pirnten printen
Glutenfree, Lactose-free, Recipes, Salads, Side dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian, Veggies
comment 1

Five vegan salad toppings that makes your heart sing!

Vegan_sallad_toppings

I was thinking about salads the other day, no that’s not true, I have been thinking about salads for days now. I have been trying to figure out what it REALLY is that makes a salad taste so good. I came up with 2 things. The toppings and the dressings is what makes a salad. And summer means salad so… Today I’m all into toppings. Next time it’s all about dressings. Please call me a nerd if you like. Today I give you five vegan salad toppings that makes your heart sing!

One of my favorite (and shared with many) salad is the Ceasar salad. Therefor I was using this salad as the “role model” and mother of al salads. What is it really that makes it so nice? There is something crunchy (croutons), something salty (bacon), something cheezy (parmesan), something with umami (anchovey) and a creamy dressing. Ok. So let’s see how we can make this in another way. Below you find my results.

Combine them or eat them apart. Mix them in salads, on your luxury bread or maybe in your soup. Enjoy them with al different kinds of veggies, sallads and green leafs. Think in textures and cut the greens in different shapes. And enjoy another lazy month in the sun.
Let’s get to work!

Five vegan salad toppings that makes your heart sing;

Chickpeas_with_baharat

Chickpeas with baharat

(instead of croutons)

Ingredients
400 gram boiled chickpeas
2-5 teaspoons baharat (spice blend from Lebanon)
A good pinch of sea-salt
The zest of an orange
2 tablespoons of deodorized coconut oil or olive oil

How do I do it?
1. Soak the boiled chickpeas and pour over in a bowl.
2. Pour baharat, salt and the zest of the orange on top of the chickpeas. Turn them carefully around and add then some oil to it.
3. Fry the chickpeas in a deep skillet in neutral oil like coconut or sunflower oil. Fry on a medium heat until they start to pop and get crunchy (takes about 10 minutes).
4. When ready, pour over the chickpeas to a piece of kitchen paper and let them get rid of the excess fat. Pour some extra salt on top and serve.

Facon_with_mai_taka

Facon with Hen of the woods or oyster mushrooms

(instead of bacon)

Ingredients
A large (farmed) Mai Taka/Hen of the woods (if you can’t get it, it works just as good with oyster mushrooms or similar “meaty” mushrooms)
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (or smoked salt if you can’t manage to find it)
1 tablespoon tamari
1/2 tbsp maple syrup alt agave
Garlic powder
Black freshly grained pepper
1.5 tablespoons melted, deodorized coconut oil
—————————
2 tablespoons deodorized coconut oil for frying

How do I do it?
1. Cut off the last end of the mushroom and discard. Break up the mushroom(s) into smaller pieces.
2. Mix all the ingredients to the marinade in a bowl. When finished, add the mushroom and carefully turn so that all mushrooms are covered with the marinade. Set aside for 10 minutes.
3. Strain the marinade and let the mushrooms dry up a bit.
4. Add some coconut oil to a large skillet. When the pan is really hot, add the mushrooms to it.
5. Stay cool and let the mushrooms cook in peace without moving so much. The mushrooms  should get almost like fried and crispy. Fry on the medium heat until the mushrooms are crisp on al sides.
6. When ready, pour over the chickpeas to a piece of kitchen paper and let them get rid of the excess fat. Pour some extra salt on top and serve. These mushrooms can be prepared a few hours in advance but shouldn’t be kept longer as they will ge soft and sticky.

Rawmesan

(instead of parmesan)

Ingredients
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast

How do I do it?
1. Add the pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet and fry until golden. Pour the seeds in a mortar or blender and let it cool down.
2. Add the nutritional yeast and grind / mix it until you get a rough parmesan look-alike
3. Pour everything into a glass jar.
Keep your Parmesan in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Sprinkle it over salads, vegetables, eggs, sandwiches…

OR make a feta instead…

Tofu-feta

Ingredients
250 grams of solid, natural tofu
150 grams of lemon juice
1 tablespoon white miso
1-2 tbsp olive oil
0,5 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 pinch of dried oregano

How do I do it?
1. Cut the tofu into small cubes.
2. Mix together the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Make sure everything is well mixed.
3. Add the tofu diced and fold them in the marinade gently.
4. Place in the fridge for 1-24 hours to marinate.
5. The longer you marinate the tofu, the more taste it will get. Just remember never to put any fingers or a dirty spoon in the jar! The tofu stays good for up till 5 days in the refrigerator.

Tofu_feta

Dry-roasted nuts and seeds

(instead of umami (anchovy)

By dry roasting nuts and seeds they develop the umami taste (read more about umami here).
Suitable nuts and seeds: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecan nuts, pistachios… You name it!

How do I do it?
1. Just add any seeds or nuts to a dry skillet and roast carefully until golden. When ready, pour them immediately over to a bowl to avoid continuing roasting.
2. Let them cool of. Eat them as they are, crush them roughly or chop the fine and sprinkle them.

More ideas!
Don’t forget al the other nice toppings that you can have ready in your refrigerator or kitchen cupboard whenever;
– Preserved lemons
– sun-dried Taggia olives or other really tasty olives
– Capers, the normal ones or the bigger berries
– Chopped dates, mulberries, gogiberries and/or raisins
– Berberis berries (gives a nice sour punch to it)
– Fresh fruit such as pomegranate, fresh figs, prunes, grapes
– Sprouts of different kinds

What are your best ideas to make a (vegan) salad complete?  Let me know in the comments!

These recipes are free from gluten, sugar and lactose.

1 Comment

  1. Pingback:4 yummy creamy salad dressings - Tastecelebration.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.