Christmas Wrapping

I'll pause my Tasmania recaps, because hey, it's Christmas. It sort of snuck up on us this year. Without going into too much detail, I had a rather busy year this year. It was full of workworkwork, to which I said yes too often and found myself often overwhelmed. And it was a bargaining year - so the union activities added to my things to do, but the whole process also made me feel a bit less generous towards my employer. When you see how little regard management holds staff in, it makes it hard to love what you do, ya know? So I got to the end of November utterly exhausted, and though I've been on holidays since then, I still feel like I'm in recovery mode.

Long story short, the weekend before Christmas I realised I had no plans for a meal or anything. Our Asian grocery store has stopped getting in gluten flour, because their supplier has stopped supplying. So our tradition of a seitan log was out of the question.

Eventually I got it together, though Andy said he would have been happy with just a regular dinner, and our Christmas involved an appropriately festive series of meals, a few little gifts, and some lazy chores (okay, that last part isn't that festive but it's how we roll).

Andy has spent most of the week turning rubbish timber from our neighbour's renovations into a BBQ table. 

We ended up having the Festive Chickpea Tart from Let them eat Vegan!, which we both really liked. It wasn't as firm as Dreena's picture, which probably means I need to process the filling a bit more, but I was nervous about overdoing it.

Along with the tart, we had rosemary, okra and mushroom stuffing (I tried to bake them as stuffing balls but they sort of fell apart), and a simple salad.

With rosemary dressing - 2 Tbsp of fresh rosemary, 1 tsp of dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp of dark tahini, 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp of pomegranate molasses, and about 1/2 cup of olive oil. Also salt and pepper. Shake it all up in a jar, and then pour it onto salad, stuffing, and chickpea tart. Yum.

On Sunday, Kari posted a raw vegan mango cheesecake recipe to her blog, and my dessert indecision was over. This became our holiday dessert:

Served with extra fresh mango, and at another time with a fruit salad of pineapple, starfruit, kiwifruit and mango, it is pretty much as perfect as you can get for a tropical christmas.

We had our main Christmas meal on Christmas eve, as we always do. When I woke up on actual Christmas, I took Tika for a 7km run (the longest I've ever run in one go, and also enough to bring my annual total from 496 to 503, thus making it to my 2013 running goal). When we got home, Andy was just starting to make breakfast, and it was raining a little bit.

Baked Latkes, from Betty Goes Vegan, became BBQ Latkes. We've been looking for a good hashbrown/latke recipe for many years, but they never seem to work for us. This time, though, we found a winner. Andy sprinkled bacon bits on top at the end of cooking. They were crunchy outside, soft inside, and very delicious.

And with them we had herby mushrooms in a Vegg gravy.

Mushrooms with thyme, parsley and garlic chives.

I spent the morning drinking iced christmassy tea - rosella, cranberry and vanilla, refreshing and a little bit festive. Andy played with the compost while I did laundry.

I got this fancy iced-tea maker when a friend moved overseas, but I cannot for the life of me pour a glass of tea without dribbling heaps. 

And then moved on to this vegan coconut nog (with a splash or five of rum). And salt and vinegar chips for lunch, because tradition.

Some gifties - tea (and a teapot, not in the photo) from Andy's parents, some dried edible seaweed from Andy's co-worker, a seaweed book from Andy's boss, and a tropical gardening book from me. Also coconut nog. 

For dinner, we had more chickpea tart, which Andy reckons is the best savoury tart I've ever made. And grilled pineapple, and garlic bread (and more cheesecake).

And now it's Boxing Day, and we will eat the last of our cheesecake and watch Doctor Who. I hope you've all had as enjoyable a few days as we have!

Andy refused to put on a shirt, Tika refused to sit or stand up, and Nacho refused to come near us.

Trying new things

Though I have basically ignored Andy's silly request that I avoid buying new cookbooks until I have tried *every* recipe in *every* cookbook we already have, I have been making an effort to try lots of new and exciting things. Because trying new things is good - it keeps us from getting in food ruts. And with a little bit of forward thinking, it isn't any more difficult than relying on old stand-by meals.

Here are a few new things we've been eating...

Beans and Greens, from The Urban Vegan. I used kale and cannelini beans, and added capsicum to the pan. Served on Creamy Polenta, from Let them eat Vegan! Both delicious - the polenta will probably be our new go-to polenta recipe because it is yummy. 

No-Fu Love Loaf, from Let them eat Vegan! Made from lentils, bulgur and oats, it is really the flavourings that make this a stand-out loaf. It's so yummy. Andy topped this one with a fancy pattern of BBQ sauce, tomato sauce and mustard. 

Okay, I cheat. This is also No-Fu Love Loaf - so not an entirely new thing. We really love it, and it's easy to make on a Sunday and leave in the fridge for later in the week. Last time I even made a double batch and put one loaf in the freezer. We cook ours on the BBQ - here with a jacket potato, and some kale with miso dressing.

Corn Pudding, from The Happy Herbivore. Though this cookbook isn't our favourite in the way that LteV! is, this recipe is a winner. It's like a silky, soft quiche full of corn. 

This is BBQ tofu in Classic Marinade from The Urban Vegan. But we've had that before. The new thing here is Muhammara, a walnut and capiscum based sauce. I spooned some on the tofu in the last few minutes it was on the BBQ. It was a yummy combination - a tiny bit spicy, but with interesting depths of flavour we don't usually eat. 

Mac-Oh-Geez! from LteV! I killed our blender a few weeks ago, so I made the nut-free version that used tahini instead of whole cashews. It was really nice - subtle, rather than cheesy, but super saucy. 

Here's the Mac-Oh-Geez! again. I added broccoli because that's how we roll. Oh, and Andy and I ate the whole pan in one go...

Too Good to be Tofu Burgers, in loaf form, from LteV! We used okara instead of tofu, and added a shredded carrot, and cooked our loaf on the BBQ with some pumpkin, beetroot wedges, and corn. As with the Nofu loaf, the flavour of this is something magical. 

Fruity Cereal Bars, from The Happy Herbivore. Mine didn't quite work out like they should have. Maybe my pan was the wrong size, but I needed more than half the batter to fill the bottom of the pan, which meant that instead of a solid layer of cakey stuff on top, mine was more of a crumble. I threw walnuts around to make it look a little more full on top. I used rosella jam for these, and they made a good afternoon snack. I wouldn't rush to make these again, but they were nice. 

 I have started ticking the recipes we have tried, and I am still woefully far away from getting even one entire cookbook under my belt. But nevermind - my copy of Asian Vegan Kitchen arrived yesterday so I have even more new recipes to try!

Produce - Big and Little

Andy and I have big appetites, so we love our veggies in giant proportions. Our favourite winter veggie in the garden is kale. It's getting to the time of year now that they are full of caterpillars. Andy is still happy to eat them, but I get a little grossed out at the idea. And on the weekend Andy cooked one, and it ended up in my bowl. That put my off my pasta.

But caterpillars aside, we prefer our kale to come in mountains, rather than the tiddly bunches you get in supermarkets.

Kale mountain.

Kale with cauliflower, jacket potatoes and corn cooked on the BBQ, and a tomato and cucumber salad

And when choosing a sweet potato at the market last week, Andy chose this gigantor. That's 2.4 kilos, or 5 pounds, of a single sweet potato.

Sweet potato chips with black bean burgers (recipe from Celebrate Vegan)

But sometimes we don't have as much success. We tried to grow a row of carrots, and they were pretty puny.

Tiddly carrots. We roasted them with Aloo Palak Pie.

And our corn grew really quickly and looked great, but was very small. Tasty, but tiny.

Not done yet. 

BBQ corn with pumpkin, potatoes and carrot, and Chickpea Pumpkin Seed Burgers (recipe from Let them eat vegan!)

The corn and carrots do prove that sometimes the smallest produce are the sweetest and tenderest. But we still love giants.

Betty goes Troppo

Though I will undoubtedly ignore Andy's suggestion that we try every recipe in every cookbook we already have before buying any more, his comment did make me think. I always have stacks of recipes flagged that I want to try, but I don't always get around to it. So I resolved to get around to it. Here are a few of the recipes I've tried in the last two weeks from Betty Goes Vegan.

This cookbook has copped a lot of flak for relying so heavily on mock meats and cheeses. Of course that is a barrier to me trying a lot of the recipes straight away, but when I look at the cookbook I think about whether it would be better with seitan or tofu. I also think that a lot of the recipes are not intended for every day (though I'm sure Betty Crocker genuinely was). So while it's not my go-to cookbook, I appreciate it for what it is. Plus, the recipes I have tried so far have been good.

This one is a bit of a cheat - we had it months ago, not in the past two weeks. 

Curry Spinach and Lentil Pilaf, p.221. I followed the gist of the recipe, but cooked the brown rice and hte lentils together rather than coming to the recipe with both already done. Also (it looks like) I added some red capsicum and maybe zucchini, to up the veggie-quota. Topped with crunchy fried shallots. This was a good one-pot meal that had a gentle zing of curry flavour.

Zucchini Apple Bread, p. 326. Really this is more like cake, obviously. I cut the recipe in half and just made one loaf, but I wish I had done two. This made a great from-the-freezer morning tea to bring to work every day, but only saw us through till Wednesday.

Asian Tofu Steaks with Wasabi Aioli, p.255. Instead of thick steaks, I did nice thin ones. And instead of marinating it, taking it out of the sauce, and baking it separately, we put the whole thing on the BBQ. The sauce thickened up, and the seaweed had Nacho begging to have some plz. Unfortunately for her, we humans loved it too much to share (also soy sauce seems like it wouldn't be good for kittehs).

 Hawaiian Toast, p. 44. Like French toast, but with coconut milk and pineapple juice. We had ours with mango jam. As you can see, it turned out pretty well. I loved it. Andy is lukewarm about french toast, but he ate 4 pieces.

Toffee Bars, p.309. The photo of this one, in the shiny colour pages, grabbed my eye. The recipe was easy enough. So after finishing some writing this weekend well in advance of a deadline, I decided I deserved some slice. I thought they would be very peanutty, but the base tastes more like caramel. Andy didn't like it at room temperature - he thought it was too 'nougatty', whatever that is. But cold, when the base is firm, we both want to eat all the slice.

So I've tried these 5, plus one more when I first got the book, which just leaves me with 494 to go. I've got Vegan Bacon & Kale Scalloped Potatoes on the menu for tonight - 493. But who's counting?

Deliciously Healthy

Over the course of this year, I've noticed us shifting to a healthier way of eating. This isn't to say that we ate badly before - in fact, we generally tried to avoid bad food. But in the last few months we've shifted to actively choosing good things, instead of just avoiding the bad. I think this comes down to a few things. One is more awareness. Another is that as I do more exercise, I am hungrier and want to eat better to stay fuller longer. And a big reason is that we are much more financially comfortable now, so buying nuts and unusual grains and flours is something we can afford to do with a bit more regularity now.

One of the things that has made it much easier to shift to healthier eating is the fantastic, delicious, but very health conscious cookbook, Let them eat Vegan! by Dreena Burton. We just love it. Here are some of our winners.

"Fit-tuccine Alfredo". We skipped the chanterelle bread crumb topping, and served it on penne pasta with zucchini, broccoli and capsicum. Based on cashews, this sauce is suuuuper creamy and really delicious.

Raw-nch Dressing! [original exclamation mark] Made with a big handful of fresh parsley, this was fresh and creamy and filling. 

Perfect on a salad with enchiladas and corn on the cob. 

White bean mashed potatoes. This was a bit of hassle to make, and Andy didn't think it was worth it, but it really is much healthier than regular mash. With eggplant parma, sauteed gai lan, and roasted radishes.

Yellow Sweet Potato Chickpea Pie with Basil. This recipe, or some variation of it, is one of our favourites from the book. It's easy to make, and easy to modify, and really delicious. We have only ever made it with orange sweet potatoes, and sometimes use white beans instead of chickpeas, but it is always delicious. Unfortunately, it may have killed my blender last week. 

The star of this pizza is Romesc-oat Sauce, a roasted capsicum-based thick spread with the nutty taste of toasted almonds and toasted oats. 

BBQ Sunflower Tofu, cooked on the BBQ instead of in the oven. Easy peasy, delicious, made with sunflower butter for a different kind of taste. With BBQ eggplant, rocket, and bok choy. 

Jerk Chickpeas, with added eggplant and rocket. 

Lemon-Infused Mediterranean Lentils - made with veggies mixed in, and a little bit saucier. 

There are lots of gems in this cookbook. It makes me want to look more into Dreena's recipes - but Andy thinks I should make more things out of the cookbooks we have before I get more new ones!

Let us eat vegan!

We have been loving our new cookbook, Let Them Eat Vegan! by Dreena Burton. We've enjoyed everything that we've tried so far, and have lots more recipes tagged to try. It's healthy, but in a gourmet way. The flavour combinations are sophisticated and the recipes centre on veggies, beans and whole grains - which really suits the sort of food we've been eating a lot this year, anyways.

Our first try from the cookbook was Jerk Chickpeas. I googled it afterwards, and found it all over the internet - my first choice of recipe was one that had been released as a teaser! But I can see why - they were easy to make, and very delicious. We made ours on the BBQ, rather than the oven, roasted some eggplants in them as well, and made them spicy. At the end of cooking, we mixed through some rocket from the garden, and put them in wraps.

White Bean Mashed Potatoes were a yummy and healthy side dish, but a bit more work than I prefer side dishes to be. Potatoes, pumpkin and cannellini beans mixed together were creamy and rich without being super fatty. We had them with eggplant parma, tahini-garlic gai lan, and roasted radishes.

Andy wasn't sold when I told him I would make Lemon-Infused Mediterranean Lentils. He doesn't like the idea of brown lentils just generally, even though when I do cook them, he generally likes them. The same happened with this dish - he liked them so much, he ate two HUGE bowls full. I didn't follow the recipe exactly - I added some zucchini and eggplant to the mix, and made it saucy, and it was fantastic served over rice. The saucy-stewy lentils were a great cold-weather meal, but the lemon juice and zest kept it from feeling stodgy.

Tonight's dinner was similarly "based on" with lots of changes, this time based on Yellow Sweet Potato Chickpea Pie with Basil. I used orange sweet potato and cannellini beans instead of chickpeas. This was much better than most of the quiche-type things we have made in the past, partially because it doesn't try to be a quiche at all. The slight sweetness from the sweet potato, the aniseedy basil, and the creamy beans all combined into something magical. Andy suggested (and I agree wholeheartedly) that these would be great at a party in mini form.

 This is my current go-to book for recipes when we've got veggies I can't decide what to do with. I'm very glad I got this book!