Recipe Round Up: 1000 Vegan Recipes

It's cold and raining today. Sure, by cold I mean 23 degrees Celcius, but it is all relative to where you live and what your cold tolerance is. I am also getting over some sort of icky virus that has left me achy and tired for the last four days. In honour of this, I present soup. Some of this soup I made to take to work for lunches on cold days, some of these soups I made for lunches on nippy days at home, and others were some dinner soups. Let's out on our comfy pants and cardigans, snuggle up, and take a peep.


Summer Vegetable Soup (pg 149).
Leeks, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, corn, spinach and basil. Quick, easy and fresh.


Lemony Lentil and Rice Soup (pg 164).
I love lentil soups, and this was a good wintery soup to warm your soul. Or your tummy on a cold day. It isn't really all that lemony though, I was looking forward to the lemon flavour, so next time I would add more lemon juice.


Black Bean and Corn Soup (pg 160).
Three tins of black beans go into this baby. It was a good soup, though nothing really pushes it above the other black bean soups out there. But it is pretty easy to make, and will certainly give you a pleasant lunch to look forward to.


Mulligatawny Soup (pg 155).
This soup was a bit sweet for my tastes. It has coconut milk and green apple in it, as well as lentils and curry flavours, of course. I would have this soup in small doses as a starter rather than a large bowl for a main meal.


Corn and Potato Chowder (pg 165).
Can I just say, black pepper and lots of it, will make this already delightful soup into something amazing.


Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup with Baby Spinach (pg 158).
This is a sweet and peanutty soup, delicious. It is too rich and not filling enough for a main meal, but for a small bowl to kick off the meal it is amazing. Or serve small amounts over hot white rice... too good.


Versatile Vegetable Soup (pg 148).
This is a pretty solid soup - vegetables and chickpeas - you just need to be careful not to over cook it, or everything gets a little... cabbagy. It is versatile because you can change up the vegetables and beans depending on what you have around.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post


GIZMO FACE!

(%1000 Vegan Recipes Blogged: 12%)

Recipe Round-Up: Appetite For Reduction (and some exciting news)

Wow... four weeks since my last post, where has the time gone? I have no idea. I did get some pretty exciting news a few weeks ago, which has been taking up a lot of my time. More on that later.

To make up for the long post hiatus, here is a super post round up of Appetite For Reduction. I am still loving this book. The food in it is so easy and fresh, I love the way Isa manages to combine so many vegetables into the dinners. Here is what I have been making over the last long while...


Potato-Spinach Curry (p 232) with Tamarind Quinoa (p 84) and Masala Baked Tofu (p 146).
I loved the quinoa here, so delicious! Though in future I would add a bit more tamarind paste to bring out a stronger flavour - I love tamarind! The curry goes really well with it, the frozen spinach really cooks down it delicious soft mush (in a good way!). For the tofu, I was using my marinade on its second run, and it was just as delicious as the first time.


Eggplant-Chickpea Curry (p 230) with Cranberry-Cashew Biryani (p 67).
My family was thrilled when this was served, back when my brother was still here over summer. It was a fantastic combination! The biryani was really nice and chewy, and the flavours of both dishes just really work. I think I served this with some baby spinach leaves, for a bit of green.


Red Wine & Kalamata Tempeh (p 157) with Garlic-Herb Caulipots (p 54).
Red wine and olives? Hell yeah! This is a very strong marinade, but it will knock your socks off. You will be slathering the extra sauce over your caulipots. This was my first time making the caulipots, and I am a devoted fan. Steamed broccoli just fits so well here... including the delicious stems, of course!


Curried Scrambled Tofu with Wilted Arugula (p 156) with Brussels Sprout-Potato Hash (p 65). Brinner time! The tofu scramble recipe says four serves, but my happy little belly would make two or three serves out of it. Granted, I don't have to worry about portion sizes too much. The hash was tasty. The introduction to the recipe suggests serving with the chickpea gravy, which I think would also be a great combination. In this case, I served my brinner with some salad greens and some avocado on sourdough toast.


Curried Green Onion Hummus (p 138).
A worktime snack. I think my curry powder might be stronger than the type Isa uses (or maybe she has awesome powers of curry), so I used the lesser option of two teaspoons.


Mango BBQ Beans (p 133) with Fresh Corn & Scallion Corn Bread (p 244) and Jerk Asparagus (p 91).
I had read a lot about these beans on the PPK Forums, and it certainly did not steer me wrong. The mango does not make it overly sweet, it just adds another dimension. It was a great way to use up some of summer's beautiful mangoes! I did find the cornbread quite sweet, so next time I would add less agave nectar. The addition of fresh corn kernels really elevates the cornbread in a way that frozen corn kernels just never could. The asparagus was also very nice, though in a family of asparagus lovers I didn't have any left for my left overs!


Caesar Salad with Eggplant Bacon (p 42).
Hello Eggplant Bacon, and where have you been all my life? It was lucky any of it made it to the salad and I didn't just snack on it all. The Caesar Chavez Dressing was thick and delicious - also great on sandwiches (more on that soon). I added the optional chickpeas to bulk it out a bit. This is something you want to assemble on an as needed basis, and the eggplant bacon is definitely best eaten soon after it is made, so it is not the best thing to make for lunches for the week. Fresh is best here!


Breakfast Sandwich (p 269).
This used up a few leftovers - Curry Scrambled Tofy with Wilted Arugula, Caesar Chavez Dressing and Eggplant Bacon all on a freshly made english muffin (from Isa's Vegan Brunch). It was very satisfying!


Eggplant Provencal (p 260) with Herb-Roasted Cauliflower & Bread Crumbs (p 108).
The provencal is a great warming stew, and is bulked out nicely by the potatoes in it. The recipe suggests serving with bread or rice, but I found with the potatoes in it the rice I made was a bit superfluous. The cauliflower is also highly addictive.


2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma (p 226).
This is super quick and very tasty dinner, served over brown rice, and the leftovers go really well in a wrap.


Ginger Bok Choy & Soba (p 176).
This is pretty self explanatory. I added the optional adzuki beans to bulk it out, and used shoyu soy sauce for an extra depth of flavour.


Kidney Bean & Butternut Jamba Stew (p 256).
I cut the pumpkin a bit big for this, and I also had only taken the peel off fairly thinly, so the pumpkin didn't get as smooshy as I would have liked, but that is totally my own fault. I subbed peas for green capsicum. The left overs were great either reheated with some nooch mixed in or in a wrap with some greens.


Cheezy 'Pots (p 54), Sweet & Salty Maple Baby Carrots (p 105), Silky Chickpea Gravy (p 56) and Basic Baked Tofu (p 144).
The ultimate in comfort food, after this photo was taken I added a lot more gravy! The Cheezy 'Pots are my favourite variation of Caulipots thus far, why is it that nooch makes everything better? For the carrots, I couldn't find any baby carrots so I just cut regular carrots in half and then on a thick diagonal. Next time I will add a pinch more salt, I think. Basic Baked Tofu is basic and easy, but so versatile and you can imagine it in many a ways. The marinade makes enough for two 500g blocks of tofu and another half batch. Finally, the gravy is sublime. Smother it over everything, eat it with a spoon. I did have to spend several minutes with my handheld blender to get it smooth. I finished it up with some steamed broccoli.


Jalapeno-Cilantro Hummus (p 139).
This is one of my favourite hummus flavours ever. I can't really describe it, so just go ahead and make it and prepare for your taste buds to be blown away.


Quinoa Puttanesca (p 75) with Basic Baked Tofu (p 144).
Juicy, saucy, salty and just a little bit spicy, this quinoa will not let you down. Although quinoa is a little powerhouse of protein, I also added some baked tofu and some steamed broccoli, thus elevating this to one satisfying dindins.


Moroccan Chickpeas & Zucchini (p 249).
I took Isa's suggestion and served this with cous cous, which was a perfect combination. I used three zucchinis instead of two (because you can always have more vegetables) and some regular carrots thickly sliced on the diagonal in place of baby carrots. The recipe called for 25 ounces of tinned chickpeas. I used two 400g tins, but next time I would probably add one and a half tins next time, as I found it almost a bit too full of chickpeas. I know, I didn't think it was possible either.


Eggplant Kibbeh (p 82) with Baked Falafel (p 121) and Shabby Sheik Hummus (p 138).
The kibbeh was a bit watery, because I accidentally followed the instructions on the bulgur packet and not Isa's instructions, which call for a lot less water. The falafels are adorable, and really easy to make. They hold together perfectly, which is something I always worry about with patties (I'm sure we all know the anguish of balls or patties that don't stick). The hummus went really well with this combination.


Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup (p 206).
There was murmurs on the PPK boards about this soup being a delicious surprise, and I was not let down. Maybe it is the lemon in it? I don't know. But what looks like it would be a fairly straight forward flavour profile ends up as something magical. I served it with some little pitas and some salad leaves. Make it.


Sauteed Kasha & Mushrooms with Dill (p 73) and Basic Baked Tempeh (p 145).
I love how the dill flavour lingers long after dinner has finished. This is only my second time using kasha, and I am a fan. This is earthy goodness at its best. The tempeh is baked in the same marinade as the tofu recipe, and is juicy and a great accompaniment. It doesn't mask much of the tempeh flavour, so keep it for those you know enjoy tempeh without needing lots of strong flavours. Some steamed broccoli finished it off.

Now for my news! Those who follow me on Twitter would already know, but I have been accepted for a short oral presentation at the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum in June, in Denver, in the USA! My talk is about the research I am doing for my masters, and is called Diabetic Cats in Remission Have Impaired Glucose Tolerance... exciting stuff. ;) Public speaking aside (which fills me with dread and terror), I am having three weeks of holidays to spend in America, a place I have never been. The conference is in Denver, and then I am heading off to Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. And I am going to eat! Yay!!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post


Check out that larynx! Sahara takes a big yawn.

Recipe Round-Up: 1000 Vegan Recipes

Another day, another post about '1000 Vegan Recipes'. One day I shall have made them all, and then what shall I post about? Oh yeah, my other trillion cookbooks that I have. In fact, I am waiting for another one to arrive in the post as we speak. Hurry up book!

Here is a meander through some more of the salad recipes from '1000 Vegan Recipes'. Most of these were made to take to work during the week as lunches. The morning is so much happier knowing that there is a delicious lunch packed and waiting for me, even if I don't get to eat it until 3pm sometimes!


Brown Rice Salad with Black-Eyed Peas. To be honest, I wasn't a fan of this salad, I found it a bit bland and meh. The pecans also didn't work for me in it. One of the few recipes I haven't enjoyed from the book (I guess there have to be a few).


Last-Minute Italian-Style Pasta Salad. This salad involves pasta, chickpeas, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hears, peas, capers and chives in a dressing. Sound good? You bet! Aside from leaving out the roasted red capsicum (peppers), the only other change I made was to use rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes instead of oil-packed sun dried tomatoes.


Eight Treasure Barley Salad. I think this might be one of my favourite salads ever, and it travels really well to boot. First of all, who does no love barley? It is chewy and delicious. The eight treasures are white beans, celery, carrot, scallions, olives, dried cherries, toasted pecans and parsley. The pecans in this were great. It keeps well for a few days, and the longer it sits the plumper the dried cherries get, making it extra delicious when you finally eat it. Nom, nom, nom.


Chilled Glass Noodles with Snow Peas and Baked Tofu. This recipe is meant to serve 4, but I only got two lunch-sized servings out of it. True, I am a particularly hungry little vegan, but if you have a 12-hour working day, you want to make sure you stay full! I used a Japanese-style marinated tofu that is available at the supermarket here.


Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Tomatoes. The recipe calls for one and a half cups of dried quinoa, I decreased this to one cup and still have a very large quinoa to vegetable/bean ratio.


Southwestern Quinoa Salad with Pinto Beans and Corns. See above re. quinoa amounts, I also only used one cup dry quinoa here. Overall on its own I did find this salad a bit bland, however wrap it in some tortillas and it makes for a fantastic lunch!


Asian Noodle Salad with Tempeh. This serves four, but I got three big lunch servings out of it to take to work. It is really nice. I used linguine here (the other option is thin rice noodles) because I had some on stock and also it seemed like the sturdier option given that this was going to be hanging out in the fridge a few days. Did I mention that this has a peanut butter based dressing? Because it does. Which is awesome. Plus, eating tempeh at work is super cool.


Sesame Udon Salad with Adzuki Beans and Baby Spinach. I cannot tell you how happy I am that I can get tinned adzuki beans at my local supermarket now, it makes these recipes so much easier! Though it is a bit sad that I can get adzuki beans easier than I can get black beans. I digress. This is a nice, simple salad with a soy/rice vinegar/sesame/ginger based dressing. I love chewy udon noodles.


Macaroni Salad. The classic! Delicious and true to form. Sprinkled with some paprika for garnish (my fiend Brendan will approve).

Cute Kitty Picture of the Post


Dim Sim turned eleven (gasp) on the 16th of Feb. I will give her a proper birthday post, as soon as I can get a photo of her enjoying this year's present. See, she has recently decided that cameras are things to run away from! Anyway, here she is munching away on her birthday last year, eating out of her birthday bowl that I got her then. Sweet kitty.

(% 1000 Vegan Recipes Blogged: 11.3%)

Stylish Blogger Award

The lovely Nikki from The Tolerant Vegan recently awarded this blog a Stylish Blogger Award. Thank you Nikki! It is very nice to know people are enjoying my ramblings. :)

According to the rule, I must do the following:

*Make a post, and link back to the blogger who awarded me.
*Share seven things about myself.
*Award other bloggers.
*Contact them to tell them they have won.

Seven things about me:

1. As well as being a kitty vet, I am also doing a part time research masters entitled 'Metabolic Characteristics of Diabetic Cats in Remission and Predictors of Relapse'. If you live in Brisbane and have a diabetic cat who is in remission, let me know. ;)

2. I once hated coriander leaves (cilantro for you northern hemispherians). The Cilanto Sour Cream recipe and Veganomicon brought me round, and now I can't get enough of the stuff.

3. I love necklaces. I feel nekkid if I don't have something around my neck. I have a large collection, but I haven't bought one for some time... this is sad, I must rectify this!

4. I have been single for almost ten years. I am pretty happy being a single cat lady at the moment though, so no rush. But if anyone knows any hot geeks out there... :P

5. I help out with a fantastic group called Charlie's Angels Horse Rescue, which rescues horse and finds them forever homes, as well as running some great campaigns.

6. My favourite books are 'Pride and Prejudice', 'To Kill A Mockingbird' and 'The Great Gatsby'. Totally unoriginal, but shows that some good comes out of high school English classes.

7. I have been meaning to learn to knit for the past five years. I have needles. I have faux yarn. I have even had a lesson or two from a friend. But so far I haven't managed to take it up. Maybe this winter?

And the award goes to...

Now I have to pass on the award. It's hard to choose, because there are so many blogs I enjoy reading! Be sure to head on over and check them out if they aren't already on your Google Reader. :)

Mandee at Cupcake Kitteh

Mipa at Alien's Day Out: Vegan in Seoul, South Korea

Natalie at Angst Loves Spinach

River at Wing It Vegan

Theresa at The Tropical Vegan

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Speaking of stylish... OK, so I know we are at the wrong end of the year to even thing about Christmas, but check out this little guy wearing a Santa hat. A few weeks ago someone had dropped off some stuff at one of our clinics with a cat they were surrendering (boo), including a little Santa outfit. It was a quiet afternoon, and we had Idexx, on of our adoption kittens, frisking around. He is very cute and sweet. How could we not! The fantastic thing about this santa hat, unlike mine, is that it has holes for their ears to go through, which is both super cute and much more stable and comfortable for the kitty. Little Idexx is a bit under the weather at the moment, but as soon as he's back on his feet he will be up for adoption from our Clayfield clinic, if anyone is looking for a sweet little forever kitty!

Recipe Round Up: Vegan With A Vengeance

Clearing out some more photos from the archives, this time from our beloved VWAV.


Let's start off with a favourite - Brooklyn Pad Thai. This is amazing, with a lovely and tangy sauce that will keep you coming back for more. Frying the cute little tofu triangles first give them a great taste and texture. If you can get the tamarind concentrate, definitely use it over the lime juice as it gives a better flavour, I think. The recipe called for one pound of rice noodles, but I only used 200g and it was enough for three to four people.


On a cold night, the Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy will blow your mind. This is one of my mother's favourites. Even though there are potatoes in it, I highly recommend taking Isa's suggestion of serving it over mashed sweet potatoes, so highly delicious. I also like to serve it with some steamed broccoli. Perfection!


I have not been pre-making awesome breakfasts as much lately, but back when I had my breakfast mojo on, I made this Asian-Style Scrambled Tofu (one of the variations on the Scrambled Tofu page). I love shiitake mushrooms, and starting the day with them makes me a happy little morning bear. I probably served it with my standard of toast with avocado, but I hope to one day make it with the Sweet Potato Has with Five-Spice and Watercress... I'll let you know when I do!


These Black-Eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes with Mushroom Sauce are super cute, and one of my first attempts at making croquettes. They were a bit fragile, and I had a bit of trouble getting the bread crumbs to stick, but they looked great. The mushroom sauce is delicious, though not quite as thick as I thought it would be. I took the suggestion and served it with a mound of quinoa, and also some steamed broccoli.


The stars of this plate were definitely the vegetables courtesy of VWAV. First let us talk about Maple-Mustard-Glazed Potatoes and String Beans. Make sure to use the largest dish you have to bake it in, or it will take a bit longer to cook. The sauce is awesome. The white circular stuff is a Redwoods Cheatin' Turkey Loaf, which to be honest was not great... it was kind of watery and didn't have great flavour or texture. On top of it is cranberry sauce from a jar. But back to the vegetables. Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Garlic to be exact, which are SO yummy! Try and get the smallest sprouts you can for super cuteness. Sometimes the garlic doesn't always toast in five minutes, so it may just need a little extra.


Back on the breakfast/brunch/lunch train - Mushroom Frittata with some extra mushroom sauce from the croquettes served with some Herb-Roasted Potatoes. The frittata is a variation of the Asparagus and Sun-Dried Tomato Frittata, and it is delightful. The potatoes are amazing, and so simple to make. I couldn't find teeny potatoes, so I sliced some small potatoes.


Spicy Indian Rice with Roasted Almonds is full of flavour, the toasted almonds definitely make the dish. My mother was in love with this from first bite. I served it with some Braised Cauliflower with Three-Seed Sauce, which makes for a fantastic dinner.


Black Bean, Mushroom, and Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers... I know what you are thinking... capsicum! I didn't actually eat the capsicum. I stuffed capsicums for my parents, and then I stuffed a little ramekin for myself. But one must take a photo of the capsicum! It does kind of look pretty. I served it with Mashed Potatoes with Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy. This gravy is the stuff of legends, and there was lots left over to use in all sorts of ways afterwards. So delicious! And some of that steamed broccoli as well.


On to some desserts. Gingerbread Apple Pie is very cute. I found that once it was cooked it seemed quite saucy still and it made the crust a bit soggy. But it was delicious, delicious goodness.


Peach Cobbler is another good winter warmer (I type in the middle of summer). I really like this cobbler because the topping is not super sweet like some other recipes, it is just sweet enough to go so well with the peaches. And some soy ice cream!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post


A Prince in his basket. I have spoken about Prince before, but a while ago. Prince is one of the old folks who we look after full time at one of our clinics. He is a Singapore street cat, and now his mum is back in Singapore. Prince now lives with one of our nurses, but comes into work with her each day because he needs a fair amount of supervision and care. He is very sweet.