Black Turtle Bean Curry

Had some Black Turtle Beans I wanted to use up and I adapted this from a recipe on the Nigella Lawson website (via a guest). This very mild curry is very healthy and simple. I soaked my turtle beans for 24 hours.

Black Turtle Bean Curry

Ingredients

250g Black turtle beans
250g Green lentils (I used red rentils)
Pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
¼ tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Paprika
½ tsp chilli powder
1 tin chopped tomatoes
50ml olive oil
57g vegan butter (I used Nuttalex)
1 garlic (sliced or chopped)
1 tspblack cumin (I used regular cumin)
1 bunch Fresh coriander


Method

Wash the beans and put them into a big pot with a lid.
Pour in water to cover the beans, plus an extra two inches.
Add the salt and spices (except cumin). If you like garlic, add a few whole cloves now.
Cover the pot and leave to cook.
Every 15 mins or so, check that the water level hasn't gone down too much and give the beans a little stir. Add more water if needed.
Heat on high for the first 45 minutes, then just a simmer for the last 15 minutes.
Check that the beans are soft and cooked all the way.
In the last 130 mins of the black beans cooking, put on your green lentils (15 mins if you are using red).
Once both beans and lentils are done, drain lentils only well and mix together with the black beans.
In a frying pan heat the olive oil, butter, garlic and cumin seeds.
Heat gently until the garlic is golden brown.
Carefully add all of this into the bean mixture.
Now add all of the chopped coriander.
Serve this with pappadums and basmati rice.

Tofu & Carrot with Fish Paste

I had some vegan fish paste that I wanted to use up and I came across this recipe from Lily's Best Blogspot. I changed it a bit but the result was actually very yummy. I was eating it hot and cold.

Tofu & Carrot with Fish Paste

Ingredients 
1 box Silken/Soft Tofu (I used firm and crumbled it)
1 Tbls Vegan Fish Paste
3 carrots, grated
1/2 pack bean sprouts
1 Tbls vegan fish sauce (you could use soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead)
White ground pepper
Sesame oil
Chopped spring onions

 
Method 
In a large bowl, put the silken/soft tofu and the fish paste and mash the two together until they are combined.  
Mix through carrot and spring oniongs.
Transfer contents into a frying pan with some seaseme oil on medium-high for about 10mins.  
Drizzle with fish sauce, white ground pepper and sesame oil and stir through bean sprouts.
Once heated through remove from heat and serve with rice. 

Malaysian Laksa

I found this great recipe for laksa on the SBS Food website. Here's the original.
They make a spiced paste from scratch but I used vegan laksa paste and added the green onions. It was more like the laksa you buy than the other recipe I've used.

Malaysian Laksa

Ingredients

3 Tbls vegan laksa paste
4 green onions (shallots), sliced on the diagonal
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 litre vegetable stock
1 can coconut cream
Vegan fishballs (optional)
Fried tofu puffs
1 packet dried mushrooms
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1 bunch bok choy (or asian vegetable or choice), washed and leaves separated
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbls vegan fish sauce (I find Braggs Liquid Aminos works well as a substitute)
Juice of 1 lime
Rice vermicelli noodles
1 packet Bean sprouts
Red chilli, sliced (optional)
Coriander leaves
Fresh lime wedges


Method

In a large bowl cover dried mushrooms in boiling water and leave to soak.
In a large pot heat oil and 1/2 the green onions and fry the laksa paste for about 2 minutes and pour in the stock.
Bring to the boil and then add coconut cream. Let simmer for a couple of minutes.
Add fish balls , mushrooms and fried tofu until heat through.
Add sugar, fish sauce and salt to taste.
Add bok choy and just heat through.
Squeeze in the lime.
Blanch rice noodles in boiling water and transfer some of each to serving bowls.
Garnish with the spring onions, chilli, coriander. Squeeze in the lime before eating.

Popcorn

I do love me some popcorn. Whether it's at homemade, microwaved or at the cinema it's nice to know where your vegan options lie! Here are some vegan popcorns I've found and I'll keep adding to the list.
Here's a recipe for Party Popcorn.

Hoyts Cinema popcorn - vegan!!

Coles brand microwave popcorn - vegan!

Events Cinema popcorn is also vegan - I checked the ingredients myself last time I was there.

I've read online comments that say that Palace & Village Cinemas popcorn is vegan also. 



Guzman Y Gomaz

You may have seen Guzman Y Gomez around the place, mainly as a take away place or in a food court but for take away Mexican this place is pretty good. They have heaps of gluten free and vegan options. Even their guacamole is vegan - Amen! And all the condiments are free!

Some of the more restauranty locations (like Crows Nest) are licenced with Mexican beers and frozen margraitas & sangria - yum!

Frozen sangria

Vegan & gluten free soft tacos with guacamole, coriander, hot sauce and jalapenoes - YUM

Last Train to Bombay

I've been the Last Train to Bombay a couple of times and it is really divine Indian. They are really good with allergies too. I always ask them to use oil instead of ghee and to show what on the menu is gluten free. The service is very attentive!

Warm Pumpkin and Brown Lentil Salad

This recipe is from Taste.com and is delicious warm or cold and sooo healthy! I substituted their rocket lettuce for English spinach.

Warm Pumpkin and Brown Lentil Salad
Ingredients

1.5kg butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded
olive oil cooking spray
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 x 400g cans brown lentils, rinsed, drained
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 bunch English spinach


Method 
Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut pumpkin into 1.5cm-thick slices. Roughly chop. Arrange on an oven tray. Spray both sides with oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast, turning once, for 30 to 35 minutes or until tender and golden. Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add lentils and 1 tablespoon vinegar. Shake pan gently to combine. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Combine lentil mixture, pumpkin and rocket. Whisk together remaining 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon vinegar. Drizzle over salad. Divide between plates.

Note: My tip for peeling pumpkin is with a sharp vegetable peeler. Quicker, easier and you'll end up with more pumpkin.

Rum and Raisin Chocolate Clusters

I had a small amount of chocolate left over from some cooking but I thought it was a bit bitter to eat on it's own so I made these little clusters.

Rum and Raisin Chocolate Clusters
Ingredients

50g dark chocolate
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp rum
1 Tbls vegan butter (I used Nuttalex)


Method

In a medium saucepan, heat the chocolate and butter on a low heat, stirring continuously, until melted together.
Stir through rum and raisins until completely covered in chocolate.
Spoon out small amounts and place them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Don't let them touch.
Refrigerate for 30mins or until set.

Chocolate Cake with Fondant

This was for a very special friend of mine who turned 13. I made her the Best Chocolate Cake last year and she was too sick to eat it so her brother very kindly ate it all before she was well enough to try it. This year I made the same cake base but used fondant icing instead of butter icing.

I took a 10cm x 8cm block of fondant and microwaved it for 20 seconds. Then I kneaded in the food colouring and rolled it out on some baking paper and then cut the circle out. Once the cake cooled I placed the circle of fondant on top. If you want the sides done too you need to make sure the fondant is still warm when you place it over the cake or else the icing will crack. I just used Queen's writing icing to pretty up the sides and write with and sprinkled over the decoration.

Homemade Cheese Slices

I had half success and half fail with this lovely cheese slice recipe from Maple Spice called Vegan Unprocessed Cheese Slices. We don't have Veg-Gel so I tried it with Just Wholefoods VegeSet but it wouldn't set properly (ended up freezing them instead). I might retry it with Agar Agar Powder.

I put on the base of my pizza...

Homemade Cheese Slices
Yields 6 large slices.

Ingredients

30g vegan butter (2 Tbsp) I used Nuttalex.
30g plain GF flour (3 Tbsp)
1 cup unsweetened soy milk (240ml) - I used rice milk
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp tomato paste (puree).
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
1 sachet VegeSet (6g)


Method

Line a baking tray with cling film so that it overhangs enough that you can cover the top.
Place the nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder in a mortar and pestle and grind until the yeast is a fine powder (I just used a blender). Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the flour and vege-gel.

In another bowl whisk together the soy milk and tomato paste until the paste dissolves. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk really well until no lumps appear.

In a small saucepan add the vegan butter then pour over the mixture. Turn the heat to medium-high (I used my smallest element on high heat) and whisk all the while until the butter melts and incorporates into the mixture. Keep whisking until the mixture thickens and changes from a somewhat nothing colour to a vibrant orange. You can now change to a wooden spoon and keep stirring until nice and thick. It took 3 minutes for mine to get the the wooden spoon stage and another 3 minutes of simmering once thick. I kept the heat on high but again, I used my smallest element here.

With a rubber spatula scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and spread out with a knife until it fills the pan and is nice and even. Take the overhanging cling film and cover the top, pressing down slightly just to get it all nice and even.

Chill until set, it'll take a couple of hours. Peel back the cling film then lift out of the pan and place on a chopping board. Slice into 6 large slices then they are ready to use.

Keep leftover slices on individual pieces of baking paper and covered with cling film in the fridge.
I found it easiest to get them onto bread by picking up the paper and placing them down onto the sandwich then removing the paper.

Great on toast under the grill...