#theveganbuds

[veganbuds]

Ciorba de Fasole - pupiņu zupa 🇹🇩

Sākot jauno gadu, tas ar kaut ko ir jāsāk. Lai gan jaunais gads nenes pēkšņi daudz vairāk laika, tomēr šādam gardam ēdienam (Ciorba de Fasole), kas ir viens no Rumāņu nacionālajiem ēdieniem, pupiņu zupai, laiks atrodas. Ja nu ir pavisam liela luste, tad var uzcept maizi un zupu ieliet maizē! Gatavošanas laiks: no 45 min līdz 1,5 h, sanāk vismaz 4-5 brangas porcijas.

Tev vajadzēs, jebšu receptē rakstīts:

400-500g baltās pupiņas (manējās ir no tik jaukā veikala Rīgā “Zeroveikals”)

1 burkāns

1 pastinaks (es gan izlaidu, jo veikalā neatradu...)

1 selerijas sakne, normāla izmēra

2 sīpoli (esmu iecienījusi šalotes sīpolus)

1 jebkuras krāsas paprika, man paķērās sarkana

2-3 lauru lapas

1 dārzeņu buljona kubiņš

pušķītis diļļu

drusku timiāns

sāls, pipari

pāris piparmētru lapas (šo centieties neizlaist, bija laba piedeva buķetei)

tomātu pasta

sarkanās paprikas pasta (man nebija un tāpēc es dāsni piebēru paprikas pulveri)

Papildus - tofu, lai pagatavotu “bekoniņu”.

Garā gatavošana: iepriekšējā vakarā iemērc pupiņas ūdenī, neaizmirsti ūdeni kādu reizi nomainīt. Sāc vārīt pupiņas, bet pirmo ūdeni, kad tur sāk burbuļot, lej ārā. Lej virsū tīru ūdeni un turpini pupiņas kādu pusstundu vārīt, pieberot sāli, piparus un pieliekot lauru lapas. Kamēr šie draudziņi tur vārās, sagriez visas saknes, es kapāju diezgan smalki, izņemot seleriju. Man patīk dārzeņus vienmēr pirms likšanas zupā apcept olīveļļā, tad nu to arī darīju. Izņemot seleriju. Saber visu katliņā pie pupāmun gaidi nākošo pusstundu. Šo laiciņu vari izmantot, lai sagatavotu tofu marinēšanai - sagriez to šķēlītēs un liec traukā ar tuč tuč eļļas, sojas mērces, kūpinātas paprikas pulvera un tuč tuč karija. Ieliec ledusskapī! Kad arī nākošās 30 minūtes ir pagājušas, pievieno tomātu un sarkanās paprikas pastu, kā arī sakapātas dilles un piparmētru. Pavāri vēl kādu brīdi, slēdz ārā un lai tuč pastāv. Pa to laiku vari cept tofu - garajā versijā to liec uz cepampapīra un iekšā plītī, īsajā versijā - apcep uz pannas. Voila, gatavs! Lej zupu traukā, pievieno tofu “bekonu” un kādu zaļumu. Nenorij mēli!

Zupas īsā gatavošanas versija - ņem jau gatavas pupiņas no veikalā nopērkamiem skārda traukiem un Tev sanāks ietaupīt vismaz pusstundu! Dari visu to pašu, tikai pupiņas nebūs jāvāra.

Labu apetīti! Kaķīši.

[veganbuds]

COCONUT CURRY NOODLES

Have you ever experienced such a moment, when the meal you just made was so so delicious you forgot to brag about it, post your Instagram stories, call your mom? Yes? Well, this happened to us when we made the delicious coconut-curry noodles - the photo above is fake, since we forgot to make photos while being busy eating and had to stage the 'final' result. Nom!

Here are the ingredients for this recipe, which takes around 25 minutes to prepare and was enough for 3 people + leftovers to take to work the next day:

1-2 carrots

2 bell peppers (red)

2-3 garlic cloves, 2-3 onions

pack of champignons or even better - wild/forest mushrooms

bamboo shoots

1 can of chickpeas

2 cans of coconut milk

noodles to your liking

spices - curry, tumeric, salt and pepper, some fresh cilantro

Chop all ingredients. The trick is to stir fry each of the different ingredients (except the bamboo shoots) on a pan separately. Especially make sure that the bell pepper has become soft!

Mix all fried veggies together, add spices, add the coconut milk and let everything simmer for a few minutes, in the meantime boil the noodles. Now you have two options - either put the noodles in the veggie-coconut milk mix and let them sit for some minutes or don't put them together - your preference! Ready!

Enjoy with a glass of ... anything you like.

Yours, The Vegan Buds 

[veganbuds]

VEGANIZED CHOCOLATE BROWNIE

Every now and then there comes a moment when you need to celebrate. Anything. A new beginning, a closure, sun in the sky... For this one-of-a-kind brownie you really don't need much. You need good company, a bit of time, patience and preferably a freezer. 'Weird things to combine', you might think. But this is exactly what we did.

To immerse yourself in a divine chocolaty taste, you will need:

Bauck HOF mix for chocolate brownies (yes, we are this lazy, but we know how good it is!), the mix can be bought in most of bio-eco shops

200 g margarine (or experiment with adding less)

1 banana or 1 flaxseed egg

dark chocolate

100 ml plant-based drink

optional - additional baking powder to help the brownie rise to the skies even more

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Smooch the banana into a puree or prepare the flaxseed egg. Melt the margarine for easier mixing and combine all ingredients, then put the mixture in your cooking pan. You can use anything you have at home - we used a round pan, so the brownies became a chocolate cake. For the classical square shaped brownies use a baking tray with 4 corners. Bake for approx. 25 min.

To add an extra umpf to the brownies, melt a chocolate bar (we did it using the good old bain marie method, super fancy term for breaking chocolate into pieces into heatproof bowl, then putting that bowl in a pot with water and heating up the water, and with additional stirring your chocolate will be melted in almost no time), wait when the brownie cools down and then pour the chocolate on top. To achieve a super smooth layer of chocolate, put it for a few minutes in a freezer! Enjoy the brownie with a nice cup of coffee, tea and friends.

Yours, Ilze & Laura, the Vegan Buds

[veganbuds]

AVOCADO, CUCUMBER, LIME AND MINT ICE-CREAM

Have you ever made ice cream at home? Did you need a special ice cream making machine? Well, vegan ice cream needs only three things - ingredients, a blender and a freezer, as simple as that. This recipe falls into category of “15 minutes dish” * , so I am happy to present - avocado, cucumber, lime and mint ice-cream!

You will need:

cucumber (washed, not peeled);

handful of fresh mint leaves, mine are from the garden and my palms still smell nicely!

juice from one lime;

avocados;

sweetener (stevia, brown sugar or anything else you like or have)

Cut the cucumber in smaller pieces, avocados in half, squeeze the juice from the lemon and mix everything with a blender until smooth. My blender is not the best, so I had a bit of trouble with blending all the cucumbers. Place the mixture in a container and put in a freezer. For a nice and smooth consistency, mix with a fork every half an hour. Enjoy!

* well, in order for the ice-cream to freeze, keep it in the freezer for 2-3-4 hours, depending on your freezer. Be careful to not to keep it there for too long, then it loses it's creamy consistency.

[veganbuds]

1, 2, 3 - READY! SAUCE

When friends come over and you just want to make for them something for the soul, some soul food... and you want it quick, just make a delicious and filling sauce! This was one of the times I used the ingredients I simply had in my pantry. And since the sauce was so good, it disappeared in a split second, so all that I could do is to make a drawing of the ingredients :-D

You will need (for 3-4 portions):

1 red onion

2 garlic cloves

champignons

dry soy flakes

soy or rice cuisine creme

1/2 can of brown/kidney beans

spices - I used garlic powder, black pepper, curry powder

coconut butter for frying

Start with frying sliced onion and garlic in coconut butter. Fry until they get transparent/brown-ish. Then add sliced champignons - the amount depends on how much you love champignons! In the meantime pour hot water over, let's say, a handful of the dry soy flakes and let them swell. Then, in a moment, pour over a bit of soy sauce.

After frying the onions, garlic and champignons for a few minutes (do not overdo!), add the beans and the soy flakes, mix, let them cook for a bit, then add spices and as the last thing add some of the rice or soy cream - again do not overdo, this time the less the better!

The sauce tasted well with some couscous and voila - again a bunch of happy and satisfied bellies!

Lots of love, Laura

[veganbuds]

EAT YOUR GREENS - SOUP VERSION

Hi, hello! Spring is finally here, and usually, that means that I crave something green, easy to make and refreshing. While I am still waiting for all the garden goodies to grow and end up on my table, I made a quick scan through my fridge and pantry and decided to make this soup. Plus, green is one of my favourite colours, so why not to make a very green soup?

Ingredients:

2-3 small onions 2-3 garlic cloves 1 zucchini 1 leek 1 pack of frozen spinach half of your thumb-size piece of ginger vegetable bullion cube/powder black pepper oil water

+ you will need a blender (!)

How to make it:

1. peel and chop onions and garlic; 2. take a large pot and heat some oil (1-2 spoons); 3. add the chopped onions and garlic to the pot, simmer until they are nice and transparent; 4. while that is happening, chop that beautiful zucchini into small cubes and cut the leek into slices; 5. add the vegetables to the pot and let them cook for 3-5 minutes; 6. boil water in your water kettle; 7. add water to the pot with vegetables, and when you see the first bubbles, add the frozen spinach; 8. add the bullion and let the whole thing boil for 8-10 minutes; 9. cut or grade the ginger and add it to the mix; 10. sprinkle some black pepper and take the almost ready soup off from the fire; 11. take your blender and blend everything until smooth and no big pieces are floating around; 12. place the pot back on the fire and bring it to a boil; 13. soup is ready to be served and eaten.

Also, I realized that I am very impatient and taking photos of food is not my calling in life, I am a little bit jealous of those fancy food-bloggers. Then again - my food is made to be eaten while it is hot and taste is what matters to me. And while I am taking photos, my soup is getting cold, I can’t have that :D

Go green and eat soups, Ilze

[veganbuds]

CHICKPEA AND CARROT “RAGOUT”

Dear food lovers, After few days in a row eating gnocchi's and heated up soy schnitzels, it was time to use a bit of inspiration from a plant based recipe book and to create something to make my taste buds happy. So I made something like a ragout using chick peas and carrots. Here is the recipe.

What you will need:

Chickpeas (for most of the time I use the dry ones, soak them for few hours (and not at all 8 hours), boil (I would say 30 min max, also not 2-3 hours, as is written on the pack) and rinse) and to season them with curry;

Carrots (and to season them with salt, pepper and garlic powder);

Shallot onions;

Olive oil;

For the sauce: peanut butter, soy sauce, coconut milk, brown sugar/stevia;

And as usual - a handful of love, joy and happiness.

Start with the carrots - chop them in approx. 1-1,5 cm pieces and put them to boil. Meanwhile, cut the onions in slices and roast in olive oil until they get soft and change colour. I can suggest to not to overdo with the amount of olive oil, because next you will be adding the chickpeas, but they do not absorb the olive oil that much. But before you add the chickpeas, add the curry to the onions, mix and roast for a minute or so. Then add the chickpeas, mix and roast.

When the carrots become soft, put them on a separate pan in a bit of olive oil, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and roast for few minutes. In the meantime, prepare the peanut butter sauce - mix together 2-3 tbsp of peanut butter, add 2-3 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of brown sugar or agave syrup, half of the coconut milk from the small can and mix all together.

And the last step - put the carrots with the chickpeas, add the sauce and mix a bit, leave on the stove for not more than half a minute and there you go! The meal is ready. Eat with crackers or anything else you desire.

Another plant based meal made with love and care! Yours, Laura