Old Fashioned People-Food

I realize it's been a while since I wrote a good, down-home post about yummy food - not fancy, hip-widening baked goods or even arty-farty doggie cookies, but good, honest, nourishing people-food. So it's about time I rectified that with a few musings on soup: split-pea soup, to be exact.

I live in New England and, given that January is not traditionally the warmest month of the year, I decided that tonight was the perfect night for stick-to-your-ribs green pea soup from none other than Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Vegan Table



Now, for the price of a few split peas, onions, potatoes, veg stock, sundry herbs and an hour of your time, you end up with this:





To achieve this effect here's what you need and what you do...

You will need:

2 cups green split peas, rinsed and picked over
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
6-7 cups vegetable stock
2 creamy potatoes, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp liquid smoke

salt and pepper to taste


What you do:

This is simplicity itself!
Put everything, apart from the salt and pepper, into a large soup pot and cook for about an hour. Serve.


I had mine with a fresh salad and I'll confess that I think it's absolutely the best vegan 'pea and ham soup' (as we knew it back in Ole Blighty) I've ever had!




Try it - you'll see what I mean!

Stay vegan, friends!

Vegan Mo-Fo!

Today marks the start of Vegan MoFo - a month-long tour around the world of great vegan food! We've had to wait eleven long months for this but *finally* it's here!!! So what does it mean? Well, it's an effort to flood the interwebs with images and recipes for yummy cruelty-free food and raise awareness of what we all know to be true: Compassion tastes delicious!

Cookies, cakes, pies, stews, bakes, salads, sandwiches, wraps, drinks, snacks, soups, candies, casseroles...the list goes on and on! So put your diet on hold and stay tuned - all of this, and more, is coming your way!

Happy MoFo-ing and stay vegan, friends!

Oh, to be on 'island time'.....

One of the real indulgences I have come to enjoy in the past couple of years is the annual pilgrimage My Beloved and I have made to commune with the fishes. We're both keen SCUBA divers and - being Brits through and through - love the warm waters of the Caribbean. In past years, we've made aquatic acquaintances, fishy friends and marine mates with turtles, sharks, squid, rays, one now famous and beloved octopus, and sundry other reef dwellers in the waters off Tortola and Cayman Brac.

This year, however, with the state of the economy as it is, we felt it financially 'prudent' to remain home and not commit to such an unnecessary expense.

However, it seems that I may be missing the trip even more than I thought I would. And perhaps this would explain my sudden and overpowering urge to create the perfect vegan Caribbean Ginger Cake. The recipe I had from years ago makes liberal use of animal products in the form of butter and eggs so I decided to do away with all of that and this is the result:




It is super moist and sticky with a dense and chewy crumb that'll have you reaching for a second slice before you know what's hit you. Studded with chopped candied ginger, it packs a little heat and an element of surprise.....

Here's the recipe, if you'd like to give it a try. You will need:

(wet things)
3/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup non-dairy butter (I like the Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)
1/2 cup ginger beer (note: not ginger ale - good powerful ginger beer!)
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped coarsely
2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 whole over-ripe banana, mashed
2 tbsp dark rum

(dry things)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Here's what you do:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease/line a 9"x 9" baking pan
2. In a large saucepan (actually, I use a saute pan, but who cares?!?!) gently melt the non-dairy butter with the molasses, brown sugar, candied ginger, fresh ginger and the ginger beer. While this is melting, mash your banana and stir the rum into it. Turn off the heat under the saute pan and then add the banana-rum-goo and stir well to combine. (In the original recipe, the molasses mix had to be left to cool as the next stage was to add in some beaten egss...see, veganizing it makes the recipe not only more compassionate but quicker too!)
3) Next onto the dry ingredients: into a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and powdered ginger. Stir with a clean spoon to mix.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mix well and pour the batter into your prepared pan.
5. Bake 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

You could leave it to cool and frost the top thickly with a basic vegan lemon cream cheese frosting or just serve it with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Which is my preference.

OK, so it's not the same as swimming with the fishes but an afternoon in a sun-splattered garden with a fruity little cocktail in one hand and a slab of this in the other...well, I can always pretend I'm on 'island time', right?

Eat well and stay vegan, friends!

Jumping on The Table

Please forgive me if this is a case of jumping on the bandwagon but I can refrain no longer from saying a few words about the newest addition to my cookbook arsenal - Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's 'The Vegan Table'.



I am lucky enough to own a copy and it has opened my eyes to all manner of new taste sensations. With the emphasis firmly on sensations!

Divided into occasion- and season-themed chapters, The Vegan Table gives menu and recipe guidance for every occasion - from a romantic night-in for two to catering a formal dinner for ten. Now it is true that I personally will never be in the position of having to cater such a large gathering - the anxiety would just about kill me! - but, with a mite of common sense, each recipe can easily be scaled to your specific requirements.

And, for me, what elevates this above the myriad other cookbooks 'out there' are the supplemental sidebars - the mini discussions of common issues for vegans such as turkeys and Thanksgiving, embracing our ethics, and consciousness-raising. It is so much more than a recipe book: it's a survival guide....and a mighty elegant one at that!

Check it out and stay vegan, friends!

Sweet Freedom!

Yesterday I won big.

And when I say big I mean BIG!

Huge!

This much in fact: 'a prize of Three hundred thousand Euros only (Ђ300,000.00) and a laptop.'

Did you see that? 'and a laptop'....well, that just blows me away!

And today, my luck continued when I received the following by email:

CONGRATULATIONS

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just clouded annual final draws of YAHOO FAIR LONDON international programs. You are therefore been approve to claim the sum of £850,000.00Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand POUNDS.

Erm, that equates to around $399,637.74 + $1,285,592.32 = $1, 685, 230.06c according to my pencil and paper calculation.

Oh and let's not forget the laptop of course!!!!

However I have not yet won what I **really** want to win: Sweet Freedom!

And no, I don't necessarily mean from my day job (although of course were the above notifications genuine, I would already be sunning it up on a Caribbean beach with My Beloved, swinging in a hammock under a palm tree, sipping on a fruity little rum concoction, drowsily watching the hibiscus come in and out of focus while deciding what useful vegan thing I could do with the rest of my life...), nooooo....I mean 'Sweet Freedom', the new cookbook by Ricki Heller of dietdessertndogs.com.

OK, OK, I'll wait until it's published on May 15th - the day after my birthday, it should be noted! - to purchase a copy of what promises to be a fantastic set of recipes for delectables utterly free of eggs, dairy, wheat and refined sugars.

But it would be awesome if I could win a copy....just to cap off an extremely lucky week!

Stay vegan, friends!

Oh, and go buy a copy for yourselves!!!!!

A Trio of Treats

After the last post, I really have to write something fun and frivolous. And so, here's a trio of treats for you...as long as you are 'of the canine persuasion'.



'Up the Apples and Pears'


You will need:

2 cups wholewheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup brown rice, cooked and cooled
1 cup finely chopped apple
1 cup finely chopped pear
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup hot water
2 tbsp peanut butter

1. Pre-heat your oven to 325.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, apple, pear, rice and cinnamon.

3. Dissolve the peanut butter in the hot water to make a thick sort of slurry. (OK, it won't actually 'dissolve' as such, but you'll make a thin paste which allows the peanut butter to disperse more easily into the dry ingredients.)

4. Mix the wet into the dry and bring together to form a thick dough. If it's tough going with a wooden spoon, feel free to channel your inner child and get your hands in the bowl and squeeeeeeeze the dough together. Go on, it's very therapeutic!

5. Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and roll into a large circle.

6. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

7. Cut into bite-size pieces and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes. At the end of this second 30 minute stint, turn the oven off leaving the cookies inside to dry out completely.

Once they are cooled, perform a taste-test with your favourite furry companion...s/he'll love you forever!


****************************


'The Top Banana!'

This is a favourite of Darwin (The Beagle) Dog who seems to fancy himself as something of a top banana....


You will need:

2 1/4 cups wholewheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
1/4 cup dried banana chips, chopped
1 cup warm water
2 tbsp peanut butter

1. Pre-heat your oven to 325.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, rolled oats, chopped peanuts and chopped banana chips, reserving one whole banana chip per dog.

3. Dissolve the peanut butter in the hot water to make a thick sort of slurry. (See above recipe for long-winded caveat/explanation of this process...)

4. Mix the wet into the dry and bring together to form a thick dough.

5. Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and roll into a large circle.

6. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

7. Cut into bite-size pieces using a knife or a pizza wheel. Because it's a chunky sort of recipe, it doesn't really lend itself to cutting out cute dog-bones or hydrant shapes, so just go with the strips or squares...your dog really won't care!

8. Return to the oven for a further 30 minutes. At the end of this second 30 minute stint, turn the oven off leaving the cookies inside to dry out completely.

But what of the reserved banana chip of step #2?? Well, since the cookies will be too warm to eat for a while after they come out of the oven, it might be prudent to have a little something to assuage the anxiety of the eventual recipient....it works for me!


****************************


'The Utterly Nutterly'

In honour of Humphrey The (Wiener)Hound who is, it cannot be denied, somewhat nuts...but in a good way....possibly.....

You will need:

2 cups wholewheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup ground peanuts
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
2 tbsp peanut oil
1 cup warm water
2 tbsp peanut butter

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, rolled oats, ground peanuts and sunflower seeds.

3. Dissolve the peanut butter in the hot water to make a thick sort of slurry. Add to this the peanut oil.

4. Mix the wet into the dry and bring together to form a thick dough.

5. Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and roll into a large circle.

6. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

7. Cut into bite-size pieces using a knife or a pizza wheel and return to the oven for a further 15-20 minutes to bake hard.


*****************

Sprinkle the cookies liberally into the life of your favourite canine/s. Accompany each serving with a hug, chin tickle or simple pat on the head. And enjoy....

Stay vegan, friends!

Recipe: The 'Toothsome Tuscan Treat'

The weekend would not be the weekend without a trip out with the boys to run in the woods. And being that one of the boys is a beagle, and therefore ruled by his nose, and the other is a wannabeagle, and therefore ruled by his big brother's nose, it is vitally important to take plenty of irresistable treats, to ensure good recall.

And so, yesterday, we used up all of the remaining pup treats thus:

The SurfDog

The Thinker

The Recall

The Reward

Thanks!

So it was time to devise another canine cookie....so may I now present: the 'Toothsome Tuscan* Treat'

You will need:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (ooohh, cheesiness!)
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (salty, yummy and weird-looking)
1/2 cup cooked pasta (excellent way to use up leftovers)
3/4 cup water

1. Preheat your oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Boil a kettle and pour approx. 3/4 cup water over the sun-dried tomatoes to rehydrate. This will take about 10 minutes (the rehydrating...not the pouring).
3. In a large bowl, combine the wholewheat pastry flour, baking powder, nutritional yeast and the canola oil.
4. Finely dice the cooked pasta. I used penne which diced into cute little rings, amusing me no end. I am easily amused, it seems. Add amusing pasta shapes to the flour mix.
5. When safe to do so, retrieve the now plump sun-dried tomatoes from the water reserving the soaking liquid and dice finely.
6. Add both the tomato bits and the 3/4 cup soaking liquid to the mix and stir well to combine. You may need to knead it a little to incorporate all of the pasta and tomatoes.
7. Turn out onto the baking sheet and roll the dough until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 30 minutes, cut into shapes and then bake a further 30 minutes.
8. After this second set of 30 minutes, turn off the oven but leave the cookies inside to get fully crunchy.




Yum!

Stay Vegan, Friends!
*If you're wondering 'Why Tuscan?', the truth is that I'm not sure. The pasta suggests Italian, and I like the alliterative qualities of 'tuscan' and 'toothsome'.....s'all!

And now for something 'a little different'....

Since I have been struggling this past week with a bad dose of the 'flu, I have not felt too much like cooking, writing about cooking or even really thinking about food. However, yesterday I started to feel a mite more like my old self and decided to pull out a few stops and 'Make Dinner'. Not only that, I thought I would document it for your delectation and delight!

My Beloved fancied something 'a little different' and to my surprise he chose a recipe from Dreena Burton's Eat, Drink and Be Vegan that combined sweet elements - in this case dried apricots - in a savory entree: Moroccan-Infused Vegetable Phyllo Rolls

This is what I started with.....

Loads of fresh produce, a can of chickpeas and some filo/phyllo dough

And once the vegetables were chopped they lined up glamourously like this:

From left to right the cast is as follows:

orange pepper, red pepper, yellow squash, onions, dried apricots, fennel bulb...and some whole cloves of garlic hiding shyly in the top left of the board.

In essence, this is a really easy recipe, but there *are* a couple of stages to get through so it's probably not a week-night option. First, you have to chop the veg and then collect together some seasonings to roast them in:

Headlining here are powdered ginger, cumin seeds, cinnamon, paprika, salt and black pepper.

Toss all of these into a large bowl along with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and combine well. Add in the chopped veg and make sure they get nicely coated. Roast on 425 for about 30 mins.

When they're done, mix them with a cup of chickpeas and about a half cup of freshly torn basil leaves. Now the mix will look somewhat like this:



Now the fun part: reduce the oven temperature to 375 and take your first sheet of filo/phyllo dough and brush it lightly with some olive oil. Place another sheet on top and repeat the process until you have about 6 sheets all stacked up.

Then take some of your mix and place it along the length of the dough sheets, folding it up burrito-style. I find it easiest to start with the long edge closest to you and fold the sides in gently as you roll this into a strudel shape. You can seal the final edge with a little olive oil if you like.

Place roll gently - seam-side down - onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and then brush the top lightly with olive oil so that it will brown nicely. I made one roll per person, but I am greedy so you could probably get by on one roll per couple. (But who wants to just 'get by'....I ask you!!!!)



OK, so when you have all of your rolls in a row, bake them for about 25-30 minutes until they are a gorgeous golden brown color and piping hot inside.


A glory shot courtesy of My Beloved who just wanted me to hurry up so he could get his tastebuds around this little lot!

So, I served them with garlic smashed potatoes and garlic-soy green and waxed beans. Oh and a nice glass of chardonnay. Perfect!



Plus a poached pear with vanilla ice-cream for dessert.....



...by god, the SHEER DEPRIVATION of the vegan lifestyle!
Ho Ho! ;)

Eat well and stay vegan, friends!

PS......watch this space for something else exciting to do with pears....coming soon! :)

When is a mousse not a mousse?

I am feeling distinctly under the weather. My Beloved has been battling the same thing for approx. a week now and, since one of my managers at work is also ill, I guess it was inevitable that I would come down with it. So, given that I have spent much of the day in bed, I thought I would post something light and fluffy to cheer myself up.

Lemon mousse, to be specific.

I have long wanted to create a vegan equivalent of those light and airy mousses I used to enjoy back when I ate dairy and eggs and this weekend My Beloved spotted a gorgeous raspberry mousse on the menu and could not resist. Settling for a rich dark coffee instead, I mused at how I might some day render this sweet treat cruelty-free.

So yesterday, just before the flu started to settle in, I tried out a recipe for lemon mousse which turned out delish but distinctly un-moussy. More like a pudding, in fact.



I don't yet have too much experience with pudding-type desserts, being more of a baker, but I really want to try to expand my repertoire and the recipe - which uses all of six ingredients - seemed like an easy way in. Here's what you do....

Take the following:

1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c soymilk
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 package (12 oz) silken tofu, drained

and

1. Place the sugar, soymilk and cornstarch in a saucepan and whisk until combined.
2. Heat gently until the mix comes to a simmer and starts to thicken.
3. Add in the lemon juice and stir well to incorporate.
4. Place the drained tofu into a food processor and pour in the sweetened lemon-soymilk mixture.
5. Process until an even and creamy texture is reached, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally to re-capture any tofu escapees!
6. Spoon into martini glasses and allow to cool. Chill and eat when you just can't stand it anymore!

Now, the amounts listed actually make four portions, but being the greedy vegan I am, I made only two.....Hmmmm....mistake! My Beloved and I shared one last evening and it really was too big. Try to resist making the super-sized portions that I made....your thighs will thank you!

It really isn't terribly mousse-like, so I guess my little experiment failed. But I will persist and perhaps next time come out with something closer to light and airy than to rich and creamy. But when failure tastes this good, I say 'Bring it on!'

Oh, and lastly...why not dress it all up a little with a shot of Limoncello and a few fresh blueberries.....oh mama!



Yummmmm.....



Eat well, stay well and stay vegan, friends! :)

Got a Date?

Dogs need love too...and what better way to show them than through homemade Valentine cookies? (Well, I suppose letting them sleep on the couch, chase the mailman and drink out of the toilet is probably what they'd prefer, but for the sake of my sanity I'm just going to express my love via the humble cookie!)

Being owned by a beagle and a wannabeagle, I have been highly trained in the art of cookie-giving. Long, loooooong years have been spent in patient repetition of the cookie-drop stance and, by Jove, I think I finally have it!

However, what is the use of being so gifted if you never actually have the chance to practice what they've drummed into you? And since most commercial dog cookies are out because they contain other animals, these vegan pups of mine have suggested strongly that I begin experimenting with making my own. And so, it is with great fanfare that I unveil the latest round of vegan cookies for our canine friends. These latest little nuggets of joy are a real winner so I am excited to share the recipe!

'Got-a-Date-With-Brown-Rice-and-Sweet-Potato Cookie Delights for Dogs'


Here's what you need:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sweet potato, finely diced
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked and cooled
3 tbsp chopped dates (5-6 whole dates, approx)
2 tbsp canola oil
3/4 cup water

- Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees
- Mix your flour and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Add in the rice, sweet potato and chopped dates and mix so that they are nicely distributed.
- Make a well in the center of the bowl and add first the canola and then the water.
- Mix well and - when it is almost completely mixed in - abandon your wooden spoon in favour of your hands. Knead gently for a minute or so.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and turn the dough out onto it.
- Press it down with your hands and then roll out thinly (to about 1/4 inch thick).
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 mins.

Now comes the fun part. Once you remove the baking sheet from the oven you can go ahead and cut the whole huge cookie into bitesize pieces. In the past I have found that a pizza wheel makes life really simple in this regard: first cut long strips and then turn the tray through 90 degrees and cut across again to form squares.

At this point, you'll notice that the cookies are still relatively soft. And this is the key: once you've cut the one giant cookie into many smaller ones, put the tray back in the oven for a further 30 minutes - biscotti-style!

After 30 minutes, turn the oven off, but leave the cookies inside to dry out even more and to cool. That way, they have that awesome crunchiness that doggies the world over will sit up and beg for!

Anyways, given the Valentine's Day connection, I felt Darwin (the Loud) and Humphrey (the Small and Irritating) deserved little bits of my heart instead.



Happy Valentine's Day, friends...and stay vegan!

I (heart) Leftovers...

A casual conversation at work today started me thinking about time. Not in a profound 'What Is The Nature of Time?' or 'Are We Living a Post-Temporal Reality?' kind of way, but ruminating more along the lines of how chronically busy people are and how they seem to have little time to actually cook.

And, unpopular as this observation may prove to be, it seems to me that time is not really the issue - motivation is. Let me explain....

My friend at work was saying she was pushed for time to actually cook from scratch but was uncomfortable relying on frozen/canned/packet foods. She is a busy person, works full-time and hard, has a life and myriad responsibilities and is probably pretty typical in this regard. Anyways, she'd noticed my lunch (leftovers from last night's dinner) and made flattering comments on how good it looked. And so I launched into the talk about how cooking fresh food does not necessarily have to be more time consuming than eating convenience foods.

But it quickly became apparent to me that actually this is not necessarily so.

And thinking about it all a little more, I realised that I am fighting a losing battle trying to convince someone in this argument. It will *always* be quicker to stop at McDonald's on the way home or throw an oven-ready pizza in the microwave than to put together a home-cooked dinner - whether vegan or otherwise. But as the light dawned, it also hit me that the question needs to be reframed. It should be positioned not as 'Do I have time to cook something for dinner tonight?' but rather as 'Do I have time to be sick later in life?'.

Because every vegetable I chop, every leaf of spinach I wash, every bean I rinse is an investment not only *of time* at that moment but an investment *in time* for my own future.

And that is motivation for me.

Oh, and food like this too....

Nava Atlas' Seitan and Polenta Skillet with Fresh Greens.

It starts with these:

1 tube polenta, sliced and quartered
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 lb seitan, cut into strips (actually I used a couple of fauxsages instead)
4-6 stalks of bok choy, sliced
5-6 oz baby spinach
4 scallions, sliced
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

And it's simpicity itself!

1. Saute the polenta wedges in a little of the olive oil and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining oil and soy sauce and saute the seitan for about 5 mins. Add in the bok choy, spinach and scallions.
3. Cover and cook until the greens are nicely wilted.
4. Spinkle the vinegar over the greens mix and fold in the cooked polenta and sun-dried tomatoes.
5. Season with salt and pepper if you like and serve.

Like this:



I added a few small red garlicky potatoes and the meal was complete. Plus there was enough for the now somewhat celebrated 'leftovers'.....

Bon appetit!
....and stay vegan, friends!

Sausages for All!

Even before becoming vegan, I had a hard time with sausages. I loved, loved, loved them - so handy, so portable, so easy to incorporate into a snack or a solid meal! But for several years before I made the switch to the vegan lifestyle I had been unable to eat pigs anyhow, so had restricted my (deluded) self to chicken and beef sausages. But, having finally seen sense, I reconciled myself to this being a food, like cheese, that I'd just have to deal with really missing.

Enter the Sausage, Reborn!

I happened across a recipe for vegan sausages and gave it a go.

Then My Beloved and I took it to the next level, by customising the base recipe, and I am tickled pink to report that sausages are welcome in our kitchen once again! Here's the basic recipe, which will make between 5 and 6 sausages, depending on how thick you like them:

1 vegan bouillon cube (enough to flavor 2 cups water, see below)
1 slice whole wheat bread, toasted and made into crumbs
1 cup vital wheat gluten (about 4.5 ounces or 127 grams)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon flax seeds, ground

1 cup cool water
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cashew butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce

And the recipe is simplicity itself. Yes, I know I always say that, but it really is sooooo much easier than growing a piglet....

1. Dissolve the bouillion cube in the water and set aside.

2. Combine all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and stir well. They will look like this:


The vital wheat gluten.


The toasted breadcrumbs.


My 'cheesy' favourite: nutritional yeast.


The herbs: clockwise from 12 o'clock - sage, thyme, black pepper, onion powder, marjoram, ground flax seeds, and nutmeg in the center.

BTW: this is what whole flax seeds look like:




3. Whisk together all of the wet ingredients (garlic, cashew butter, soy sauce, plus the 1 cup of stock) until the cashew butter is well dispersed. Prior to whisking, they look like this:




Plus, of course, the vegetable stock, but no-one photographs their veg stock, right?

4. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and stir until well mixed. If the mix seems dry to you, feel free to add more water. I do, frequently.

OK, so now you have the base sausages. This weekend, I made a double batch, halved it and then created one set of 'cajun spicy sausages' and the other of 'mexican tequila, lime and black bean'.

For the Cajun-spicy, add the following:

1/4 stp chilli flakes
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
dash of liquid smoke

For the Mexican-style, I used these:

1/2 oz tequila
1 oz lime juice
2 oz black beans
pinch of salt

These are very approximate measures as, by this point in the game, I was not exactly thinking 'scientifically', due to dwindling tequilla reserves....

Anyway, in either case, just add the extras in and mix.

Now, the fun starts when making up these little beauties. Grab some aluminium foil and tear into rectangles. Divide your mix into 5 or 6 equal-sized portions and plop each one down on the foil. Roll out gently to form a log shape and then roll up the foil, twisting the ends tightly. Once the sausages are wrapped in the foil it becomes easier to make them more regular in shape....just keep practicing, it's not hard! :)

Then all you have to do is to steam them for 35 mins.



When they're done, you can either leave them to go cold for a meal another day, or give in to temptation and try one right away. I have adopted both of these tactics and, although I know I should act my age and resist the urge for instant gratification, I find the second option infinitely preferable!

Stay Vegan, Friends!

Gingercake Giggles

I have taken soooo many food pix recently. Many. Many more than you'd believe. Especially as they've been staying in the camera and not actually seeing the light of day...

Too sad.....

So tonight I hope to remedy that a little - here's one of my newest creations:



Well, you didn't think you'd get the whole thing, did ya?!?!

I am still getting the hang of my new camera, so this is perhaps not the best gingercake photo of all time. But rest assured: it is the best **gingercake** you'll ever taste! And the recipe is mine, all mine, veganized by Yours Truly for your munching pleasure!

So here, without further ado, is the recipe....

You will need:

3/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 tbsp crystallised ginger, also minced
1/2 cup ginger beer (the dark, caribbean type one - not gingerale!)
1/2 cup applesauce
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup silken tofu
2 tbsp dark rum

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 9x9 cake pan
2. In a large saucepan over a low to moderate heat, mix together the molasses, sugar, ginger beer, fresh ginger, crystallised ginger and applesauce. When the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

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Vegan tip: in this recipe, the applesauce takes the place of the stick of butter you would otherwise have used and thus renders this cake ***fat-free***! So it's kind to your heart and kindhearted...at the same time! Imagine that! :)
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3. In a separate bowl, sieve together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground ginger, salt and other spices.
4. In a small bowl, mash up the silken tofu with a fork or hand whisk and combine with the rum.

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Vegan tip #2: the tofu replaces the 2 beaten eggs from the beaten bodies of the 'layer chickens' who would have suffered and labored for 30 hours apiece in the living hell that is their existence on a factory farm to produce those easily replaceable eggs for you.

Eggs vs tofu: it's a complete no-brainer!!
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5. Add the tofu/rum mix to the cooled mixture in the saucepan. Combine well.
6. Add the flour mix to the saucepan too and mix until all the dry ingredients are well mixed in.
7. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 30-40 mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a rack.
9. Place well away from small children, hungry husbands and acrobatic doggies....the smell as the cake cools may just prove toooooo tempting!

I frosted a slice or two with vegan cream cheese frosting, but didn't do the entire cake as I knew I'd be utterly powerless to resist locking myself in my room and eating the entire thing in one sitting.

You may chose to do otherwise!

And if you do, remember: it's fat-free!

So enjoy....

...and Stay Vegan, Friends!