Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff

I love to cook. I don't love to wash up the million utensils, pans, and whatever else I use during my cooking sessions (it's a skill to be able to use so much stuff so unnecessarily). 

I also happen to be a vegan (for a few reasons: animal welfare, environmental concerns, and health reasons) and, as such, I'm often asked that age old question: "BUT WHAT DO YOU EAT?" 

So, I thought I would share a recipe for mushroom stroganoff - a fairly easy weekday meal that's filling, tasty, and you can make it in bulk and freeze it or pop it in the fridge. I do apologise in advance for the fact that stroganoff is not the most appealing of dishes to photograph, but you should forgive me because it tastes delicious. 

What you need:

• Onion x 1
• Mushrooms (mixed): 500g
• Vegetable stock: 2 cups
• Soy cream: 3/4 cup (or substitute 1 cup almond milk)
• Garlic clove x 2 (or 3 if you're me)
• Smoked paprika: 2 tsp
• Thyme: 2 tsp
• Parsley: 3 tsp
• Salt and Pepper to season

What you do:

Dice and cook the onion until soft, then add the garlic (minced) and mushrooms (sliced, not too small).

Cook until the mushrooms are soft then add the smoked paprika.

Add the vegetable stock and simmer until it has reduced (about 10 minutes). 

Blend about 1/2 the mixture with the cream or milk, leaving the rest in the pan (if you prefer it chunkier, blend about 1/3 of the mixture).

Add this sauce to the pan.

Add salt, pepper, the thyme and parsley.

Simmer this for another 10 minutes (or 5 if you're really, really hungry - but 10 gives you time to cook rice to serve with the stroganoff.)

Top chef tip: if you're feeling fancy, add a sprig of fresh parsley to make it look more instagram worthy than mine does.