Vegan MoFo Day 9: Risotto

I generally start dreaming up what I'm gonna have for dinner around 10 minutes after I've eaten lunch (I get bored!) and I must admit lately, the word uninspired is what springs to mind.  I am often in a rush to get dinner eaten and get ready to go to the gym or dance class after work and so I don't take the time to make something awesome that often anymore.  So today I have been to the supermarket and bought loads of lovely fresh veg in the hope inspiration will strike tonight!

 

But as for yesterday I was working out in my head what I could do the half of a butternut squash that was in our fridge and came up with a risotto.

 

So I got home and was rooting around trying to find an onion but no, nothing.  All that I could find was this pathetic specimen, lurking at the back of our pantry!  So anyway in it went, along with some yellow pepper. 

 

Whilst rooting around for risotto rice, I found bulgar wheat and decided to use that instead.

I roasted the squash separately and then added it at the end. I kep the flavours pretty simple, just added a bit of thyme, veggie stock and some turmeric for that lovely yellow colour.

 

I also added just a heaped tsp of this coconut yoghurt that I found in the health food store.  It's quite sweet so you don't need much, but I've find this pretty good for replacing coconut milk in stuff when you don't want to add quite that much fat and calories.  It went really well with the squash.

I also added some cubed up taifun basil tofu, as I had a pack open and some peas - more than I meant to because my hand slipped!  And of course, tonnes of nooch.  I thoroughly enjoyed this dinner, even if it wasn't all that exciting!

Laterz
xXx

Vegan MoFo: A crappy pic of a tasty butternut casserole

I have to apologise for this crap picture of what was a very tasty meal! It's crap because it is just a pic of the leftovers, as I forgot to take one last night.

It was a butternut squash casserole, the recipe for which I got (and changed a little bit) from Cook Vegetarian Magazine, the halloween one so it's a month or two old.

Basically you roast up a whole butternut squash, cut into chunks with shallots and a few garlic cloves (they didn't roast their garlic but I felt like it!), then you add some wine and flour and transfer to a casserole dish, add beans* veg stock, sun dried tomato paste, seasoning and some sage leaves and cook it for 30 minutes.

(*I used cannelinni beans instead of the butterbeans used in the original recipe, as my friend doesn't like butter beans.)

After the 30 mins is up, you're meant to add dumplings, but I left them out as I didn't want to tempt my stomach acid to rise up due to the stodge! So I just cooked it 45 minutes instead.

It was really tasty and my friends really liked it. I served it with couscous cooked in veggie stock and a big salad with a lemon vinaigrette. And a glass of wine!

Laterz
xXx

Camera clearance and a crap tonne of tofu!

This time tomorrow - I'll be in Malta!! WOOO! Mummy Alien and Me are flying out tomorrow for 4 nights in a gorgeous hotel and I'm SOOOO excited. Here's hoping it doesn't rain.

So I had to clear out my camera and found a tonne of old pics but most were so boring, I deleted them. So here are the ones that made the cut.

My new favourite thing to do with polenta - tomato polenta! So easy and quick (recipe at end although a monkey could probably work it out really it's so easy!). Firstly with black bean/sweetcorn/cucumber salsa and roasted butternut squash.

Is it me or does it look kinda like Jabba the Hut??


So good I had it again the next night. And the squash (just toss it in oil and curry powder and bake at 200C for 20 mins - delish!). With spinach and smoked tofu. There's a lot of pics with that tofu (Taifun smoked tofu with almonds and sesame seeds) in this post! Now they sell it at waitrose, I have it a lot. It's sooo good.

Tofu again! With giant wholewheat couscous that I just cooked in veggie stock. The beany thing is my take on pepperonata that I saw Rachael Ray making on TV. I used onions, peppers and tomato puree, garlic and a good dose of chipotles in adobo sauce. I had some butter beans in the fridge to use up so I added those too. Spicy yum.

A rarity - salad! I don't really have salad that often as I find it so boring but this was good. I had some cabbage left so I made some coleslaw. Cabbage, carrot - no onion. Also I only used 1 tsp of plamil mayo and about 2 tbsp of soya yoghurt to make it a bit lighter. I also added some mustard, it rocked. buried under it are butter beans, yellow pepper, cucumber and baby spinach. Oh and there's that tofu again!

This is what most of my Sunday dinners have looked like lately - I love me some TVP chunks!! Cooked on a low oven (150C) slow (about 1.5-2 hrs) with stock, veggies and red wine. I put it in the oven before I go to the gym and it's ready after body pump and SO good. With lots of mash and a flatbread (I had dough in the freezer from the flatbreads I made in the last post).

This was brunch last weekend. I made these TVP sausage patties (I actually only ate 1 in the end they were pretty filling). I've been working on making these without using vital wheat gluten and so far I haven't got it quite right! They taste awesome but still are a bit too soft. ah well, here they are with tofu scramble and a coffee chip muffin (recipe from Vegan Brunch - awesome!!!) and coffee. I love weekends!

Oh and big shocker - there's that tofu again!! hahaha, with rice that I cooked in stock and herbs and threw some roasted squash into, with a side of broccoli.

That's it until I'm back from Malta, when I will also catch up with everyone's blogs (I been bad at that lately :( - sorry!!).

Oh right, except that polenta recipe right....

Per person:
1 cup (250ml) veggie stock (mine looks dark in the pic cuz I use Vecon, which makes it dark)
1/4 cup (40g) polenta
1 plum tomato, deseeded and chopped fine
1 tsp vegan butter
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
salt & pepper to taste

Method:
Bring the stock to the boil and then turn down slightly and add the polenta in a slow steady stream, whisking all the time. Keep whisking for a minute or so until most of the lumps are gone (a few are ok).

Turn the heat down to medium and throw in the chopped tomato. Cook, whisking occasionally, for 3-5 minutes or until cooked. The tomato will mostly break down which is awesome!

After the 3 mins are up, turn of the heat, add the butter, nooch and season to taste. Eat asap before it starts setting up on ya!


See ya next time, with pictures of (probably really dodgy) vegan airplane food - if they get it right!!

Laterz
xXx

Vegan MoFo: I pea'd on the floor!!!

:-( They fell out ma over-stuffed fridge!!!


I wish I'd taken a pic of last night's tea. I had mum & dad round and made us a chilli with cornbread muffins. Ah well. Tonight's was kind of mish-mash, cuz I didn't really know what I fancied.

Pasta with mushroom sauce, roasted sprouts and butternut squash and some Taifun smoked tofu with herbs and sunflower seeds (I <3 that stuff!!).

Maybe tomorrow i'll be more inspired!

Laterz
xXx

Vegan MoFo: I cooked. And baked!

I didn't blog yesterday because I didn't have much inspiration. I had leftovers for lunch and dinner and I wasn't sure anyone would a post on the genius of mushy peas - aside from me!

Today though I had a productive day. Cuz aside from watching half the first season of This Life*, I bought a few bits in the supermarket and HURRAH, brussels are available again! I had some roasted with butternut squash and red pepper, with some baked tofu and brown rice that I cooked with some stock and spices and threw some sweetcorn into as well. Yum.


And I made some muffins. I used my basic recipe as a start and added spices, a banana and walnuts to come up with this recipe. They are cooling as we speak and I'm looking forward to having one with a nice cold glass of soymilk.

*I forget how awesome This Life was. Seriously, thursday nights are still not the same and it's been off the air about 12 years! haha.

Oh and Charlotte Hatherley's latest album, New Worlds, came out this week. It is amazing, go buy it!!!

Laterz
xXx

Squash tomatoes & stew

Morning all.

What a beautiful bright sunny morning it is! According to the radio station this morning, it is going to be the hottest day of the year so far for us (definitely for southerners at any rate!). Shame I'm at work, but ah well, at least I'm not looking at rain through my window.

There's no stew in this post, but there is squash and tomatoes! Hey, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

This week I bought a butternut squash and it turned out to be a right bargain. At £1.30, it has featured in a meal for me & my friends on Monday. Butternut Squash Couscous with spicy tofu, roasted asparagus and grilled courgette. The couscous was soooo good, I was wishing me & my friends hadn't finished it off so I could have had some for lunch yesterday. The recipe is at the end of this post. Sorry for crap pic, I was hungry and had hungry friends at my table too, so didn't have time to get a decent pic.



I had loads of leftovers so last night I made some soup with it. Sorry for the crap pic, I took it after I transferred it to a tupperware to bring to work with me today (and it was about 11pm!). Despite the rubbish pic, this tastes great and it was really easy. I already put it on Sparkpeople so I could just add it into my day planner, so if you want the recipe, it's here.


This was actually the first meal I made with the squash (told you it was a bargain!!). It was roasted BNS & aubergine, with soft polenta and mushroom gravy. I know it looks like it's all gravy but there is actually loads of squash hiding under there. And the polenta was soooo good. It's become one of my favourit things lately.


That's 3 things I've done with the squash already - there's still another cup or so left! So I guess I'm having it roasted for dinner tonight! :-)

Last night's dinner was just a quick mish-mash. A seitan sausage, some steamed green veg and corn on the cob and some roasted sweet potato & tomatoes from my garden! YAY.

Here's a pic of the first crop of tomatoes. My chilli plant has also given me some chillis! I'm so excited to use them in something, I dunno what yet though.

And because sometimes you need fast trashy foodz! Friday when I got home from work I wanted something easy & quick before I met my friend for the gym. So I had a Redwoods Food burger with ketchup, mustard, gherkins and tomato. Easy, fast, trashy & awesome.

The fixings....

Assembled.... YUM.

I kinda wish I took a pic of my smoothie this morning cuz it was so awesome. A frozen banana, a cup of chocolate soymilk, a tbsp of protein powder and a dash of cinnamon. YUM.

Lastly, here's the recipe for the couscous. I think the same seasonings would work great with quinoa or brown rice, if you're gluten-free, but obviously the cooking method would have to change.

Roasted Butternut Squash Couscous
2 cups of butternut squash

1 tsp olive oil
1 smallish onion, diced finely
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1¼ cups (310ml) veggie stock
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Pinch of red chilli flakes (optional)
3/4 cup dry couscous
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
Start by preheating the oven to 200°C/400°F.

Peel & chop the squash into bitsize chunks, put in a roasting tin and spray with a little olive oil and a scant dusting of salt & pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes until tender.

Saute the onion, over medium heat, in the olive oil for a good 7 minues or so then add the garlic and cook a further 2 mins or so. Add the stock and spices and turn down the heat. Leave the stock to simmer for 10 minutes.

Put the couscous in a large bowl and pour the stock over it. (You may need to add some more water, you should have about the same amount of couscous as liquid, by volume.) Mix it well and cover the bowl with a plate or clingfilm. Leave for at least 5 minutes.

Fork through the couscous to fluff it up then add in the cooked squash, mix well with a fork and check seasoning.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Laterz

xXx

Vegan MoFo: Loop-de-loop

I had loads to do tonight to get myself ready to go onsite tomorrow so tonight's dinner had to be quick. So I roasted up some veg and served it with some lemony couscous. mmm mmm.


I quite like Autumn because it means I have an excuse to make spicy warming soups. One of my favourites is curried parsnip but I didn't have any parsnips so I had a root (geddit!?) around in the fridge and came up with some butternut squash. I bought the BNS ages ago and only used half of it, so I froze the rest. Squash can be a bit stringy when you freeze it so it's good for soups if you're going to blend them, like I did.

This (plus an ear of sweetcorn that I forgot to put in the picture)....

Became Spicy Butternut & Sweetcorn Soup:

Ingredients:
1 small onion
A couple of tsps of olive oil or low fat cooking spray
About half a small squash (270g ish)
1 small sweet potato (about 150g)
1 medium potato (about 185g)
500ml (2 cups) stock (I used a tub of fresh stuff that I had - impulse buy!! - but stock cubes and water would work)
Few sprigs of thyme
A clove of garlic
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp nooch (optional but awesome!)
1-2 tbsp soya cream (optional)
Salt & pepper
1 ear of sweetcorn

Method:
Saute the onion in olive oil or cooking spray and a pinch of salt, for just a few minutes.

Chunk up the veg and add it in (or grate the potatoes if you prefer - I like to chop). Add the stock, leaves of the thyme (I throw in the stalks too and just retrieve them before blending, spices, garlic and a good pinch of salt & pepper.

Bring to the boil and then turn down and simmer for 20 minutes, covered.

Blend the soup and then add the soya cream and nooch and test seasoning (I found I needed quite a bit of salt as my stock didn't have any salt in it).

Add the sweetcorn and stir well.

I add loads of pepper because I love it but just add a pinch if you want a more subtle hint of spice. Awesome with a hunk of homemade bread! :)

Cooking to: Evolution - I loves me a bit of David Duchovny!!

I have managed to borrow the work's dongle (hehe) to take onsite so I should be able to keep mofo-ing from my hotel room, although the entries might suck!!