Vegan MoFo Day 26 - Mashed Carrot and Swede

Or rutabaga to my American pals.

This is one of my favourite side dishes and is a sure sign that winter is looming.

Boil some carrots and swede, drain then mash with some salt and freshly ground black pepper and a HUGE knob of vegan butter.

Seriously simple but seriously good.

Save the water for making soup or gravy.

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan MoFo Day 12 - Carrot Cake

This is another recipe inspired by Vegan Vitality (still on sale at Amazon from 1 pence!!!).
Carrot Cake
Ingredients
225g wholemeal self raising flour (or add 2 teaspoons of baking powder to plain flour)
2 teaspoons All Spice
225g grated carrots
50g raisins
75g margarine
2 Tablespoons sunflower oil
75g muscavado sugar
4 Tablespoons Golden Syrup (maple syrup would work just as good)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 Tablespoon soya milk.

Method

Heat the oven to 180 ceslsius (340 fahrenheit).

Grease a loaf pan.

In a big bowl sift together the flour, all spice, grated carrot and raisins and mix together really well.

In a small saucepan gently heat the margarine, sunflower oil, sugar and golden syrup. Bring to a boil and immediately take off the heat. Add the mashed bananas then mix everything into the flour bowl. Add the soya milk and give everything a really good mix.

Pour into the greased loaf pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 65-70 mins.

Cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Leave as is and serve with lashing of vegan butter or decorate with orange butter cream made from margarine, icing sugar, fresh orange juice and grated rind of an orange.

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan MoFo Day 11 - Mini Carrot and Squash Roasts

Mini Carrot and Squash Roasts

makes 12

Ingredients

Half a butternut squash, roasted and mashed with salt and pepper to taste

450g (3 cups) carrots, peeled and sliced

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

100g (2 cups) mushrooms, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

quarter cup diced red pepper 

half teaspoon dried rosemary

12 scrapes nutmeg

half teaspoon smoked paprika

Good knob of vegan margarine

175g toasted hazlenuts (sorry, forgot to measure cups)

100g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs (forgot to measure this in cups too! It's about 4 slices) 

8 twists of black pepper

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 Tablespoon soya flour

1 Tablespoon arrowroot

Method

Heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius (350 fahrenheit). Grease a 12 hole muffin pan.

Place the carrots in enough water to cover them and simmer until soft.

Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a medium sized saucepan and fry the mushroom, onion and garlic for 5 minutes, stirring every so often. Add the salt and cook for another few minutes then add the red pepper, rosemary, nutmeg and smoked paprika. Cook for a few minutes more then take off the heat.

When the carrots are cooked, drain, reserving the liquid, and mash with the margarine. Add the mashed carrot to the sautéed vegetable mixture along with the lemon juice, hazlenuts, breadcrumbs and black pepper.

Mix the soya flour and arrowroot to a thin paste with 2 tablespoons of the cooled carrot water and mix into the rest of the ingredients and give everything a really good stir.

Place a tablespoon of mashed squash in the bottom of each muffin hole and smooth down with your finger, then top up with the sautéed veg mix and smooth down with the back of a spoon.

Bake in the oven for 45-50 mins.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins.

I roasted the seeds from the butternut squash and used some to decorate the tops. The rest of the seeds are in mah tummy.

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

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 22: Cottage Pie (but it's not made from cottages)

Waves Magic Wand Ta Da!

Due to the intricate ways of energy weaving and the perceptions thereof - I will have to walk you through what just happened there.

I put the Potatoes in a big pan of salted water and bought them to the boil. Then I added to them a chopped Turnip (it was a VERY little Turnip) and a chopped Parsnip. Boiled them all together for 15 mins, drained them, mashed them up with some freshly ground Black Pepper and set them to one side. Then I added a little Olive Oil to another pan, and threw in some sliced up Onions and Carrots and fried gently for 5 mins. Then I added 2 Cloves of Garlic that had been thinly sliced (I like slices of garlic in my food) and added to that a Parsnip that had been diced up. Cooked it all for a few minutes more then added a sliced up Leek, a pint of water and a Bay leaf. Bought everything to a boil and simmered with the lid on for 15 mins - stirring every now and then. Then I added a jar of Lentils (I usually use fresh but this recipe works well with either) and simmered for a few more minutes. I had a few veggies leftover from last nights dinner so they got thrown in too (Courgette, Peas and Roasted Carrots). Then I added 2 teaspoons of Marmite and a few sprinklings of Bisto (Boullion) until I got the consistency I wanted - which was thickish but still with plenty of gravy, then placed all that in an oven proof and topped with the mashed Potatoes/Turnip/Parsnip combo. Drizzled some Olive Oil over the top and put under the grill (broiler) for 10 mins or so - until it was crispy brown all over. Served with some Mashed Carrot and Swede (Rutabaga) with some Peas and you got yourself a magical meal in no time.

I can't make this post without giving a shout out to the two people who helped me decide what my dinner was going to be tonight, thanks to their awesome blogs Dharma in the Dishes OK - I've forgotten the other person and Google reader isn't delivering!! Shame is mine. If I left a comment on your Cottage Pie let me know.

Today's song is Glorious by Andreas Johnson - sing along.... "sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

Vegan MoFo day 21: Bubble and Squeak (and no...it's not a crazy new dance fad)

When there are Roast Dinner leftovers in the treehugger household we make Bubble and Squeak. Traditionally this is a dish of all your leftover cooked veggies mixed together then lovingly fried in Oil. What could be better? Ask most Brits and they will tell you they prefer the meal on Boxing Day to that of Christmas Day and that's all because of this wonderful dish - Bubble and Squeak. If they say otherwise - poke 'em in the eye and run away! VeganYumYum made some a while ago and as her photo's are sooo much better than mine (jealous? NO!) I thought you could all have a look to see what they CAN look like. Leftover from last nights dinner we had Roast Potatoes, Broccoli, Carrots and Nut Roast. But use whatever leftover Veg you have - be aware you may need more Potato than anything else as this is what generally binds everything together. But not always. Place all your Veggies in a microwavable dish and nuke 'em for 2 mins - this makes it easier on the old mashing muscles. Then set to with your Potato Masher and mash 'em all up.

When mashed add some thinly diced Onions to the mixture, some Pepper and Salt if needed. Then form into Patty shapes and fry in a little Olive Oil on low heat for 20 mins on each side. Depending on your leftover quota will depend on how many Patties you make - but these do freeze well so whatever you don't eat can be stored for leftover leftovers. LOL!

See mine look pretty too...

I served these up with a recipe I found on This Little Piggy had Tofu because I had Carrots and Sweet Potatoes and it looked blinking yum. And it was! Today's song which I have played so many times today the neighbours are threatening to knock me off their Christmas Card list is Human - by The Killers Listen here and tell me how freaking good this song is!

Vegan MoFo Day 20: A Sunday Roast on a Monday

Yeah that's Punk Rock that is.

What isn't quite so Punk Rock is having your boiler die, your new blender jug crack and your extension lead break. No...that's just chaos and also sums up my day pretty well. New boiler installed, blender jug thrown out in disgust and extension lead taken apart and fixed - this gal wasn't in the mood for cooking. Much....... I called upon a store cupboard favourite

Granose Nut Roast Mix. HURRAH! All it took was water and bunging in the oven. To accompany this veritable bag of Nutty goodness, I roasted some Potatoes in Olive Oil and Rosemary, steamed some Carrots and Broccoli, made some Gravy and served it all up with a dollop of Cranberry Sauce.

It was super scrummy and perfect food for filling my boiler mending boyfriend's tummy. Today's song is I'm Going Slightly Mad - by Queen. Because amidst all the chaos this seemed so fitting. Laters Y'all!