Stokes Sauces: Meat-Free Monday

Balanced Diets

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/traditional-condiments

- Made Better

Even hardcore carnivores like me know the values of a balanced diet, which is why we always try to balance 'the tasty bits' of our newsletters.

We include lots of fishy favourites for Fish Fridays; occasional Vegan and Vegetarian articles; Meat-Free Mondays (like this), which are not always strictly Vegetarian but do exclude meat; and of course we publish articles covering everything from Breakfast, Light Lunches, Weekday Suppers, Roasts, Casseroles and One-Pots, and BBQ Magic.

Creativity and taste is the key to varying one's diet. We aim to deliver both.

Potatoes Gourmand

This looks lovely in a shallow bowl and tastes wonderful, with little bursts of flavour teasing each mouthful. It's basically roast new potatoes with a tarragon & almond crumb in a soup of watercress and cashew nuts.

You'll need:

50 g of cashew nuts, soaked for 2 hours
80g of watercress
The juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp of Stokes Dijon Mustard
2 tsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard
50 ml of water
30 ml of olive oil
1 handful of tarragon leaves
30g of toasted almond flakes
400g of waxy new potatoes

Here's how:

Slice the potatoes (in half), coat them in olive or rapeseed oil and the Cider & Horseradish Mustard and roast on a baking tray for 20 to 25 minutes.

In a blender, make a smooth paste of the watercress, cashew nuts, lemon juice, Dijon Mustard and water, then drizzle in the olive oil until the 'soup' emulsifies (like a mayonnaise).

Finely chop the tarragon and toasted almonds together adding a drop of tarragon vinegar and combine with a drizzle of olive oil. Then assemble and garnish your dish as pictured.

Tofu & Vegetable Curry

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/ketchup-and-sauces

A simple combination of Spring / Summer seasonal vegetables in a light coconut curry - yummy.

Here's how:

Cut a 350 g block of firm tofu into cubes and your vegetables into similar sized pieces. Broccoli, carrot, fennel, shallots, red pepper, mushrooms, broad beans (or peas), grated garlic and grated ginger.

In a hot wok and sesame oil, brown the tofu cubes then add the onions, ginger and garlic for 2 or 3 minutes. Now the vegetables that need longer cooking - carrots, pepper, then broccoli, beans. Not the mushrooms, yet.

Stir in 2 tbsp of mild curry powder, 1 tsp of cornflour and 2 or 3 tbsp of Stokes Curry Ketchup. Add the mushrooms and 1 tin of coconut milk. Boil then simmer to reduce the liquid for 7 or 8 minutes until the vegetables have the bite you prefer. Finish with a good squeeze of lime juice. Served with a saffron-style rice this makes a very tasty plate of meat-free food.

Vegetarian Chilli Tacos

You really don't need any meat to enjoy a Mexican feast at home.

You'll need:

350 g of Quorn mince
12 taco shells
1 finely chopped onion
2 grated cloves of garlic
1 x red pepper, chopped
1 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Jam
1 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Ketchup
2 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup
1 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce (for the spices)
1 x 400 g of chopped tomatoes
1 x 215 g can of kidney beans (washed and drained)
2 tbsp of oregano leaves, chopped

Here's how:

Soften the onion, pepper and garlic in a little oil, then add the mince, oregano, chilli jam, ketchups and brown sauce. After 2 or 3 minutes add the tinned tomatoes and kidney beans, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste and add more chilli ketchup if you need more of a kick.

Make an assortment of garnishes - sweetcorn, tomato salsa (great with our Chilli Jam), guacamole (equal parts of crème fraîche, Stokes Real Mayonnaise and crushed avocado, a squeeze of lemon juice and 2 grated cloves of garlic) and fresh salad leaves.