Monday 31 March 2008

Banana-ginger-bread with recipe!

2-3 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup sunflower oil

2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup crystallised ginger, diced into cm-ish pieces
2 tbsp brown sugar

-preheat oven to 180 C
-grease an 9x5 loaf tin
-sieve flour salt and baking soda in a bowl then set aside
-mash bananas, then stir in sugar, ground ginger, nutmeg, molasses and oil
-add dry ingredients from bowl and mix into a dough, then mix through the crystallised ginger
-transfer to loaf tin, then sprinkle the 2 tbsp brown sugar over the top
-bake for 45-55 min, checking with a skewer to see if done
-leave to cool then slice and serve!

Wednesday 26 March 2008

Thai red curry, and I've been tagged!

Last night's yummy dinner was Thai red curry (using Geo organics Thai red curry paste and the recipe on the jar, with tofu, brocolli and bell peppers) alongside the coconut rice recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

DJ over at the Skint Vegan blog just tagged me, so, in keeping with the rules, I'm going to do as follows:
1) Tell you 5 things about myself
2) Tag 5 others and let 'em know via this blog and theirs.

So here's my 5 interesting facts.

1) I have 5 tattoos, which are chinese writing on my tummy, a fish/eye optical illusion on the small of my back, a cat silhouette and moon on my shoulder, a unicorn on my thigh and the UK vegan society's sunflower logo on my ankle.

2) Before I went vegan, I could barely cook at all- I lived on vegetarian ready meals and about the only things I could cook were omelettes(NOT VEGAN!) and stir fries! Now I'm vegan and I blog- yay!

3) Once upon a time I was a wannabe art student and did a portfolio prep course at college- it wasn't quite what I imagined it to be, so I quickly gave up on pursuing an artistic career.

4) When I first went vegan, I had never met any other vegans IRL- I was the only one I knew! Thank goodness for the internets!

5) My starsign is Virgo, and my Chinese starsign is the Monkey. Not that I actually believe in any of that!

And my tagees will be: vegan bear, weeg @ comically vegan, dangeroushabits, John @ John's Blog and Reverence Lily @ Element Fun.

Sunday 23 March 2008

Tomato-ey tahini pasta sauce with recipe!

I made this for lunch this morning adapted from various recipes... it only takes about 15-20 minutes(serves 2-4)

250g pasta (I used wholewheat fusilli)
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely diced
optional 250g sliced mushrooms (I used button)
4 tbsp light tahini
5 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp yeast extract (ie marmite, vegemite, etc)
400ml boiled water
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
pinch of ground black pepper
optional nutritional yeast or vegan "parmesan", to taste

-cook pasta according to instructions; while waiting for it to boil...
- saute the onions (and mushrooms if using) in olive oil over medium-high heat for5 minutes, stirring often
-remove pan from heat for a moment while you add tomato puree, tahini and the boiled water
-return pan to hob, then add yeast extract, herbs and pepper, and bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for a few more minutes
-drain pasta, add to sauce and stir in, then serve! Sprinkle with nutritional yeast or vegan "parmesan" if desired

Wednesday 19 March 2008

Back with some tofu!


Apologies for the lack of recent posts- I'll try to make up for it though! Here I have some scrambled tofu heaped on toast. This is my own recipe I've experimented with for it(whyowhy do so many recipe books use grated carrot?! Ewww!)-

250g block tofu(I use cauldron 'cos it crumbles really well so it's ideal for scrambles!)
One onion, diced
1 heaped tsp turmeric
4 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
6 tbsp olive oil
salt, to taste

-saute the onion in 4 tbsp olive oil in a pan over a high heat
-crumble the tofu in with your fingers
-sprinkle the turmeric and nutritional yeast over the top, then the other 2 tbsp olive oil, then stir till it's well absorbed
-stir-fry for about 6-8 minutes or until golden brown and crispy, then serve over toast and sprinkle with salt

This here is Veganomicon's Curried Tofu, served with Vegan with a Vengeance's garlicky roasted brussels' sprouts, and some frozen onion rings (Morrisons own brand- they're vegan! ;)) It was quite nice, and I meant to use the leftovers for sandwiches with the curried mayo serving suggestion, but, er..., as the lolcats would say, the leftovers; we eated them...

Saturday 8 March 2008

Long time no post- sorry! Back soon!

I've been full of the cold lately and feeling tired and lazy, not much of an appetite, so I've been sticking with old faithfuls rather than trying anything new. Will be back cooking and blogging asap though, so stay tuned!