Saturday after a visit with Kate (Sophie’s mum) at St. Davids, I went for another shopping adventure in the Broadway (local shopping district just over a mile from the flat). Tesco’s, a larger grocery store, makes the Free-From cheeses so I went to see what other interesting vegan products they might have. I was looking for something different to go with spinach stuffed portabella mushroom and mashed parsnips and potatoes I was planning for dinner. I located several interesting thing items…Gosh! Naturally Free-From Sweetcorn & Quinoa Bites and Cauldron Falafels in the refrigerator section as well as Vegetable Quarter Pounders (Tesco) in the freezer section.
We decided to try the Gosh! Sweetcorn & Quinoa Bites. They cooked quickly in the oven (as recommended on the package) and were quite light in texture and tasty. I am not a huge quinoa fan (has to do with the texture), but no quinoa texture left in these little bites. The big hit from our dinner, though was the portabellas. Recipe below.
Creamy Spinach Stuffed Portabellas
Serves 2
1 smallish red onion, finely chopped
1 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of olive oil (or 1 tablespoon of water)
½ bag (about 4 cups) baby spinach
½teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons dairy free cream cheese
1 tablespoon vegan pesto
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
2 portabella mushrooms, stems removed
2 teaspoons, free-from grated hard Italian style cheese or ground cracker crumbs
Sauté onions and garlic in a medium sauce pan with a teaspoon of olive oil or a tablespoon of water for 3 to 4 minutes until they begin to soften. Add baby spinach and soy sauce to hot pan and cook, stirring, until the spinach has wilted. Stir in the vegan cream cheese and pesto until thoroughly mixed. Add black pepper to taste and salt if needed.
Place mushrooms bottom side up in a small baking pan. Divide the spinach mixture evenly into the two mushroom caps. Top with grated vegan parmesan style cheese or cracker crumbs. Bake at 180 degree C for 15 to 20 minutes until top is slightly browned and the mushroom is cooked through.
Great served with mashed parsnips and potatoes!
On Monday, I had the leftover “bites” on top of a spinach, cabbage, carrot and cucumber salad for lunch. The dressing was inspired.
Creamy Sweet and Spicy Dressing
Enough for 1 large salad or two small ones
1/2 cup Plain Alpro soya yogurt
1 heaping tablespoon of mango chutney
1 squeeze of lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
Stir ingredients together and serve over a crunchy and savory salad such as the one picture above.
An American Vegan in London 