Date night

We went to Abyssinian and shared the vegetarian banquet. You can't really tell from the picture below but this is huge and took up most of our table for two. We couldn't finish it. Unlike previous Ethiopian restaurants we have been to the dishes weren't overly spicy and I was reminded about how much I really love to eat with my hands. This restaurant can be summoned up in one word in terms of the service, decor, taste etc as:

PERFECT!


Afterwards we went to a lake in Moonee Ponds for a little walk only to discover that half of the lake is missing as they are doing work on it. It didn't stop us discovering and appreciating these cute creatures though:

We also went to the drive-in where I snuck in a small tub of Mr T's favourite gelato flavour: bounty from Fritz gelato.

The Abyssinian
277 Racecourse Rd
Kensington
9376 8754
Mon-Sat 5.30-10pm
Website

Random Stuff

• My back is feeling a thousand times better thanks to heat packs, heavy duty pain killers, and a couple of visits to physio. I've decided that physiotherapists are probably my fav profession right now. The difference in the pain from just one visit was amazing from excruciating pain to very weak pain and the spasms have completely stopped. I've also had acupuncture and have a special thing to put on my seat and have this tape on my back that reminds me not to slouch.
• I've discovered this really cool Esty store that is both eco friendly and feminist friendly. It features recycled clothing (t-shirts, hoodies, cardigans etc) that has been screen printed with images of inspiring women such as Emma Goldman, Gloria Steinem, Frida Kahlo etc. She also uses water based paints and recyled cereal boxes for the tags. The creator also appears to be vegan. The difficult part is choosing just one to buy!
  
• Johanna at Green Gourmet Giraffe is on to something great: peanut butter in salad sandwhiches. As soon I read it I knew I had to try it and it was perfect.
• Mr T and I have started date nights where we take it in turns in suprising each other which awesome dates. It has got to be one of our best ideas yet. Most of the time when we eat out it is with friends or in a kind of last minute I can't be bothered cooking let's go here. So it's been a nice change and it's so exiciting planning and being suprised by each other. It's my turn tonight and I can't wait to see his reactions. I'm sure I will be blogging about more details soon.
• There is a raw potluck next sat that a friend is hosting. If you are interested in coming and haven't been to a potluck yet you can email me at bluerthanpink (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll let you know the details. I'm looking forward to experiementing with raw recipes, something that I haven't really done before.
• Can you guess what this movie is:

Moonlight Mini Potluck

Unfortunately tickets to the moonlight cinema sold out before the gates even opened, but that didn't stop Mr T and I sharing food and having a great time in the botanical gardens with Cindy and Michael from where's the beef. I was probably the least prepared that I have been for a potluck and Mr T didn't have time to make anything as it was a weeknight and we only realised on Monday that it was the following night (my fault, I thought it was on thu). I made the five minute coconut fudge from my sweet vegan which I was pretty happy with. But it took me two times as the first time I added regular sugar instead of icing sugar. Any idea what to do with fudge like mixture with regular sugar?

And my savoury muffins which were under cooked and I think might need some more tweaking. I added more basil this time and rice milk but they weren't as good.


I also baked some chickpeas with salt and nutritional yeast which would have been great if they weren't soggy or if they had more time in the oven. Apparently 30 minutes isn't enough in a really old oven. And I brought along some turkish bread, olive oil and dukkah. Since we were going to see slumdog millionare which is filmed in India, I decided to bring it all in a tiffin. I wish I had thought of it earlier, I might have made it an Indian themed night.

Cindy and Michael made tempeh and tofu sushi which was very yummy and might even inspire me to try to make sushi in the future:
and some sort of cardamon spiced biscuits which were shaped in adorable moose shapes:

They also took us to Markov Place which I was so impressed with that I might have my birthday drinks there.

Lentil Tacos

One of my favourite things about reading other food blogs is the great ideas for meals that I get. The other day I was thinking about what to make and was really stuck for ideas when I read about lentil tacos on Yeah, that "vegan "shit . I've had bean, tofu, mock meat, and even potato gem tacos but have never thought about lentils in tacos.

I had canned lentils which made it a pretty quick meal. I can't justify buying taco seasoning so I made up some of my own:

1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin

I drained the canned lentils and added them to a pot with a tiny bit of water and some of taco seasoning and then adjusted the amount of taco seasoning to it seemed right. Then added some taco sauce, cheezly, lettuce and tomato. It was such a quick meal and was so yummy. Lentil tacos might not be authentic but I think I might even prefer them to my normal bean tacos that I make.



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On an unrelated note, does anyone know how to successfully copy and paste something into blogger and then change the font. I have tried changing the font with my previous posts and even copying and pasting it into word changing the font and then copying into blogger but nothing seems to work. I want to make the earlier posts not so ugly.

Fun4Paws - Dog respite care for bush fire victims needed

Forwarding this email that I received in hopes that someone can help:

Fun4Paws is currently offering emergency respite care to the animals
affected by the bush fires, however there are many more animals than we have
carers.

There are large numbers of owners with nowhere to place their dogs. If you
are able to offer a place to a dog in your home, please contact myself of
Lynne Fitzsimmons and we will coordinate.

Luke - 0415 104 044 contact@fun4paws.com.au Lynne - 0428 844 810 or
lynne@fun4paws.com.au

If you are interested please let us know when your home would be available
(dates) and if you have any other pets for us to consider when placing.

Dog Listeners Australia wide have pledged $1000.00 the assist in the costs
of food, petrol etc. so we hope that all costs of looking after a dog will
be covered.

Please assist us by forwarding this email on to all of your contacts so that
together we can help the hundreds of dogs in need of temporary homes.

A confession

We went back to the tofu shop last week.

I swore it would never happen after he hassled Mr T about veganism last year but it was a tue night and we originally tried to eat at trippy taco only to discover that they were closed. We then tried to go to Bodhi but they were also closed. So we decided to go past and if the horrible manager wasn't there we would go in. He wasn't there and so we ate there. I wish I could say that the food sucked but we loved it. It has got to be on of the healthiest vegetarian cafes in Melbourne and yet the food is still so tasty, especially the homemade tofu dishes. I do feel guilty though!

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On a non food related note, my heart goes out to the poor victims of the bushfires. I donated what little money we had to red cross, and will be donating clothes and blood soon too. I might also be helping out through our workplace but wish there was more that I could do!

Can't be stuffed cooking

I love Lolo's post about low cook or no cook recipes we regularly make her soy-mirin tofu but over rice (or in our case noodles) with peanut sauce. And while I don't have any of my own recipes to contribute I thought it might be a good idea to discuss some of my favourite dishes to make in this crazy heat we have been having. For the most part we try not to cook, because it's hot enough in our non- insulated place without adding any more heat from cooking. So lately we have been eating out or cooking bulk so that it lasts for a few days worth of meal on the slightly cooler days. Anyway on to the dishes that we do often make (sorry there is no pics but my camera is not working): The first two my friend Erin introduced me to and since she doesn't blog about food I don't think she will mind me sharing the recipe love:       Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad

5 servings

1 large russet potato, peeled & quartered 1 large sweet potato, peeled & quartered 1 cup corn kernels 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons lime juice 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 1 clove minced garlic 3 tablespoons canola oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced into thin half-rounds 1/2 red onion, sliced thin 1/4 cup finely chopped dry-roasted unsalted peanuts Put the russet potato pieces into a large saucepan, and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil then lower heat and cook for 5 minutes at medium. Add the sweet potato pieces and cook an additional 20 minutes. Test each potato to see if cook (slightly firm but not breaking apart). Add corn kernals and cook 30 seconds more. Quickly drain in a colander. Fill the saucepan with cold water (a few ice cubes wouldn't hurt) and return potato/corn mixture to the cold water for 5 minutes (this stops the cooking process on the potatoes). In a large bowl, combine the mustard, lime juice, cilantro and garlic; whisk. Slowly add the oil while whisking; add salt & pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Drain the cooled potato/corn mixture in a colander again. Now cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Add the potatoes, corn, cucumber & onion slices to the vinaigrette. Mix well and serve chilled with a sprinkling of chopped peanuts. The recipe is from here     Sesame Noodle Salad 2 packages 3-minute noodles, broken 1 Tbsp sesame oil 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar 1 Tbsp vegetable oil 2 Tbsp soy sauce 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 2 oz (57g) fresh snow peas, blanched, cut into thin strips 1 large carrot, coarsely grated 1/2 cup smoked tofu, cut into thin strips 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds 2 green onions, thinly sliced) fresh coriander leaves for garnish Cook noodles; drain and rinse. Toss immediately with 1 Tbsp sesame oil to keep noodles sticking together. Combine vinegar, veg. oil, soy sauce, garlic and red pepper flakes in a small microwaveable bowl. Heat on high, uncovered, for 30 seconds. Or bring to a boil in a small saucepan and cook for 1 minute. Combine vinegar mixture w/ cooked noodles, toss and add onions, snow peas and shredded carrot. If not serving immediately, refrigerate. Just before serving, toss w/ toasted sesame seeds and top w/ tofu strips and fresh coriander leaves. I'm not sure where the original recipe is from. but we love it!   Happy Tuna Salad (No cooking if you used canned chickpea) from the amazing veganmania

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas 1 cup finely chopped celery 1 tbsp. chopped sweet pickles 2 tbsp. sweet pickle “juice” (brine) 3/4 cup vegan mayonnaise 1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning 1 tbsp. prepared mustard pinch of dried kelp powder

Pulse the chickpeas in your food processor until they are just broken up into little pieces (not mushy). Transfer them to a mixing bowl. Stir in all remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Serve on a bed of lettuce, or in a sandwich, or on crackers, or any other way you can think of. Will keep 3-4 days refrigerated.

Serves 6-8.

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We also love to make the perfectly amazing pasta salad (but with cream cheese) and auntie bonnies chickpea salad both from The Garden of Vegan.

And I used to love making the laziest burritos with refried beans, salsa, soy cheese and avocado with the sandwhich press but I make them so much that Mr T now hates refried beans.

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The last couple of days I have tried a few new dishes both of which I already love.

The first is incredibly lazy and also requires only 3 minutes of cooking but was just the thing after a long first day back at work. It involves making a sandwich out of shredded carrot, store bought capscium pesto, tomato and a really thick layer of white bean aioli (minus the garlic because I burnt it) from veganomicon.

The second dish I found at vegalicious . Here's the recipe:

Quinoa Beet Salad

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

for the salad:

4 beets 1 cup quinoa 1 vegetable bouillon cube 2 cups water 2 red onions olive oil handful fresh mint leaves hanful of chopped walnuts

for the dressing:

1/4 cup miso 2 tablespoons mirin (or other sweetener) 1/8 cup water 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon tamari (Japanese soy sauce) 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 teaspoon sesame oil  

Directions:

Clean and cook the beets, allow them to cool, and cut them into small bite sized pieces. Wash the quinoa well with cold water or allow it to soak for 15 minutes in warm water and then rinse well, to remove the bitter oil from the outside of the quinoa. Cook the quinoa in 2 cups of water with the vegetable bouillon cube. When the qunioa is cooked, remove from the heat, allow the quinoa to cool, with the lid on the pan, it will absorb the steam and excess water. Mix the cooled quinoa and beets together well to make sure that the quinoa has become a pretty rosy pink color. Mix the salad dressing and pour over the salad. Allow the salad to season well for at least 1/2 an hour. Shortly before serving, mince the mint and mix into the salad witht eh chopped walnuts. Serve on a bed of salad leaves (shown here are fresh beet greens and baby field salad).  

I didn't wait very long to allow the flavours to marinade and it was already a very interesting variety of flavours.

So what do you like to make in this weather?