Hot potato!

This was dinner the other night. There's a baked potato with some melted toffuti slice, bean salsa, sweet chilli sauce, caramelised onion and vegan bacon bits. In the background are baked cauliflower, peas, pumpkin, swede and Isa's garlicky kale with tahini sauce (from Vegan with a Vengeance). Relatively little prep, some baking, boiling and a quick saute and there's dinner. The kids liked everything but the kale and swede. Yum!

Lemon Muffins

I have a few fruit trees in pots. One is a lemon tree. A bit over a month ago, I harvested a couple of lemons. Here is the first one:


If life gives you a lemon, make Lemon Muffins!



These were made using the lemon poppy seed muffin recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance. I didn't have any poppy seeds, so I left them out. They were pretty good. M and I are big fans of lemon baked goods, though the guys of the house aren't so keen. More for me!

Caturday on Sunday:


Miss Switch accepting scratches from both Z and J. She was purring like mad and rolling on her side and back to encourage tummy scratches.

Xmas Cookies

I am not particularly religious, but I do enjoy the family closeness and celebrations of the silly season. We went to a large party with Mr BrisVegan's extended family yesterday. We don't really give gifts to adults in that family (no-one does), but I wanted to give a little something. So, like many a food-obsessed vegan, I baked for the holidays. Here are the cookies that I made into little gifts for the family:

(Clockwise from back left: Ginger Sparkle from Vegan with a Vengeance, Snickerdoodles from La Dolce Vegan, Chocolate Chip Cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance and Cranberry Walnut Biscotti from Veganomnicon.)

And here is one of the gifts:


They are all delicious, so I hope that everyone enjoys them. I will be taking some of each of them to various other Xmas parties with my family. I am also making rocky road, fudge, rumballs and mini-fruitcakes. Conversion by sweets for Christmas!

Way too much gravy...

This picture shows my crazy love of Isa's Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy, from Vegan With a Vengeance. It shows roast vegetables, cauliflower gratin and Sanitarium Roast, all smothered with the amazing gravy. There is also a bit of cranberry sauce on the roast.

Try this gravy if you dare. It is seriously addictive.

Tofu Scramble

This morning I decided to make tofu scramble. This is a vegan standard. Every cookbook author has a version. I usually just make my own mediterranean-style version. However, this time I decided to use Isa Chandra Moskowitz' recipe. I replaced the mushrooms and carrots with zucchini and tomato, because that's how I roll today.

It make 4 serves. No-one else wanted any, so I will have delicious leftovers for work lunches. Tofu scramble is usually great reheated or in sandwiches.

I liked it. I used the Healtheries Brand Nutritional yeast. I should have used another brand, as the Healtheries is a bit strong for this recipe. However, I happily ate the scramble and will enjoy the leftovers.

Spinach and Cheezely Pastries

This is what we had for dinner last night. You can see spinach and cheezely pastries, corn, asparagus, baked mushrooms and potatoes with punk rock chickpea gravy, from Vegan With a Vengeance. (If you have VWAV, you should make this gravy. It is seriously good!)

Spinach and Cheezely Pastries

Makes 8 pastries

Ingredients

250g frozen spinach
1 loosely packed cup grated mozzarella style Cheezely
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
pinch of salt and pepper
2 sheets Borg's vegan puff pastry (Aldi puff pastry is apparently also vegan)
little water to moisten pastry

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Defrost frozen spinach. Drain well.
   
3. Lightly fry onion in oil until translucent.
4. Mix spinach, onion cheezley and seasonings.
5. Quarter each sheet of pastry.
6. Put 1/8th of the spinach mix on one side of each square of pastry.
7. Moisten edges of pastry lightly. Fold pastry over filling. press edges together.
   
8. Bake for 1/2 hour or until golden.

M was helping me roll the pastries. She suggested that we should make rolls. You can also make rectangles, triangle or any other shape you fancy.

Everyone liked this one. Puff pastry is usually popular with my kids. They also love spinach and cheese. The younger two children took the last few rolls to school today in their lunchboxes, with cold icepacks to keep them fresh.

This is a handy dish to serve non-vegans. Omnis find it familiar (cheese and spinach triangles!). You can make small versions for parties. For a lower fat version, you can substitute filo pastry for the puff pastry.

Birthday party food

Last night M had a sleepover/dinner party for her 7th birthday.

She asked if the food could be a make-your-own pizza, followed by make-your-own ice-cream Sundays. That sounded easy, so that was our menu. We also put out some chips (crisps for any non-Australia readers) and had a cake.

I used the recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance for the pizza bases. I made a triple batch. I made two large pizzas for Mr Brisvegan, J and I. I then made 8 little,15-20 cm pizza bases for the children to decorate. It went really well. I put out BBQ sauce, tomato paste and a range of toppings. Each child had their own base, on oven paper with their name on it. They each made their own pizza and I put it in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes (3 to a tray) until it was cooked. I think that next time, I would make even smaller bases, as most of the kids only ate around 1/2 their pizza as they were busy playing and talking. Though they did not eat everything, they loved the idea and happily ate their own creations.

I caved and put out cow cheese, as most of the children are not veg*n and I wanted M's party to go smoothly. The children, Mr Brisvegan and J had cow cheese pizzas, so I did not take a photo for the blog.

I had this one:



It was topped with mediterranean relish, vege dogs, zucchini, yellow capsicum, mushroom, kalamata olives, jalapenos, grape tomatoes and a scattering of Tofutti american cheese slices, broken into little pieces.

They followed the pizzas with icecream (again, cow-milk cased), with a selection of toppings. No-one was game to try the So-good icecream, though my kids are likely to eat it all today. For toppings, I hit the Cruelty Free Shop website last week. We had chocolate buttons, chocolate sprinkles, vegan strawberry jelly, strawberries. We also had supermarket icecream topping. Again, the children loved this idea.

Finally, we had this cake:



M wanted a chocolate cake with strawberries. It was the basic chocolate cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I doubled it. I then used the strawberry filling that Isa suggests for strawberry tall cakes (under the recipe for basic vanilla cupcakes, in the same book), which is basically strawberries with a little maple syrup, let sit for half an hour. I layered the cake with the macerated strawberries and vanilla "buttercreme". I topped it with more "buttercreme," fresh strawberries and some vegan chocolate sprinkles. The buttercreme is based on Rene's Vanilla Frosting from La Dolce Vegan. I used an extra 2/3 cup icing mixture, a good large pinch of salt and less vanilla. I find that the frosting is too soft if you follow the 2 cup recipe.

After a movie (Bedtime Stories) some children went home and some children stayed overnight for a sleepover. The sleepover crew had another movie and giggled and talked until 11pm. There will be several sleepy people in some Brisbane homes today!

M just typed "I loved it."

"Fronch" toast and microwave berry sauce

I had 1 and 1/2 slightly stale French breadsticks in the pantry. What to do? An omni would make French toast, that egg and milk eggstravaganza. Well, so would a vegan, sans egg and milk!

I made the Fronch Toast from Vegan With a Vengeance. The recipe calls for rice milk, but I subbed it for soy milk, as that was what I had. Mixed with corn and besan flours and a pinch of salt (that's me, not Isa), the soy milk is the basis of a light batter. After dipping the sliced bread in the batter, you fry it. I recommend using a generous knob of margarine in the pan, as it gives a better flavour and texture. It also stops the french toast from sticking.

I topped it with cinnamon sugar for some berry haters and microwave berry sauce for Z, M and me. I made the berry sauce with the syrup from a can of berries, that was sitting in the freezer. I had previously used the berries to make a cobbler. However, I think that it would be even better with the berries in it.

Microwave Berry Sauce

Makes 6 generous or up to 12 smaller servings of sauce for deserts or French toast.

1 440g can mixed berries in syrup, syrup retained
2 teaspoons wheaten cornflour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar

1. Mix the cornflour into some of the syrup from the can of berries.
2. In a microwave safe dish, mix the cornflour mixture into all of the other ingredients.
3. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Mix and then microwave for another 2-4 minutes or until slightly thick and hot.
4. Serve hot or cold over French toast, waffles, pancakes or desserts. (Or if you are M, eat it out of a bowl with a teaspoon!)
   

(May also be made with just the syrup for 4 silky smooth serves of sauce or may be blended for a smoother fruitier result.)

By the way, I had to make a second lot of batter to use on normal sandwich bread. The hungry hordes were not satisfied with only one serve of this delicious French toast.

Choc Chip Cookies to Share

Yesterday, I went to a Tupperware party at a friend's place. (Tres suburban, I know!) So what does a vegan eat at an afternoon tea party?

I always offer to take a plate to such events, as I know that the odds are high that people will not cater for, or know how to cater for, a vegan. By taking food, I know that I will have something to eat. With my food, I can demonstrate to omnis that vegan food can be absolutely delicious, decadent and not at all about deprivation. I like Isa Chandra Moskowitz' tongue-in-cheek plan for conversion by cupcake.

This time, for a change, I took a plate of chocolate chip cookies.



The recipe is from Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. This is the first time that I tried this recipe. They say that they are the best chocolate chip cookies in the world and, by golly, I think they are right. They definitely compare favourable with any omni cookie you could ever imagine. The recipe makes a lot (they say 36, I made 74 smallish biscuits), so there were plenty left at my place.

How did they go? Both adults and children loved them. This was the first plate emptied, so they were definitely a hit.

Broken Finger Foods

Since Z broke his finger, I have been serving food that is easy to eat with one hand. Anything that can be eaten with fingers or a spoon is popular.

On Saturday night, we tried the lovely Char Siu Rice from Vegan About Town. I served the fragrant savoury rice with Lamyong roast “pork” on lettuce, tomato, and stir fried gai choy. To make the food more child and finger friendly, I also added store bought spring rolls, money bags, mini samosas, turnip cakes and “drumsticks”. Everyone loved the meal. Thanks to Vegan About Town, the rice was a great hit.

Sunday night was Veganomnicon and Vegan With a Vengeance night. Both are recipe books by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. We had the chickpea cutlets, with mustard sauce (both V’con), with garlicky kale with tahini sauce (VWAV), roast pumpkin and sweet potato chips.

This time I did not have any gluten flour and the shops were shut before I started cooking the chickpea cutlets. I decided to try plain (all-purpose) flour and to bake the cutlets. It worked almost as well as the gluten flour, though it would not pack the same protein punch. I also made smaller medallions (one was already eaten before I took the picture, because I couldn’t resist). Isa is right, the tangy mustard sauce is delicious with it. The children always like these cutlets.

They also like the sauce, to my surprise. I had thought that it might be a bit too tangy and spicy for the younger two, who tend to be a bit cautious about that sort of food. I should have known that their love of capers would win over all other considerations.

The garlicky kale with tahina sauce was simply delicious. My omni, greens-loving husband was quite impressed by it. The younger children were not fond of it, but then they are not overly fond of many types of leafy green. 13 year old J will eat anything that an adult would eat. Though he didn’t rave over the kale, he ate it all.

The sweet potato chips are a bit of child vegetable psychology that I have been using for a while. If called “chips” and cut in batons, the younger, fussier kids will happily eat sweet potato. If it is served in chunks or medallions, they are not so enthusiastic.

Monday night I served a Middle Eastern style platter. On the plate was pita bread wedges, baba gannouj, hommous, caperberries, baked stuffed olives, baked mushrooms, baked chickpeas with tomato, spring onions, coriander seed, cumin and time, and chickpea balls. When I made the chickpea cutlets, I doubled the recipe and made these balls at the same time, so that I could use them for this meal. The baked chickpeas were left overs from the cutlets.

This sort of food is always a favourite with my family. They love Middle Eastern dips. We ate an entire jar of caperberries, which was no surprise. The children love caperberries and capers.

Both hommous and bab gannouj are naturally vegan. These were both shop bought versions. They can easily be made at home, but I was being lazy. If you buy these dips, make sure you check the ingredients, as some brands might include non-vegan ingredients, which are not traditional or necessary.

We have also had some rather boring bangers and mash and pies and chips for the football, though I didn't take photos of them. So far the invalid has not starved!