vegan mince - and I would recommend further modifying this by adding red wine to the pan when frying the tempeh.

And that was it! Super delicious, a bit time consuming, and quite dishes intensive, but I enjoyed it!

mushroom and spinach lasagna with tofu bechamel sauce and sundried tomato pesto

One of the last things I made before we left Perth was a mushroom and spinach lasagna with a tofu bechamel sauce. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I really liked it.



mushroom and spinach lasagna with tofu bechamel sauce and sundried tomato pesto

I used a sundried tomato pesto for this, because I had sundried tomatoes on hand, and I like the stronger taste. A basil pesto would also work.

ingredients
large handful or two of mushrooms
one bushel spinach
five tomatoes
one red onion
three cloves garlic
lasagna sheets to make three layers (I use san remo, I find I need six sheets to fill my tray)
one square tofu
1 half tsp nutritional yeast (heaped)
1 half cup soy milk
1 half tsp chili flakes
oregano
marjoram
olive oil
1 cup sundried tomatoes
quarter cup pine nuts

method
In a lot of olive oil, heat some marjoram and oregano. Dice the onion, and fry in olive oil over low heat for eight or nine minutes, until they are quite soft. Dice two cloves of the garlic, and add to heat, fry for a few more minutes. Add the tomato (diced) and all the juice, fry on high for a few minutes then reduce and simmer, covered, for twenty minutes, or until the tomatoes have reduced to a mushy sauce.

In the meantime, slice and fry the mushrooms in olive oil or a vegan margarine. Set aside.

Pound together the sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, and remaining garlic, and drizzle olive oil through as required. As an alternative, the oil in which the sundried tomatoes sat could be used.

In a blender, mix together soy milk, nutritional yeast, chili flakes, and tofu, and some pepper if required.

In a square dish, about 25 x 25 cm, spread a thin layer of tomato mixture. Cover with lasagna sheets, then cover lasagna sheets with half of the pesto. Place mushrooms onto this layer. Drizzle with some of the tomato sauce mixture, then cover with lasagna sheets. Repeat with pesto, spinach, tomato sauce and final lasagna sheets. Spread across remaining tomato mixture, and cover completely with tofu sauce.

Bake in oven at 200C for about 40 minutes, or until lasagna sheets are easy to slice through.

eggplant, pumpkin and spinach lasagna

This was inspired by Michael's post about eggplant lasagne rolls. Rolling seems like fun but the idea of all that condensed eggplant and oil in one place was a bit much for me, so I modified it a bit.



eggplant, pumpkin and spinach lasagna

This looks a bit fiddly but it's quite straightforward, took about an hour and a half from go to nom. I found it quite rich, so for me it made six serves.

filling
1 eggplant
lots of olive oil
lots of salt
lasagna sheets
1/2 butternut pumpkin
1/2 bushel spinach


pesto
pinenuts
handful of spinach
lots of olive oil


tomato sauce
5 - 6 tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato soup
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp basil
salt and pepper

24x24cm or 9.5x9.5inch (ish) baking pan

method
Peel the eggplant and slice it thinly, really really thinly. Salt both sides with a lot of salt, and leave to sit for ten minutes. Then start frying the eggplant, in lots of olive oil, until each side is browned. Drain and pat off the excess oil.

Peel and deseed the pumpkin, then cook and mash. Meanwhile, was and roughly chop the half a bushel of spinach.

Pound together half a cup of pinenuts, with a handful of spinach. Drizzle olive oil into the mortar as required.

Dice the tomatoes. In some olive oil, fry the oregano, marjoram and basil. After a minute, add the tomatoes and the tomato soup, as well as the salt and pepper. Reduce the heat, and leave to simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally, until the tomato has reduced to a sauce.

putting the lasagna together
Spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce across a square pan, carefully covering the entire base. Layer two lasagna sheets (or however many you require to cover), and spread the pesto evenly across these sheets. Place a whole lot of eggplant on top of the sheets, reserving three or four slices if you can. Drizzle a small amount of tomato sauce across the eggplant, and layer two more lasagna sheets on top.

Spoon the pumpkin onto this layer. Layer another two lasagna sheets, and spread some of the tomato sauce across the sheets. Throw in the spinach, cover with tomato sauce, and cover with two lasagna sheets. Spread the remaining eggplant atop the sheets, and pour the remaining tomato sauce over the whole thing.

Bake at 210C for 40 minutes.

This was fairly oily, so it was refreshing to serve it with a fresh salad (and some potato gems).

pumpkin and leek risotto

D’s youngest brother came to dinner last night. Since their parents have been away, all he’s been eating is frozen dinners and takeout, because the only thing he claims to be able to cook is enchiladas, and he has run out of corn tortillas. Unfortunately, he hates mushrooms, so at the last minute I had to revise my original dinner plan and replace it with a pumpkin and leek risotto, which I served with a spinach and sundried tomato pasta salad, and garlic bread.




I don’t know how N felt about it all, but I’m really happy with how the risotto turned out.


pumpkin and leek risotto

Boiling the pumpkin and then frying in a frypan makes the pumpkin soft but crispy. This is also an awesome way to prepare pumpkin for pizzas. If your preference is for roasting instead, feel free, but it will add a little bit to the overall cooking time.

ingredients
one pumpkin (in small cubes)
sage
a shake or three of ground nutmeg
pinch of thyme
two cups arborio rice
five cups stock
half red onion
one leek (white part only)
one clove garlic (minced)


method

Boil the pumpkin until almost cooked, then fry in a fry pan for five or six minutes.

Dice the onion, and in a heavy bottomed pot sauté for about ten minutes, or until caramelised. Cut the leek into lengths of about five centimetres by five millimetres, and add the leek and garlic to the pot. Saute, add the rice, sage, thyme and nutmeg. Stir the onion mixture through the rice until covered, then add a cup of stock. Continue stirring the rice, allowing the stock to soak in before adding another cup.

I think fresh sage would be awesome with this, but I didn’t have any so I used ground, about a teaspoon worth. The amount used may vary.

After ten minutes, or about two cups, add the pumpkin to the rice. Continue to add the stock until the rice is soft, but with a slight resistance when bitten.

sebastian's italian cafe

Since we've been vegan, we've not been much for Italian restaurants, for obvious reasons of the Italian love affair with cheese and eggs. Sebastian's was no exception, we went there for a 21st and there was nothing on the menu that was vegan (or modifiable to vegan), the pasta and the pizza bases were all made with egg. Having surveyed the menu online, I called two days in advance, and was told this was not the case, we could just order a pizza with no cheese and we'd be fine. The birthday girl's mother called ahead, and was told there was nothing they could do, they'd have to make a salad or two up for us. On the night, they made us an entree of mushrooms and a pasta from packet pasta that they had (there had been a vegan in the previous night, apparently).

The mushrooms were fantastic, sauteed in a garlic and chili oil. The pasta was very average, a flavourless tomato sauce covering a huge amount of vegetables and some penne that fell apart as I stabbed it with my fork. Neither of these things are on the menu, and it's the first time I've really felt that urge to call in advance.

I was unimpressed with our waitress; when I asked, "does it have egg?" she said, "I'll check," took two steps away then two steps back and asked, "Do you have an allergy?" As if it matters, which it shouldn't. Seriously.

This is not a good restaurant for vegans, even though the chefs seemed quite delightful (my father in law went wandering into the kitchen with my camera, and they were happy to chat with him). I am hesitant to recommend any restaurant that has nothing on the menu that can even be modified for vegans, as delicious as the mushrooms were. The restaurant is very good for gluten-free, though, which was why we went there.

Sebastian's Italian Cafe
851 Albany Hwy
East Victoria Park