Recipe Round-Up: Taste For Life

I was lucky enough to win a copy of Taste For Life, a cookbook put out by Animals Australia in an Instagram competition. The only thing better than buying a new cookbook is winning one, am I right? The first part of the book is set up as an introduction to veganism, with some information on reasons for veganism, suggestions for getting started, very basic nutrition, some easy substitutes, eating out and converting familiar meal suggestions, as well as the basics of kitchen ingredients and equipment. It is a nice little overview, though does tend towards greatly simplifying some of the health benefits. But for those of us who are all up to speed, I am happy to report that the recipes included go far beyond just the basic standards of beginner vegan cookbooks (though there are lots of old favourites as well). I have made some truly lovely things, and I have many more marked.

Ultimate TLTs with Avocado: I am a big fan of any sort of BLT variation, and this is a cracker. The bacon in this case is slabs of marinated and fried tofu. I cut mine a but too thick to really go crispy, but still so yummy. I served mine on regular bread, lightly toasted, rather than Turkish bread rolls.
Rating: :D



Passion for Greens Smoothie (Mango Variation): Of course all vegan cookbooks must have smoothies, and this has a page of suggestions. I made the mango variation of their green smoothie (the original version had passionfruit in it and I am just not a huge fan of passionfruit in smoothies). It is based on coconut water, making a nice refreshing and hydrating post yoga drink. Some ginger added to it would be nice.
Rating: :)



Caesar Salad with Herb-Roasted Chickpeas: First up, I made this with all cos lettuce and some baby spinach, rather than having kale in the mix. Raw kale, even when massaged, doesn't suit my tummy too well. Besides the salad ingredients, this recipe has two components - the dressing and the chickpeas. The dressing is based on cashews and include aquafaba (handily from the chickpeas you use for roasting), and is lovely. I used garlic powder rather than raw garlic. I also just blended all the ingredients together at once, rather than drizzling in the oil, and it was fine and very creamy. The chickpeas are roasted with a bevy of dried herbs and spices, and are so tasty. They do go a bit soft when folded through, so don't give the crunch of croutons, but the flavour is great.
Rating: :D



Chinese Mushroom Hotpot: I love mushrooms! I used a mix of oyster, shiitake, shimeji, and black fungus, as well as white mushrooms and some left over portobello stems that I sliced. I got three served of this, served over rice and some steamed spinach. The sauce includes hoisin sauce and five-spice powder, which are two of my favourite ingredients. I added the optional silken tofu, which was a lovely addition.
Rating: :)



Vegie Stir-Fry with Coconut Red Curry Sauce: For my veggies I used cauliflower, carrot, broccoli, bok choy, green cabbage, and snot peas, but 100% left out the capsicum. The sauce is based on pre-made red curry paste (there are a couple of vegan varieties in Australian supermarkets, I use Thai Gourmet), and was quite mild. I served this with jasmine rice, and got four serves. However, it wasn't super filling, so I would recommend adding some tofu or cashews.
Rating: :)



Curried Udon Noodles with Tofu: This was meant to be made with Hokkien noodles, but I had udon so I used them. This was delicious, with a mild curry sauce (I used 2 tsp of mild curry powder instead of 1 tablespoon) and a lot of soy sauce and mirin. They suggest using either tofu puffs or a marinated tofu recipe from the book, I used my favourite quick and easy Soyco Japanese Marinated Tofu from the shops. I left out the capsicum, of course, but also the water chestnuts (I am not the biggest fan) and replaced them with some celery for the crunch.
Rating: :D



Smoky Southern Black Beans with Coconut Rice: Another wonderful meal! I scaled it down a little to use 1 and a 1/2 tins of black beans, rather than two whole cans, though I still used the full amount of tinned tomatoes. I also halved the amount of rice from 1 cup to 2 cups, and cooked it in my rice cooker with a combination of light coconut milk and water. This gave me about three serves. Really nice.
Rating: :D



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Dim Sim is suspicious of the close up camera!