Change of blog....

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Sweet and Sour Seitan

Serves 4 with basmati rice

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

2 Tbsp cornflour dissolved to a paste in 2 Tbsp cold water in bowl, add:

1 cup vegetable stock (let cool after using boiling water to dissolve stock before adding to flour)

1 Tbsp miso paste

5 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp mirin

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tin pineapple pieces in juice (drained)

Mix all well in bowl and set aside

Other Ingredients:

2-3 Tbsp sesame oil

2 -3 green chilies

2cm piece fresh ginger, minced

2 cloves garlic, mined

1.5-2 cups chopped cooked seitan loaf (Seitan O'Greatness Recipe) OR tofu fried in a little sesame oil if you don't have any seitan.

1 red onion

brocoli

cauliflower

carrot

zucchini

green beans

mushrooms

2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

1/3 cup fresh coriander

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

In Wok:

Heat oil

Cook onion, garlic and ginger for 1-2 minutes

Add veggies (not chilies, mushrooms, tomatoes or coriander), cook 3-4 minutes

Add seitan and chilies, cook 2-3 minutes

Add mushrooms, and tomatoes, cook 2-3 minutes

Add sauce, turn up heat and cook 2-3 minutes until thickens

Add coriander and sesame seeds, mix well.

Serve over basmati rice (with extra coriander and chilies if you so desire)

Lemongrass & Sweet Chilli Stir Fry

Serves 4

Cooking time ~ 40 minutes

You will need: Small sauce pan for broth; Medium sauce pan for rice; Wok

Ingredients:

For broth:

1 vegetable stock cube

1.5 cups water

1/8 cup vegetarian "oyster" sause (mushroom sauce - buy at Asian Grocers)

1/4 sweet chilli sauce

1 TBSP sesame oil

Juice of 1 lime

Lemongrass stalk - peeled (5cm piece of large stalk or several smaller ones cut into 5cm lengths)

1 TBSP minced ginger

350g packet plain tofu

For Wok:

1 TBSP sesame oil

1 TBSP minced garlic

3-4 shallots, diced

3-4 cups of vegetable pieces

Optional - fresh coriander

Rice:

2 cups basmati rice (uncooked) + 4 cups water (for cooking via absorption method) or alternatively rice for 4 serves cooked in other style of your choice.

Instructions:

- Dice tofu into 1cm cubes.

- In small saucepan combine stock cube and water and bring to boil to dissolve cube, then add other broth ingredients and mix well, add tofu cubes and simmer for 30 minutes.

- Put rice on to cook.

- Heat Wok and add sesame oil, add garlic and shallots, cook for 1-2 minutes, then scoop tofu pieces out of broth (reserve broth) and brown in pan.

- Add other vegetables and stir fry, when vegetables are still firm but cooked, add broth and stir fry for a further 2-3 minutes.

- Add fresh coriander if using and stir through

- Serve over rice.

Weeknight Burritos for One

SERVES: 2 Burritos

Cold Burritos

As little or as many of the below ingredients work well.....

1x small tin of four bean mix, drained well

1x small tin corn, drained well

½ small capsicum, diced

1 small carrot, grated

½ zucchini, grated

2-3 button mushrooms, diced

1-2 shallots, diced finely

1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce

1 tomato, sliced

½ avocado, sliced

jalapenos and olives, sliced

Sauces – Salsa and hummus

Wholemeal tortillas

Using 2x dinner plates, place all ingredients on one plate, ready for making your burritos, and the tortillas on another plate. Then for each burrito start with a spread of salsa on your tortilla, then hummus, then place ingredients on 1/3 of tortilla, then fold tortilla over ingredients and wrap edges so you can pick it up like a pocket.

Hot Burritos

½ cup re-fried beans (buy these in the supermarket isle with the mexican food kits, tacos, tortillas etc)

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

pinch of chilli powder

1x small tin of four bean mix, drained well

1-2 shallots, diced finely

½ small capsicum, diced

1 small carrot, grated

½ zucchini, grated

2-3 button mushrooms, diced

1 TBSP olive oil

1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce

1 tomato, sliced

½ avocado, sliced

jalapenos and olives, sliced

Sauces – Salsa and hummus

Wholemeal tortillas

In a large fry pan heat oil, then add shallots and re-fried beans, cook for 2-3 minutes, then add spices and four bean mix well, add capsicum, and mushrooms, cook for 2-3 minutes more, add carrot and zucchini and cook for 2 more minutes, then turn off heat.

Serve with tomato, avocado, lettuce and sauces as per cold burrito instructions.

Enchilada Bake

Preparation approximately 30 minutes, cooking 50 minutes

Serves 8

YOU WILL NEED

Large sauce pan or wok

Large mixing bowl

Large lasagne baking dish or two smaller lasagne dishes

Blender

INGREDIENTS

Large packet of thin tortillas or lavash bread wraps (10 tortillas approximately)

350g block of plain firm tofu, crumbled well

2 tins of crushed tomatoes

4 T. tomato paste

1 tin of red kidney beans

1 tin of butter beans or cannelloni beans

1 cup sweet corn

1 cup green peas

1 green capsicum, diced finely

1 carrot, diced finely

1 red onion, diced finely

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced

4 T. light soy sauce

¼ cup sliced fresh coriander

¼ cup tahini

¼ cup Savoury Yeast Flakes

¼ sliced kalamata olives

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin powder

½ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp paprika

Olive oil and olive oil spray.

TOPPING- CASHEW SPREAD

INGREDIENTS

3 cups raw cashews

4 T. light soy sauce

2 cloves garlic

1 T. lime juice

1 tsp minced red chili

¼ cup loosely packed fresh coriander leaves

2 cups water or as needed for consistency desired

1 shallot

Place cashews and soy sauce in blender and pulse, add garlic, coriander, lime juice, chili and coriander and shallot, blend, then add water slowly until desired consistency achieved.

DIRECTIONS

In saucepan/wok cook onion and garlic in a little olive oil for 1 minute, add jalapeno, cook for a further minute, add crumbled tofu and cook until tofu starts to brown, adding a slash of water if tofu starts to stick to pan.

Add beans, corn, peas, capsicum and carrot and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool down somewhat.

In mixing bowl mix tomatoes, tomato paste, tahini, yeast flakes, olives, and spices, then add the tofu mixture, mix well so all ingredients well combined.

Spray lasagne dish with olive oil, then build like you would lasagne, starting with a layer of tortilla, spread with a layer of the mixed ingredients, then repeat, until finishing with a tortilla layer.

Prepare cashew spread and heat oven to 180 degrees C

Over the top layer of tortilla spread a nice thick layer of the cashew spread.

Bake in oven for 40 minutes, cover with foil if needed to prevent top burning, then turn off heat, uncover, sprinkle on extra sliced olives and coriander if desired for garnish, and allow to sit in oven for a further 10 minutes.

Serve with a garden salad

Plant Powered Camp 2010 - Some of the food...thanks to Lee Baker for photography

Vegetable and Olive Tomato Sauce (for the Rissoles)

Rissoles (chickpea, bean and gluten flour, plus herbs and spices)

Pie filling (Seitan and chickpeas)

Pies

Pie with roast & steamed veg and tahini-miso sauce

Roast pumpkin, lentil and basil lasanga with roasted red capsicum and garlic.

Yucky Photo, Yummy Lasagne

Still without a decent camera I persist with taking food photos occasionally with mobile phone cameras. I made this lasagne for dinner on Saturday night to work on my white sauce recipe and use up some icky TVP (I'm not a fan, I prefer crumbled tofu any day) and take advantage of the nice eggplant I bought today because it looked pretty. The photo was an after-thought, hence the slice down the middle from when I checked to see if my pasta sheets were nicely done. I love the way the white sauce topping looks.

Potato Bake

I apologise for using the same photo I used for the white sauce post!

Serves 6

You will need:
Large Pyrex dish, baking dish or lasagne dish, saucepan and small mixing bowl.

Preparation - 30 minutes
Cooking - 1 hour


Potato Ingredients:

8-10 (Approximately 1 kg) Baking potatoes (e.g. Sebago), sliced thinly
3 Cloves roasted garlic, chopped finely
1 Brown onion, diced finely.
¾ cup Breadcrumbs and extra nutritional yeast flakes and paprika for topping
Directions:

Line dish with potato slices, sprinkle over onion and garlic

Heat oven to 200 degrees, and make sauce while oven is heating up.


White Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:
1.5 cups vegetable stock
1 cup soy milk
6 teaspoons cornflour (make into paste in 1/2 cup cold water)
2-3 gloves minced garlic (roasted garlic for extra yumminess)
2/3 cup savoury yeast flakes
1/3 cup Nuttelex (optional)
1/4 cup tahini
1/2 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon mustard powder (or 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard)
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
(I don't add salt as the vegetable stock is usually pretty salty)


Directions:

1. Slowly dissolve cornflour, one teaspoon at a time, in 1 cup of cold water/stock in small mixing bowl.

2. In a saucepan slowly dissolve Nuttelex (if using), then lower heat and add flour and water mixture, keep stirring.

3. Add the other cup of stock, slowly heat to the boil then reduce, stirring gently but constantly, add soy milk, savoury yeast flakes and dissolve, add mustard powder, tahini and mix well, add garlic, paprika and pepper.


When sauce is ready:

Pour sauce over potato slices making sure all potatoes are coated well.

Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top, followed by a light sprinkle of extra nutritional yeast flakes and some more paprika.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for a further 30 minutes until golden.

Chinese Five Spice Rice

(This isn't actually my picture but for the sake of getting people's taste buds working I had to include one! I will take a photo of the below recipe and replace the photo ASAP!)

Cooking time ~ 40 minutes
Serves ~ 4 serves

This has a lot of ingredients and makes huge serves, but is perfect to keep for leftovers during the week, just reheat in the wok with a tiny amount of hot water stirred through while reheating if it dries out a little too much.

You will need:
1. large Wok with a lid or cover (I use an electric wok) or very large pan with lid.
2. medium saucepan

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups brown rice (brown rice is best for this dish as the nutty flavour is beautiful with the five spice)
• 350g plain tofu - cubed or even crumbled if you prefer (Tempeh can be used too, or leave out tofu altogether is you like))
  
• 3-4 cloves garlic - minced
• 2cm piece ginger - peeled and minced or very finely diced
• 4 shallots (scallions) - cut into 1cm lengths
• 1 cup shredded red cabbage or wombok
• 1 red onion - diced
• 1 small zucchini - diced
• 1 small carrot - diced
• 1/2 small red capsicum - diced
• 1 cup broccoli - in small florets
• 1 cup cauliflower - in small florets
• Sesame or peanut oil
• Light soy sauce
• Rice wine vinegar
• Chinese Five Spice powder
• 270ml tin coconut milk (low fat if you like)
• 1x vegetable stock cube.
• Fresh coriander
  

DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare tofu, garlic, ginger and red onion

2. Put rice on to cook for 20 minutes with 4 cups water and the stock cube.

3. While rice is cooking, in hot wok fry up tofu in 1 tablespoon on the oil (more if your wok is sticky) then when tofu nicely browned add onion, garlic and ginger.

4. Lower heat in wok and chop all veggies.

5. Heat wok to high heat again and add veggies (BUT NOT CABBAGE, add at step 9), stir fry using a little more oil if you need, then de-glaze the wok with a few splashes of the vinegar and soy sauce to lift any stuck bits from the wok. Don't over cook your veggies as they will soften when the rice is added and you don't want them soggy.

6. Give rice a stir and then pour in tin of coconut milk, mix well. Rice should now have been cooking about 20 minutes and be about 3/4 cooked.

7. Add rice and coconut milk mixture to the wok and mix well through the veggie and tofu mix. There should still be enough liquid in the rice to have the rice cook the remainder risotto style. If it's too dry add some hot water.

8. Add soy sauce and Chinese Five Spice to taste, I usually use about 3-4 table spoons soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of Five Spice, but always adjust to taste, as I don't like too much soy sauce, and the stock cube already makes this dish quite salty.

9. Add cabbage now, then cover and let rice finish cooking for 10 minutes approximately. If your rice is cooked and there is still liquid, increase heat and stir for a few minutes to evaporate excess liquid, it should be dryer than risotto, not too soggy, but not dry like fried rice. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Serve in large Asian-style bowls

Banana Bread

This is an adjusted recipe from the recipe used for muffins, I've played with this bread recipe so that it has a little less liquid component, to help it not be soggy and cook well through, but it's still beautiful moist bread, and is almost cake like.

Depending on the size of the loaf you make (this is a big recipe!) and the oven you use, cooking times can vary greatly, err on the side of lower temp and longer bake time however, to get it evenly cooked.

Ingredients

DRY
3 cups wholemeal plain flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or dates

WET
4 large very ripe bananas, mashed well (or freeze ripe bananas, then when they thaw they turn very runny, perfect!)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup soy milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 170 C.
Spray baking tin/s with some canola oil spray or line with baking sheet.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients.
Bananas should be pretty smooth but leave a couple of lumps.
Pour wet ingredients into dry and combine until dry ingredients are just moistened.
Pour in to large bread tin (or 2 small loaf tins) and bake for 90 minutes (bake time depends on oven so be sure to monitor)
Cool in tin for 10 minutes then on baking rack.

Tofu Scramble & Tempeh Crumble

Serve on grilled or toasted sourdough

Tempeh Crumble and tomato
Tofu Scramble on Sourdough

Scramble cooking

I really must post my own tofu scrambled recipe, once I get around to actually writing down how I make it!!

But here is a recipe to start from, then it's up to you what you include.....I add savoury yeast flakes, some light soy sauce and tahini or tomato sauce, the tahini gives it a nice creamy taste. Serve on your fave bread, toast or sourdough.

Scramble Tofu according to the PPK

Nooch

Where to get your Nooch, AKA Savoury Yeast Flakes.

In Australia I use to be able to buy 3 different types of Savoury Yeast Flakes, Marigold brand, Lotus brand, and a brand I can't remember the name of sorry, but these days it seems I can only get Lotus brand.

If you don't have a friendly local health food store owner or Co-Op who already stocks these, please ask them to order them in for you, although they may look at you a little strangely if you ask them for some Nooch. I have a feeling this is a strictly PPK.com thing.

My local health food store, Healthy Life @ Westfield Figtree does stock the occasional packet, and can order them in, but I also buy them in bulk from Healthy Life King Street in Sydney as they do me a better deal.

Fake & Onion Pie

8th May 2010 Update: Thanks to Carmen for the winning suggestion for naming my Pie! Fake & Onion Pie it is.

People always say to me "what type of pie is it?" It's a meat pie style pie, but for obvious reasons I can't call it a meat pie! It has thick tasty gravy, thanks to Vegan with a Vengeances' Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy, and is based on an onion and mince (TVP) style filling to replicate the traditional Aussie Meat Pie.

Pie Filling and Gravy

Building Pie Step #1

Building Pie Step #2

Building Pie Step #3

Building Pie Step #4

The Finished Pie

RECIPE

Makes 3 pies of 3-4 serves each.

Preparation time = 1 hour
Cooking time = 35 minutes

You will need:

• 3x aluminium pie trays OR a large muffin bake tray for party pies
• Oven pre-heated to 200 degrees Celsius after filling mixture had been made (while you build the pies).
  
• Large skillet/fry pan or wok.
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups/spoons etc.
• Pastry brush

Ingredients:

• 7 sheets of frozen vegan puff pastry sheets (made with non-dairy margarine instead of butter, in Australia Woolworths/Safeway sell them) thawed.
  
• 1.5 cups TVP (textured vegetable protein)
• 2 teaspoons vegetable stock powder
• 2x onions (diced)
• 5x garlic cloves (minced)
• Nuttelex (non-dairy margarine) (1/2 cup) - optional (and recommended if making for non-vegan eaters!) OR olive oil spray.
  
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 cup Savoury Yeast Flakes
• 3 cups chickpeas (mashed with a potato masher until no whole chickpeas remain, but not into a mushy paste)
• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried Thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried Coriander
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions:

1. Dissolve flour in 2 cups of water in a bowl and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl dissolve 2 teaspoons veg stock power in 1.5 cups boiling water and stir in TVP.

3. Heat olive oil in pan/wok and add diced onions and mustard seeds, cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, then add garlic, cook for 2 minutes more.

4. Add mashed chickpeas, stir through onions garlic and mustard seeds.

5. Stir through 1/4 cup of the Nuttelex (if using)

6. Add the herbs, spices (but not pepper), soy sauce and lemon juice, mix through well.

7. Lower heat and add the flour and water mixture and mix well until mixture thickens.

8. Add Savoury Yeast flakes and mix well.

9. Add the tomato paste and TVP and fold into gravy mixture.

10. Add pepper to taste.

11. Heat oven

12. Melt remaining 1/4 cup of Nuttelex in microwave in a cup and baste pie trays well, around all surfaces pastry will contact, with margarine using pastry brush. If not using margarine for lower fat version spray with olive oil.

13. Place thawed sheet of pastry into pie tray (or cut into size to fill base and sides of muffin tray) and press well into edges of tray and sides.

14. Fill pasty with pie filling to just below top of tray level, then place another sheet of pastry on top.

15. Pinch edges of pastry together well to seal, baste top sheet with more of the melted margarine, cut strips of another pastry sheet for lattice on top of pie and baste again.

16. Bake each pie for 30-35 minutes in oven. Serve with tomato sauce and baked veggies.

Enchilada Bake....stay tuned for the recipe

The finished product, ready for baking.
Final topping, a blend of home made hummus, avocado, cumin, and turmeric and paprika.
The 3rd and final layer, ready for sauce...
2nd layer
Building the enchilada - 1st layer of tortilla and filling
Enchilada filling cooked in the pan, ready to build the enchilada bake

A Sunday night dinner at my place....

On the menu:
- Chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon w' tahini and miso sauce
- Avocado Wasabi Salad from Vegan Yum Yum
- Potato Wedges seasoned w' Paprika, pepper and olive oil
+ extra greens of baby salad leaves.

Vegan Quiches - Sun Dried Tomato and Basil

Ingredients:

1 500g block plain firm tofu
1 cup vegetable stock
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup savory yeast flakes
3 stems shallots - diced
4 cloves roasted garlic - crushed and finely chopped
1 cup sun dried tomatoes (the oily type)
1 cup packed fresh basil
2 teaspoons paprika
Fresh black pepper
2 cups soy milk or rice milk
1 packet vegan shortcrust pastry (i.e. using veg oil based pastry, not butter)
Olive oil

Equipment:

large fry pan, preferably cast iron.
1 jumbo muffin tray
1 spray can of olive oil
1 blender
1 large mixing bowl
Oven heated to 180 degrees C

Directions:

In mixing bowl crumble the tofu well, using your hands to squeeze and crumble until no large chunks remain.

Heat olive oil in pan, and add shallots and tofu, cook until the tofu is browning slightly, for approximately 10 minutes. Add the stock to deglaze pan as required while tofu is cooking.

Stir tahini and savoury yeast flakes through tofu, then cook for a further 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and let cool slightly.

In the blender, blend the sun dried tomatoes and basil a little, then add the cooled tofu mix.

Blend into a paste adding soy/rice milk a little at a time.

Shake in paprika and some fresh black pepper to taste.

Spray the muffin tin with the oil then line the muffin tin with a circle of defrosted pastry (use a cup the same size as the base of the muffin holes to cut out the base) then with two strips around the edges, overlapping with the base and with each other.

At the pastry edges press well so that there are no visible joins that can separate.

Fill each pasty cup with the tofu filling and smooth the top.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then add a slice of tomato to each quiche before baking for a further 10 minutes.

Garnish with a sprig of basil and serve with tomato sauce, a salad or baked veggies and white sauce (recipe below).

Doing the numbers

I find it a little weird to be worrying about the numbers, since I am healthy and not deficient in anything, but people have this "but where do you get your protein" obsession, so I thought I'd start doing some number crunching....

The general consensus is that a sedentary 33 year old women needs 0.75 grams of protein per kg of body weight per day. For high activity you apparently make this 1gm/kg/day. So I'll work on the 1gm principle. That means I need 58 grams of protein per day.

Here's the values on some of the high protein vegan foods I regularly eat:

My breakfast is a total of 23 grams, so that's over a 1/3rd in one meal!

2 slices of Helga's bread = 12.5 grams
250ml Soy Milk = 7.5 grams
10 gram serve of vegemite (I like it thick) = 3 grams


Other protein quantities I regularly eat are:

1 serve of tofu = 16.25 grams

1 serve of savory yeast flakes (on my pasta, in soups, sauces etc) = 8.4 grams

Vegetable soup = 8.2 grams

Bean and lentil vege soup = 17.4 grams

1 serve of vegeroni pasta = 15 grams

1 serve of pasta sauce = 4 grams (plus I add canaloni beans/butter beans, and savory yeast flakes and other goodies to my pastas)


Plus I have a thing for nuts occasionally, and often add walnuts to things for some extra oomph.


So no protein deficiency here!

Try Veg's vegan nutrition page

Here's a great link to information about vegan nutrition on the Try Veg Australian website: http://www.tryveg.net/vegetarian_nutrition.aspx

I like their tables showing you the equivalent vegan food to eat to get your calcium, iron, protein etc, very user friendly.

Pizza!

Home made pizza, using the pizza base recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance.

Apologies for the photo quality, no forward planning and night time makes for very unprofessional pictures.

My favorite toppings are fresh tomato paste and tomatoes, tofu basil 'ricotta' (from Vegan with a Vengeance) roasted pumpkin, roasted garlic, fresh basil and walnuts. Sprinkled with some savoury yeast flakes and drizzled lightly with tahini to finish.

Roast Pumpkin Lasagna

Serves - 4
Time - Preparation 30 minutes / Baking 60 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 large pkt lasagna sheets

1 large bottle of plain tomato pasta sauce

1 recipe of Vegan White Sauce
(http://veganmadeeasy.blogspot.com/2010/01/vegan-white-sauce-recipe.html)

4 gloves roasted garlic

1/2 small pumpkin - diced into small cubes and roasted

1 tin of lentils - well drained, or 2 cups fresh cooked lentils.

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves, shredded.

1 350gm block of plain firm tofu

1/3 cup thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes

1/3 cup tahini

1/2 cup savory (nutritional) yeast flakes (plus extra for sprinkling on top before baking)

1 TBS lemon juice

Olive oil

Equipment:

Large mixing bowl, clean tea towel, lasagna baking dish, wooden spoon.

Directions:

1. Cube pumpkin and roast with a spray of olive oil, but only until still firm, don't over cook.

2. Roast whole garlic cloves in the oven, roasting time approximately 10 minutes, while the pumpkin is roasting, then crush with flat blade of knife.

3. Open tofu packet and wrap tofu block in clean tea towel to squeeze the water out of it, then in a large mixing bowl crumble the tofu with your hands until no chunks remain and it has the consistency of ricotta.

4. Mix tahini, yeast flakes, lemon juice and 1 TBS olive oil into tofu, then add sun dried tomatoes, basil leaves and roasted garlic and gently mix through with wooden spoon.

5. Add pumpkin cubes and lentils to tofu mixture then you are ready to build the lasagna.
6. Spray or grease lightly the lasagna dish with olive oil.

7. Build your lasagna - place 1 layer of pasta sheets on base of dish, then a scoop of the pumpkin- tofu mix, then pour over a portion of the tomato pasta sauce, ensure the pasta sheet is well covered with mixture and sauce, but only a thin layer. Repeat until you reach a final layer of pasta sheets on top.

8. Pour your white sauce evenly across the top layer of pasta, and ensure the pasta is well covered in a nice think layer of white sauce. Sprinkle some more yeast flakes on top of white sauce.

9. Bake in oven at 180 degrees for 45-50 minutes, then turn off oven and let sit for another 15 minutes before serving.

Vegan White Sauce Recipe

For potato bake, lasagne, cauliflower, creamy pasta, or anything else you can think of that needs a white sauce.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups vegetable stock
1 cup soy milk
6 teaspoons cornflour (make into paste in 1/2 cup cold water)
2-3 gloves minced garlic (roasted garlic for extra yumminess)
2/3 cup savoury yeast flakes
1/3 cup Nuttelex (optional)
1/4 cup tahini
1/2 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon mustard powder (or 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard)
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
(I don't add salt as the vegetable stock is usually pretty salty)

Extra cornflour (dissolve in a little water first to adjust thickness if required)

Directions:

1. Slowly dissolve cornflour, one teaspoon at a time, in cold water in small mixing bowl.

2. In a saucepan slowly dissolve Nuttelex (if using), then lower heat and add the stock, then the flour and water mixture, keep stirring.

3. Slowly heat to the boil then immediately reduce, stirring gently but constantly, add soy milk, savoury yeast flakes and dissolve, add mustard, tahini and mix well, add garlic, paprika and pepper.

Laksa inspired tofu marinade.

Laksa Tofu (right) (and meat-less balls, left)

I love laksa.

I found laksa powder in the Asian grocery and made up this tofu marinade to have an easy laksa fix without the guilt of half a liter of coconut cream that comes with a great laksa.

Serves 2-3 as a side serve of tofu with a wombok salad. Or on jasmine rice with steamed vegies.

Ingredients:

1 x 375g block of plain tofu
1 x 275ml tin of light coconut milk
2-3 tablespoons of laska powder (3 if you like it spicier)
3 - 4 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup hot water

Directions:

Press tofu well in tea towel to squeeze out the water so the tofu absorbs as much marinade flavor as possible. Then cut into 2cm cubes approx.

Prepare marinade by mixing coconut milk, laksa powder, peanut butter and hot water together in a tupperwear container until peanut butter and laksa powder have disolved and combined well. Using boiling water helps disolve the peanut butter.

Place cubed tofu in marinade and coat well, store in fridge over night or for as long as possible prior to cooking.

To cook: (In oven or on stovetop)

Oven bake - Pour marinade and tofu into pyrex baking dish or small lasagna dish and bake in oven at 180 degrees until most of liquid has been reduced, turning tofu occasionally and coating well in marinade. Bake until tofu has firmed and becomes slightly golden and some reduced marinade remains as a sauce.

Stove top - Pour marinade and tofu into large frypan or cast iron frypan and cook uncovered on medium-high, occasianlly stirring, until the marinade has reduced to a thick sauce and tofu has firmed and browned.

Potato Salad Recipe

Potato Salad (right) (with crispy noodle and wombok salad, left)

This is the same potato salad I made for the PPCR Camp in September, and I promised I would blog the recipe! Sorry it has taken until Christmas!

Ingredients:
10 - 12 small new potatoes (skin on) - cut into 1/4's
2-3 shallots - sliced very thin.
3 gloves garlic - minced
2-3 stalks celery - sliced thinly
2 TBS fresh thyme (2 teaspoons if using dried)

Dressing:
1 cup vegan mayonnaise (if unable to find Soy King brand mayo or don't want to make your own, the fat-free "Praise" brand is egg-free)
1/3 Cup pickle relish
1 TBS Dijon mustard (or 1 teaspoons mustard powder)

Directions:
Steam potatoes until tender, don't overcook, they should be a little firm still to not crumble when you mix the salad. Cool under cold running water when cooked.

Mix all dressing ingredients and garlic in large bowl. Stir with a fork to combine well.

Mix in celery, shallots, and thyme with dressing.

Add potatoes and mix with wooden spoon to coat well.

Chill in fridge until ready to serve.

Christmas 2009

My family doesn't go overboard at Christmas, we're not very good at over-eating really, and part of the family was doing the big Christmas dinner thing, so it was a light lunch for us yesterday....and we still had leftovers!

So for our vegan lunch we had:

Meat-less Balls with tahini-miso sauce and my favorite marinated tofu, a spicy laksa inspired flavor, with good old potato salad and a wombok and noodle salad with roasted seaseame seeds, and a dressing of sweet chili, soy and sesame. The wine was Sav Blanc and the desert was vegan christmas fruit cake with rum and nutmeg frosting and cherries, mango and pawpaw.

Vegan Cookies at the Coast 2 Kosciusko Ultra Marathon

As I was unable to go to the Coast to Kosciusko Ultra this year as planned due to injury, I still sent along a vegan cookie care-package for some of my favourite people to enjoy on their 240km journey from Boydtown Beach at Eden to the summit, the highest point of Australia.

Here is Michael with one of my cookies at each important milestone of the race (I'm still blown away that he thought to take these shots for me!).....

At the Marathon mark, 42.2kms, of the race

At the 100km point....

At 100 miles.....

And Michael + cookie at the summit!

My cookies have made it to the summit before me, but my time will come!

Oh and if anyone is more interested in the cookies than the run, or wants to bake them to fuel themselves on their next adventure, I will post the recipes ASAP!

Meat-less Balls

Great Christmas finger food, or for any occasion needing finger food really!

I modified the recipe for Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon (http://www.theppk.com/nomicon.html) for these.

INGREDIENTS: If you are referring to the Veganomicon recipe this is 4x that with a few modifications.

2 large tins of chickpeas, drained (4 cups)
8 TBS olive oil
2 cups vital wheat gluten (also called gluten flour -buy this at a produce deli or order in at health food store)
4 well crushed wheatbix (easier than breadcrumbs to have on hand)
1 cup vegetable stock
4 TBS soy sauce
4 TBS vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (no anchovies)
6 garlic cloves , pressed or grated
2 tps lemon zest
2 tps dried thyme
2 tps Hungarian paprika
1 tps dried rubbed sage
1/2 cup of plain flour for rolling balls in.
Canola oil for pan frying.

DIRECTIONS

Mash (or pulse in blender) the chickpeas and oil until no whole chickpeas remain.

Add wheatbix and pulse until well mixed - Unless you have a huge blender this will need to be done in 2-3 batches to get a proper mix.

Put all blended ingredients into large mixing bowl.

Add remaining ingredients (but not flour!) to chickpea mix and knead for 3-4 minutes until strings of gluten have formed.

Form little balls about the size of cherries or slightly larger and roll each ball lightly in the flour.

In a fry pan heat about 1cm of Canola oil and fry balls in batches.

Serve with toothpicks to pick up each meat-less ball and dip in mustard sauce, sweet chili sauce or tahini-miso sauce.