Maria Middlestead - Clinical Nutritionist, Auckland. Call (09) 418 5422

Vegan Mexican ‘Queso’ Sauce

For nachos, tacos, lasagne, pasta, legumes, veg, fish or chicken
Makes 1½ cups
(Vegan; no gluten, dairy, tomato, soy or other legumes)

The original Mexican queso sauce (KAY-zo: meaning cheese) and the American versions are basically cooked or raw vegetables (usually tomato, onion and chilli) mixed with melted cheese and served warm. Traditionally this is poured over nachos, used as a filling for tacos or warm tortillas, or used as a dip. Some US recipes use almost 1 kilo of cheese – mostly processed!

Creamy (Vegan) Mushroom Sauce for Pasta/Veg/Tofu/Fish or Chicken

Serves 3-4
(Vegan; no gluten, dairy, egg, nightshades*; with options for legumes*)

Such a rich taste and almost cheesy – yet with no dairy or other animal products, or flour as a thickener. The texture is achieved by warming your choice of Milk Option* and blending it with cashews and onion for a thick, surprisingly buttery result. This gets seasoned and added to colourful veg for a quick, easy meal. A pinch of turmeric (high in antioxidants) gives egg yolk colour with little hint of its heritage. If just serving with veg or pasta the protein content might be light for some so a range of options follow; the legume* ones keep it all vegan. You can also use this recipe to replace cream or cheese-based sauces such as in lasagne.

Vegan/Almost Vegan Chocolate Cake

(No gluten, dairy, egg, soy or cane sugar)

You can dispense with any recitation of this cake’s nutritional virtues and confidently serve it on the basis of great taste alone. Moist, dark with layers of flavours and it improves with age. It is complete without any accompaniment but for a glam occasion you could serve slices with some piped, sunny-hued Apricot Whip along one edge (as below; see also its use with Fluffy Hotcakes).

Raw Vegan Chocolate Brownies

16-20 small squares
(Vegan; no gluten, dairy, cane sugar, egg, soy, citrus)

You can safely serve this to any fan of rich morsels (ie most females). If preferred, avoid all discussion of its nutritional virtues: it can win on taste and texture alone. A version of this recipe came from the popular Aussie blog Not Quite Nigella, but behind that was a long trail of variations and attributions probably dating back to Eve. My version is below.

Italian Bean Dip

Makes 1¼ cups
(Vegan; no gluten, dairy, egg, soy or nightshades)

If you like to eat foods that bite you back with similar intensity: try this. It resembles a chunky hummus, Italian-style. Use it on bread, crackers or as a dip for raw vegetables and triangles of bread toasted with my dairy-free, herb and garlic version of Better Butter (see website RECIPES). Or add as a flavourful topping on baked or steamed vegetables, salad, poached fish or tofu. Any left-overs can be mixed with an egg and breadcrumbs and used to fill large mushroom caps. Fan Grill about 7 minutes for a vegetarian main. Serve with kumara wedges and salad.

Pumpkin Patties

(Vegan; no gluten, dairy or egg; with options for nightshades*)

Some vegetarian food is dull and earnest, chaotically combined, or endlessly chewy. Inexperienced cooks often just remove the meat and compensate with heaps of cheese. Little understanding is shown about contrasting and harmonising shapes, colours, textures and the five core tastes of sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (savoury). Dishes can be low in focus and subtlety – and Protein (see TIPS page) due to poor plant combinations.

Tropical Pudding

Serves 6
(Vegan; no gluten, flour, dairy, eggs, soy products; with option for cane sugar)

Too often desserts compete with rather than complement the meal they accompany. Large servings of heavy, fatty concluding courses made sense in an era gone-by when filling food could be scarce and energy expenditure was high. Being able to offer lots of rich food was also the designer-label-equivalent of its day: it displayed your wealth.

Sicilian-Style Pasta

Serves 3
(Vegan; no gluten, dairy or legumes)

Sicily is at the bottom of the Italian boot. Due to its hot, dry climate and relative poverty its dishes use little meat and focus on an abundance of sun-ripened tomatoes. Savoury dishes are flavoured with dried fruit, nuts and sometimes a touch of chilli pepper. Meals are bulked up with lots of pasta and seasonal vegetables. The sauces that may accompany them are thickened with some of the starchy water left from cooking pasta.

Glazed Almond Fruit Cake

(Vegan; no gluten, dairy, cane sugar, soy, eggs or citrus)

This is superbly moist, sweet and – for the disciplined – it keeps well. The cake is best made the day before eating to let the many layers of flavour frolic and mingle. However no satellite images will monitor your compliance. Remember that there is some advance preparation; the dried fruit needs to soak overnight for thorough infusion with the sweet juice.

Maria Middlestead - Clinical Nutritionist - Featured Recipes

Tex-Mex Beans

Salad, Dip, Spread, Filling, Pie or Casserole

Serves 4 as a main
(Vegan; no gluten, dairy, citrus or egg, with options for cane sugar and nightshades).

A culinary chameleon, ideas follow for serving this as a substantial salad or dip, a sandwich filling, or as one of several main dishes. About half the beans are chunkily processed at first to create a smooth carrier for the punch of the seasonings. The remaining beans and vegetables are stirred in for some visual and textural contrast. Easy and delicious.