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Today is D's first day of a two-week holiday, for which there is much rejoicing, only slightly marred by his having to go into work today because a pipe had burst and there's no one else in charge around. Anyway, we began on a good note with French toast and strawberries, inspired by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jinxremoving's recent culinary efforts. Here's the recipe, simplified from one in Moskowitz's Vegan With a Vengeance.
Vegan French toast
Bread
Soya milk
Gram (chick pea) flour (look in Asian shops and health food shops)
Cornflour or egg replacer
Margarine
I premixed some of the flours together in a little tub last week, and the ratio is two parts gram flour to one part cornflour. Make a reasonably thick batter with that and the soya milk, probably similar to pancake batter.
Heat the oven and put the bread in for 2-3 minutes to dry out. Dip the bread in the batter, then fry on a medium-high heat in margarine until both sides are golden-brown. Nosh. I reckon this is no unhealthier than normal toast, as you're using less margarine if anything, and gram flour is very high in protein.
Last time we had it with maple syrup and cinnamon, and this time with maple syrup and sliced strawberries.jinxremoving used strawberries and yoghurt, but we were out of yoghurt. I think it might need the yoghurt, it was a bit too sweet and I don't feel it was the best use of strawberries, though still very pleasant. I might try maple syrup, cinnamon and chopped nuts next time. Is there another fruit which would work well?
The other culinary adventure of note is that I have become rather fond of the Innocent Veg Pots, and have discovered that their Mexican chilli is easy to copy and freezes beautifully. When made with brown rice, you get about ten portions out of it. For those of you worried about freezing and reheating rice, apparently the risks are when you're doing that with catering quantities and not heating it all the way through. If it's a single portion and you're going to nuke it thoroughly until it's piping hot, you should be absolutely fine. I got this from a biochemist who knew her stuff. On checking now through Google, people are generally saying that you're OK as long as you don't leave the cooled rice sitting around for long before freezing it, preferably no more than one hour.
Innocent Mexican chilli
Innocent Mexican chilli
a Very Big Pan (my wok was just about overflowing by the end)
extra virgin olive oil
fajita or cajun seasoning
ground cumin
smoked paprika
garlic (probably a few cloves crushed, but I used a fresh purée instead)
1 white onion, halved then sliced
1 red onion, halved then sliced
3 carrots, sliced
1 sweet potato, cut into chunks
1 large or up to 3 small white potatoes, cut into chunks
some jalapeño pepper slices (I put in only 2, which I think was enough for a chilli wimp like me. Be careful, lift them out with a fork and drop them in)
2 tins tomatoes
bit of Vecon stock (just the paste, no water)
dash of sugar or sweetener of choice (I used agave syrup)
cornflour
2 red peppers, diced
1 small tin sweetcorn
1 tin pinto beans
1 tin kidney beans
1 packet baby spinach (or ordinary spinach cut up slightly) (optional)
1 packet fresh coriander, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 block smoked tofu, diced (optional)
1.Put on the oil and add the spices and garlic for a minute, then add the onions and potatoes. Sauté for a while, then add the tomatoes, stock and jalapeño peppers and simmer until the veg are nearly done. This may be 20 min or so. This is probably the point at which I should have added a little cornflour to thicken the sauce, but I discovered I'd run out.
2.Add the red peppers, sweetcorn and beans, cook a little longer. Season with salt to taste at some point.
3.Add the spinach, coriander, lime juice and smoked tofu, and wait just long enough for the spinach to wilt.
Serve with rice. Makes about ten portions
If you're going to be freezing this, stop at the point when the veg are a little undercooked, and leave out the spinach. Brown rice freezes very nicely, I think better than white rice would. I've added the smoked tofu, but otherwise the recipe follows the original.
jinxremoving's recent culinary efforts. Here's the recipe, simplified from one in Moskowitz's Vegan With a Vengeance.Vegan French toast
Bread
Soya milk
Gram (chick pea) flour (look in Asian shops and health food shops)
Cornflour or egg replacer
Margarine
I premixed some of the flours together in a little tub last week, and the ratio is two parts gram flour to one part cornflour. Make a reasonably thick batter with that and the soya milk, probably similar to pancake batter.
Heat the oven and put the bread in for 2-3 minutes to dry out. Dip the bread in the batter, then fry on a medium-high heat in margarine until both sides are golden-brown. Nosh. I reckon this is no unhealthier than normal toast, as you're using less margarine if anything, and gram flour is very high in protein.
Last time we had it with maple syrup and cinnamon, and this time with maple syrup and sliced strawberries.
jinxremoving used strawberries and yoghurt, but we were out of yoghurt. I think it might need the yoghurt, it was a bit too sweet and I don't feel it was the best use of strawberries, though still very pleasant. I might try maple syrup, cinnamon and chopped nuts next time. Is there another fruit which would work well?The other culinary adventure of note is that I have become rather fond of the Innocent Veg Pots, and have discovered that their Mexican chilli is easy to copy and freezes beautifully. When made with brown rice, you get about ten portions out of it. For those of you worried about freezing and reheating rice, apparently the risks are when you're doing that with catering quantities and not heating it all the way through. If it's a single portion and you're going to nuke it thoroughly until it's piping hot, you should be absolutely fine. I got this from a biochemist who knew her stuff. On checking now through Google, people are generally saying that you're OK as long as you don't leave the cooled rice sitting around for long before freezing it, preferably no more than one hour.
Innocent Mexican chilli
Innocent Mexican chilli
a Very Big Pan (my wok was just about overflowing by the end)
extra virgin olive oil
fajita or cajun seasoning
ground cumin
smoked paprika
garlic (probably a few cloves crushed, but I used a fresh purée instead)
1 white onion, halved then sliced
1 red onion, halved then sliced
3 carrots, sliced
1 sweet potato, cut into chunks
1 large or up to 3 small white potatoes, cut into chunks
some jalapeño pepper slices (I put in only 2, which I think was enough for a chilli wimp like me. Be careful, lift them out with a fork and drop them in)
2 tins tomatoes
bit of Vecon stock (just the paste, no water)
dash of sugar or sweetener of choice (I used agave syrup)
cornflour
2 red peppers, diced
1 small tin sweetcorn
1 tin pinto beans
1 tin kidney beans
1 packet baby spinach (or ordinary spinach cut up slightly) (optional)
1 packet fresh coriander, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 block smoked tofu, diced (optional)
1.Put on the oil and add the spices and garlic for a minute, then add the onions and potatoes. Sauté for a while, then add the tomatoes, stock and jalapeño peppers and simmer until the veg are nearly done. This may be 20 min or so. This is probably the point at which I should have added a little cornflour to thicken the sauce, but I discovered I'd run out.
2.Add the red peppers, sweetcorn and beans, cook a little longer. Season with salt to taste at some point.
3.Add the spinach, coriander, lime juice and smoked tofu, and wait just long enough for the spinach to wilt.
Serve with rice. Makes about ten portions
If you're going to be freezing this, stop at the point when the veg are a little undercooked, and leave out the spinach. Brown rice freezes very nicely, I think better than white rice would. I've added the smoked tofu, but otherwise the recipe follows the original.
