Caldo Verde

This is apparently a traditional Portugese soup, although I have no idea how authentic this particular recipe is. This recipe is another one from Bryanna Clark Grogan's book, 20 Minutes To Dinner. It's a flovourful, nutrient dense, potato and kale soup.

I think I got some weird pleasure out of tipping an entire bag of kale into my soup pot, but then, I am very odd.

Bryanna Clark Grogan is obsessed with her blender! Once again she called for the onions and garlic to be blended. I didn't see the point, so I minced my garlic and diced my onions. Who minds a little bit of chunk in their soup? I'm not one for dirtying up my blender if I can get away with it, it's so awkward to clean! Anyhoo, it's a really hearty, filling soup, and it makes loads, so there are plenty of leftovers, and leftover soup is one of my favourite lunches.

Gary's Dish Washing Rating - 1/5

Pasta Arrabiata with 'Meat'balls

I love arrabiata sauce, nut for some reason I rarely ever eat it, weird. The 'meat'balls are from The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook. I was really sceptical of them, but Gary wanted to try them and they were actually really good. They were really moist and tender, but held their shape well. In the recipe they're actually fried, but I just took an ice cream scoop, and scooped blobs into a muffin pan and baked them. I put them in the muffin pan to stop them sticking together, it was quite ingenious I thought, but I am easily amused. The pasta is whole wheat. We never eat white pasta nowadays, and I've never really noticed a difference in taste.

The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook is so retro! I particularly love the story about Uncle Bill, it made me chuckle, who knew old people were 'groovy'?

Chimichangas, Sour Cream, and Salsa

These were really good! So good in fact that I just had some leftovers for breakfast - Shh... Don't tell anyone...


The chimichangas are filled with a low fat refried bean recipe from Bryanna Clark Grogan's book, 20 Minutes To Dinner. Her recipe says to blend all the ingredients together, but I prefer my beans with a little bit of bite to them, so I mashed my beans and then just added the remaining ingredients. I think it was much better that way. The recipe makes loads, so I'm going to freeze some of the leftovers for quick dinners when I need them.

Chimichangas are fun to make, they're almost like Mexican spring rolls. You put a little line of filling into your corn tortilla, fold in the sides, and then roll it up. Traditionally they are deep fried, but I sprayed a teeny bit of oil on them and baked them, which worked just fine.

The sour cream is also from a recipe in 20 Minutes To Dinner. I was glad to find a recipe for sour cream as the Tofutti stuff seems to have disappeared from all the Health Stores here. It wasn't as good as Tofutti, but it was a helluva lot better for you, so it's a trade off. The salsa is boring old shop bought stuff, so nothing to write home about there.

I'm currently waiting on a few cookbooks that I ordered recently. It's a very exciting time for a cookbook junkie like me! I'm waiting on The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook, The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, and Please Don't Feed The Bears. Anybody who has these books should leave me a comment with what to make first. I'm so excited! I love getting new cookbooks!

Gary's Dish Washing Rating - 4/5
The high rating is mainly because of the homemade sour cream, and our blender being a royal pain in the butt to clean. If you already had that made, or bought some, it would only be a 2.

Catching Up!

Sorry I haven't been blogging recently! I can't even use uni as an excuse because I'm on holiday just now. I'm just a bad, bad blogger! Anyhoo, I have been taking pictures so here's a few recent ones.

Oh. My. Gods. Where has sushi been all my life? I think I love it more than life itself! This was my first attempt at making sushi, and I think I did rather well, even if I do say so myself! I filled two rolls with the spicy tempeh filling from the PPK, and one with cucumber and avocado. Both fillings were absolutely delicious, but me and Gary both preferred the spicy tempeh filling. So, so good. If you haven't tried your hand at making sushi yet you should. It's easier than you would think. Oh! The dip we had with it was teriyaki, and it was delicious!

Next up are some cupcakes, unsurprisingly from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. As I've explained before I'm not a huge cupcake fan but my mum is coming up to visit tomorrow and she really loves carrot cake, so I thought I'd try the carrot cake ones. They're really good. Gary likes them even though he claims to hate carrot cake, but I have to agree they're not over carrot cakey. The cream cheese frosting is delicious. I was a little bit sceptical about putting the chopped walnuts around the edge because I'm not a huge fan of nuts on cakes, but they really added something to it.
Don't you just love my trolley? Over the years it's had many uses, from fruit bowl to lollipop holder, but today it will be a cake stand.

Cauliflower Soup with Parsley

This is another one from Vegan Italiano. The soups in that book are all really delicious!

I didn't actually make this, I was in uni all day so Gary made this for us both. It was really good. The herb balance in all the soups from this book is great. Every one is packed with flavour.

All in all, good soup.

Yum.

Tomato Bread Stew with Pasta

Yep, yet another rubbish picture, but I think it's been well established that I don't care.

This is from Vegan Italiano. I was looking through all of my cookbooks the other night looking for soft TMD friendly recipes and Vegan Italiano had loads!

This has tomatoes, onions, garlic, pasta, and bread all cooked into it. I was slightly sceptical about cooking the bread into the stew, I nearly left it out as I thought it would go really soggy, but it didn't. It was lovely and soft and doughy. I would highly recommend this dish, it's really tasty and comforting.

Gary's Dish Washing Rating - 1/5 It's a one pot meal!

In unrelated news, in the past few weeks I've been watching what I've been eating, and exercising a lot in an effort to lose some weight. I've lost just under a stone! Go me!

Tropical Fruit Smoothie

I prettied this glass up mainly because I thought it was funny. Gary came in and looked at me like I was a nutter, but then joined in by helping me choose a straw colour. We're odd.

In the smoothie is banana, pineapple, papaya and some multivitamin fruit juice. In the background is Geoff, our new cactus.

Why the smoothie I hear you cry? Well I'm currently on a liquid diet due to a bad case of TMD which has left me unable chew any food. Hopefully it'll be okay soon and I'll be back on the solids again.

I want to masticate, dammit!

Tester Recipe - Coriander "Honey" Tofu With Bok Choy

No, of course it's not actual honey! Don't be silly!

This is another tester recipe for Joy, and it's another keeper. I cannot speak highly enough of this dish. It's sweet, and spicy, and all in the right proportions. It also looked really classy when presented on the plate, but as usual I was in too much of a rush to eat to spend loads of time taking a good photo!

In conclusion, Yum!

Black Bean Burger with Chunky Salsa

I got the Black Bean Burger recipe from Vegweb (as always) and it was really good, and pretty healthy. Lots of protein from the beans, and lots of veggies in there too, and very little fat. They were quite spicy as they had a bit of cayenne pepper in them.

We had them with chunky tomato salsa on wholemeal buns.

I'm planning on testing another recipe for Joy tonight so I'll post some pictures of that when I get a chance.

Gary's Dish Washing Rating - 2/5

So you've got a vegan in your life?

I know this is a food blog, but every now and then I feel like writing something a little bit different, and it's my blog so there's nothing you can do about it!

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I’ve been finding it increasingly odd how people can have close friends or family who are vegan, yet seem to show very little interest, or knowledge of the subject. Vegans hear stupid things said about veganism most days of their lives. If you care about a vegan, and want to make their life just a little bit happier, don’t contribute to the general idiocy.

1. Know your food groups.
Dairy isn’t one, neither is meat. Something which has astounded me recently is that many people I know believe that eggs are dairy products, and generally don’t understand how dairy products are produced or generally where they come from. Here are some links which explain it.
Milk
Eggs

2. Watch Earthlings.
Or Meet Your Meat. If only to try and grasp a little bit of why vegans live the lifestyle they do. You’ll probably learn something.

3. Listen to Prof. Gary Francione speaking on Vegan Freak Radio.
He will at the very least make you think. He will most definitely say the things that the vegan in your life has probably been trying to say to you forever, but in a much more eloquent manner.

4. Understand that veganism is not a diet.
Nor is it a phase. It’s a lifestyle choice brought about by making a well informed choice. As such if you are being nice and feel the need to give a gift to the vegan in your life, make sure it is in keeping with their ethics. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for giving a vegan a leather wallet, or a wool scarf, or a silk tie, etc, etc. I personally would not give a gift that I did not think the person would use and enjoy, so doing a little bit of research will be greatly appreciated by the vegan in your life. If you really can’t find anything, then don’t give a gift. Overconsumption is something we’re all guilty of, and is something the majority of vegans disagree with. I would rather have no gift, than a gift ‘for the sake of giving a gift’.

5. If you start a conversation about veganism and it gets heated, remember that you started the conversation.
You have no idea how conscious most vegans are that every time they open their mouths people will think they are ‘shoving their views down everyone’s throats’ or ‘preaching’ and because of this, some vegans are wary of having these kinds of conversations. Honestly people, if you start the conversation, be prepared to hear things that you might not want to hear.

6. Veganism is not ‘going too far’
Once you know something, you can’t unknow it. Vegans live a lifestyle in keeping with their moral views, based on what they know. To quote the Vegan Freak theme tune “they say ignorance is bliss, well if that’s the case your brain dead myopia is hilarious”.

Okay so you may be asking yourself why you should care about any of these things, or why you should have to change anything in your life for us. Well, we all make adaptations for people we love, why should the vegan in your life be any different? Basically, if you care about the vegan in your life, you should at least try to care that they care.

Word, bitches.

Traditional(ish) Sunday Dinner

I was feeling in a traditional mood yesterday so after scouring Vegweb for a little while I found a lovely sounding recipe for 'Tofu Steak and Onions'. It was cooked in (vegan) worcester sauce and soy sauce and had a lovely tangy taste to it.

I served it with some carrots and broccoli. I'd usually have roast potatoes with this kind of meal but I have a tendency to make far too many of them and then eat the vast majority of them myself, so I decided against it. You can also see a little gravy boat, but I'm sorry to say I didn't make the gravy myself, I can just never get in the mood for doing that unless it's a special occasion, I suppose I should really start doing that!

Gary's Dish Washing Rating - 1/5

Tofu Salad Sammich

Yup, another sammich. Why? Well I've not been feeling too great and sammiches are quick, easy and tasty!

I just threw this together from stuff I had in the cupboards (which is always nice). I drained a block of tofu and then mashed it. I then added mayonnaise, mustard, onion, garlic (lots of garlic), sea salt, and some red pepper flakes.

It was really tasty and from one block of tofu I managed to make enough for two rolls for Gary, one pitta bread for me, and plenty of leftovers for lunch today. And when you're not feeling well, leftovers are always a bonus, especially leftovers where no reheating is involved!

Falafel

Falafel is your best friend when you're looking for a healthy meal, and you can't be bothered cooking.

We had it in whole wheat pittas that we got from our local health store and they were so much better than the ones you get from the supermarket. We also try to shop in our local health store for as much as we can because it's a family run business and we'd rather give our money to them than a supermarket.

Anyway, falafel good, pitta good. That's about all there is to say about that.

Potato Pizzas

This was the featured recipe on the fat free vegan site a few weeks ago, it looked so yummy I knew I had to try it!

The basic idea is you slice a potato lengthwise into thirds, bake them until they're soft, and then top them and bake them again. We topped them with spinach, onion, and sundried tomatoes, and of course the obligatory pizza sauce. It was a really tasty light meal. I'd probably make it again because it's quick and easy and uses ingredients we usually have around.

Gary's Dish Washing Rating - 1/5

Tester Recipe - Frittata

This is a tester recipe from Joy's cookbook. It's a pepper frittata and oh my gods was it good! It's hands down the best vegan frittata/omelette recipe I've ever tasted. It was deliciously crisp on the outside and lovely and gooey on the inside. Weeg and our friend Stu were almost fighting over the leftovers. We had it with a spinach salad and some boiled potatoes. It was a lovely light meal. I will most definitely be making this again, it really was that good.

I have another picture of the slices close up but Blogger doesn't seem to want to let me add it just now, so I'll maybe add it later.

Once again my photos really don't do the food justice

Gary's Dish Washing Rating - 1/5

I Wanna Be Like Schmoo!

I'm in uni all day on Fridays (the horror) so I try to pack a lunch so I don't just end up eating junk food. This is what I took this Friday - A poppy seed roll with chilli tofu (from the same company as the basil tofu), spinach, and onion; a little bag of strawberries; and a Trek raw food bar in cocoa brownie flavour.

The roll was really good but I think I prefer the basil tofu to the chilli tofu. The biggest surprise was the trek bar, it was absolutely delicious! I'm always a little bit wary of raw food bars that claim to be healthy. I've had bad experiences in the past with them, all the ones I've tried seem to have tasted like dirt. This one was amazing, it tasted exactly like chocolate brownie! And it was healthy! It claimed to be unlike other energy bars because it was high in protein and had no added sugars or anything on it, and looking at the ingredients, it didn't lie. There was no artificial anythings! I'll be buying them again but they're quite expensive so I'll only buy them once in a while.

Baked Tofu Salad

I'm sorry I've been a bad blogger of late. I've been really getting into eating a much healthier diet so I've been eating some boring not very blogworthy things of late to ease myself in gently. I've also been testing some recipes for Joy's forthcoming cokbook, I should be able to post some pictures of that soon.

I saw this basil tofu in the health food store and thought it would make a great salad. The basil flavour isn't just a marinade, it's infused all the way through the tofu, which was lovely. I baked the tofu for about 20 minutes, with absolutely nothing else, no oil or anything. I then roasted some tomatoes with it. After the tofu was pretty firm I topped it with some crushed garlic mixed with a teeny bit of olive oil. I then served it on top of some spinach and onion and slashed a little bit of balsamic vinegar on top. It really was delicious. The basil tofu seems really versatile, I'll definately be using it again.

Gary's Dish Washing Rating - 1/5

Valentine's Day Treats

Commercial crap, blah blah blah, I know. To me V-Day is an excuse to cook slightly better than normal food. I went with an Italian theme, because it seemed appropriate. For the first course we had olive ciabatta with sun dried tomato pesto. It was delicious. I usually make my own pesto, but I found a vegan brand (Mother Hemp) which saved me time so we had that instead. It was a tad oily, but still delicious.
Next we had stuffed shells that I've blogged about before. They're always a hit. They're really creamy and quite rich so they really are quite filling and neither of us could finish our portions.
For dessert we had Gary's favourite dessert as an omni - Tiramisu. It was great, it was a little more cakey than traditional Tiramisu, but all the elements were there, just perhaps not in exactly the correct quantities. It was indeed, absolutely delicious. See that slice down there? That was all I had of it. Gary didn't even bother to cut himself a slice, he just grabbed a fork and dug in. Tut tut.

Tempeh 'Chicken' Strips, Spicy Potato Wedges and Garlic Mayo

Not the healthiest of meals but it's a Friday night so meh. The Tempeh strips are inspired by a recipe from vegcooking but being the control freak that I am I adapted it, I think for the better. The recipe tells you to dip the strips in a mustard, flour, nutritional yeast and water mixture before dipping them in another flour mixture and then frying. I left my strips in the mustard mixture for about an hour and a half to really soak up the flavour, and it worked. I'm not sure how good they would have been without adding that step.

I got all fancy with the stacking and Gary joked that I really wanted to play Jenga with them instead of eating them. Har.

Anyway... They were really really good. The mustard marinade clung onto them really well and dipping them into the flour mixture before cooking them made them not as greasy as they could have been, which was good. I also dried a bit of the grease of and then cooked them in the oven for a bit, which helped a bit too.

The spicy potato wedges were spiced with sea salt, garlic, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and paprika. I could probably have done with a little bit less cayenne pepper, but they were still really good.

Gary's Dish Washing Rating - 4/5

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

I didn't actually eat any of this because I'd had dinner out with a friend earlier in the day. I got home and Gary was going out soon and needed a quick dinner, so I whipped this up with the leftover natural soy yoghurt from yesterday, some mushrooms, garlic and herbs.

Not really much I can say about it as I didn't eat any of it... Mushrooms freak me out... They're all weird...

That is all.