I picked up a couple of heads of celery on yellow sticker this week. I wanted to make something main coursey with at least one of them. I had a little google and looked at Pinterest and came up with this vegan vegetable bake using celery, swede and chickpeas.
Celery is great if you are trying to lose weight as it has very few calories, although, sadly, it is a myth that it burns more calories to digest it than it contains. It contains abundant fibre, something most of us need more of.
In the U.K., swede can be called turnip or neeps, which can be confusing, as there is also a completely different vegetable also called turnip!
How did I make the vegan vegetable bake
There was a lot about cooking celery in water for a long time on Pinterest, so I decided to start there. A swede was in the fridge, so I decided to use that with the celery. It was heading towards being vegan, so I didn’t use any cheese in the topping, which I otherwise might have done
After cooking for half an hour to make the vegetables really soft, they were drained, then I added a big dollop of miso and some creamed coconut. Add a little of the cooking water if the mix doesn’t look nicely moist. Then I topped it with a giant spring onion and parsley from the garden and some breadcrumbs. Mixed in some olive oil and baked until crispy.
It was gorgeous!
Love Your Leftovers
I had a portion for dinner, then another for lunch the next day, and there was still a portion leftover. So that got whizzed up into soup for lunch the following day
Variations for a vegetable bake
- Change either or both of the vegetables for something else firm, or use one firm one and shredded savoy cabbage. Got lots of runner beans in the garden? Slice them up and add those, but I wouldn’t cook those for a long time
- Courgettes are surprisingly amenable to long slow cooking, but in a pan not a saucepan of water. They would work well here
- Change the chickpeas to big brown or green lentils, butter beans, rinsed baked beans (or keep the sauce if you want to use it here) or other white beans
- Change the miso to tomato puree. Add fish sauce, soy sauce, sweet chilli, worcester sauce or brown sauce. Not all at once! Keep tasting until you like it. Don’t forget salt and pepper if you’re experimenting
- Add a dollop of curry paste or curry powder
- Keep the bread as chunky lumps so they are crouton like.
- Change the parsley for sage, thyme or rosemary, or a mixture. Got no fresh herbs? No problem. But do remember that dried ones are twice as strong as fresh, so use half the amount.
- Add the zest of a lemon for a zingy addition
Got some swede left?
You might like this hummus made using swede. It has a slightly bitter edge which I quite like
Another Trio of Vegetable Hummus – Beetroot, Parsnip and Swede
Still not used all the celery?
Celery would work beautifully in this very different vegan vegetable bake
Ingredients
- 200 g swede 20p
- 100 g celery ⅓ a head, 20p
- 50 g creamed coconut 1 sachet, 25p, or use a tin of coconut milk
- 40 g miso paste 40p
- 100 g chickpeas ½ tin, drained, 17p
Topping
- 2 spring onions 10p
- 50 g bread 1 slice, 1p
- 10 g parsley 25p
- 2 tblsp olive oil 6p
Instructions
- Peel and chop the swede into chunks about 1"/2.5cm
- Chop the celery into 1"/2.5cm pieces. Wash thoroughly, it may have grit in the stalks
- Put the vegetables in a saucepan. Add a little water and cook gently for 35 minutes. Press here for a 35 minute timer
- Drain the vegetables and keep the stock
- Add the coconut and miso.
- Add the drained chickpeas.
- Stir very well so the vegetables are coated.
- Add a little of the reserved stock if the mixture isn't looking nicely moist, with a bit of gravy.
- Check the seasoning and add more if it needs it
Topping
- Roughly chop the parsley, stalks as well
- Roughly chop the bread into small cubes
- Roughly chop the spring onions
- Add the olive oil
- Now you need to get the topping mixture really fine. Mulch it all down with a stick blender, a liquidiser or food processor until it is breadcrumb like
- If you don't have any of those, keep chopping until everything is really fine
Assembly
- Tip the base mixture into an oven proof dish
- Spoon over the topping
- Bake at 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4, for 35 minutes until the topping is browned and nicely crispy. Click here to start a 35 minute timer
Leftovers
- Got any left? Whizz it up into soup for lunch the next day
Equipment Needed
Notes
Nutrition
Kate – good idea re nutritional yeast, I’ll try that next time!
I had a bunch of celery going limp in the fridge and some Italian parsley so only needed to pick up a rutabaga (American for swede) and raid the pantry to make this. I added 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast to the topping mixture for a little cheesy flavor. Excellent way to have a tasty meal and not waste anything.
The korma sounds nice
Loved this. Made this evening and added 2tbls of korma curry paste. We both really enjoyed it thank you
Oh what a shame you didn’t like it. The texture of the vegetable part should have been moist, with the topping crispy
I didn’t add any stock back into mine as it was moist enough with the coconut
Perhaps I need to say in the recipe to add stock back in if it needs it
I’m sure this is me messing it up – but was I supposed to add the stock back in to the veg mixture? Mine was quite dry