C’est La Vegan!

Eat More Vegan by Annie Rigg, published by Pavilion Books

Potato & lentil cakes with coleslaw

Prep time: 30 minutes | Cooking: 60 minutes | Serves: Four

Ingredients:

• 500g floury potatoes (about four, medium sized)
• 100g green lentils, rinsed
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 leek, trimmed & sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 4 tbsp plant-based milk
• 100g panko breadcrumbs
• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• Salt and freshly ground
• Black pepper

Coleslaw

• 1 large carrot, coarsely grated
• ¼ white or red cabbage, finely shredded
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted
• 2 tsp poppy seeds
• 50g pecan nuts, toasted and roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise, crème fraîche or yogurt
• Juice of half a lemon

Both the potato cakes and coleslaw can be prepared in advance, chilled and then the cakes coated and fried just before serving. Serve with chilli sauce and salad leaves or baby leaf spinach.

Cook the unpeeled potatoes in boiling salted water until just tender when tested with a knife. Drain and leave to cool slightly. In another pan, cook the lentils for about 20 minutes until tender, drain and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, tip the onion and leek into a frying pan with the olive oil and cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes until tender and starting to brown. Add the garlic, caraway seeds and paprika and cook for another minute. Tip into a large bowl with the lentils and parsley. Coarsely grate the potatoes into the bowl, season well and, using clean hands, mix. Shape into eight patties, cover and chill for 20 minutes. They can be prepared in advance up to this point.

Combine carrot, cabbage, spring onions and chilli in a bowl and add the herbs, seeds and nuts. Half an hour before serving, add the mayo and lemon juice, season and mix.

When you are ready to cook, tip the flour onto a plate, pour the milk into a shallow bowl and spread the breadcrumbs on a tray. Dip the cakes first in flour, then milk and finally breadcrumbs. Heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the cakes, in batches, until crisp and golden brown on both sides and hot all the way through. Remove and keep warm while you cook the remaining potato cakes. Serve with the coleslaw and a drizzle of red or green sriracha sauce, if liked.

Mushroom broth with buckwheat soba

Prep: 5 minutes | Cooking: 60 minutes | Serves: Four

Ingredients:

Broth

• 150g oyster mushrooms, roughly torn in half
• 130g shiitake mushrooms, roughly torn in half
• 2 tsp sunflower oil
• 10g dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 spring onions, trimmed and halved
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
• 2 star anise
• ½ tsp coriander seeds

Soba

• 200g buckwheat soba noodles
• 6 shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
• 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari, to taste
• 1 tsp mirin or rice vinegar, to taste
• 3 baby pak choi, halved or quartered
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

• 2 spring onions, trimmed and finely shredded
• Shichimi togarashi or toasted sesame seeds

This light broth has plenty of satisfying umami notes. Mushrooms are roasted then simmered with aromatics to create a rich stock. Prepare this broth ahead to allow for the flavours to shine through.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas mark 4.

First make the broth. Toss the torn oyster and shiitake mushrooms in the sunflower oil and season. Tip on to a large baking tray in a single layer and roast for about 30 minutes, turning halfway through until browned and starting to crisp at the edges.

Scoop the mushrooms into a large saucepan and add the rest of the broth ingredients. Add 750ml water and bring slowly to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes to extract all the flavour from the mushrooms and aromatics. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature or chill until ready to serve.

Cook the buckwheat noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain and divide between four bowls. While the noodles are cooking, strain the cooled broth through a sieve into a clean pan, pressing down on the mushrooms to extract as much flavour as possible. Bring the stock to a simmer, add the sliced shiitake mushrooms and cook for two or three minutes until tender. Taste the broth and add soy sauce and mirin to taste. Add the pak choi to the broth, and cook for a further minute until tender.

Ladle the broth over the buckwheat noodles, dividing the mushrooms and pak choi evenly between the bowls, and scatter with spring onions and shichimi togarashi or sesame seeds to serve.

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