Vegetarian Foods Archive

The prompt today gave me the chuckles ' Share something vegan (and delicious, duh) with a non-vegan'.  Well I am the non-vegan here participating in Vegan Mofo and everything I have been making this month has been vegan and pretty delicious.  But I haven't kept it all to myself.  I have been very generous with my kitchen experiments taking some of my edible creations to family and some into work and sharing with friends and colleagues, some are vegetarian, but most are omnivores.   H ere are some dishes that I have recently shared with non-vegans and non-vegetarians in my life. First up is an  Ethiopian and Ertirean inspired Zigni Broth  based on the more familiar D'ba Zigni.  This one has sweet potatoes and spinach. It was the first time some of them had tried an Ethiopian and Eritrean food and like me were surprised at how spicy it was.   Next we have a vegetarian chilli.   You can't go wrong with a vegetarian chilli with family...

I am not a lazy person when it comes to making pastry from scratch . I make pies all the time, but I wanted to make a different style of pastry this time, both easier and perhaps lighter. I've been enjoying making sweet Galettes with homegrown fruit , so a savoury one was just waiting to be eagerly made. Its my first time baking with spelt flour, and I thought it would be a lot more sturdy to hold the filling,, but the recipe I followed from a blog that I hadn't previously used a recipe from, sadly the pastry just collapsed and crumbled.  Despite the spelt pastry falling apart, the pastry was crisp and biscuity in texture and this balanced well with the sweetness coming from the roasted sweet potatoes. As I had really enjoyed  VPud 'Black Pudding' last time , I was very keen to get my hands on some more to make this particular galette as I have been imagining this combo would work well together. And it did, the vegan Black Pudding surprising spice  kick offsets...

Early in the week, whilst I was doing some research for work (honestly I was), I stumbled on The Best Jollof Rice Competition held in Brixton, London today.  It the UKs first ever Jollof competition, in past there have been Best Rum Cake. Its hosted by The Afrikan Family Works . I  love these grassroots community spirited competitions.  I thought I would compete virtually with my vegan Jollof variation, but I sincerely wish the hosts and the participants the best and hope the event is a success.   For those of you unfamiliar with Jollof.  Jollof rice or Benachin which means 'one pot' originates in Senegal.  Jollof  is eaten all across West Africa and has recently become appreciated alongside the South Indian Pilaf and the Spanish Paella. So here it is my vegan Jollof  rice.  I added peppers, okra and chickpeas to the Jollof rice only because I didn't have an accompaniment with it.  I am no expert at making Jollof, in fact this is ...

I made this recipe a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for inspiration to use up the last of my courgettes.   Apparently, the descriptive 'Calabacitas' is often used in Mexican restaurants to describe a vegetarian filling that usually contains squash, corn and spices.   The recipe suggested serving this as a Taco filling, but I am not into taco's that much - Burrito being my first choice, always, but this time round I fancied a bit of crunch and decided to make some Tortilla baskets. The calabacitas was utterly gorgeous, not just the colour: gold, green and cream, but also to eat, the sweetness from the sweetcorn, the buttery butter beans, the zing from the lime.  For me though, it was both the coriander and jalapenos that elevated the courgettes to a thing of sheer culinary delight.  I served my portion of Calabacitas in a tortilla basket.  The crunch was amazing.  D insisted on having his burrito style with soured cream, grated cheese an...

Okra Star or Okra Sun, whatever fancy name I want to give it, this is really a light snack called Oven Baked Cornmeal Okra.   I actually have an ulterior motive for sharing this post today and presenting it like the sunshine ray of sorts, I am off on my first long (more than a long weekend) holiday in years - I am going to South of France, the journey begins tomorrow, so I will be taking a proper rest from blogging for a week or so. Back to the Cornmeal Baked Okra.  Think crispy 'fish' fingers, crispy 'chicken' wings and you get the idea.  This is awesome and I say that as someone who has become a convert of the okra, lady fingers aka Bindi .  I absolutely hated it when I was growing up, but in the last 10 years or so, I have come to appreciate okra  much much more.   The viscous texture associated with okra disappears completely on baking.  What is more delightful about this finger food is that the okra is enhanced with  spices and crunch fr...

I've had a proper lazy weekend and most of all I have had a long sleep in, no dreading the alarm going off and waking up to go into work in the dark and come back home in the dark. The weekend has also allowed me to d some slow cooking and make the most of the little light there was outside for photographs, but the reality is its been a dark weekend with lingering dark clouds, drippy rain and blustery winds.  Today's hearty  lunch was Lemon-Coriander Maftoul with Roasted Harissa Rainbow Carrots.   I  picked up two bunches of rainbow carrots from a local greengrocers.  I wanted to make more of a feast of them, than just chop, grate or spiralize them for a coleslaw, so I roasted them whole in a harissa sauce and served it with  Zaytoun Palestenian Maftoul .  Maftoul is made from sun-dried bulgar wheat and hand rolled into tiny chewy balls.  The magic of maftoul is that it absorbs flavours wonderfully so I coated it in lemony coriander goodne...

So its Friday the 13th and I thought I would show food considered to be a little freaky by non-vegan and non-vegetarian - Seitan pronounced Satan. I've been ravenous recently, wanting to get my gnashers into something of substance and rip and tear it.  Perhaps its the change of weather; or maybe i am just watching way too much of The Walking Dead series.  We started watching the series on DVD Halloween weekend and are now on series 4, so no spoilers please!   Over the weekend, I made this mock 'meatloaf' with vital wheat gluten.  I was a little heavy handed with the fennel seeds.  We have had it various ways over the week including today, but the most enjoyable was when a slab of it was seared on both sides and served with horseradish mash, greens and home-made brown gravy.  The rest has been good for cold sandwich fillings, Yes we Brits do like our sandwiches.  The seitan slices were quite succulent and not at all dry like much of the p...

Halloween theatrical feasts have come and gone and so has Friday the 13th, but I share with you something dark, dramatic and bold - Spreadable Black Butter.  Please don't be judgemental and deceived by its menacing appearance, it is nutty and subtly sweet.  Give it a chance and it may win you over.   I've had a jar of these black tear-drop shaped seeds in my kitchen cupboards for a couple of years.  I've reached for the jar a few times, but its mostly been used as a garnish than an ingredient in its own right.  So recently when a Korean friend was telling me about the new rage in the West for (Kimchi and) Black Sesame Tahini being sweetened a little either with honey or maple syrup and then used as a spread, well I just had to give it a try.   I made it.  I tried it.  I spread on a toasted bagel and liked it, but the man in the house wasn't that keen on it.  So,  the sweet black sesame butter is pretty much all for me.  The o...

I picked up a Swede  -Turnip (Neep) last week thinking ahead of St Andrews Day.  I wanted to honour my friends and my time in Scotland. I also wanted to get my hands on some vegetarian haggis , as I didn't have the inclination this time round to make some vegan haggis from scratch , but as our visit to the city this weekend was cut short by the weather - we had neither home-made or shop bought haggis.  So with St Andrews Day here, I have to admit I wasn't overly energetic or  experimental as I had done so in the past , so resorted to making a vegan Neep Curry.  And although nothing like his recipe, I was actually inspired by Denis Cotter to make a Turnip Swede Curry from his book  Wild Garlic, Gooseberries and Me . Denis Cotters recipe is made with leeks, double cream and yogurt.  Happy St Andrews Day to Scottish friends in Scotland and those who have migrated to other parts of the world! Turnip Swede, Kale and Chickpeas Curry Serves 4 - 6 ...

I made myself smile today.  I went into a bookshop in town during my lunch break.  Now and again, I will frequent this High Street bookshop, just to see what new vegetarian and vegan cookbooks they have in stock.  Whilst I was looking, this man that would nowadays be described as a Hipster, though the word hipster emerged in the 1930 for underground Black musicians, mostly jazz musicians 'in the know' about emerging sub-culturea and trends.   Anyway, I digress, I heard him yell out to one of the workers 'Do you have any vegetarian or vegan cookbooks?'.  The girl came over and looked at the shelf a bit bewildered.  I couldn't help myself and said I come here often and I can see one there , there and two there.  In fact that one is good.  He looked at the girl, and said 'Thanks anyway' and  thanked me, surprisingly picking the one that I recommended.  Just made me smile.  I should be working in the cookbook section of this shop or i...

I am certainly making the most of my jar of black sesame seeds.  First it was  Black Sesame Seed Butter , then   Black Sesame Seed Flapjacks and now its sprinkled over these Aubergine Nibbles.   These Aubergine Nibbles are not far removed from the Japanese Nasu Denkagu loosely translated as  Miso Glazed Aubergines , Here though the aubergines are chopped and roasted in the oven with sesame seeds, once golden. Served with a dip, this of course can be made from miso, but i have to be honest I used one from a squeezy bottle.  These Japanese sushi plates have made an appearance on the blog before.  They are rather special to me.  I got them in the US of A from a independent Oriental shop in Berkeley when visiting my beautiful friend in 2000.   It was my first time in America too.  I carefully packed them and they arrived back with me in the UK in tact.  I treasure them and whenever I use them, all those precious moments we shar...

This  Big bowl of green pasta was very nice.  The hazelnut and kale pesto clung onto the pasta like a bean pod protecting and clinging onto the peas and beans inside.   We had a big bowl of this  Kale and Hazelnut Pesto  Pasta twice, once in the evening and second - the following day for lunch.    For those of you who are unfamiliar with Purple Flower Sprouts as I was a couple of weeks back , they are a hybrid of Brussels Sprouts and Kale.     Forgive me for a short post, but I feel a little sniffly today, so I am signing off a little early so I can get an early night - I didn't sleep so well last night.  Again hardly a recipe, but here goes. Green Bowl of Pasta Serves 2 Ingredients and Method Cook enough pasta for 2 people.   Heat 2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil, add 2 cloves of garlic crushed and saute until soft and infused the oil. stir 100grams purple flower sprouts or Brussels sprout, halved.  cook for few...

Did you have a good Christmas? We had a quiet one - just the two of us. I have lots to share, but I wanted to share something that I have eaten recently that is not particularly festive, but interesting none the less. Golden Glowing Turmeric is all the rage at the moment.  These days it can be found in soups, smoothies, teas, lattes, hummus, vegan cheese, Tofu scrambles and even  sweet and savoury  porridge's .  However turmeric is not a new and trendy ingredient to me,  as a person of South Asian heritage,  I have been eating and drinking turmeric all my life and have even used it as a natural face (beauty) product.  Loving its colour and its medicinal qualities  and loathing how it  can taint every thing in its way - not the Midas touch I was expecting.  A bit like the Turmeric New Potatoes yes I admit this bowl of Barley looks radioactive. I've had and made Turmeric Rice many times in my life, but wanted to ring the change...

Happy New Year.  Let us welcome 2016 with optimism, hope and kindness.  I want to say a heartfelt Thank you to my loyal readers.  I honestly do appreciate you for supporting and reading my blog and commenting when you can.  And as a Thank you I share with you this Heart Shaped Vegan Cheesecake -  albeit virtually.  Many of you will know that I am a vegetarian; and what I cook and eat at home is mostly vegan, it is with this in mind that I have signed up to participate in Veganuary  for a third year .   Veganuary  is a campaign in association with  Viva!  that is encouraging people to pledge and try vegan food for every meal this January.   Therefore, I would also like to share  7 recipes from 2015 that may inspire your menu for  Veganuary  2016, even if your doing not participating inVeganuary  - perhaps try Meat Free Monday or Vegan Tuesday, its an interesting way of trying new recipes and b...