This is one of my favourite clean eating recipes. It’s gluten-free, dairy-free, AND vegan. I’m sure all the comediens out there are now thinking: “it must also be flavour-free” (har har).
NOPE.
It’s one of those mysterious dishes, like a mirage in the desert, which is not only healthy and clean, but also delicious and wholesome. It’s incredibly versatile, you can have it over pasta / rice / [insert any other type of carb here], have it as a soup or even chuck in some beef and have it as a healthified version of regular Beef Stroganoff.
A Stroganoff is a traditionally Russian dish of sautéed beef served in a thick sauce consisting of a sour cream base. The dish has become popular across the world, and there are now numerous variations of the original recipe.
As with all my recipes, it takes less than 30 minutes to cook, serves around 4 very hungry people or 6 less so, and washing up is kept to a minimum with just a chopping board, knife and pan being all that is required.
Ingredients
2/3 cup raw cashews
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar (I’ve even used rice wine vinegar before. You essentially just need something acid based to cut through the creaminess of the cashews, so go crazy and try something new here if you wish!)
Pinch fine sea salt (or regular, whatever)
3 - 4 cups assorted mushrooms (living in Singapore, I use shiitake and oyster, as well as Swiss brown, normal white and Portobello. You really can use any assortment, just make sure the bigger ones are chopped into smaller pieces)
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 stock cube (vegetarian if you wish, or non-vegetarian if you’re not fussed)
1 cup water
3-4 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I love the taste of Dijon, so I like to around 4 tablespoons. If you’re not so keen, experiment with 2 and you can add more later)
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon chilli flakes (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or dill, for garnish
Directions
Place cashews in a small bowl and cover with boiling water until there is a spare 1 inch of water over the top of the cashews. Let these soak for 30 minutes, the point being to soften them up so that you blend them later to make a dairy-free “cream” for the sauce base of the dish
Rinse or pat mushrooms with a wet towel to make sure all dirt has been removed
Halve or quarter smaller mushrooms and thickly slice larger ones
Begin cooking the mushrooms and shallots in a pan over a medium heat
Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushroom begin to brown. If need be, add a couple of tablespoons of water to keep the mushrooms from sticking to the pan (I rarely have to do this since I find a lot of water comes out of the mushrooms anyway)
Throw in the stock cube and continue to cook for around 10 to 12 minutes until the mushrooms are browned and soft making sure the stock cube disintegrates and coats all the mushrooms
Whilst the mushrooms are browning, drain the cashews in the water and discard the liquid. In a blender (I use an individual smoothie maker, no fancy blenders here!), combine the cashews, 1/4 cup water, vinegar and salt, and blend until smooth; add more water a tablespoon at a time as needed to make a cashew cream. The consistency should be that of single cream and it should be easy to pour
Stir in mustard, paprika, chilli flakes and pepper
Add the water (around a cup more if you are making a soup and also depending on the consistency of the soup you would like)
Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer until mushrooms are very tender and sauce is thickened
Stir in the cashew cream and more water depending on the desired consistency
Sprinkle with parsley for serving
Tip: If you are going to have with beef cubes (or any meat / poultry), make sure you brown off and seal the meat first. Then remove the pieces of meat and begin step 4. Add in the meat again before step 8. For step 10, you will need to cook slightly longer to make sure the meat is cooked through and soft (around 20-25 minutes)
