Wednesday 29 October 2014

Recipe #48 Butternut Squash Soup [vegan]

Shopping list:


  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 potatoes 
  • 2 tablespoons of oliveoil 
  • 350gr butternut squash
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Method:

In a big saucepan heat the onion in the olive oil till it's golden. Add the vegetables in cubes and cover in water. Season and let it cool for 30 min. Pure it and serve with spinach leaves


Sunday 19 October 2014

Recipe #47 Tofu omelette [vegan]

Shopping list (2 portions)




  • 1 block of tofu
  • 1 onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/2 cup of chickpea flour
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons of nutricional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric

  • You'll need a food processor


    Method 

    In a food processor chop the tofu with the garlic clove and the onion till it's a smooth paste. Add the chickpea flour, olive oil, salt, pepper, turmeric and nutricional yeast.
    (you can buy the chickpea flour or use dry chickpeas in a strong mini chopper till they are dust)
    Chop this till it's a smooth paste. In a large skillet heat some olive oil or sunflower oil (about 1-2 tablespoons) and place the 'omelet' paste in. Let it fry and carefully turn it around with the help of a dish. You can serve this with roasted vegetables or salad.



    Recipe #46 Red Lentil Bolognese [vegan]

    Shopping list (4 portions)





  • 500 gr dry pasta
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 can plum tomatoes
  • 2 medium carrots
  • salt & pepper & dry parsley 
  • 125gr dry red lentils
  • 2 -4 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 400 ml water + 1 stock cube

  • You'll need a food processor


    Method 

    Use the food processor with the chopping blade.
    Chop the carrots, and onion. Transfer this into a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Open the can of tomatoes and empty this into the food processor. Chop the can of tomatoes for a few seconds.
    By now the onion and carrot should be cooked, cover it with the tomato sauce and 400ml water (I use the empty tomato can to measure). Season with salt, pepper and parsley (chilli or cayenne pepper optional, if you like it spicy) and add the dry lentils and the stock cube.
    Cover the saucepan and let it cook for 20min on medium heat (stir from the time to time to avoid that the lentils stick to the saucepan ).
    Now cook the pasta al dente, normally 6-8min depending on the heat. Once it is cooked, drain the water (reserve 2 tablespoons of the water), throw the drained pasta into the same saucepan where you cooked them in (and add the reserved water to avoid that the pasta sticks).
    Serve with a generous quantity of lentil sauce. (you can sprinkle with parmesan cheese if vegetarian).

    You can additionally add 5 min before the end some sliced mushrooms (150gr) like the picture below.



    Friday 17 October 2014

    Disturbing 'Farm to Fridge'

    If you watch this and don't feel anything, then something is wrong with you.




    It's called from Farm to Fridge, a documentary 12 min long, and don't watch if you want to continue eating your bacon.

    Sometimes I wonder why I keep watching these videos, why "do I do that to myself" but I think if we as a society allow this to continue, we should be able to watch what the animals endure. It's disturbing, sick, sad and cruel. I want to apologize for all of the, for what humans have done, are doing and most probably will continue to do.

    Thursday 16 October 2014

    101 - Reasons to Go Vegan - really worth watching

    Day 72 short update

    1st: I (still) feel great!
    2nd, I miss milk and meat even less now. And i'm cutting with eggs too.

    Just cheese. Cheese is still a hard thing to cut out. I love Parmesan, mozzarella, sheep's cheese.

    I've been cooking much more with tofu and tried several types of plant based milks and my favorite so far is Roasted Almond Milk from Alpro or regular Soy milk from Tesco for smoothies.
    I'm reading Eating Animals from jonathan safran foer, and it's a must read for anyone interesting to know first hand what happens in the animal industry. You have people speaking who work in factory farming, eco farming and meat eaters and vegans as well. Really puts everything out there. Buy it from amazon here.


    Also some interesting documentaries I recently watched included FED UP
    interesting to see how the government markets and subsidizes the specific food group they are interested in: meat and dairy.

    I feel much more energetic, i've lost overall almost 4kg, I'm not at all bloated anymore and my soul feels lighter. This might sound like cliche kind of thing to say but it makes such a big difference when you look to your inner self. I may still be overweight, not in love with my tights or hair or whatever but knowing no animal was tortured for my ice cream, chocolate mouse, dinner... makes me feel so much better with myself and clean. And isnt't that the most important thing: feeling good with yourself? More than what the scales tells you in the morning?

    Oh by the way: i've found vegan products in tesco, my new favourite shower gel being: Original Source products (they also have liquid hand washing gel)


    I was asked: but don't you love steak and bacon anymore?

    Yes I do, of course I won't lie they are tasty. But as a superior mammal, aware of cruelty and aware that sentient creatures suffer and have to die for something that tastes good but is not necessary for me, I prefer to not eat it. It is my decision to prevent a death (and a life of suffering) than to have a momentarily eating pleasure, which sounds very selfish to me now.

    Replacing Eggs

    You may think that because you don't eat meat your food is cruelty free, and most importantly blood free. Think again. Egg laying hens suffer a lot to lay an average of 300 eggs per year (all year long not only in spring) and all male chicks born into the industry are killed, macerated, short after they are born, because they are useless.

    So what can we do to replace eggs in our diet?
    See this post I have here

    So sometimes we can use tofu, or milk, or tofu and milk. What about in baking? I love baking so this has been a big question for me.

    In baking, as above described - from www.chooseveg.com - you can easily substitute 1 egg for banana, applesauce, vinegar and baking soda, water and flax seeds, tofu or soy yogurt.

    Some other really good egg replacing ideas I found here and you can view them at your own risk-of-getting-seriously-hungry :D

    Frittata 

    Omelett 

    Quiche

    I'll try them soon and see how they go and what adjustments I make. When I do, i'll post it.
    For Happy Hens !

    Wednesday 15 October 2014

    Comfort food #1

    My favourite vegan meal - it's a though one for me to order at a restaurant as my expectations are VERY high :p Beware that some recipes at restaurants use cream or cheese to cream up the risotto, so if you are vegan ask the chef about the ingredients.

    Recipe #45 Fettuccine and aubergine [vegan]

    Shopping list (2 portions)



  • 200 gr dry Fettuccine
  • 1 onion
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 aubergine
  • 1 can of chickpeas
  • salt & pepper
  • dry oregano & 1/2 teaspoon of chili flakes
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil

  • You'll need a food processor


    Method 

    Cut the aubergine in half and place it on a oven proof dish. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Let it roast in the oven for 30min on 200o C.

    Cook the pasta al dente. (because it will go back into the pan). Drain the water (keep 1/2 cup of this water and cover the pasta with this water. This will prevent the pasta from sticking until you need it)

    Heat a little bit of olive oil in a sauce pan, place the chopped onion and garlic clove and let it get golden. Add the tomatoes (i chop them into smaller chunks in the food processor so it's like a runny passata). Season and add the oregano (be generous) and add the chili in (if you like it spicy you can add more or sprinkle in cayenne pepper). Throw in the chickpeas and aubergine (diced). Let it thicken a bit and then mix the pasta in. You can turn off the heat after 1-2 minutes. Done ! (you can serve with grated parmesan if you eat dairy)


    Tuesday 14 October 2014

    'Fun' facts about Chicken raised for food

    A german documentary about chickens and of course chicken meat consume : Projekt Huehnerhof


    2 episodes - 45 min each - of a test on how much it would cost to raise organic chickens with no genetically modified food, antibiotics and well exercised animals, and if the end consumers would prefer these, even with a much higher price over the regular chickens.
    You can see here at day 35 the difference in the cost production (both ''free range'' chickens).

    To be considered free-range, chickens raised for meat must have “access to the
    outdoors,” which, if you take those words literally, means nothing. (Imagine a shed containing thirty thousand chickens, with a small door at one end that opens to a five-by-five dirt patch — and the door is closed all but occasionally.)
    in Eating Animals from Jonathan Safran Foer  

    Chickens are usually slaughtered at day 32 - those are the chicken we buy whole. The breast and other partial chicken pieces come usually from older chickens, around 42 days when they have 50x the weight they had after birth (around 2 euros cost production in this documentary's example). They are designed so that they can’t live long enough to reproduce and probably wouldn't be able to (most animals we consume - turkeys, cows, pigs -  are all artificially inseminated). This all because consumers demand big breasts and fatty legs. Most of the chicken drop dead from heart attacks because their fatty bodies won't support their own weight, others cannot even stand on their legs or balance themselves on a pole.


    They’re babies. That’s how rapidly they’re grown. Salatin’s organic free-range chicken is killed in forty-two days. ’Cause it’s still the same chicken. It can’t be allowed to live any longer because its genetics are so screwed up. Stop and think about that: a bird that you simply can’t let live out of its adolescence.
    in Eating Animals from Jonathan Safran Foer  

    I also found out that it's common practice to distribute antibiotics in their water in other to prevent diseases rather than cure them. This has increased the bacteria resistance infections in humans. "the percentage of bacteria resistant to this powerful new class of antibiotics rose from almost zero to 18 percent by 2002. A broader study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed an eightfold increase in antimicrobial resistance from 1992 to 1997, and, using molecular subtyping, linked this increase to the use of antimicrobials in farmed chickens."
    in Eating Animals from Jonathan Safran Foer 

    Also when testing positive for salmonella - one would think it would make the meat unfit for human consumption well think again - farmers can sell the meat for a lower price to be part of processed foods, such as breaded chicken and/or nuggets.

    The above is right for broiler chickens but not so for layer chickens.

    If you aren't a farmer, what I've just written probably confuses you. You probablythought that chickens were chickens. But for the past half century, there have actually been two kinds of chickens — broilers and layers — each with distinct genetics. We call them both chickens, but they have starkly different bodies and metabolisms, engineered for different “functions.” Layers make eggs. (Their egg output has more than doubled since the 1930s.) Broilers make flesh. (In the same period, they have been engineered to grow more than twice as large in less than half the time.

    Chickens once had a life expectancy of fifteen to twenty years, but the modern broiler is typically killed at around six weeks. Their daily growth rate has increased roughly 400 percent.) This raises all kinds of bizarre questions — questions that before I learned about our two types of chickens, I’d never had reason to ask — like, What happens to all of the male offspring of  layers? If man hasn’t designed them for meat, and nature clearly hasn’t designed them to lay eggs, what function do they serve? They serve no function. Which is why all male layers — half of all the layer chickens born in the United States, more than 250 million chicks a year — are destroyed. 

    Destroyed? That seems like a word worth knowing more about. Most male layers are destroyed by being sucked through a series of pipes onto an electrified plate. Other layer chicks are destroyed in other ways, and it’s impossible to call those animals more or less fortunate. Some are tossed into large plastic containers. The weak are trampled to the bottom, where they suffocate slowly. The strong suffocate slowly at the top. Others are sent fully conscious through macerators (picture a wood chipper filled with chicks). Cruel? Depends on your definition of cruelty.
    in Eating Animals from Jonathan Safran Foer 

    Also to keep production costs low, chickens are slaughtered mostly by automatic machines that most of the time won't stun or slaughter the animals correctly.  It's estimated  — by representatives of the industry — that in the US about 180 million chickens are improperly slaughtered each year. This translates into, for example, birds going alive and conscious into the scalding tank.



     Efficiencies of Animal Food Production
    MilkChickenPorkBeef
    lbs. grain/
    lb. live weight
    1.02.54.08.0
    Percent
    edible weight
    95%55%55%40%
    lbs. feed /
    lb. edible weight
    1.14.57.320.0
    plant-animal
    protein
    conversion
    -20%10%4%


    To produce 2kg of chicken you need to invest 5kg of grain and 166 liters of waters. That's only 2kg... imagine how many meals you could cook with 5kg vegetarian ingredients and 166 liters of water... (cruelty free)


    Monday 13 October 2014

    Recipe #44 Raw Zoodle dinner [vegan]


    Raw zoodle salad

    Carrot Zoodles 
    Zucchini zoodles
    Cucumber zoodles
    Orange paprika
    2 tomatoes
    1 can of sweet corn
    150 gr of raw baby spinach leaves
    Sunflower seeds
    Pumpkin seeds
    Cashew nuts

    Seasoned with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, black pepper & oregano



    Sunday 12 October 2014

    Recipe #43 Avocado Pasta Sauce [vegan]

    Shopping list (5 portions)



  • 1/4 cup dairy free milk
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 can of chopped tomatoes
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 avocado
  • salt & pepper
  • 10 leaves of mint
  • 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil

  • You'll need a food processor


    Method 


    Place everything in the food processor and blend until it's smooth. Stir into the pasta, or filled tortellinis or whatever you like (over couscous).

    Saturday 11 October 2014

    Recipe #42 Falafel burger [vegan]

    Shopping list (3 burgers)



  • 75 gr dry chickpeas
  • Juice of half lime
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon of dry parsley
  • 1 onion
  • 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
  • salt & pepper & cayenne pepper
  • 4 tablespoons of flour
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil

  • You'll need a food processor


    Method 

    Place the dry chickpeas in water overnight. They will double in size and you'll have 150gr chickpeas.
    Place chickpeas in the food processor (you can use canned chickpeas, drain the water first. I use dry ones because i find this results in more texture), add all the ingredients except the olive oil and flour.
    Turn on the food processor for 1-2 minutes. Add the flour and the olive oil and let it blend another 2minutes.
    This should result in a thick paste and not fluid at all.
    Place in the fridge or freezer to thicken (1-2h in fridge or 30min in freezer)

    Now take a dish and sprinkle flour. Take 2 tablespoons of the falafel mix and try to shape a burger. The shape is not supposed to be perfect as a rustic look is nice too ! Sprinkle flour on top and pat it with your fingers.

    Heat some sunflower oil and some olive oil in a pan (not too much!) and carefully transport the burger into the pan so it doesn't fall apart. Fry on both sides for about 2-3 minutes.




    Recipe #42 Lime and Mint Hummus [vegan]

    Shopping list 




  • 1/2 can chickpeas
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1 garlic clove
  • Fresh mint (about 15 big leaves)
  • 1 onion
  • 2 tablespoons of canned chickpeas' liquid
  • salt & pepper
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon of dark tahini

  • You'll need a food processor or chopper


    Method 

    Place the ingredients (except the lemon juice) in a food processor and blend several minutes until it's soft. You can add more olive oil and/ or chickpea's liquid if you like it more fluid.
    Before serving I add the lemon juice and give it a stir. You can serve decorated with mint leaves 

    Hummus on a falafel burger 

    Friday 10 October 2014

    Recipe #41 Avocado & Coconut sauce [vegan]

    Great for pastas! Nice fresh avocado sauce, for 2-4 people depending on the amount of pasta

    Shopping list 


  • 1 avocado
  • Juice of half lime
  • 1 garlic clove
  • Fresh mint (about 10 big leaves)
  • 1/4 red onion
  • coconut paste
  • salt & pepper

    You'll need a food processor


  • Method 

    Use the chopping blade of the food processor. Peel the avocado, place the mint (with stem), peeled garlic clove, lime juice, onion and seasoning into the food processor. Turn it on and chop it as small as you can.
    Boil water in your kettle. Measure 100ml and place a package of coconut paste into it (not coconut oil, nor coconut cream, it's a paste which you should dissolve in 400ml hot water but here we will use 100ml only) and with a spoon break it apart till it's s liquid.
    Pour this into the food processor and turn it on for another couple of minutes. 



    You'll have a nice thick avocado minty sauce for your pasta!

    Recipe #40 Zoodles [vegan]

    Ever heard of Zoodles? This will change the way you eat your vegetables ! Gluten free "pasta" ! Carbs free meals !

    You can get a Zoodle chef online
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoodle-Chef-Spiralizer-Satisfaction-Alternative/dp/B00LBGOX5U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412968245&sr=8-1&keywords=zoodle

    Just place the vegetable into one end (e.g. courgette/ zucchini) and twist like a pencil being sharpened. You will get nice loooooong slices of pasta-like vegetables. You can place them directly into a wok with 1-2 tablespoons of sesame oil and add other vegetables into this (stir fry mix).


    Thursday 9 October 2014

    Recipe #39 Vegetable Stew [vegan]

    Shopping list (5 people)




    • 4-5 leaves of savoy cabbage
    • 2 cups of dry small pasta
    • 1 onion
    • 1 can of chopped tomatoes
    • 1,75 liter of vegetable stock
    • seasoning (dry parsley, salt, black pepper)
    • olive oil (1/4 cup)
    • 200 gr baby spinach leaves
    • 1 carrot
    • pinch of sugar


    • Method 
      Start by heating around 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a big saucepan. Add the onion (chopped) and the carrot (sliced or chopped, I chopped it for this recipe).
      Add the can of tomatoes, salt, pepper, parsley and half the vegetable stock.
      Now place in the pasta (here I used 2 types of pasta) and cabbage leaves.
      Leave it to cook for some minutes and add the remaining olive oil and vegetable stock.
      Taste it, if this tastes too much of tomato add a pinch of sugar to neutralize the tomato.
      Put in the spinach (it cooks very fast) and cover the pan.
      When the pasta is cooked it should be more of a stew than a soup.

      it's a good recipe to use up bits and pieces you have in the fridge (such as loose vegetables, can vegetables as chickpeas) or small amounts of pasta you have in the cupboard.


      Tuesday 7 October 2014

      Recipe #38 Eggplant & Mushroom Lasagna

      Shopping list (2-3 people)





      • 6-10 lasagna pasta sheets
      • 1 eggplant
      • 1 onion
      • 150gr of mixed mushrooms
      • 1/4 cup of olive oil
      • seasoning (dry parsley, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper)
      • 1 can Chopped tomatoes
      • Grated Mozzarella (optional)


      • Method 

        Dice the eggplant into small chunks. Chop the onion as small as you can or use a food processor.
        Heat around 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan or wok and throw the eggplant in. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes and then add chopped mushrooms (I used 1 portobello mushroom and a mix of some white mushrooms and some forest mushrooms). Add seasoning and some more olive oil. Cover with the tomato can and cook for 1-2 minutes.
        Get a small oven proof dish and layer the vegetables with lasagna sheets. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and dry parsley if you like. Serves 2-3 people in a small oven dish.




        Monday 6 October 2014

        Recipe #37 Vegan Butternut Squash and Lentil Risotto

        Shopping list (4 -5 people)




        • 1 butternut squash
        • 300 gr arborio rice
        • 1 onion
        • 1 glass (around 175-200ml of white wine)
        • 1,5 liter of vegetable stock
        • seasoning (dry parsley, salt, black pepper)
        • olive oil (2-3 tablespoons)
        • 1/2 cup dry red lentils


        • Method 
          Very similar to recipe #1.
          So first thing peel the butternut squash. This can get messy, get a good peeler. After you have done place it on a tray, sprinkle with salt and pepper and olive oil and roast in the oven for 45min at around 220o C.
          When you are done, the butternut squash should almost fall apart, so now start the risotto.

          Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a big pan or wok (I use a wok). Chop the onion as small as you can or use a food processor - throw it into the olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper. Then add the roasted butternut squash and cover with the rice and one small glass of white wine (175ml). Let the wine evaporate almost completely and now start adding the vegetable stock.

          I always use Vegetable stock Pot from Knorr, I find this to give much more flavour than the regular stock dry cubes. For 300gr risotto I use 2 pots in 1,5 litre boiling water.

          Add a cup of vegetable stock at a time and wait till this almost evaporates and keep stiring. After the first cup of vegetable stock I added 1/2 cup washed dry red lentils. Continue to do this until there is no more vegetable stock. Sprinkle with seasoning again and dry parsley (or fresh coriander). Stir until there is no more vegetable stock and when this is done, turn off the heat and cover. Let it rest around 10-15 min before serving.
          Sprinkle parmesan cheese or nuts to serve.


          Friday 3 October 2014

          Vegan Breakfast Idea

          1 slice of Rye Quinoa Bread from Biona, it's around 145 calories per slice and packed with proteins (4g) and fiber.

          With hummus (you can buy or make your own) around 65 calories for the small quantity that you will use.
          Packed with proteins 2-3gr depending on the content of chickpeas.

          And a smoothie!
          Here I have a spinach, green tea, soy milk, banana, pineapple, strawberries and watermelon smoothie.
          Loaded with fiber, vitamins, proteins, calcium and potassium. Around 190 calories.

          Total 400 calories packed with good things for you.
          Yummy !



          Thursday 2 October 2014

          Recipe #36 Pasta with creamy tofu sauce

          Shopping list (4 portions)


          • 200 gr pasta 
          • 200 gr chestnut mushrooms
          • 160 gr firm tofu
          • 200 gr asparagus
          • 1 tablespoon of soy milk
          • sea salt
          • black pepper
          • 1 garlic head
          • 10 gr fresh ginger
          • 1/3 cup of olive oil
          • 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper 
          • sprinkle of herbs (Here I used parsley)

          Method

          Start by peeling all garlic cloves from a garlic head. Place them in a bit of tin foil and close it loosely. Place this in the oven for 30min at 220 oC.
          The cloves will be soft and tender. Throw them into a food processor with half a black firm tofu (160 gr), 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of soy milk, the peeled ginger and a bit of salt, pepper and parsley. Turn on the chopper until this mixture is white and creamy.

          Heat olive oil in a pan and add the mushrooms (sliced) and the asparagus (roughly sliced in big chunks). Season with salt, pepper and some cayenne pepper.

          Cook the pasta, here I used tricolore farfalle from De Cecco. 200 gr pasta in around 1litre boiling water with salt. Cook it al dente, no longer than 10 minutes. Drain.

          Throw the pasta into the vegetables and stir. Cover with the sauce and stir everything together.