Recipe Round-Up: Cook The Pantry

So many recipe from so many cookbooks to round up. This will be lifelong goal that I probably will never achieve, but it is also fun and gives my motivation to use my cookbooks more! Today I am continuing to work through Cook The Pantry, by Robin Robertson. You can see other posts about this book here.

Everyone's Favourite Black Bean Chili: This uses a mix of TVP and black beans. Technically the TVP is optional, but why would you leave it out? It's fantastic. I reconstituted it with some beef-style stock for extra flavour. I used a mix of mild salsa and tinned tomato to make up the quantity of salsa needed, which gave a nicer flavour I think. The sauce also has BBQ sauce in it, which I loved. And of course I left out the chili powder and replaced it with some smoked paprika.
Rating: :)



Cheesy Grits and Greens with Smoky Mushrooms: We don't really have grits here. We have polenta, which I normally use instead of grits. But for this I had some leftover gluten free corn polenta, so I used that. It gets the cheesiness from nutritional yeast, and I added a bunch more than the recipe called for because I just love that noochy cheese flavour. For the greens I used baby spinach, and I used chopped portobello mushrooms. My liquid smoke is extremely strong, so I did decrease the amount of that I used so it didn't taste like ash. The smoky level was good with this, but it did lack a bit of flavour, adding some soy sauce would be good.
Rating: :|



Hoppin' John and Collards: Given that I cannot get collards here and I canonly have black eyed peas if I cook then from scratch, I subbed in some frozen chopped kale and black beans, and I also added in an extra handful of baby spinach at the end of cooking. This was lovely with brown rice, beans, and greens. Topped with some sour cream and vegan bacon bits, and served with a cornbread muffin.
Rating: :)



Paella from the Pantry: This has a lot of ingredients, but comes together quickly if you have pre-cooked rice. I left out the roasted peppers and the chilli flakes. The flavour was a bit flat, despite all the other ingredients.
Rating: :|



Greek Freekeh and Spinach with White Beans: I really enjoyed this. It had simple flavours - freekeh, spinach, white beans, olives, lemon, dill - but they all went together really nicely. I added a whole big bag of baby spinach for extra greens. This says it serves four, but it really is more like three.
Rating: :)



Top-Shelf Couscous Pilaf: This has a bunch of things going on in it - carrot, spices, chickpeas, peas, nuts, and herbs. Though really you can add whatever extra vegetables or additions you feel like. It comes together quickly, and is satisfying. Another one that makes three rather than four serves.
Rating: :)



Jerk Tempeh with Coconut Quinoa: Thsi recipe calls for 225g of tempeh, I used a 300g block and doubled most of the sauce ingredients (except for the lime). The quinoa is cooked in coconut milk, I used a mix of light coconut milk and water to get the nice coconut flavour but keep it Susan friendly. The stronger flavours of the jerk tempeh went well with the coconut quinoa.
Rating: :)



Giardiniera Mac and Cheese: The recipe calls for a jar of giardiniera, but I made my own (from Robin's 1000 Vegan Recipes cookbook) so I could control exactly what vegetables I used in it. The cheese sauce is cashew based and has lots of lovely flavours in it. I also added some peas at the end for extra greenery.
Rating: :)



Puttanesca in a Pinch: I love puttanesca, though of course I leave out any spicy chilli flakes! This came together very easily. I used spinach fettuccini (which I sadly don't seem to be able to find anymore) and I also added some kidney beans and peas.
Rating: :)



Capellini with Palm-Heart Scampi Sauce: Hearts of Palm are not the easiest to find here, but I am always on the look out for them. This recipe was one of the first time I had every used them. I don't know why people use them in place of seafood, because they are more like a mild artichoke flavour than anything else? Which is good, because I don't like most vegan seafood products. This was a bit dry overall, so I added some extra pasta water to the sauce.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Buffy the clinic cat.

Midweek Munchies

Thank you for lovely comments. I am back today with a midweek munchies roundup. So much food, so little time.

I bought these on sale because they sounded good and they were good! They were definitely sweet and didn't really have a crunchy cracker texture, they were a bit softer kind of like a very thin cookie. Excellent with a cup of tea.



Another fun flavour from the now sadly defunct Sweet Dreams. This was the freckle, which is what it looks like. A bar of chocolate covered in hundreds and thousands, just like a giant, thick freckle. Are chocolate freckles an Australian thing? Or do you have them in other places?



I tried this new vegan microwave meal. The sauce was delicious but the beans were undercooked and not great for the tummy, which was a shame.



A couple of silly Fry's products that I made for a silly lunch. These were both fine. I wish they had a bit more crunch and flavour, but it was still fun. Lots of ketchup.





I really enjoy this Strawberry & Rhubarb jam from St Dalfours. It is excellent on toast, with peanut butter, in overnight oats, or on ice cream. I love how their jams are not too sweet.



Finally, a classic. The Not Burger by Vegie Delights. I thought I was grabbing their chicken-style burgers, but then realised it was a not burger when I got home. It was a fun little blast from the past. I don't know quite how to describe a not burger. They are not like a veggetable patty, but also aren't trying to be beefy or chickeny. They just are. I still prefer the BBQ burgers and chicken-style burgers, but these are a solid option. They were one of the first vegan burgers available so many years ago that weren't just absolutely tasteless mush.





How is everyone doing? What is everyone up to? I am hoping to go in see Barbie soon, at a non-peak movie viewing time and with my N-95 firmly suctioned onto my face. Has anyone else seen it? This month has been all about Taylor Swift and Barbie. Next month, I am going to be all about Heartstopper and Red, White, & Royal Blue. What is driving your personality right now?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



This fuzzy little silhouette is Mirabelle sitting on top of my yesterday. I couldn't got to work and spent all morning in bed with a fibro flare, and this little sweetheart plopped herself on my and purred her little heart out. She is smol, but her purr is big.

Eating Out: Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets (March 2023)

Hello friends! It has been a while, almost two months since I last posted. I have had some pressing things going on. Mostly the fact that my PhD thesis was due to be sumitted by the 30th of June, so that was taking up all my home time. But the good news is that I got it in on time! It isn't over yet, there are still reviewers and revisions and orals, but we are a huge step closer. My brother was also here visiting from Spain, and only left to go back a few days ago, so I was also spending lots of time hanging out with him once my thesis was in. In between working, of course. My cooking motivation also completely disappeared. I ate a lot of delivery and takeaway because I was very focused on the tasks at hand, as well as just being extremely tired. However I have cooked a few times over the last couple of weeks, twice in the last two days, so I hope I can get back to cooking again because I do enjoy it.

Anyway, let's get back to those Brisbane Vegan Twilight Markets. I headed there again in March, because why not. This is what I had!

I got the okinomiyaki with potato and tomato demiglace sauce from :D Select. I love okinomiyaki. This was very good, but it was so filling that I didn't really have room left for much else.



I also got the Cheesy Mushroom Pizza from Piante Pizza, with the plan of squeezing in a couple of slices fresh and then taking it home to have leftovers the next day. Good plan. I have been waiting for ages to get this pizza on their market specials list, and it was pretty damn good.



In a final moment of glory, I remembered that my ice cream stomach was still empty, so I headed to I Should Coco to try their special, the Cinnamon Crunch Biscoff Sundae.



After that, there really room for anything else. So I picked up a couple of cupcakes for my mum, and an Iced Vovo for me to eat much later, from Pippa's Pantry.



How have you all been? I have been catching up on everyone's blogs. But not everyone has a blog. Let me know what you have been up to!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



The girls are good. Mirabelle and Eloise continue to bring me great joy and love. Here they are sitting next to each other. Eloise was there, and Mira just came and plonked herself down next to her. It lasted for a few minutes before Eloise jumped off. So cute!