Our Vegan Month

[f0xbaby]

~~Giveaway Yaay ~~

So as summers coming up and I’m feeling mega happy and mega generous I’ve decided to do a cute lil lush giveaway for my followers.

There will be 2 winners:

Winner 1 will receive:

2 Bath bombs of your choice

2 bubble bars of your choice

1 shampoo bar of your choice OR any shampoo under £6 (but I highly recommend their shampoo bars)

1 lip scrub of your choice

Any other product from lush under £10

You will also receive 3 of my homemade bath bombs I am trialing

Winner 2 will receive:

1 Bath bomb of your choice

1 bubble bar of your choice

3 of my homemade bath bombs

Rules

As this is for my followers, you must be following me

Likes and reblogs count, you can reblog as many times as you like 1 reblog = 1 entry

Ends 30th June

I will give the winners 48 hours to respond or I will choose another winner

The winner will be chosen through a random number generator

For more information message me here

please don’t remove this text or your entry wont count 

Cant think of any more rules….

stay happy

This is an international giveaway :) :) :)

[ourveganmonth]

Vietnamese inspired chopped salad

Yes, we’ve been away! Hence the lack of posts recently. Where have we been? VIETNAM! It was amazing. The best bit easily was the food! Everything is so incredibly fresh. Most people go to the market twice a day to pick up the freshest of produce.

My favourite things to eat in Vietnam were the fried Hanoi spring rolls and the fresh rice paper rolls. I could and did eat plates and plates of these. I also loved their coffee! It was super strong and delicious. I often would stop for an iced black Vietnamese coffee as we walked about the city. I'm getting thirsty just thinking about it!

We did a fantastic cooking class at lovely little restaurant in Hanoi. We headed to the market with our Chef and got to see all the wonderful fresh ingredients. This chopped salad I’m making is inspired by a banana flower salad which me and Bec made during the class. Unfortunately banana flower isn’t as accessible here. So I’ve mixed things up using some left over purple cabbage.

Ingredients

Salad

2 cups of roughly chopped purple cabbage

1 cup of bean sprouts

1 cup of coriander leaves

1 cup of mint leaves

1.5 cup of cooked vermicelli

1 carrot, julienne into thin strips

1 cucumber, diced into small pieces

3 spring onions finely chopped

½ cup of roasted peanuts, finely chopped

2 tbsp fried shallots

Dressing

2 tbsp of soy

3 tbsp of mushroom stock

2 tbsp spoons of agave nectar

1 chilli finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

This is a super basic one to put together. So this will seem short, but like all salads once the ingredients are prepped it’s super easy.

Throw all your ingredients, except the peanuts and shallots in a large bowl and toss well.

Combine your dressing ingredients in a small dish and stir until well combined. Taste to see if the flavours balance between sweet, sour and spicey. Add a little extra chilly if you like more kick.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss again. Dish in to four bowls and garnish with the crushed peanuts and fried shallots.

Happy salading!

Dan

[ourveganmonth]

Our Own Zucchini Spaghetti with Napoletana Sauce

Hello friends,

You may have noticed that we have begun to slowly shift away from the hearty, warming winter recipes and move towards the light and delicate flavours of spring. My favourite! 

I purchased a julienne peeler some time ago for the sole purpose of creating zucchini noodles to replace the regular pasta that I LOVE. I love pasta. And nothing could ever completely replace it really, but I sure do appreciate some healthy substitutions here and there. Gone are the days where I eat pasta every single day. Veggies are more fun to play with! So I purchased the peeler and proceeded to julienne a LOT of... carrots. For stir frys, salads, fried rice... I never once julienned a zucchini. Isn't that always the way?! But now I have remedied that and made delicious noodles to accommodate an Italian-inspired sauce that's light, full of delicate fresh herbs and bursting with seasonal tomatoes.

Now the trick to creating zucchini noodles that are firm yet maintain the texture of spaghetti is to hold the zucchini upright and peel along one side until you reach the seeds. Do not peel into the seeds as these bits will not hold together in noodle strips. Turn the zucchini around and peel the next side until all four side have been peeled down to the seeds. Keep the square seedy middle, as you can dice this and add it to the sauce. No waste here! With the zucchini strips for the pasta, place them in a colander and pour some boiled water from the kettle over them to soften them slightly. Let sit in the sink to drain while you cook the sauce.  

To stay in line with the quick and easy mood that the spring warmth brings, I chopped the vegetables quite coarsely and didn't simmer the sauce for very long. It stays fresh and the flavours are intact.

Napoletana Sauce:

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 onion, diced coarsely

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 carrots, chopped coarsely

1 red capsicum, coarsely chopped

A handful of button mushrooms, sliced

The inside, seedy part of the zucchini, diced

1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 400g can of crushed tomatoes

2 tsp of dried Italian herbs (oregano, basil, thyme)

3 tbsp of homemade tomato sauce (I used this recipe)

1 tbsp of homemade BBQ sauce (I used this recipe)

1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves, chopped

fresh parsley, to garnish

1 cup of water (plus more if needed)

sea salt and cracked black pepper, to garnish

Spaghetti:

1 large zucchini (or 2 small ones), julienned

Boiling water for pouring

Heat the oil in a large pot over low heat and add the onion, garlic and dried herbs. Stir occasionally until onion and garlic are tender.

Add all of the chopped vegetables and let them sweat for a couple of minutes.

Add the tomatoes, sauces and the added water. Let simmer until vegetables are tender and the herby flavours have infused. Add more water to thin if necessary, and season to taste.

Remove the pot from the heat and add the fresh basil, allowing the residual heat to wilt the leaves while still maintaining the vibrant green colour.

Serve the prepared zucchini pasta onto two plates and heap with the napoletana sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley and enjoy! A perfect spring meal that's light yet satisfying and full of flavour.

This will be our last post for a couple of weeks because Dan and I are heading to Vietnam! We are RIDICULOUSLY excited! Mostly for food reasons hehe. We can't wait to be inspired and share some Vietnamese recipes with you when we return. We're taking a cooking class in Hanoi so we will have lots of inspiration!

Until then, happy cooking!

Bec

[ourveganmonth]

Grilled Broccolini and Asparagus on Sweet Potato Mash

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a recipe. It’s been a pretty crazy time lately, pretty much a combination of tough personal stuff going on, hectic work and a bit of laziness. But now, I’m finally back in my routine and cooking up some amazing food. Lately rather than planning dishes ahead we’ve just been just grabbing a bunch of seasonal and tasty veg from the market and making meals on the fly. It’s been working really well and has been pushing my creative muscles in the kitchen. It really does make you focus on the key ingredients and prevents you from over complicating the food.

Veg can be done in so many delightful ways, but this time I’m using a really hot griddle to lightly char the outer of the veg. This caramelises parts of the vegetable’s skin and brings out the natural sugars within the veg. I’m jazzing this one up a super easy sauce/dressing that you could use on anything!

Ingredients

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2 cloves of garlic, skin on

1 teaspoon of thyme

4 sticks of asparagus, tough ends chopped off

6 sticks of broccolini

A good lug of quality olive

Handful of fresh basil leaves

Sauce

2 tbsp of tahini

The juice of half a lemon

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tsp of mustard

1 pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of water

Preheat your oven to 200c. Place your sweet potato and garlic on a oven proof tray and coat with a good lug of olive. Garnish with a little thyme. Cook for 30 minutes or until the sweet potato has softened. You should be able to squash him with a fork. Rotate every 10 mins or so.

Bring your griddle to a high heat. Don’t add any oil, instead we’ll apply this direct to the veg. As the griddle warms (you want it nice and hot), steam your asparagus and broccolini together for 3-4 minutes. Just long enough heat them through. Then place the veg on a plate and coat with a little oil, salt and pepper.

Add  Asparagus and broccolini to the griddle. Make sure they’re evenly spaced out They should hiss and sizzle at this point. Rotate once some light char-lines begin to appear. Once each side is lightly grilled remove from the heat. They should be bursting with colour and flavour.

Add your sweet potato cubes and roasted garlic (remove skins) to a food processor and pulse until nice and smooth. Separate the mash onto two plates. Add a small bed of basil on each mash mound and add your grilled veg on top. Combine your sauce ingredients in a jar or simply mix with a spoon. Top your veg with the sauce and season with a little salt and pepper.

Happy grilling,

Dan

[ourveganmonth]

Veggie-packed Power Bowl

Hello friends,

Sorry it's been a while between posts. Dan and I decided to have a little bit of a break from posting following some sad news we received about a friend. But rest assured, we have still been cooking and our kitchen has still remained exclusively vegan (we still haven't visited that organic butcher, like we originally planned!). Some things affect your life more than you can possibly imagine, and vegan month was one of things for us.

After an emotionally draining couple of weeks, I felt like Dan and I definitely needed a huge bowl of nutrition to help us through. A trip to the Castlemaine farmers' market meant that we were well stocked with whatever vegetables caught our eye. It was definitely one of those weeks where we bought according to what looked interesting, with no specific meals for the week in mind. I am all for following recipes and discovering wonderful new ingredients that way, but it can be so liberating to just pick up whatever you like on a whim and see where it takes you. With lots of heirloom carrots, dutch potatoes, good quality olive oil and more in hand, the Veggie-packed Power Bowl was created! There are a lot of ingredients, but they all just get thrown into the pot so it's not too daunting in reality. This is also one of those recipes that can be changed up according to your taste - use whatever root vegetables and herbs you like. Go wild!

Ingredients

1 tbsp of olive oil + more to drizzle

1 red onion, chopped finely

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups of baby spinach leaves

1 handful of button mushrooms, sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 large heirloom carrots (I used one orange and one yellow), chopped roughly

3 small dutch potatoes, diced

1 tomato, chopped

1/2 cup of red lentils

1/4 cup of fresh parsley, chopped

500ml of vegetable stock

500ml of water

2 tbsp of homemade tomato sauce (more or less depending on how rich the sauce is - I used this recipe from My New Roots. A lovely light but flavoursome sauce)

1 tsp of apple cider vinegar

1 tsp of balsamic vinegar

splash of Tabasco, to taste

1 tsp of mixed dried Italian herbs (I used oregano, basil, lavender, thyme)

1 squeeze of lemon, to taste

sprinkle of nutritional yeast, to taste

sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot on the stove over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and stir occasionally until tender.

Add all of the vegetables, except for the celery, fresh parsley and spinach. Stir until just softened.

Add the water and stock, and bring to the boil. Reduce to low and let simmer for a minute. Add the dried herbs, salt + pepper, lentils, tomato sauce, both vinegars and Tobasco. Stir through and let simmer until all vegetables and lentils are soft and the mixture thickens (about 30 minutes). Taste and season accordingly.

Add the celery and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and add the spinach and fresh parsley, allowing the residual heat to wilt them both. Add the lemon juice and stir through.

Serve into large bowls and top with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of nutritional yeast.

This is a wonderful 'use every leftover veggie in the fridge' dish, and is absolutely packed with vitamins, with plenty of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B (ALL the Bs) antioxidants, magnesium, manganese, folate, iron, calcium and potassium to name just a few. A good rule of thumb when making a vegetable stew is to ensure that there is a whole rainbow of colours. More colours means a greater nutritional profile, so you really can't go wrong.

Happy cooking!

Bec

[ourveganmonth]

Leftover Mexican Chilli Pie with Purple Sweet Potato Chips

Mexican chilli is a great dish to cook. You always end up with heaps left over and there are so many things you can do with it. Normally we’ll make burritos or tacos or even spread it thickly onto a slice of toast. But this time I thought I would mix it up and make a Mexican pie with oven roasted Mexican-spiced sweet potato.

Pies are a great way to use up any kind chilli, casserole or even an Italian-style pasta sauce. Just make sure the mixture isn’t too runny. If it is, just add some extra beans or veg to thicken it all up. Also, puff pastry keeps perfectly well in the freezer, so there’s no excuse to jazz up your lazy leftovers!

Ingredients

500g of Mexican chilli (See my Black Bean Chilli recipe)

½ sheet of vegan puff pastry

1 purple sweet potato, roughly cubed

A few good lugs of olive oil

1 tbsp of almond milk

1 tbsp of garlic powder

3 tbsp of nutritional yeast flakes

¼ cup of fresh coriander leaves

½ lime, cut into wedges

¼ cup of cashew cream

Spice Mix for Chips

½  tbsp of onion powder

½ tbsp of salt

½ tbsb of chilli powder

½ tbsp of smoked praprika

1 tbsp of oregano

½ tbsp of cumin

½ tbsp of coriander seeds

Preheat your oven to 200c. Process your spices in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle until they're a light powdery texture. Add your cubed sweet potato to a plastic bag with a little olive oil. Shake until the sweet potato is coated. Now add ¾ of your spice mix and shake well until coated with spice.

On a large oven tray, add your sweet potato and sprinkle the nutritional yeast on top. This will give the sweet potato a crusty outer texture and an almost cheesy taste! Place in the oven for 45 minutes or until browned and softened. Rotate a few times and sprinkle a little extra nutritional yeast for taste.

The pie pastry only takes 10-15 minutes to cook so we’ll need to heat our chilli first. Reheat in a pot on the stove on a medium heat for 7 minutes, then place the chilli in two ramekins or small pie dishes. Cut two circles of puff pastry and place on top of the ramekins to create a lid. You can choose if you'd like the pastry to overlap the sides or fit neatly. Brush the pastry with almond milk to coat and sprinkle the remaining spice mix on top. Stab a small hole in the pastry to let the air flow. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes. You’ll notice it puff up and rise when it's ready.

Serve with the roasted sweet potato chips. Garnish the potato with the cashew cream, fresh coriander and a good squeeze of lime juice. Try scooping some of the cashew cream into the opened pie as you eat - it's delicious!

Happy Mexi-pie!

Dan

[ourveganmonth]

Basil, Semi-dried Tomato & Sunflower Seed Pesto

Hello friends,

While you wouldn't know to look at the gloomy rain clouds outside, spring is here and the weather is getting warmer (it really is, I promise)! I am certainly beginning to crave fresh flavours and lighter meals. While comforting soups and stews will ALWAYS hold a place in my heart (and I will probably continue to make them, even as the weather warms up – I’m only human, after all!), my thoughts have been moving more towards fresh herbs, raw veggies and lovely sun-ripened fare (lovely sweet tomatoes, anyone??).

While trying to think of a way to use up the leftover fresh basil and semi-dried tomatoes I used in this dish (wonderful recipe, by the way, I recommend to ALL), it occurred to me that I could just whiz everything up into a lovely and light pesto. Can’t go wrong with pesto! That’s a fact. This pesto is incredibly easy, and you can use any seeds or nuts on hand. I used some cashews and sunflower seeds for a creamier texture, but it would also be wonderful with pine nuts, walnuts and/or pepitas. Or just sunflower seeds and pepitas for a nut-free version. The world is your pesto!

Ingredients:

½ a bunch of fresh basil, stems and any flowers removed

¼ cup of raw cashews

¼ cup of raw sunflower seeds

2 tsp of nutritional yeast

Juice of ½ a lemon

5 oil-packed semi-dried tomatoes, chopped roughly

1/8 cup of olive oil + more to taste

½ tsp of sea salt or to taste

Cracked black pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor (or blender, or use a stick blender) and process until desired consistency is reached. Add olive oil, salt and pepper as you go to taste. I only processed mine a little bit so that it had a nice chunky texture.

And that’s all there is to it! You can then use the pesto for a pizza base, pasta sauce, dip (you might want a smoother consistency for dip)… just about anything! I used mine as a pasta sauce with some sautéed mushrooms, onion and garlic. Delicious. And it freezes really well too if you’d like some pesto squirrelled away for later. Who doesn’t appreciate that!

Happy cooking and parentheses,

Bec

[ourveganmonth]

Chocolate Coconut Mousse

Yes I’ve been lazy, I have not written a post in while! But this does not mean I haven’t been cooking. We’ve been making lots of delicious stir fries and curries. Tonight I found myself hankering for something chocolatey and sweet, and being lazy meant I couldn’t even be bothered heading to shops!

I looked in the fridge and discovered that we had some coconut cream left over from when I last made soup. This got me thinking: Why don’t I try a coconut cream based mousse? So I did! And to be honest, it was super easy and delicious. I’m eyeing this off as an easy dessert for the our next dinner party.

Ingredients

4 tbsp of good quality coconut oil

3 tbsp of cacao powder

3 tbsp of evaporated cane juice

1 tsp of vanilla essence

300ml of coconut cream

2 tbsp of crushed freshly roasted cashews

1 tsp of agave nectar

1 tbsp of shredded coconut

First you need to chill the coconut cream. Place it in a covered bowl in the freezer for 20 minutes or until the mixture is thickened and slightly icy around the edge of the bowl.

In a small saucepan, melt your coconut oil over a medium heat. Once melted, reduce to a low heat and add your cacao and evaporated cane juice. Stir frequently until well mixed. It’ll have a slight powdery texture because of the evaporated cane juice but this won’t affect the taste or texture of the mousse once it's all whizzed up.

In a food processor, add your coconut cream and ¾ of the chocolate mixture. Pulse until well combined and aerated (we want it to be light and fluffy). Pour into a small bowl and freeze for 40 minutes or until the mixture sticks to an upside down spoon without falling off.

With the remaining chocolate, smear lines of it on a sheet of waxed cooking paper. No need to be neat, this will just be to garnish. You can even get a bit creative with the shapes! Place the chocolate coated paper in the freezer until the mousse has set.

Once set, serve the mousse in two cocktail glasses, garnish with the crushed roasted cashews and shredded coconut. Drizzle with a little of agave nectar to give it that almost liqueur-like sweetness and flavour. Peel your hardened chocolate smears off the paper, snap into your preferred sizes and top each glass generously.

Happy moussing!

Dan  

[ourveganmonth]

Healthy Brown Rice Sushi

Hello friends,

What a weekend it's been! If you're living in Melbourne town, you'll know that it's been a warm one. Actual warmth! At last! The final day of winter has brought a wonderful sunny day and I can't think of a better way to thaw out and see in spring. We're really looking forward to sharing some warm weather recipes with you in the coming months, and I thought the best one to start out with is brown rice sushi. Dan and I spent the day trekking through beautiful forests so a packed lunch with lots of protein was certainly in order.

Here's a couple of photos of the beautiful scenery:

It's honestly one of my favourite places to visit, and it's so good for the soul to escape the busy city for a while. You can't help but feel peaceful while you're breathing the fresh air and listening to the lyrebirds singing.

So this morning, I got up nice and early to make a batch of brown rice sushi. I have always loved sushi, and the traditional variety will definitely always be a winner as far as I'm concerned - it's certainly my go-to meal on the run, as it's healthier than the great majority of fast food that you can grab in a pinch. But is it considered a health food? Erm, no. Not with all that white rice and added processed sugar I'm afraid. And depending on the filling, it could also be laden with hydrogenated oils, mayonnaise, bad fats and salt. Luckily, with people becoming more and more health conscious, a whole lot of brown rice sushi has been cropping up in restaurants So why not give a homemade brown rice version a go? 

Going in, I knew that brown rice wouldn't stick together as well as white sushi rice. But with that held in mind and a little manoeuvring as we ate, it worked out pretty darn well! I'll definitely be making this again, and I'd love to experiment with the filling. It would be wonderful with some marinated tempeh and pickled ginger. Even a tiny bit of miso paste added to the rice would be great. Noted for next time... if you try it, please let me know how it went!

The inspiration for this recipe came from epicurious.com, with a whole lot of tweaking to suit our tastes.

Ingredients

2 cups of medium grain brown rice (short grain would work better, but I had a hard time finding it - I ended up using medium grain and it still worked well)

4 cups of water

2 tsp of soy sauce, plus more for dipping

4 tbsp of apple cider vinegar

4 tsp of evaporated cane juice

7 sheets of nori

1 sushi mat

1 Lebanese cucumber, sliced thinly

2 small carrots, julienned

1/2 red capsicum, sliced thinly

1 small avocado, sliced thinly

pickled cabbage, to garnish

black and white sesame seeds, to garnish

Rinse the rice thoroughly and add to a large rice cooker (you can also cook over the stove in a large covered pot). Add the water and the 2 tsp of soy sauce. Cook until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat and let sit to cool for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together the vinegar and sugar until sugar has dissolved. Transfer rice to a bowl and stir through the vinegar mixture until combined.

Prepare all vegetables.

I have chosen to include avocado as an ingredient to ensure that Dan and I get a good dose of healthy fats. Avocados have great anti-inflammatory properties and are high in protein, fibre, vitamin A and Omega 3 along with many other vitamins are minerals. Plus, they taste so buttery and amazing. 

Lay out your sushi mat and place a sheet of nori, shiny side down. Carefully spoon some of the rice onto the nori and spread with a spoon or your hands. It's a good idea to have a small bowl of water handy to dip your fingers and keep the rice from sticking to you.

Keep spreading the rice until it looks like this:

You want to leave a bit of space at the top and bottom of the nori sheet so that the seaweed joins up nicely once it's rolled - you don't want your delicious filling to spill out!

Lay out your filling in whichever order you like (make sure it reaches each end), then sprinkle with a few sesame seeds.

Now here's the bit that requires a little practice. Fold the nori sheet over with the mat so that the end closest to you has just covered all of the filling.

Carefully, keep rolling and keep the mat as tight as possible. Once you get to the end and the roll is sealed, remove the mat and place the sushi roll on a plate.

Repeat this process until all sushi rolls are prepared. Then, cut the sushi into your desired size with a sharp knife. I suggest keeping each piece rather thick because the brown rice doesn't stick as well as traditional sushi rice. The thickness prevents the rice from falling out.

Serve with the extra soy sauce/pickled cabbage/pickled ginger/wasabi and enjoy!

Happy rolling,

Bec

[ourveganmonth]

Sweet Potato and Leek Soup

Soups soups soups! Yes I know we've made quite a lot of them, but it's winter after all! I love potato and leek soup. It's rustic, warming and a great comfort food. Ideal for sitting around on the couch watching episodes of Frasier (we've been watching a LOT of 90s shows on Netflix)!

I can remember one of the first times I cooked for Bec. I made potato and leek soup with homemade bread! I was pretty pleased with myself and 5 years later I'm cooking it again.  This time I'm veganising it and adding some extra nutrition by using purple sweet potatoes and cashews for that creamy texture. No bacon to garnish this one! Just some good quality olive oil, salt and pepper and a good pinch of mixed dried herbs. Ingredients

4 cloves of garlic, roasted

2 Leeks, finely chopped

1 large onion, finely chopped

500g of purple skinned sweet potato, roughly cubed

1 regular potato, roughly cubed

1/2 a cup of pre-soaked cashew nuts

A few lugs of olive oil

Mix of Italian dried herbs (thyme, basil, oregano and rosemary)

1 litre of good quality veg stock

1 cup of water

Salt and pepper, to taste

Add your olive oil to a large saucepan. Bring to a high heat. Add your leek and onion. Cook for a few mins until they sweat and turn golden. Add your sweet potato and roasted garlic. Toss through half your dried herbs. Finally add your drained cashews, stock and water. Add some extra water if the ingredients aren't submerged.

Bring to the boil and turn down to a low heat. Simmer for approx 45 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so until the potato is nice and soft.

Using a stick blender or using a traditional blender in batches, process the soup until a smooth and creamy texture is achieved. Garnish with salt, pepper and dried Italian herbs. Serve with some crusty wholemeal bread and enjoy!

Happy souping,

Dan

[ourveganmonth]

Roasted Stuffed Capsicums

Hello friends,

WELL, it is has been a tough couple of weeks, and I'm not talking about the good kind of tough. Dan came down with a terrible stomach bug last Sunday and he's only just starting to feel like himself again. Yes, there was even a moment when I was driving us home from the market where he nearly spewed in my car. Not fun for anyone! So while poor Dan was wrapped up in bed without the slightest trace of an appetite, I was throwing together a very lazy dinner for one. I made this, and then I made this. What can I say, I stress cook! And they certainly filled me up quite nicely. Mac and cheese followed by cookie dough... comfort food anyone? 

I decided to make the cookie dough slice in memory of a dear friend who passed away a couple of years ago, and who would have celebrated her birthday last week. Boy, did she lurrrve herself some cookie dough! Right from the tube! I'm pretty sure we made more than our fair share of cookie dough trips to Woolworths during our lunch hour at school. So naturally I had to turn to the queen of cookie dough for a satisfying recipe - Angela Liddon from Oh She Glows. Her recipes are so decadently wonderful (and vegan, of course), and this one was no exception. I highly recommend.

Eating cookie dough fudge and thinking about how lucky I was to have had such a wonderful friend in my life felt like a nice homage to a brilliant friendship.

Now that Dan is starting to feel better and things are just a little less hectic around here, I thought I'd introduce some more veggies back into our lives. You know how we love us some veg! This recipe simply came to be while I was rifling through the fridge and cupboard for dinner inspiration. I'm still very much on the winter roast veg wagon, but I think we're just a little souped out at the moment... only just. So roast capsicum seemed like a perfect option. Red capsicums are high in both Vitamin C and A (more than their green and yellow counterparts), perfect for boosting the immune system of my sickly boyfriend.

I used some regular cous cous for the stuffing, because that's what I had on hand, but by all means use wholemeal if you feel that way inclined! That's what I'll be doing next time :)

Ingredients:

3 tbsp of olive oil

2 large red capsicums, rinsed

6 button mushrooms, brushed and diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 handful of chopped fresh chives

1 handful of chopped fresh parsley

1 cup of dried cous cous

1 cup of vegetable stock, plus 1/8 cup

1 tbsp of nuttelex or any other vegan spread

1 handful of raw cashews

1 tbsp of nutritional yeast

sea salt and cracked black pepper, to season

Preheat your oven to 180c fan-forced.  Prepare your capsicums by slicing them in half lengthways, then scooping out any white flesh or seeds - this important because if there is too much white flesh left behind, it will cause the capsicum to taste bitter once roasted.

Before:

After:

Place the capsicum halves on a baking tray and drizzle with a tbsp of olive oil. Massage the oil in thoroughly. Place in the oven for 20 minutes or until soft.

Meanwhile, heat a tbsp of oil in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the garlic, parsley, chives, mushrooms and 1/8 cup of the vegetable stock. Stir and season to taste.

You want the mushrooms to be simmering away nicely in the stock. Once the stock has absorbed and the mushrooms have browned, remove from the heat.

Heat 1 cup of vegetable stock in a medium-sized pot on medium heat. Once boiling, add the cous cous and stir to avoid any clumps. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and stir for about 2 minutes until thick. Remove from the heat, add the Nuttelex and leave covered for a couple of minutes more, then fluff with a fork.

Stir the mushroom mixture through the cooked cous cous to combine.

Once everything is done (this requires some good timing, I'll admit!), take the capsicums out of the oven, and scoop the cous cous mixture into each half. Feel free to pack the cous cous and fill the capsicums all the way up. There will be some left over cous cous as well.

Sprinkle each half with the nutritional yeast, cashews and some more salt and pepper to taste.

Set your oven to the grill setting, and let the filled capsicums grill for about 2 minutes - be careful not to overdo it! We just want the cashew crumbs to brown up and go crunchy. 

Remove from the grill and serve on 2 plates - you can use the extra cous cous as a bed for the capsicum halves like I have, or you can always refrigerate it for another day (it would make a nice lunch on its own). Enjoy with a glass of red wine.

Happy cooking,

Bec

[ourveganmonth]

Marinated Mushroom Burgers

I’m a total sucker for burgers, wraps, baguettes and grilled sandwiches. It’s the perfect lazy Friday night sort of food. Most bars and eateries try their hand at burgers. Usually it’s the greasy mince patty, generic salad and chips. Most places luckily/unluckily stock a sad old frozen veggie patty alternative. Vegan/vegetarian specific restaurants have been my best option burger-wise when eating out. The best patty I’ve come across uses a Portobello Mushroom rather than a mushy tasteless veggie patty. It’s moist, meaty and full of flavour. You can even do it on the grill and get the sizzle thing happening!

This week I made a tasty mushroom burger, using a wholemeal baguette instead of a traditional bun. I’ve never used fresh beets in my cooking… yes I should be 'beeten' for this ;). I just discovered that I love the earthy flavour of raw beets. They’re really good for you, especially good for your liver (which tied in nicely with Dry July). But I still believe that a burger is at a loss without cheese. ‘But Dan, this is a vegan blog!?’ I know… which is why I made a super basic 'cheesy' sauce using nutritional yeast to give the burger some bite! Instead of traditional fries, I gave a sweet potato rosti a go. I wanted something crispy but textural that I could put on the side and in the burger itself.

Ingredients:

Marinade

1/4 cup of red wine

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 tbsp of apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp of kecap manis

1 tbsp of cracked black pepper

1 tsp of sea salt

Sweet Potato Rosti

1 half of a large sweet potato, julienned intro shoe strings using a julienne peeler

A few lugs of olive oil

1/2 a tsp of sea salt

Cheese sauce

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of wholemeal flour

1 tbsp of corn flour

1/4 cup of nutritional yeast

3/4 cup of water

Burger Filling

2 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed and brushed clean

2 large wholemeal baguettes

1/2 an eggplant, sliced thinly

1 red capsicum, seeds removed and sliced into chunks

1/2 a fresh beet, rinsed and peeled

1 handful of baby spinach, well rinsed and spun dry in a salad spinner

Add your marinade ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add your mushrooms and coat well with the marinade. Leave out on the counter for a few hours or refrigerate overnight.

Preheat your oven to 180c. Add you sweet potato, oil and salt to a bowl. Toss until sweet potato is coated. Place on an oven proof tray and cook for 30 mins or until soft.

While the sweet potato cooks in the oven we can make the cheese sauce. Add your oil to a small saucepan and bring to a high heat. Lower to medium heat, adding your nutritional yeast and flours. Add your water gradually and stirring frequently. When simmering, bring to a low heat and keep stirring until it becomes a thick melted cheese-like texture. Season with a little salt. Split your baguettes open and smear the sauce on. We’ll grill these when the other ingredients are ready.

Heat a little oil in a large griddle on a high heat. Add your mushrooms to one side and your capsicum slices and eggplant to the other side. Lower to a medium heat and cover the pan with a little foil (keeping the heat in). Cook each side for about 7 minutes depending on the heat. You want them to be nice and soft. Pour the excess marinade over the mushrooms every minute or so, we want lots of flavour!

Remove your sweet potato from the oven if they're nice and soft. Heat a little oil in a medium sized fry pan on a high heat. Test if it's hot enough with a string of sweet potato - it should sizzle and crackle. Add your potato and cook for about 2 mins each size. It’ll crumble and break, but that’s ok, we just want some crispy edges for texture. Cook for a minute longer while stirring for extra crispiness. Set aside to add to the baguettes in a moment.

Switch your oven to the grill setting and heat the open baguettes under the grill for a minute, just on the cheese side. We want the softness of the outer bun, and a crisper inside with the heated cheese sauce.

Slice your mushrooms in two and place on the baguettes (two mushroom halves per burger). Next, stack your ingredients. I did mushroom, spinach, rosti, eggplant, capsicum then beet. Dish up the extra rosti on the side and you're done!

Happy burger-making,

Dan

[ourveganmonth]

The Best Aussie Winter Pie

Hello friends,

I can't believe it's been nearly two months since our vegan challenge ended, and we still haven't cooked or prepared anything non-vegan to date. Madness! I never thought that would happen. Even when the challenge ended, I assumed we'd still have a free-range and sustainably-sourced meat dish about once a week, but it just never came to be. Vegan ingredients have become such a normal part of our life that I don't even give it a second thought when I'm drawing up the shopping list for the week. We just don't miss animal products, and even our restaurant choices have been leaning towards the vego side. There are so many interesting things you can do with vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes and whole grains. Very exciting stuff.

I have been feeling inclined to try my hand at a vegan pie for a very long time. Now I'm not talking about some light-as-air fluffy thing that would only satisfy for an hour or two, no siree. I'm talking about a rich, full-flavoured, hearty Aussie pie that could put Four'N Twenty to shame. And packed full of nutrients to boot! You didn't think I'd post a recipe that was unhealthy, did you? ;)

When I thought about the type of pie I wanted to create, I decided that it had to have a thick gravy, like a rich beef pie, with a similar deep flavour. Something you could really sink your teeth into on a cold day. While beef and beef stock were certainly out of the question, I couldn't help but wonder about humble old Vegemite. It certainly has that salty stocky flavour to it, and boasts an impressive nutritional profile filled with B vitamins. Just what a body needs during the winter to stave off colds, and it also fits in nicely with the concept of a home-grown Aussie pie. Yes, Vegemite would do quite nicely! And combine that with red wine, very dark chocolate, walnuts, barley, lentils and vegetables, a 'beefy' flavour was certainly forming.

I baked the mixture as individual pies in mini pie dishes, with a layer of puff pastry over the top (as well as being able to eat directly from the dish, it limits the amount of pastry that needs to be used). I bought vegan puff pasty from the supermarket, but by all means make your own if you feel that way inclined! 

I hope you enjoy this cold-weather dish as much as we did. The Vegemite really does add a lovely salty stock flavour, while the chocolate and red wine makes the gravy deliciously rich. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 brown onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup of roughly chopped walnuts

3/4 cup of pearled barley

1/2 cup of red lentils

3 small carrots, finely chopped

1 yellow capsicum, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 cup of frozen green peas

1 400g can of chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup of red wine

2 cups of water

20g of dark chocolate (70% or above - I used 85%)

1/2 tbsp of vegemite

1 sheet of puff pastry

almond milk (or any milk), for brushing

Preheat the oven to 180c. Heat the oil in a large pot over the stove. Once hot, add the onion and garlic and stir over a medium heat until tender.

Add the carrot, celery and capsicum and stir until tender (about 5 mins).

Add the water, tomatoes, barley and lentils and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Once the mixture starts to thicken, add the red wine, Vegemite and walnuts and stir through thoroughly. The walnuts will take on a bit of a beef mince texture. By now the mixture should have a rich dark red colour and be very fragrant. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the barley is tender and the mixture is quite thick.

Add the chocolate and green peas and stir until the chocolate is melted through and well combined.

Now the mixture will be thick and brown - looking pretty beefy, isn't it?

Once you're satisfied with the consistency and the flavour is as bold and as hearty as you like it, take the pot off the heat and spoon the mixture into the individual pie dishes.

Cut the puff pastry into circles the size of the pie dishes, and place on top of each. Brush generously with the almond milk and place in the oven until the pastry has puffed up and is lightly browned (about 15-20 minutes).

(Like my pastry leaves? :P)

Serve, and enjoy! This serves 4 and would be amazing with a dollop of homemade tomato relish and a glass of mulled red wine. Mmmm a true winter pie!

Happy cooking,

Bec

[ourveganmonth]

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

It’s winter! It’s cold and all I want to do is sit on the couch and eat soup. I can’t tell you how to build a couch, but I can sure tell you how to make a delicious and warming soup! 

One of the many delicious dishes I can remember my mum cooking for me as a kid was pumpkin soup. It was always a favourite and there were never any leftovers! I've taken her recipe and added a few ingredients and swapped a few things to give it a nice Thai-style spice and kick. 

This month has been an interesting one. I've been taking part in Dry July, going booze-free for a month and raising funds for adults with cancer. It’s been a good month to evaluate what I put into my body and it has reinforced some of my good vegan eating. I'm still yet to use dairy or meat at home, but I have been indulging in non-vegan food socially. I've been trying to make better choices about the foods I eat, and I have noticed that I've been mentally considering the impact of what I eat and where it’s sourced. Even if I decide to eat non-vegan on occasion, at least I'm doing so consciously. 

Ingredients:

Spice Mix

1 stick of lemongrass, white section only, roughly chopped

1 tsp of ground cumin

1 tsp of ground coriander seeds

1 tsp of dried turmeric

1 long red chilli, seeds removed and roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

2cm piece of fresh ginger, roughly chopped

Soup

1 tbs of coconut oil

1 leak, white and pale green section, chopped roughly

1 onion, diced

1/2 a butternut pumpkin, skin and seeds removed, chopped into rough chunks

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped into rough chunks

1 large carrot, chopped into rough chunks

3 tbs of brown rice

1 handful of red lentils

1 litre of vegetable stock (I used Bec’s scrappy stock)

1 cup of water

1 400ml can of coconut cream

1 bunch of coriander leaves to garnish

Place your spice mix ingredients in a food processor. Add a little water if it struggles to blend. Once combined, heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan on a high heat. Once heated, add your spice mix and stir until fragrant. Add your onions and leak and toss until sweated through and lightly coloured. 

Add you pumpkin, carrot and sweet potato. Cover with stock and the water. Add your rice and lentils and season with salt and pepper. The rice and lentils will help thicken the soup, add some extra nutrients and texture. Bring to the boil. Once boiling, bring to a low heat and let simmer for about 40 mins. Stir every 5 minutes or so. 

Once the vegetables have softened (poke with a fork to see if they're tender), remove from the heat. Take a stick blender (or use a regular blender or food processor, processing the mixture in batches) and blend until the texture is smooth. I like my soup with a little more texture. Put the saucepan on the heat and add 200ml of the coconut cream. Let it simmer until you end up with a nice thick soup (it should take about 15 mins). If it’s watery, just cook a little longer to reduce. 

You should be able to serve enough for about 6 people. I did 2 bowls and saved the rest for lazy winter leftovers. Drizzle with a little coconut cream, garnish with a generous amount of coriander leaves and season a little. 

Happy eating!

Dan

[ourveganmonth]

Yellow Split Pea Dahl with Cashew Cream

Hello friends,

Well we're truly experiencing the winter now! I hope you've all been staying warm, with lots of cups of hot tea and hearty soups for comfort. You may remember me mentioning in a previous post that Dan and I have been stocking our fridge and freezer with soups, stews and stocks. Well, we certainly haven't stopped with the one-pot wintery dishes, but I did want to branch out a little with the type of dinners I've been cooking. 

This dahl (or dal, daal, dhal... whichever floats your boat) was inspired by an absolutely delicious dish I shared with a dear friend at Shakahari, one of my favourite vegetarian restaurants in Melbourne. I just couldn't stop eating this wonderful mixture! I've always loved dahl, but I've only ever made it with red lentils. As I've been craving the sunlight during this dark and dreary winter (waking up when it's dark and getting home when it's dark is truly miserable), I couldn't help thinking about those bright little sunshiney yellow peas that I usually pass at the market without a second thought. A split pea dahl! Delicious idea!

Split peas are closely related to beans and lentils (rather than green peas) and as such are high in dietary fibre and protein. They're also rich in vitamin B1, folate, phosphorus and potassium and are amazing for regulating blood pressure, heartbeat, circulation and promoting healthy and strong bones. Eat up, they're full of nutrition and delicious to boot :)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp of coconut oil

2 cups of cooked yellow split peas (if using dried, soak one cup in water overnight, drain, rinse, and boil on the stove until tender - about 30 minutes)

1 brown onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp of yellow mustard seeds

2 tsp of ground cumin, plus more to sprinkle

1 tsp of turmeric

1 tsp of dried coriander leaves

1 tbsp of chilli paste

1 litre of vegetable stock

1 cup of fresh baby spinach leaves

Sea salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric, coriander leaves and stir until the seeds begin to pop.

Add the chilli paste and stir for a minute longer. Add the split peas and stir to coat, letting the peas absorb the flavour for about 5 minutes.

Add the onion and garlic and stir until tender.

Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer until the liquid is reduced, the split peas are tender and the dahl is as thick as you like it (I like a thick, rich dahl so mine took about 40 minutes). Season as you go depending on your taste.

Meanwhile, make the cashew cream (recipe here). 

Once the dahl is thick and rich, remove from the heat and stir the spinach leaves through until they wilt slightly and turn bright green.

Serve with the cashew cream and a sprinkle of ground cumin.

This dish serves two, is beautiful on its own and absolutely decadent with the cashew cream stirred through as you eat. It's also a great canvas if you'd like to play around with extra vegetables. Diced tomatoes and potato would work wonderfully, and even sweet potato would be great for some added sweetness and an extra hit of nutrition. Try it! And let me know how it turns out :)

Stay warm and happy cooking,

Bec

[ourveganmonth]

Black Bean Chilli Mexi-Bowl

Black beans! It’s one of those ingredients I really enjoying eating but have never had the opportunity to cook with before. After a bit of googling and a few words of wisdom from Bec, I found out that they are really healthy. They contain large amounts of both protein AND fibre! INSANE, right? Which makes these guys bonza for your digestive tract and has some great affects on blood sugar regulation and your cardiovascular health.

For this recipe I wanted to make a big batch of chilli and serve it in a bowl made out of flat bread. Why? No real practical reason here, I just thought it would add a nice interaction with the food. Especially that moment when you get to eat the bowl and watch it crumble as you reach the base. Nothing like eating your crockery!

I’ll mainly focus on the chilli in this recipe as you can really serve it up with anything you want. But I’ll cover what extras I added to mine too.

Ingredients:

1 cup of black beans, soaked in 2.5 cups of water for 8 hours


3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 tablespoons of chilli paste

A good lug of olive oil

2 brown onions, diced

2 tsp of garlic powder


2 tsp of dried oregano


2 tsp of dried coriander


2 tsp of smoked paprika

1 tsp of dried chilli

1 tsp of cumin


1 tsp of sea salt

1 tsp of cracked black pepper


2 cans of diced tomatoes


2 cups of water

1 capsicum, diced

20g of dark chocolate chocolate

5 button mushrooms, quartered

1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1/5 of a purple cabbage, shredded

2 limes, cut into wedges

Handful of coriander leaves

1/4 cup of cashew cream

2 tbsp of nutritional yeast

Strain your black beans and rinse with a little fresh water, put aside. In a large saucepan on medium heat, add some olive oil. Once hot add your onions, garlic and chilli paste. Add about 3/4 of all the spices to the mix, no need to be precise, we are just saving some to go on the veg later.

Once aromatic, add your black beans, tomato, capsicum and water. Turn the heat up high and bring to the boil. Once boiling, lower to a simmer. Add your chocolate. Cook for about 40 mins or until nice and thick. Remember to stir it every 5 mins or so.

While the chilly cooks, preheat your oven to 180c. Add your mushroom, sweet potato and remaining spices to a plastic bag and shake until well coated. Spread out on a large oven tray. Drizzle a little olive oil over the veg and place in the oven until they soften up. This should time pretty well with the chilli. You could use any veg for this - I recommend trying a bunch of colourful capsicums and cherry tomatoes!

Once the veg and chilli are done, we need to prep our flatbread bowls. I found Lebanese wholemeal flatbread worked a treat. Take 3 oven proof bowls and lay the flat bread on top. Press down in the middle so the base is nice and flat. Don’t worry too much about creases around the inside of the bowl, this’ll make an interesting shape. Add the bowls to the oven and cook for 5 mins or until they hold their shape. Remove the bread from the bowls and place on a plate (I know, it’s all a bit silly!). Fill the bread bowls with the chilli, red cabbage and roast veg. Garnish with coriander, nutritional yeast and cashew cream. Squeeze a wedge of lime over the top. This will make about 3 big bowls and you should have plenty of chilli left for lunch tomorrow!

Happy bowling!

Dan

[ourveganmonth]

Sweet Potato and Cashew Dip with Za'atar Flat Bread

Hello friends,

Ok, so, it MAY be a tad obvious that Dan and I are obsessed with sweet potato at the moment. When a veggie is in season, I just can't get enough of it. Cold weather just screams sweet potato to me! So apologies for the kumara-heavy recipes. I'm sure we'll move on eventually :P

We're right in the midst of winter now and the temptation to opt for easy packaged meals is definitely getting stronger, as I'm sure you can all relate. To combat this we've been cooking up giant healthy one-pot meals and freezing the leftovers for lazy days. Our freezer is currently chockas with vegetable soups, stews and casseroles. We've had to cut back on the cooking for a bit because we simply ran out of room! My zest for cooking hasn't yet waned, so I'm placating myself by handing out the goodies to friends. Everybody wins!

With this recipe, I wanted to create a thick and creamy dip that's great for just snacking at home or at work. I've been flogging the hummus horse quite a bit lately, so I thought something a bit more wintery and sweet would be nice, with some warm herby flat bread to accompany it. As much as I love crudites (any of my friends who have been over for dinner know my love for pre-dinner crudites), sometimes it's just too freakin cold.

For the flat bread, I got this specific za'atar recipe from My New Roots, a wonderful recipe website that introduced me to healthy cooking and food as medicine. The vegan flat bread itself was just purchased from the supermarket - but feel free to make your own! I'd love to hear a fail-safe recipe.

Sweet potato and cashew dip

1 small sweet potato, peeled (about 200g)

1 handful of raw cashews (about 1/4 cup)

2 tbsp of olive oil, plus more to drizzle

1 tsp of smoked paprika

1 tsp of dried thyme

1 tsp of dried cumin

1 tsp of dried turmeric

sea salt, to taste

cracked black pepper, to taste

3 garlic cloves

Preheat the oven to 200c fan-forced.

Place the cashews in a bowl and cover with water. Let soak for 1-2 hours (the time doesn't really matter with this recipe - it depends if you want a more chunky or creamy dip).

Chop the sweet potato roughly. It doesn't need to be perfect because it will all be blended together in the end anyway. Just chop finely enough that the pieces will soften quickly in the oven.

Place the pieces on an oven tray and drizzle with the olive oil. Massage the oil in thoroughly with your hands to ensure that all pieces are coated. 

Sprinkle the paprika, thyme, cumin, turmeric, sea salt and pepper over the sweet potato.

Place in the oven to roast for 20 mins.

Remove from the oven and add the garlic cloves to the tray. Massage cloves with olive oil and let roast in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Once the cloves are soft and the sweet potato is browned and tender, remove from oven, place in a bowl, cover with cling wrap and leave in the fridge until cooled.

Once cooled, blend with a stick blender until the desired creamy consistency is reached.

Sprinkle with smoked paprika and thyme.

Za'atar flat bread

1/4 cup of sesame seeds (I used both black and white for contrast)

1/4 cup of sumac

2 tbsp of dried thyme

1 tbsp of dried oregano

2 pieces of wholemeal vegan flat bread

1 tbsp of olive oil

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan until the seeds brown, begin to pop and become fragrant.

Once cooled, add sesame seeds, sumac, thyme and oregano to a jar and shake well to combine. This is your za'atar! Save any leftovers in the jar in the fridge until ready to use again.

Place a piece of flat bread on a a sheet of aluminium foil and coat with half of the oil. Make sure it reaches the edges.

Sprinkle some za'atar over the top (as much you desire).

Place in the oven for 5 mins or until the bread is brown and crispy.

Repeat with the remaining flat bread, cut into triangles with a pizza cutter and serve with the sweet potato dip.

I hope you enjoy this winter treat! I also want to share with you a new 30 day challenge that Dan and I will be doing this July. We're abstaining from alcohol for the entire month in the name of Dry July! I do this every year and thoroughly enjoy it - it's amazing how much you can achieve and learn when you have a consistently clear head. If you'd like to donate, join up or simply learn more about the cause, visit the following webpage:

https://au.dryjuly.com/profile/rebeccabryson It's unlikely that an adult will live their life without ever being affected by cancer in one way or another, so I feel like this cause will speak to many. 

Bec