#vegan food

Day 2
Once I went to sleep I had a good nights sleep which was good as I have recently been waking up after 3-4 hours

Went to make juice but the infernal contraption is broken.

Have contended myself with hot water and lemon and sucking on orang segments.

Got a message saying my new juicer will arrive between 10-11 am! Thank goodness for that!!!!

Used the new juicer to make a carrot, sweet potato, kale and collard green juice. Tasted fine. This new guy works 100x better than the old bit of tat!

Lunch today was a beetroot, red cabbage, apple, ginger and celery juice. It looked like a galaxy in the juice jug and didn’t taste too bad. I also added a little lemon juice.

“Snacks today have been hot water with lemon and sometimes ginger .

Dinner. A kale, broccoli, celery, spinach, cilantro apple and lemon juice. Like eating lawnmower clippings but hey, it must be good for me!

Dessert. Fresh pineapple juice . It speaks for its self really, the best thing ever.

I have had a headache all day which I guess is also party to do with lack of coffee. Still wanting food but I feel some what more hopeful that it will get better.

I will endeavour to actually take picture of the juices I drink tomorrow as I honestly could not me bothered today haha

Glazed Cauliflower in the Instapot! Meatless Monday! One day a week! Give it a try!

Meatless Monday! One day a week! Give it a try!

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
• ¼ 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)

1. Method
2. 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).
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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’.
9. 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.
10. 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.

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)

1. Method
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

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

1. Spread tomato paste as thick or thin as you like on the bases. 
2. 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.
3. Slice/grate the cheese and put it on top, or add a couple of good dollops of hummus.
4. 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)
5. Eat

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 ¼ cups of wholemeal flour
  
• ¾ to 1 cup brown sugar (raw or white is fine too, but soft brown sugar makes them chewier)
  
• ¾ to 1 cup of vegan chocolate chips (I quite like chocolate buttons as well, or you could sub in sultanas)
  
• ½ teaspoon of salt
  
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  
• 2/3 cup of vegetable oil (or vegan friendly margaraine/butter, melted slightly)
  
• ½ cup of  non dairy milk
  
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
  

Optional

• ½ to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, to suit your tastes
• ½ 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 ¼ 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

1. 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.
   
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together except the sugar.
   
3. 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)
   
4. 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.
   
5. 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.
   
6. 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.
   
7. 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.
   
8. Prepare to defend your cookies against marauders.