We didn’t do anything fancy culinary wise for a while. Either we ate something at work and skipped the cooking for the evening, or we just went out. But at some point your wallet just doesn’t share your enthusiasm. But I did miss the cooking, and the fridge looked pretty empty too! So the next time we went shopping, we stocked on fresh veggies and other things.

But thinking about what to cook, and having not posted anything vegan for a while, I thought it would be a good excuse to try something meatless. Not to scare myself away, a big carnivore that I am, I thought simple ideas are the best ones! And it was really good indeed!

Preparation time: 2 hours

For 4 portions you need:

120g (4,25oz) of white beans, soaked overnight

5 garlic cloves

1 big zucchini

2 paprika (red and yellow)

1 eggplant

2 tomatoes (optional)

1 lemon

rosemary

fresh basil

olive oil

sal and pepper to taste

Put the beans (soaked overnight) 2 peeled garlic cloves and the rosemary into a pot, cover with water, und cook on middle heat for about 1,5 hour.

A little tip: in case you don’t want to wait with those beans, you can also use canned ones! Or swap the beans to cheakpeas.

Pour the beans off and purre with the garlic and 6tbsp of boiling water. Pluck off the rosemary and cut into small pieces.

Scald the lemon and rub about 1tbsp of the skin off and press the juice.

Mix the bean paste with the rubbed lemon skin, 3 tbsp lemon juice and 4 tbsp of oil. Spice it up with salt and pepper and the cut rosemary. Keep it warm.

Pluck off a bunch of basil leaves and chop it. Purre with the rest of garlic and 5 tbsp of oil making a pesto.

Wash the paprikas, cut the seeds out and cut the paprikas in big pieces. Wash the other veggies, and slice it. Heat the frying pan with 2 tbsp of oil. Add 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced, and sear it. Add the cut vegetables and sear it until goldbrown. Taste it with salt and pepper.

Smear the bean paste on plates. You can mix it paste with the basil pesto, or just drizzle it on top. Place the vegetables on top, making a small tower. Garnish with some basil leaves and sprinkle with oil.

Merken