BBQ!

The sun finally came out and so it is the time of year for BBQ’S!

Here is a quick to pull together, tinfoil and bread free BBQ. =)

2 corn on the cobs

Kebabs;

small mushrooms

garlic

onion

courgette

cherry/ plum tomatoes

yellow pepper

Asparagus with sauce;

asparagus

diced 1/4 onion

hummus (I used asparagus, broad beans and mint hummus from Tesco! Yum!)

coriander

vegan butter

an optional side salad – try the rainbow salad!

• First chop all of the vegetables; the cobs in half, veg for the kebabs bite sized, de-stalk the mushrooms for stuffing and half the asparagus.
• Next (as the cobs are not wrapped in foil) boil them for 6 mins or so.
• Then make the garlic butter for the mushrooms; chop 3 or less – to taste garlic cloves into small pieces and cream with plenty of butter. Spoon into the mushroom caps.
• Now have some fun making up your kebab skewers.
• Finally put the onion, coriander, asparagus and a big blob of butter into a pot you can cover.
• Preparation done- now BBQ! Eat as it cooks.
• Corn should be browned slightly, these are best served with butter and maybe a bit of vegan woucester sauce.
• Kebabs should also be slightly browned and are great with a whole range of sauces, hummus, tomato, woucester, anything…
• The mushrooms will be soft with all of the garlic butter melted. Just pop in your mouth. =)
•  The asparagus should be slightly softened and onions soft. To make their delicious sauce mix a little water into some hummus and stir into the pan.

This left two people stuffed and happy. =)

Three Course Meal!

A delicious three course meal combining crisp fresh flavours in the starter, with a comforting main and sweet dessert.

Salad;

2 little gem lettuces

green leaves  i.e. spinach/ lambs lettuce

3 spring onions

Sweet but sharp dressing;

1 lemon juiced

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp agave syrup

1/2 tsp sweet fruit juice from the semolinas date mix

1.Chop the lettuce and spring onions thickly. Mix with the green leaves.

2.Mix the dressing ingredients together until completely combined.

3.Toss the salad in the dressing add salt and pepper to taste.

Peanut Falafels;

1 tin chickpeas/ soaked dried chickpeas.

tahini paste 1/2 tsp

cumin seed 1/2 tbsp

turmeric 1 tsp

1heaped tsp peanut butter

semolina flour to thicken

1 red onion

2 garlic cloves

1. Chop and fry onion and garlic

2. Blend mix of chickpeas, tahini, cumin, turmeric and peanut butter with water, allow some chunky pieces to remain.

3. Add the onion, garlic and flour.

(Add the flour a tiny amount at a time until the mix is thick enough to form balls.)

4. Roll the balls in some more semolina flour to give them a crispy outer layer.

5. Fry gently, until all golden, no oil is needed.

Served with spelt cooked with vegetable stock and mediteranian vegetables.

Cinnamon Semolina;

semolina flour

milk

melted butter 1 tbsp

cinnamon about 1 tsp – to taste

light brown sugar 3 tbsp

1. mix flour with milk until you have a runny mix, pour in melted butter,

2. add powdered cinnamon and sugar.

3. pour into a dish and oven cook for about 20 mins until firm and golden.

Sauce;

raisins,

chopped dates,

water,

demerara sugar

1.Mix all of the ingredients in a pot and allow to simmer until thick.

Nut topping;

mixed nuts chopped small

honey 2 tbsp

milk 1tbsp

1. pan roast the nuts in a large frying pan.

2. add honey and milk, reduce until very sticky and thick.

3. spread thinly and allow to cool and harden

Rainbow Salad

handful of mixed seeds

inner celery stalks

soft salad leaves – lambs lettuce

red pepper

red onion

cucumber

carrot grated

coriander

chop all of the vegetables into bite sized chunks.

put them in a tub with a lid along with the seeds, close the lid and shake well.

squeeze half a lime over all of it, this tastes good and helps keep it fresh.

Optional Dressing;

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp agave syrup

mix thoroughly together.

For the tastiest salad wrap ever;

a large whole wheat wrap

tomato sauce

mustard

lime

small cooked beetroot sliced

pepper

salt

hummus

1.In the centre of the wrap spread a spoon full of hummus

2.On top add tomato sauce, them mustard, a squeeze of lime, finally the beetroot.

3.Spoon on salad and garish with salt and pepper.

Stunning

Flapjacks

All of the measurements are approximate- just add more or less of anything you think it needs as you go.

Really tasty fruity flapjack full of energy, perfect for taking walking, on picnics or long drives. Served here with a (vegan) blueberry alpro yogurt.

200g vegan Butter

200g Brown sugar

250g Oats

50g Flour

2 tbsp Golden syrup

1 tbsp Fruit jam

25g Raisins

25g Chopped nuts

25g Glazed cherries

25g Chopped dates

 

1. Melt the butter sugar syrup and jam together in a pot.
2. Add the oats and flour. Mix well.
3. Add the fruit and nuts continue to mix.
4. Add extra oats if the mix is still sticky.
5. Flatten into a baking tin/ cake tin.
6. Cook for 20 minutes until golden brown.
7. Score cut lines while still hot from the oven. Allow to cool.

Inspired by….

Just a quick post really but we have been watching lots of Masterchef, for me the watching experience swings between annoyance at the dependence upon meat on some of the shows… literally you can find whole meals without a single vegetable! And joy at thinking up cunning ways to replace the meat and steal the idea to make a scrumptious feast, learning awesome new ways to cook food, like making supper creamy mash and gorgeous tofu.

But for my enthusiastic partner it is pure food fuel and he’s been making pureed, gourmet , fiddly feasts almost nightly. We then slowly pick apart the meal with criticisms and improvement suggestions. Seriously this is a really fun way to cook and eat.

Here is an example of an early dish, though I could not tell you everything in it I can tell you that the protein is tofu, the sauce contains chocolate, the purees contain mashed potato and mashed carrot.

Stuffed Mushrooms

This is a gorgeous bread free breakfast, brunch or lunch. Really fresh and lovely.

The recipe originally came from Vegan, Over 90 Mouthwatering Recipes. The original recipe asks you to oven cook the mushrooms with the cooked mix inside but we found the mushrooms let out too much water this way.

Large flat mushrooms

2 spring onions

1/2 red pepper

1/2 courgette

4 olives

2 tbsp oats

1 tbsp basil

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp lime juice

salad to serve

1. Remove the stalks from the mushrooms. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and place the mushrooms top down to fry.

2. In a small saucepan heat some oil and fry the chopped mushroom stalks, spring onions, pepper, courgette, olives and oats until the oats are golden. Stir in the basil, soy sauce and lime juice.

3. Turn the mushrooms and fry the bottoms.

4. Pile the oat mixture into the mushrooms and grill for a few seconds.

5. Serve on a bed of salad leaves.

Walk/ Hike Food.

CAMP FOOD; IN ASSOCIATION WITH WALES OUTDOORS

Here you’ll find some great food ideas from ‘The Crazy Vegan Lady‘ for walks, days on the hill and expeditions. She’s a Wales Outdoors Instructor you know 🙂 She goes a bit crazy on the water although I think there are times when water ought to be carried. Personally I usually drink from a stream, but don’t tell anyone that 🙂 Look out from some future posts from our vegan chef – a la carte meal ideas coming soon!

WALKING SUSTENANCE BY THE CRAZY VEGAN LADY

I am an avid walker, always have been, and what food to take on what walk is always the last thing to think about, but it is very important. Especially if you are planning on spending a long period of time away from civilisation.

Here are some ideas of what to take.

Day long Hike:

• Full water bottle per person.
• Piece of fruit each ie banana/ apple.
• Chocolate bar/ cake each – sugar can be important if you get tired, especially in cold weather.

On longer walks it is important to make sure that you’re calorie intake remains high, you do not have a lower sugar or water intake as these things will make you tired and get cold quicker. Make sure you have enough water to last until you can next refill.

Weekend hike:

• Water
• Tea
• Chocolate/ sugary sweets
• Heavy Bread – this will keep better than normal bread
• Filling i.e. small tin of pate, or vegan slicing sausage
• Bananas/ apples/ oranges
• Either lentil or pasta meal below
• Oats sugar/ agave syrup

Week + hike

• Water
• Lentils
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Onion
• Garlic
• Stock cubes
• Oats
• Dried Raisins
• Agave syrup/ sugar
• Bananas
• Other fruit- orange/ apples
• Powdered soup/ dried noodles
• Pasta
• Tomato paste
• Tea
• Chocolate bars/ sugary sweets
• Flapjack ready-made

The pasta and lentils can be cooked with the other ingredients to make a good hot meal when camped up. Powdered soups are a good back up or pit stop when walking and oats are a vital slow energy breakfast food. Chocolate and flapjacks are good sources of sugar and energy. Some chocolate should be kept hidden at the bottom of you bag as an emergency sugary food, keep any perishable foods near the top of your bag and eat these first.

Spread the water throughout your bag to spread the weight, you need to plan to refill along your route. Don’t try to carry more than you are able to, if a bag is too heavy look through to find out what you can cut down on or make lighter.

Find this post and more outdoor information at the Wales Outdoors Blog.

Don’t forget

this months food festivals in Manchester and Exeter!

April;

13th Northern Vegan Festival, Manchester

26th-28th Exeter Festival of South West food & Drink

 

See my events page for more foody events.

The Curry Leaf, Exeter

South Indian restaurant which can be found on North Street of Exeter.

The staff here are very understanding and friendly. Vegetarian food is listed separately from the meats so it is easy to spot and you can ask your waiter what contains dairy. The only thing I missed asking is what it was cooked in, butter or oil? But I will definitely be back and will ask next time…

We ate there at lunchtime and had;

the lunchtime special £6 (which did contain a piece of cheese).

Appam (a kind of yeast based pancake) with Vegetable Stew £6.50, which was egg an milk free.

Aaloo Paratha (bread) £2.75

Mint tea £?

I have got to say this was the best indian I have ever eaten!

The menu was interesting containing both classics you’d expect and some unusual dishes. Everything was spiced beautifully and well-balanced, presented well, not over priced – just sublime.

We could not stop talking about how much we were enjoying the food.

If you are in or around Exeter I would definitely recommend a visit.

http://www.curryleafexeter.net/

 

 

“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian.” Sir Paul McCartney

Usually I disagree with the kind of shock image campaign that animal right groups go for to try to appeal to the publics compassion. It ruins my day. Quite literally I spend the rest of it upset and moody.

But more every day, week and year I am tired by people, people I know and love, who are otherwise intellectual and understanding making themselves blind to suffering. Without cause people fight any vegetarian or animal rights argument by simply not wanting to know. Ignorance is not bliss it is suffering.

To make people listen you need your facts straight, so I’m on a mission.

I’m currently reading

Meat Market; Animals, Ethics & Money by Eric Marcus,

and on the lookout for more reads. If you know any let me know!

Meat market is not focussed on vegetarianism and so is something I hope I can begin to introduce meat eaters to. It is focussed on ethical farming and provides strong, detailed and graphic arguments against factory farming balanced with the little thought about home truths of organic and free range farms. It is a few years old published in 2005 and based in America which leaves wriggle room for those uncomfortable with the idea of their own involvement in the extreme suffering of animals.

Which is why I’m on the lookout for some more up to date UK books. Again let me know what you’ve read!

I am currently still only half way through the book. The nature of its content has so far made it draining to read and so slow as I go at it in short bursts. But also so useful in keeping myself going with the vegan aims and certainly helpful in conversation as I’d hoped.

No thinking, caring being should look at the suffering of another and actively contribute to it.

Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds them. We live by the death of others. We are burial places.
—Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519)

Images here come from the Facebook group Animal Cruelty Exposed

The reason I had to get this off my system today is one typical conversation too far. I was told that the person I’m staying with knows what he likes and doesn’t have time to cook anyway. That’s an excuse for such  brash lack of care. It’s not good enough.