I took some of the tips from this thread and modified a basic bread recipe from an old cookbook, and came up with this! The recipe makes one loaf in a 9x5 inch pan. It's much lighter than the other whole grain recipes I've tried and has just a tiny hint of sweetness. I'm going to try it again with different nuts and seeds mixed in!
 

( Recipe behind the cut )

Tags: breads, breads-wholemeal/wholewheat

Granola:

500gr untreated oatmeal
200gr sunflower seeds
200gr of sesame
200gr peeled, sliced almonds
200gr of various dry fruits of your choice
500gr of puffed wheat
1/2 cup of canola oil
1 cup of date/carob syrup

stir-fry the oatmeal for 5-10 minutes with the silan and oil until the juices are bubbling and all the oatmeal is fully coated in the mix. Spread the oatmeal onto a flat oven pan and place in the oven for 10-20 minutes in full heat while stirring every couple of minutes or so.
When the oatmeal starts to gain a brownish-golden color, remove from oven, add the rest of the ingredients and mix.

Current Music: La Roux - I'm Not Your Toy

Just made this (along with aforementioned hazlenut biscuits) for fireworks tonight, turned out much better than my previous attempt at cinder toffee.

4 tablespoons on golden syrup
100f caster sugar
2 teaspoons of bicarb

Heat the syrup and sugar over a medium heat (swirl the pan but don't stir in case it goes grainy), keep heating until it's bubbling and brown (but not burnt), then take of the heat and quickly stir in the bicarb which should make it bubblier. Turn it out onto a baking sheet on a baking tray and leave to set for 20 mins. You might need to set it in the fridge if it's humid. Once set it's best broken up with a rolling pin and is lovely by itself or dipped in chocolate. If you crush it it's also delicious in soya yoghurt with fruit or with chocolate sauce crumbled over Swedish Glace.

http://thecookbook.com.au/2009/01/16/nigellas-express-honeycomb-recipe/

Tags: desserts-candy(non-chocolate)

For a long time I was under the impression that polenta was somehow difficult to make... I finally tried it and was surprised by how easy it was and how good it came out! Now I make it all the time and it's a delicious base for meals. You can have it with vegetables or sauces, serve it with beans, as an appetizer, etc.

There are a few different variations on the recipe but this is the one I've found the easiest and best. Just thought I'd post this for anyone else who might have been intimidated. :-)

Easy Baked Polenta
(Note-ingredients can be increased by 1.5 or doubled to increase yield)

Ingredients
•One cup yellow or white finely ground cornmeal
•3 cups water
•1/4 cup oil or margarine (I usually use light olive oil)
•OPTIONAL: a few tablespoons nutritional yeast or cheese substitute
•Salt to taste
•Paprika (optional, but recommended)

Directions
1.Combine cornmeal and 1 cup of cold water.
2.Bring remaining 2 cups of water and salt to a boil in a sauce pan over medium-high heat.
3.Add cornmeal mixture slowly, stirring well.
4.Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and begins to form large bubbles, about 3 to 5 minutes. Continue cooking another 1 to 2 minutes. (Word of advice: it's important to stir WELL in this step to prevent lumps--also, there is a chance it will spatter when it starts bubbling, so use a large enough pot and again keep stirring well throughout this step)
5.Remove from heat and stir in oil/margarine and NYF/cheese, blending well.
6.Pour into a baking dish and sprinkle with paprika.
7.Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven until top is brown and crusty, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Serves about 4.

At this point you will have a delicious soft polenta, firm on top, warm and fluffy in the middle. If you cool it overnight in the fridge it will firm up.

Vegan and easily gluten-free! Someone posted the original recipe to another community I'm in--the "traditional" version has two pounds of meat in it, ew! I was thinking of using tempeh for stuffing instead, when a friend said she'd used potatoes and mushrooms before. I was intrigued and decided to try it myself, and the result was delicious! I'm the only vegan in a household of three people--and the other two have other food restrictions, including allergies and celiac disease. Finding something we can all eat is fun, and since we all have Polish ancestors, this was perfect.

( Gołąbki -Stuffed Cabbage Rolls )

Is anyone doing a non-tofurkey American Thanksgiving? I’m going to my husband’s omnivorous aunt and uncles’ house and I’d like to bring something tastier and nicer than tofurkey. Plus, the consistency always kinda weirded me out.

What are you all doing?

Current Mood: antsy

 Ingredients:

- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 Roma tomatoes, diced (use fresh ones, not canned)
- Half block of tofu
- 3-5 cloves of garlic, diced
- Olive oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Sea salt

Add some olive oil to a skillet and cook the onion (add sea salt here) on med-high heat for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until the onions and garlic become browned. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 1 minute, make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add about 2Tbsp. balsamic vinegar to the pan and mix well. Crumble the half block of tofu into the pan (I don't press it). Continue cooking until everything is heated through but the tomatoes are not mush. Sometimes I like to add some arugala to the bottom of my bowl and then put the scramble on top. 

Tags: breakfast foods-tofu scramble

Let's talk about bread. I'm just starting to get really into breadmaking, and I'd love to know things such as what I need to do differently when using different flours in a basic yeast/flour/water/salt type bread. I have at my disposal quite a lot of whole wheat pastry, and rye, and a little all-purpose unbleached white. I believe I have spelt, too.

I'm also curious about anything else bread-related you think is interesting or whatever. "Styles" of bread, technique, salt-risen, sourdough, etc.

Tags: breads

I want to make pumpkin soup to try it out at least once.

I don't want to hit the grocery store for one last infernal ingredient. Not to mention I'm broke.

I was wanting to try this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Thai-Pumpkin-Soup/Detail.aspx

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 shallots, chopped
2 small fresh red chili peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped lemon grass
2 1/8 cups chicken stock (I will be using Better Than Bouilon No Chicken Base)
4 cups peeled and diced pumpkin
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 bunch fresh basil leaves

But lack lemon grass. So I looked up some pumpkin soup recipes on vegancooking.

All of the recipes I'm looking at have at least one ingredient I don't have! (don't you just hate that?)
( Read more... )
Will someone with imagination and/or experience (I lack both) help me out?

Or am I doomed to put it off till payday and have to buy a citrus fruit out of season?

Current Mood: aggravated

hi all! ive been following for a while, but this is my first post!

yesterday my mother in law [who doesnt cook] brought over these 2 chinese winter squash from her friends garden...i have never heard of nor eaten it before, so im wondering if anyone here has, and if so what it tastes like/how it is best prepared! :]

http://www.pbase.com/selvin/image/36274202
[if you click that link, thats what they look like and they are HUGE! i mean like length of a watermelon and about as big around as a honey-dew!]

thanks in advance for any advice!

Tags: vegetables-squash
Current Mood: curious

Someone in veganpeople requested my dumpling recipe, so here it is :) All of these ingredients except for the brocolli sprouts can be brought at Asian groceries. 

2-3 tablespoons each of chopped:

Brocolli sprouts
green onions
snowpea sprouts

1 teaspoon umami seasoning

a few drops of sesame oil

Fried garlic flakes to taste [you can buy these pre-fried to avoid the hassle of crushing/frying the garlic yourself]

1 package vegan shrimp [made of soy protein and tapioca starch, i think] 

1 package dumpling skins


Simply add everything except the skins to a bowl and let it sit for half an hour to absorb the flavour. Add 1 vegan shrimp and a pinch of the chopped veggies to each dumpling skin and fold to your liking, sealing with water. Boil, steam or fry. Be careful of the cooking time because cooking the vegan shrimps too long makes them tough.

Delicious served on a bed of brown rice and baby salad leaves. 

Let me know if you like them!

Tags: ethnic food-general asian/fusion, substitutes-meat-seafood

I just wanted to share that the Magical Loaf Studio generator is back up and running. I love this website/generator for making a good alternative meatloaf.

http://www.veganlunchbox.com/loaf_studio.html

So after I planned my [awesome] menu for the week, my husband informs me he is sick. Usually he wishes chicken soup [made with bones, and the one of the only times we usually cook with meat] when ill, but we have a vegetarian [technically kosher (flexible obviously, as he is willing to eat our food at all) but when he lives with us we usually just cook vegetarian] living with us this week, so I'd love to hear various ideas for comfort/get well soups that are vegetarian.

Thanks!

Tags: -health-colds/flu, soups (uncategorizable)

I've decided that rather than giving people tins full of sweets for the holidays this year, I'd like to make little gift baskets filled with DIY food items.

I've been thinking along the lines of hot cocoa mixes, chili spices + the canned beans, spice mixes for dips, and dry ingredients for baked goods.

Does anyone else do this? And would anyone mind sharing their recipes, along with instructions to include? Just some ideas on what types of items I could include would be awesome, too.

Tags: holiday food-christmas
Current Mood: thoughtful

I have a block of tofu, some rice, and various veggies...I want to do some sort of pan frying on the tofu and I need ideas for sauce/gravy. I have some sweet n sour, but it isn't that great. I'd make a nutritional yeast gravy but I'm out of NY.
What kind of sauce do you like with tofu, veggies, and rice?

Upon closer inspection I have the following on hand;
-soy sauce
-ginger that's preserved in sherry
-garlic
-those little sweet sauce (apricot?) packets that come with Chinese food
-sesame seeds
-sweet chili sauce
-a good range of spices

Can anyone think of anything I can do with the above? I'm fairly new to tofu cooking and Asian cooking in general.

i know tempeh can have mold on it, but this is my 2nd time buying it so i dont know if this is bad mold or good mold

( helppp i wanna make some bacon )

Tags: tempeh

I'm vegan and straight-edge since deciding to follow Buddhist philosophy, and one thing I really miss is liqueurs. Google has failed me; anybody got any ideas?

Tags: desserts-chocolates, substitutes-alcohol

My friend is throwing a tea party, and insists on me having tea (I'm a coffee addict)
Can someone please recommend what type of milk is best used in tea? Brands?
I'm also from Australia & at the supermarket I can get my hands on soy, oat, rice & almond milk.
Thank you

Tags: beverages-tea, substitutes-dairy-milk

I'm really craving some Thai iced tea...I'm thinking I could make it with cream of coconut maybe? I saw a few recipes using coconut milk or soy/rice/almond/hemp/ect milk but the Thai iced tea I remember was really rich, I believe it was made with sweetened condensed milk? I'd like something rich and super sweet like that.
Does anyone have any experience making Thai iced tea with cream of coconut? Is there a better method to make a rich, vegan Thai iced tea?

Thanks!

Update; I made it with coconut milk, simple syrup (1 cup sugar, 1 cup water brought to a boil then left to cool), and celestial seasonings Thai coconut chai tea. It's very good, but still not quite rich enough. I'm going to try it next time with the coconut cream and see where that gets me. :)

Tags: beverages-iced, beverages-tea

Its a long standing tradition to make pumpkin rolls for Thanksgiving. So I asked my mom to send me the recipe so I could figure out how to veganize it. Its actually pretty easy except for the eggs.

It requires 3 eggs, beaten for 2 minutes. Can this be accomplished with egg replacer? Or is there a better method?

Tags: substitutes-eggs-for breads

Hey. I want to make a pumpkin stew for Halloween dinner where the stew is served inside a pumpkin. I've never done this before so I just wondered if anyone had any recipes that they've tried.

I found a recipe here which looks pretty good and has you bake the entire pumpkin in the oven with the stew inside. As opposed to this one which has you cook the stew in a pot and then serve it in the pumpkin when it's done. I think baking it in the pumpkin would make it more flavorful.

Also I was considering taking any recipe that calls for celery and replacing them with turnips, since someone doesn't like celery. Turnips are supposed to be flavorful. I don't really know what else would be a good replacement.

* And if you have any other recipes for Halloween, appetizers or anything, it'd be cool to hear.

Tags: main dishes-stews
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Wild And Untamed Things: Rocky Horror

I have a very specific request: a recipe for very low calorie vegan muffins (140 calories or less), preferably fat-free or low-fat, that does not require an egg replacer, agave nectar, or arrowroot.
please help?

Tags: -health-low sugar/low calorie, breakfast foods-muffins

I got to go mushroom-hunting this weekend, and we got a good haul of matsutakes. Tonight I'm trying them the way a coworker recommended--just olive oil, salt and lemon juice--and it's delicious. But I have a few more for another night and would love to make the most of them. What should I do?

Tags: vegetables-mushrooms

SO I found this recipe called Chinese Garlic Mushrooms.

And it asks for marinated tofu, which is not available at any stores in town. And other than the marinade I made to make my tofu taste like bacon, I've never made another marinade before in my life.

So I shall put forth the recipe and hopefully you guys can suggest something that would go well with and not against the other flavors.

8 lg open cup mushrooms
3 spring onions
1 garlic clove
2 TBSP light soy sauce
10 oz package of marinated tofu, diced (my problem)
7 oz can sweet corn, drained
2 tsp sesame oil
salt and black pepper

( Read more... )

Thanks so much in advance guys!

Tags: tofu
Current Location: home
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: Panic! at the disco

I cannot find red vegan food gel, all the ones in my supermarket (Coles at Broadway) have dead bugs in them.
I need it to make these.Two years ago when I made them the brand I found was vegan but it is no longer on the shelves.
Does anyone have any ideas how to make red vegan blood substitute that tastes good, or tastes neutral, or know anywhere in Sydney inner city/inner west I can find vegan red food gel it would be much appreciated! TIA

Tags: -location-australia/new zealand, holiday food-halloween