Vegan MoFo Day 6 - Roasted Carrot and Parsnip Soup

Roasted Carrot & Parsnip Soup

serves 6

Ingredients

350g carrots, peeled and chopped

160g parsnips, peeled and chopped

140g turnip, peeled and chopped

310g diced yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, cut in halves

half a cup chopped leek

half a cup celery, sliced thinly

2 Tblsp olive oil x 2

1 tsp salt

1 and a half litres of good stock

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a roasting pan in a medium/hot oven for 5 minutes. Add the carrot, parsnips, turnips and onion. Roast for about an hour turning every 20 minutes or so. Twenty minutes before roasting has finished add the garlic.

Heat the other 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a big pan and fry the leek and celery for 8 minutes. Add the salt and cook for another couple of minutes.

Add the roasted vegetables and stock.

Simmer for 5 mins then whizz with a stick blender (or whatever fancy equipment you normally use).

Season with freshly ground black pepper and go and warm your tummies.

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan MoFo day 6 - Tree Cats!

So this isn't a food post but they are eating food and one of them is orange!

OK OK so this totally fails as a Vegan MoFo post but LOOK! KITTENS!

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan MoFo day 5 - Chocolate Orange Cashew Cheese Cake

HOLLER!!

I was inspired to make this by The Stripey Cat an AWESOME blog that I really LOVE reading and following. Take a look at her recipe here.

My only comments to add to this is that the oranges I used produced 150ml of juice and if you're microwaving the chocolate THE BOWL WILL BE BLOODY HOT! Serves me right for doing it the lazy way which 99.9% of the time I never do.

 
I don't have the same size cake tin (it's on my list) so I made a bigger one with less height.

I thought it would be nice to decorate with candied orange slices which were really easy to make and so pretty....but in all honesty I'd skip this next time (and there will be a next time) and just decorate with chocolate.

Candied Orange

Ingredients

1 and a half cups of water

half a cup granulated sugar

1 big orange sliced into quarter of an inch slices

Method

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the orange slices and cook over a medium heat,for about 20 minutes, turning them a couple of times. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for another 10 minutes or so, until the syrup is thick and the slices are tender but still intact. Turn them a couple of times during this process.

Transfer the orange slices to a rack to cool, after about 2 minutes turn them over then after 5 minutessprinkle with granulated sugar on both sides.

These can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Now excuse me while I go and fill mah face.

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan MoFo Day 4 - When Life Gives You Lemons

....and oranges, MAKE MARMALADE!!!!

YAY!

Orange and Lemon Marmalade  

makes 1 medium jar

Ingredients  
Juice of 4 oranges
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
7 oranges
Peel from 2 oranges, cut into long thin slices (or chunkier if you like it like that)
8 ounces granulated sugar

Method  

Squeeze the juice from 4 oranges and I large lemon and put in a jug – add 1 teaspoon of bicarb.
Peel the oranges and cut in half horizontally, this makes taking out the pips easier. Remove pips and cut away any white pithy bits. Chop into small chunks. Put the oranges and peel in a heavy based saucepan, add the juice mixture. Bring to boil then simmer for 1 hour (after 40 mins you will have to keep a real good eye on it all as it starts to thicken and reduce down – you don’t want it to burn!)
Add the sugar and boil rapidly for 15 mins stirring all the time.
Place in clean sterilized jars, seal and let cool.

Keep refrigerated.
This makes enough for one medium sized jar – so just double or treble the amounts to whatever you want.

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan MoFo day 3: Jamaican Ginger Cake

I have been playing with this recipe for a while now and by Jove! I've finally got it right. 

Jamaican Ginger Cake

makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, mashed

half a cup of vegan butter

half a cup of dark brown sugar

quarter cup coconut milk

quarter cup treacle (molasses)

quarter cup golden syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 and a half inch piece of fresh ginger, minced (about 1 and a half Tablespoons)

1 and a half cups of self raising flour

half a teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon arrowroot

1 Tablespoon cornflour

For the drizzle

eighth of a cup of treacle 

eighth of a cup of golden syrup

Method

Heat the oven to 180 degrees (350 fahrenheit) and grease and line a loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl cream together the bananas, butter and sugar, use an electric mixer if you have one. Add the coconut milk, treacle, golden syrup and vanilla. Mix together really well.

Take another bowl and sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, arrowroot and cornflour then add this to the other bowl with the wet ingredients.

Stir really well then pour into your prepared loaf pan and bake in the middle of the oven for one hour.

Make holes in the top of the cake with a toothpick, heat together the treacle and syrup and pour over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Leave to cool.

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan MoFo day 2: Spicy Cajun Lentil Patties

I've been playing with this recipe for a while now and I've finally got it to my satisfaction and ready to share with the world.

Spicy Cajun Lentil Patties
makes 9 patties
Ingredients
2 cups diced white mushrooms (about 6 medium shrooms)
1 cup diced onion (I used red)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup grated carrot
1 teaspoon Cajun spice
half teaspoon smoked paprika
quarter teaspoon oregano
2 cups cooked lentils
8 twists black pepper
quarter cup of vital wheat gluten
Olive oil for frying

Method
Heat olive oil in a pan and add the diced mushrooms, cook on medium for 7 minutes stirring now and again then add the onion and salt and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the garlic, carrot, Cajun spice, smoked paprika, oregano and lentils, stir really well and cook for another 5 minutes.
Set aside to cool completely.
This is really important, don't cheat on this.
Once cool add the black pepper and vital wheat gluten and mix together really well.
Using the quarter cup measure as a scoop, form the mixture into 9 patties.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan (spray is better, you don't want to use much oil at all). 
Cook on each side for about 6 minutes.

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan MoFo VI - And we're off! Day 1 - Roast Chickpea and Carrott Salad

Heeeeeere's Jeni!

It's that time of year again folks, the time when vegan bloggers around the globe try to crash the Google mothership by filling the blogosphere with awesome vegan food for the entire month of October.

This is my fourth year doing MoFo and regular readers will know just how much I freaking love participating.

For non regular readers; Where Ya Been??

Oh, and, I FREAKING LOVE Vegan MoFo!

Don't forget to check out the MoFo website where there are daily updates and give-aways galore.

You'll find me blogging there every Thursday too.

I've never had a MoFo theme before but this year I do..............................

ORANGE!

I will only blog about orange food for the entire month.

If I get to the end of October and look like the Tango Man then even better, that's my Halloween costume taken care of straight away!

But here are some interesting facts about orange food (and who said this blog wasn't informative huh!)

Did you know that most orange foods are high in anti-oxidants that help to destroy toxic cells and repair cellular damage?

Orange foods are thought to lower the risk of some types of cancers, improve vision, maintain a healthy heart, and contribute to a healthy immune system. Orange coloured foods contain varying amounts of anti-oxidants such as vitamin C as well as carotenoids and bioflavonoids.

Cool huh!


Today's recipe is Roast Chickpea and Carrot Salad. I feel a bit weird posting a salad recipe as my first MoFo post but this particular salad has been consumed by the bucket load in our house this summer and it's a bloody delicious recipe goddammit!

Roast Chickpea and Carrot Salad

serves 4


The best thing about this recipe is that if you want to add more or less of the ingredients that is totally fine!


Ingredients
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 jar/can of chickpeas, drained
1 cup frozen sweetcorn
half a cup diced red onion
salt
black pepper
2 large carrots, peeled


Method:
Heat your oven to 200 degrees. Pour the olive oil in a pan and heat in the hot oven for 2 mins. Add the chickpeas and sweetcorn and season with salt and pepper. 
Be aware of exploding chickpeas!
Toss.
Roast in the oven for ten minutes, then toss with a spoon and roast for another ten minutes.
Add the red onion and roast for another 10 minutes. 
Leave to cool slightly.


Using a vegetable peeler, peel the carrot into ribbons and place in a bowl. Season lightly.
When the chickpea mix is slightly cool, add to the carrot and toss really well. Check the seasoning and adjust to your preference. 
I always use lots of black pepper.
Serve.

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan Spiderman Cake

The cake recipe was the Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake from the AWESOME Vegan Bake Sale.
I made this in two tins and sandwiched together with buttercream, vegan of course.
The top was covered in blue buttercream and the Spiderman face was made with ready to roll fondant and a black edible colouring pen.
The birthday boy was delighted.

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Vegan MoFo the Fifth

It's nearly that time again folks!

1st October 2011 sees the start of this year's fifth Vegan MoFo.

VeganMoFo was originally created by the awesome people that are collectively known as PPK'ers over at the Post Punk Kitchen.

The idea is to write as much as you can all throughout October, about the awesomeness that is vegan food. Pretty easy 'cos we all know how AWESOME being vegan is already so let's all shout it out to the rest of the world so that they can be in on this nifty secret too!

Be sure to check out the new Vegan MoFo website, where you will find everything you could possibly want to know about Vegan MoFo, as well as the official RSS feed, the form for registering your blog, AMAZING daily give-aways, daily round-ups and LOTS more. You'll find me there posting daily round-ups every Friday.

This is my fourth year doing MoFo and I absolutely LOVE IT!!

The comradeship, the camaraderie, the fun and THE FOOD!

It is all just simply awesome.

I don't usually have a theme for MoFo, I just post about what I've eaten that day, but this year I have finally decided to have one and this year's theme will be revealed all in good time. 

Well, OK, on the 1st October actually.

It's a corker!

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan Coconut and Peanut Butter ice cream

I am the happy excited owner of an ice cream maker - so I will be experimenting with a LOT of ice cream all summer YAY!

My very first attempt came out AMAZING so I wanted to share it with you.

Coconut and Peanut Butter ice cream

serves 3/4

Ingredients

2 tins full fat coconut milk

half a cup muscavado sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons smooth peanut butter, warmed a little so as it mixes easily

Mix all ingredients together, chill for 4 or 5 hours then follow ice cream maker instructions.

Easy or what!

Winner of the Tofutti voucher is Ashley. Well done Ashley. email me your postal details and I'll pop the voucher in the post.