SmarterFitter Daily

This was an awesome way to have Besan Cheela (chickpea flour pancakes). Almost like an Indian breakfast taco. Plus everything except the eggs were leftovers so super easy.

On the side: Sambharo, a really badass Gujarati cabbage salad that is totally my favourite thing right now.

This meal was so thoroughly satisfying on many many levels, and surprisingly quick to prepare - less than 30 minutes! 

Here's how it came together:

• The tofu: I followed the Basic Broiled Tofu recipe from Veganomicon.
• The mushroom: broiled (i.e. grilled) with the tofu.
• The swede: I used Mark Bittman's Braised and Glazed Turnips recipe, with an added pinch of fennel and caraway to the braising liquid (I used water). This "braised and glazed" is sort of a revelation - it's the first cooking technique I've found that makes me actually want to eat swede.
• The sprout tops: when the swede was done, I removed them from the pan and added the sprout tops with a bit of water. This did two things: it steamed the sprout tops, and it allowed me to scrape all the yummy bits off the pan from the glazed swede.
• The chutney: Aunt Sue's Cranberry Chutney, leftovers from Thanksgiving - gotta love it.

Savoury breakfast. But where are the idliis?

Just about done with the leftovers from Saturday's Indian Feast.

Leftovers from Saturday's Indian Feast.

I am slowly honing in on the ultimate marinade for a portobello mushroom burger. Here I used 

• 1/2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
• 1/2 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp balsamic
• 1 clove garlic 
• lots of black pepper

This was a very tasty marinade, but the amount was too much for the size of my mushroom. I poured most of it on the gill-side and let it really soak in, and as a result, I could taste a lot of marinade, but not a lot of mushroom. 

This is a balancing act.

I also treated myself to mozarella cheese and homemade mayo. This is Friday night, after all! 

On the side: sauteed leeks and savoy cabbage with caraway seeds. One of my favourite things, which also happens to make a nice burger topping.

Had some baked apples, blackberries and yogurt for dessert.

I'm trying to work out the optimal ordering of condiments on a burger. Here I took a clue from "Meathead Goldwyn" in his Huffington Post article The Zen of Burger Condiments. My only deviation was in the tomato, which I put as a "bottoming" rather than a topping. 

The ordering was: bun, mayo, tomato chutney, pickles, tomato, portobellow mushroom, cheddar cheese, grilled onion, lettuce, bun.

I served this with a raw kale salad and some grilled leeks (not visible in the photo, alas).

In retrospect, this would have been better with the inclusion of mustard and raw onion rather than grilled (I can't believe I'm saying that, but the grilled onion didn't stand up!). I would like to play with the ordering of the pickle and tomato... I think tomato on cheese could be quite nice. I also need to play with my mushroom marinade. I've been going with the basic balsamic, oil, garlic and herb marinade in this recipe, but think some mustard or worcestershire sauce could help, plus a bit more generousity with the salt and pepper.

One last thing, my mayo wasn't really mayo, but a tofu-based "vegannaise" recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian book. It's actually very good, though a bit runny, which I blame on the particular silken tofu I used. Next time I will probably make my own mayo, probably one of the best things on earth. Aioli might also be nice.

I lied, this is actually the last thing: the tomato chutney is the bomb. It's a green and red tomato chutney that I made myself from tomatoes in the garden (go me). The recipe is a winner, and I will selflessly not keep it to myself: Tomato and Sultana Chutney.