Tomato Slices!

These oven-baked tomatoes are so delicious! The flavour will be totally enhanced, they slightly caramelize, and there's a hint of garlic and olive oil. I made a sheet with three tomatoes. They taste great when still warm but they're also a nice snack when already cold. I kept some in the fridge and added them on my bread for breakfast.

3 tomatoes
3 cloves garlic 
olive oil
sea salt and black pepper

Cut the tomatoes in slices and spread on a sheet. Smash the garlic cloves (don't peel them) and place them between the tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with some olive oil. Bake in the middle of the oven for a few minutes until they get slightly brown at the edges. My gas oven was at mark 6 and it took about 10-15 minutes.
The garlic cloves were pretty burnt but the slices had this great subtle hint of garlic.

Treats.

cappuccino

oven baked food

vegan candybars named after good tv shows

not as pretty as here, but it was pretty yummy though

Twinings. I'm addicted.

Baked beetroots and tofu.

3-4 beetroots
200g tofu
garlic
rosemary
mint
sage
matcha
smoked salt
oil 


Peel the beetroots and cut into sticks. Don't be frightened about the beetroot and its colour. Yes, your fingers will get a little pink but hey, I've got news for you: it will wash off.
So just peel them like potatoes, cut into slices and then into sticks.
Put the sticks together with two to three smashed garlic cloves and twigs of rosemary, mint and sage in an oiled casserole. Cover up with a lid or tin foil and bake for 20 minutes in the oven until the beetroot is tender.
Meanwhile cut tofu into cubes and fry in a little olive oil on high heat until it gets golden to dark brown and very crispy. Sprinkle with smoked salt and a pinch of matcha. Stir well and fry for another minute.
The matcha will not only add a touch of mint green colour but a subtle hint of bitterness which fits pretty good the sweetness of the baked beetroots.

Baked eggplant with red potatoes.

1 eggplant
red potatoes (you can use regular potatoes, too. but these are so pretty.)
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
thyme
rosemary
1 tomato 
1 carrot
béchamel sauce (made from vegan butter, flour, soymilk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, squeeze of lemon juice and/or 1 teaspoon mustard)
salt, pepper, bay leave
oil

Cut eggplant in half and scoop out most of each half to make eggplant shells.
Cut onion and garlic finely into small cubes. Fry in 2-3 tablespoons oil together with fresh thyme and rosemary until the onions start to get translucent.  

Cut the scooped out parts of the eggplant and add to onions and garlic, stir well. Add a finely diced tomato. Fry for 3 or 4 minutes, the eggplant hasn't to be done, as it will bake for over 20 minutes.
Cut a carrot into thin stripes. 
Fill a casserole with 1-2 cm cold water. Place eggplant halfs into casserole and fill with the fried eggplant-onion-mix. Put carrot sticks and one or two bay leaves around the eggplants, season with salt and pepper.

Cover the eggplants with a thick batch of béchamel sauce. A part of it will drop into the water during baking time and melt together with the water to a delicious sauce. The rest will remain on top of the eggplants and will build a yummy, thick, golden, slightly crusty béchamel layer.

Cover the casserole with tin foil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. First 10 minutes on high heat, then reduce to medium heat. Also, after the first 10 minutes you can prepare your potatoes and cook them for about 20 minutes with a little salt.

After the casserole has been in the oven for 20 minutes, remove tin foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the béchamel looks golden, slightly brown and crusty.

Serve with a few potatoes (drizzle a little bit of the sauce over them).

 

The eggplant is so tender, it's unbelievable.

Cœur de bœuf.

A few weeks ago I found these pretty tomatoes and had to buy them. I know that there are thousands of tomato variations but it's rare to get some which is kind of sad. That's one reason why I'm so excited about my yellow tomatoes growing in a small pot on my window sill.

Unfortunately my two cœur de bœuf  weren't very tasty, more or less quite bland, but they are really great for stuffed tomatoes as they are not as soft as the average tomato which usually finds their way into our kitchens. And of course they're way bigger.
My filling was made of TVP, soaked in veggie broth, mixed with finely cut onions and spices like garam masala, cumin, salt, pepper and fennu greek.
As I had some maccheroni left overs I just baked these together with the stuffed tomatoes for about 25 minutes in the oven.

Caramelized beetroots and tofu.

 Inspired by a Post Punk Kitchen recipe for caramelized beets I made a similar thing with beets and tofu today:

- beets, peeled and cut into bite-sized cubes

- 200gr firm tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes

- 1 tomato, finely cut

- 1 red onion, finely cut

- 3 cloves garlic, smashed

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 3 tbsp crema di balsamico

- small piece of ginger, grated

- pinch of salt

In a big bowl mix olive oil, crema di balsamico, salt and a little warm water. Add the veggies, ginger and tofu and toss very well. Transfer to a lasagna dish and bake for about 45-60 minutes on medium heat in the oven until the beets are soft and the tofu golden. After 30 minutes check from time to time and stir the mixture to make sure everything is cooked evenly. It depends on your oven and your taste when the dish is definitely done.

The tomato adds more or less just a bit of fluid to the dish. You could use more tomatoes if you want a tomato flavour or omit them and add a little more water instead

tossing beets and tofu with the marinade

 I served it with hash browns (they were frozen, not self-made) and a salad made of cucumbers and baby leaves, tossed in a lot of soy yoghurt (spiced with salt, pepper, fenugreek and dill). 
The caramelized beets and tofu dices are totally addictive! And even if you think you don't like beet roots: give it a try. Baked veggies are SO MUCH BETTER than cooked ones and the beets tastes a bit different than the ususal cooked ones.

Braised Tomato Tofu w/ Lavender Potatoes.

400g tofu

1/2 chinese cabbage

1 small can tomatoes

2 carrots

red onion

garlic

1 teaspoon olive oil

vegetable broth

a bit orange juice

200g potatoes

1 teaspoon dried lavender

salt, pepper, rosemary, mint, light soy sauce

yoghurt (optional)

Cut the carrot and onion into dices, the cabbage into slices, smash tha garlic (as many cloves as you like, I used three) and put in a casserole with some water and the olive oil.

Cut tofu into slices and drape onto the veggies, sprinkle everything with soy sauce, rosemary, mint (I used fresh herbs) and a bit fresh ground pepper. 

Than pour the can peeled tomatoes over it and spread til everything is covered. Mix some vegetable broth with hot water (I used the empty tomato can, half filled with liquid) and add.

Bake everything in the open casserole for about 20min in the oven, gas mark 4. After 20min add a dash of orange juice and bake for another 15-20 min.

While the tofu braises in the flavoured tomatoes cook the potatoes with some salt and dried lavender. I used red potatoes and left the peel because it's less work and I like unpeeled potatoes a lot. Serve together and add some yoghurt or Tofutti sour surpreme to the potatoes, if you like.

Oven baked tofu deliciousness.

                       

These are pretty old pictures which I found today and obviously I forgot to put them here on the blog. Gosh.

I marinated tofu slices with a wonderful marinade made from

-shiro miso

-red curry paste

-light soy sauce

Mix everything to a creamy paste and brush tofu slices with it on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven til the marinade begins to bubble and turns more brown. Serve with any veggies or use for sandwiches. Highly recommended if you want something umami.

Cannelloni.

Recently I had cannelloni in a quite quick version. It took me about 15 minutes to prepare and about 30 minutes to bake it. 

The filling was made of

- TVP

- tomato purée

- red bell pepper pesto

- garlic

- salt, pepper

The tomato sauce was made of

- 1 small can tomatoes

- salt, pepper

The topping was a béchamel sauce

- margarine

- oil

- soya milk

- salt, pepper, vegetable broth

- mustard

- dash of lemon juice

I mixed the TVP with salt and pepper, soaked it in hot water and added the other ingredients. If you don't have a vegan red bell pepper pesto just add a little olive oil and maybe more tomato purée or diced fresh bell peppers. Let sit the mixture for 5 minutes til TVP is more or less soft.

Fill cannelloni with the filling, layer in a casserole dish and pour canned tomatoes over it. More salt and pepper and minced garlic.

Then I made a béchamel sauce for topping and baked it with tin foil for 20 minutes, then another 10 minutes without the tin foil.