Vegan Kids Recipe VEG NOODLE LAKSA
A laksa is a light curried soup made with a base of spices and creamy coconut milk that’s packed with vegetables as well as soft noodles. It is fragrant and aromatic rather than hot and fiery, so even if you don’t normally like curry you should give it a try.
INGREDIENTS Serves 4-6 For the laksa sauce
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped 2 garlic cloves, peeled
5cm/2in piece of fresh root ginger, peeled 2 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp garam masala
2 × 400ml/14fl oz cans of coconut milk 200ml/7fl oz/1 cup hot vegetable stock salt and ground black pepper, to taste
For the vegetables
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed 2 courgettes/zucchini, chopped 2 carrots, peeled and sliced 250g/9oz green beans 10 cherry tomatoes 225g/8oz spinach leaves 300g/11oz ready-cooked rice noodles a handful of beansprouts
a handful of fresh coriander/cilantro leaves
1. First make the sauce paste. Put the onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, coriander, cumin, garam masala, salt and pepper in a food processor and whizz to a paste. Add a little of the coconut milk and whizz again.
2. Pour the mixture into a large pan or wok, then pour in the remaining coconut milk and the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, taste and season some more if needed.
3. Add the sweet potato, courgettes, carrots and green beans to the pan and cook gently for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
4. Add the tomatoes, spinach and noodles and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, until everything is combined and piping hot. The tomatoes should squash down and the spinach will wilt.
5. Ladle into bowls, and serve topped with beansprouts and fresh coriander, along with halved slices of cucumber if liked, and wedges of lime to squeeze over.
This recipe appears in Vegan Kids by Heather Whinney, out now via Lorenz Books (£15).
Photo: William Shaw
Spend An Evening With Nigella Lawson
With ‘wellbeing’ on the tip of everyone’s tongue, there are few chefs around who really make us feel like it’s okay to indulge; to add that extra dollop of cream or sprinkle just a bit more cheese onto an already calorie coated dish. Nigella Lawson is one such chef - set to grace Cardiff’s New Theatre this month for a one-wom- an, culinary chin wag on the back of her book, Cook, Eat, Repeat, the latest in a string of 12 bestsellers. “Food, for me, is a constant pleasure,” Lawson says of the cookbook that inspired the event. “I like to think greedily about it, reflect deeply on it, learn from it; it provides comfort, inspiration, meaning and beauty…” After roughly two decades in the public eye, she’s still the poster woman of ‘oh, go on then’ when it comes to the way we eat.
Not that the TV chef is averse to what’s in vogue these days. After trying to be a vegan (a diet that has exploded in popularity), Lawson caved after just two weeks, citing a “sudden” craving for eggs. “As far as I’m concerned I want to eat proper food [...] We have the teeth for meat and so it’s natural for us to want to eat it,” she told The Sunday Times. “I know it’s an argument that a lot of vegans disagree with… I respect that position but I feel that I’m not ready.”
It’s certainly hard to imagine someone so closely associated with rich and ‘naugh- ty’ delicacies like meat and dairy making a permanent plant-based switch. Law- son is absolutely aware of her status as someone who brings a warm sensuality to cooking, and perhaps a little critical of it: “Everybody likes to think cooks are nurturing,” she said to The Guardian last year, “but maybe we’re just controlling – controlling what people eat.”
Nurturer or controller, Lawson is bringing her years of wisdom on tour with her on the back of both the Cook, Eat, Repeat book and TV series. Expect insights into her recipe inspiration and sermons on the joy of “brown food.”
New Theatre, Cardiff, Fri Nov 26. Tickets: £25-176. Info:
newtheatrecardiff.co.uk
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