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vegan food workshop January 31, 2010

Posted by molly in : afk (away from kitchen) , 3comments

when my friend lucy told me about a vegan food workshop that was taking place on a sunday afternoon in january, i jumped at the chance! i have wanted to take part in a vegan cookery course for a long time now. but the idea of a one-day workshop in a local community centre made it even more appealing.

this workshop was held at a clubhouse in balham as part of sustainable streatham, a great group of people who are actively involved in making their community more sustainable and environmentally conscious.

there were about 12 of us at the workshop today – lead by two awesome vegan cooks. all around the clubhouse’s kitchen were stations where we could choose however we wished to participate in preparing the many dishes on the menu.

first up was “breakfast”. one corner of the kitchen prepared a green smoothie.

it may not look like a glass full of yum, but that’s what it was. lots of green goodness in the form of kale and cabbage, yet the bitterness of the leaves were offset by lots of berries and oranges. added health came from some flaxseeds. so glad i bought a bag of kale at the farmers market yesterday!

i helped to prepare the chai hemp porridge:

sooooo many ingredients in this great updated version of porridge – the first of which was buckwheat (rather than oats). i also learned how to make my own hemp milk (way easier than you might think) and that goji berries, while a superfood, are loaded with pesticides usually.

“lunch” was next, and it was a smorgasbord of delights.

moroccan tagine:

mushroom and fennel soup:

italian bean stew (with gluten-free pasta):

pizza (with a homemade gluten-free crust):

and finally, a mushroom and leek pie (i made the mash):

if i had to pick a favourite from the above dishes (and i sampled a little bit of everything except the pizza), i’d say i preferred the bean stew. the mushroom soup had a bit too much pepper in it for my liking, and the mushroom and leek pie was a bit too stodgy. it was fun making the mash though! nothing like taking out your aggression with a masher and a pot full of boiled potatoes. hemp milk makes things easier though :)

the last part of the workshop was dessert. there were two stations again for this – i melted the dark chocolate mixed with hemp milk to create……

raw chocolate brownie!

it may not look like much, but trust me, this was chocolatey amazingness. it was made with the help of a food processor using cashews, dates, and carob powder (which gave it the dark colour) and the melted chocolate/hemp milk mixture was the “filling”. it’s extremely messy but quite decadent. you certainly won’t miss the real thing if you give it a try. i’m so glad too, because phil’s brownie was looking pretty tempting this weekend.

we also made a pear pie:

no baking required! just a bunch of nuts as the “pie crust” and some stewed pears for the filling. yum!

i had a great day and met some wonderful people – wish i could do it all again tomorrow!

in the meantime, i’ve got a few new recipes to try out – including that green smoothie and hemp porridge (maybe for breakfast sometime this week?) – and a belly full of veganism. it’s almost enough to make me want to convert fully. if it wasn’t for those delicious fish…

fresh and fragrant January 30, 2010

Posted by molly in : curry , 2comments

i reorganised my spice cabinet yesterday. it needed it. i realised this when i was looking over a recipe and didn’t remember which spices i actually had – so i made a nice list of everything and taped it to the inside of the cabinet door. solved!

then i got to work on a really simple and fragrant fish curry – it uses loads of whole spices and yet isn’t spicy at all. i recommend only making this if you have FRESH fish. i picked up some fresh pollock fillets at my local fish shop yesterday and it was beautiful.

this is modified from an anjum anand recipe that i found in delicious magazine. this happens to be the perfect amount for two.

fragrant coconut fish curry

serve over your favourite type of rice – i used a wild rice blend.

the particulars:

  1. heat the oil in a pan. add the cinnamon, cloves, mustard seeds and peppercorns, and cook until the mustard seeds start to pop. add the curry leaves and the onion and cook until soft. add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute, adding a splash of water if it looks too dry. add the turmeric and season with salt.
  2. add 1/2 cup of water and simmer for 7 minutes until reduced. add the coconut milk, bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes. adjust the seasoning and check the amount of sauce in the pan. it should be creamy but not thick; add more water if too thick.
  3. stir in the lemon juice, then add the fish in 1 layer and gently simmer for 4-5 minutes, shaking the pan from time to time. when cooked through, serve over rice.

lesson learned: the key to this is the fresh fish. a very nice, light and simple dish – we barely used the tiny bit of sauce left after serving the curry with a slotted spoon and still got all the nice flavours of the whole spices. be careful not to eat the whole cloves or peppercorns!

vegan ice cream January 29, 2010

Posted by molly in : desserts , 3comments

i’ve avoided dairy for a very long time now – even before i found out that i was officially allergic. and one of the saddest days ever was discovering that i couldn’t eat ice cream any more. seriously – one of my very favourite treats in high school was a gelati from rita’s water ice. if you’re ever in the greater philadelphia area, i suggest you track one down.

but then i found rice dream. oh glorious rice dream! of course it tastes nothing like the real thing, but it’s close enough. such a shame though that they don’t sell it in england. they also don’t sell coconut bliss here. shame.

usually when i find a vegan ice cream, it’s soy-based. makes sense.

what they DO have out here is booja booja. it is glorious. it’s a cashew-nut-based frozen dessert in all kinds of flavours, my favourite being ginger. but the company, being extremely ethical and non-corporate, only sells at independent shops, making it near impossible to find in my corner of london. i’ve only managed to bring it home twice without melting – practically halfway across the whole city.

my point is: it’s difficult to find vegan ice cream in this world that doesn’t contain soy. hence my joy when phil gave me a beautiful ice cream maker for my birthday this year! even though it is freezing outside, i wanted to give it a try yesterday and make something actually creamy and NOT a sorbet. (although i found a recipe for dark chocolate sorbet that looks amazing and i will definitely be making that soon).

ladies and gentlemen of the dairy-free or vegan persuasion, i give you….

coconut milk ice cream

requires an ice cream maker

this may not look like heaven to you, but trust me, it is.

the particulars:

  1. mix together all of the ingredients in a jug and put in the fridge for an hour.
  2. take your ice cream maker bowl out of the freezer, plug in and turn on. take your mixture out of the fridge and pour into the ice cream maker. leave for 15 minutes.
  3. check on the consistency. if it is too soft, leave for another 5-10 minutes. once ready, either eat immediately or store in an airtight container in the freezer.

what you end up with is a supremely creamy ice cream with nice little surprise bits of coconut dotted around. sooooo good. and completely dairy-free and soy-free!

lesson learned: i would love to try making this with agave nectar instead of sugar, just to make it a teeny bit healthier. other than that, i’m pretty proud of my first attempt with my new kitchen gadget.

i also made brownies yesterday for a very stressed-out boyfriend (using the same recipe as the ones i made at leiths). but they contain butter and eggs, so there’s no point going into all of the details. just look at it and imagine how good it smelled and how sadface i was that i couldn’t enjoy it. good thing you don’t gain weight through your sense of smell.

oatmeal alternative January 28, 2010

Posted by molly in : breakfast , 6comments

what’s the one thing that got you out of bed this morning? a piercing alarm? a beam of sunshine through your curtains? a drill on the road outside?

for me, it was the prospect of a warming breakfast – this cold weather is not particularly motivating. give me a bowl of something warm and a mug of something boiling and i’m up and about. i have mentioned before about oatmeal – making it fun and interesting, rather than a bowl of blah. but admittedly, i haven’t had oatmeal for breakfast in ages. probably since around the time i wrote that post.

no, i’ve moved onward and upward to something better. something that will guarantee plenty of energy to last you until lunchtime. something that won’t weigh you down.

i’m talkin’ bout QUINOA!

for breakfast? YES. i was convinced for two reasons: 1) my dad and his girlfriend swear by it every morning, and after trying it myself while visiting them, i was swayed, and 2) i finished reading food matters, and if it’s good enough for the bittman, it’s good enough for me!

the best part about having quinoa for breakfast is the preparation. you can cook up a huge quantity on monday morning, and have plenty of leftovers to keep in the fridge for the rest of the week. simply reheat a bowlful in the microwave. easy!

another added bonus is that it is A GLUTEN-FREE GRAIN as well as containing PROTEIN. winner :)

breakfast quinoa

pictured above: this morning’s bowl, featuring reheated quinoa (which was cooked on monday with raisins and cinnamon), a chopped up cox apple, some ground flaxseed, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

the particulars:

  1. put your quinoa and water in a large pot and bring to the boil. once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and leave for 20 minutes or so. stir every once in a while, and add more water if necessary. cooked quinoa will be light and fluffy, sort of like couscous.
  2. eat a portion right away and leave the rest to cool. once completely cooled, put into an air-tight container and store in the fridge for up to one week. microwave individual bowlfuls with a splash of hot water when needed for about 30-45 seconds. or simply eat cold! it’s still good!

toppings:

give any of these a try once you have your bowl of quinoa.

let me know what you think!

you guys want some cookies? January 27, 2010

Posted by molly in : desserts , 4comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1LUnPTlpbQ]

well hello there! apologies if you aren’t familiar with the hilarity that is corky romano – that clip above might not make any sense. but there has been a lot of talk around the blogs lately that it is girl scout cookie season in america, which makes me pine for those boxes of goodness. my faves were always samoas. what are yours?

anyway, it has been a while since i’ve baked anything (probably the last time was the mince pies before christmas), so i decided to get back in there with a pretty healthy cookie recipe. granted, it contains some sugar and some regular flour (sorry, not gluten free!). but with the addition of rolled oats, dried apples, and a few healthy substitutions, we’ve got a nice friendly treat here. enjoy!

vegan apple oatmeal cookies

based on a recipe from how to cook everything vegetarian

(awesome bird tray courtesy of my awesome mom)

the particulars:

  1. preheat the oven to gas mark 5. cream the coconut oil with the brown sugar and agave nectar until nicely blended. you could use an electric mixer or whisk here. add the applesauce and beat until well combined.
  2. combine the flour, oats, apples, cinnamon, salt and baking powder in a bowl. alternating with the almond milk, add the dry ingredients to the wet little by little and stir to blend. stir in the vanilla at the end.
  3. put tbsp size mounds of the dough onto a greased baking sheet. bake for about 15 minutes, until they are nicely browned in parts. cool for a couple of minutes before storing in an airtight container (will last a couple of days).

lesson learned: if the dough is too dry, add a splash more almond milk and/or a splash of canola oil or more melted coconut oil if you have any. once done, they should be doughy but not too dry. perfect!

on a sidenote, i’d like to draw your attention to the new page entitled “useful terms“. since i’m writing to you from england, but i’m used to american cooking measurements and terms (and i know a lot of the people who read this blog are based in the states), i thought i’d create a handy little page with some conversions and translations. if i ever use a term in a recipe that i think folks from either country may not understand, i’ll link up to that page. and i’ll be constantly updating it to include useful terms as they come to me. hope it helps! :)