Vegetables can be very versatile. I’ve loved vegetables since childhood mainly in cooked form. But now I am coming to appreciate various ways of cooking and treating vegetables to enjoy their earthy flavors. Steamed, Raw , Blended , Roasted , Grilled , Pickled and cooked.. we can do so much with vegetables. Even though I have always eaten a variety of vegetables there is so much more I am learning about preparing them now.
Different regions across the world have different methods of cooking and consuming vegetables. I love watching cooking shows like Masterchef to learn these new ways of preparation with vegetables. That reminds me something I’ve been excited about since many past weeks, the recent season of Masterchef Australia had so much vegetarian food on it. Which is a big change on the show! I was very happy to see this, The entire world is becoming conscious about how we eat 🙂 . As a Vegan, it is always good to have few tricks up your sleeve on how to treat vegetables to make our meals more enjoyable , to add a variety in the dishes we can make and wow our not so vege friendly guests with them 🙂
This recipe is of roasted baby potatoes stuffed with creamy and herbed filling. It was so lip smacking that soon after this picture I binged on half of them. Well after all its potatoes , oil , salt and creamy stuff 😀 . Not really fitting for my current healthy diet but I do allow myself a few homemade delicacies occasionally 😛 . Certainly better than a packet of chips for snacks. And too yummy to resist even by those who dislike veges. Very easy to prepare too !
Serves : 3-4
Ingredients
250g Baby potatoes
1-2 garlic cloves minced
2-3 Tbs of Olive Oil
1/3 Cup cashews – Soaked
2 Tbs of Parsley chopped (choose any herb you like)
1 tsp Nutritional yeast (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Steps
1. Preheat your convection oven to 200C.
2. In a bowl whisk olive oil, minced garlic. Add potatoes to the bowl and evenly coat with the oil mix. Sprinkle salt and pepper generously.
3. Place on a baking dish spacing out the potatoes. Pour the left over oil on the potatoes. Bake in the middle rack of oven for 40-60 mins till they turn golden and are cooked through. Halfway through the bake time turn the potatoes with tongs.
4. While potatoes are being baked prepare the cream with cashews. Grind the soaked
cashews with pinch of salt, nutritional yeast and 1.5 tbs of herbs with little water to make a thick creamy paste. The herbs may still remain as specs in the paste.
(I use a small grinding jar which allows for such small quantities for grinding. Even if you end up making a larger batch you can save it in fridge and use on sandwiches , pastas etc)
5. Once baked, allow the potatoes to cool for few minutes.
6. Make 1/2 cms deep plus shape – ‘+’ marking on one side of the potatoes. Spoon over the creamy filling into this cavity without breaking the soft potatoes.
7. While serving add more cream from top and sprinkle left over herbs. These are best served warm 🙂
My next batch I am going to be nice and share with my non vegan friends and will get back with their reviews 🙂
Note : One could try different flavors like chilli flakes instead of pepper, lemon zest in the cream filling.
THE VEGAN BIRDIE 