Monday, 31 December 2007
Jay's sammiches!
Sunday, 30 December 2007
Redwoods' vegan "roast beef" review
Served up in the pic with baby potatoes roasted in olive oil, and rosemary, carrots and broccoli, and gravy (Bisto original is vegan, but do check packs of gravy mixes before buying 'cos not all are). This was pretty damn tasty, and very rich and filling. Does it taste like the real dead animal though? Not sure myself since it's been so long since I've touched meat- but who cares- it tasted good! It's pricey at £4, but no more pricey, in fact less so, than the dead animal version! It gets 5/5 =]
Thursday, 27 December 2007
Oooh, this was yum!
Ooooh- I received a copy of Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero for Xmas, so I'll be posting pics from that soon! =]
Sunday, 23 December 2007
Festive dinner!
Sunday, 9 December 2007
So I got some dairy free chocolate spread...
2 1/4 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar (Tate and Lyle brand is vegan)
1/2 cup margarine (I use Pure)
1/2 cup sunflower oil
2 tbsp water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
-sieve flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl
-in another large bowl, cream together the rest of the ingredients
-add dry ingredients and mix well
-spoon tablespoonfuls onto 2 baking sheets covered in greaseproof paper(makes about 30-ish) and flatten to about 1/2 cm thick, or alternatively roll out with a rolling pin and cut into shapes
-bake at 200C for 12-15 minutes or until nice and golden
-serve! Tastes lovely with chocolate spread, as pictured, or just on their own!
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
My camera sucks, and a cookbook review
In the meantime, a cookbook review for The PETA celebrity cookbook-
I'm no longer a PETA supporter since I disagree with a lot of their tactics, but I came across this in my local library, and being a vegan cookbook, it intrigued me, so I borrowed it. And to be honest I'm pretty glad I borrowed it instead of buying, since it was fairly disappointing. The recipes in themselves- and there weren't very many of them- were fairly mediocre, a lot of them featuring ready-made food products unavailable in Scotland. From such a large book with full colour pictures, I expected some food photos, but alas, there were none, although there were plenty of celebrity photos instead! This cookbook is just typical of PETA as an organisation, it seems to concentrate so much of it's focus on celebrity endorsement that it loses sight of more important things! A disappointing 2/5
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Yummy food!
I made this for dinner the night before, and had leftover tofu ricotta the next day, so I made pizza with pesto go faster stripes on toast with the leftovers! Mmmm!
Last but not least, these are dry roasted chickpeas from Alternative Vegan by Dino Sarma, and they are very yummy indeed. The coriander seeds give it a lovely flavour. I never had any curry leaves but they are fine without.
Friday, 16 November 2007
Tofu nuggets!
* for marinade use 4 tbsp marge, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, 1 tbsp nooch, 1 tbsp garlic puree (or 4-5 crushed cloves) or equivalent 1 tsp each basil and oregano. This makes plenty to marinade a 250g block of tofu.
I've served these with potato rounds from Alternative vegan and broccoli. They were yummy!
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Vegan omnisub junk food- but still healthier than the omni equivalent!
Still though, no cholesterol, or cruelty, unlike cows' cheese! :)
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Cupcakes!
Lelly's Stuffed Tofu and Dino's Venn Pongal
This is Stuffed Tofu from Lelly's Kitchen, and it is absolutely gorgeous- you must try this!
I've served it alongside roast baby potatoes with whole garlic cloves, rosemary and olive oil, and Alternative Vegan's steamed, but not angry, vegetables.
My health food store didn't have any firm tofu in stock, so I firmed my Cauldron stuff up by freezing it so it didn't crumble to bits and it worked okay, although obviously firm tofu would have made life easier.
Sunday, 11 November 2007
Party food!
The quiches are a miniature variation of the recipe for larger quiches I posted earlier. I used an upside down cup to cut out the mini flans from the rolled pastry, it makes about 18.
Crust
120g wholemeal flour
50g margarine
pinch of salt
cold water
-rub margarine into flour with your fingers
-add salt, and a little water at a time, gradually adding till it forms a dough
-roll out dough, and cut into use an upside down cup or pastry cutter to cut out the mini flans from the rolled pastry, it makes about 18.
-you can either grease the baking tray or put them in cupcake papers- as I did- to make them easier to transport.
-Bake for 6-8 mins at 220 C then set aside to cool.
Filling
1 onion
8 sundried tomatoes, presoaked and sliced into bitesize pieces. (Use kitchen scissors, it's the quickest and easiest way to chop up sundried tomatoes! ;))
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
200g tofu
4tbsp unsweetened soya milk
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp chives
pinch of basil and oregano
3tbsp nutrional yeast (optional)
-put tofu in blender with soya milk, soy sauce herbs, and nutritional yeast if using and whizz
-fry onion and garlic in olive oil and garlic for 5 mins
-add onion, garlic and sundried tomatoes to blended tofu mixture, mix in, then spoon into mini flans
-bake in 220C oven for 8-10 mins
~may be served hot or cold~
I also made rainbow cookies, similar to those seen here. Mine are inspired by the VWAV choc chip cookie recipe, but with a few changes.
Saturday, 3 November 2007
Lower-fat lasagne and my fridge
As I've noticed a lot of vegans in blog-land and youtube doing it, here is a photo of my fridge. Points of interest include the 7 boxes of cauldron tofu (it was buy one get one free, and is good till 5 december, so I stocked up!). The white boxes at the top of the fridge door are Jay's insulin. The bag behind the broccoli is ginger root, and garlic bulbs, the bag on the bottle holder is green leafy salad. There's a bag of mixed bell peppers under the bag of onions. The tupperware tub has Mozzarella cheezly in it, and there are Redwoods sage and onion vegideli slices behind it. The pink bottles are Raspberry Ripple sugarfree diluting juice from Morrisons, and a bottle of Rose wine behind it. Blue cartons are unsweetened soya milk, green cartons are apple juice. Jars include vegenaise, peanut butter, tahini, diabetic jam, curry paste, vegan pesto, yeast extract and mango chutney.
Thursday, 1 November 2007
My new toy!
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
Some like it hot... but some are spice wimps! Plus PB cookie and pasta recipe!
I've also made another variation to my usual recipe for chilli(see under main meals in my archives) by adding a tablespoonful of molasses (Jay can't have it since he's diabetic, so another reason for seperate pots, but it's actually loaded with minerals like iron and calcium so it's surprisingly healthy for non-diabetics) inspired by the chilli recipe in Vegan with a vengeance and this makes the chilli nice and rich to boot so I'll be using it again.
This pasta dish is an Asparagus (only there wasn't any asparagus in the house so I used a head of broccoli instead :P) and Sun-dried tomato Pasta with Pesto, from a Viva! "Recipes from the Inredible Veggie Roadshow" free leaflet. It says it serves 3-4 but I made 2 big platefuls for us and Jay declared it delicious and ate all the leftovers from the pan to boot. :)
Since the leaflet was being given away free I'm fairly sure the lovely people at Viva! won't mind if I post their recipe here, but if there's a copyright problem, please contact me and I'll remove it asap. :) Here are more recipes on their site- http://www.viva.org.uk/recipes/index.html
250g fusilli pasta
1/2 pack sundried tomatoes(pre-soaked as instructions on packet) chopped into bite-size pieces using kitchen scissors
1 tin asparagus(or a head of brocolli like me if you don't have any ;))
8 garlic cloves, finely chopped(don't crush, cos it'll clump together)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
100g vegan pesto(I used Zest)
2 tsp dried herbs such as basil or oregano, OR a handful of chopped fresh coriander(I used the former)
pinch of ground black pepper and sea salt
-cook pasta as intructions on pack
-drain, and add olive oil to prevent sticking
-heat asparagus and add to pasta
- add herbs and sundried tomatoes
-in a saucepan, heat olive oil, add chopped garlic and fry till lightly browned
-add oil and garlic to pasta mix, add pesto, and stir in carefully but thoroughly
-add salt and pepper, then serve
Vegan junk food alert! Redwoods cheatin' vegan "bacon" rashers in a sandwich(I'm even using naughty fresh white bread! :o) with vegenaise. Unhealthy, sure, but delicious nonetheless!
I've been tweaking a peanut butter cookie recipe by looking at various recipes and created something that works beautifully. Makes about 13...ish.
115g smooth peanut butter
85g sugar
4 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
55g flour
1 heaped tsp cornflour
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt(don't bother if your PB is salted already)
-preheat oven to 180C
-cream together wet ingredients
-in another bowl, sift dry ingredients, then add to wet and mix til combined
-flatten tablespoon sized blobs of dough onto a greaseproof papered baking sheet, then bake for 12 minutes
-leave about half an hour to cool, then eat.
For your drooling pleasure, here's the pic...
Monday, 29 October 2007
Maple walnut brownies
Aside from vanilla essence and optional apple juice, the maple syrup is the only sweetener used in this recipe, so I'm wondering how well it might work using rich agave nectar instead, to make it diabetic friendly for Jay. I'll work on that project soon and let you know how it goes.
healthy salad, and "cheese omelette"- veganised and pwned!
And, I've managed to find a recipe to veganise omelettes here- http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/09/vegan-omelette-for-one.html. I used cauldron tofu since I didn't have any silken stuff in the house, with a little extra soyamilk, it was a bit floppy yet it tasted great, but would definitely would work far better with silken tofu (like mori-nu) as advised. I've used cheezly mozzarella and onion as my filling- lurvely!
Saturday, 27 October 2007
Red food and pesto review
Tonight, I had a very red-themed dinner, red curry, with red onions, red bell peppers(and tofu, green bell peppers and brocolli) atop red quinoa. I had a few of Patak's mini poppadoms on the side to dip in it.
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
Stuffed shells in nooch sauce
except that I've covered them with a "cheesy"-style nutritional yeast sauce(coming up!), sprinkled more nutritional yeast over it all, then baked them in the oven at 220C for 25 minutes. To make the sauce...
60g vegan margarine
28g cornflour
125ml hot water
250ml unsweetened soya milk
1 tbs soy sauce
20g nutritional yeast flakes(sold under Engevita brand name in health food stores)
pinch of sea salt and black pepper
-melt marge in a large saucepan
-add cornflour, water and soya milk, keep stirring (so it doesn't go lumpy!) over a low heat till thickened and bring to the boil
-add soya sauce, yeast, salt and pepper
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Really easy lentil soup and french bread pizza- with recipes!
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin of green lentil, rinsed
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of basil, oregano and thyme
pinch of sea salt and black pepper
- add stock, lentils, tomatoes and herbs and simmer for 20 mins, then serve
Next up, baguette pizzas, inspired by Lelly's recent post- http://lellyskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/09/ciabatta-pizza-now-with-go-faster.html
I sliced the ends of an enormous baguette to dip in the soup for the starters, and then sliced the middle of it horizontally to make 4 "pizzas". I've used(about a third of, I have leftovers!) the tofu ricotta recipe from vegan with a vengeance, yet again(can you tell we like it?) and my own recipe for the easiest pizza sauce in the world(coming up!) and baked it at 240C for 10 minutes. Okay, pizza sauce recipe, as promised...
6 tbsp tomato puree
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp garlic puree
1/2 tsp of each, oregano, basil, salt, and crushed black pepper
pinch of thyme
-just mix it all together in a bowl and that's it!
(Oh, and then spread it on your pizzas, covers about 2 12 inch pizzas or a baguettes worth) No carry on with any blenders or any of that nonsense! :D
Monday, 22 October 2007
Steamed, but not angry vegetables, and rainbow cookies
I'm nibbling on one of these tasty rainbow cookies as I type... mmm!!! I've used (half, because I don't want to get too fat!)the chocolate chip cookie recipe from Vegan with a vengeance and 2 50g bags of Allergycare's Whizzers dairy free chocolate beans instead of the chocolate chips. I've also not bothered to half the quantity of molasses in the recipe, because it just makes it all the more tasty and moist! Mmmm...!!!
Sunday, 21 October 2007
mmm red quinoa
Yum! This stuff's even tastier than the regular kind methinks. Served with my coconutty korma(recipe posted under main meals in archives) with tofu and loadsa veggies, making it pretty healthy and nutrient-loaded :)
More and better posts coming soon, promise, but I thought I'd better posting something to prove I'm still alive!
Sunday, 14 October 2007
mmm chocolate...
Beside them, a cup of Yogi Choco tea... yes, chocolate flavoured herbal tea! And before you think "eeeewwwww!", try some, it really is surprisingly good. And tastes too nice to be healthy, but it is! Great, if like me, you're trying to lay off the caffeine but like a lovely hot, sweet drink. 5/5
I've served it in Jay's funky "Don't mess with the animals" mug from Viva!'s shop- http://www.viva.org.uk/shop/ The piggy on it reminds me of Leo from The Meatrix cartoon- http://www.themeatrix.com/
Quick Quinoa salad with recipe
But I've finally managed to come up with something I haven't already posted, a quick quinoa salad, made using about a cup's worth of leftover quinoa from a previous dish. Just add a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of cider vinegar(or lemon juice if you prefer a milder flavour), a few dashes of salt and black pepper, parsley to taste(either fresh or dried will do), a sliced onion(I've used a red onion but most onions will do, and spring onions are particularly nice and mild), plus optionally, veggies like sliced bell peppers or celery etc, and nuts or seeds. Leave in the fridge for up to a couple of days.
PS, you don't have to use quinoa either, other grains will work to, ie brown rice, millet, cous cous etc...
Saturday, 6 October 2007
Healthy dinner, and not-quite-so-healthy cookies!
I've served it with baked potato wedges in olive oil, rosemary and thyme, and some (frozen, cheap and a great standby ;)) brussels sprouts, peas and sweetcorn.
Next up, crunchy peanut butter and oatmeal cookies from Vegan with a vengeance.... now I was slightly wary of how these'd turn out after the disaster that was the crispy peanut butter cookies on the next page, which crumble to the touch(yet taste good, I still ate the crumbs! :P) but apparently these were a disaster for everyone I know whose tried that recipe... anyhoo, I digress, lightning didn't strike twice and this peanut butter cookie recipe was a success :)
Step-by-step stuffed shells, with recipe
10 shells of Lumacomi pasta in the colander,
250g of Tofu-basil ricotta from Vegan with a vengeance, half in the tupperware tub, and half of it mixed about 2 cups of cooked broccoli in the blue bowl to make the stuffing. I didn't have any fresh basil in the house so used a heaped tsp of dried stuff instead, which works just as well :)
In the pan, an Italian-style tomato sauce, this is a recipe I come up with myself and am quite pleased with, I think it'd work in many pasta dishes, or even a ratatouille with the addition of other veggies, it's made by
- sauteing in 2 tbsp olive oil, a chopped onion, 4 crushed cloves of garlic, 6 sundried tomatoes and one red bell pepper, finely diced
- add a can of chopped tomatoes, about 70g of tomato puree, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 tsp black pepper, a pinch of sea salt, and stir, bring to the boil, then simmer for about 15 more minutes.
Here are the shells once stuffed. Don't skimp on the filling, there's enough there so they'll be truly stuffed!
Pour the sauce over the shells in a casserole dish, then cover with the remaining tofu ricotta, and bake at 220 C for about 20-25 mins, or until tofu ricotta is a nice golden colour like in the photo. Serve! This is pretty filling for two people, and could serve about 3 with garlic bread on the side.
Monday, 1 October 2007
For everything you ever needed to know about veganism
We are vegans, from all over the planet, with unique perspectives on life. We come from different countries, races,
socioeconomic conditions, ages, and viewpoints. Aside from our commitment to helping animals, we are all as unique and varied as the animals we care for.
Daily, we get endless streams of questions about our veganism. Here we hope to share the way we did respond, the way we would have wished that we'd responded, or the way we should respond in future! Rather than linking to a bunch of websites written by other people, whose rhetoric we may or may not fully agree with, we'd rather share our voices, and do it in our own terms!
Friday, 28 September 2007
So, I had this massive head of brocolli...
I usually marinade the tofu myself, but since there wasn't any plain stuff in stock when I went shopping, I used Cauldron's garlic and ginger ready-marinaded stuff instead. It's pricey, but gorgeous! And makes stir fries superly-easy 4/5 for the review
Next up is basic pasta from Alternative Vegan by Dino Sarma, using wholewheat spaghetti, with brocolli added. This is a super-easy and cheap dish to make, so I make it for my lunch frequently.
More Dino Sarma inspiration going on here- after listening to his segment on the latest Vegan Freaks' podcast, I tried cooking with whole cloves of garlic for the first time with my roast baby potatoes. They've also been drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with a pinch of rosemary and thyme. This was a triumph and I'll be doing it again sometime in the near future! I also ate all of the cooked cloves of garlic..mmmm!!
This is served alongside goodlife butternut squash roasts in tomato sauce, they were ok, edible , a bit on the bland side though and rather pricey, so they're only being awarded a mediocre 3/5. And of course, the obligatory brocolli for this post's theme!
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Viva! roadshow comes to Glasgow
Saturday 29 September 2007, 10.30am to 4.30pm
The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow (Strathclyde Suite, Level 3)
Directions: The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is located at the junction of Buchanan Street and Sauciehall Street, next to the Buchanan Galleries shopping centre.Admission £1, under 10s free
Come along to Viva!'s Incredible Veggie Roadshow and enjoy, with family and friends, a fantastic day out. You can:
- Taste a whole range of veggie foods from international dishes you can whiz up at home to ready-to-go convenience foods
- Receive one-to-one nutritional advice
- Pick up free recipes and helpful factsheets
- Sit in on cookery demos and informative talks
- Browse and buy lots of veggie goodies – from chocolate to cruelty-free cosmetics, bags to books, convenience foods to clothing, wallets to wallcharts and cuddly toys to T-shirts and more!
- Find out how you can get active
So if you've ever given the idea of going veggie a go but need a helping hand, come along, and pick up your free copy of our It’s Time to go Veggie magazine, packed with tips, recipes, celebrity views, nutritional info and detailing the many reasons why "it's time to go veggie"!!!