Deliciously Ella Plant Based Recipes

I don't know about you, but I am a total sucker for cookbooks. Sure, blogs and websites and instagram are all awesome inspiration and I regularly end up recreating dishes or even just condiments and seasonings I've seen online, but nothing beats the loveliness of a solid, old-fashioned cookbook.

My new kitchen helper is Deliciously Ella The Plant-Based Cookbook by Ella Mills (Woodward), published by Hachette Australia (RRP $32.99). All photographs by Nassima Rothacker.

The following recipes are my favourites from the book. I'd love you to tag me if you make them and want to share a photo to instagram! I'm at @cat13gram.

HERBED LENTIL BALLS
WITH TOMATO RELISH
AND GARLIC CREAM

I know these may sound a little strange, but they taste amazing – especially

sitting in a bed of tomato relish and dressed with garlic cream. They’re

full of flavour thanks to the thyme, rosemary, parsley, garlic and onion.

I love them served simply with some brown rice and salad.

MAKES 10

150g dried green lentils

1 large onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

2 tablespoons buckwheat flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

handful of parsley, roughly

chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

salt and pepper

for the tomato relish

6 tablespoons tomato purée

3 garlic cloves, peeled

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon maple syrup

100ml water

handful of parsley

pinch of ground cumin

pinch of chilli powder

pinch of smoked paprika

for the garlic cream

100g cashews, soaked for at least

3 hours then drained

10 tablespoons almond milk

3 garlic cloves, roasted (see

page 35)

splash of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 200.C (fan 180.C).

Start by placing the lentils in a pan of boiling water. Cook for

20–25 minutes until tender but still with a slight bite. Once cooked,

drain and leave to cool to room temperature.

While the lentils are cooking, place the onion and garlic in a pan

over a medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and cook

for 5–10 minutes, until soft. Then leave to cool to room temperature.

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until

it forms a thick paste. Scoop balls of the mixture out of the food

processor using an ice-cream scoop, smooth them a little by rolling

them in your hands if you like, then place them on a baking tray

and bake in the oven for 35–40 minutes. Check the lentil balls are

cooked through by inserting a knife into the middle of one ball –

if it comes out clean they’re ready, if not bake for a little longer.

While the balls are in the oven, prepare the tomato relish and garlic

cream. Simply place all of the ingredients for the relish in a food

processor and some salt and pulse until smooth. Then do the same

for the garlic cream, adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve the

lentil balls piled high with the relish and garlic cream.

TIP

These are delicious served warm straight out the oven – if you’re

doing that then gently warm the tomato relish too.

YELLOW THAI CURRY

Aubergines are one of my favourite ingredients to use in a curry as they

soak up all of the flavours like a sponge. I’ve lost count of how many

bowls of this curry I’ve eaten in the last few years; when I’m having a

busy week I pop into the deli and devour a bowl with brown rice – it’s

warming, hearty and always keeps me going for hours. This one also

happens to be one of Matt’s favourites too.

SERVES 4

for the curry paste

1/2 large onion, roughly chopped

1 red chilli, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger,

peeled and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 lemongrass stalk, bashed and

roughly chopped

1 lime leaf

31/2 tablespoons coconut oil

for the curry

2 red peppers, deseeded and cut

into bite-sized chunks

1 large aubergine, cut into bitesize

pieces

100g button mushrooms

100g baby corn, cut in half

olive oil

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 x 400g tins of coconut milk

(see tip on page 174)

1 tablespoon tamari

handful of Thai basil,

roughly chopped

salt

Preheat the oven to 240.C (fan 220.C).

Place all of the paste ingredients in a food processor and blitz

until smooth.

Place the peppers, aubergine, mushrooms and baby corn in a baking

tray with a little olive oil and salt. Roast in the oven for 10–15 minutes,

so that they take on a bit of colour, then remove and leave to one side.

Next, place the coconut oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium

heat. Once hot, add the curry paste and cook for 5 minutes until

soft. Add the coconut milk and tamari and bring to the boil – then

lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and

blitz using a hand blender, then pass through a sieve to remove any

unwanted bits (if needed). Place back on to a medium heat and

add the roasted vegetables, then cook for a final 5 minutes. Try not

to overcook this curry – the sauce only needs this short cooking time

and there is a chance it could form a layer of oil on top if you cook

it for longer and reduce it too much.

Once everything is cooked through, sprinkle with a handful of chopped

Thai basil.

TIP

You could make a double batch of this curry and freeze half for

another day. It freezes so well and is really easy to cook straight

from the freezer – just place it into an oven set at 200C (fan 180C)

for 20–25 minutes until cooked through.

SPICY MISO AUBERGINE AND BROCCOLI SALAD

This salad was a real hit in the deli, and it’s one of my go-tos as well.

We used to serve it cool, but have recently discovered a new love of

serving it warm, straight out the oven and couldn’t recommend that

more. The dressing is partly what makes this so good and I use it a lot

in other dishes – the ginger, miso, sesame and lime mix is a real winner.

SERVES 2

AS A MAIN DISH,

4 AS A SIDE

2 medium aubergines, chopped

into bite-sized chunks

1 large head of broccoli, chopped

into florets

pinch of chilli flakes

handful of coriander, chopped

handful of sesame seeds

salt and pepper

for the miso dressing

4 tablespoons miso paste

juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

3 tablespoons sesame oil

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger,

peeled and grated

Preheat the oven to 240ºC (fan 220ºC).

For the dressing, blitz the miso, lime juice, vinegar, sesame oil,

ginger and some salt and pepper in a blender until smooth. If

you don’t have a blender, dissolve the miso paste in a tablespoon

of boiling water then stir through the other dressing ingredients.

In a large baking tray, mix the aubergine with the dressing and

roast for 30–35 minutes. At this point, remove the tray from the

oven and switch the oven over to the grill setting. Mix the broccoli

florets with the aubergine, then place the tray back in the oven for

another 10 minutes until the broccoli is lightly charred on top and

the aubergine is soft and golden.

Once cooked, remove from the oven, place in a serving bowl

and sprinkle with the chilli flakes, coriander and sesame seeds

before serving.