A wrap with a little more…

Salad, hummus, green bean pickle and Linda McCartney sausage. For when your rushing in and out, too busy socialising to care or just can’t be bothered.  =)

French Road Trip

We are off to France for 7 weeks of sun and adventure. The plan is to spend a week in Brittany/ Normandy before travelling down to the Dordogne for some kayaking, then across to the coast to work our way back up. Along the way I’ll be finding out about the areas food, excellent places to eat out, buy salad and vegan specialties, and of course I’ll let you know.

Here are some important words to know in French;

• I am vegan – Je suis Végétalien – though apparently this is often not recognised.
•  I am vegetarian; Je suis végétarien
• milk; lait
• egg; oeuf
• cheese; fromage
• butter; beurre
• cream; crème
• honey; miel
• meat; viande
• fish; poissons
• animal; animal
• vegetables; légume, végétal
• fruit; fruit
• soya; soja
• no; non
• only; seulement
• without; sans

Things that people are warning me about;

• salads are rarely vegan, containing meat, cheese or egg,
• soups usually contain meat stocks,
• pastries and breads can contain hidden milk.

Something I’m really looking foreword to; The infamous markets and sun. =)

Useful paces to find more stuff out; http://www.vegan-france.com/ 

http://www.frenchentree.com/france-food-cuisine/displayarticle.asp?id=2365

 http://www.happycow.net/europe/france/

Au Revoir!

another green smoothie

1 apple

1/2 cucumber

1 pear

handfull spinach

tsp grated ginger

handful grapes

blended until smooth, add water to a consistency you like.

Beautifully Simple Rice and Veg

This was inspired by my latest visit to Cafe Atma where we had a lovely veg and rice meal, I was astounded that something so simple could be so good and determined to give it a go. I had no idea what kind of sauce they use so made my own coconut based one. There is a hot meal at Cafe Atma that is as much as you can eat every day for £5.95

Pick vegetables that boil well, most importantly make sure it’s fresh buy it the day your going to use it and pick what your attracted to in the shop.

Here I used a huge variety, but you don’t need to;

• broccoli
• sweet potato
• carrot
• turnip
• courgette
• asparagus
• cabbage
• mushroom
• fine green beans
• red pepper

The sauce used;

• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1/2 tin coconut
• 1tsp chilli diced
• 1 tsp fresh root ginger grated

1. Chop all of the veg into bite sized pieces. Bring 2 pots of water to boil.

2. Put what takes the longest in to boil first, usually the root vegetables. Simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Put the rice on to simmer for 20 minutes. Remember brown and white rice take different lengths of time, adjust the vegetables timing accordingly.

4. Put the peanut butter in a pan and melt, add the coconut to combine.

5. Add the ginger and chilli, set aside until serving.

6. Add the rest of the veg to its pot, simmer for another 10 minutes, mix  a little oil into the rice to stop it sticking to itself.

7. Reheat the sauce if necessary, drain the rice and vegetables. Serve.

 

 

Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb season is almost over so heres a recipe to use up some of your last.

filling;

• 6 stalks rhubarb
• 3 cooking apples (or other apples if desperate)
• 2 bananas
• 1/2 cup golden/ brown sugar
• 1 tbsp vegan butter
• 1 tsp ground ginger

crust;

• equal amounts of vegan butter and flour
• half of this amount of sugar
• water
• handful mixed seeds
• tbsp ground linseed

1. Peel and cut the apples into small squares.

2. Melt the butter and sugar in a pan. Add the apple and ginger and allow to simmer until apples are soft.

3. Chop the rhubarb and banana into bite sized pieces. Mix into the apple mixture. Place in oven dish.

4. The crust; rub the sugar flour and butter into crumbs, mix in the linseed and seeds.

5. Add water a tiny bit at a time until it sticks together.

6. Kneed briefly then roll into a flat piece big enough to cover your oven dish.

7. Cover the filling with the pastry, cut away any raged edges, if you like make this into a nice pattern for the top.

8. Pierce the pastry with a fork. Oven cook until gold on top and bubbling in the middle. About 30 minutes.

 

Tabouli and corn on the cob

Yummy, filling, salad dish, great for parties or picnics…

Tabouli;

• Bulgar wheat, vary the amount depending on how much you want, it will about double in size.
• 1 tin butter beans
• 6 cherry tomatoes quartered
• 1 red pepper diced
• 1 lemons juice
• 2 spring onions chopped
• 1 tbsp stock
• 1 tsp powdered garlic/ crushed garlic cloves
• big handful chives chopped
• big handful mint chopped
• big handful parsley chopped

1. Boil the bulgar wheat and stock for about 7 minutes.

2. Remove from heat, add a blob of butter to the pan, keep the lid on the pot and allow to sweat for about 30 mins.

3. Add all of the other ingredients.

4. Place in the fridge for another 30 mins to allow the flavours to combine before serving.

Corn on the Cob;

Take 2 corn on the cobs and chop in half. Boil in a pan for 6-10 minutes. Serve with a big blob of vegan butter.

Also served with green olives, garlic, sliced cucumber and mixed salad leaves.

fruity milkshake

My smoothies lately have become more an more like milkshakes, so I’ve accepted it and named it appropriately for this post. =) Anyway in my quest for interesting breakfasts I wondered what, apart from spreading on toast, to do with raspberry jam….

1 Banana

1 apple

10 green grapes

1 tbsp raspberry jam

1/2 cup nut milk

1. Chop the banana and apple.

2. Blend all the fruit with the jam, add milk a little at a time until a creamy consistency.

Tada

(Link) Home Made Vegan Ice-Cream…

… unfortunately I have no freezer, but that should be no reason not to share these delicious looking ideas…

Go to 29 amazing vegan ice cream recipes, Buzzfeed Food.

My fav ready-made vegan ice cream is Swedish Glace, Home Vanilla, if you’re unsure about giving vegan ice cream a go really try this it will convert you. =)

 

 

Eating Vegetarian/ Vegan is cheaper…

I’ve been trying to convince the world this for years, but unfortunately I do spend almost all my money on food. Not because it’s expensive to eat but because I just love food…

….I tried totalling how much I spend on food in a month for this blog, the results were to terrifying to publish…

but not eating meat is definitely a way to cut down your food bill, and not being able to splash out on that cake and ice-cream when you’re out or buy colossal blocks of cheese has got to make life cheaper. I managed on my student loan to live as a vegetarian for 3 years, away from home, without a job, even somehow surviving the long summers. 

Anyway here’s an article by a vegan student better placed to make the argument than me!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2013/jun/24/veganism-on-a-student-budget

Knowing exactly what I can and cannot eat has forced me to really think about my shopping lists. As a vegan, I do not consume any animal products and try my best not to use any either. I have reacquainted myself with stereotypically boring vegetables (I love you, broccoli), and discovered delicious substitutes like polenta and seitan, a high-protein wheat-based alternative for more meaty meats such as buffalo wings and duck. – Veganism on a Student Budget, The Guardian.

Simple Puy Lentil Salad

Ready to eat puy lentils have been on sale in the Co-op so here’s  a really quick and easy puy lentil salad. =)

• 1 big handful of cooked puy lentils
• 1/4 cucumber
• 4 cherry tomatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 red pepper
• 3 sun dried tomatoes
• Handfull chives
• squeeze lemon juice

Grate the carrot and chop the veg. Mix with the lemon juice.