Miso Wasabi Pasta Salad. And dinosaurs.

dressing:
- oil
- soy sauce
- miso
- vinegar
- agave syrup
- miso

salad:
- 250g noodles 
- 200g tofu
- one zucchini
- fresh coriander
- smoked salt
- olive oil

Cook the noodles and prepare everything else while they're cooking. I had dinosaur-shaped pasta which is highly recommended. If you poor thing can't find anyone, use regular pasta of your preferred shape. I even think this salad would be wonderful with glass noodles but I haven't seen any cute shaped glass noodles ever, so where's the fun in that?

Whisk some oil (rather neutral in taste, like safflower oil) with the rest of the ingredients for the dressing. I had a tiny amount of wasabi, just enough that there is this hint of its fresh spiciness. Adjust to your taste.
The miso works really well with the wasabi and the syrup completes all this hearty and tangy flavours to a umami deliciousness.

Cut your tofu into very small cubes, the zucchini cubes can be a bit bigger. I had a yellow zucchini but the taste isn't very different to the green ones.
Heat a little olive oil and fry the tofu until it gets slightly brown and crispy. Add some smoked salt and then the zucchini. If everything is almost done, deglaze with soy sauce, then turn off the heat.

If the pasta is done, drain and toss with dressing. Then add tofu, zucchini and coriander, mix well.

I put the warm salad into jars as we were heading for a picnic and it was perfect as it could sit for 2 hours or so before we ate it.

Sweet Curry Hoummous.

Recently one of my favourite flavour combinations is curry with a sweetener like sugar or syrup. The sweetness enhances the diverse curry flavours.

Today I made a hoummous variation with this:

- 1 big can chickpeas

- juice of 1 lemon

- 2 tblsp olive oil

- 1 tsp paprika

- 1 tsp cumin

- 2 tsp currypowder

- 1 tblsp agave syrup

- dash of salt

- pepper

- fresh koriander

Mix chickpeas with spices, lemon juice and olive oil in a big bowl and puree with a hand blender and add some water bit by bit if necessary. When the hoummus is a smooth paste add the agave syrup and mix once again for a few seconds.

Stir in some fresh koriander leaves (and/or parsley) with a fork and serve. Fill leftovers in a airtight container or glass and it will keep for a few days if you really can resist this pretty tasty hoummous for so long (which I don't believe actually, but just for your information).

Curry colour and total cat sweetness.

Coriander-Mint-Tofu with Beluga Lentils and Carrot-Hazelnut Salad

100g black beluga lentils

2 big carrots

200g tofu

2 limes

1 tblsp agave syrup

1 tblsp apple cider vinegar

light soy sauce

1-2 tblsp chopped toasted hazelnuts

fresh mint and koriander

Cook the lentils on medium heat for about 20 minutes, add a decent pinch of salt.

Cut tofu in small triangles or any bite-sized shape you prefer and marinate in juice of two limes, soy sauce and some fresh koriander and mint.

10 minutes before lentils are done, grate the carrots, add hazelnuts, agave syrup and some soy sauce. Toss well and set aside. 

Heat 1 tblsp oil in a pan, drain the tofu (keep the marinade for lentils) and fry on medium heat. 

When lentils are done, drain them and rinse with cold water. Mix with the marinade from tofu and the apple cider vinegar. Serve all things together and garnish with some fresh mint. Great combination of flavours! And I bet it's healthy as fuck.

Cinnamon Swirls

Another quick and easy one. Just made of ready vegan puff pastry, agave syrup and a lot of cinnamon. Roll out the pastry into a rectangle. Drizzle the cinnamon on it and some agave sirup - or any other syrup, of course. I think sugar will work as well, maybe it'll get more crunchy then. Then fold in the short sidea little bit and form a roll along the longer side. Cut slices and put them onto a baking sheet. I baked them for about 15 minutes, gas mark 3-4. Next time I should do some more and freeze them, just to have some on hand.
I also did another version with cherry jam and little cinnamon, awesome as well!