Vegan MoFo 2014 #18: Robin Robertson Rocks - Vegan On The Cheap

Today for MoFo I have been reading through all the Australian blogs listed on the Around The World section of the MoFo page. I can't believe it has taken me until almost the end of the month to check these out, there some great Australian bloggers I haven't come across yet! So I am reading through a lot of posts and commenting. Go Aussie bloggers! Here is some Vegan On The Cheap.

Walnut-Crusted Tofu with Spinach and Orange shows that cheap doesn't rule out fancy. The tofu slices are tasty and crunchy, and the orange segments give a lovely freshness. I took the splurge suggestion of adding some capers because I love capers, and I also added a splash of white wine when I was sauteeing the spinach. I served this over basmati rice as suggested. I would have liked a bit more sauciness in this dish.
Rating: :)



Barbecued Black Bean and Tofu Burritos are full of protein and very tasty. The ingredients list calls for 2 Tbs of soy, though doesn't say divided. I almost put the whole lot into the sauce, rather than just half. The other half is used to season the tofu. So read carefully. I served this with some coleslaw.
Rating: :)



Tropic of Tempeh is like and sweet and sour, though delightfully was not too sweet (I prefer less sweet, more sour). Crispy chunks of fried tempeh go with vegetable (I used zucchini instead of green capsicum), pineapple chunks, and a pineapple based sauce. I served this over brown rice, but next time i would definitely serve this with some steamed broccoli as well.
Rating: :)



Baked Ziti combines pasta, marinara sauce and noochy tofu crumble that is baked into a great dinner. The noochy tofu mixture is yummy just on its own, so make sure you don't eat it all before making your casserole!
Rating: :)



Deluxe Vegetable Lasagna makes enough for a crowd, so I just made a half serve in an 8x8 inch pan and that served 4. I made some adjustments to the proportions - I doubled both the topping and the sauce and I quadrupled the spinach mix. The topping is a creamy cauliflower mash, though there is the option to use vegan cheese instead, but I liked the cauliflower. With the changes I made, I needed to bake it for a bit longer to heat all the way through.
Rating: :)



Vegetable Crisp has roasted vegetables brushed in a sherry vinegar mixture, layered and topped with a crunchy topping. I needed to make up a triple batch of the vinegar mixture to have enough to brush all the vegetables. I used one eggplant, six small zucchini, one onion and four portobello caps, which gave me one layer of each in my 8x8 inch pan with a final layer of eggplant, before topping with fresh sliced tomatoes and the topping, which was fantastically cruncy. I served this with BBQ beans.
Rating: :)



Rice Island Casserole took a bit more time than expected, but was delicious. Even using a little less rice I needed to bake for about half an hour longer to cook the rice through properly. I got three serves rather than four out of this. Rice, beans, pineapple, vegetables and coriander, coconut and cashews make for a delectable dinner.
Rating: :D



Torta Rustica is a masterpiece. I had made some sausage patties for another recipe in this book and had the leftovers stored in my freezer for ages. Finally I just committed to making this. It is a bit of work, but check out the result! I used the pie crust recipe in the book, which came together easily. Layers of noochy bean puree, roasted eggplant, sausage-spinach mixture and tomato-pepper mixture are repeated until the pie is all filled up, then it is sealed. I added some roasted zucchini as well to the eggplant layer, and I used an extra tin of tomatoe instead of the jar of roasted capsicum to make a tomato-tomato mixture. This fit perfectly into a 9 inch springform pan, and came out of the pan without a hitch. I was seriously impressed by the look of my masterpiece!
Rating: :)



Three Spicy Sisters Stew is from the slow cooker chapter, and smells amazing as it bubbles away. The three sisters are corn, bean and squash (butternut). I left out the capsicum.
Rating: :)



Barley Vegetable Stew is another slow cooker recipe, a classic winter dish. It makes four big servings, and is very satisfying. Next time I would also serve it with some sort of green.
Rating: :)



Chocolate Oatmeal-Peanut Cookies are a no bake treat that sets up fantastically. I made these for a bake sale and they were very popular. The chocolate chips melt in the hot mixture as you are making it, which is great.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Our clinic miss, Abbey, loves to be tucked up warm in her bed on the front desk during winter. Her green blanket matches her beautiful green eyes.