Recipe Round-Up: Easy Vegan Cooking

Easy Vegan Cooking by Leah Leneman was one of my earliest vegan cookbooks. In the early days I actually made a whole lot of recipes out of this, though I wasn't taking photos of my food at that point. Then my cookbook collection took flight. I have cooked from it a little bit since then, but it really isn't something that I reach for anymore.

Kedgeree with Tomato and Sweetcorn Savoury: I am always interested by kedgeree recipes, plus I really like the word. I used cold cooked rice, and the rice got nice and crunchy. Nori and smoked tofu round this out to a nice meal. The tomato and sweetcorn was quite plain, I would suggest using stock instead of water in the recipe for more flavour. This is definitely a side dish, it is not substantial.
Rating: Kedgeree :), Tomato and Sweetcorn :|



Hummus: Vegans love hummus. For this recipe I got 4 Tbs of juice from my large lemon, and I used cumin powder instead of whole seeds.
Rating: :)



Haricot Bean and Olive Dip: This makes a large quantity. It was a little bland and a little runny, I would have liked more olives.
Rating: :)



Tagliatelle All' Alfredo: A satisfying pasta dish, I made a half quantity of this. It uses vegan cream (I can't remember the brand I used), so is quite rich. I also added in some mushrooms and some stir-fried Fry's strips and some peas.
Rating: :)



Lentil Curry: This curry is a bit unusual, as it has apple, baked beans and cucumber in it. Odd. Despite its slightly odd flavour, there is something about it that makes you want more. I used SPC baked beans in rich tomato sauce.
Rating: :)



Quick and Easy Chilli: This is quick, using bulgur instead of mince. I actually really enjoy bulgur in chilli, so this was good. It made very large servings. You can see some cornbread peaking out from underneath, which is from Veganomicon.
Rating: :)



Scrambled Tofu and Mushrooms: I love tofu scramble, and while this is a simple recipe it does hit the spot. I added some nooch to it because I love adding nooch to everything.
Rating: :)



Tofu and Pea Curry: This uses tofu that has been frozen and thawed, so it soaks up the curry flavour well. I did pan fry the crumbled tofy for about 5 minutes before adding for better texture, and I used stock instead of water (and slightly less than called for).
Rating: :)



Special Rhubarb Crumble: I am not sure why this is 'special'. It also amuses me that it says to serve after a very light meal, or to people with large appetites. I know which category I fall into. The rhubarb is all nice and sweet/tart, but the crumble part is the star here. It has ground ginger in it for a little spicy lift.
Rating: :)



Avocado and Gooseberry Fool: I stumbled across some fresh gooseberries one time at the supermarked, something that has never happened again, so decided to make this dessert. It is quite tart. I am not always sold on avocado in desserts, but this worked. It called for grated chocolate to be sprinkled on top, but I used some chocolate sprinkles instead.
Rating: :)



Carob and Date Ice Cream: For some reason I had carob powder (I am not the biggest carob fan), so I made this dessert. The sweetness of the dates overcame the strange dirt taste I often find with carob to make a lovely sweet frozen dessert. It is recommended to soak the dates in water, and then use the water for blending so you get to keep all the date flavour. This also uses soy cream as the creamy base, and I am pretty sure I used Soyatoo.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



My friend Sarah planted a cat seed, watered it carefully and waited. Look what grew!!