Vegetarian Month: 3 delectable lunch recipes

Mexican sweetcorn soup, baked potatoes with tofu Skagen, and caesar salad with kale and chickpeas are lively modern takes on much-loved classics and perfect for lunch. And since it's October, they’re both easy and vegan!

OCTOBER IS VEGETARIAN MONTH, and with a little extra effort in the kitchen on the weekend you won’t have to reach for a bag of dried noodles yet again when you’re too busy to cook during the week. Meal prepping has long been widely popular, and for good reason. Preparing food and ingredients takes a bit of time, but doing it all at once and planning ahead will ultimately save you time, money and energy. These three vegan recipes are easy to prepare in advance and quick to heat up for lunch.

Sweetcorn soup gets a spicy Mexican makeover with a touch of jalapeño. The traditional pozole soup or stew is a mainstay of Mexican cuisine, made from corn kernels that have been dried and treated with lye. Some of these ingredients are hard to find in smaller shops, however. One thing that makes pozole so delicious is the topping, which can be varied according to taste – tortilla chips, thinly sliced cabbage and onion, avocado, radish, fresh coriander. These also enrich a soup made from canned sweetcorn and add texture to the pureed soup.

Baked potatoes with shrimp filling are a lunch classic in Nordic canteens. A vegan version is equally delicious, with grated smoked tofu and plenty of fresh dill in the filling for the perfect flavor. Seaweed caviar made from seaweed ‘roe’ is inexpensive, and can be enjoyed without hassle any day.

Vegan Skagen with grated smoked tofu is as delicious as the classic shrimp version.

Choose whatever size of potato you like: the usual choice is one large potato, but you’ll have even more crispy roasted potato skin to enjoy with a couple of smaller potatoes. The filling is easy to prepare in advance, and will keep well in the fridge for about a week. The roasted potatoes are a cinch to heat up for lunch.

Caesar salad hardly needs any introduction. In this version, in addition to the traditional romaine lettuce, kale is used to add flavor and crunch. For a properly filling lunch, it’s a good idea to add lightly fried chickpeas and fresh fennel. The mouthfeel really matters: don’t use too much kale, and slice the fennel very thinly so it doesn’t feel like you’re chewing for hours.

Instead of anchovies, this delicious caesar salad dressing is seasoned with miso paste and soy sauce. These two innovations provide the same saltiness and depth of flavor that is the secret of caesar dressing. The food yeast flakes are a tasty vegan alternative to the traditional parmesan.

When making the sauce, take care when adding the miso paste, as the saltiness can vary a lot depending on the brand. You can chop all the salad and mix them together in the same container ready for when you need them. The caesar dressing can also be made in advance. This way, all you’ll need to do when hunger strikes is roast the chickpeas and add them.

---

The vegan lunch recipes:

Mexican corn soup

Ingredients for four servings:
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cheese cumin (whole or ground)
1–2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
2–3 cloves of garlic
1 or 2 jalapeños
1.5 L water
1 bay leaf
2 medium floury potatoes
2 tins (500 g) of sweetcorn
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tsp salt
1 lemon

Toppings:
thinly sliced raw onion and white cabbage, tortilla chips, fresh coriander, sliced avocado, thinly sliced radishes.

Do as follows:
Thinly slice the onions and garlic. If desired, remove the seeds from the jalapeños to reduce the heat and slice them. Peel and dice the potatoes. Drain the sweetcorn in a colander.

Toast the oregano and cumin seeds in a small amount of olive oil until they start to sizzle and become deliciously fragrant. Add the onions, garlic, jalapeño, bay leaf and diced potato. Let the onions soften in the oil for a while, then add two-thirds of the sweetcorn, the stock cube, and the water. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.

After this, remove the bay leaf. Add a handful of fresh coriander to the saucepan, and then blend the soup to a smooth puree. Add more water if necessary to make a fairly thin puree. Pour the puree back into the saucepan, bring to the boil, and add the remaining sweetcorn. To balance the sweetness of the corn, add salt and lemon juice to taste. Serve with the toppings.

Baked potatoes and vegetarian toast skagen

Ingredients for four servings:
4 large or 8 small potatoes
200 g smoked tofu
half a red onion
100 ml vegan mayonnaise
150 ml vegan crème fraîche
half a bunch of chopped dill
1 grated lemon zest and lemon juice to taste
1 tsp ground black pepper
salt to taste

Toppings:
vegan roe and fresh dill

Do as follows:
Wash and dry the potatoes, but do not peel them. To prevent the potatoes from cracking in the oven as they cook, prick them here and there with a fork. Preheat the over to 200 °C, put the potatoes on a tray with baking paper, and bake until soft to the touch. The cooking time of the potatoes depends on their size, between 45 and 60 minutes. Let the potatoes cool down enough to handle them.

While they’re in the oven, prepare the skagen. Grate the smoked tofu with the course side of a cheese grater into a bowl. Finely chop the red onion and add it to the bowl. Mix the crème fraîche, mayonnaise and chopped dill in a bowl. Grate the lemon zest into the mixture, and squeeze in the juice of half of the lemon. Season to taste with black pepper. Taste and add salt and more lemon juice to taste.

Cut the potatoes in half, sprinkle on a little salt, and spoon the filling onto the potato. Add the vegan roe and fresh dill to taste. Enjoy with a side salad.

Caesar salad with chickpeas and kale

Ingredients for four servings:
2 heads of baby gem lettuce or romaine lettuce
half a bunch of kale
1 head of fennel
250 g cooked chickpeas
1 tsp salt
1–2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp food yeast flakes

Sauce:
150 ml vegan mayonnaise
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp miso paste
1 tsp soy sauce
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp food yeast flakes

Do as follows:
Mix the ingredients for the sauce and put it in the fridge to thicken. Rinse the kale and salad leaves, dry them and remove the stems from the kale. Tear or chop the kale and lettuce in a bowl. Using a knife or a mandoline, slice the fennel very thinly, leaving the stem uncut.

Drain the chickpeas and fry them in a pan with olive oil until slightly browned. Season with salt. Mix a couple of tablespoons of caesar dressing into the salad leaves. You can either mix all the ingredients in a bowl or serve the salad on a plate with the chickpeas and kale beside it. Drizzle a little more sauce over the portion and sprinkle the yeast flakes on top.

Design Stories contributor Suvi Kesäläinen is a photographer, who loves to create dishes that are not only delicious but also fast and easy to make. She’s passionate about the best seasonal ingredients, local food and intriguing culinary trends.

---

See also:

• New tableware at Finnish Design Shop >

Text and photos: Suvi Kesäläinen