In the Mood for Noodles

Pepper Crusted Goats Cheese and Almond Feta

2012-02-01T12:22:00.000+11:00

Around New Years Eve, I made two nut based cheeses. First the cashew goats cheese which I had already tried at Johannas house and loved. I used muslin because the woman at spotlight told me to and also had very little come out when wrapped in the cheesecloth.

Pepper Crusted Goats Cheese from Vegetarian Times

3/4 cup raw cashews

6 Tbs. canola oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tbs. tahini

1 1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cracked black peppercorns or coarsely ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place cashews in large bowl; cover with 3 inches water. Soak overnight.

2. Drain liquid, rinse cashews under cold water, and drain again. Purée cashews, oil, lemon juice, tahini, salt, and 2 Tbs. water in food processor 6 minutes, or until smooth and creamy.

3. Place large strainer over bowl, and line with triple layer of cheesecloth. Spoon cashew mixture into cheesecloth. Fold sides of cloth over cheese, and form into 6-inch-long oval loaf. Twist ends of cloth and secure with rubber bands. Set in strainer over bowl, and let stand 12 hours at room temperature. Discard excess liquid. Chill.

4. Preheat oven to 200°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap cheese, and scrape into 7-inch-long log on cheesecloth. Rewrap, and twist ends to secure. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 35 minutes, or until cheese becomes set on outside but still soft, turning occasionally. Cool, and chill.

5. Unwrap cheese. Sprinkle with peppercorns, pressing to adhere.

I copied Johanna and used this in a quinoa salad. The salad itself was a bit boring but the 'goats cheese' made such a tasty addition. Its got a lovely tangy, salty flavour.

Next I made the:

Almond Feta but without the herb oil, also from vegetarian times

1 cup whole blanched almonds
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 Tbs. plus 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves (left this out)
1 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves (also left this out)
1. Place almonds in medium bowl, and cover with 3 inches cold water. Let soak 24 hours. Drain soaking liquid, rinse almonds under cold running water, and drain again.
2. Purée almonds, lemon juice, 3 Tbs. oil, garlic, salt, and 1/2 cup cold water in food processor 6 minutes, or until very smooth and creamy.
3. Place large strainer over bowl, and line with triple layer of cheesecloth. Spoon almond mixture into cheesecloth. Bring corners and sides of cloth together, and twist around cheese, forming into orange-size ball and squeezing to help extract moisture. Secure with rubber band or kitchen twine. Chill 12 hours, or overnight. Discard excess liquid.
4. Preheat oven to 200°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap cheese (it will be soft), and transfer from cheesecloth to prepared baking sheet. Flatten to form 6-inch round about 3/4-inch thick. Bake 40 minutes, or until top is slightly firm. Cool, then chill. (Cheese can be made up to this point 2 days ahead; keep refrigerated.)
5. Combine remaining 1/4 cup oil, thyme, and rosemary in small saucepan. Warm oil over medium-low heat 2 minutes, or until very hot but not simmering. Cool to room temperature. Drizzle herb oil over cheese just before serving. I skipped this part.

I enjoyed the garlic in this one and thought it was tasty enough without the herb oil. However, I took half of it to a new years eve party and when paired with crackers with a lot of salt/flavour you could barely taste it. So I recommend adding the herb oil. I can't choose a favourite either, as they are both tasty in their own ways. I will certainly continue experimenting with more nut based cheeses. What are your favourite recipes?

Blissful Bites

2012-01-29T19:18:00.000+11:00

Things have been a bit hectic in our household, as we prepare for our trip whilst doing a large and much needed spring clean. Partially because we have house sitter and also because Toby starts studying full time when we return.

But I have to tell you about my new fave cookbook. I often get a new cookbook and made a few things and then leave it on the shelves for inspiration but don't actually make much out of it. There has been a few exceptions though like vegan cupcakes take over the world and vegan scoop. However, I'm obsessed with my new cookbook because its healthy, gf friendly, meals are generally pretty quick and don't require too many weird ingredients. I've been particuarly drawn to the recipes with seaweed in them. It's only been a few weeks since I received it and I've already made:

Land and Sea Soba Salad:

Fiesta quinoa salad:

Spring kale salad with sweet miso dressing, almost forgot to take a photo!

Tempeh 'fish' tacos with mango peach salsa:

And not your usual pad thai with an apricot almond sauce.

I can't decide which recipe to post. So let me know which one you are interested in and I'll blog about the one with the most votes.

G/F Hong Kong and Macau Tips?

2012-01-26T10:28:00.000+11:00

Gung Hay Fat Choy or Happy Chinese New Year!

Toby and I are off to Hong Kong and Macau in Feb and while we are both kind of familar with the vegetarian restaurants in Hong Kong. This will be my first time going to Hong Kong and eating gluten free.

I have to admit I'm a little nervous about my eating options since coeliac disease really is a foreign concept and wheat is in soy sauce and most Chinese sauces.

Does anyone know of any gluten free friendly options in either place?

Cashew Nectarine Popsicles

2012-01-24T12:01:00.000+11:00

I do actually have lots of new savoury dishes to talk about, but can't be bothered talking about cookedmeals when I'm sooooooooo hot.

So this is actually supposed to be cashew peach popsicles but apparently I don't know fruit at all because I accidentally grabbed nectarines and it wasn't until I went home that I realised. I went ahead with the recipe anyway and they were still delicious but I bet peaches would be much better.

Cashew Nectarine Popsicles adapted from Veggie Wedgie:

3-4 Nectarines

30gr raw cashews

2 tbsp agave syrup (adjust according to taste)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Soak the cashew in some water for 1 hour to soften them. Roughly chop nectarines. Place all ingridents in blender. Blend on high until well combined.

Makes 3 small popsicles.

Pour the mix in ice pop molds and freeze for at least 4 hours.

It still had some tiny cashew chunks which I liked, I like a bit of texture in icecream or popsicles. I enjoyed these but next time I will actually make these with peaches instead.

Raw Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries

2012-01-22T13:20:00.000+11:00

This is so easy quick healthy and tasty. The chocolate is a little less intense than regular dark chocolate so it doesn't overpower the flavour of the strawberries. These lasted a few days in our fridge.

Dark chocolate covered strawberries from Better Raw (will try the white chocolate next time )

1 punnet of strawberries, washed and dried.

Dark Chocolate (we had a lot of chocolate left so feel free to halve this recipe)
1 Cup Cacao Butter, melted
1 Cup Cacao Power
1/3 Cup Agave
Pinch Salt

Add cacao powder to the melted cacao butter and stir until no more lumps remain. Add the agave and salt and stir well. Dip strawberries one at a time, holding onto tails and rotating your hand slightly to create even coverage

Place each strawberry on a non stick tray and place in the fridge until chocolate sets.

Massaged Kale Avocado Salad

2012-01-16T21:37:00.000+11:00

I had felt inspired this week by meeting the charismatic, sweet and enthusiastic raw chef Lisa from Vegan Culinary Crusade. We had a few meals together and I watched her give a talk on the healing power of plant foods. While I knew a lot of the info and references such as the china study. I still learnt a lot about new research into the benefits of vegan diet, and the horrible health consequences of eating dairy and animal protein. Both the talk and general conversations with her had me reflecting on all sorts of things, like my current diet.

It's coming up to my 10 year anniversary of being vegan in a few months. I started out as a pretty healthy vegan but as more and more processed vegan foods become available, they started to become part of my regular diet. I really have become a bit of junk food vegan. I get how it happens, I guess I want to show myself and others that you don't need to miss out on fried foods, creamy ice creams, decadent cakes etc. But we really are doing a bit of a disservice to ourselves. If we are eating large amounts of sugar, fat, oil etc we can still end up with some of the diseases of affluence. Not only can it make us unwell but also gives veganism a bad name since if a vegan gets sick, veganism always gets blamed.

I took Lisa to radical grocery and she got the last bunch of kale and told me about the salad she was going to make for dinner. I was intrigued about it as she explained that by massaging the kale with certain ingredients it becomes wilted almost like it has been cooked. With the hot heather returning to Melbourne today, I couldn't resist giving it a try. I know kale salads are big on overseas vegan blogs but kale is still a pretty rare ingredient here and I think in the past I overlooked these recipes as I wasn't interested in what I thought to be boring and bland salads.

I massaged the kale as I watched project runway and was so amazed at the change in texture and size, it decreased by almost half. If you are looking for kale in Melbourne you can sometimes find it at radical grocery, and fruit peddlers. I have also been told that it is available at psarkos in Thornby and LaManna Direct in Essendon.

Anyway, the salad was great, the avocado adds a bit of creaminess, the massaging takes away the bitterness of the kale, the capsicum provides a tiny bit of sweetness. Its also quick and doesn't require turning on the oven/stove on hot days. I'm certainly going to make this again and am going to experiment with other massaged kale salads. Do you have any fav kale salad recipes?

Kale Avocado Salad from Vegan Culinary Crusade

1 bunch of kale
1 Tbsp of olive oil
1/2 Lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 (or 2) Avocado/s
1/2 red pepper (I used a whole one), juliened
2 spring onions, chopped

1. Tear up the leaves from a bunch of kale into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl
2. Add olive oil, sea salt and lemon.
3. Massage everything together for a couple of minutes (the kale should change texture to become almost wilted)
4. Peel and pit an avocado/s. Mash the avocado flesh into the kale, to coat the leaves.
5. Top with red pepper and spring onion.

Serves 4 (as side)

I'm labelling this as raw, as you just need to sub the olive oil.

Pina Colada Popsicles

2012-01-15T09:47:00.001+11:00

On the 42 degree day we retreated to a small shopping centre to see a movie and just hang out and escape from our very hot house. I had a mission to get some popsicles moulds so we could make popiscles or as we call it here icy poles. I wanted to get some cute shaped ones but the only ones I could find were these cheap ones from target. They aren't as cute as the others but do the job and have a small little end to sip the melted bits when you get to the end.

This is so similar to my pina colada ice cream that I hesitated about posting it but the texture is really different, much more icy and you don't need a ice cream maker!

Pina Colada Popsicles/Icy Poles from good bite

Makes 4

1 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 cup dried, unsweetened, un-sulfured shredded coconut (I left this out)

1 cup fresh pineapple, roughly chopped

1/2 tablespoon Agave nectar

1/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract (I left this out too)

Combine all ingredients in a blender; process until smooth and creamy. Divide mixture into four (4-ounce) Popsicle molds. Freeze for 4 hours and serve.

Heres rilakkuma (relax bear) posing with one:

They are sweet, creamy and quite refreshing!

Almost Raw Blueberry Cheesecake

2012-01-10T12:26:00.000+11:00

I've been doing pretty well with the reduced sugar resolution by trying to focus more on fruit and occasionally eating desserts like this. But its only 10 days in, so will see how I go.

The original recipe was called bluberry cardamon cheesecake and asked for lots of cardamon but I was worried I was going to overdo it so the cardamon ended up being so subtle that you couldn't really notice it.

Bluberry Cheesecake by Sweetly Raw.

Crust:

1 cup walnuts (I used almonds)

2/3 cup pitted, packed dates

Grind both ingredients together in a food processor.

Add 1 teaspoon of water if the mixture is too crumbly.

Press the crust into pan/s of choice. I used a pie plate but think mini ones would be cuter. Set aside.

Filling:

3 cups blueberries

1 1/2 cups cashews

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (can use much more for strong flavour)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

3-4 tablespoons melted cacao butter

In a blender, combine all but the cacao butter, until completely smooth and creamy.

Add the butter and blend again to incorporate.

Pour the mixture over the crust(s)

Chill in the fridge or freezer until firm.

I loved this recipe, it makes such a rich dessert that you don't need to eat much. I love the colour too. It does make quite a lot so feel free to halve the recipe unless you are sharing. I think its pretty similar to yongs's blueberry cheesecake although perhaps not quite as solid in texture on top.

We shared some with our friend Eve while she taught us mahjong and still had lots leftover for the next 3 days. Mahjong is hard and I currently suck at it, although I did win one round with this hand with lots of help from Eve:

Gingerbread Cookies and NYE Resolutions

2011-12-31T18:05:00.001+11:00

Dear Readers,

I have some new for you. Some perhaps shocking or bad news for those of you who like my sugary unhealthy desserts because my new years resolution is to be healthier. To be more specific: to eat better and exercise more. I know new years resolutions are a bit lame but I kind of like the idea of wiping the slate clean.

Don't worry I'm going to be realistic about it. So I know there will be occasions like xmas, birthdays, potlucks and perhaps cheat days. But on the whole I want to eat a lot less sugar. This is big for me, because sugar is my drug. Also less deep fried foods and just less oil in general.

But since this is new years eve I wanted to share with you one last sugary dessert I made today to take to a friend house tonight.

I made gingerbread cookies with my new cookie cutter I got for xmas. The cookies cutter set is so great because they come with letters so you decorate with whatever message you want, like this:

Because it's so hot I decided to make ice cream sandwiches with them. These cookies tasted great and had a great texture, but unfortunately I made them a bit thick and I don't recommend freezing them as they are a big too hard when frozen. I also made some vanilla ice cream to go with it. I don't recommend making vanilla ice cream. Its so boring, you might as well buy it, seriously don't bother!

Anyway here is the recipe from the allergen-free bakers handbook. She has a special flour mix in her cookbook but since she uses the same mix for most recipes I don't think it would be fair to post it here. I will tell you though that I subbed the brown rice flour for regular white flour as I couldn't get any from my health food store and it still worked fine.

Gingerbread cookies (makes 24 small cookies or in this case 18 larger ones)
2 3/4 cup gluten free flour mix
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup dairy free shortening (I used nuttelex)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup agave
1/4 cup molasses (I used golden syrup)

In stand mixer fitted with paddle, combine dry ingredients. Mix on low speed for about a minute. Add shortening and apple sauce then mix until combined.

Add agave and molasses and again mix until combined.

Divide dough into two balls and roll in between two baking sheets until about 1/4 inch. Place in freezer until firm, about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two sheets with baking paper.

Cut dough using cookie cutters. Place on baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, Remove from the oven and let set for a few minutes and then cool for a few minutes before transferring them to cooling rack.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Anyone else making new years resolutions?

CT8N645GSWGQ

Pina Colada Ice Cream

2011-12-29T18:30:00.000+11:00

I've been waiting for an excuse to bring out this pineapple bowl

We got a pineapple in our food co-op a few weeks ago and so after a little googling I come across this recipe on Jeroxie, I didn't have any limes or shredded coconut though so I ended up going with a recipe with only 3 ingredients.

Piña Colada Ice Cream from Elana's Pantry

1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk
¼ cup agave nectar
1 cup freshly chopped pineapple

Place coconut milk, agave nectar and ½ cup pineapple in a food processor/blender.
Blend thoroughly until smooth and well combined
Briefly blend in remaining ½ cup pineapple, leave texture a little chunky
Place in fridge until its cold.
Process according to the directions of your ice cream maker.
Place in fridge until desire texture

This was so sweet and refreshing, just like a real pina colada without the alcohol. So perfect for the hot weather but be warned it doesn't make much. Well in this household only enough for 2 serves! I wasn't sure if it would thicken without the arrowroot but it was fine.

Happy New Year everyone!

Gluten Free Anniversary

2011-12-24T20:16:00.001+11:00

We have a few anniversaries to honour in December, first Toby moved here in December from Hong Kong 6 years ago and its also been 2 years of blogging at this address. Although I blogged for years at aprevious site. It also marks my first anniversary of being gluten free. I did go on and off a gluten free diet a few times last year but got my final coeliac biopsy results and committed to being gluten free in Dec last year.

I thought it might be helpful for those who have recently found out they are coeliac or gluten intolerant to talk about my experience. I was miserable when I got my first blood test results, friends and family tried to be supportive by saying focus on what you can eat, how lucky you are to know what was causing issues etc. In the beginning I couldn't be 100% positive about it, I was grieving all those foods I could never eat again like crumpets, amazing sourdough bread, and so much more. I'm happy to report that was a phase and I didn't stay being grumpy about it. It's so much easier now that I have a routine at home, recipes all sorted, friends who make amazing gluten free dishes and know half a dozen restaurants where I frequent. However, I do on rare occasions get cravings and miss the convenience of take away sandwiches but being gluten free just means being a bit more organised about meals.

I've strict about the gluten free diet. I've been glutened a couple of times this year with sometimes small amounts of gluten and its not pretty, my stomach bloats so much that I look pregnant, I have horrible sharp pain on one side (generally left) and other bowel related issues that I'm sure you don't want to hear about on a food blog. It generally takes me about 24-48 hours of feeling horrible and up to a week til I feel back to normal. The longer I'm gluten free the worse the symptoms seem to get. Thankfully it has only happened a few times. I know some people cheat because they don't have many symptoms but its so not worth the possible long term health issues such as bowel cancer. I also find it easier, because I start to forget how amazing gluteny crumpets, pastry, bread etc can be. So don't do it guys!

I'm definitely felt healthier this year, not just stomach and bowel related but also with less colds and other viruses and my body seems to be able to fight viruses and infections better. I've also had more energy. My body is finally been able to absorb vitamins and minerals properly but with that have also come a small amount of weight gain. Although that might be a coincidence or my age as many people report weight loss after going gluten free.

I found the process of going gluten free so much easier thanks to a couple of coeliac friends who talked me through it, talked to me about good brands, answered so many questions about ingredients and just agreed that it can be bit shit sometimes. So I'm more than happy to answer any gluten free/coeliac questions, not from a nutrition standpoint of course but in terms of the above. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.

Here is some advice which I found useful in the beginning and which people often get confused about:

There is wheat in regular soy sauce.
Spelt products are NOT gluten free.
Most buckwheat noodles contain regular wheat.
Most fresh rice noodles contain wheat, but dried varieties are generally fine.
Barley is part of the gluten family, everyone forgets about this one.
There is barley in some brands of soy milk and some miso paste.
Products can contain wheat and still be labelled gluten free as it depends on the way the wheat is processed. So the gluten free label overrides everything else.
In Australia, caramel and glucose syrup derived from wheat are gluten free as no gluten remains after processing it. Does this apply in other countries too?
Basically the only alcohol you need to avoid is beer, ale, lager, stout and Guinness. Although spirits may be derived from wheat, rye or barley they are distilled in such a way that there is generally no gluten remaining in the final products.
If any ingredient in a product is derived from wheat, rye, barley or oats, then this must be declared on the label in Australia.
Watch out for for wheat in some corn starch and icing sugar varities.
Check out Coeliac Australia website for more details: http://www.coeliac.org.au/coeliac-disease/index.html

Gluten Free Xmas Pudding Ice Cream

2011-12-20T13:18:00.001+11:00

The night before the potluck, I got the strongest urge to make ice cream, even though I had already started on the brownies. I decided to veganise xmas pudding ice cream, its strange because I don't even like xmas pudding, but everything tastes better in ice cream form!

Christmas Pudding Ice Cream inspired by bbc goodfoood recipe

Fruit:

200g dried cherries, chopped (or sub raisins etc)
6 tbsp brandy
2 tbsp brown sugar

Ice Cream:

1 cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
4 cloves
2 cans of coconut milk
1 t vanilla essence
1/2 cup sugar
6 gingernut biscuits, broken into chunks (I used the leda gf ones)
zest ½ lemon and ½ an orange
2 teaspoons arrowroot

Mix all of the boozy fruit ingredients together in a bowl, then microwave or cook on stovetop for 3 mins. Stir, then leave to cool completely, for a few hours to overnight.
For the ice cream, put the spices in a saucepan and gently heat for 3 mins or so, stirring once or twice, until fragrant. Tip in the coconut milk (reserving 1/4 cup) and sugar and bring to the boil. Bring to boil.
Pass the mix through a sieve and add in the vanilla extra, arrowroot mixture and zest. Place in fridge for a few hours until completly cold.
Follow ice cream machine instructions. Place mix the cherries and ginger nut in last few minutes.
Freeze til desired texture.

I had this great plan to give everyone small little tubs of this for xmas gifts which they could take home. Unfortunately it doesn't make a lot so ended up just serving it at the potluck. If you plan on serving it to several people, I recommend doubling the recipe. Despite not being a fan of xmas pudding, I still enjoyed this recipe, I think it had a good combination of fruit, booze and spices. Although I have to admit that I am a huge fan of the ginger biscuits which do have a strong flavour. So ginger fans stay away. I certainly think it is a better alternative for those us who celebration xmas in the southern hemisphere. The best thing about ice cream is you can make this well in advance too!

The potluck was great and included amazing things like vegan and gluten free prawn toast, ferrero rochers and lots more.

For other xmas dessert ideas, check out previously made candy cane ice cream, candy cane fudge, and candy cane cookies (not gf) and xmas pudding bites.

Thinking I might try to fit in one more xmas ice cream flavour this year, any suggestions?

Santa Hat Brownies

2011-12-18T12:07:00.000+11:00

This is a first, i'm posted about a dessert that I am taking to a potluck prior to going. I am keen to post these recipes early though in case people are looking for xmas dessert inspirations right now for next week.

I'll post about my other dessert later today or tomorrow. First these santa hat brownies which were popular on pinterest and are orginally from Ericas sweet tooth,but I think this is the first vegan and gluten free version posted. The original recipe asked for white chocolate but a few people have made it with icing. I had planned to make brownies from scratch using the recipe from babycakes but was a bit low on a few flour types and also need to buy coconut oil, so in the end went with the cheaper and lasier option and bought this packet mixture.

It makes great tasty brownies particuarly when they are fresh from the oven they are quite fudgy but they do become a bit hard the next day.

I made this cream cheese frosting and ended up with a fair bit leftover:

Dairy Free Cream Cheese Frosting adapted from VCTOTW
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup tofutti cream cheese
1 cup of icing sugar
1 t vanilla extract

Beat margaine and cream cheese together. Add in vanilla. Slowly add in sugar about 1/4 cup at a time until all mixed in.

Santa Hat Brownies makes 14 (depending on how many strawberries in punnet)
1 punnet of strawberries (I recommend doubling next time as I had lots of brownies left)
1 packet of brownie mix (or make your own)
cream cheese frosting

Bake brownies in cupcake/muffin pan. I actually forgot this step and so had to try to cut them into circles using a glass. Once brownies are cool, pipe icing around base of strawberry. Put strawberry on top and pipe tiny spot on top of each strawberry. I was piping with a plastic ziplock bag and my kills aren't the best but I still think they are cute.

I do have to admit these are the better looking ones, have some ugly square ones too but taste wise it doesn't matter. Transport is going to be an issue though, any ideas? Flavour wise they are great combination I mean how can chocolate brownies, cream cheese icing and strawberries not be a winner?

I might make these again on Sunday for my family.

Thanh Nha Nine

2011-12-14T14:39:00.000+11:00

Phone pics warning

This post has been sitting in drafts for months. I kind of put it on hold for vegan mofo and then I forgot. Yes bad blogger! Thankfully the post was mostly done so don't need to rely on my memory.

We had a work dinner at Thanh Nha Nine- a Vietnamese restuarant months ago. Although they had several options on their vegetarian menu I was a bit nervous about what they could offer me which was both vegan and gluten free so I called them up about a week before and confirmed that there would at least be a couple of options.

The staff member who I suspect to be one of the owners was knowledgeable about what was gluten free and suggested that I have vegetarian fish sauce in place of soy sauce which put me at ease straight away.

I started with some rice paper rolls, they were fresh and healthy with tofu and lemongrass but not quite as tasty as I wanted them to be so but were made better with some vegetarian fish sauce. I couldn't resist the three colour drink made from coconut milk, red beans and jelly.

The highlight of the night however were these mini savoury pancakes made from coconut milk and rice flour. The texture of the pancakes was like a crunchy pastry, they were topped with mock prawns and a tasty mung bean paste, it sounds weird but the texture and taste was kind of like mashed potato. They were served with more vegetarian fish sauce and coconut milk. They were outstanding but with the drink and rice paper rolls I unfortunately couldn't finish them.

You can read other vegetarian accounts from wheres the beef x 2, green gourmet giraffe and vegematarian.

It was pretty busy even midweek so make sure you book ahead!

Thanh Nha Nine
160 Victoria Street
Richmond
9427 7068

Gluten Free Oreo Truffles

2011-12-08T19:47:00.000+11:00

I was so excited when I saw Mandee tweet about gluten free and vegan version of oreos at the gluten free expo in Sydney, sadly they didn't have them at the Melbourne show, but I finally got my hands on some last week at the gluten free store in Keilor.

These come in handy this weekend when I woke up at 10am and remembered Emily's farewell picnic which was due to start at 12. I need to make something quic.

Remember the oreo truffle rage a few years ago? I made a few different varieties including white chocolate and peanut butter at one of my first potlucks. Anyway, here is the gluten free version, I think it could be tweaked further by adding more gluten free oreos or less tofutti cream cheese, so feel free to play around with it.

Gluten Free Oreo Truffles
makes approximately 20 truffles

1 packet of gluten free oreo type biscuits
half a pack of tofutti cream cheese
100 grams of chocolate chips

Crush biscuits in food processor. Add cream cheese, mix until well combined. Put mixture in freezer for 15 minutes (I skipped this step), then roll into balls. Melt dark chocolate in double boiler, dip balls in chocolate and place on lined tray. Put in fridge for 30 minutes.

I think the gluten free oreos have a slight after taste but when combined with cream cheese and chocolate you can't tell. I enjoyed these but unfortunately they melted quick quickly at the picnic and become gooey messy balls.

Arepas

2011-12-07T13:02:00.000+11:00

'Easy' is probably one of the most common words used in this blog, along with noodles, ice cream and dessert because most of the dishes we make tend to be easy dishes which don't take hours and aren't fiddly to make. Except for maybe the few decorated cakes. This dish really surprised me because I didn't expect it to be easy.

I had areapas in san francisco once and enjoyed them and looked at the recipe in viva vegan but thought it sounded like too much word so avoided making them until a few weeks ago. I once tried to make pupusas but found them too be too fiddly but these are completely different. So easy and are quicker to make than corn tortillas.

But better yet they have act as a great glutenfree bun type alternative. Ivan pointed out that they are almost like english muffins, slighty hard on the outside and soft iside. So I'm also considering making these again with tofu benedict.

I filled mine with our regular chilli, cheddar cheezly and quacamole. Not sharing the recipe, since I've already posted a few from viva vegan here and you should go get the book you cheap skate. I also tried the corn and cheese filled variety minus the cheese but found that the corn kept getting burnt so prefer the plain variety.

Westgarth Book and Cooks Cafe

2011-12-06T10:10:00.000+11:00

Late last week a new vegan cafe opened called Westgarth Books and Cooks Cafe. It's a bookstore with a few small tables in the front and one slightly larger one in the backroom. I asked on facebook who wanted to check it out and a small group of us were keen to check it out on Sunday including Cindy and Michael, Troy, Bec x 2 and Craig. We sat at the largest table which usually sits 6 but they grabbed a few extra chairs so we could fit. It was a bit of a tight fit though surrounded by books.

As it has just opened, there was a few issues such as the menu not being completely available and issues with the timing of dishes for such a large group. There was quite a large gap between the first person and the last person getting their dishes. Toby and I were among the last ones to get our dishes but I didn't mind as they were apologetic, they had only opened a few days before and gave us complimentary cookies but more importantly they had gluten free waffles:

The waffles were fantastic, you couldn't tell they were gluten free (no cardboardy texture or weird flavor) and the large section of fruit allowed me to feel better about having dessert for breakfast but the star of the dish was the ice cream. Made from cashews, it was smooth, sweet and amazing. I could eat a massive bowl of it.

Toby very kindly ordered the gluten free pasta with a creamy mushroom sauce so we could share. I really enjoyed this too, it really was creamy and was served with what I suspect to be cashew cream, pine nuts, parsley, onions and mushrooms. I look forward to trying more dishes when the menu is fully available.

Westgarth Books and Cooks Cafe
77 high street
Northcote
Monday-Sunday: 10-6.

Shawna has already blogged about it here.

Sticky Rice Pikelets

2011-11-29T19:34:00.000+11:00

Hi I'm Troy,

K suggested that I do a post as a guest (I don't usually blog) so I jumped at the chance to try Thai Sticky Rice Pikelets that I had seen in a friends "Thai Street Food" book by David Thompson and a slight variation over at Daily food adventure. I am not gluten free but am vegan and enjoy the challenge of g/f cooking and using different ingredients. Thanks to K for letting me invade for a day.

(Thai) Sticky Rice Pikelets

1/2 cup of mung bean starch

1/2 cup of glutinous rice flour

(I used white sticky rice flour but black is suggested)

Pinch of lime paste

(I realised later that I used the wrong one, I used citrus but it called for Calcium Carbonate aka chalk!

which is used a lot in Thai Cooking I read)

1/2 cup of water, halved into two 1/4 portions

1/4 cup of white sugar

Pinch of salt

1 cup of fresh grated coconut

(I just used shredded)

Combine the flour/starches with 1/4 water, Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

I only set aside for a few hours as I didn't have the time. It makes for a quicksand like consistency.

As I mentioned I added some lime juice to the remaining 1/4 cup of water, when it should of been the white stuff for the next step, ah well. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and return to room temperature. Mix in lime water, sugar and salt followed by the coconut. The mixture should have a thick pancake batter like consistency.

Spoon the mixture onto an oiled pan about 60-75mm, roughly the size of a drinking glass opening.

Cook for 2-5 minutes each side until golden brown.

Toby was a bit enthusiastic and poured half of the mixture into the pan like a pancake.

We topped them with maple syrup, bananas and some raspberry's currently growing crazy in my garden

K and I quite liked them, Toby and Bec not so much. They really took on the coconut flavour and had a nice crispiness. I would try again but with white lime as I would dare say they would have a different texture, also with black sticky rice instead.

K also mentioned they might work as a bread to dip in a curry if you omitted the sugar.

Has anyone used white lime?

Lucuma Choc Chip Ice Cream

2011-11-28T20:45:00.000+11:00

Lucuma is a tropical fruit from south america and lucuma powder seems to be a popular raw food product. I bought some to make the raw pops and then wondered what to do with the rest? Of course my first instict was to make ice cream, this blog really could be called in the mood for ice cream. I made up this recipe:

Lucuma Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
2 cans of coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon of arrowroot
1.5 Tablespoons of Lucuma Powder (taste accordingly)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl combine about 1/4 cup of coconut milk with arrowroot.

Combine remaining coconut milk, sugar and lucuma powder in saucepan and cook over low heat until begins to boil. Put aside and whisk in arrowroot mixture and extract and place in fridge too cool, approximately 3 hours.

Place in ice cream maker and freeze.

The flavour is quite hard to describe, its got a fruity but also caramel flavour. It goes really well with banana. I think I would omit the choc chips next time.

Shake and Bake Tofu

2011-11-25T19:12:00.000+11:00

Sometimes the best ideas come out of failed recipes. I tried to follow recipe from don't feed the bears 2 as seen on Cake Maker to the Stars a few weeks ago. Sadly my attempt at roux kind of sucked and I didn't know how to get the right seasoning but I come up with another idea for tofu. This recipe involves breading tofu. I followed the recipe but used a mix of cajun and nooch but after breading several thought this must be an quicker way. Putting them in a ziplock bag and shaking was actually fun. It's not a completely original idea as I saw another blog do the same thing about a week after I made it but I recommend giving it a go. Here is the loose recipe:

Shake and Bake Tofu
1 container of tofu, drained
About a tablespoon of soy sauce (gluten free of course)
Use a ratio of 3 tablespoons of nooch-1 tablespoon cajun spices until all tofu is covered

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 F).

Brush baking sheet with oil.

Cut Tofu into cubes, then add soy sauce until all covered. Put a large handful of tofu, nooch and cajun spices into zip lock bag and shake til it is evenly covered. Then repeat, until all covered.

Place in tray and bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes, turning about half way through until quite crispy.

Here is it prebaked.

I think it could work well in a range of dishes. We had similar noochy tofu in a stir fry in Portland. This didn't last long at our household with Toby and I served it with rice and dipped some in mayo and sweet chilli sauce, so damn additive.

Kimchi Noodles

2011-11-22T11:33:00.002+11:00

I'm sure this isn't authentic at all but it was a quick and tasty dish which was very loosely inspired from meet me at mikes kimchi salad.

Kimchi Noodles
serves 4-6 (4 for us because Toby is a massive eater)

1 package of sweet potato noodles
2 cups chopped kimchi
1 Tablespoon lime juice
2 T soy sauce plus splash of soy
2 Packets of Fried Tofu, chopped
1/2 T vinegar
1/2 T sugar
handful of fried onions -the ones you get from asian supermarket in a packet (optional)

Boil water, cook noodles until tender about 8 minutes. Strain noodles.

Stir fry tofu with splash of soy sauce. Add in kimchi, vinegar and sugar and cook for a few more minutes. Mix in tofu/kimchi to noodles and add lime juice and soy sauce. Stir and serve with some fried onions sprinkled on top. I am addicted to fried onions at the moment!

Toby and I was quiet pleased with this dish, and will certainly be making it again. It's a great weeknight dinner and is slightly salty, sour and spicy.

Am still looking for Korean inspired dessert recipes, any suggestions?

Australian cooking conversions- shocking revelations

2011-11-16T21:12:00.000+11:00

I thought I had my head around most conversions particularly in regard to US versus Australian names for ingredients but have come across some new facts recently.

My friend Erin just shared a fact with me in regards to Australian standards which I find shocking, our tablespoons are bigger than the rest of the world. Yes according to wikipedia, most tablespoons are 15ml but in Australia out tablespoons are 20ml. Isn't that just crazy, particularly if most of your recipes are outside of Australia! I just ran around and checked and all of mine measure 20ml but I think they are all made overseas. You might want to check though particularly before following US baking recipes.

And then I discovered that our measuring cup size varies too, here it is is 250ml, in the US it is 236.59ml and the UK it is: 284.1. Why are they all different?

Recently Matt posted about the differences in chili powder between Australia and America, basically their chili powder contains other things which means ours is much hotter and we are not all wusses.

Any other things I should be aware of?

Easy Gluten Free Kimchi Pancakes

2011-11-16T14:04:00.000+11:00

The inspiration for this recipe come from your hairdresser and friend Jilly, while she was colouring my hair a few weeks ago we were discussing dinner options and she told me that she regularly makes kimchi pancakes and adds whatever vegies inside and they are super easy to make. Sometimes inspiration comes form unusual places and situations. This was made last night when we had run out of vegies so I kept it simple but it was still delicious.

I got some vegetarian kimchi from the korean supermarket opposite the victoria market on elizabeth street since my lost asian supermarket only stocked non veg kimchi. It's huge but I wanted to make a few things with it!

Kimchi Pancakes - Kimchijeon from maagnchi. She has a video too!

Directions:
1 cup of chopped kimchi
3 tbs of kimchi juice (I used about 1 and half)
2 tbs chopped onion ( I skipped this)
½ ts salt
½ ts sugar
½ cup flour (all purpose flour) (I used brown rice flour to make it gluten free)
¼ cup of water

Mix all ingredients in bowl
Heat up a non-stick pan over medium high heat and drizzle about 2 tbs oil.
Place the mixture of kimchi pancake batter on the pan and spread it thinly and evenly with a spoon.
Cook it for 1-1 ½ minutes until the bottom gets golden brown and crispy.
Turn it over with a spatula or flip it.
Lower the heat to medium and cook for another 1½ minutes.
Turn it over one more time and cook for 30 seconds before transfering it to a serving plate.

Mine kind of fell apart a little when I tried to flip it which just meant that I didn't need to cut it. I served it with mayo and fried onions. I would love some spring onions on it though like maanghci did. Next time I might also use a little less kimchi as it was slightly too spicy for Toby and more veggies, am thinking shredded carrots, zuhhini etc. I really can't believe how easy it is though!

My next post is korean inspired too, just need some korean desserts to keep with this weeks theme, any suggestions?

Yong's Green Food- New Menu

2011-11-15T16:54:00.000+11:00

We went to Yong's on Sunday night with Bec and Troy and discovered that they have a new menu with plenty of gluten free options.

Phone picture warning

Toby and I decided to share the buckwheat crepes, the crepes were delicious and didn't have a strong buckwheat flavor, the filling felt quite healthy with wasabi mayo which not spicy at all and plenty of fresh vegies.

I also got the kimchi fried rice, this was delicious, the kimchi wasn't too spicy and just added a slight kick to the dish and I love the addition of the creamy cashew sauce. I wouldn't have thought of combining the two things but it worked!

I also couldn't resist getting a shake, have become obsessed with almond and cashew milk lately but don't currently have a blender. I chose the cacao shake with had a nice choc banana taste but did leave me filling super full. I sadly didn't take a pic of the shake but did get a picture of Troy's kombucha, he let me have a sip, it was my first time trying it and better than I thought, with a slight sour flavour.

Yong's Green Food
421 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy

The service was great and I do enoy going there, its got such cute surroundings. Although I wonder if they tense up when they see me coming due to our first review which was negative. I certainly don't have any ill feelings for them as the issue was well and truly resolved and I respect how seriously they took me and how quickly it was fixed up. In fact I probably feel safer going there now when it comes to gluten free food then other places as i'm sure they learnt from their mistake and I haven't had any other issues in the numerous times that I have gone back.

It has recently been blogged about by my mini manifesto, mariecitadelle and sneakylily.

World Vegan day 2011

2011-11-09T16:47:00.000+11:00

Phone pics warning

I think this year was my favourite, it was at the abbotsford convent again but they opened up a whole other section so you could sit and eat food and/or watch the live acts, as well as the two halls and normal middle section. It was excellent space wise and there was plenty of new stalls but it didn't feel crowded. The gf savoury options were a bit limited but I didn't mind because I ate plenty of desserts including a gluten chocolate cherry cupcake from mr nice guy, you really couldn't tell it was gluten free:

raw cashew coconut soft serve from loving hut, this was great, I just wanted more:

Cookies including amazing mini gluten free oreos from saf patisserie, so sad though that I missed their rocky road though which appetite affliction raved about.

I had half of my friend Eve's raw mango cheesecake from las vegan bakery, they sold out before I could get mine but thanks for sharing with me Eve, it was tangy and sweet, perfect really. I also got some honeycomb raw chocolate from luna marie chocolates to take home (although it only made it to the car ) which I also raved about last year.

I watched a demonstration of how to make brazil nut milk and I found my fave chocolate bars from the US called eli's earth bars from the uproar store and I picked up a cat hammock. I come across lots of new stores including the artic vegan store selling vegan shoes and the vegan baby store. Well done organisers, was an excellent day!

Balsamic Strawberry Ice Cream and eat.drink.picnic

2011-11-06T23:59:00.004+11:00

There was a bloggers conference this weekend in Sydney called eat.drink.blog. Sadly one of the major sponsors was Meat and Livestock Australia with meat masterclass events which is disappointing on so many levels including health, environmental, corporation supporting independent bloggers etc and is really not inclusive for vegetarian bloggers. Thankfully Jill from confessions of a food nazi decided to organise an alternative event for those in Melbourne which she named eat.drink.picnic for those who couldn't attend the Sydney event with more of a focus on vegetables.

I've been to countless vegan potlucks but never been to an omni picnic potluck until yesterday. I have to admit I was a bit nervous, I mean not only am I vegan but also gluten free. I thought these people are really going to think I'm a freak and worst of all there will be nothing for me to eat. I also wasn't sure if I was going to get the barrage of annoying questions such as 'how do you get your protein?' etc or more aggressive attacks that I occasionally get. There is a misconception that vegans are argumentative but I often find it is the other way around. Thankfully none of that happened, I was pleasantly surprised with lots of food for me to eat and about an equal number of vegetarians including 2 other vegans and some friendly accepting omni bloggers.

I met western suburbs food blogger Kenny from consider the sauce and we both discussed the disappointing food scene in williamstown and Jill was super friendly and within minutes of me arriving allowed me to use her towel to clean my grease stained fingers from fixing my bike chain. I also learnt about the use of coconut powder in making ice cream from essjayeats and I had fun catching up with those already familar to me like Cindy and Michael from wheres the beef, Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe and Lisa Dempster. I didn't get a chance to have a proper chat with Ed from Tomato, Carla from Easy as Vegan Pie or Claire from Melbourne Gastronome but I did enjoy playing a few games with Claire's bocce set. These was so much yummy food, highlights included Jill's refreshing watermelon salad, Michael's caeser salad, Carla's risotto balls and both Johanna and Lisa's chocolate desserts. The picnic was lots of fun and left me filling super full and sluggish as all good potlucks show. It was also a great example of what a community building activity blogging can be and for once Melbourne behaved and gave us a nice summer day.

I took along some dips and this ice cream. Unfortunately I didn't have enough spoons or any bowls so resorted to serving ice cream on plates with plastic knifes. I really enjoyed the tanginess of the balsamic vinegar paired with the organic strawberries. I don't think many people sampled it or enjoyed it because it was the first time that one of my ice cream dishes wasn't completely finished at a potluck. Although Lisa gave it the thumbs up and Toby loved the leftovers.

Balsamic Strawberry Ice Cream adapted from Spabettie

3 cups soy milk
3/4 cup sugar2 tablespoons of tapioca flour
1 punnet of strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon of vanilla essence

Mix 1/4 cup soy milk with tapioca flour, stir until blended and set aside. Combine remaining soy milk and sugar saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add tapioca mixture and vanilla essence. Place in fridge to cool completely- it takes a few hours.

Meanwhile, bring balsamic vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan, watch closely and stir occasionally. Reduce to a simmer and continue to stir until it reaches desired thickness, about 8 minutes or so. Set aside to cool.

Pour ice cream base into maker and prepare according to manufacturer directions. Add strawberries in the last few minutes and then mix in balsamic glaze to give it a swirly effect. Transfer to freezer til firm.

Read about Kenny's account of the event here.

Herb Roasted Chat Potatoes- Vegan Mofo Day 31

2011-10-31T21:33:00.001+11:00

I had planned to go out with something amazing like vegan and gluten free macarons, but unfortunately we followed this recipe and it was a complete failure. So instead I'm going to write about a simple but great recipe. I can get all caught up in new ingredients, fancy recipes and different cuisines that I forget that sometimes the simplest dishes are the best. This side dish is a perfect example. Great comfort food that makes you want to ignore you main dish and just eat the whole lot yourself.

Herb Roasted Chat Potatoes inspired by Jamie Oliver's dish

1kg Chat Potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 and 1/2 teaspoon and chilli flakes

2 Teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Wash your potatoes and parboil until almost tender. When done, drain them, add olive oi, salt, pepper and herbs.

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7. Put the potatoes in a roasting tray and cook in the oven for 25 minutes until golden.

I have managed to post every day for the whole month, with the help of Toby who posted 4 posts to my 29, but who is counting? We have made all sorts of new things like chamomile ice cream, sour cherry ripe bites, microwave mug cake, salted caramel truffles, tawainese marinated tofu and home made soy yogurt.

I've come across so many new blogs and bookmarked so many recipes and just loved the whole sense of community with vegan mofo. I'm a tad exhausted though and I'm still a bit behind with reading some of the blogs, so will try to keep commenting afterwards but am now going to take at least a few days off blogging to rest and make some repeat classics.

P.S: it says this post was by Toby, but it was by me, ohhps- K

Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream with Spinach Food Colouring-Vegan Mofo Day 30

2011-10-30T09:00:00.001+11:00

This photo is a bit crappola but I was in a rush, can you see the pale green colour?

I've had this recipe bookmarked since Feb 2010, some times it takes a while for me to get to my bookmarks, does anyone else have that problem? This is the other dessert I am taking a way with us. I had a few issues with this recipes because I tried to use the food processor to blend it together and of course it leaked, so make sure you use a blender!!!! Also I found the texture to be not quite the same as the regular ice creams I make due to the absence of arrowroot but taste wise it is great and the spinach really does make it look a pale green and you wouldn't guess it was in it.

Surprise Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream from gluten free easily
2 3/4 cups full-fat coconut milk, chilled
1/3 cup to 2/3 cup agave (to taste)
1/8 cup fresh spinach (the surprise ingredient! I used baby spinach leaves and discarded the stems)
1 tbsp peppermint schnapps (or 2 tsp peppermint extract-also to taste)
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips (use only about 1/2 cup if using regular-sized chocolate chips)
Mix ingredients except for chocolate chips in blender until there are no visible particles from the spinach leaves. Pour into ice cream maker. Churn for 20 minutes. Add chocolate chips and churn another 2 minutes until chips are mixed in.

Raw Brownies With Avocado Icing- Vegan Mofo Day 29

2011-10-29T09:00:00.001+11:00

We are going away this weekend and I just discovered that we won't have wifi so am posting this in advance, but guess I won't be able to catch up all of your lovely blogs until I get back. Anyway this is the one of the desserts I am taking. I chose this one because I could make it last weekend and keep it in the freezer which is perfect and because I had to blog in advance I had to have small taste test of course.

I did find the bottom of it it be a bit crumbling as shown in the picture but aside from that this recipe is great. I used a mixture of walnuts and macadamia nuts because I ran out. When I was making the icing I thought you could taste the avocado but once its together I don't think you would ever guess. It's quite rich, so you only need small squares!

Raw Brownies with Avocado Icing from Wayfaring Chocolate

Adapted from Motherhood, marriage and other rides. Makes 12.

1 cup (110g) walnuts
1 cup (150g) medjool dates, pitted
1/3 cup (30g) cocoa powder (raw, if that’s how you roll)
1 avocado
40ml ~~leatherwood honey or~~ agave nectar
30ml cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
dash salt
dash cinnamon (I sprinkled it on top)

1. Combine walnuts, dates, and the 1/3 cup of cocoa powder in a food processor and process until the mixture, according to the original recipe, “looks like potting soil” really doesn't look brownie type at all but don't worry! Pat this into an 20cm x 20cm (8inch x 8inch) pan.

2. With a blender or handmixer blend the avocado, honey or agave, second lot of cocoa, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon until smooth. Like Hannah I used a food processor too.

3. Spread the icing over the brownie base, then put in the freezer for about an hour to set. No matter how long the brownies stay in the freezer, they never become rock-hard.

Simon's Vegan Laksa - Vegan MOFO Day 28

2011-10-28T12:02:00.000+11:00

We came across this vegan Laksa recipe from the The Cook And The Chef (You can see the youtube video of the episode here.) and I decided to take on the challenge of making my own Laksa paste! You know, making something form scratch is pretty satisfying sometimes.

I substituted a few things on the recipe that I couldn't find (I also forgot to grab a lime form the shop and there were none at any supermarkets in Brunswick!!!!). Instead of using Kaffir lime zest in the paste, I put Kaffir lime leaves in the soup.

Paste
2 teaspoon ~~vegetarian blachan~~ Mighty Mite
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic
~~1 kaffir lime, zested~~ (I use 3 kaffir lime leaves in the soup instead)
2 stalks lemongrass, finely sliced
1 tablespoon chopped ~~galangal~~ ginger
1 teaspoon ~~turmeric, chopped~~ turmeric powder
~~2 dried red chillies, deseeded and soaked~~ 2 teaspoon red chillie flakes
30g macadamia nuts
1 tablespoon coriander ~~seeds, roasted and ground~~ powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 coriander roots
80ml ~~peanut oil~~ olive oil, 50ml for the paste, 30ml for frying

Soup
½ small bunch coriander leaves
1 packet ~~Hokkien noodles, egg free~~ rice noodles (500g)
~~1 bunch Vietnamese mint (rau raum)~~
300ml coconut milk (Chef's Choice)
600ml vegetable stock
~~2 limes, juiced~~ 1/4 cup lime juice
1 bok choy, cut into ¼ lengthways
1 ~~small~~ packet fried tofu (Yenson), cut into chunky slices
~~Thai seasoned soy sauce~~ Chang's GF soy sauce to taste
2 teaspoons crispy shallot
~~Bean sprouts~~
~~3 red chillies, sliced~~ red chillie flakes

Method

Blend all the paste ingredients in a blender until it becomes a smooth paste. This can be frozen, kept in a sealed jar or cooked for laksa soup.

Heat 30ml of oil in a saucepan and add about four tablespoons of the laksa paste. Fry until fragrant. Add coconut milk (and 3 Lime Leaves) and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Add bok choy and tofu and simmer for a few minutes. Season with ~~Thai soy sauce~~ GF soy sauce and lime juice.

~~Pour hot water over the hokkien noodles~~ Cook rice noodle in a pot. Drain. Place heated noodles in serving bowls. Pour soup over noodles, making sure every bowl gets bok choy and tofu. Garnish with ~~fresh~~ chilli flakes, ~~bean sprouts~~, coriander, crispy shallots ~~and a little zested kaffir lime.~~

I reckon it tasted pretty damn good and authentic. Not too hard to make too.

Sweet Potato Ginger Soup - Vegan Mofo Day 27

2011-10-27T21:22:00.000+11:00

Chinese deserts are highly influenced by Tradition Chinese Medicine.

In Summer, we would eat sweet soup with mung bean and seaweed in Summer to "cool down". In dry weather, we would eat Silver Ear Mushroom and Papaya soup to "nourish" our throat and lungs.

It was pretty cold the other day, so I decide to some sweet potato ginger soup to warm us up. I found a recipe online (In Chinese) and it is very easy to make. It's a very authentic recipe and very warming, K enjoyed it too because its quite sweet.

ingredients:

1/2 big yellow sweet potato or a purple sweet potato, choped (I used 2 medium orange one from supermarket, not very authentic

A few slices of "old" ginger

Chinese rock sugar (yellow), to taste

Instruction:

- Bring 2 to 3L of water to boil in a pot

- Add sweet potato and ginger

- When the sweet potato is soft, add rock sugar (I add it a little at a time until it is soft enough)

- Serve!

Raw Cherry Bombs- Vegan Mofo Day 26

2011-10-26T18:28:00.000+11:00

This week friends Lidia and Lachie had us over for dinner and I agreed to bring desserts. I know Lidia is into healthy food, so decided to make another raw dessert. This was perfect as we had everything already and it was pretty quick and easy. I was a bit disappointed initially that the filling wasn't sweet enough, so I rolled the balls in coconut sugar. I'm obsessed with that stuff and also don't know what else to do with it, any suggestions?

But after a few bites, I started to enjoy them, they have quite a strong coconut flavour from the oil and both Lachie and Lidia enjoyed them. Toby said he enjoyed them more than the cake pops but I'm not so sure. I wanted to make these into cake pops but it didn't work due to the cherry in the middle, also the mixture falls apart quite easily so stick to small bites.

Raw Cherry Bombs from Bakery Manis

~~1 cup Brazil nuts~~ 1 cup cashews
1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp non-alcohol vanilla extract
1 tsp + 2 tsp agave, divided
pinch sea salt
½ cup dried cherries
1/3 cup raw cacao butter, chopped
1/3 cup raw cacao powder

Grind the ~~Brazil nuts~~ cashews in the processor until sandy textured. Add in coconut oil, vanilla, 1 tsp agave, and salt. Blend until smooth like a nut butter; add a few dashes of oil if it seems dry.
Scrape from the bowl and shape into nickel-sized (1cm) balls. Squish a dried cherry into each ball. Freeze for half hour.
Chop the cacao butter carefully and add to a large glass bowl.
Boil a saucepan of water, and place the bowl over the hot water until cacao butter melts completel.
Gently stir in the cacao powder and 2 tsp agave and whisk until smooth. Let cool.
Line a plate or baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper. Dip each nut-cherry ball gently into the chocolate, covering entirely. Freeze to set the chocolate, about 20 minutes. Store in the fridge.

Notzarella-Vegan MOFO Day 25

2011-10-25T15:00:00.000+11:00

5Just a super short post from me today. We have a new vegan cheese and its made in Australia, its called Notzarella and at the moment you can purchase some online here. It's not cheap though, particularly if you have to pay for postage. To make it slightly cheaper we went half with our friends Bec and Troy. We have tried some on pizza, the failed enchiladas and then grilled on toast. Texture wise it is great, I mean look at it:

I wouldn't recommend eating it raw, but cooked its great. I kind of wish it had a bit of a stronger flavour though as it's super mild. As a friend suggested I think eating it plain on toast doesn't work but with other things tomato, chives etc is great.

Lemon "cavier" pasta and Liebster Award- Vegan MOFO Day 24

2011-10-24T09:59:00.000+11:00

IKEA has vegan cavier. Yes I kid you not!!!!! It's only a few dollars and surprisingly it tastes good. I'm not a fan of fish even when I used to eat it or mock fishy things but it is quite subtle with a slightly salty flavour. I've never had cavier before so didn't know what to do with it so I followed this recipe which was super easy. We also added a can of white beans and some baby spinach to make it a complete meal.

Lemon "Cavier" Pasta by If Martha was Veg

Servings:4

Ingredients:
Olive oil
~~1 bag of spaghetti (16 oz)~~ 1 pack of gluten free pasta

~~1 stick of butter~~ 1 Tablespoon of Margarine
3 lemons (2 to zest & juice for the pasta & 1 to slice very thinly to fry up)
Tangkorn aka vegan caviar from Ikea
1/4 cup of ~~flour~~ chickpea flour
Garlic powder
Vegetable oil
Salt & pepper to taste

While your water is boiling & your pasta is cooking, you can fry up your lemon slices.
In a small bowl, add your flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder and mix. Coat your thinly sliced lemon slices in the mixture and in a pan, heat up some vegetable oil. Throw your lemon slices & and let them get brown & crispy!

When you’ve put together your pasta & caviar dish, add your crispy lemons and enjoy!

Unfortunately I lost my pictures of the meal, and while it tasted great and is worth making again, I don't have time to go to Ikea get more and make it again because this is vegan mofo and I'm trying to blog every day. So Instead I have these photos of the ingredients.

Zuckerbaby over at Tales of a Vegan Food Fetishist, has nominated me for the Liebster Award. I've watched a few aussie bloggers get the award and didn't think our blog was going to get nominated so was very pleasantly surprised thanks. Zuckerbaby has an amazing vegan dessert cookbook and will be bringing out a pie themed book with plenty of gluten free options.

“Liebster” is German and means ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’ but it can also mean ‘favorite’. The idea behind this award is to bring attention to bloggers who have less than 200 followers and show your support during Vegan Mofo!

The rules of winning this award are as follows:
1. Show your thanks to those who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!

I doubt these bloggers have less than 200 followers but are just blogs that I have been enjoying reading during mofo, also I tried to choose blogs which I don't think have already been chosen:

1. Green Gourmet Giraffe, Johanna is vegetarian but has been posting amazing vegan food every day for vegan mofo, also I got to try some of it and it was damn tasty. Shes also the best commenter too not just here by on so many blogs, I don't know how she finds the time, but I think its so awesome.
2. Cake Maker to the Stars Kittee is like my xgfx hero, and while I didn't get to meet up with her in Portland, I did run into her in herbivore which was quite exciting. She's behind xgfx site too.
3. Louise by Degrees Louise is a fellow Melbournian too, her blog is quite new but really colourful, check out the heart shaped strawberries in her muffins.
4. Spabettie could easily be nominated for just her balsamic strawberry ice cream but she has lots of other yummy and inspiring recipes too.
5. Green Vegan Living- Geanna is super friendly fellow gluten free blogger who I did get to meet when I was in Portland, I love reading about what she does with her csa fruit and vegies each week.

Only a week to go!!!

Choc Banana Chia Parfait- Vegan Mofo Day 23

2011-10-23T12:44:00.000+11:00

Another healthy dessert. This uses the healthy chia seeds. I got the inspiration from Food Doodles but the recipes uses more fruit and jam but I liked this simple version

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

Recipe from Love Veggies and Yoga

2 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 C unsweetened soy milk (or use rice, almond etc) (I found we had to use lots more like 3/4-1 cup)
2 tbsp agave, brown rice syrup, maple syrup or stevia to taste (I used agave)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together. It may take a little time to incorporate the cocoa, but eventually it will. After everything is mixed, cover and leave on your counter for 20 minutes before enjoying. Or you can leave it in the fridge overnight and enjoy the next day.

I then made a parfait by layering it with banana pieces

It reminded me of chocolate pudding with bananas that I used to eat as a child but is obviously much healthier. Btw, did you know that bananas should be returning to cheaper prices soon in Australia! I've really missed eating them after the floods.

Toby and I have eaten this for a few days with a few different variations. It's a great dessert but also a great sweet breakfast for when you are rushed particularly if you substitute frozen blueberries and leave it the night before.

Raw Cacao Fudge Cake Pops-Vegan Mofo Day 22

2011-10-22T11:28:00.000+11:00

Johanna very kindly invited us to dinner this week and I offered to make something for dessert. I have been on a bit of a health kick this week after getting sick so wanted to make something healthy but also hoped that I might manage to make something that that her cute daughter Sylvia would like. It was apparent from her recent posts that she tends to enjoy all sorts of desserts as long as they are on sticks, which helped to narrow down what to make. I'm not a big fan of raw mains but love raw desserts too so I chose this recipe.

Cacao Fudge Cake Pops from barefoot and frolicking

Yields approximately 20 cake pops

Cake Pop Filling
2 cups walnuts
½ cup dates, soaked
½ tsp maca powder (I skipped it)
3 tsp powdered goji berries
¼ cup maple syrup
seeds of 1 vanilla bean (I used vanilla essence)
3 tbsp buckwheat flour (I used coconut flour and shredded coconut)

Dark Cacao Chocolate
2/3 cup melted cacao butter
1 cup cacao powder
2 tbsp dark agave syrup (I used light agave)
1 tsp vanilla
dash of lucuma powder

Preparation:
To make the Cacao Fudge Cake Pop filling, grind goji berries in a coffee grinder until a powder-like consistency. I just used a food processor which kind of worked. Set aside. Process the walnuts until they are a fine and crumbly consistency. Add in the dates, maca, goji powder, maple syrup, vanilla, and process until mixture is soft and dense. Add in the 3 tbsp of flour if the mixture is too wet (this may change depending on the individual preparation of the recipe). You might also find yourself patting the mixture with a cloth to remove some of the excess oil from the walnuts.

Chill mixture in a large bowl in the freezer for at least thirty minutes. Roll mixture into small balls and set aside on a sheet of parchment paper. Chill mixture in the fridge/freezer for another twenty minutes or so, and then place pop sticks in each round mixture.

To make the Dark Cacao Chocolate, melt the cacao butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl over a pot filled with warm water. Using a sifter, sift the cacao powder in a small mixing bowl and set aside. Once the cacao butter is melted, mix in the maple syrup, vanilla, cacao powder. Whisk until the overall mixture is a smooth, liquid consistency.

Dip each cake pop in the melted chocolate mixture, swirling to remove excess chocolate. Dip cake pops in desired toppings, I used coconut sugar.

I had a few issues, for some reason the mixture was still to wet, so I added in shredded coconut and coconut flour which didn't help that much so I ended up using more walnuts which then changed the flavour and made it quite oily. So I had to remove lots of the oil with lots of paper towels. I also then added more goji berries and more maple syrup. I also ran out of chocolate quite quickly, so am not sure what I did wrong there. They certainly look much lighter in than hers too. But I thought taste wise they were petty good and I got a big 'yum' from Sylvia. Toddlers can be the most difficult critics so I was pleased with myself. I also ate quite a few with out the chocolate and they are still quite delicious.

PS, I got the sticks from cake deco in the city thanks to a reply on twitter from eatnik.

Home Made Soy Yogurt- Vegan MOFO Day 21

2011-10-21T19:52:00.001+11:00

I made yogurt, yipppeee. I originally tried with a crappy plastic yogurt maker which I suspect to be quite similar to doing it in a pot and didn't work at all. But then I invested in a proper yogurt maker, I got a yolife yogurt maker which was bit more expensive but includes 7 small glass jars or you can use your own large jar. I was originally inspired by the fat fuelled vegan's post on it back in June. But given that his wasn't thick, decided to follow Bryanna Clark Grogans recipe a little more closely.

Soy Yogurt adapted very slightly and halved from Byranna's recipe here

5 cups of soymilk
1 T sugar
1/4 cup tapioca starch
3/4 t agar powder
5 Capsules of inner health plus-dairy free
need candy thermometer

Sterilise Jars
Add sugar, tapioca starch and agar powder to soy milk. Whisk well.
Heat mixture over low heat while stirring. Turn off heat before milk reaches boiling point at about 176F-185F (80C).
Let it cool to 104F (40C) This took about about 90 minutes to 2 hours. Just keep checking regularly.
Empty capsules into mixture and whisk again.
Add to jar/s
Turn on yogurt maker and let is set for 9-12 hours.
Place lids on jars and refrigerate for 12 hours.

We let it set about 13 hours due to a slight sleep in and it was nice and tart. The texture was pretty close, although still slightly watery in parts, there was a bit of condensation on the inside of the lid which I think got in the yogurt as we removed it in the morning. We have been enjoying it by mixing in frozen blueberries and a small amount of jam. Next I will experiment with coconut yogurt and try using it in savoury dishes.

This was surprisingly easy to make but does take lots of waiting, so will be a regular weekend thing I think!

Box Brownies at Mercy Seat- Vegan MOFO Day 20

2011-10-20T18:51:00.001+11:00

I was going to post about how I have focusing on healthy food but then Toby bought home these and I changed my mind. The healthy posts can wait til later. Mercy Seat announced on facebook that they are selling gluten free AND vegan macadamia cookies and peanut butter brownies made by Box Brownies. I was so excited that I not so subtly hinted that if anyone happened to be in Collingwood they could get me one and Toby surprised me by getting them today.

The cookie was fine, but the brownies were amazing. You know i'm a bit biased when it comes with the chocolate peanut butter combination but they were seriously great. They contained a peanut caramel on top which reminded me of the caramel filled apples and the apple slice from veganomicon, and sweet candied nuts and a soft sweet brownie base. Will be certainly be getting more in the future.

Dan's GF Vegan Mug Cake- 3 Versions

2011-10-19T10:57:00.001+11:00

I'm sure most of you have seen the mug cake craze, but I haven't seen many which are both gluten free and vegan. My friend Dan is vegan and so obsessed with mug cake that she made a facebook page devoted to it. Dan's other facebook group is called Dan's pictorial vegan recipes and consists of step by step vegan recipes using photos, just like these ones below. Recently when we visited she showed us how to make three different variations and kindly allowed us to blog about it. Sorry about the quality, I was using my phone. First the traditional chocolate one.

Start by using 1 heaped tablespoon of margarine

Place in a microwave for 30 seconds to melt.

Add 2 Tablespoons of gf self raising flour (we used orgran)

Add a tablespoon of cocoa

Add 2 tablespoons of sugar

Then a dash of vanilla essence

We used a small latte glass so the portion was smaller than her regular mug cake recipe. So double it if using a regular mug! Mix all together and microwave for 3 minutes. Please note cooking times vary, so watch closely and may need to check at 2 minutes.

And voila a cake!

Look how awesome the texture is. The chocolate versions remind me of chocolate pudding that we used to have at xmas time.

The second variation, involves using a tablespoon of caramel, we used this one. It was added at the end, right before we microwaved it.

The third variation was my fave! This one is called Berry Almond mug cake. You start with some frozen berrries.

Add some maple syrup.

Add 1 tablespoon of gf self raising flour, 1 tablespoon of almond meal and 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Stir and mix in mug but include bowl under mug.

See why it is important to use a bowl underneath.

You can then tip the mug upside down for an amazing almond berry cake. This is to die for!

The hot berries go so well with this cake and the texture is fluffy just like regular cake.It is seriously one of the best things I have ever eaten.These recipes make me want to get a microwave.

Cornmeal-Crusted Tempeh with Orange Ginger Sauce- Vegan MOFO Day 18

2011-10-18T18:50:00.000+11:00

I got the vegan table out of the library weeks ago and this is the one dish that I have made so far. I was a bit dissapointed with the tempeh, it tasted quite bitter from the polenta or maybe the gf flour and wasn't what I expected but the ginger orange sauce was awesome and really easy to make. I've made several orange based sauces in the past but this one is my fave. I will try it with other stir fry dishes and makes a great weeknight dinner sauce. Any other dishes I should try to make from the vegan table before I return it?

For Tempeh:

2 packages (225gr) tempeh

1/2 cup unbleached flour (I used a packet orgran gf flour)

1/2 cup coarse cornmeal (polenta)

1 t thyme

1 t basil

1 t oregano

1 t paprila

1/2 t salt

1/2 pepper

1 cup nondariy milk

2 T dijon mustard

1 T olive oil

2 cups cooked quinoa

For the Sauce:

1 red onion, cut lengthwise into thin crescents

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups fresh orange juice

1/4 cup tamari soy sauce

1/2 t red pepper flakes

2 T fresh ginger

2 T cornstarch or arrowroot mixtured into 2 tablespoon of water

1 mandarin orange or 1 can of 280 gram mandarins peeled and cut into quarter (I left this out)

To make the tempeh, cut tempeh into strips and steam for 10 minutes.

Mix flour, polenta, herbs, salt and pepper. In another bowl mix milk and mustard. Coat tempeh into milk mixture and then dry ingredientta. Cook tempeh in frypan over med-high heat until brown on both sides.

To make the sauce, mix all of the ingredients (except for orange segments, ginger and cornstarch mixture). Simmer for 15 minutes, add ginger and cornstarch mixture to thicken. Remove from heat, add orange segments.

Serve tempeh on quinoa with sauce. We added some spinach too.

Salted Caramel Truffles -Vegan MOFO Day 17

2011-10-17T14:14:00.001+11:00

Another pinterest inspired recipe. Although this time, it wasn't vegan and I couldn't actually read the recipe since it was in Italian. So instead I veganised this recipe.

Salted Caramel Truffles
8 Ounces of Dark Chocolate chips
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons water
2/3 cup coconut cream
1/2 teaspoon of fleur de sel or other fancy salt, I used Maldon salt flakes
Lots of cocoa

Melt chocolate in double boiler. Remove chocolate and set aside.

Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons water in small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, occasionally brushing sides of pan. Increase heat; boil until syrup is deep amber color, brushing down sides and swirling pan occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add coconut cream (mixture will bubble). Stir over very low heat until caramel is smooth. Mix caramel and salt into melted chocolate. Chill until truffle filling is firm, about 30 minutes-an hour. I noticed that if I let them chill for too long that it become too hard and too tricky to roll it into balls.

Place cocoa in bowl. Using 1 tablespoon truffle filling for each truffle, roll into balls, then roll in cocoa. Arrange on baking sheet. Cover. and chill.

The recipe then asked to dip in more melted chocolate but I think they were perfect just like that.These were amazing, so rich and addicitive. Although next time I will double the salted caramelas the salted caramel flavour wasn't strong enough. I will certainly be experimenting these further.

We went to see Dean Wareham playing Galaxie 500 last week, Galaxie 500 is Toby's fave band and these were a perfect snack to have prior to the show.

I had to sample a few to get an inside shot which wasn't blurry, ohh the things I do for you dear readers!

Pecan Pie- Vegan MOFO Day 16

2011-10-16T17:23:00.001+11:00

We had a cooking/ baking day at my friend Erin's a few weeks ago, she made pesto, Cindy made the delicious apple caramel slice from veganomicon and also helped with my indecisiveness about what to make by pointing me in the direction of this recipe. Also, helped put the pecans on top and allowed me to use her camera to take this photo. Thanks Cindy! Also Thanks Erin for letting us bake at your place!

Pecan Pie as seen on Swallowed Pride originally from Vegan Cooking - Recipes for Health and Happiness

PASTRY
1 cup rice flour
1 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons raw sugar
1 third cup margarine or coconut oil
2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 200c. grease a spring form cake tin, or line with baking paper. combine dry ingredients and rub in the margarine until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. add water and form into a dough. Press dough evenly and firmly to the cake/pie tin so that there's crust on the sides and everything is covered equally. place in the fridge to chill until ready to bake with filling.

FILLING
2 cups dates (220g)
1 cup soy milk
1 cup almond meal
3 tablespoons cornflour
3 tablespoons water
two tablespoons margarine or coconut oil
1.5 cups pecan nuts (150g)

Chop dates in half and place in a saucepan with soy milk. bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. leave to soak for another 5 minutes. puree mixture with a stick blender or food processor. dissolve cornflour in water and add to dates, mix well. mix in almond meal and margarine/oil. leave to cool.
when cooled, spread evenly into pastry base. decorate the top with whole pecans, arranging in circles around the top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 200c. Remove from oven and cool

GLAZE:
4 tablespoons rice malt

Melt rice malt in a small saucepan until runny, then pour evenly over pecan pie, you can use a pastry brush for an even finish).

I made a few alterations, using coconut oil which didn't result in the right consistency of the pastry so I added in some regular oil, also I used arrowroot instead of corn starch. I was a bit worried when I tasted the filling that the date flavour would be too strong and that it would taste too healthy, but once it was baked, it was much better and less date-y. However, the crust didn't go quite as plan (maybe due to the oil) it was burnt around the edges and slightly undercooked on the bottom. Overall, though it was quite delicious and I think tasted better the next day, next time I would just stick to margarine. Also, I've never had pecan pie before though, so have nothing to compare it to so not sure how authentic it is!

Gluten Free Apple Pie- Vegan Mofo Day 15

2011-10-15T18:09:00.000+11:00

I won some gluten free pies from funky pies about a month ago and have been meaning to post to say that their gf pastry is new and improved particuarly in regards to texture. Then Anikee announced that radical grocery had gluten free apples pies so I raced out to get one. Here is my half with some strawberry ice cream. Toby and I both loved it. The filling was perfect and the pastry kind of resembles whole wheat pastry. We will certainly be buying them again and again!

Creamy Corn-Crusted Tempeh Pot Pie - Vegan MOFO Day 14

2011-10-14T17:45:00.001+11:00

Tempeh is a totally awesome ingredient to cook with. I have used it to make the famous tempeh "bacon", my Cantonese style "steak" and Masterchef pressure test stroganoff.

Last week, I made the Creamy Corn-Crusted Tempeh Pot Pie from Terry Hope Romero's Viva Vegan. I made a few substitutions and omitted a few ingredients but it still tasted very yummy!

I don't think I should post the recipe as the author hasn't shared it on-line. It is like the Chilean version of shepherd pie but tastier. We both like the crispy but smooth corn topping a lot! K doesn't like olives, so I skipped it (and the fresh basil leaves that we don't have). I also used dried cherries instead of dark raisins (as I couldn't be bothered to go to the shops again).

yum

shaved Cheezly for extra awesomeness

Spabetties Seven Layer Tacos- Vegan MOFO Day 13

2011-10-13T19:34:00.000+11:00

It was only a matter of time before I blogged about a recipe from a vegan mofo post as I have been

bookmarking so many new recipes,so many great ideas!

These are delicious, and I love the idea of quinoa in tacos so much more nutritious than my previous tacos. I loved the cashew cheese too. Really need to make cashew cheese more often.

Here is the recipe from xgfx blog, she also has her own blog here.

Seven layer tacos Ok so technically six, since I omitted the olives.

The Layers:

jalapeno beans
salsa spiced quinoa
noocho cheese sauce
chopped lettuce and scallions
chopped tomatoes
cubed avocado
~~jalapeno soaked olives~~

Layer in hard corn taco shells, or in a serving dish as a seven layer dip. I have served these in small bowls as individual dips as well. No measurements for this – make as little or as much as you want, with layers as thick or thin as you want.
Base layer – canned pinto beans (drained) and chopped jalapeno: 2 cans beans and 2 seeded jalapenos, processed in food processor to a blend of chunky/creamy. I also fried this for a few minutes so it was warm and used chilli flakes.
Second layer – salsa spiced quinoa – quinoa cooked with dried and powdered “salsa flavors” added to the water: I used 1 cup quinoa to 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, I added 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 2 teaspoons chili flakes, 1 teaspoon chili powder, bring to boil then simmer 25 minutes.
Third layer – noocho cheese sauce / dip. Recipe follows.
Fourth through seventh layers – layer the lettuce and scallions, then tomato, then avocado, then olives.

This noocho cheese has gained notoriety as well – it is a favorite in our house and many others. A perfect blend of spicy heat, a subtle buttery sweet from cashews, and the cheesy nutritional yeast – my cravings for this border on obsessive.

noocho cheese sauce

vegan, gluten free, dairy free
1 cup raw cashews, soaked
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce (we used less as we are wusses when it comes to heat)
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Begin with soaked cashews – process alone to an almost creamy consistency. Add lemon juice, Tabasco and a couple tablespoons of the water – continue processing until smooth. While processing, add garlic, nutritional yeast, paprika, chili and onion powders, stopping to scrape sides. Add water until desired consistency is reached – more water for sauce, less for dip.

Jelly Slice-Vegan MOFO Day 12

2011-10-12T15:34:00.000+11:00

My nan taught me how to bake and sew and knit and many other things. And while I can't remember how to sew or knit, I definitely remember licking the beaters and helping her grease pans at a very young age. I really can't grease a pan without thinking about her.

Toby and I often talk about how often everyone cries on masterchef which we both think is a little over the top, but I do get that emotional family link. My nan installed my love in baking in me and I'm sure that I have inherited my sweet tooth from her. Every week she would bake us a wide range of cakes, cookies and make various other desserts. Now that I think back to it, I really am in awe of her how much she was able to make without ever tiring of it. She even made me a vegan cake based on an old war time recipe when I first went vegan.

When she passed away, we kept all of her handwritten recipes and I only really tried to veganise her banana cake, which my cousin veganised for our wedding. I swear it tastes the same. Last week would have been her 80th birthday if she was still alive, so our family decided to get together and honour her by making desserts that she used to make. I chose to veganise and de-gluten her jelly slice. but had a few issues at each level. At the base level, when I followed the instructions it was way too oily so I had to add more biscuits. At the lemon layer, I added too much sugar to my own condensed milk and added too much agar so it was too solid and at the jelly layer Toby let it set completely before putting it on top so it just looked ugly when I transferred it.

Base (would half this next time)
~~220 grams of~~ ~~marie biscuits~~ 2 packets of orgran animal crackers

180 grams melted ~~butter~~ margarine

Combine crushed biscuits and margarine and press 25 x 15cm pan.

Lemon layer
400 grams ~~condensed milk~~ soy evaporated milk (plus 1 cup sugar)

Juice from 2 lemons
~~2 tablespoons gelatin dissolved in water~~ 1 tablespoon of agar powder

It was late on a Friday night when I decided to make this, so I couldn't go out and buy vegan condensed milk, so I decided to make my own by combining a can of soy evaporated milk and 1 cup sugar over low heat until sugar was absorbed. I then added the lemon juice and agar powder and stirred until it thickened. Next time I would use less sugar and less agar.

Allow to cool and then place over base.

Jelly
1 packet of red jelly (I used vitarium red jelly)

Make according to packet instructions and then when almost set place on top of lemon layer. Set in fridge for a few hours and then serve by cutting into small pieces.

The lemon layer was definitely too hard and the crust a little too thick but despite all of the little issues, I think it actually tasted fine.The jelly kind of brought it all together.

Two Fun Ways to Combine Apples and Peanut Butter-Vegan MOFO Day 11

2011-10-11T17:42:00.000+11:00

The inspiration for both of these, come from Pinterest. Is anyone else using it? I'm so addicted! It's a bookmarking tool but is unique in that you see pictures instead of words and by following others you can also see what they pin. So it tends to expose me to ideas, products and recipe ideas that I might not normally see.

Apple sandwich I think the original idea come from wholefoods

The first idea is to make a sandwich out of an apple, by coring it and then cutting into1/2 inch thick rounds, put a generous amount of peanut butter, choc chips, granola etc on one side and press down with the other piece. I left out the granola because I didn't have any. I wasn't sure about the choc chips but loved the peanut butter with it.

The second idea is a caramel filled apple. I got the idea to pair it with peanut butter caramel after trying Cindy's apple peanut butter crumble slice, which is originally from veganomicon.

Peanut butter caramel: (this fills 1 med apple so multiple accordingly)

1/6 cup of peanut butter

1 and 1/2 half tablespoon maple syrup

Melt together the peanut butter and maple syrup in a small saucepan. Whisk them until they're well combined.

Caramel Filled Apples- which I think originates from lilyshop.

Cut the top of your apple off and set aside. Scoop out the body of the apple with a melon baller or knife and fill with melted caramel. Use apple piece to dip inside.

TIP: Dab lemon juice on the rim of the apple as well as the "lid" of the apple so it doesn't turn brown as soon as possible.

I made these a week apart so it is a pure coincidence that I used the same plate each time.

This was great, the caramel was nice and warm but not burning my mouth and great comfort food. I strongly recommend it.

Taiwanese Marinated Tofu - Vegan MOFO Day 10

2011-10-10T20:30:00.001+11:00

When I first turned vegan, I ate a lot of Taiwanese marinated dried tofu from the packet. They are almost like jerky and go very well with booze. But most of them are full of preservatives and artificial flavour enhancers.

When I was researching authentic Taiwanese vegetarian recipes to veganize and de-gultenize, I came across this amazing marinated dried tofu recipe. (in Chinese). The original author didn't specify the quantities but I just estimated by the look of the photos with a bit of common sense.

What you need are:

Oil (I used 4 tablespoons for the 1st time and 1/2 cup for the 2nd time)

Dried tofu (I chopped up two blocks of Yenson Dry Tofu)

Whole Star Anises (I used 10)

Szechuan pepper (I used 2 tablespoons)

Dried chilli pepper (I used 1 tablespoon chilli flakes)

Rock sugar (I used around 1/2 cup)

Gluten-free soy sauce (I used 4 tablespoons for the 1st time and 1/2 cup for the 2nd time)

Instruction :

1) Brown the tofu with a little bit of oil (I didn't do it for the first time and the result wasn't very good) and set a side.

2) Add whole star Anises, Sichuan pepper, dried chilli pepper and oil in a cold wok or fry pan, cook in low heat until fragrant.

3) Melt rock sugar (you might want to break them up first) to the wok/fry pan

4) Add tofu and gluten-free soy sauce in and cook over low heat for 30 to 45 minutes, stir occasionally

5) Drain the marinade out and serve. You can keep the marinade and reuse for another time.

I didn't use much oil and gluten-free soy sauce and it wasn't good enough.

I nailed it the second time!

You can also add some peanuts (dry roasted in the wok/on the fry pan first) when you cook the tofu.

It is a great snack or dinner when paired with vegies and rice!

Cinnamon Tortillas and How to Posion your Family-Vegan Mofo Day 9

2011-10-09T14:34:00.000+11:00

We made this enchilada dish last week. It was quite labour intensive, because I had to cook up dried black beans, make corn tortillas, and make the enchilada sauce, cook some vegies and then ensemble and bake. I used a few different recipes but probably not worth sharing them because in addition to poisoning us it also didn't taste particularly nice. I thought everything was going to plan, until I served it and discovered that the black beans weren't cooked enough. When I tasted them I must have just tasted a few of the smaller or cooked ones as they were fine, but it was only noticeable once it was served. Toby and I ate a small piece each and then a few hours later started to get horrible stomach pain and nausea which unfortunately lasted for days. It can be quite serious too, particularly with red kidney beans, read more here. So make sure all of your dried beans are properly cooked before eating! I think we will be sticking to canned beans for a while.

The one good thing that did come out of the whole ideal was making dessert tortillas with the leftover tortillas:

Cinnamon Tortillas

1 T Margarine

1 t cinnamon

1 t sugar

2 Corn Tortillas

Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on each side of the tortillas. Melt margarine and fry tortillas on both sides and then serve with ice cream.

Crispiest Tofu-Vegan Mofo Day 8

2011-10-08T18:27:00.000+11:00

Have you ever thought that you posted about something only to discover it is still sitting in your drafts? Well I have a few times and this post is a perfect example, I started it before we went away and then got all asborbed in our holiday and forgot til now.

Our friend had a small but fancy themed dinner party with each guest to bring a course. There was so much good food including Cindy and Michael's fancy mini breakfasts. I made the crispiest tofu which is perhaps not that fancy but oh so delicious and super krispy. Kittee is right that the potato starch is the key and it is the crispiest I've ever eaten. These are quite tasty and so addictive. I marinated the tofu using her suggestion of the breast of tofu marinade but I'm not sure it made a great difference when you are dipping into sauce anyway. If you haven't already checked out xgfx site you should, its a wonderful space because it is all gluten free and vegan!

The Crispiest Tofu from the xgfx blog:

Mix the following together into each bowl:
Bowl 1:
½ cup potato starch
dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bowl 2:
1 cup unsweetened soymilk
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
1/4 cup chopped parsley (or a combo of other fresh herbs)
dash of salt
dash of hot pepper or allepo pepper
Bowl 3:
1 1/4 cups homemade breadcrumbs (leave your favorite gluten-free bread out on the counter for a day or so, then pulse in a food processor until crumbly).
1/3 cup potato starch
dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder
Additional ingredients:
1 big block of extra-firm tofu, cut into whatever shapes you want to eat and marinated overnight, or as long as possible.
parchment lined baking sheet, greased with 3 tablespoons of nuetral oil (like canola).
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 425F.

Dredge a few pieces of tofu with the starch mixture in bowl one. Make sure each piece is completed coated with a thin layer of starch, then tap off any extra and move down to bowl two.
Submerge each tofu into bowl two and allow any excess liquid to drip off. Move ‘em down to bowl three. Pat each piece of tofu in the seasoned breadcrumbs, to completely coat on all sides. Transfer each breaded tofu to the oiled baking sheet.
Repeat the above steps until you’ve breaded everything within reach.
Season the tofu with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Bake for about 5 minutes, then carefully flip each piece to allow the other side to absorb some of the oil from the baking sheet. Bake the tofu until the bottoms are brown and crunchy, about 10 minutes, then flip to brown the second side. Keep an eye on these so they don’t burn, you’re going for a deep golden brown.

Toby attempted to make a red wine reduction but it failed, so I ended up making a :

Simple remoulade:
1 cup vegan mayo
2 tablespoons of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Combine together, voila!

Sour Cherry Ripe Bites- Vegan Mofo Day 7

2011-10-07T16:30:00.005+11:00

I have had a bag of dried cherries from costco for about 6 months and not known what to do with them until I stumbled across this recipe. There are other cherry themed desserts on friends blogs which I also want to try but this fulfilled my number 1 requirement to be super easy and quick. I used black cherry jam which resulted in a sour cherry flavour which make them quite different from regular cherry ripes although just as delicious. I think Toby was glad as he loves sour cherries. I had some issues with the mixture staying together when I tried to cut it so ended up with bites instead of bars. I'm going to experiment with regular jam next time.

Sour Cherry Ripe Bites ~~Cherry "Ripe-Off" Candy Bars~~ from cherryteacakes

1 cup shredded coconut

3/4 cup cherry preserves, pureed (I used black cherry jam)
1/4 cup finely chopped dried cherries (sour if you have them)

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Mix coconut, cherry preserves, and dried cherries together. Adjust dry to wet ratio as needed until you have a paste that can be molded into candy bars. Mold into a quarter inch thick rectangle. Place in freezer for half an hour, then cut into bars or bite sizes.

Melt chocolate chips and pour over bars to cover. Place back in the freezer for five minutes until chocolate is fully set. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Shepherds Pie- Vegan Mofo Day 6

2011-10-06T17:00:00.000+11:00

This is one of the first recipes I made in my early vegan days and one of the few savoury dishes that my omni family loves. I made a bit batch of it on the weekend so Toby and I could have one casserole dish and then gave the other one to my mother who just returned from holiday. She always does this generous thing of making us dishes such as lasagna when we have returned from overseas trips so we don't need to cook for our first few meals so I really wanted to repay the favour. It is a fair bit of work so I recommend making heaps so it lasts and is worth the effort.

Shepherds Pie from How it All Vegan (I recommend doubling it at least)

Filling:

1 small or medium onion, chopped
3 small carrots, chopped
1/2 cup spinach, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup cooked or canned green lentils, mashed
1/2 tsp dried basil
~~1/2 tsp salt~~ 1-3 teaspoons soy sauce (taste accordingly)

Topping: (I tend to make more as I love mashed potatoes)
3 medium potatoes, roughly chopped
~~1/4 cup soy milk~~
1 tbsp margarine or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. ~~In a medium pot of water, boil the chopped potatoes until they can be pierced easily with a fork~~. Toby tends to follow this method of mashed potatoes which does result in superior mashed potatoes, he just uses margarine and no buttermilk. In a medium saucepan, saute the onions, carrots, spinach, celery, and tomatoes in the oil. Once carrots are tender, add the mashed lentils, basil, ~~salt~~ soy sauce, and pepper. Stir and simmer without a lid until the liquid cooks off.

Meanwhile, mash potatoes. Pour the vegetable mixture into a lightly oiled pie plate and then layer the mashed potatoes over top. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 4-6 servings.

I loaned my copy of how it all vegan to someone but can't remember who. If you find a copy and it has a smiley face next to this recipe and a few others its mine so please email me so I know where it is!

Chamomile Ice Cream with Agave Almonds- Vegan Mofo Day 5

2011-10-05T10:28:00.000+11:00

I enjoyed the iced tea so much that I thought of combining chamomile in a dessert. This only makes a tiny amount as I was experimenting, so feel free to double or tripple the recipe depending on your ice cream maker.

Chamomile Ice Cream (see note in regards to serving size above)

1 3/4 cup of coconut milk (1 can)
4 tablespoons agave
4 chamomile tea bags
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of arrowroot

Wisk arrowroot into 1/4 of coconut milk and set aside. Combine the remainder of the coconut milk, teabags and agave in pot, bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Let it sit for 20 minutes. Remove tea bags and then stir in coconut milk.arrowroot mixture and vanilla essence. Allow to cool in fridge for a few hours and then place in ice cream maker. Mix in agave almonds once the ice cream maker has finished.

Agave Almonds
2 tablespoons of agave
1/2 cup of almonds

Combine agave and almonds in frypan, fry over low heat until almonds are coated in agave.

Coconut and chamomile are friends, trust me. I'm quite proud of this little experiment. I think chamomile is so calming and as the weather becomes warmer here instead of sipping on some tea, this is a much better alternative. I was worried that the chamomile flavour would be lost but you can definitely taste it. I just wish that I made more as Toby and I finished it one sitting!

Arlingtons Tapioca Desserts- Vegan Mofo Day 4

2011-10-04T11:21:00.000+11:00

I had seen my fellow vegans on twitter in sydney comment on these tapioca desserts but didn't know that they were available here in Melbourne until friends Craig and Bec bought them to my attention and then gave some to us. They found them at Leos in Kew. They gave us 4 flavours to try: coconut, cinnamon apple, passionfruit and raspberry.

The coconut is really creamy, the passion fruit is sweet but also tangy, the raspberry is slightly tart and the apple cinnamon has just the right amount of cinnamon. I can't decide what my fave flavor is. They are a great serving size but are so addicitive that they didn't last too long in our household. I've had plenty of warm tapioca desserts before but these are cold and just as delicious. Supposed dessert hater Toby enjoyed them too, he said his favourite was coconut. They are pretty natural too and apart from the sugar in them are are almost good for you. You can find out where your closest stockist is by checking their website, only seem to be in nsw and vic at the moment. I'm going to visit Piedimontes soon and stock up on some more and also try a few of their other flavours. Rika has also blogged about it the passionfruit flavour.Sydney Vegans what is your fave flavour?

Baked Rice Paper Rolls-Vegan Mofo Day 3

2011-10-03T10:39:00.000+11:00

I've been craving spring rolls since going gluten free and remember seeing people post about using rice paper rolls to make them so thought I would give it a try last week. I had mentioned to Johanna at the picnic that I wanted to do it and she reminded me that she had tried it before. So I followed her recipe.

Baked Rice Paper Spring Rolls from Green Gourmet Giraffe

makes 20 spring rolls

50g dried rice vermicelli noodles
1 largish carrot, grated (about 1 cup)
1 cup shredded Chinese cabbage
2 spring onions, finely sliced
150g firm tofu, crumbled
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp agave
2 tsp sesame oil
1 garlic clove. crushed
1 tsp pickled sushi (or fresh) ginger, finely chopped
20 rice paper roll wrappers
vegetable oil

Soak vermicelli noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes and then drain. Add remaining vegies and seasoning. Mix well.

Have a large shallow bowl of water to soak each rice paper wrapper in for about 10 seconds before placing flat on a board. Place a dessertspoon of filling on the one side of the wrapper. Fold edge of wrapper over the filling. Fold the sides over and then roll up so the filling is wrapped in the rest of the wrapper.

Preheat oven to 210 C. Place spring rolls on a tray lined with baking paper or silicone. Spray or brush with oil.

Bake spring rolls for about 20-25 minutes or until crispy - it will be hardly brown and will soften slightly if you let it cool for a while but will remain pleasingly chewy. I served mine with sweet chilli and gf soy sauce.

I found the pictures on the bake bike blog to be useful in knowing how to roll them, so also attempted a similar thing but mine are not as clear:

Here they are out of the oven:

I loved the filling, but didn't think they resembled proper gluteny spring rolls at all. I have read about people deep frying them so wonder if that is a better replication? Still they were enjoyable in their own way, although a little time consuming because I was so damn slow at rolling them.

Chamomile Lemon Iced Tea with Maple Ice Cubes- Vegan Mofo Day 2

2011-10-02T13:58:00.000+11:00

I kind of felt bad for making such an easy dessert for the potluck so I also made this drink which was suprisingly enjoyed by the toddlers, who knew that toddlers loved lemony things so much?

Chamomile Lemon Iced Tea I doubled and adapted this recipe from whole family fare:
1/2 cup dried chamomile flowers (or 3-4 tea bags) (I used the teabags)
juice of 1 lemon plus a few extra lemon slices
4 cups water

Boil water. Remove from heat and add the chamomile flowers and lemon juice. Let sit for 10-20 minutes. Remove tea bags or strain flowers and refrigerate until it cools.

Serves 4

Maple Ice Cubes

100 ml water
100 ml maple syrup

Mix water into maple syrup and then pour into a ice cube tray and freeze.

The ice cubes were so easy to make and I can't resist different ice cube ideas, remember the mint ones? But it might be easier taste wise to just add maple syrup to the tea so you can adjust according to preference and then add regular ice cubes, but where would be the fun in that?

Add ice cubes to tea right before serving.

It was quite refreshing and not overly sweet. I personally think it could do with a bit more maple syrup or agave but then I have a major sweet teeth, so adjust accordingly.

Also to celebrate vegan mofo I spend this week working on a recipe index, which was such a long irritating process. Go check it out at the top of my page. Thanks to Carla and Johanna for pointing me in the right direction with the anchors!

Ginger Ripple Cake-Vegan Mofo Day 1

2011-10-01T09:16:00.000+10:00

I'm a bit nervous about signing up for vegan mofo again. What have I gotten myself into it? It was quite tricky last year when we blogged every day for a whole month but it did result in me being a bit more creative with meals and its all for a great reason, right? To celebrate a whole month of vegan food by writing about it as much as possible.

To kick start I want to share my dessert recipe which I made for the vegmel potluck, this is perhaps the laciest dessert that I have ever made but was still quite tasty I think.

It's a version of the great aussie chocolate ripple cake which is generally made from chocolate cookies called ripple biscuits and cream, like this. According to wikipedia there are similar versions in other countries and it's called icebox cake in the US.

Ginger Ripple Cake adapted from Fat Fuelled Vegan's recipe
2 packets of Leda Gluten Free gingernut biscuits
2 packets of soyatoo topping cream
2 tablespoons of Frangelico (optional)
roughly 1 cup of frozenbluberries (optional)

Mix the frozen blueberries and frangelico into the cream, put a thin layer of cream on the bottom of bowl, then add a layer of biscuits, repeat until all the biscuits are finish and top with last layer of cream. Allow to sit for at least 2 hours so the biscuits soften. Done!

I would also halve this recipe unless you were making it for a large group of people. I altered two things to his original recipe, one I decided to add frozen blueberries to the cream and to the top and I used ready made vegan cream and a bit of left over alcohol and cream from the tiramisu. Next time I would probably leave out the blueberries, they just seemed kind of out of place and I don't think the frangelico really added anything to it flavour wise.

I decorated it with a V for planet vegmel.

Tempeh Bacon Experiment-That Recipe Looks Familar

2011-09-25T19:58:00.001+10:00

We went over our download limit this week so have not been able to blog about last weeks potluck til now. I'm not too sad about it though because I need to reserve my efforts for vegan mofo, where we (mostly I) will try to blog every day. In reality I will try to stick to 5 posts a week but will see how I go. Anyway, back to the potluck and the that recipe seems familar blog event. Both the event and the potluck was to celebrate Planet VegMel's 2nd birthday. Planet VegMel is a wonderful site where you can view all the Melbourne veg blogs in one spot. You can read about the first round of posts for the blog event here. There was also a cute zine created at the last minute.

The potluck was great, there was so much amazing food which resulted in me feeling super full and exhausted. You can read about some of the dishes online including Steph's caramel slice, Mel's tofu quiches and apricot delights, Emily's eggplant salad, Michael's enchiladas, Vicki's peanut butter balls, Johannas cake pops, Cindy's cookie sandwiches, Carla's mock crab cakes, Dannis' muffins and bread, Emily's gado gado and turkish truffles. There was more dishes too and thankfully most of the dishes were gluten free so I didn't have to miss out on much. Thanks everyone, it really means a lot! It was great to meet a few new people and to make friends with Johannas cute daughter Sylvia.

Toby wasn't feeling well and so wasn't planning on going til the last minute so he needed some quick to make. He decided on the tempeh not bacon from wheres the beef:

Tempeh, not bacon
(based on recipe at Get Sconed!)

300g tempeh
4 tablespoons soy sauce
~1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons tomato paste
vegetable oil, for frying

Slice the tempeh into the thinnest sheets you can.

Whisk the rest of the ingredients (except the oil) together in a bowl.

Spread some of the marinade on the base of a shallow tray, lay out the tempeh, and spread over more marinade. Let the tempeh soak up the yum for at least a couple of hours; pop it in the fridge and it'll last for days.

When the tempeh's ready, pour a little oil in a fry pan a heat it to medium/high. Fry the tempeh strips until they darken and crisp up a little.

He put it on top of some tofu 'egg' and hollandaise sauce from vegan brunch. The tofu egg wasn't particuarly eggy because we didn't have black salt but I enjoyed the hollaindaise sauce:

Despite being not the biggest fan of tempeh, I loved it so I decided to also try the tempeh bacon from easy as vegan pie:

Tempeh Bacon originally from Veg News TV
1 packet of tempeh, pat dry and slice thinly
1/4 cup of soy sauce/tamari
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tbsp of liquid smoke

1. Steam the tempeh slices for 8-10 minutes in vegie steamer. The tempeh will go a whiteish colour.

2. Mix up the marinade and soak the tempeh strips for an hour or over night if possible.

3. Line up the tempeh strips on a wire rack and drain the marinade off then line the little soldiers up on a baking sheet and grill them at 200 degrees (or high). I just fried mine for about 10 minutes on each side.

I served it for over brown rice, with roasted pumpkin, greens and the wonderful chickpea gravy from appetite for reduction which all made one super yummy and almost healthy dinner.

The main difference with this recipe was the steaming, which does result in a slightly superior flavour and texture. We will certainly stick to steaming from now on.

I do have one more post for the recipe looks familar blog event, but might save it for vegan mofo. See you in a weeks time!

Vegan and Gluten Free Tiramisu

2011-09-17T09:32:00.000+10:00

It was Toby's birthday last week so I made tiramisu because he is coffee crazy as you all know. I found this recipe on Green Vegan Living which was actually good timing because I had just received some Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour in the mail. This was my first time attempting tiramisu but I think it was pretty good. Toby certainly enjoyed it and that's the important part.

Vegan and Gluten Free Tiramisu from Green Vegan Living

Lady Fingers

2 cups Bob's Red Mill all-purpose baking flour

1 T. baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 c. agave

1/2 c. maple syrup

2 T. canola oil

1/3 c. apple sauce

1 T. vanilla

3/4 c.soy milk

Preheat the oven to 350.

Measure out all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Create a small hallowed “bowl” in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients from around the outside of this hollowed bowl, until everything is evenly mixed in.

Using a rubber spatula, transfer into a greased glass baking dish (9" x 13") and place in the middle of the oven on the center rack.

Bake for 25 minutes. After baking, place on a cooling rack and loosen the edges.

After it has cooled for about 15 minutes flip the cake over onto a cutting board and cut into 1" x 3" pieces.

"Cream" Geanna's recipe asked for yogurt but I borrowed the idea from insomanic chef and used vegan sour cream instead.

8 oz. vegan cream cheese

1/4 c. vegan sour cream (instead of yogurt)

1/4 c. vegan cream

2 T. liquor/liqueur of choice (I copied her and Frangelico)

1/3 c. powdered sugar

2 t. vanilla extract

1/2 t. cornstarch

1/2 t. xanthan gum

Bring heavy cream to a boil in a small sauce pan and then dissolve the xanthan gum and cornstarch into it. Allow it to cool to room temperature.

Combine the thick cream mixture with all the other ingredients above and beat well.

Put the mix in the fridge to set for several hours.

Sauce

1 c. strong coffee

3 T. liquor/liqueur of choice (I used kirsch)

3 T. agave nectar

Combine these ingredients and put in the fridge to cool.

Assembly

Dip the lady fingers into the coffee sauce and let it soak up the moisture for a couple of seconds.

Layer these in the bottom of a glass trifle or baking dish until the entire base is covered.

Using a spatula, spread the "cream" evenly over the lady finger base.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 at least once more, depending on how big your dish is.

Sprinkle unsweetened cocoa powder over the top, completely covering the top. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour to let the flavors meld together.

It is quite time consuming to make, so I spread it out over two days by making the lady fingers on one weeknight and the rest on a saturday. Next time I would spread it out even more as I didn't allow enough time for the lady fingers to soften and absorb the coffee before serving. So instead of making it in advance Toby thought the coffee flavour was too subtle initially so we added more of the leftover coffee sauce to it which I think resulted in a slightly bitter flavour which I wasn't a big fan of but then I dislike coffee. We did have one tiny peice left on the sunday and it was defintely superior: softer cake and with a stronger flavour.

I made a basic T stencil to decorate it.

Excuse this photo, I used a phone camera in a dark pub:

Zucchini Quinoa Lasagna-That Recipe Looks Familar

2011-09-14T09:00:00.003+10:00

My last post for that recipe looks familiar involves lasagna, but not the regular kind. This uses zucchini instead of pasta and has a quinoa filling. Although the recipe is originally from another overseas blog, I only come across it when Vicki posted it for vegan mofo last year. I doubled this to make enough for dinner and leftovers for tomorrow and added more cheezly on top.

Zucchini Quinoa Lasagna from Peas and Thank You as seen on Vicki Vegan
Serves 4-6

2 large zucchini, cut into 12 thin, 1/4 in. thick slices
salt
1 c. quinoa, rinsed
2 c. vegetable broth
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1/4 c. minced onion
1 t. dried oregano
1/4 c. fresh basil, chopped
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
2 T~~. organic or non-dairy cream cheese (optional)~~ tofutti sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar marinara sauce
1/2 c. non-dairy cheese

Preheat oven to 400.
To prepare zucchini, cut a strip off of one side to make a flat base.

Then, thinly slice zucchini into “noodles.” You’ll want 12 noodles in total.

Place noodles in a colander and sprinkle with salt, layering between paper towels.

Let this sit and absorb moisture while preparing the quinoa.

Combine quinoa, vegetable broth, tomato sauce, onion and oregano in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.

Cover and lower heat, simmering for 20 minutes.
When quinoa has absorbed all the liquid, fold in cream cheese and herbs.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and try not to eat the whole pot.

Believe it or not, it gets better.
Pour enough of marinara in the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish to cover the bottom. Using a clean dry towel, blot remaining moisture and salt from zucchini and layer 4 noodles across the sauce.

Put a layer of quinoa across the zucchini,

and cover with another 1/3 c. of marinara sauce.
Repeat with another layer of quinoa, sauce and zucchini.
Top the final layer of zucchini with remaining sauce and 1/2 c. of cheese, if using.

Bake lasagna for 30 minutes, until heated through and zucchini is tender.

Toby and I both enjoyed this and found it to be a great way to use up quinoa but probably prefer my mothers tofu lasagna if we had to choose, but then you always prefer you mothers cooking, right? Overall though the quinoa worked really well as a filling, it held together well and was quite feeling, I wonder how it would go if I combined the two recipes.

Apricot Delight

2011-09-13T18:31:00.000+10:00

Another entry for that recipe looks familiar event, this one uses a recipe from Green Gourmet Giraffe. I used to love apricot delights but all the preservatives and other ingredients would upset my stomach so I was excited to see Johanna make them at home. To completely avoid preservatives, I got some organic sulphur free dried apricots and dessicated coconut from wholefoods. I didn't read the recipe right the first time, so ended up adding all of the apricots to the pan rather than leaving some whole. I don't think it make a big difference though. I also accidentally added a little bit too much water to mine, which made my a little softer but did mean that I had no issues getting the coconut on the sides.

Apricot Delight
makes 36
adapted from the Australian Women's Weekly as found on Green Gourmet Giraffe
250g dried apricots, chopped
3/4 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups dessicated coconut
2 tbsp ~~honey~~ agave
extra coconut, for coating

Place ~~half~~ the apricots and the boiling water in a small saucepan. Soak for about an hour. Bring to the boil and gently simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes. The apricots should be quite jammy.

Puree apricots in a blender. Add the rest of the apricots and the coconut. You will have a stiff paste. Spread into a lined 15cm square cake tin and leave overnight in the fridge.

The next day, take slab out of the cake tin and chop into about 36 squares (or any size you want). Toss each piece in coconut. ~~I found that the top of my slab had dried out a bit and was harder to get the coconut to stick to it - so I wiped it with a damp wad of kitchen paper.~~

Keep in an airtight container.

They are just as tasty as the store bought ones, although a little darker in colour without the preservatives. But more importantly easy to make and pretty healthy. Will certainly make them again!

OMG Mini Vegan and Gluten Free Wagon Wheels

2011-09-11T21:03:00.000+10:00

This recipe almost fits into that recipe looks familar blog event as is a recipe from fellow vegans in Melbourne but doesn't quite fit as they don't have a blog but this recipe convinces me that should start one. Jamie and Elias decided to veganise vegan wagon wheels and thankfully shared the recipe, for which I will always be grateful. Their recipe included arnotts nice biscuits which are vegan but I can't eat them and couldn't think of a similar biscuit which is both gluten free and vegan and the same size So I decided to make mini versions using the orgran outback animal biscuits. These are so unbelievably good, I can't tell you how similar they are to real wagon wheels as it has been almost a decade since I had them but they are outstanding taste wise and you only need 4 ingredients. Seriously go and make them now, you won't be sorry!

1 packet of vegan marshmallows
4 tablespoons of strawberry jam
2 blocks of lindt dark chocolate (you may need a little more-see comment below)
almost whole packet of orgran outback animal biscuits (had about 6 left over)

Spread jam on crackers
put marshmallows on crackers

Melt chocolate in double boiler or microwave
Pour melted chocolate over marshmallows with spoon

Makes approximately 25.
Their original recipe asks for another step: putting them in the oven for 10-15 minutes before putting the chocolate on top. But I had some issues with this because the gf crackers disintegrated and I think I cooked them for too long or at too high heat so they ended up spreading and being a big mess:

I think it worked out well without the step anyway as the marhsmallows were already quite gooey. We made some which completely covered the biscuits and then some rustic ones with just a bit of chocolate on top. I think the rustic ones actually looks better but I prefer the taste of the ones completely covered in chocolate.

Thank you Jamie and Elias, you guys rock!

Mee Goreng- That Recipe Seems Familar

2011-09-10T16:16:00.000+10:00

This is my second post for that recipe seems familar blog event. This dish was a perfect weeknight dinner and it does features noodles! However, I did make lots of changes to make it gluten free, to add protein and to use what we had in the food co-op. Hope it still qualifies!

Mee Goreng
I kind of combined elements from vegan about town's two posts on mee goreng, both here and here. I've noted the changes below.

ingredients
~~500g Hokkien noodles~~ 1 packet of 454 grams (16oz) rice noodles (Kong Moon rice sticks)
2 clove garlic (crushed or minced) (we increased this)
3 tomatoes (cut into small wedges) (we increased this)
~~2 bulbs bok choy (leaves cut in half or thirds, stalks sliced length-ways)~~ 1 bunch of silverbeet
~~half a cup of bean shoots (tails off)~~
~~1 carrot (julienned)~~
~~1 potato (steamed and julienned)~~ 2 packets of fried tofu
~~1 or 2 red chillis (sliced into rounds)~~ 3 tablespoons of dried chillies

Sauce: ( I think I ended up timing this recipe below by about 6)
~~4 or five shakes of vegetarian oyster sauce~~ tiny bit of hoisin sauce
5 shakes dark soy sauce (used regular gf soy sauce)
a little bit of kejap manis
1 tspish tomato sauce
some chilli sauce
1 tsp sugar

method
Combine together the hoisin, soy sauce, sugar, kejap manis, and tomato sauce, and add a few shakes of chilli sauce.

Soak the noodles in hot water for until soft with rice noodles this took about 15-20 minutes (with hokkien its is much much quicker) then drain and set aside

Heat up the wok, and coat the insides with a thin layer of oil. Throw in the garlic and chilli, and fry for a minute or two. Add the tofu and fry for a few minutes then remove tofu and set aside. Add a teaspoon or three of water to the wok, throw in the tomatoes and silverbeet and replace the lid. There should not be a lot of water, only enough to keep it steaming!

After a minute or three, throw in the noodles, tofu and the sauce. Put the lid on for a minute and leave to make lots of noises. When you next take off the lid, and try to toss the noodles, they should have started sticking to the wok, because all the liquid has dried up. This is good, but don't get too complacent! Alternate between tearing the noodles up off the wok, and leaving to burn, for about another two or three minutes.

Serve hot.

Excuse the ugly photo, I was starving and just wanted to eat it immediately:

We eat a lot of noodles in this house but this was the first time that we fried them with the lid on. I loved this but I really think that rice noodles doesn't work as well so I recommend going with the hokkien if you can eat wheat instead. I'm not sure which variation in this recipe meant that we needed a lot more sauce, so taste accordingly.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream- That Recipe Seems Familar

2011-09-06T11:42:00.010+10:00

Planet VeGMeL is a a collection of Melbourne veg blogs, so you can read all of the blog posts in one place. To celebrate planet vegmel's 2nd birthday there is a blog event called that recipe seems very similar where we you try a recipe from one of the melbourne veg blogs and blog about it. There will also be a celebratory potluck held.

I'm hoping to do a couple of these posts, but given that it also coincides with Toby's birthday this week I'm not sure how we will go time wise. For my first attempt, it's probably no surprise that I went with a dessert- a ice cream dessert because I am just a tad obsessed with making dairy free ice cream. I chose cindy's salted caramel ice cream which I had the pleasure of trying at her ice cream potluck last year.

Vegan salted caramel icecream
(adapted from David Lebovitz's salted butter caramel icecream from wheres the beef

mix-in toffee
spray oil
100g castor sugar
3/4 teaspoon sea salt, ideally some fancy fleur de sel

'custard'
300g castor sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (again, fleur de sel preferable)
60g Nuttelex or other vegan margarine
2 x 400mL cans coconut milk
1 generous tablespoon arrowroot
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a baking tray with paper and spray it lightly with oil. To make the toffee, place the sugar in a saucepan and melt it over moderate, even heat. Don't stir it too often or vigorously, but go ahead and shift the liquid bits out of the way to encourage the solid bits to melt quicker. Continue cooking the sugar until it is all liquid and brown, until it just starts smoking.

As efficiently as you can, sprinkle the salt over the caramel and pour it all onto the baking tray. Lift and tilt the tray to get the thinnest layer of toffee you can - it doesn't have to be a pretty shape or single sheet. Set it aside to set completely.

Now for the custard! Repeat exactly the same caramel-making process with the sugar in a medium-large saucepan. Take it off the heat when it's time to add the salt, and whisk in the margarine too. Next, gradually whisk in the coconut milk. Return the saucepan to a moderate heat to help evenly melt the coconut fat through the mix. The caramel may harden again but be patient, it will re-melt over the heat. Sift in a generous tablespoon of arrowroot and bring the mixture to the boil. Take it off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Cool the mixture, refrigerating it overnight so that it's completely chilled.

When the custard is ready, churn it in an icecream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Crumble the toffee into little pieces (DL suggests 1cm in size) and stir it into the finished frozen custard. Transfer it all to a container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

I followed the recipe exactly except I couldn't find fleur de sel in Brunswick so used maldon salt flakes instead but I don't think it made a huge difference. It is so so so so amazing, definitely up there with my favourite ice creams of all time. However, be warned it is super sweet so avoid if you a wuss when it comes to sweet things. The ice cream base has a lovely caramel flavour but I particularly loved the salted toffee, am thinking about doubling the toffee and adding it to vanilla ice cream next time so that it can be an even bigger star. I had planned to bring this to the potluck but who was I kidding? I can't share this, IT'S ALL MINE!!!! (said in evil character voice followed by evil laugh).

Toby's Singapore Noodles

2011-09-04T17:01:00.000+10:00

Singapore style noodles are not from Singapore but are actually from Hong Kong. Toby has been playing around with this recipe for a while and this is our favourite version so far and is my latest savoury obsession. I would have it every night if I could but Toby is being the voice of reason and reminded me that with all of the frying it is isn't the healthiest. I love that it's mild enough that we can eat it but spicy enough to have just a little bit of kick. I always add more soy sauce to mine because I love salty food so feel free to play around with it to suit your tastes. We use whatever veggies we have in the food co- op box and generally use greens but didn't have any today.

1.5 tablespoon of sesame seeds, toasted
1 packet of 454 grams (16oz) rice noodles (we use Kong Moon rice sticks)
2 packets of 300 grams fried firm tofu, sliced into strips (we use yensons)

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium capscisum, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2-3 tablespoons of curry powder
a pinch to 1/2 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes (start with less)
1/4 cup of vegetable stock
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
a splash of sesame oil
a splash of G/F soy sauce
tumeric powder (optional for colour)
salt and white pepper to taste

Soak rice noodles in enough hot water to cover until they are soft, roughly 20 minutes.
Marinate tofu, carrots and capsicum in splash of sesame oil and soy sauce and with the chilli flakes for at least 10 minutes.
Toast sesame seeds in dry pan and put to side.
Fry onion until soft in vegetable oil, add curry powder and fry until it is combined and fragrant.
Add tofu and vegies to fry pan and fry until vegetables are soft.
Drain rice noodles, rinse with cold water and add to pan.
Mix well and add stock.Stir and fry until stock is absorbed.
Add salt (or soy sauce) and white pepper to taste. Serve with sesame seeds and sesame oil.

Ideally you should cook everything on high in a wok, if you have a small frypan or wok you might want to half this recipe. We have a gigantic frypan but look at how full it is without the noodles:

Serves 4-6. Toby is a big eater so it only serves 4 in our household but could serve 6 regular eaters. We always make enough for 4 so we can have leftovers for lunch the following day.

Chef suggestion: enjoy with pu-erh tea or cola

Enjoy!

Chat for Tea Vegetarian Tea Garden

2011-09-01T18:36:00.000+10:00

Dan and I embarked on an op shopping tour of Ballarat a few weeks ago and Toby tagged along just so that he could go to Chat for Tea, because we have been talking about checking it out for a few years now. Chat for Tea is as the name suggests a vegetarian cafe which sells lots of tea, just without a garden part. Most of the menu items can be made vegan and they were quite gluten free friendly which is kind of rare for asian vegetarian places. Toby and I shared the laksa which was very mild which suited us fine, however Dan wanted more chilli in hers. To make it gluten free they left out the mock meat, I enjoyed this but there was only a small amount of tofu-perhaps 3 small squares for this large bowl which was a tad disappointing.

We also got the nutty rice and tofu, I was expecting a satay dish so was surprised by this coconuty almost sweet sauce with very little peanut flavour. However, we still enjoyed it, Toby said it reminded him of 'Portuguese sauce' dishes he would get in Hong Kong.

And of course we had to sample tea, I got some mango sencha which had a mild mango flavour but a lovely scent and Toby got some oolong tea which he enjoyed. They had plenty of flavours to choose from, next time I am going to try the peach sencha as I love sencha!

Overall, it's a cute little place and definitely worth a visit if you are in the area, the food was good but not amazing. I do wonder if the gluteny dishes are a tad more exciting. Ballarat had some great op shops, however be warned that they most of them close super early on Saturdays like 12-1!

Chat for Tea Vegetarian Tea Garden
25 Armstrong Street
Ballarat

Read other reviews by vegan about town , bites and travels and Jess cookbook.

Root Beer Float Ice Cream in Chocolate Cups

2011-08-29T11:27:00.004+10:00

I couldn't decide on a name for these even with the suggestions I got from twitter which included chocolate floats, root beer crunch, cups of brown joy, root beer cupiscles and brown cow cups. Leave a comment to help me decide and I'll change the title!

Cindy and Michael had a small potluck at their place to celebrate 5 years of blogging! My dish was obviously inspired by the trip to the US particuarly root beer floats and peanut butter cups. So I decided to combine the two things. First I made this root beer ice cream from bittersweet :

Root Beer Ice Cream

1 Cup Vanilla Soymilk
1 Cup Root Beer Soda (I used A&W which is gf)
1/2 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Arrow Root
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Root Beer Extract (I left this out)

Whisk together all the ingredients, except for the root beer extract, in a medium sauce pan. Beat vigorously to ensure that there are no lumps whatsoever before turning on the heat to medium. Cook, whisking every few minutes, until the mixture comes to a rapid boil, and immediately remove from the stove. Whisk in the root beer extract, and then chill thoroughly before churning according to your ice cream manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer the churned ice cream into an air-tight container, and stash in the freezer for at least 4 – 6 hours before scooping, or until frozen solid.

It is suprisingly refreshing by itself, but I had to take it to the next step. So I melted some dark chocolate with a tiny bit of coconut oil and lined foiled cups with the chocolate about half way up, added in the ice cream and then covered the top with more chocolate and placed them back in the freezer.

I really enjoyed the combination of flavours, the chocolate makes the root beer a little more mellow but because the root beer has such as strong flavour it works. Be warned though, not everyone likes root beer so it worth trying before making it. Root beer tastes a lot like sarsaparilla which I guess is an aquired taste as a few people at the potluck complained that root beer tastes like medicine. If that is the case then I think I missed out on some yummy medicine growing up!

Please note that you can find root beer in some asian supermarkets in Melbourne, I found it at the asian supermarket at Barkly Square in Brunswick.

Ginger and Jasmine Tea Glazed Almonds

2011-08-24T15:32:00.000+10:00

I kind of lost my blogging mojo since we come back from the US, which is partially due to what I like to call post holiday syndrome, and then was out of cooking/baking action for a few weeks when I broke my toes and have had a few other things distract me. But I am now trying to get it back.

I made these nuts weeks ago when friends bought over a fun boardgame called apples to apples. They were kind of inspired by wheres the beef cashew crack but obviously with different flavours and nuts. I used the right amount of jasmine tea but the flavour of the tea was overpowdered by the ginger, next time I might decrease the ginger and add more jasmine tea. I enjoyed them but I do love ginger but admit that I prefer their lemony cousin.

Jasmine Tea and Ginger Glazed Almonds from 28 cooks:
1 c raw almonds
1/4 c sugar
pinch of salt
2 jasmine tea bags, or 1 generous tsp of jasmine tea
1/4 c finely chopped crystallized ginger

In large pan, combine almonds and sugar over medium high heat. Stir frequently until sugar starts to melt. Lower heat, and stir continuously for 10 minutes, or until sugar starts to fully melt and cover nuts. Add tea and continue to cook for an additional minute or two, until nuts are well glazed and tea is well mixed in. Add ginger, and stir until well mixed. Pour onto sheet of wax paper on a cooling rack, and spread out. Allow to cool. Store in tightly-sealed container.

Choc Rice Cakes- Product Review and Recipe

2011-08-16T19:17:00.000+10:00

I discovered these mini dark chocolate coated rice cakes in the supermarket the other day and was pleased to discover that they were both gluten free and vegan. Anyone who has every worked with me knows that my two most common snacks at work are chocolate and rice cakes. Although not normally together as I tend to put peanut butter on rice cakes. So I was intrigued by this pack which I found them in coles for about $3.90 for a packet.

At the first bite, I was still not convinced but after eating one or two I'm now a total convert. It allows me to have my choc fix but in smaller portion and also fills me up at the same time. They are much smaller and thinner than regular rice cakes so after sharing a few with colleagues and indulging in several the packet was quickly gone. They do vaguely remind me of chocolate digestives which I was also a big fan of.

So tonight I tried to recreate them using regular size rice cakes. I used the multigrain corn thins and melted a tiny bit of lindt dark chocolate with coconut oil and simply spread a thin layer and let it set. I can't tell you how much though because the chocolate was leftover from another recipe I was making. They were just as good but next time I would use the neutral plain rice cakes as the multigrain ones have a weird sorgum/corn flavour which doesn't go that well with chocolate. I can defintely see this becoming a regular snack in our household.

Mercy Seat

2011-08-08T20:55:00.000+10:00

I think it's easy being vegan, its a bit more difficult being gluten free and vegan though. Particularly as not all veg*n restaurants cater for us gluten free folks and sometimes the 1-2 options are bland and just not worth it. Excellent in Portland which seems to be the best place in the world for us gleegans. There have been a couple of new veg*n cafes which have opened recently in Melbourne which have 0 gluten free options. In my previous gluten eating days I would have rushed out to support the new veg businesses but simply haven't been able to which makes me a tad sad. Mercy Seat was among them, but they announced on Friday night that they had gluten free bread so I rushed out the next day with Cindy and Michael to try what others have been raving about. Mercy Seat is a vegetarian breakfast/lunch place which is situated at a bar called 99 problems.

I had the scrambled tofu with avocado on gluten free bread. The scrambled tofu doesn't contain any soy sauce which I was thankful for since it generally means that I can't eat it. Instead it was fried with spinach, red onions, and plenty of spices. I could see the tumeric and they are a tad spicy from what what I suspect to be cayenne pepper. It was delicious and very filling. Also excellent value for $10, not sure how much extra it was for gf toast. The rest of the smallish menu looks pretty gluten heavy with burgers, vegan philly cheese steak etc but I suspect that the avocado with vegan feta is also gf if served on gf toast. I just hope that they are not using the kolios greek fasting feta which is not actually vegan. We will certainly go back to try more.

They also had home made lemonade on the specials board, I was surprised to find that it was carbonated rather than American style lemonade but it was just as refreshing served with mint.

Toby thought his long black was very delicious. They use padre coffee.

Mercy Seat
31 Johnston St
Collingwood

Vegie Bar

2011-08-05T18:33:00.000+10:00

I've been pretty critical of Vegie Bar in the past. I have a theory about why: I have noticed that new vegan or vegetarians or new Melbournians tend to love vegie bar whereas vegetarians and vegans who have been living here for while tend to be more critical of Vegie Bar. I think the reason is that menu hasn't changed much over the years and people who have been going for years have too many bad experiences. I have had several experiences of accidentally eating dairy there over the years and some bad customer service experiences too. I have gone a few times over the last few months though and had much better experiences.

When our friend Yuanna was down from Hong Kong we took her there the first night and again on the last night. Yuanna is an omni but loved her food there on both occasions. The first time we had some raw crackers with a raw cashew based dips. It was so pleasing to have crackers and dip that I could eat. The dip was creamy and the crackers were comparable to the ones at yongs greens food. Btw, all photos were taken by Yuanna.

I then had the mostly greens with tempeh and satay sauce. Healthy but satisfying.

and we had a piece of the vegan chocolate cake. I didn't realise that it was guten free. This was great served there, as it was warmed and kind of gooey, whereas if you have it take away it tends to be a bit hard:

The second time I had the vermicelli noodles, this is my fav dish. Slightly fried and lots of flavour. I guess it is a lot like what we make at home but without the effort and dishes.

The second time they had a special dessert, a avocado based chocolate mousse with poached pear and pistachios. I really liked this, you couldn't tell that it was made from avocado and Yuanna said that it reminded her of Indonesian desserts and so she tried to order two but they had sold out by that stage.

Vegie Bar

380 Brunswick St

Fitzroy

9417 6935

Recently reviewed by carla, steph and healthy party girl.

In the Mood For Noodles Video on YouTube

2011-07-31T17:59:00.001+10:00

Just come across this youtube video called in the mood for noodles which is a spec commerical for non vegan (and probably non gluten free) noodles but had to share it. Like this video, the name for our blog did come from the beautiful wong kar wai film in the mood for love.

Will return to regular food posting soon, I promise!

Service Announcement: Kitchen Aid Food Processors Leak!!!

2011-07-22T18:21:00.000+10:00

After years of much cheaper food processors I recently made a $600 investment with a kitchen aid food processor and discovered the hard way that they leak on the first use. So disappointing since I love my red mixer and loved that it would match. I was told from the matchbox store that you have to add the ingredients one at time and it how the bowls are stored in cupboard etc. Even the website says if leaks you should try to pulse liquids for only 1-2 seconds at time. There are no scratches/holes etc it is just a bad design. Matchbox refused to give me a refund instead offering to give me a new bowl and I'm since found out that this a regular fault: see this google search for example. Such a waste of money! I'm making a complaint to consumer affairs but wanted to share the news so others don't get stuck in the same situation.

So spread the news!

US Products Which We Loved

2011-07-19T22:53:00.000+10:00

These were only some of the products which we tried and loved there was plenty more like hemp milk (I think it was this brand) and a vegan box of chocolates from Food Fight but I forgot to take pictures of them. I also loved the crazy rumours lip balms which I've thankfully also found in Melbourne.

I tried maybe 4-5 vegan ice cream flavours, but these were the two we tried when we had an ice cream party with Susan. We each bought some ice cream and shared. They were all delicious but I'm not a huge fan of the fake cherry flavour. I can't decide if the luna and larry coconut chocolate hazelnut fudge (pictured) or the purely decadent coconut based chocolagte peanut butter swirl was my fave.

I really don't get why we don't have awesome vegan yogurt here when both the UK and the US can do it. I enjoyed several flavours in this coconut range (except for cherry-what is with the fake cherry flavour?):

Another thing that the US do well in gf cereal, these were my favourites, particuarly the maple sunrise and from memory it was pretty healthy too.

I tried 3 brands of vegan peanut butter cups but these were my fav, they were just a tad saltier which is perfect in my book. I really need to replicate this recipe.

Other sweet treats which I loved, justin's flavoured nut butters including maple almond butter, sour gummies bars, and the whole range of eli's earth bars, and the little individual organic chocolates from sjaaks particuarly the caramel ones.

It was only the flight home that I finally tried tings and we devoured the huge bag. I had heard Mandee rave about them but had trouble finding them. I had looked in a few whole foods but couldn't find them. I eventually asked someone at wholefoods who showed me where they were hiding which was not in the chip aisle but somewhere else. They taste a lot like twisties and have nooch in them so I wish I took more packets home with us.

Only one more US post to go from Toby, can you guess what it might be on? And that will conclude our US holiday posts. I hope I haven't bored the Australian readers with these posts.

Real Food Daily- Santa Monica

2011-07-18T10:17:00.000+10:00

My last US meal:

We had 8 hours layover in LA and asked on facebook and twitter what we should do and the overwhelming response was go to Real Food Daily- Santa Monica. We met up with Toby's friend there and thankfully got a table without a booking. I ordered the 'pizza ya can eat za' with herb cornmeal crust, sun dried tomato pesto, spinach, basil and cashew and mozzarella cheese with greens and cannelloni beans in the centre. The crust was similar in texture to a pita bread crust, you could taste the herbs in it and I think I could probably eat it plain but the cashew cheese was my favourite bit, so creamy. It makes me want to learn how to make cashew cheese. I also got a tasty strawberry milkshake made from hemp milk and hemp ice cream. Toby also enjoyed his gluteny burger and salad. This meal left me feeling very full which is perfect when you have a 15 hour flight home.

We also visited wholefoods to get some last minute snacks and walked along the beach before catching the bus back to LAX.

Real Food Daily
514-516 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica

Portland Day 6 and 7

2011-07-17T22:12:00.001+10:00

For brunch we went to HomeGrown Smoker food cart- a vegan bbq themed food cart. This tiny little food cart served outstanding savoury food.

I had the frito pie. For the aussies reading fritos = brand of corn chips. This frito pie consisted of a small pack of fritos cut open with smoked beans, colesaw, and daiya cheese on top. It was magnificent. The smokiness of the beans and the bbq sauce was the best I have ever tasted and unlike anything I have ever eaten. I could have easily eaten this every day. Toby lovooooooooovvvvved his gluteny mac and cheese and burger too.

We loved it so much that we returned the following day but were so full that we shared this dish: the smoker salad with molasses cornbread, beans, soy curls, ranch dressing etc. I liked this but wasn't a fan of the molasses in the cornbread.

For dinner we met up with the friendly Ruth from Stump'd who is originally from Melbourne and who patiently asked a thousand questions and talked through lots of Portland vs Melbourne comparisons. She suggested Taqueria Los Gorditos. It is a mexican place with plenty of vegan options and pretty gluten free friendly.Toby got the tacos and chose one soyrizo, one bean and one soy curls. I wasn't sure which ones were gf so haven't posted the pic here but I tried a bit of the bean one and it was awesome particuarly with the chipolte sauce. I ordered the sopes with tofu, lettuce, avocado, cilantro and sour cream.

And to finish it off we went across the road back to Portobello and I had their ice cream. There was 3 flavours: caramel, orange cardamon and choc mint. I had choc sauce on the mint choc. It was all creamy and delicious but the salted caramel but was the star of the dish.

The following day we went to Junior cafe for breaky. Juniors is a regular omni breakfast place which has some awesome vegan options like french toast.

I had the vegan potato plate with gluten free vegan sausage, yes gluten free vegan sausage, how awesome is that? It comes with potatoes, corn, mushrooms, zucchini and a slightly spicy tofu sauce. It was an excellent fried breakfast. Perfect for a hangover (in my case just a food hangover). The orange on the side made it seem a little healthier too. I have to admit that I copied Meghan in my idea of choosing this breaky.

For out last dinner we went to the fancy vegetarian restaurant in the vegan meca area, yes Northeast alberta street called natural selection. Both Geanna and Kittee had mentioned it so we had try it.

We chose the four course dinner for $35. For the four courses you have two menu options, but only one choice was both vegan and gluten free which made for an easy time ordering.

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the menu or take notes. I was going to attempt descriptions but figured they may be inaccurate so instead I will let the pictures do the talking and give super vague descriptions. This was a bonus entree.

Then was yummy soup

Salad

This was our fave, a vegetable dish:

I remember this one. They gave us this lime and mint granita as a palate cleanser before dessert. It was so refreshing.

For dessert we had a cherry type cake. I didn't particularly enjoy this because it was too much like fruit cake, the one dessert I'm not a fan of.

But the rest of the food was awesome, although since the dishes were all vegie based, there was not enough protein for Toby.

I have a confession to make too, I couldn't resist trying something else from back to eden bakery again, so while we were waiting for our food, I ran down the street a few blocks to buy a few more things for after dinner and for the flight the next day. I must have been gone a while because the waitress asked Toby if I was ok. It was worth it thought because I got a vegan and gluten free boston cream pie!!!!!

This dessert was the perfect way to farewell portland with it's cream around the edges and I think custard in the middle and chocolate around the edges. While the cake itself was not the greatest the package was a little piece of heaven.

This is our last Portland post. Portland had outstanding vegan food, there was plenty of places we didn't get to try too like off the griddle.There wasn't much else to do thought beside eating except for visiting the gigantic powells bookstore, where there was two high aisles of vegan cookbooks and even a little note saying 'are you looking for vegan and gluten free cookbooks?' and the record label tender loving empire store which sold their own cds, records and cute jewellry.

Goodbye Portland, we will miss you!