I was thinking about what to do with broccoli recently. A lot of people like it, of course, and it's also crushingly good for you, so why not come up with some interesting ways to use it? In particular I was looking for something that could be a savoury breakfast item.
These muffins are pretty quick to make and are also good as a snack, a lunchbox item or perhaps on a party platter. I hope you'll give this recipe a try! Any feedback welcome.
Muffins don't keep well in my opinion so make them close to when you will use them...best fresh out of the oven and still warm!



Ingredients

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 Tbs powdered vegetable stock
• 3/4 cup plain non-dairy milk (soy, almond, rice, hemp)
  
• 1/4 cup olive oil
  
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 3/4 cups finely chopped broccoli
• 1/4 cup chopped spring onions

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a mini-muffin pan with at least 16 slots.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, salt and powdered stock.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, oil and mustard until well blended. Stir in broccoli and green onions.
4. Add the broccoli mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. If it's a little stiff you can add a touch more water or non-dairy milk.
5. Divide batter equally into the prepared muffin tray slots. This recipe should make 16 mini-muffins.
6. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer to the rack. Serve warm with some kind of salsa or sauce: barbecue sauce, pico de gallo, vegan tzatziki, etc.

A delicious and versatile appetiser using strips of zucchini as wraps. These snacks are surprisingly easy to make and go well at any time of year; although 'summery', they were a huge hit at the Wellness Expo at Glenorchy recently. And a quick hi to all my friends at West Moonah Community House who did a great job organising the event.

Ingredients
1 zucchini
about 1 cup of your favourite dip, relish or spread
various cut fresh vegetables, sprouts, etc.



Method

1. If you are planning ahead and can shop specifically for this recipe, choose large, cylindrical zucchini that are reasonably straight. Skin blemishes are unimportant. Wash the zucchini and pat dry.

2. Using a mandoline slicer, make thin slices along the length of the zucchini. The first few will be too thin and unuseable; either compost them or use them for a soup or casserole. You should get about 12 viable slices.

3. Lay the zucchini slices flat on a bench. Sprinkle a pinch of salt along each strip and leave for 10 or 20 minutes. You can leave even longer if you want but 10 minutes is the minimum.

4. The zucchini will be softened by the salt. At this stage you can wash the salty water off or just pat the slices dry with a tea towel.

5. For the filling, you should ideally have some kind of reasonably firm dip and some fresh cut raw vegetables like capsicum, cabbage, salad onion, sprouts, carrot or pumpkin sticks, celery, etc. Brush a teaspoon or two of the dip along the first two-thirds of the zucchini slice. Next, lay the vegetables crosswise. Roll up the zucchini strip, folding it over the vegetables. You can press as you roll so the bundle is tight.

6. Lay each zucchini roll seam side down on a serving plate or on a patty pan. Garnish if desired and serve.
Favourite dips for this recipe include hummus (made from chick peas), ajvar (capsicum and eggplant) and guacamole (avocado). You can make these yourself - yay! - or look for them in the supermarket. You'll find ajvar along with other European delicacies like waffles, pickled cabbage and so on.

You can use white daikon or Japanese radish instead of zucchini for the strips. You will need to leave it a bit longer for the thin slices to soften. The favour is also a little stronger than the mild zucchini.

If you don't have a mandoline slicer I would highly recommend one. They come with various attachments that enable you to do various thicknesses and also make julienne strips. Mandolines - and the very similar V-slicers - are available at homewares stores like Your Habitat, Harris Scarfe and even Shiploads around Hobart.

Actually, the concept is very simple. Take some sweet potato, cut it into a pretty shape and dress it up with a topping or two to make it look schmancy. And there you have it, a very attractive and reasonably healthy canape that can be prepared well in advance.
And once you get the hang of it, you'll see this has plenty of potential. Beetroot stars? Why not. Other shapes? Grab your favourite cutter and populate the hors d'œuvre tray with ducks, hexagons, snowmen, etc. to your heart's content.

Ingredients
sweet potato - an average sweet potato might give you about 10 cut shapes, plus a lot of leftover bits :-) Save them of course; why not make a delicious sweet potato mash?
toppings - in the photo I have used a macadamia creme and a pinch of mixed fresh sprouts. I grow them at home and like to put a few things in the mix such as rocket and cabbage that bring quite a burst of flavour.
The macadamia creme worked very well because it's a little sticky and hence doesn't easily slide off the sweet potato base, and also grips the little floral tripon top.

Method

1. Carefully select your sweet potatoes as that's the key to getting this right. Best thing to do is take the cutter you are going to use down to the market and use it as a size guide. Ideally you want nice cyclindrical sweet potatoes, without too many knobbly bits, that are wide enough around the barrel for your cutting shape.
2. Wash off any surface dirt and cut the sweet potatoes into thirds, across the width. Steam the pieces for about 8 minutes or until al dente. You need to get this right. Too soft and your eventual shapes will be mushy and unusable. Too hard and your shapes will be unpalatable. So the first time you do this I'd suggest you steam them 8 minutes then use a skewer to probe for texture. Once you have them adequately cooked, allow to cool.
3. Cut the cooked sweet potatoes into rounds that are 1cm thick. If you have cooked the sweet potatoes properly this should be fairly straightforward. There's no need to bother slicing any sections of sweet potato that are won't be wide enough for cutting into shapes.
4. Lay the rounds flat and use thecutter to cut out your desired shape(s). I like to position the cutter first and then give it a firm downward shove with the heel of my hand. Again, this is where you'll find out if the sweet potato is well cooked.
5. Dress the sweet potato shapes with your preferred toppings.And serve :-)
   

by Gita Sharma & Alan Whykes
Pakoras are a tasty snack for any time of day or as an accompaniment to a meal. We had a free demonstration of this recipe and tasters to give away at Taste of the World at Moonah, Hobart, on 30 March 2014. Many thanks to Gita for doing a great job: seemed like the audience very much appreciated the 60 or so pakoras we served up.



Ingredients
2 medium potatoes
1 cup besan flour
130ml water
1 tsp salt
1 pinch baking powder
½ tsp curry or chilli powder (optional)
500ml oil (for frying)




Method

1. Mix the besan flour, salt, baking powder, curry powder and water in a bowl. Stir steadily until you have a thick batter.
2. Slice the potatoes thinly. You can peel the potatoes if that's your preference.
3. Heat the oil in a deep saucepan or wok until it's hot but not smoking. Dip each slice of potato in the batter and carefully slide it into the oil. Cook several pakoras at a time for 3 or 4 minutes until golden brown. Lift from oil and drain on a paper towel. Allow to cool for a few minutes as the vegetable piece will continue to cook inside the pakora.
4. Serve as is or with spicy chutney, hot dipping sauce or slices of cucumber. At Taste of the World we served some of our pakoras with a chutney made from mint leaves, dessicated coconut, ginger, onion, chilli, cashew nuts, almonds, vinegar and salt. Grind it in all into a paste and adjust seasonings to your taste.

Tips

• Other vegetables can used for making pakoras: pieces of steamed cauliflower, slices of onion, whole mushrooms, etc.
• Besan is a tasty flour made from chick peas. You can find it in Asian grocery shops and health food stores. Besan is gluten-free.
  
• Eat fried foods in moderation. Pakoras can be part of a nutritionally-balanced meal that includes for example steamed rice, mixed vegetable curry and lentil daal.

Interestingly, there's an enormous variety of wonderful vegan snacks and dishes from around the globe. I like to explore these cuisines, especially those of places where I have lived such as Indonesia, Italy, Germany and Russia. Specialty ethnic cuisine classes are usually titled Ethnovegan on my workshops page.

A lovely summery canape that is fresh and easy enough to make. As is commonly the case with raw recipes, you'll need to plan ahead a little. Sprouting the quinoa adds some nutritional punch so it's very worthwhile doing.

Ingredients
4 medium tomatoes
2 cups sprouted quinoa
2/3 cup pesto


Method

1. First you'll need to sprout your quinoa. Soak a cup of organic quinoa - try some lovely Tasmanian quinoa from Kindred Organics - for a few hours, rinse very thoroughly and then let it sit overnight to sprout.
2. Cut the tomatoes in half and carefully scoop out the flesh. Keep it, you can use it for something else :-). Rub some salt on the inside of the tomatoes and put them upside down on a paper towel.
3. While the tomatoes are softening you can make some pesto. Traditionally basil leaves are the main ingredient but I also like to add in various edible leaves from my garden: spinach, sorrel, radish, broccoli, kale, etc. Blend some generous handfuls of leaves with a little cold-pressed olive oil, lemon juice, a few nuts (pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, etc. are all fine), garlic and nutritional yeast until you have a uniform paste. Season to taste.
4. Next, fold the sprouted quinoa into the pesto until it's well-mixed. Use a spoon to ladle the mixture into the tomato shells and garnish with a basil leaf if desired. Serve cold or at room temperature. Makes 8 tomato portions..