Leftovers Bake

I had a lot of stuffing left over from Xmas so I make a potato style bake to use it up and it was delicious!

Leftovers Bake

Ingredients

1 packet of g/f pasta shells, cooked
1-2 cups stuffing (or g/f breadcrumbs)
1/2 cauliflower, broken into florets and blanched
1/2 cup frozen peas
4 large potatoes, boiled for 15-20mins
vegan Parmesan
vegan cheese, grated
1 227g tub of vegan sour cream/cream cheese (I used Tofutti)
2 cups vegetable stock
Fresh parsley


Method

Preheat oven to 200C.
Once potatoes have cooled, slice thickly.
In a large casserole dish layer potatoes, pasta, cauliflower and stuffing.
Sprinkle each layer with parsley, Parmesan and cheese.
Once all ingredients have been layered whisk together the stock and cream cheese/sour cream.
Pour evenly over the casserole and bake for 30mins.

Bean Sausages

I was dubious about these at first because they wanted "gluten flour" but I substituted and they turned out great! No where near as fiddly as I was expecting. I got the original recipe from Where's the Beef? blog.

Bean Sausages
(this made around 16)

Ingredients

435g can refried beans (I used the one with chilli)
2 teaspoons gravy powder (I used Organ Gravy Powder)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cups gluten free gluten powder (I used Orgran)
1 cup plain flour
1 cup chickpea flour (besan flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder (I used onion flakes)
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (you can substitute to another chilli sauce that has not gluten such as Nando's Peri Peri Sauce or Sambal Oelek)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds (I used celery salt)
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 cup water


Method

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, adding the water last to form an almost sloppy dough.

Prepare some pieces of aluminium foil for wrapping.
Take around a 1/4 cup of the mixture at a time and shape them into sausages.

Place each sausage on a small square of the foil, rolling it to cover and folding over or twisting the ends.

Steam the sausages for 30 minutes (15mins on each side). I used a rice maker for this but you can steam on the stove by boiling water in a saucepan and adding foiled sausages to a colander which sits above the steam.

Once cooled you can remove from foil. They should be firm, if not steam for another 10 minutes.
You can refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
When ready to use fry the sausages up in a little oil until they have a golden crispy exterior.

Tacos

These tacos are simple but always feel like a treat.

Tacos

Ingredients

10 hard Tacos
Taco "Mince" (2 cups)
Refried Bean Dip
3 Tomatoes - chopped (for serving)
1/4 head Iceburg lettuce chopped (for serving)
Taco Sauce (for serving)
Guacamole - (for serving)
Jalapenoes (optional for serving)
Vegan sour cream (optional for serving)
Vegan cheese, grated (optional for serving)


Method

Preheat over to 200°C. Once heated place tacos on cookie sheet for 10-15 mintues or till brown.
Put all items on the table and let people help themselves.
If you're anything like me you'll need a table cloth and lots of serviettes close by!
If you have refried bean mix left over it makes a great dip or base for burritos.

Handmade Chocolates

These aren't strictly handmade chocolates because it's just melting and pouring but by mixing different vegan chocolates together and setting them in molds you can really make them look and taste special (and more importantly show the non-vegans we can actually eat chocolate).

Handmade Chocolates

Ingredients

2 blocks vegan white chocolate (I used Sweet Williams)
2 blocks vegan milk chocolate (I used Sweet Williams)
2 blocks vegan dark chocolate (I used Kinnerton)
Chocolate molds of your choice


Method

Boil a small pot of water. Use a separate bowl for each chocolate type.
Place a heat proof bowl over the water.
Break the white chocolate up into pieces and place in bowl, stirring as it starts to melt (you may need oven mits to hold the bowl steady to avoid steam burns).
Once melted take bowl off pot and place to the side.
Repeat with other chocolates.
For marble chocolates swirl all chocolates together before spooning into molds.
For top deck chocolates place white chocolate in half the molds first, wait until set then add dark chocolate on top.
For separate chocolates add separate types to each mold.
Refrigerate till hard before removing from moulds (around 2 hours).
Once set push chocolates out of molds and refrigerate. Silicon molds work best.

Christmas Day 2011

Christmas Day can be difficult when your family doesn't understand veganism (or even know how to pronounce it in my Mum's case). If you have Christmas at your place you can show everyone how amazing and varied vegan food can be and you know you'll have something to eat (or too much to eat in our case). Here was our Christmas Day with a link to all the recipes used.

Starters

Black Olive Tapenade

Guacamole

Hummus

Baba Ghanoush

Mains

Rosemary Baked Vegetables, Stuffing Balls, Green Bean, Tomato and Avocado Salad, Nut Loaf, Sanitarium Veggie Roast (contains gluten)

Rosemary Roast Vegetables

Nut Loaf

Stuffing Balls

Green Bean, Tomato and Avocado Salad

Sauces

Cranberry, Orange and Ginger Sauce

Mushroom Gravy

Chilli Jam

Dessert

Grand Marnier Fruit Cake 

served with vegan custard (All Natural Custard Powder)

Fruit Salad with a Twist

Tea & Coffee

Rum Balls

Handmade Chocolates

Green Bean, Tomato and Avocado Salad

This is a nice simple salad recipe which is great if you just want a side salad and don't anything too overpowering. I added English Spinach leaves to this salad. Recipe is from the Sexy Foodie.

Green Bean, Tomato and Avocado Salad

Ingredients

Salad;

400g green beans

2 avocados

250g grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered

Dressing;

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

1 minced garlic clove

Method

Trim the tops off the beans, cut each one in half and place them in a large salad bowl. 

Peel and dice the avocados and add these to the bowl along with the quartered tomatoes. 

Mix the dressing ingredients together, pour over the salad and toss well.

Rosemary Roast Vegetables

This is a simple but very effective roast vegetable recipe. Just choose the vegetables you like. It's a tasty staple in winter or any family gathering.

Rosemary Roast Vegetables

Ingredients

1/2 pumpkin, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 onions, peeled and cut into quarters
1 bulb of garlic, peeled
4 potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds
Olive oil
Sea salt for serving
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary


Method

Preheat oven to 200C. Prepare baking trays with greased baking paper.
Place all prepared vegetables onto the baking trays.
Pick rosemary leaves off the sprigs (easiest way is to hold the sprig at the top and pull the leaves down with your fingers).
Sprinkle rosemary over the vegetables and drizzle with desired amount of olive oil.
Bake for 20 mins.
Turn vegetables over and bake for a further 20mins (or longer if necessary).
Serve sprinkled with sea salt and another drizzle of olive oil if desired.

Cranberry, Orange and Ginger Sauce

This is a twist on regular cranberries sauce for something different on Christmas Day. This sauce goes well with Nut Loaf and faux meats. Original recipe from Animals Australia. If you have trouble finding cranberries or red currents (or just want a short cut) you can substitute store bought cranberry sauce for the cranberries and sugar and just whisk in with other ingredients.

Cranberry, Orange and Ginger Sauce

Ingredients


3/4 cup/150g castor sugar
1/2 cup of orange juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger
2 cups of fresh cranberries
Pinch of salt


Method


Place the cranberries, orange juice and ginger in a pan and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Give the berries a mash and add the sugar, zest and salt.
Cook gently until all the sugar is completely dissolved.
The sauce will thicken up as it cools slightly.
Once thickened, serve.

Fruit Salad with a Twist

I know this sounds like a lame recipe to blog about, I mean everyone knows how to make fruit salad but there is one special ingredient that brings out the flavour of fresh fruit (especially stone fruits and berries). It's Orange Flower Water. It sounds lame but it really does enhance the flavour through scent. It's about $12 a bottle which sounds expensive but you don't use much and it lasts for a long time in the pantry. You can buy it from health food stores. Inspired by Nigella Lawson's Peaches & Blueberries recipe.

Fruit Salad with a Twist
Serves 4

Ingredients

2 peaches or nectarines, washed and chopped
1 punnet blueberries, washed
1 punnet strawberries, washed and chopped
2 plums, washed and chopped
1 punnet raspberries (optional)
2 figs, washed and chopped
1 Tbls orange flower water


Method

Place all chopped fruits into a bowl and mix or layer onto serving plate.
Sprinkle orange flower water over the top and serve.

Grand Marnier Fruit Cake

This fruit cake is a bit special and makes a great Christmas fruit cake dessert. Original recipe from Ninemsn recipes.

Grand Marnier Fruit Cake

Ingredients


500g (3/4 cup) sultanas
250g (1 cup) mixed peel
125g (3/4 cup) chopped raisins
125g (3/4 cup) chopped dates
125g (1/2 cup) chopped dried plums (prunes)
125g (1/2 cup) chopped glace apricots
125g (1/2 cup) chopped glace pineapple
60g (1/2 cup) slivered almonds
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
250g vegan margarine (I used Nuttalex)
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 egg replacers (as per packet instructions)
2 cups plain flour


Method


Combine fruits, nuts and rind in large bowl; mix well.
Sprinkle castor sugar evenly into heavy-based frying pan, place over medium heat, cook until sugar begins to melt and brown, gently stir until completely melted and golden brown.
Remove from heat, add orange juice, return to heat, stir constantly until toffee pieces are dissolved.
Do not boil as this will evaporate too much of the liquid.
Add Grand Marnier, strain liquid to remove any small pieces of toffee; cool to room temperature.
Place fruit mixture in airtight container or large jar with tight-fitting screw-top, pour Grand Marnier mixture over fruit mixture.
Seal, stand overnight.
Next day, invert jar or mix fruit mixture well.
Do this for 10 days (up to a month is fine).
Once fruit is "drunk" preheat oven to  150°C and grease a deep 19cm square or deep 23cm round prepared cake pan. A spring pan works the best.
Beat margarine until soft, add brown sugar and beat until combined.
Add egg replacers and beat until combines.
Pour fruit mixture into large bowl, add creamed mixture, mix well.
Add sifted flour, mix well.
Spread mixture into cake pan.
Bake at 150°C for 3 to 3½ hours.
Serve with vegan custard or to be really special you can drown each piece of cake with a shot glass of Grand Marnier and set fire to it, blowing out after 30 seconds.