Gingered Smoked Tofu Pasta/ Noodles

We’ve tried and tested this recipe as both a pasta and noodle sauce and its great with both. I bet it would be just as good in rice too.

Here’s also our best ever way of cooking tofu for any pasta/ stir fry recipe (4).

smoked tofu

4 garlic cloves – we used smoked garlic too!

4 spring onions

1 piece of root ginger

3 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp basil/ mixed herbs

1 tbsp swiss vegetable boulion (stock)

50g vegan butter

pinch of salt/ pepper

1. If using pasta put it on to simmer with a pinch of stock.
2. Chop the garlic ginger and spring onions finely.
3. Add them to a pot with the tomato paste and herbs. Simmer.
4. Chop the tofu into bite sized chunks. Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the tofu and deep fry on each side until golden. Sprinkle with salt and pepper while frying.  (This is the best way we’ve found for cooking tofu- it came from Masterchef!)
5. If you are using noodles put them on to simmer with a pinch of stock.
6. Drain and coat your pasta/ noodles in the sauce, top with the tofu and some salad leaves.

Super Vegetable Soup!

Full of vitamins and colour to get over a cold or a hangover. =) Though theres loads of ingredients a big saucepan of this will last you a week so it’s worth it. Freezable too.

When we got fed up of just soup we had it poured over plain rice then as a pasta sauce. You could also mix it in with some lentils or mince to make a spaghetti bolognese/ shepherds pie or try it as a sauce with mash.

1/2 squash peeled and cubed

1/2 courgette sliced

1 red pepper chopped

1 large red onion chopped

2 sticks of celery sliced

1/2 leak sliced

2 carrots chopped

2 potatoes chopped

handful of black olives chopped

a handful of mixed seeds

1/2 chilli chopped

3 cloves of garlic chopped

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp vegetable stock

1 tsp paprika

6 tomatoes, skinned and chopped

3 cabbage leaves de-stalked and shredded

handful of fine beans chopped

1 tin of kidney beans (or dried and soaked equivalent)

1 tin of butter beans (or dried and soaked equivalent)

1. Chop all of the vegetables into bite sized pieces.

2. Put everything exempt the cabbage, fine beans, kidney and butter beans and olives into a big pot.

3. Pour over water to cover. Put on a lid.

4. Simmer for 20-30 mins until everything’s soft.

5. 5 minutes before serving add the ingredients you had left out (from 2).

Refried Bean Pasties

Supper easy and perfect for any party, picnic or gathering.

1 sheet of ready-made puff pastry, or you could make your own.

1 tin of refried beans, or again make your own, though I haven’t done this for years as it takes so long!

1.Cut the pastry into rectangles.

2.Put one or two spoonfuls of beans into the middle.

3.Fold in half and pinch together the edges.

4.As the mix gets pretty runny when hot I folded the edge in again just in case.

5. Oven cook until golden about 15-20 mins.

The inside was very meaty, with a lovely taste of refried beans but also very soft and squashy.

We thought that to make this mix even better you could add a small amount of vegan saus-mix which would add texture.

The Embassy Cafe/ Cathays Community Centre

A new discovery on Cathays Terrace, Cardiff. Embassy Cafe.

This small cafe offers a great range of vegetarian and vegan food with a weekly changing menu; baguettes, soup, salads, hot meals and cakes.

The cafe is not for profit running to support the community centre linked to it.

The staff are lovely and friendly and the space is light and informal.

We got a hummus, sun dried tomato and salad baguette (£3 each), an Americano and green tea. All of it was very tasty and we can’t wait to try more.

As a plus Cardiff Life Model Collective, which I model, tutor, organise and everything else for, run sessions upstairs there every Monday evening 6-8pm, £5 pp. Get there at 5.30pm for a cup of tea and a chat before we start.

Pledge Vegan

So you’re sick of the food scandals? Don’t want to eat horse or other unnamed animals?

Want to live healthier? Want to live life without causing suffering to others?

Want to try out the colourful varied diet of fruit and vegetables?

Pledge to be vegan for 30 days and get the support of PETA.

Now I know of at least two vegetarians who decided they could last without meat for one month and never went back. One is me and the other a friend I bet later on. It could change your life. It could just be an experience. There’s no reason not to try.

*Below text taken from Peta’s site.

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2055

Change your life for the better and save the lives of animals by pledging to be vegan! 

Sign the pledge to follow a vegan diet, and we’ll send you an e-mail with our top tips on the best places to eat out, our favorite recipes, the tastiest animal-friendly snacks, and the most delicious prepackaged vegan meals. PETA has all the information you need to adopt a healthy and humane vegan diet!

With the huge selection of delicious vegan meats and alternatives to dairy foods and eggsavailable, there’s no excuse not to give a vegan diet a try.

If you’re already vegan, you can still help animals by becoming a “pledge recruiter.” Click here to ask your friends and family to take the pledge to be vegan!

Sign the pledge to be vegan now!

Pledge to Be Vegan

Full Petition Text:

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Signed,
[Your Name]

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Fruit Salad

clementine or juicy orange segments

banana  chopped

apple chopped

pear chopped

mixed seeds

mint leaves

agave syrup

1. Chop all of the fruit into bite sized pieces an mix in a large bowl with the seeds.

2. Shred the mint leaves and mix in along with a big squeeze of agave syrup.

Fresh Fruity Rice

This dish is refreshing and filling with very few ingredients.

Long grain rice

Juice of; 1 lemon

1 lime

1 orange + zest

Mixed nuts such as cashews, walnuts, pistachios. Chopped roughly.

Sultanas/ Raisins

stock

water

Leak or spring onion. Thinly sliced

1. Put the raisins in a bowl add the stock, hot water, orange juice and segments. Wait until the raisins plump and remove orange segments.

2. Put the crushed nuts onto a baking tray and bake at a low heat for a short time until browning.

3. Fry the leak if you are using it.

4. Add to the leak the rice, orange zest, lemon, lime juice and plumped raisins with juice. If you are using the spring onions add now.

5. Put a lid on the rice and allow to simmer undisturbed for 20 minutes.

6. Once the rice is cooked stir in the nuts, separating the rice with a fork.

Serve on a bed of soft leaves such as lettuce or spinach. Great hot or cold.

Nelson Pizza

I discovered this weekend that my local pizza delivery place can do a vegan pizza!

To find out if yours can just ask what they make their bases out of and ask for a no cheese topping. Viola.

Nelson Pizza does take away and delivery in two sizes of pizza, which they make to order.

Their Vegetarian pizza is lovely pack full of veg and they offer a Hot Vegetarian too. You can also make your own pizza from a choice of toppings.

The vegetarian 7″ costs £4.70 and the 12″ £8.70.

Warning; while Pizza Hut don’t put milk in their normal pizza bases Dominoes do. It pays to check with each company you buy from.

Pie and Peas Pudding

Ultimate comfort food,  a good pie and peas pudding mash.

The Pie;

Pastry;

Butter 50g

Flour equal parts to flour

Water (a tinny splash)

Pepper to taste

1. Rub the flour and butter together into bread crumbs with the pepper.

2. Add the water a tiny bit at a time until it just sticks.

3. sprinkle flour on the surface and roll until very thin.

4. fold into thirds with a tiny blob of butter between folds.

5. turn 45 degrees and repeat 4 and turn as many times as you can stand!

Pie mix;

handful of chickpeas

handful of adzuki beans

handful of tvp chunks (optional)

onions thickly sliced

mushrooms in chunky slices

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp stock

vegetable gravy

1. Put the chickpeas and beans on to soak overnight if they are dried.

2. Put them on to simmer with the tvp chunks until completely soft.

3. Mix pastry, put mix in fridge.

4. Fry the onions until soft, add the mushrooms and turmeric.

5. Use some of the water from the beans to make up the gravy. Add the tomato paste and stock too.

6. Mix all of the ingredients together.

7. Roll out the pastry and line a greased pie pot with it.

8. Pour in the mix, fill right to the top.

9. Put on a pastry lid, squeeze down the sides. Use a fork to make small holes in the top.

10. Oven cook until golden brown on top, about 30 min at 180.

Look at my other pie recipes too.

Peas Pudding;

Yellow split peas

1 tsp Swiss vegetable Bouillon (stock)

Vegan Butter

Lots of water.

1. Soak the peas overnight.

2. Boil in a big pan for 30 minutes, or until soft. Add a quarter of a block of butter just before it’s done.

3. Blend the peas. The more water you use the runnier the mix will be when hot.

4. Reheat.

(When cold peas pudding goes really firm so you can slice it for salad, sandwiches or on toast. yum.)

Spicy Noodle Soup

This soup is a long time favourite, we discovered it in Iceland’s, Reykjavik, Noodle Station.

It is so simple, tasty and filling as you eat it in giant bowl fulls.

The really great thing about this dish is it’s versatility it can taste however you like and adding the spices yourself means its a great dinner party dish.

noodles – make sure they’re not egg, here they are brown rice.

lots of water

spring onions

bean sprouts

celery with leaves chopped

optionally choose; leak/ carrot julien/ spinach/ courgette/ mushrooms/ pepper/ baby sweetcorn

swiss vegetable bouillon (stock)

chinese five spice

finely chopped nuts

chilli flakes

tabasco sauce

1. Put all of the water, stock, spice, spring onions, celery and any veg into a big pot. Boil until the veg is soft.

2. In a separate pot simmer the noodles for a few minutes until soft.

3. Ladle the soup into a big bowl, add the bean sprouts.

4. On top  add the noodles.

5.Each person can mix in the nuts, chilli and tabasco sauce to taste.