Tomato & Sage the saviour Chutney

I love Sage.

I was just doing some reading about it and found out that Sage is also called S. salvatrix (sage the saviour) because it was used in a herbal-vinegar remedy to ward off plague. Plague or no plague, I think Sage deserves some popularity. The leaf is extremely strong in flavour. It has an almost peppermint bitterness to it when you bite into it. I personally prefer using the powder because I don't have to bite into the leaf. I love putting it in everything. I even put it into Indian curries when I am cooking onions or tomatoes. It goes into all my Italian experiments too.

But before I ramble on, today's find of the day: Vegan Fling by Melissa. I love the look of some of her recipes specially the Strawberry and Poppy Seed Salad and the Alfredo Pasta.

This chutney recipe makes a great dip too. You can put it in a wrap or have it with some pita. It will also make a great gazpacho or you could mix it with some vegan mayo.

I did not use any chilli in it, but you could add some red chilli powder or paprika.

You need:

4 tomatoes
3/4 tsp powdered sage
1/2 tsp powdered pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Remove the seeds from the tomatoes. Blend everything together.

If you would like it as a Gazpacho, add a little water and more salt.

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Mushroom and Bean Burgers from scratch

This is the actual name of the burger: 'Shroom-Kidney-Horse-Sage Burgers with Pesto smeared Hand Made Buns. :)

Sounds corny, I know. Who would've thought you could have them all in one sentence!

I desperately wanted to eat a burger! Having never made one from scratch, I thought it was apt specially because BBC's Good Food Magazine was launching and they'd asked us to come up with something that we've never done.

I hate the burger breads you get in the stores. The bread we get here is thoroughly refined and seasoned with lots of dough conditioners, improvers and preservatives. Let me tell you, once you make whole wheat bread at home, you will cringe every time you eat so called 'whole wheat' bread outside.

It had to be a veggie burger and I absolutely did not want to put potatoes in! Such a misconception the Mc Ds of the world have created!

Here's what you need:

For the Bread:

500gm Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp Instant Yeast
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar
1/3rd cup oil
Warm water
Herbs of your choice (I used fresh Oregano and Thyme)
Sesame/ Flax Seeds (optional)

Mix all the dry ingredients.

Stir in the water and add till you get a nice workable dough. Add in the oil and knead for about 5 minutes.

Cover it with cling film and let it rest for about one and a half hours or till the dough is now almost double in size.

Preheat your oven now to about 180C

After that, punch the dough down and knead for another five minutes. Add in the herbs and make them into burger bun shapes but flatten the tops. Brush on some water and sprinkle sesame and flax seeds.

Let it rest for ten minutes and pop them in the oven for about 30 minutes till they are golden brown and sound hollow when you knock on them.

Notice the lack of sesame seeds? They all fell off because I brushed the top with oil instead of water! Nevertheless, a tasty burger bun.

For the Burger Patty:


1 cup horsegram (soaked for 4 hours and cooked)
1 cup Red Kidney BEan (soaked for 8 hours and cooked)
1/2 cup Soya chunks (soaked for an hour and bolied for ten minutes)
1 steamed carrot
(you can add other vegetables like steamed potatoes, peas, pumpkin, etc)


1 Onion diced
2 cloves of Garlic
1/2 a Red Pepper diced
15 Button Mushrooms diced
Fresh or dried Sage
Salt
Pepper
A Few sprinkles of Habanero Tobasco Sauce (Because i like it spicy)
A dash Soy Sauce
Oil or water for sauteeing

Saute the onion and garlic in oil or water. Add the Red Pepper, Habanero Tobasco, Soy Sauce and Sage. Add the mushrooms.

Mash the cooked beans with a potato masher. Cut up the soy chunks and carrot. Add them all in to the pan with the mushrooms and mix well. Take it off the flame and start making the patties.

Cook each side of the pattice on a flat pan or a grill till crispy and brown.

 The Assembly:

You need any or all of the below:

Pre-made Pesto (I use fresh Basil, cashew, salt, garlic and olive oil)
Jalapenos
Sliced Yellow and Green Peppers
Sliced Cucumbers
Sliced Tomatoes
Mustard
Ketchup

Assemble and enjoy!

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