Pasta with Pinenuts - Picture Only

Hmmmmmm.... I love basil, a lot.

A simple sauce of tofu, basil, sundried tomatoes and garlic, over tagliatelle with toasted pinenuts.

Last time I made this the tomatoes were a bit tough, so I soaked these ones overnight in some water. It really softened them up.

I think next time, I'll put less garlic in... and maybe some chili powder.. because I like a little heat :)

Spiced taters with Sundried Tomato Seitan Cutlets

Another simple one tonight... can't really be bothered to try anything earth shattering at the moment.

Potatoes steamed for 30 mins along with some seitan cutlets, and then pan fried with poultry seasoning.

Sundried Tomato Cutlets - Easy (Makes 2)
60g Gluten Powder
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
1/4 Tsp Basil
1/4 Tsp Black pepper
1/2 Tsp Vegan 'chicken' broth powder
1 Sundried Tomato (Chopped)

15ml Tomato Ketchup
90ml Water

Mix and knead above ingredients till a sticky dough is formed. Divide into two flat cutlets, wrap in foil and steam for 30 mins.

Unwrap and Dip in a little seasoned flour. Pan fry for 10 mins over a low heat while the potatoes brown.

The sundried tomatoes really worked. I was afraid they wouldn't be soft enough, but they were fine :)

Apple Walnut Sugar Overload - And Pizza to boot

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... You know what is the best cookey book in the world, ever, that's right, La Dolce Vegan!

Today I made the Apple Walnut Pudding recipe which sits in both the breakfast and the dessert section. It was incredibly sweet, but very, very, very nice. I wouldn't reccomend it for breakfast, but for dessert, heck yeah!



Dinner was pizza, with courgette, aubergine (already softened on my new cast iron skillet!) tomatoes, mushrooms and green peppers. I also threw some fresh chilli peppers into the tomato topping... gosh, it was lovely. I was very lazy today, and just used up some bread dough mix I had sat the in cupboard.

Yummy :)

Mushroom Stroganoff

Just a picture today. I'm sure if you have a veggie cookbook, you'll have a recipe for a mushroom stroganoff, so I don't need to give you any instructions.

This vegan one was made with soy yogurt, and served on tagliatelle instead of rice.

Matzo Lasagna - Recipe

This makes loads, be warned, two gigantic servings which will make you feel stuffed at the end, it’s also blooming tasty!

This was a bit of a hotch potch of ideas, but strangely very easy. One of the nice things was it used up a load of Matzo type crackers that had seen better days and were getting a little soft, and just a bunch of veggies I had laying about the place.

Matzo Lasagna

Serves 2-4

Veggie Mix
250g Courgettes
300g Aubergine
100g Mushrooms
1 yellow pepper
1tsp garlic puree
3 ribs of celery
400g can chopped tomatoes
Seasoning to taste

Spinach Tofu Layer
90g Frozen Spinach
200g Tofu
100g Soy Yogurt
1tsp lemon juice

4 Matzo type crackers
Cheeze Sauce (I used Wolfies Cheese Sauce from LDV)

1) In a large pan, Sauté Veggies 2-3 mins
2) Add tomatoes, stir and simmer covered for 10 mins
3) In the meantime, microwave or boil frozen spinach (this was about two lumps) until bright green and cooked. Squeeze out the water, and blend with tofu, soy yogurt and lemon juice
4) Line the bottom of your lasagna dish with ½ the matzo crackers.
5) Place ½ the tomato veggie mix on top, add the remaining crackers, and spread the spinach tofu mix on the top.
6) Top with the remaining veggies, and pour cheeze sauce of choice over the top.
Bake at 165c for 15 mins

If serving 2 people, it works out less than 400cals each. If it wasn’t for the fact I’m trying to gain weight, I would have only eaten ½ of this, and still been full!

The cheeze sauce doesn't make it looks that appetising, I admit


Hmmm, Layer goodness, also, you can see I wasn't kidding about it making a lot

Portobello Mushroom Bake

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
I’m not saying much about this other than it’s one of the tastiest mushroom recipes I’ve ever eaten. it’s from ‘Garden of Vegan’ which normally guarantees yumminess.

Mushrooms baked with a garlicy almond sauce, which makes enough that once you have eaten the scrummy baked mushrooms, there is plenty of left over sauce. I normally dump some brown rice into the dish to soak up the sauce.

I think the work you are looking for is Nom

Chocolate Caramel Matzos for Two (Recipe)

Two Serving Chocolate Caramel Matzo - Recipe

I've seen various recipes for these running about the interwebs, but since I didn't much fancy the idea of making a load of them, I've guesstimated a cut down version that only makes two servings (for me as the hubs)

1 Matzo Cracker (I actually used some 'Food Doctor' Organic Wholegrain Spelt Crackers I had laying around the house)
1 serving of vegan margarine (about 7 g)
4 tsp brown sugar
4 squares of 70% dark chocolate (20g) - cut into small chunks (Chocolate chips would be better if you had them)

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Spread marge on cracker
3. Top with sugar
4. Stick into oven
5. Keep an eye until sugar starts to bubble apx 3 mins
6. Take out and sprinkle with chocolate
7. Let chocolate melt, then spread with a knife
8. Allow to cool/set (those of you who are impatient might put these in the freezer!)

Yomp, with the brand of crackers I used, this worked out at only 130kcals for a half sheet of cracker.... seemed very low for something so indulgent. Below is a picture of what once portion looks like.

________________________
Most weekends, I make a Pizza, because a) I really like them and b) it's a good way of using up any veggies that are starting to look like they won't make it through to the next week ;)
My preferred dough is a very simple one

200g flour of choice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp quick action yeast
1 tbs olive oil

I normally whack this in the breadmaker to knead for 5 mins, then leave to prove for 30 mins. After this, I knock it back, and by the time the oven has warmed up and I've topped the pizza, it's ready to go. I always dust my pizza surface with dried polenta as this adds a nice crunch, more then plain flour.

Today's pizza was topped with 1/2 can of tomatoes, mixed with a tbs of ketchup and a little garlic. The veggies were red onions, green pepper, mushroom and the smallest ever bit of left over courgette. I cooked this for 10 min @ 230c, then added some beef seitan I had sat in the fridge and cooked for another 5.

Oh, and for the manically curious, I had a tofu casserole thing for breakfast, and red lentil soup with jalapeno peppers and tomato for lunch... and both were scrummy