The Lazy (and Poor) Vegan

[lazyv]

Nommy Vegan Mince and Cheese pies (can be gluten free and FODMAP friendly)

Ingredients

Pastry (If you’re in NZ and need gluten free, pavillion does one, you can get it from countdown. New Way does a non gluten free puff pastry that’s awesome, available from countdown and Pak n Save)

A block of firm tofu (2 if you don't want to use vegetables) You could swap out the tofu entirely for vegetables but it will change the flavour.

1 can of plain chopped tomatoes or puree (can be substituted for tomato paste, but use half as much)

A good splash of soy sauce

1/4 cup brewers yeast

Sundried tomatoes (pams is the best brand). You can do without these but I really think they make the flavour.

Kalamata olives (delmaine is good) You can do without these but I really think they make the flavour.

Flour (can be gluten free)

Optional

Whatever vegetables you have spare. I like eggplant, zucchini, spinach, and kale. Be aware that carrot will likely change the taste so use sparingly until you know what you like.

Vegetable stock - this is ideal if you want a 'meatier' tasting filling (massel does a FODMAP friendly veggie stock)

Dairy free cheese (zenzo chedder is good, if you want something creamier and milder the dairy free mozarellas are good). Plain hummus or one of my cheese sauce recipes will also do fine.

Cumin seeds

Ground coriander

Herbs, fresh is ideal but dried is fine. I like basil, coriander, oregano, and chives (chives are good if you want a more onion/garlic flavour)

White or apple cider vinegar

Hot sauce - I like chipotle, it's not too hot and it adds a smokey flavour.

Another can of tinned tomatoes

Chunky vegetables (pies, carrot, corn etc)

Method

Chop up the tofu and/or vegetables, and the olives and sundried tomatoes. It's a good idea to either press or freeze/squeeze the tofu so it can soak up the flavours of the broth (see my earlier post about freezing tofu to make pressing super easy). If you feel like it, just run the tofu and vegetables through the food processor till they have a vaguely mince like texture. Don't mince up any vegetables you want to keep whole (like peas and corn etc).

Throw the 'mince', any other vegetables, and the cumin seeds (if you're using them) in a frying pan or wok. You can use regular oil but I like to use some of the spare oil from the sundried tomatoes. Stirfry everything for ten minutes or so.

Add a good splash of soy sauce (more if you want a meaty flavour, less if you don't) and the brewers yeast and stir them in really well.  Now is also a good time to add the ground coriander if you're using it. Stirfry for another ten minutes. If the mixture starts to stick or clump up, add a splash of white or apple cider vinegar, it'll deglaze the pan and add a bit of bite to the mixture.

Now add the tomatoes, if you want a strong tomato flavour add two cans. If you're using it, add the made up stock. This will add quite a bit of moisture to the mix.

Let the mixture simmer for about ten minutes, then taste test. If the flavour is a bit too mild, add a quarter cup of the brine from the kalamata olives and test again. If you want more flavour, add hot sauce slowly until the taste is about right.

Add the chopped herbs and stir them in. Let the mixture simmer for ten minutes. If it gets too dry, add a bit of water, what you're looking for is the pieces of tomato to be getting soft and mushy.

When you're sick of waiting, or the tomato chunks are mushy, add a few tablespoons of flour (and more water if needed) and stir in well to make a thick gravy around the 'mince'.

While the mixture is simmering, preheat the oven to 180C and roll out or cut your pastry, then line a pie dish (use oil if it isn't non stick) with it (you can also cheat and use muffin trays for small pies but it's a bit fiddly). If you want to, brush the inside of the pastry with oil to keep it from getting soggy (I don't usually bother). When the mixture is ready, spoon it into the pastry, then add slices of dairy free cheese on top or your preferred “cheese” mix. Dab a bit of water around the edges, and put the pastry lid on, smooshing the pastry together as you go.

Brush the top with oil, stab a few holes in it. Bake at 180C until the top turns golden brown. It's nice hot or cold, but when it's hot the cheese melts through the mince.

[lazyv]

Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Mousse Cake

Base:

Cheating - buy a box of gluten free chocolate brownie mix

Or -

1 cup of gluten free flour (you can use wheat flour if you want)

2 tablespoons of ground linseed/flaxeseed

3 tablespoons of oil

1/4 cup of almond or soy milk (others are fine too)

1/4 cup cocoa powder (you can also leave this out and have a vanilla flavoured base)

1/4 cup soft brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

A pinch of salt

Optional

Cinnamon

Dessicated coconut

Ground almonds, walnuts etc

Mousse

x2 Silken tofu (this stuff: https://www.morinu.com/)

1 block of whittakers plain dark chocolate (50% or higher is fine). You can use baking chocolate but it isn't as good. If you can’t get whittakers, aim for a good quality block of 50% or higher chocolate that’s around 400 grams (or 14 ounces)

1/4 cup almond or soy milk (others might work too depending on your tastes)

A pinch of salt

1/4 cup of soft brown sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (natural is better but not essential)

Optional

Cinnamon and nutmeg

Strawberries or other fruit

Maple syrup

1 ripe avocado

Coconut oil

Agar Agar

Guar Gum

Cocoa powder

Chilli

Coconut flakes

Nuts

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F)

Get a round spring form pan, it makes everything so much easier. Grease it if needed

Mix up all your base ingredients in one go, you're looking for a fairly thick mixture. Add almond milk and oil by the tablespoon if it's too dry. Press the mix into the pan and make it as even as you can.

Put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Either use the guide on the baking mix box, or if you're not cheating, look for the surface of the base to gently spring back when you press on it a little. Worst comes to worst it's not gonna matter if it isn't super well cooked. Under cooked is better than overcooked.

Leave the base to cool. If you're in a hurry, put it in the freezer. I usually leave it in the freezer for an hour at least.

Now you have to "press" the tofu. Get a bowl, put a seive over the top, and line the seive with a clean tea towel or cheese cloth. Put the tofu in the cheese cloth, and squeeze it, I find twisting the corners around helps. Water will come out, after a while, leave it in the seive to keep draining.

Half fill a pot with water, now find a metal bowl that will fit in the pot. Break up the chocolate and put it in the metal bowl, and then float the bowl in the pot. It helps if they're close in size, so just the bottom of the bowl is in the water. Bring the water to the boil and slowly melt the chocolate.

Put the tofu in a blender, add the melted chocolate, and blend until smooth. Add the sugar, salt and vanilla and blend again. Over time it will get thicker. Taste test, add sugar if needed, or if it's too intense, add a tablespoon of almond milk. Blend and test until it's how you want it. Bear in mind that the flavours will smooth out in the fridge. I usually add cinnamon, maple syrup, and other stuff during this stage.

If you want to use avocado, you'll likely need extra cocoa powder. If it's too runny, add some melted coconut oil, or a little agar or guar gum. Remember it will get a bit firmer after being in the fridge.

Pull the base out of the freezer. If you want strawberries round the edges, now is the time to put them there. Then use a spatula to scrape the mousse into the pan. Spread it out as evenly as you can and add strawberries/other fruit, nuts, coconut etc on top.

Chill in the fridge for at least a few hours. you should notice a change in how firm it is. When you want to take off the sides, run a knife around the edge first to loosen it.

[lazyv]

Delicious vegan Basil Pesto

Disclaimer: This recipe might no accessible for everyone, depending on what things cost where you are, or how easily things grow, but hopefully it can spread far and wide.

Uses: I put it on toast, pita bread, tortilla chips, crackers, I use it as a pasta sauce, put it on pizzas instead of cheese, add a dollop to minestrone, it also goes nicely with salads and other antipasto type snacks.

Ingredients (for a batch that makes about four half litre jars full)

A truly colossal amount of fresh basil. To give you an idea. I usually fill up four ten litre containers with basil from the garden.

Kale or Spinach (optional) - this will dilute the flavour, but it can be a good filler to make more pesto overall.

Garlic (preferably fresh) - You can use minced garlic but I find it has a different flavour. You want about half a bulb for a big batch, possibly more if you like garlic or the variety you have is milder.

Brewers yeast, Savoury yeast, or Nutritional yeast - About a cup for a big batch. You could also try vegan parmesan if you want.

Vegetable oil - About two cups, but you can adjust to get the consistency you want.

Cashew nuts - Pinenuts, Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and similar are all good substitutes.

Cumin seeds - About a teaspoon (optional but tasty)

Celery seeds - A pinch (optional but tasty)

Salt - About a tablespoon

A cube of veggie stock (optional)

Method

Strip the leaves off the stalks. Thin and soft stalks are fine to go in the mix but the thicker harder stalks don’t add to the flavour and they ruin the texture. Any leaves that have gone gross should be thrown in the compost.

Rinse the leaves in water, drain them in a sieve, gently pat them dry with paper towels or a tea towel and put them through the blender in batches with a bit of oil each time. You’re unlikely to be able to fit everything in the blender at once so transfer batches to a big bowl. Ideally you want everything to be blended down to very very small pieces.

Add the salt, half the brewers yeast, half the garlic, the nuts/seeds, and the spices to the blender. Run them through the blender with a batch of basil, and transfer to the big bowl. When it’s all been blended, mix everything together with a spoon. Taste test and run more garlic and brewers yeast through the blender and add according to your tastes.

Store in clean jars (I boil the jars and lids in a pot of water). Try to fill the jars up as high as you can and pour a little oil over the top before sealing. The top few millimetres in each jar will likely oxidise and turn dark once it’s been opened again, this shouldn’t affect the taste but you can just scrape that bit off before using.

[lazyv]

Mini pizzas

For the Base: You can use mini pita pockets, split english muffins, bought pizza bases, sliced baguette rounds, or make your own bases (which is less lazy than I’m usually feeling)

Toppings: You can put whatever you like on these but this is the combination I like best

Tomato paste (the cheap canned stuff is fine)

Kalamata olives

Sundried tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes

Onions

Kale and/or spinach

Fresh basil

Garlic

Oregano

Dairy free cheese (plain hummus will also work nicely)

Method

Spread tomato paste as thick or thin as you like on the bases. 

Slice/chop up everything except the cheese/hummus and sprinkle it over the bases. I like to really pile my pizzas up but do what works for you.

Slice/grate the cheese and put it on top, or add a couple of good dollops of hummus.

Cook in the oven at 180C (350F) until the cheese is melted and just starting to brown (or the hummus is just starting to brown)

Eat

[lazyv]

Pasta concoction #1.0

Two cups pasta (I had wholemeal so that's what I used but any pasta will do, gluten free, noodle, penne, spirals, whatever)

A cup of almond milk (any non dairy milk is fine)

Three tablespoons of flour (I used wholemeal wheat, but you could use rice, oat, or cornflour to make it gluten free)

Half a cup of brewers yeast (nutritional or savoury yeast would work too)

A pinch of salt

A block of firm tofu (seitan would work too if you prefer it)

A big handful of fresh chives (you could use dried as well, but you'll need to simmer the sauce for longer and possibly adjust the amount)

White or Apple Cider vinegar (could be swapped for lemon juice)

A cube of veggie stock (optional)

A splash of soy sauce (optional)

A pinch of cumin seeds (optional)

A few tablespoons of oil (I like to use the oil from sundried tomatoes but any vegetable oil is fine)

A handful of pumpkin seeds (optional, you could swap for other nuts/seeds if you wanted)

A handful of sunflower seeds (optional, you could swap for other nuts/seeds if you wanted)

Olives (optional)

Sun dried tomatoes (optional)

Spinach, Kale, whatever vegetables you have spare would do fine, broccoli and cauliflower go surprisingly well in pasta dishes.

Put the pasta on to boil. Traditionally you'd add a pinch of salt and a splash of oil, but I don't usually bother. If you're using wholemeal pasta like I did it'll take a little longer to cook.

Usually with tofu you're supposed to press it to get the moisture out, but I'm lazy. Years ago I discovered if you freeze tofu and then thaw it (if you're in a hurry you can defrost it in hot water), it becomes a lot more like a sponge and you can just squeeze the moisture out without any trouble. Cut or crumble the tofu into chunks however you like it, and throw them a frying pan with the cumin seeds and a splash of oil. I use a non stick frying pan but you can do without (it'll just take more stirring).

Fry the tofu much the same way you would fry onions for a few minutes, then crumble the veggie stock over the top, then add around a third of the brewers yeast, and a splash of soy sauce. Keep stirring.

After a few minutes, or as soon as the stock and yeast start to stick or form clumps, add a splash of vinegar, this helps to deglaze the pan and adds a sharpness to the flavour. Keep stirring.

Now add any vegetables, seeds, olives, etc to the mix, except the chives and keep stirring till the vegetables are cooked. Chunkier vegetables will take longer.

Now, you can mix up the sauce in the pan with everything else or you can mix it up separately. I find it's easier separate but it means one more container or pot to clean.

Mix a couple of tablespoons of oil with the flour, add a splash of soy sauce, and a splash of vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Stir into a thick paste. Slowly add the almond milk, stirring as you go. If the sauce is still thick, add some more milk.

Now add the chives and if you haven't already, add the sauce to the pan, then drain the pasta (which should be done by now) and add that too. Lower the heat and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes. If the sauce gets too thick in that time, add a bit more milk or even water. You're looking for the flavour of the chives to spread out and mix with everything else. Add a bit more salt or vinegar if you think it needs it.

This mix should make enough to feed 2-4 people depending on how hungry they are. If you add a salad or bread or something it'll stretch to six.

[lazyv]

Chicago's First Vegan Butcher Shop and Delicatessen

We have been creating cruelty-free meats and cheeses for the past two years. We want to open up Chicago's first vegan butcher and deli.

A cool cause to support ^_^

[lazyv]

Even lazier vegan gravy

I can’t believe this never occured to me before

You need

A cup/mug

1 cube of veggie stock

1 teaspoon of soy sauce

2 teaspoons of wholemeal flour

A pinch of salt

2 teaspoons of vegetable oil

Water

Optional - brewers yeast, ground linseed, chia seeds, cumin seeds, mixed herbs, garlic powder - there’s lots of options, so long as it doesn’t need to be actively cooked.

How to

Put the jug/kettle on to boil (you can boil water in a pot or microwave too if needs be)

Crumble the stock cube, add everything but the water and stir it all together to form a paste.

When the jug is boiled, pour a bit of the hot water into the cup and stir again till it’s a thinner paste. Then top the cup up to about two thirds (for a standard sized mug), and stir. Let it stand for a minute (add more flour if you’re in a hurry), then stir again.

Now you have gravy, just as quick as from a packet and you get to customise it ^_^.

[lazyv]

Lazy chocolate chip cookies even I can’t get wrong

Ok, so let’s be clear here. I’m bad at cookies. I’ve never had the talent, before I went vegan I couldn’t make them work, after I went vegan I still couldn’t. My sister on the other hand; She’s like a cookie sorcerer. I don’t know what she puts in them, but her cookies are amazing, perfect, every time. She probably has a stock of cookie monsters on hand to sacrifice to dark powers for each batch or something.

So anyway, recently I found this recipe (which is awesome in it’s own right and you should totally try it) and I’ve basically been on a cookie binge ever since. I’ve made some healthy-ish modifications though, so I can justify eating them as much as I do. I have some weird health stuff that means I can’t eat a lot, so what I DO eat needs to have some extra nutritional punch.

Spell components

Essential

2 and a 1/4 cups of wholemeal flour

3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar (raw or white is fine too, but soft brown sugar makes them chewier)

3/4 to 1 cup of vegan chocolate chips (I quite like chocolate buttons as well, or you could sub in sultanas)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of baking powder

2/3 cup of vegetable oil (or vegan friendly margaraine/butter, melted slightly)

1/2 cup of  non dairy milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Optional

1/2 to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, to suit your tastes

1/2 a cup of vegan friendly protein powder (I find soy, rice, and pea protein all work fine in this recipe) AND bump the oil and non dairy milk up to a cup each, AND bump up the sugar by a 1/4 cup AND add 2 tablespoons of ground linseed.

You could also sub half a cup of flour for half a cup of rolled oats too :).

Brewing the potion

Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 F). Have a baking tray away from the oven, you don’t want it getting hot.

Mix all the dry ingredients together except the sugar.

Mix all the wet ingredients together with the sugar ( you can just throw everything in a bowl, but doing it this way means fewer lumps in the sugar and less work mixing)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir. The dough will be oily and seem a bit hard to work with, I find just mixing it with my hands is easiest at the last stage.

Once it’s all combined, throw spoonfuls on the ungreased baking tray (there’s enough oil in the mix already, but if you’re lazy like me baking paper makes clean up easier). You can flatten them if you want, depends on your personal preference. The cookies don’t spread out much but they do rise quite a bit.

Bake for ten minutes, then start checking them every few minutes. To check, just press the top of one lightly, if it’s just a bit softer than you like your cookies, then they’re done. They’ll harden up quite a bit once they’re cool.

Let them cool for a few minutes, then use a spatula or fish slice to take them off the baking tray and put them on a wooden board or wire rack etc. If they stay on the baking tray they’ll keep cooking and go hard on the bottom. If you’re lazy like me, just take them out of the oven a few minutes earlier than normal and let the heat of the tray finish the job. It’s not a perfect result, but who cares? They’re cookies.

Prepare to defend your cookies against marauders. 

[lazyv]

Quick and Easy Vegan Snacks

Apples and Peanut butter

This is something people either seem to have known about forever, or they find the concept so weird that when you mention it they just look at you funny and back away slowly.

Slice up some apples, grab some peanut butter, and use the apple wedges to scoop up the peanut butter. There’s a bit of an art to manipulating the peanut butter, but it’s one worth mastering because omnomnomnomnom.

‘Baked’ Potatoes

Grab a potato, wash it if you need to. Stab a bunch of holes in the top or slice a cross halfway through it. Microwave on high for a few minutes then stab it with a knife to see if it's soft inside, it's different depending on the size of the potato and the power of the microwave. Once you know the rough time, you can just do that.

Toppings - vegan butter/marg, hummus, crushed garlic or garlic salt, cashew cream cheese, brewers/nutritional yeast, chopped fresh chives or spring onion, the list goes on

Couscous

Instant couscous like you can get in most supermarkets is super quick and easy to make. It tastes like pasta (because it’s made of the same stuff), and you can flavour it however you want.

Boil water, pour a cup of boiled water for every half cup of couscous, leave it for a couple of minutes, add a pinch of salt if you want, and fluff it up with a fork.

For flavourings (if you want them) you could just add a dab of vegan butter or margaraine, a teaspoon of mustard, or a splash of whatever stirfry, curry, or pasta sauce you have in the cupboard.

Noodles

Instant noodles are awesome. The instant noodle cups are rough on the environment, so I try to avoid the ones with the styrofoam cups at least, or use noodles you can cook on the stove or in the microwave instead. Sometimes finding your preferred noodles that don’t use animal unfriendly oil can be a bit of a challenge, but they’re out there! And there’s a whole range of noodles to choose from that cook almost as quickly as the instant variety (my favourite are these awesome ones made from sweet potato starch that are so springy you could use them for slingshots if you weren’t busy nomming them because they’re AMAZING with peanut sauce).

The flavour options can vary too. I’ve come across a fair few ‘chicken’ noodle packets that were accidentally vegan. If you just got plain noodles, or you’re mixing it up a little, here’s some of the easy sauces I like to use.

Sweet chilli sauce - make sure you drain the noodles for this one

Soy sauce - combined with sweet chilli sauce it’s really frickin’ good. You can drain the noodles or keep the water, either’s good.

Veggie stock - one cube to a cup of noodles (with water)

Barbecue sauce - just a little bit sweetens the noodles up nicely. Drain the noodles.

Peanut butter and soy sauce - A tablespoon of peanut butter, a splash of soy sauce, heat in the microwave (to melt the peanut butter) or stir straight through hot drained noodles, nommy. Add a bit of chilli if you like it spicy.

Optional extras

Frozen mixed veggies will also cook in roughly the same time as the noodles so long as they’re small, if they’re bigger, just put them in a few minutes earlier and then add the noodles to the boiling water. You might find you like nuts and seeds in noodles, I prefer them in noodle dishes with thicker, more complex sauces, but that’s a personal preference.

Small TVP chunks will cook in roughly the same time as the noodles, and they flavour easily.

Sandwich type constructions

The humble sandwich. Cultures all around the world have developed technology to wrap some kind of delicious bread type scaffolding around other types of deliciousness. Pita pockets, Tortillas, Bagels, Burgers, Subs, the list goes on.

Some easy things to stuff in your bread type scaffolding:

Fresh tomato slices, fresh Basil (optional), and hummus. It’s super simple and it’s delicious. Also great toasted.

Banana sandwiches. I don’t know if this is a New Zealand thing only or what, but seriously, dry bread, or margaraine, or whatever, and banana slices. That’s all. It’s divine.

Avocado and tomato. With a sprinkle of salt and a splash of lemon juice if you’ve got it. Also fabulous toasted.

Tabbouleh. If you can get it easily ready made from the supermarket, this goes great on any kind of bread related construct. Also goes fabulously with hummus.

Falafel. Microwave a few spoonfuls for a minute or two, add to bread, add tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, mustard, hummus, whatever. Devour.

Cracker type things

There’s all kinds of crunchy crispy nommy things out there - rice or corn cakes, rice crackers, water crackers, the list goes on.

Stuff to put on them or dip them in

Peanut butter - surprisingly nommy on corn/rice cakes

Hummus - unsurprisingly nommy on everything

Fresh tomato (awesome with fresh basil)

Avocado

Olives - There’s two kinds of people in this world. The ones who love olives, and the unlucky ones who don’t have the joy of olives in their lives.

Sliced banana - especially good on rice/corn cakes

Sticks, chips and dips

Stuff to dip with -

Carrot sticks

Celery sticks

Corn chips

Tortilla chips

Toasted pita bread

Mini spring rolls (raw or cooked)

Stuff to dip in -

Hummus - it comes in a million flavours

Pesto (just need to find a vegan one, or make your own :) )

Mustard

Salsa - home made or store bought

Sweet chilli sauce

Toast

Much like the humble sandwich, perhaps even pre dating it, we like to put stuff on bread, all kinds of bread.

Peanut butter - seriously. Just go buy some peanut butter and eat it

Bananas - yep, sliced bananas on toast is amazing.

Fresh tomato - Add salt, pepper (if you like it), and it’s divine

Avocado - mashed on toast with a fork, a pinch of salt, and some lemon juice, it’s divine.

Marmite - So about half the western world will know what I’m talking about. The rest will be dazed and confused. Google it. It’s awesome. Half of you will instantly hate it. Half of you will become helpless addicted to the magnificent mountain of b vitamins that is marmite. Also related to vegemite.

Baked beans - Heat em up, pile em on.

Pretzels

They’re cheap, they’re crunchy (cept for the giant soft ones, which are awesome in their own right), and they’re little edible bows. what more could you want? They’re usually vegan friendly, but it’s worth checking the bag just in case.

Vegetables

Yep. Grab some veggies, I quite like cauliflower and broccoli, put them in a covered microwave safe bowl and heat on high power for a couple of minutes. Then add whatever sauces you like (there’s a whole bunch listed here)

If you don’t have a microwave or don’t want to use one, just add about two cm (just under an inch) of water to a pot, add the veggies and cover. Bring to the boil on high heat, let it boil for a couple of minutes, then drain the water and the veggies should be cooked and nicely crisp.

[lazyv]

Ok, so I spent this morning checking and blocking about 150 spambot blogs using all manner of names, reblogging my content to promote their ‘secrets to getting rip of belly fat for women over 50′.

If I’ve missed any, apologies. I do not want to be part of anything that uses body shaming, stealing content, and trickery to make money.

If you want to lose weight, then I wish you all the best, so long as it’s YOUR choice, for YOU, and not out of the shame that’s been heaped on you by a greedy world. If you don’t wanna lose weight, I wish you equally well. Your body is YOURS.

I share my recipes because I love to share food and I want a world where animals are free from human harm. Some recipes are lower fat than others, some are gluten free, some are full of veggies, some are full of sugar. None of them are about anything other than enjoying good food while being lazy and not hurting other beings. If my stuffed peppers suddenly start ‘ripping’ belly fat, please let me know and I’ll investigate, because that sounds dangerous.

Use these recipes at home, with friends and family, don’t use them, it’s your choice. But don’t let anyone use them to try and make you feel inadequate or ashamed. Your body is as unique as you are and it carries you through life, you deserve to love and nourish it.

[lazyv]

Stuffed Peppers

Like most of my recipes, this calls for a few main ingredients and the rest is adaptable to suit your budget, timeframe, tastes, and imagination. In the future I think I’ll break this down into individual recipes, but for now, I’m lazy.

Depending on where you are in the world, capsicums (bell peppers) can be cheap or expensive. I’ve found if you can find them in jars, you get a lot more for your money and they take less cooking.

Ingredients

Bell peppers (Red is best, but you can use other colours too)

Filling

There’s a bunch of possible combinations, but here’s some of the ones  that I like:

Spinach, Quinoa, Basil, Tinned tomatoes, Veggie Stock, Garlic, and Onion

Roast Pumpkin, Cashew nuts, Spinach

Cooked Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrot, Garlic and Onion with Veggie stock, soy sauce, a splash of sweet chilli, and Mashed beans (optional)

Brown rice, Kidney beans, Tinned tomatoes, Corn, Celery, Sweet chilli sauce, Garlic, and Onion

Crumbled tofu, Tinned tomatoes, Cumin seeds, Veggie stock, Capers, and sundried tomatoes

Sauce

Again, lots of options, a couple of my favourites:

Lazy dairy free cheese sauce - Hummus, Oil, Salt, Mustard, Thyme (optional) stirred together

Guacamole - Avocado (smooshed), Lemon Juice, Paprika, Salt, (optionally you can add fresh chopped tomato, grated carrot and cucumber) stirred together

Barbecue sauce

Basil pesto - Fresh basil leaves, cashews/pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds, a sprinkling of brewers yeast, and a splash of oil, blended together

Sweet tomato sauce - Tinned tomatoes, a dollop of barbecue sauce (or a splash of vinegar and a teaspoon of brown sugar), fried onions, and raisins, simmered for a while

Madness/Method

If you’re using fresh peppers, slice them in half lengthways and remove the core and seeds. If you’re using jarred ones, just drain them and arrange them on a lined baking tray.

Gather up whatever filling you want to use. Chop up anything that needs chopping. Anything that needs pre cooking, like pumpkin, quinoa, or cauliflower, get that going.

Chop and fry garlic and onions if you’re using them, then add whatever else is going in, stir and and adjust to your tastes, then let it simmer till it’s very thick, add a little cornflour if you need to.

Now, depending on the sauce and your tastes, you might want to include the sauce in the actual peppers, drizzle it over the top, or add it after cooking. That’s up to you. I like to pair anything with beans or rice with guacamole and add the guacamole after cooking, but I like to add the hummus sauce to other fillings before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F).

Spoon your filling into the peppers. It pays to underfill them a little bit since they tend to leak while cooking. Add sauce if you want to.

Bake them for about 20 minutes or until they go a little bit crispy on top.

Take them out of the oven, add sauce if desired, and eat.

[lazyv]

Melty, Stretchy, Nommy Vegan cheese

This isn’t a super lazy recipe like I usually do. It’s also not completely dirt cheap, but it’s awesome, and it does work out cheaper than dairy cheese in terms of money and work. Grating a block of cheese over a pizza is labour intensive. Pouring this liquid gold is not.

It comes out as a really thick liquid that you can spread, drizzle, stir, pour or dip to your hearts content. If you wanted something like cheese sticks, you can probably thicken it enough for that too.

You can adjust the flavour to suit yourself, the key ingredients are very simple.

The base

1/2 a cup of vegetable oil

1/4 cup of flour (I use wheat flour, but if you want to try a gluten free flour you could)

1/4 cup ground linseed (this is the secret weapon, this stuff is amazing)

2 cups of almond or other non dairy milk

Flavours

You have a whole bunch of options here. This is my personal favourite combination.

1/4 cup brewers yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 cube of veggie stock

3 tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon dried chives

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Other stuff you can add that is also delicious

Vegan friendly miso

Lemon juice

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Coconut cream (make sure it’s a brand that doesn’t abuse plantation monkeys and other wildlife)

Vegan cream

Nut/seed butter (like cashew or almond, or tahini)

A whole bunch of herbs and spices

Method

Mix everything except the almond milk together in a pot to form a paste.

Add a little almond milk and mix again. Repeat until you have a thick, smooth paste.

Put the pot on medium heat and keep stirring and adding almond milk until you run out of almond milk. A whisk is really useful for this step.

Simmer for five or ten minutes, keep stirring so it doesn’t stick.

Adjust according to your tastes and needs, you can make it thinner with more almond milk, or thicker by simmering it for longer (or add a little more linseed).

Keep it in the fridge in a jar, and use it as you want it. It makes a great pasta sauce when it’s a little thinned out. Also excellent on sandwiches.

My next step will be to see if I can make it solid and slice-able.

[lazyv]

Lazy Vegan Mousse pudding

I remember when I was a kid, we would have those powdered ‘instant’ puddings in a packet. They were never instant, of course. You mixed the powder with water and put it in the fridge for half an hour or so and THEN you had a sort of cross between mousse and jelly.

I have no idea if those were vegan friendly or not, but they weren’t exactly a culinary delight, they had sugar, so as kids, we liked them. I haven’t had one of those puddings in a long time. We’re talking maybe more than two decades (damn... now I feel old).

Anyway, this is a base that I usually use to make chocolate pudding, but it could be flavoured in a bunch of other ways too. The texture depends a lot on what you use out of the options. A blender is very helpful for this recipe but it isn’t critical. 

Automatically dairy, gelatine, and egg free. Can be nut free, soy free, sugar free, low fodmap, or just about anything else depending on your choices. The recipe is raw too, for those interested in that.

It stores fine overnight in the fridge. It’s never made it past that point without being devoured so I don’t know about storing it any longer than that.

This much should be two decent sized bowlfuls. If you serve it with fruit or nuts, or whatever it would make desssert for four easily.

Ingredients

2 bananas or 2 ripe avocadoes - You can do without these if you want, but you’ll need to use a lot more of something else to thicken it and the texture will be a lot less smooth and silky.

Chia seeds, Ground linseed (flaxseed) - I find chia seeds work really well (and fast) for this, but they create quite a lumpy texture. They’re also expensive. I typically add four tablespoons of chia seeds and four of ground linseed. Alternatively, you could use agar (a quarter teaspoon). Other thickeners might work too but I haven’t tried them uncooked, so you’d need to experiment.

Non dairy milk - I usually use almond milk, but any non dairy milk will do, you could even use water, just add a little more of whatever flavourings you choose. I usually use about half a cup of almond milk and add another half cup of water.

Sugar - Not essential. I usually add two tablespoons.

Flavourings - What you add here really depends on your tastes. My usual preference is two tablespoons of cocoa, and a splash of vanilla essence. You could skip the cocoa and have vanilla, or skip the vanilla and have a strong banana flavour, or have mint chocolate, or blueberry. Whatever you want.

Method

Put everything except half the liquid in the blender (or bowl if you’re mixing and mashing by hand). Blend it all up.

Leave it for a few minutes to thicken (if you’re using agar it’ll take a bit longer), add more liquid to get to your desired consistency.

Eat.

[lazyv]

“Free” Brownies

Well... not exactly. Free in the sense of “gluten free” or “nut free”

One thing that royally sucks is not being able to eat nommy food because of an allergy, intolerance, or cost issue.

This isn’t a recipe so much as a sort of framework that will let you make a recipe according to your needs. It’s also a great vehicle for adding stuff that you might need - I used it for rice protein powder when I was dr-ordered to try not eating a whole bunch of food (think gluten free times ten). Those were dark days. But brownies got me through.

I’m going to start out gluten free - there’s already a recipe that uses wheat flour on the blog, and you may find it suits your needs better.

Flour

You’re gonna need some kind of flour. Most will do, but you’re gonna want a base of something quite fine and light - rice or corn flour is ideal. Any standard gluten free flour mix will do too. You’re going to end up with a total of two cups of flour, and you want at least one of those cups to be your base flour, like rice or corn.

From there you can add in almost anything you want, the only thing you really want to avoid is stuff like sorghum, millet or other really grainy flours.

Personally, I really like almond flour or coconut flour in brownies, they’re probably the most grainy flour you’ll get away with in this mix (especially if you’re adding in other stuff like protein powder). For these sorts of flours I wouldn’t add more than half a cup as part of your two cups.

Binder

Depending on your mixture, you may not need a binder, some flour combos just bind well on their own. With gluten free recipes I tend to like having a second binder though.

We have a fair few options here:

Gums and Starches - Tapioca starch, potato starch, arrowroot powder, xantham gum, agar powder, etc. They’re all fine. The amount you would use will vary - for example a half teaspoon of agar will be plenty, but tapioca and potato starch you’d use a few table spoons, so go with what you’re familiar with and know you can eat.

Ground linseed (flaxseed) - This is my favourite binder for baking. It binds well, it’s cheap, and it has loads of protein and fibre, its taste is neutral (or slightly nutty if you add a lot) and it’s super easy to use and store. I’d add a quarter cup to this recipe personally, but you can use less (or more) if you want without too much trouble.

Oats - These are only a mild binder, and if you have any issues with gluten it’s probably easier to just avoid them, since certified gluten free oats are expensive. They add a chewy, softer grainy texture. I wouldn’t add more than a quarter cup to this mix.

Chia seeds - These are effectively the same as linseed, but about three times the price, they have a more obvious texture, and they’re higher in protein. You do tend to need a little less though. Maybe three tablespoons in this mix.

Egg replacer - These are available in most supermarkets. I don’t often use them personally, they’re usually a combination of starches, but they’re quick and easy, so if it works for you, awesome ^_^. I would only add one ‘egg’ worth to this mix.

Liquid

I typically use non dairy milk and there’s a few options there - almond milk, oat milk, rice milk, soy milk, the list goes on. You can use water as well. I find it reduces the flavour a bit so if you do, add more cocoa or whatever you’re using in replacement, and more oil or whatever you’re using instead of that.

You’ll want about a third of a cup, and you might add a little more depending on how your batter turns out.

Fat

You could potentially make these without some kind of fat, but I haven’t tried it, so some experimenting might be in order. Applesauce might work in the place of oil. Mashed banana works too but it has a fairly strong impact on the flavour.

Vegetable oil - Any is fine, I find soy bean oil is a little bitter. Olive oil is too expensive to waste in baking. Plain old canola or blended vegetable oil works for me. I would add about a third of a cup for this recipe.

Vegan butter or margaraine - Use the same amount as the oil.

Peanut butter - I usually add this as well as oil or marg. It’s not essential to the recipe but I’ve found it improves the texture and flavour a lot. I prefer smooth but crunchy is fine too if you want that texture. Add anywhere from a couple of tablespoons to half a cup, depending entirely on your tastes. If you’re adding less than a quarter of a cup, increase your other fats a little (don’t go higher than an extra three tablespoons). If you’re adding more than a quarter of a cup, lower the other fat sources by the same amount. If you’re using peanut butter as your sole source of fat, also decrease the liquid content a little and expect the batter to be a lot thicker.

Sweetener

I typically use soft brown sugar, but any will do. You can also use stevia, maple syrup (decrease liquid content accordingly), dates (soaked overnight in water and blended), or even apple sauce.

I typically add a quarter of a cup of sugar, but I tend to like brownies not too sweet, so adjust according to your tastes.

Flavourings

Cocoa is the main one here, but carob would also do the trick. I typically add a half a cup of cocoa powder, but I like a strong chocolate flavour, so adjust to suit your preferences.

Vanilla essence adds to the flavour as well but it isn’t strictly necessary. A teaspoon is about right. If you’re going for low chocolate, up the vanilla to a tablespoon.

Other stuff

Baking powder - This isn’t strictly necessary, but I find it improves the binding and texture a little. A teaspoon of baking powder is plenty.

Salt - Not strictly necessary, but useful. I tend to just add a half tablespoon. If you need something low salt or salt free, just leave it out. The flavours won’t be quite so smooth, but it should be fine.

Adding nuts and seeds can be nommy, if you can have them. I’ve tried walnuts, hazelnut meal, almond slivers, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds. They were all nice, either as toppings or in the batter itself.

Icing is always nommy. There’s a recipe for peanut butter and chocolate icing in an earlier post that goes great with these brownies, and another recipe for frosting that you could adapt if you can’t have nuts.

The madness - I mean method

Mix all the dry ingredients, try to get rid of any lumps.

Add the liquid ingredients and mix well.

Add the semi solid ingredients, like peanut butter, margaraine, etc.

Unless you’re using lots of peanut butter, the batter should be reasonably thin and easy to pour. Think pancake batter but a little thicker.

Grease a shallow (no deeper than two inches/five cm) nonstick baking tin (or line with biodegradable parchment paper), pour the batter in. 

Stick the tin in the oven at 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).

Amuse yourself by licking every last scrap of batter out of the bowl. Fight all challengers for the bowl. It’s your bowl damnit, they can’t have it.

Come back and check in 15 minutes. Given how variable this recipe is, you’ll probably need to experiment to find the ideal cooking time. Stab a clean sharp knife, skewer or toothpick into several place in the chocolatey goodness, if it comes out clean in each place, the brownies are ready. If not, come back in five minutes. If the top is starting to get a little crusty but the centre isn’t cooked yet, make it a tinfoil hat to go over the tray for the rest of the cooking time. This will help keep the moisture in.

When it’s done, take the tray out of the oven, let it cool for a bit, lift the brownie slab out using the parchment paper, or some highly coordinated gymnastics with flipping and plates and stuff (and post the video on line). Slice, add any toppings you want. 

Nom all the brownies.

[lazyv]

Vegan Brownies

Before you get too excited, these do not have any special ‘herbs’ in them. I’m sure the internet has plenty of those recipes already though, if you’re that way inclined.

The thing about this recipe is it isn’t really a recipe so much as a big list of stuff you can pick and choose from to make brownies, most of it isn’t essential, but you’ll need at least some of it.

It can be made gluten free pretty easily, but it might be better if I just do a separate post for that.

What I like most about these brownies is how easy it is to pack all kinds of goodies into them. A while back my dr had me try a diet that was so restrictive I had about three protein sources in total. To make up enough protein, I started adding rice protein powder, ground linseed, and chia seeds to brownies, so I ended up with a rich, chocolatey treat that had 15% of my daily protein needs per serve. I ate a lot of brownies during that time. For protein *nod*.

Essentials

Flour - Depending on your tastes you can switch out some of this for other stuff, but if you start out with two cups, you can swap out a maximum of a cup for other stuff.

Cocoa - I find 1/4 - 1/2 a cup is about what I like, but you can adjust according to your tastes

Sugar - I like soft brown sugar, but white or raw will do fine too. I add 1/4 - 1/2 a cup, but I don’t like my brownies too sweet, add more if you want.

Oil or vegan friendly butter/margaraine - You’ll want about half a cup for this. If you’re not using peanut butter, you’ll want a bit more, and marg is better in that case.

Salt - just a half teaspoon

Baking powder - a teaspoon is about right

Non dairy milk - A cup should do fine, but have more around for mixing. You can swap this out for water but I personally don’t like the taste quite as much.

Optionals

Peanut butter - I much prefer the end result with peanut butter. It adds a richness to the brownies that is super nommy. It isn’t essential though. I usually add a couple of big tablespoonfuls to the mix.

Vanilla essence - Personally I consider this to be essential, but you can do without it. A teaspoon is about right.

Ground linseed - Often known as flaxseed, this serves a variety of purposes. It’s very high in protein and fibre, and it acts as a binding agent. Standard wheat flour should hold together ok on it’s own, but ground linseed can be very helpful. Add anywhere from a couple of tablespoons to a quarter of a cup. Add at least that much water as well.

Chia seeds - Much like ground linseed but higher in protein. Expensive though, so I tend not to use much. I also notice if you do add a lot there’s a slightly crunchy texture in the finished product.

Nut meal/flour - Almond flour and coconut flour or any ground nut type flours are really nice in this recipe. They have a really nice taste and texture. You can swap them out for the plain flour. I wouldn’t swap out more than half a cup of this type of stuff or it will get a bit grainy. If you do add something along these lines, add a little extra liquid and fat to help balance them out.

Spices - I find cinnamon and nutmeg go really nicely in this. Just a tablespoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg is all that’s needed.

Oats, Nuts, and Seeds - These are great sprinkled on top after cooking or added to the batter. They will affect the texture though, so just be aware :). Shredded coconut is nice in the same way. Walnuts go great with brownies, but anything along those lines will do nicely. You can swap these out for the flour.

Pureed fruit and vegetables - I tend to tread carefully when adding fruit to this recipe. It tends to alter the flavour quite a lot, especially banana. But if you wanna give it a go, try a few tablespoons of applesauce, or mashed pumpkin and see how it goes.

Put it together

Grease a baking dish, or if you’re lazy like me, line it with parchment paper - make sure it’s oven safe, and preferably bio degradable. Set the oven to 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Try to get rid of any lumps.

Add the wet ingredients, mix everything together. I usually add peanut butter and marg last.

You want the batter to be a little bit thin. Think pancake batter, but a little thicker.

Taste test, it should taste good in batter form, when it bakes it’ll be a stronger, richer flavour, but you should be able to adjust according to your tastes.

Pour into the tray. Pop it in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes, then check by stabbing with a knife or toothpick. If the toothpick/knife comes out clean, it’s ready. Depending on your oven you might need more time, so check regularly.

When it’s ready, pull the tray out, let it cool a look, use the parchment paper to lift the whole thing out of the tray, then slice (before or after cooling) and consume.

Can be topped with chocolate peanut butter icing.

[lazyv]

Couscous salad

Wary of whitesplaining/appropriating a food that is very much African/Middle Eastern, I did a bit of googling about it. There’s some very cool info about its history and how it’s made. Suffice to say that what us folks in the western world buy from the supermarket is the simplified version. But it’s the simplified version I’m gonna talk about in this post - because that’s what I use to make this recipe. And it’s super convenient (and I’m lazy). But seriously, go read about couscous and North African cuisine, it’s really cool.

This recipe has some similarities to Tabbouleh, but it’s a bit different.

Ingredients

Couscous - the make-in-five-minutes kind you can get at most supermarkets.

Fresh herbs - I particularly like mint and parsley, but any herbs you like are great

Any veggies you have lying around - I tend to stick to ones I don’t have to precook, but if you want to precook some, go for it :). I particularly like fresh tomato and raw carrot

Any nuts, seeds or legumes you have floating about - Again, I tend to stick to the kind I don’t have to precook, but precook away if it suits you. Sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc are all great

Salt - just a pinch

Oil - just a little bit

Sauces - My personal favourites are a dollop of hummus, a splash of sweet chilli, and a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard. But you can add all kinds of sauces, or leave them out entirely.

Onion and garlic (optional) - These are pretty strong raw, so chop them finely unless you want to saute them for a couple of minutes first.

Lemon juice - Optional, fresh is best, but bottled will do too. You just want a splash or two. Maybe half a lemons worth to a decent sized bowl full (unless you really like it bitter)

Water

Method

Precook anything that needs precookin’

In a pot, bring about twice as much water as couscous to the boil, (or boil the jug and add it to a pot or bowl). Add a splash of oil and a pinch of salt, then add the couscous and cover.

Come back in five minutes. Go cuddle the cat, or the dog, and (if you’re me) pretend you never wanted to cuddle them to begin with when they don’t want cuddles.

Chop up the vegetables and herbs etc into small pieces.

Stir the couscous, it should be light and fluffy. Add everything else. Stir, and adjust sauces and herbs according to your personal tastes.

If you want the salad warmed through, you can stir it over medium heat for a few minutes, or put it in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute on low to medium power.

Fight off anybody else trying to steal it.

Unless it’s the cat. Then you must render unto Felis Catus the things that are Felis Catus’. Unless there’s garlic or onions in it. Then you must protect your feline emperor at all costs.

[lazyv]

Easy vegan gravy

Home made gravy is awesome. It’s winter here, so I’m slathering it all over roast veggies like it’s going out of style.

Important Ingredients

Oil - I like canola, any vegetable oil is fine though. I usually use leftover oil from roasting or frying something else.

Flour of some kind. Wheat, or corn flour will do fine. The only stuff I wouldn’t recommend is some of the really grainy gluten free flours.

Veggie stock - liquid is fine, just swap out the water for the liquid stock.

Soy sauce, marmite/vegemite, or brewers yeast. Or a combination thereof.

Salt

Optional ingredients

Herbs - I like thyme, oregano can be nice. Some people like pepper. Experiment to see what you prefer.

Garlic - remember that crushed garlic will be stronger in taste, so use less, and add it a little later than chopped.

Onion

Leek, spring onion, etc

Liquid smoke

Barbecue sauce

Non dairy milk

Quinoa, lentils, etc (these should be cooked beforehand)

Proceed thusly

Chop up any onions, etc you’re planning to use. Half a onion would be plenty for a recipe this size. If you’re not using onions, skip this step and the next one.

Fry the onions etc at the bottom of a pot, with a couple of tablespoons of oil (use this oil for the next step). Leave them in the pot with the oil once they’re going a little soft.

In a small pot (or microwave safe bowl - this isn’t ideal if you’re using onions etc) mix a couple of tablespoons of oil with a couple of tablespoons of flour to make a thick paste. Don’t add too much flour, it will thicken up a LOT later otherwise and you’ll end up with way more than you need (gets me every time).

Put the pot over medium heat (skip this bit if you’re using a microwave). Add a bit of water (or veggie stock), and stir it into the paste. Do this a couple of times until it’s thin enough for you to basically dump a cup of water in there and stir it in easily.

Add a teaspoon of whatever herbs you want to use, add a teaspoon of stock power (if you’re not using the liquid stock). If you’re using soy sauce, add a teaspoon (soy sauces vary in strength, so experiment with the flavour), if you’re using marmite/vegemite, add half a teaspoon, it’ll take a bit to dissolve. Brewers yeast - a tablespoon. Add a pinch of salt and a dash of whatever other sauces you’d like to add. Go sparingly at first, the flavour will intensify as it thickens.

If you’re using a microwave, now is the time to put the bowl in, and heat it on medium power for a few minutes.

Keep stirring and heating for a few minutes till the gravy thickens. Adjust the flavour as you like. If you’re using herbs you might want to give it a little longer for the flavour to intensify.

Add more water (or liquid stock) if you need to to get the thickness or volume you want.

Pour over something delicious and consume.

Leftovers

The gravy will continue to thicken as it cools. I’ve found it stores fine for a few days in a jar in the fridge, and when I want itI just take it out, mix in some water and heat it up.

You can also add it to soups, casseroles, etc. The flavour tends to compliment any kind of hearty, winter warmer type dishes.

If I’m in a really lazy mood I’ll have it on toast (don’t judge me).