Just had lunch and made something different. I’ve got some lovely nut butters in the fridge that I got from SousChef.co.uk. I love that site, it’s got masses of lovely cheffy things! I got big 1kg tubs of almond, pistachio and hazelnut. It’s cheaper to buy them in big tubs. I use the pistachio to make ice cream for my husband whose two favourite flavours are chocolate and pistachio
The hazelnut one arrived with a cracked bottom, leaking oil all over the parcel. Sous Chef customer services were excellent, offering a solution immediatey, no questions asked. They said I could either have a refund or they’d send a new one. As about three quarters of the 1kg tub had survived, I opted for the refund and stuck Gorilla tape on the bottom. Free nut butter, I like that price!
I used some hazelnut today in a sauce that is vegan, to use like macaroni cheese and vegetable bake. I didn’t start off intending to make it vegan, but I had some soya milk that needed using, so I thought I’d go in that direction and see if it came out worth repeating. Well, it certainly did. A rich and interesting sauce that would go with pasta to make a pasta bake, or, as we tend to do, half pasta and half vegetables. Or over a jacket potato, or anywhere else you would use a white sauce.
After a rummage in the fridge, I came up with a collection of vegetables and cooked them off in a saucepan.
While that was happening, I made a roux with coconut oil and some soy milk that had been in the larder for ages. Then added a big blob of nut butter and whisked it all up. Once the veg was done, I mixed the two together, tipped it all into an ovenproof dish and set to one side until lunch time.
This made 4 side dishes, but would work just as well as a main for 2. Fab with a crisp green salad dressed with a sharp and mustardy vinaigrette
Change the ingredients
Use any nut butter, peanut butter being the one most easily obtained, and most inexpensive
Use any combination of suitable vegetables that you have. I wouldn’t add salad veg or tomatoes, but other than that, anything goes. Rummage through that fridge gravel!
You need the acidity from the mustard and lemon juice, use a splash of vinegar if you don’t have any lemon
Use any fat in place of the coconut oil. To keep it vegan, a vegetable oil or spread, or if not vegan, butter or fat saved from the joint
Use any plant milk to keep it vegan, or ordinary milk if not
Ingredients
Sauce
- 100 g nut butter
- 1 tblsp coconut oil
- 200 ml soy milk
- 40 g flour use gf flour if required
- 1 tblsp grainy mustard
- 1.5 tblsp lemon juice
Vegetables
- 150 g white cabbage
- 150 g onion
- 150 g carrot
- 100 g red pepper
- 200 g mushrooms
Instructions
Vegetables
- Prepare your vegetables. Peel and dice everything into bite sized pieces
- Cook in a tiny bit of water until cooked through, about 4 minutes
- While that is happening, start the sauce
Make the Sauce
- Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan
- Add the flour and stir until combined
- Cook for a couple of minutes
- Add about a third of the soy milk and using a small whisk, whisk the mixture until it thickens
- Repeat until all the milk has been used, whisking well. This avoids lumps and prevents sticking
Assembly
- Once the sauce and vegetables are cooked, drain the vegetables, keeping the stock for soup.
- Tip both the vegetables and the sauce into an ovenproof dish and mix the sauce through the vegetables
- When you are ready to eat, heat the bake through in the oven for about 20 minutes
- Click here to start a 20 minute timer
Notes
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Nutrition
This recipe looks great and really easy.I would certainly love to try the recipe.