Eat vegan in London

We've just returned from London, where we spent three days exhausting ourselves ambling around taking in the sights, smells and sounds of our busy capital city.

Wherever I go, food is never far from my mind!  Sad?  I don't think so - we all need to eat, so I reckon it might as well be a pleasure:)  So, as we walked, we looked out for placed to eat.

I'd downloaded the names and addresses of a few Indian veggie restaurants before we left home, but that didn't stop us looking out for other places too!

This one was on my list, and we ate there one evening.  I've never seen dosas as large as those that appeared on the table adjacent to us - they must have been three feet in diameter - they were wider than the tables!!!!  They looked delicious, and I enjoyed watching crisp, golden sections being broken off and dipped in the accompanying sauce.

Our food was slightly less exotic!  We started with a Potato Bonda and an onion Bhajia.  The potato balls were soft inside, and crispy on the outside, with just enough chilli.  The bhajia was less oniony than the traditional northern Indian food we usually eat, but still tasty.  We then shared a Brinjal Bhajee and a Suki Bhajee, which were both tasty.  The single portion of boiled rice defeated both of us, and about a quarter of it we had to leave untouched!

It cost around £20 for the pair of us, which for a central London venue I consider good value.  Sadly, I'd forgotten that we'd gone in with the intention of trying the pre-theatre dinner at £5.95 a head, so it should have been more of a bargain!!!!

I couldn't resist filling a take away box at the Buffet Take Out, on New Oxford Street.  David doesn't eat Thai or Chinese, but I enjoy them, so to see a VEGAN Thai/Chinese buffet just made my day! 

Here's the view through the window.

I could choose virtually anything, as long as I avoided noodles, so I did:)  For £3.50 I tasted heaven in a box.  So many ways of preparing tofu, and delicious salads, too.  I'd love to visit there to eat in some day.

Where did you find your best meal on holiday?

triple chocoate flapjack - pure indulgence for the WI party!

Although I love Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, mince pies, Stollen and all the other delicious goodies packed with dried fruits of all descriptions (well, except bananas, of course, I wouldn't want to be ill, now, would I?) I know that there are others who dislike dried fruit products for whatever reason.  In fact, the top tier of our wedding cake was Victoria sponge as my ex-husband was just such a person!

So ... this is an indulgent treat for those who choose not to participate in the fruity side of Christmas fare - it's only fair that they should get a treat too, and there's nothing to say that you can't share it, now is there?

You've all heard of flapjack, and probably made it.  Usually it's a golden brown, sweet chewy bar, but not very exciting.  I hear you saying, but it's not indulgent.  However, this is triple chocolate flapjack.  Yes, that's right, three forms of chocolate going on in here, if that's not indulgent, I don't know what is!  No, it's not healthy - it's not supposed to be, it's a treat, and treats are allowed to be unhealthy - in fact they probably should be.

It was my local WI Christmas party this afternoon, and I wanted to take along something that was vegan, gluten free, but wouldn't make everyone run away in horror at the thought of it - you know how some people can be "Oh, it's vegan, I don't eat vegan food!", or  "Oh, well, I won't have any because I can eat normal foods."  I decided to make these to take along as most people eat chocolate, and they look "normal"!  

Alas, my cupboard had run out of golden syrup, so I had to make an emergency dash down the road to buy some before I could continue with the baking.  Still, the excercise must have burned off at least half a slice worth of calories, mustn't it? :-)

Triple Chocolate Flapjack

100g margarine
75 g golden syrup
75g soft brown sugar
75g plain chocolate
290g rolled oats
40g cocoa
plus
50g plain chocolate for topping - you could go mad here, and use one of the lovely spiced bars - well, it is Christmas!

Put the oven on to heat at 180C, gas 4, 350F.  Grease a shallow baking tin approx 11" by 7", or line with silicone, or non-stick sheet if you prefer.

Melt the syrup, margarine, sugar and 75g chocolate in a large glass bowl in the microwave, or in a saucepan if you prefer.
Sieve the cocoa and mix with the oats.  Stir into the melted ingredients.

Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for about half an hour until firming nicely.  Allow to cool in the tin for about five minutes, then mark into fingers or squares and allow to go cold.  I was told that only 'finger food' should be taken for the party, so I cut mine into small squares so that they looked dainty, rather than the more usual finger shapes.

When cold, remove from the tin and break into the shapes you marked.

Melt the 50g of plain chocolate and spread over the fingers or squares.

I placed each square in a paper case as they were going to be on the buffet table.

Enjoy.  Or, give to someone else to enjoy!



Wheat-free apple cake with no added sugar- use those windfall apples!

So, back to the apples!  Occasionally I enjoy a slice of cake;  I don't mean an airy-fairy gateau, which is fine to end a meal, but a slice of good, wholesome cake to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.  It has to be a slice of something which will be simple to eat, no cake forks necessary, and satisfying - there must be some substance to it - something to get my teeth into and enjoy.

This apple cake ticks all the boxes, and, importantly at the moment, it utilises some of those apples.  Windfalls, or those mis-shapen ones are ideal as they're going to be grated.

You'll need:
200g flour, I used barley, but to make it gluten free choose your own favourite flour(s) - maybe rice and potato, or gram and soya 
half a teaspoon each of cinnamon and mixed spice - to taste
half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
100g margarine
275g mixed dried fruit, I used raisins, sultanas and chopped dates
230g coarsely grated cooking apples (eating apples will give a sweeter cake, and the texture will be slightly different)
2 tsps of egg replacer made up with 4 tblsps of water or fruit juice

Rub the fat into the sifted flour, spices and bicarb until it's like breadcrumbs.

Coarsely grate the apple; I leave the skins on mine as they're organic, but you can peel yours if you like.  The weight given is of the grated apple, which, in my case, equated to two large and two medium windfall apples once I'd cut off the bruised and battered sections!

Mix the fruits into the dry mixture, then bind with the egg replacer liquid.  Turn into an 8" lined cake tin and bake in a moderate oven, 175C in my fan oven, 180C, 350F or gas mark 4 otherwise.

 Bake for about an hour and a quarter, more or less depending on your oven, the flour used etc.  Test with a warmed skewer inserted in the centre - it it comes out clean, it's done:-)  If not, give it a further quarter of an hour and test again.  It should be a lovely golden brown - rather like the splendid one below, which has been allowed to cool completely before slicing.

Many fruit cake recipes tell you to shake your dried fruit with flour to avoid the problem of all the fruit sinking to the bottom of the cake, but, as you can see, it's certainly not necessary in this recipe.

Now, time to put the kettle on, I think:-)

Apples, again! Make your own mincemeat for Christmas mince pies :-)

We love Christmas cake, mince pies, Christmas pudings and anything full of fruits, so tasty:-)

Another good use for the windfall apples, and less than pretty ones, is to make your own mincemeat - ready for baking those mince pies that will permeate the whole house with heady scents of fruit and spices.

This is another really simple recipe, so you have no excuse not to try it.

I took:

400g grated cooking apples
100g margarine
300g raisins

300g sultanas

300g chopped dates

200g unrefined sugar
half a teaspoon each of cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg and cumin
2 lemons, zest and juice
4 tblsps fresh orange juice

60ml brandy

 

Toss everything, except the brandy, into a large ovenproof dish and stir thoroughly. I use a dessert spoon to measure out the margarine, and you don't need try to break it down into tiny pieces, it's going to melt to make your life easier!

grated zest

dried fruit

I grated the apple straight onto the lemon zest and juice



I used a spoon to measure out the margarine



roughly stir everything together

Place in the centre of an oven pre-heated to 115C for a fan oven, 120C, 250F or gas mark 1/2 for half an hour. Remove from the oven and give it a really good stir to mix everything. The margarine should be very soft and creamy now, and stirring well helps to coat everything with a fine coating of fat which helps it to keep.

place back in the oven

Replace in the oven for a further half an hour, then remove, stir again and allow to cool before adding in the brandy. Stir again then decant into containers and store in the fridge.



after an hour it will look like this



when it's cool, stir in the brandy

I admit to enjoying a spoonful in with my fruit smoothies at breakfast sometimes, on those grey, rainy days when I feel the need for more "comfort" food :-)

Apples everywere!!

Well, ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but for my small garden, I have harvested many pounds of organic apples.

It's a perennial problem, isn't it, what to do with them all?  I was impressed that a couple of schools have joined together in an attempt to avoid the inevitable waste of fruit, by encouraging parents, neighbours etc to donate their unwanted apples to the schools, who will press the fruit to produce fresh juice for the children.  A great idea - I hope lots of people take them up on it.

One of my favourite ways of using my apples is stuffing them and baking them.  You'll need an apple per person and a jar of mincemeat for the simple version.

Wash the apples well, I use a soft vegetable brush to ensure they're really clean.  Take out the cores; I use an apple corer - you can see how neatly it does it above.  Take a sharp knife and score around the centre of each apple - this enables the apples to rise and avoids the mess of exploding apples!

Arrange the apples in an ovenproof baking dish, and fill each cavity with mincemeat.

Bake the apples in a moderate oven until they have softened, this will take about half an hour or so, depending on your oven and the size of the apples.  Can you see how the skins have parted where I scored them, allowing the apples to sort of souffle up?  The apples will produce a little sauce as they give up some juice which mixes with the mincemeat.  Delicious:-)

If you don't have mincemeat in the cupboard, you can stuff them with any dried fruit to hand.  If you have a really sweet tooth, you might feel the need to drizzle a little maple syrup into the cavity, or some unrefined sugar.  You could also add some chopped nuts for a little "bite". 

I serve mine naked, or simply with a dollop of yoghurt, David enjoys his with custard.  You might like your with ice cream - but whatever topping you choose, I hope you enjoy them.

It's Zero (food)waste week, did you know?

Logging onto the Oofo site I discovered that it's Zero Waste Week! This is what they have to say:

"Monday 6th September will see the start of the third national "Zero Waste Week". This year's theme is 'Cooking for Victory' in response to WRAPS "household Food and Drink Waste in the UK" report. The report shows we throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink every year. Most of this is avoidable and could have been eaten if we had planned, stored and managed it better. In support of the campaign VegBox Recipes have created a handy guide to eating left-overs."

I try not to waste food, but I have to admit that occasionally, some food does get binned; not a lot, and not often, honestly, hand on heart etc. I'm a dab hand at turning left over veggie into curries or soups, and found it interesting that Oofo has compiled a helpful guide to using left-overs

Paste this very long code into your browser to access the page - I'm hoping they'll tell me how to paste a simple link here to replace it, but at the moment, this is all I've managed to copy, sorry!!!
 
http://go2.wordpress.com/?id=725X1342&site=adurgreens.wordpress.com&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsut3.co.uk%2Fclickthrough.php%3FiD%3D4%26iItem%3D107301%26iLink%3D29281611%26strUnique_ID%3D11883656754ea3fa6f40738570b47f%26strUrl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fblog.ooffoo.com%2Fblogs%2F2010%2F08%2F29%2Fhandy-guide-to-eating-left-overs%2F&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fadurgreens.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F09%2F02%2Fzero-waste-week%2F
 
If you do find you throw food away, you might just discover some useful ideas to recycle your left-overs into something tasty - and imagine how virtuous you'll feel:-)

easy vegan chocolate(or carob) truffles with almonds

I went to a birthday party yesterday, and took along some home made chocolate truffles.  They are truly easy to make, yet melt in the mouth and are delicious:-)

and did I mention they're chocolate????

All you need is:

100g dark chocolate
25g vegan margarine
1tblsp brandy or other spirit
1tblsp soya cream
150g icing sugar, sieved - yes, it is worth it, honestly!
25g ground almonds

Cocoa powder to roll them in and petit four cases to sit them in.

Melt the chocolate and margarine for about one minute in a glass bowl in the microwave until just melted.  Stir in all the other ingredients except the cocoa.  Mix together then put in the fridge for an hour or so to chill down.

When you're ready put out some petit fours cases ready, about 15, but it depends on how large you make the truffles, obviously!!

Take about a teaspoonful of the mixture and roll it between your hands to form a ball, then roll lightly in the sieved cocoa, put into a paper case, the keep repeating until the mixture is all used up.  The mixture will soften in your hands as  you roll, and you will end up with sticky fingers and hands, so it's a good idea to have a bowl of water ready to wash them in, this saves getting chocolate all over the taps ... now how do I know this???

Put them back in the fridge to store them.  I told you it was easy, didn't I?

If you are unable to eat chocolate/cocoa or tolerate caffeine, you can substitute carob, you'll see a bar underneath the bar of chocolate, it works just as well, but without the caffeine.

Dragon fruit - so beautiful to look at. Part of your five-a-day

We're all supposed to eat five a day, right?  The government "advises" us that it's the healthy way to live.

As a vegan, I tend to think I'd be hard pressed to avoid eating five a day, the same goes for vegetarians too, and anyone who follows a balanced diet.  We must remember to always have at least five different varieties, though, not, for example, three apples and two oranges - that only counts as two!  It's always fun to expand upon the normal range of foods, though, isn't it?

So, when I saw a dragon fruit marked down in price from £1.49 to 10p, I couldn't resist.  It looked such a glorious pinky red colour, and the small "scales" probably suggested the name dragon fruit.  I've never bought one before, nor tasted one - I'm afraid that to pay so much for one piece of fruit seems a little excessive to me.

Since it's a new fruit to my repertoire, I looked on the internet to see just what one is, and how to eat it - is that vivid skin edible, or is it so colourful as a warning?

I found an article by D Schmidt, at About.com:Thai food, from which I learned that it's the fruit of a cactus.  To test for ripeness, you hold the fruit in your hand and squeeze gently, a bit like testing an avocado - they're the same sort of size, too.  Sadly, however, the pink skin is not going to grace my plate, unless it's as a container for the diced flesh, we're told to scrape off any residual traces of pink from the flesh:( 

Talking of the flesh, it's a great disappointment when you cut it open, as the flesh is a dirty off-white, and there are thousands of tiny black seeds, a bit like poppy seeds stuck in white blacmange!  The smell is fresh and slightly citrussy, sort of like a kiwi fruit.

You can remove the flesh from the skin in the same way as you could an avocado, simply run a large dessert spoon around between the skin and the flesh, and it will scoop out easily.

I diced the flesh, which was easy, as it's very soft.  Sadly, despite its beauty, the fruit lacks flavour, so I incorporated it into my breakfast fruit smoothie, along with some strawberries, a peach and some linseeds and a couple of cubes of crystallised ginger.

Will I buy another one?  Certainly not at full price, no, but if well reduced, then yes, as the variety and amounts of minerals etc all add variety to my diet:-)

hoummous, easy recipe, vegan, vegetarian, tasty

Instead of the raw food mock hoummous on the previous post, you might prefer to try the real thing. I confess I love hoummous, either with crackers, or for dipping cruditees in, or drizzled over falafel and salad - I used to love this stuffed into a pitta bread when I could eat wheat, but have to forgo that pleasure now.

Years ago, in Paris, whilst on a family holiday, we spent virtually every lunchtime at a falafel stall, I think it was on the Rue de Hachette, or somehing very similar, where, for 2 francs you received a few falafel in a pitta, and could then stuff it with the various salads and pickles on the front of the stall. Wonderful value, and very tasty. However, I digress (most unlike me!)

Hoummous:

1 tin of chick peas, drained, but reserve a couple of tablespoons of the liquid from the can
1 lemon, juice (and if it's an unwaxed lemon, the zest as well)
1 tablespoon of Tahini (if you don't have any in the cupboard, use peanut butter for a similar texture, but obviously slightly different flavour)
1 or 2 cloves of garlic - to taste (obviously cloves vary in size, and everyone's palate is different)
Olive oil - enough to give the consistency you like
pinch of salt

Put everything except the oil into a blender, then add the oil slowly until you reach the consistency you prefer. If you're watching calories, you can just add a drop of water, or extra lemon juice without any damage.

To serve it, place it in a bowl, drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle some paprika over. Or some lemon zest, or just a sprig of parsley, have fun :)

I sometimes add whole sesame or sunflower seeds and just give a quick blitz if I fancy a little extra texture. Or linseeds, or pumpkin seeds ...... you get the picture. Experiment, have fun with it.

In the shops you'll see "specialist" hoummous, with roasted peppers, aubergines etc etc. I've tried them and prefer the subtle flavour of the original. However, it's all about personal preference, so if you've seen these and wondered what they're like, have a go.

If you've got your oven on for chips, or a roast of some kind, pop a red pepper, or aubergine, or whatever you fancy, onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven at the same time. Take it out when the skin looks as if it's about to burn, really quite black, trust me. Put the pepper, or aubergine etc into a plastic bag, or tub with the lid on, and leave it until it gets cool. You'll then be able to peel the skin off very easily - sometimes it helps to run it under cold water to wash the charred skin away.

Then just blend some of the pepper, or whatever, in with the hoummous until you get a flavour you enjoy. You might find half a pepper will give you enough of a hit, or you may need the whole of it. Again, sizes differ, as do palates, and it's your hoummous, so make it so that you like it.

Then look at the price of a small pot in the supermarket or deli and see just how much money you've saved!!!!!

raw food, "hoummous" recipe, vegan, wheat-free, coincidences

Strange conincidences have always fascinated me.

For instance, the government introduced a scheme to train mothers who wanted to return to work in the modern computerised office when my daughter was about 8. I applied for a place, but was unsuccessful. They said if they ran another, they would contact me. 6 months later, they did just that, and I spent 10 weeks learning not to be afraid of computers, how to make them serve me! Well, that was the theory, anyway!!

In the penultimate week of the course we learned to write a good CV, including our newly won quallifications in Word+ and other such archaic things. We were also obliged to apply for at least one job advertised in the local paper. I applied for, and got, one of the best jobs of my life, working in a primary school office.

If I'd got a place on the first course, I probably would have ended up somewhere else, and missed out on so much fun and valuable experience around the children I love so much. As it was, I started out working nine and a half hours a week, the only person who could use the new computer on which all ordering was soon to be done. As you can guess, it wasn't long before all pupil data, personnel data etc etc was computerised. I was promoted after just four months, and over the next couple of years became the school Bursar, or office manager. I stayed for 16 and a half years, only retiring to go to uni as a full time mature student. I loved that place.

So, coincidences are great.

Today, I was flicking through some raw food sites, and saw a recipe for "hummous". Only, of course, it wasn't hoummous as I know and love it, it was all raw. As it was coming up to lunch time, I went into the kitchen and made it.

Well, I say I made it, but of course, you never have exactly what the recipe needs, do you? I'd got most of it though, so here's what I did. I liquidised:

2 medium courgettes, well scrubbed
a good handful of pitted black olives, drained
1 small pickled gherkin
2 cloves of garlic
a pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 tablespoons of tahini
1 avocado (which replaced the olive oil in the original recipe - I had loads of avocados, and not much oil, that's all)
good handful of linseeds
pinch of salt

the recipe also called for some cumin, but I didn't have any in my spice box!!! I know, it's hard to believe, isn't it?

It came out a sludgy colour, but tasted great. I ate it over some falafels, and put the rest in the fridge.

The coincidence - no, I hadn't forgotten that's what I was chattering about, even though you thought I had - is, that I've just got a new (second-hand) wheat-free cookery book. (I was given it through the freecycle group - I gave her 2 jackets I don't wear any more!). As I was flicking through the recipes, what did I see, but a reciep entitled warm courgette and cumin dip! The ingredients are very similar to the above, but the courgettes are lightly fried before blending. Now I'll have to try that too :) Life can be so hard!

Maybe you'll try it, and enjoy it too. It doesn't, in my opinion, replace that lovely warm flavour of chickpeas in the real deal, but it is good :)