Butter Chicken - without the butter, without the chicken

The past short hiatus of posts has been exclusively due to the fact that I've been working, cooking and continuing in my quest to be the hippiest hipster of them all by trying to grow my own organic garlic.
But mostly I've been working all the time.

So the little patch of cultivated ground dedicated to said garlic forest remains upturned but unplanted.

(On a side note, when I dug up this little spot of land, which is not bigger than 2m2, to a depth of about 30 cm... I discovered 6 whole bricks and 10 half-bricks. It appears I had chosen the previous dumping ground for the entire block's building surplus. On the other hand, it's really sunny there.)

Nevertheless, I have managed to bring you a perfected recipe that is sure to please during these cooler Autumn months.

Introducing... Butter Chicken! - without the butter and without the chicken.
My meat loving friends very much hate this one and argue comprehensively that it definitely isn't butter and it definitely isn't chicken so therefore, it definitely isn't Vegan Butter Chicken.
I don't much mind however, because it tastes better than anything I've ever cooked from scratch and it's so much cheaper than a top-class indian restaurant.
So butter chicken defending champions of the meat, turn away now.

SPICES:

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 cloves of minced garlic

2 tsp minced ginger

1/2 tsp tumeric

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chilli paste

2 Tbsp ground coriander

VEGETABLES:
1 small onion
6 tomatoes, diced
7 button mushrooms
2 cups of Kale, chopped roughly
1 T tomato paste

PROTEIN:

2 cups of protein*

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup cashews, chopped

CREAMY GOODNESS:

3 Tbsp nuttelex/non-dairy margarine

400 mL coconut cream

*Tofu or chickpeas or a mixture of both or even kidney beans...

I haven't included cooking rice to accompany this dish, but it is assumed. I also wilt the kale using the steamer part of my rice cooker and then add it at the end.

1. In a fry pan on a medium-high heat, melt the margarine, adding the onion and cinnamon and stir around.

2. Lower the heat a little and add the garlic and ginger.

3. Add the remaining spices and cook for a couple of minutes.

4. Add all the remaining ingredients and let simmer for 15 minutes.

(mushrooms, tomatoes, paste, peanut butter, cashews, coconut cream)

5. Pinch of salt to taste.

With rice, makes a meal for 6.

Bon appetite, hipsters.

Chewing The Polyunsaturated Fat

This week's DBAVT (don't become a vegan to) thought...

The point of the DBAVT drawing is this: If you want a weight-loss diet, there are much, much simpler ones. For weight loss, I strongly advocate the use of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean meats and low fat dairy.
Pretty much, don't decide to go vegan to lose weight, then decide it's all too hard and give up on losing weight all together. If you've decided to lose weight, excellent!... but take baby steps.

Invest in good quality low-fat food choices. Sacrifice a small amount of flavour and extra money, and buy meat without the fat. (And preferably free-range)

Investigate portion control.

(How BIG should my serving size be?)

Exercise a bit more than you used to.

Identify the times and foods that are your weakness

and make a plan that lets you be strong

(ie. substitution or avoidance).

Learn about food and even aim for a few vegan meals a week... some are even listed on this blog to get you started.

This vegan blogger hasn't lost any weight since changing her diet - although there is a noticable change in fat and muscle distribution... that is, I now have more muscle and less fat!

There aren't too many vegan foods that are extremely high in fat content, but if you're worried that being a vegan will make you too skinny, then adding avocados, peanuts or unrefined oils to a dish is a great place to start.

Mum, Are Humming Birds Are Made From Hummus? Yes.

Possibly one of the world's simplest vegan dishes - with the exception of cutting up a few veggies and calling it done - has got to be hummus. The other day I made this is in about 10 minutes, from start to finish, because I'd promised a friend some hummus for his birthday and I possessed poor time management.

THROW INTO A FOOD PROCESSOR:
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas

2 Tbsp tahini paste

3 garlic cloves

the juice of 1 lemon

100mL olive oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

BLEND.

Done.

Well, maybe you might need to 1/2 cup of water if you want a smoother consistency, or some paprika for even more exotic flavour, but pretty much, you're done.
Serve with crusty Turkish bread or chopped veggies.

The thing about hummus is, just like a teenage girl's break-up, it's much better the next day.

Freezes well, and I don't know, I'm pretty sure you can go nuts tweaking this recipe to suit whatever is in your pantry. Broccoli hummus? Well, I am always trying to hide broccoli in everything (cos it's up there for iron content, down there for taste), but maybe that's a bit far.

Turmeric, however, is great for your brain, and I've added that before to my hummus with joyous results.

Get cracking, hepcats.

Eventually, We All Expire.

Did you know that I've spent several years thinking that paprika didn't have a stong smell,
and mostly no taste at all?

Turns out, once we cleaned out our spice rack,

that the paprika I had been using had a best before date of:

 'AUG 94'

I've now bought more paprika and can safely say that it does have a smell. And a taste.

Use fresh products, people.

Don't Become A Vegan To...

It's just over a week since Valentines Day and the thought occurred to me that I should post this Valentines Day-themed drawing I created a month ago.
Perhaps I didn't post this on Valentines Day because I was too busy crying alone in the bathroom, surrounded by my 15 cats, whilst listen to Adele on repeat...

"...never mind I'll find, someone like you..."

...or perhaps I was too busy living the good life. You decide.

There are many reasons to become a vegan... but this is not one of them.

How To Win Friends And Influence Carnivores

As sure as the sky is blue, any vegan has started out with skeptic friends.
To be fair, they probably tried Tofu as an impressionable 8-year old at their Primary School's Multicultual Day (cue: hippy parents) and thenceforth...

(side note: isn't that the best word ever?)

...decided that all food void of animal products tasted like raw sponge.

It takes a great many experiences to rewrite the impressions made by this one. I would know. That kid was me.

However now in my arsenal of facts and figures and statistics, I also have one recipe guaranteed to draw a concession that maybe, perhaps, just this once... a vegan option is better than a dairy one.

Clearly this recipe does not usually include meat.

#carnivoresconceednothing

Here we go...

Vegan Banana Bread

(recipe borrowed/stolen/altered from here)

Los Ingredientes:

2 cups plain flour

3/4 cups raw or white sugar 

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup soy milk

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

4-5 (over) ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup canola oil

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup walnuts, whole or broken

1/4 cup pepitas

1/4 cup sesame seeds

What to do...

One. boring prep stuff

Preheat the oven to 180 C, fan-forced. Oil up a 9"x5" loaf pan.

TWO! Sift-sift-arama

 Get your mediumest bowl and add (sifted!!) flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Then the sugars. 

Sift the dark brown sugar last because it sifts poorly and leaves a powdered sieve.

Three. Sir Mix-a-lot

Find your large mixing bowl and add the milk and apple cider vinegar and WHISK your heart away. Maybe sing some Julia Andrews while you do so. I enjoy a little 'Climb Every Mountain' with my mixing. It inspires me.

Once mixed, LEAVE. Not the room, just the milk solution. Let it rest for 2 minutes. I'm timing you...

Fooooour. Addition and subtraction.

To the milk solution, finally add (you've been waiting for this) the mashed banana, maple syrup, oil and vanilla extract and whisk again. Add the dry ingredients and whisk/mix, but this time, not until your heart is content. Just until your heart is barely satisfied and your ingredients are just mixed.

5ive. (Remember the boyband?) Nuttyness.

Fold in the walnuts, pepitas and sesame seeds. The latter two ingredients are not essential, but as a vegan it's an extra dose of iron (pepitas) and calcium (sesame seeds) and that's never a bad thing. Pepitas add great texture, sesame seeds finish unnoticable and they add nothing bad to the taste.

6ix. (The lesser known spin-off boyband). BAKE SALE!!

Pour your mix into the loaf pan, chuck into the oven for 1 hour and 25 minutes. A little burntness adds crunchiness, I always say, and charcoal aids digestion. That being said, start checking it from 1 hr 20 minutes but be prepared for it to need up to 1 hour 30 minutes.

Once it is tolerably touchable with oven mitts, tip out and let sit/stand/precariously perch on a wire rack to cool.

Seven. Cut Up And Eat.

Cut up and eat.

From the many superstars who've ventured to try this alternative, the result back is unanimous.

#ican'tbelieveitsvegan

#tastesensation

#betterthantheoriginal

...just like Back To The Future II.

The walnuts decided to run out, so this vegan banana bread is topped with pepitas.

Hey Pesto!

I met a herb the other day.
Basil The Herb.
And now, we're in love.

Just how was it that I'd gone through my 26 years of existance and never once come across basil?
I've lived a sheltered life, I'm sure.

Last night I made a Basil Pesto,  serving size for an entree.... about 4.
I ate it all.
I love Basil. Did I mention that?

Pesto is a really easy spread to make and it's perfect for pre-dinner snacks on crusty bread, or mixed with pasta for an italian mains.

Check it out...

2 cups of Basil leaves.
3 cloves of fresh garlic
1/3 cup of pine nuts
1/3 nutritional yeast (this is the substitute for parmesan cheese... and it's great!)
4 or 5 sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup of olive oil or flaxseed oil or sesame oil*
salt & pepper & sesame seeds

*I usually keep the oil from every jar of sun-dried tomatoes I finish and create a little tasty oil culmination. This spread is a great place to pour that in.

Add the salt and pepper to taste, the sesame seeds don't add too much flavour so add them for an excellent source of Calcium.

(It's quite a forgiving recipe in terms of ingredients; feel free to add walnuts/almonds/cashews instead, or as well as pine nuts... add chia seeds for Omega 3... remove the sun-dried tomato for a less sweet pesto.)

Step 2:
BLEND.

And hey pesto, you're done!