EVERY DAY DELICIOUS
Emma Galloway gets nourishing and simple-to-make dinners on the table in no time, with these recipes from her book My Darling Lemon Thyme: Every Day.
This extract from Emma Galloway’s My Darling Lemon Thyme: Every Day has goto vege recipes that make everyday dinners a breeze
PREVIEW
WHILE NO TWO DAYS are ever the same, and I’m sure yours are different from mine, I think we can all agree that the foods we crave every day are those that are nourishing, beautiful, simple to make and absolutely delicious to eat. As a chef turned food writer and recipe developer, my life revolves around food – growing, cooking and eating food is ALWAYS on my mind, from dawn till dusk. I adore cooking but, like most people, I don’t have tons of spare time, so my everyday food is quick and easy, using readily available ingredients and simple techniques.
As a lifelong vegetarian, the recent shift towards eating less meat excites me and, while I’ve never been one to believe everyone should be vegetarian or vegan, I do think it’s awesome that more people are looking for nourishing ways to fuel their bodies, using less (or no) meat and embracing real-food cooking, instead of simply relying on the heavily processed ‘meat alternatives’ that line the supermarket shelves nowadays.
I want you to feel confident in the kitchen and know that, by cooking at home, with simple real-food ingredients, you’re making one of the most powerful decisions we can make as humans: the decision of what goes into our bodies. I hope this book provides a little spark that sets you on the path to discover the joys of cooking nourishing, simple and tasty meals at home, every day.
SHIITAKE RICE BOWLS WITH QUICK PICKLED CUCUMBER & SOY-GINGER DRESSING SERVES 4
Inspired by the simple and clean flavours of Japan, this rice bowl is a joy to eat and comes together in the time it takes to cook rice. I’ve been making this pickled cucumber recipe since my early days as a chef. I adore the flavour hit and texture it brings to dishes such as this, as well as salads. I love to add a few shiitake mushrooms to the mix for the added flavour and nutrients; however, you can use any of your favourite mushrooms.
QUICK CUCUMBER PICKLE
160ml (⅔ cup) brown or white rice/apple cider vinegar
60ml (¼ cup) brown rice syrup or 50g (¼ cup) golden caster sugar
1½ teaspoons fine salt
½ telegraph (continental) cucumber, sliced into thin strips
SOY-GINGER DRESSING
60ml (¼ cup) gluten-free soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons brown/white rice vinegar or lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated ginger freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive/coconut oil
200g button or flat (field) mushrooms, trimmed, finely sliced
100g shiitake mushrooms, hard stems trimmed and composted, tops finely sliced
1 tablespoon lightly toasted sesame seeds cooked rice (brown or white), to serve finely shredded cabbage, finely sliced radish, diced avocado (if available), sliced spring onions, coriander leaves, pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional) and seaweed flakes (optional), to serve
Combine vinegar, rice syrup or sugar, and salt in a small saucepan with 160ml (⅔ cup) water. Bring to the boil, stirring often to dissolve the syrup or sugar. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes before setting aside to cool. Meanwhile put the cucumber into a bowl. When the pickling liquid has cooled enough to comfortably put your finger in it, pour it over the cucumber, mix well and set aside. If you have more time, allow the pickling liquid to cool completely before adding the cucumber, which will create crunchier pickles.
To make the soy–ginger dressing, combine everything in a small bowl and stir to combine.
Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat, then add oil and mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until tender and golden. Remove from the heat and stir through lightly toasted sesame seeds.
To serve, divide cooked rice and mushrooms between 4 bowls. Add a little (drained) pickled cucumber to each bowl, along with some shredded cabbage, finely sliced radish, diced avocado, sliced spring onions, coriander, a pinch of dried chilli flakes and seaweed flakes, if using. Drizzle a little soy–ginger dressing over the mushrooms and around the plate, if you so desire, and serve immediately.
NOTE: Once you have eaten all the pickled cucumber, you can finely slice more cucumber (daikon/radish and carrot are nice, too) and add this to the leftover pickling liquid. This will store happily in the fridge for a couple of days. It’s good served with just about everything, but especially salads and noodle dishes.
KIMCHI NOODLE SOUP SERVES 3–4
Like many westerners, my love of Korean food began with kimchi. As a lifelong vegetarian, who is intolerant to gluten, sadly, I’ve not been able to experience many traditional Korean meals (although my Korean friend in Perth, Australia, used to give me containers of her delicious kimchi whenever I visited, which were always well received!). I love to take inspiration from other cultures and cuisines to create delicious meals that my family and I can enjoy. While they may not be 100% traditional, they are super-delicious. This flavour-packed broth comes together in mere minutes and is the perfect on-the-fly meal. I learned the genius rice-water trick from author Caroline Hwang, in her amazing book Korean Food Made Easy.
2 tablespoons coconut oil
½ onion, finely sliced
4 shiitake mushrooms, hard stems trimmed and composted,
tops finely sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
1½–2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean chilli paste; see NOTE)
2 teaspoons golden caster sugar
850ml water or rice water (see NOTE)
60ml (¼ cup) gluten-free soy sauce
300g packet firm tofu, cubed
⅔ cup kimchi, roughly chopped
1–2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1–2 teaspoons brown/white rice vinegar, or to taste finely chopped spring onions, to serve mung bean sprouts, to serve (optional) rice/sweet potato noodles, cooked according to packet instructions, to serve
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and shiitake mushrooms and cook, stirring often, for 3–4 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and ginger and continue to cook for a further minute. Add gochujang, sugar, water or rice water, soy sauce and tofu. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2–3 minutes. Remove from the heat, then add kimchi, sesame oil, brown rice vinegar, spring onions and sprouts. Divide noodles among bowls, top with soup and serve immediately. NOTE: Gochujang is a Korean chilli paste available from your local Asian grocery store. Some brands contain wheat, so if you’re coeliac or gluten-intolerant, please look for a brand without wheat. If you’re looking for other ways to use gochujang (now that you have a container of it!), it makes the most amazing dressing to eat with noodles/vegetables/tofu or simply drizzled over avocado toast. Whisk 60ml (¼ cup) gochujang paste with 3 tablespoons brown rice vinegar, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons brown rice syrup and 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, seasoning to taste with fine salt.
To make rice water, the next time you cook rice, simply save the water you use to wash or rinse it. The starch from the rice acts as a slight thickener in the broth! Such a genius idea.