Pita-bread and chickpea and mayo salad

I finally got around to making home made pita bread. While it was simple enough, I just don't think my oven gets hot enough to give a really good air bubble which in turn leaves a space for your fillings. Never the less, they were still delicious.

I filled them with a chickpea and mayo salad. My husband put in a chickpea cutlet.

This is what I did for the salad.

Get 1 cup of cooked chickpeas and mash with a good squeeze of dairy-free mayo. Mix these together well. Add some salt, pepper flat leaf parsley and some ground wakame (you can really use whatever seaweed you have around. If you only have nori, just pound them up. I had wakame strips so I ground them up in my mortar and pestle). You could also add finely diced celery/red capsicum.

This mix went into my pita bread and I put on some mixed lettuce. Yummo!

Pomegranate, raspberry and passionfruit sorbet

I was staring at my near empty fruit bowl and wondering what I could do with a passionfruit and a pomegranate. Then it hit me...SORBET! This turned out so lusciously. It is refreshing and sweet and the passionfruit seeds give it interest and texture.

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 fresh pomegranate
1 fresh passionfruit
A handful of fresh or frozen raspberries
1 cup castor sugar
1-2 cups of water-divided use


Method:

Put the sugar and 1 cup of water into a pan and place on a medium heat to dissolve the sugar.
Add the pomegranate seeds and juice to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes
Add the raspberries and simmer until they just fall apart.
Take off heat.
Pour the mixture into a sieve and push the seeds thru. This will give you a smooth mix as the pomegranate seeds really don't soften much. It also removes most of the berry seeds.
Add passionfruit pulp and the other cup of water.
Place into the freezer and every half hour give if a brisk mix to break up the ice crystals. This is what makes the sorbet soft instad of just a big ice-block.
If you have an ice-cream maker use that and follow the machines instructions

Would go great served with a sprig of fresh mint.

Sushi - raw style!

I had a lot of fun making sushi for the first time, and it was pretty simple. It is all about the preparation.

You can add anything you want to these. Make sure you cook your rice so it's nice and sticky. I added a tablespoon of rice wine vinegar to the rice after it had cooled. I did not put any wasabi on it but a small amount of vegan oyster sauce.

They were delicious and are a great way of getting some raw vegetables.

Pomegranate salad

My husband bought some pomegranates for a recipe but discovered he didn't have enough and so now we needed a different way to use them. And so there was salad.

I didn't have coriander or basil, but would only use the basil next time also I would reduce the amount of broccoli and add baby spinach.

Here's the link

Heavenly Choc Cupcakes and Chickpea cutlets

The brilliant cookbook writers Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero have several books out- all of which are vegan. One of them being Vegan cupcakes take over the world.

This is their recipe for Chocolate cupcakes and the heavenly frosting.

Another recipe was for Chickpea cutlets. My husband adores them. They are reminiscent of schnitzels and taste wonderful with a squeeze of lemon.

Savoury crackers

I came across this awesome recipe from Fatfree Vegan for crackers using chickpea flour of which I purchased at my last Canberra shop.

I omitted the tumeric and added a few teaspoons of dried rosemary. They were delicious.

Gingerbread Men

I had a great time making these little people today with my 2 year old. Although she ate most of the pink icing and so my people don't have much pink!

The recipe is from the Post Punk Kitchen

Vegan Parmesan

This is a delicious way to add some flavour to any dish. My girls loved it sprinkled on their teddy pasta. It's so simple to do too!

Grind up a handful of almonds (you could use cashews or sesame seeds)
Mix equal quantities of the almond 'flour' with nutritional yeast (also called savoury yeast)
Add some salt and pepper and mix until well combined.
Try putting it in an old spice jar or shaker with a lid. This way you can shake it to mix well and serve right from the container.

This is a great source of B12 as nutritional yeast has loads in it, and other nutrients depending on which nuts you use.

Almonds are a great source of:

• fibre
• monounsaturated fat (this helps to reduce LDL cholesterol)
• protien
• vitamin E
• magnesium
• calcium (a handful of almonds can provide 50mg)
  
• phosphorus
• potassium
• zinc
• folate
• selinium
• phytochemicals
• biotin
• riboflavin
• niacin
• iron

Visit The Vegetarian Society to find out the nutritional content of other nuts

Chocolate sorbet

I found this recipe in a vegetarian about.com email. It is so simple and there are many varieties. Fruit sorbets are very simple and delicious and a great way to use up summer berries.

Here's the link

Muesli Slice

I adapted my recipe from suzyscookingblog.

I did make some changes. This was very delicious. Great for lunch boxes


3 cups muesli (I buy the store brand and add extras to it like more fruit, seeds, nuts and some shredded coconut)
1/3 cup of honey
1 cup juice (orange or apple)
some melted dairy free margarine

Place honey and juice in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
Reduce and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture is syrupy.
Stir syrup into Muesli and mix well.
Add enough margarine to allow the mix to stick, like when making a cheesecake base
Press mixture into slice tray lined with baking paper
Bake at 180C for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

This does make a lot, so you could easily halve the recipe.

Macadamia Shortbread

Making vegan friendly meals does not always mean having to find a recipe that specifies that it is vegan. It is quite simple to take a recipe and change dairy ingredients such as butter and milk to a dairy free alternative.

That is what I did with this macadamia shortbread recipe. It was on the pack of macadamia nuts and just needed a few changes. The result, super delicious and completely vegan!

Ingredients:

125g dairy free margarine
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tbsp rice flour
1/2 castor sugar (save a little for dusting)
1/2 cup finely chopped macadamia nuts

Method:

Combine margarine, flours and sugar in a processor and blend till a dough is formed
Remove from machine and lightly knead in the nuts
Press into a shallow lamington tray
Put in the fridge for an hour
Sprinkle with some castor sugar and bake at 180C for half an hour or until golden.
Cut into fingers while warm

Lemon Biscotti

I had some lemons I needed to use and came across this divine creation. Very simple and so delicious. Perfect with a cup of English breakfast.

Here's the link: Lemon Biscotti

Hummus

I am in love with my new food processor and so had to make some hummus.

It's so simple. I would use less garlic next time as it was a little strong for me.

Here's the link.

Asparagus tart

Inspired by Vegan Yum Yum's site I made their Asparagus tart. I didn't have any pesto, which would have made the bean paste much tastier. But it still was delicious. I think some sundried tomatoes would also be a great addition instead of pesto.

Here's the link.

Spinach Pie

Here's a recipe I was inspired to create while making some spinach puree for my baby.

Lightly steam the leaves of a silverbeet. You don't want it to turn grey. About 4-5 mins in the microwave is perfect.

Put into a food processor and process until fine. Add a little water, olive oil, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Allow to cool.

Crumble in some dairy free cheese (I used cheesly mozzarella style).

Put onto a square of puff pastry (one half leaving room around the edges to seal).

Seal pastry by squashing the edges. Brush with a little olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake in a 180C oven for about 1/2 hour or until puffed up and golden brown.

Zuchinni Muffins

I love getting my Vegalicious emails. The recipies are always print worthy, and this was one I had to make.

Zuchinni Muffins. I couldn't get any nutritional yeast so used some cheesly I had. Still very delicious and simple to make.

monte creams

These are so delicious. The filling is highly interchangeable. Just make a runny icing with your favourite flavours. Here I used a custard filling. But try strawberry, chocolate or vanilla.

In the recipe use dairy-free marge and milk.

Here's the link.

Spinach & Sundried Tomato Windmills

These are from vegalicious. I love getting their emails. Their recipes are very inspiring, and often have great ways to serve meals for my 2 year old.
She loved these.

(I didn't have any cherry tomatoes so I used some olives. I do think the tomatoes would look better).

Here's the link

Lemon sugar cookies

These cookies were simple to make and very delicious.
a great way to try silken tofu. Use castor sugar to roll them in before baking.

Here's the link

Chocolate dipped shortbread buttons

These were just delicious and very easy to make.
Use your favourite dairy-free chocolate for these.

Here's the link

Vegan chocolate freckles

My husband is an avid chocolatier (every choc-aholics dream) and he has successfully made a vegan 'cherry ripe' as well as vegan freckles.

For the freckles simply melt your favourite vegan chocolate (we used Whittaker's dark Ghana Chocolate).
Then using a piping bag or a syringe make some little buttons on a baking paper lined tray.
Sprinkle with hundreds and thousands and put in the fridge to set.
Yummo!

Creamy lentil, leek and potato soup

Ingredients:

1/2 an onion, diced finely
1 medium potatoe, diced small
1 leek, finely sliced
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup soy milk (soy full fat is creamier)
3 cups vege stock
olive oil for sauteing
1 bay leaf, parsley and basil (or a bouquet garni)
salt and pepper to taste (not a lot of salt as it is in the stock)

What to do:
Saute onion til soft
Add potato and leek and cook until leek is glossy
Add lentils and milk and stir well
Add stock and seasonings
Bring to the boil then cover and simmer gently for about half an hour or until everything is very soft.
Mash for a chunkier soup or blend for a smooth one.
Garnish with some parsley or a swirl of vegan cream.
Serve with fresh crusty bread

Banana muffins and choc cookies

These were both delicious.

Here's the muffin link: http://suddenlyvegan.blogspot.com/search/label/Banana%20Muffins

And here's the link for the cookies: http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies.asp

The cookies in the picture are chocolate (no chips). I added 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and an extra 1/3 cup of vegan marge plus a few tbs of water. The result is still wonderful.

N.B: If you want some choc chips, I found that if you melt some dairy free eating chocolate and make little buttons (a plastic syringe or piping bag works well) it works the same.

Stuffed capsicums

In a frypan saute some onion, carrot, celery until soft.
Add some red capsicum and cook until soft.
Add some Sanitarium casserole mince and some gravy powder.
Add enough water to make a thick mix.

Put mixture into pre-prepared capsicums (cut top off take out seeds!)
Put onto a tray and bake at about 180C until the capsicum is soft.

Here it is served with some garlic sesame bread

You could put anything into these capsicums. Try to experiment. Left over bolognaise works well.

Egg-less quiche

A simple egg-less quiche is delicious, colourful and nutritious. I must admit this was the first quiche I have ever made, but when your husband and 2 year old like it, you know its good. I also found one for mini crustless quiches that I'm keen to try now. Here's the link.

Here's one I made (it is based on one from here):

In a pan cook up some onions, leek, mushrooms, spinach, red capsicums until just soft.

In a separate bowl add a block of silken tofu, 1/2 cup soy or rice milk, some tumeric (mostly for colour) some garlic and some fresh herbs (think parsley, chives or basil). Blend up really well.

Add the tofu mix to the veg mix and pour into a pre-prepared crust (a quick one is to get some store bought shortcrust pastry and blind bake at 180C until golden (about 20 mins).

Bake at 180C for 45mins.

Where's the craft?

This site is called veg food and craft, but there is no craft on here.
I put all my projects on my ravelry page.
So if you want to see what you can do with non animal yarns have a look!

Meat's not green.

It is becoming more widely known that the farming of meat is not good for the environment. Here is a video from PETA explaining why. Pass it along!



Is Your Diet Causing Climate Change?
Watch PETA's Video on the Diet-Environment Connection.

Tofu Scramble

I had tried a recipe for this once before but it failed miserably, but after having the courage to try again, I hit the mark.

I have based mine on this recipe but I feel you can use any sauce you like. I have even done it with a little extra olive oil and lots of chives, salt and paper. Served on toast it makes a delicious and healthy breakfast or snack.

poolish focaccia and TVP book

I added some olives, sundried tomatoes and capsicum during the second and third folds. The result is simply amazing. It may take a while to make, but that is mostly in the risings. But, as they say, all good things come to those who wait, and this is good.

Here is the link: Poolish Foccacia

I have been getting back into using TVP after a break and have found some great and very fast and delicious recipes in Dorothy R Bates cookbook "The TVP Cookbook" (published by The Book Publishing Company1991). I have only tried so far, the stroganoff and the Italian Meatballs, but both have been very simple and delicious. If you're new to using TVP, this is a very handy book.

TVP Italian meatballs

Vegan 'beef and bacon' pie

This pie came into being when we purchased some new vegan products on a trip to Canberra.

Ingredients:

1- 1/2 cups of TVP beef chunks (soaked for a few hours in a soy sauce water solution, you can add garlic or other things too. After soaking, slice into strips)
1 slice of vegan 'ham'
gravy powder
garlic
ginger
mushroom, sliced
1 onion, diced
a little olive oil

1 potato, boiled and mashed (I use a little rice milk, marge and some chives)
1 sheet of shortcrust pastry (You'll love Coles is vegan)
Some breadcrumbs
Extra oil for drizzling


Method:

Add the oil and onion to a pan and saute until the onion is soft
add the mushrooms, garlic and ginger and saute until the mushrooms are almost cooked
add the beef and ham and fry for about one minute
Add enough gravy powder and mix in so that when you add the marinade from the 'beef' you have a thick gravy
Add any herbs you like, but don't add salt, the gravy mix and ham have more than enough!

Put this mix into an oven dish/pie plate that has had your pastry blind baked in
Cover with the potato
Sprinkle some breadcrumbs on the top and some oil (olive or sesame is good)
Bake in a 180-200C oven until the top is golden brown.
Serve with salad or steamed veg

(It was so good a meat eater didn't know until we told them!)

Vegan Restaurants

On a recent trip to Canberra we discovered some fantastic vegan resaurants in Dickson.
Au Lac Vietnamese and Kingsland (http://www.kingsland.canberra.net.au/)

We ate in at Kingsland and the food and service was fantastic. Restaurants like these are great places to go if you want to try vegan food but are a bit unsure as the food satisfies even the most hard core meat eaters.

Chocolate Croissants

Vegan Chocolate Croissants? Yes and the recipe comes from an unlikly source_ Nigella Lawson.
This was on her Express TV series.

It is simply some puff pastry cut into triangles and a square of chocolate. Roll the pastry up with the choc inside and shape into a crescent.

Bake at 180C for about 20mins.

Serve warm. I would dust with some icing sugar for extra decadence.

Chocolate Walnut Muffins

I would dust these with a little icing sugar if you want a sweeter muffin.

Here is the link:
http://bakingbites.com/2005/09/vegan-chocolate-walnut-muffins/

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

This was the first Pineapple Upside-down Cake I have ever made. I used fresh pineapple so there are no cherries in the holes and subsequently I needed to add some orange juice as I didn't have the juice from the tin.

It was still delicious.

Here is the link:
http://healthy-desserts.suite101.com/article.cfm/pineapple_upsidedown_cake_recipe

Pasta Bake

It's been a while since my last blog, I've just been so tired due to being pregnant and then having my baby on New Years Day. So there is a back log of cooking to share (I made sure to at least take pictures!).

Pasta Bake.

This recipe was just some cooked pasta mixed into a sauce based on the bolognaise from the lasagne recipe but with more and bigger cuts of vegies. I then used the bechmel sauce from the lasagne recipe to top the pasta bake and sprinkled some bread crumbs on top as well as drizzling some seasame oil on top (olive would be great too).

I baked until the top was browned (about 1/2 hour at 180C).