Recipe Round-Up: The Urban Vegan

Not going to lie, I didn't think about getting The Urban Vegan for ages because the cover features the author (Dynise Balcavage) standing in front of a giant pile of red capsicums. Regular readers will understand why this did not appeal to me at all - devil vegetable! Eventually I saw it on sale and picked it up, and it has some really lovely recipes in it. Without capsicums. And yet still, I have hardly made anything from it. In part I think this is due to the layout of the book - chapters such as The Melting Pot, House Party, Haute Cuisine, and Cafe Culture, mean that recipes are arranged very randomly throughout the book. I prefer a book where recipe organisation makes a bit more sense to my brain, so I know where to look when I am after something. Bit I really should make more from it. Here are some of the things I have made. This is the first time this book has appeared on my blog!

Lemon Poppy Seed Tempeh and Confetti Quinoa: The tempeh has a very strong lemon flavour, calling for the juice and zest of four lemons. I do wish cookbook authors would give a volume amount for this sort of thing, as sizes vary so much so I always feel like a bit of guess work. The other issue was the marinade, it has 2T cornstarch in it, and it goes super gluggy. I served is with the Confetti Quinoa, as suggested. This is a fun little grain dish with onions, celery, corn, and peas. And more lemon juice. I took the option to make it with stock rather than water, which gave a nice flavour. I also served this with some steamed broccoli.
Rating: Tempeh :|, Quinoa :)



Sandwich Mousse: This had a delicious savoury taste. It is based on pink beans (I used borlotti) to give a nice colour, but has a lot of great additions like tahini, sumac, and nutritional yeast. Spread on bread with some baby spinach for a great sandwich.
Rating: :)



Grilled Cheese and Banana: It sounds weird, but it works great! Very simple, sliced banana and cheese in bread, and then toast in either a sandwich press or skillet. I made this quite a while ago, so used some Tofutti American Style cheese slices. Even today, I still enjoy these slices. I know they taste plastic and processed, but that is the charm. Anyway, good combination!
Rating: :)



Curry Cashew Casserole: Hello delicious! I very much loved this casserole, with broccoli and chickpeas and a creamy cashew based red curry sauce. The recipe calls for cashew butter and a small, Susan-friendly amount of red curry paste. Served four over rice, and definitely recommend.
Rating: :D



Pastitsio: I don't remember the first pastitsio recipe I made as a vegan, I'd certainly never had it before I went vegan, but I became a big fan almost immediately. Something about the tomato nutmeg meaty sauce, pasta tubes (this recipe calls for ziti, I used penne), and creamy white sauce is just so satisfying. This recipe was to make a large amount, I jiggled with it a bit by using half the pasta, but still making the full quantity of the meaty mixture and the bechamel. This gave me two layers in an 8 inch square casserole, which worked out perfectly. I used Linda McCartney mince for the filling, and used the bechamel recipe in the book. The sauce was roux based, and has a lot of nutritional yeast in it. It ended up more like a cheese sauce than what I would consider a traditional bechamel. The casserole can be topped with either breadcrumbs or nutritional yeast, I chose the latter. But I think a mix of panko and nutritional yeast would be the ideal crunch topping.
Rating: :)





Brussels Sprouts au Gratin: Not a gratin at all, more like slightly cheesy Brussels sprouts. They are steamed until just tender (don't over moosh them!), then tossed with Nuttelex, nutritional yeast, and seasoning. It is simple, quick, and tasty, whatever it is called.
Rating: :)



Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach: Simple, fresh, and nice flavours. Unlike the gratin, this is perfectly named. Chickpeas, a mix of fresh and tinned tomatoes, and fresh spinach are sauteed and served over rice. A very fast and easy way to get dinner ont he table.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



A giant pile of sleepy babies. They have grown a lot since this photo, they are much bigger now!