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♥ Vegan scones

Jun27

I don’t understand why so many vegan cake recipes especially need to be so complicated? It’s so easy to replace marg and milk for vegan spread and soya milk. And since scones don’t require eggs, they are super-easy to veganise!

Vegan Currant Scones

Recipe:

  • 45g vegan spread
  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 35g sugar
  • 1 x pinch of salt
  • 100g currants / sultanas / raisins or I used frozen blueberries
  • 110ml soya milk (or almond / hazelnut / oat / rice / whatever!)

Method:

  1. In a large bowl, rub the spread into the flour to make light breadcrumbs. Try to rub from a height to try and introduce a little air. Stir in the sugar and salt using a knife and then add the currents. 
  2. Slowly add the milk whilst stirring. Once all the milk has been absorbed, use your hands to knead the mixture into a dough. Remember that not all flour has the same absorbency, so you may need a little less or little more liquid in order to produce a slightly sticky but not-at-all-dry dough.
  3. Most recipes will recommend that you roll out the dough on a floured surface. However if you get the consistency of the dough just right, it shouldn’t stick to your work top. And not using extra flour reduces the risk of the dough becoming too dry. (But if you’re worried, it should be fine to sprinkle a bit of flour around.)
  4. Using your hands, gently squash out the dough until it is about ¼ of an inch thick. Then using a sharp cutter, stamp out 8 scones and gently plop onto a well-greased baking tray.  I can’t remember if it was good old Delia Smith or Gary Rhodes who warned me not to twist the cutter as you stamp out the scones, but they were right – don’t do this or else the scones won’t rise properly.
  5. Bake the scones at 220oC for 10 mins. 
  6. Cool on a wire rack before cutting open.
  7. Best served with vegan butter or generous helping of dairy-free cream and jam. Lovely!

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♥ Fryangles!

Jun25

I should be ashamed to admit how much the title amused me. My Daddy would be proud. The rest of the world, not so much. But who cares? I thought it was punny! 😉

Anyway, me and the hubby usually either go out on a Friday night or order takeaway. But since I’d been out the night before I figured I’d best cook and use up the sweet potatoes I’ve been hoarding for weeks. But I wanted something dirty and hence Fryangles were born!

Smooth on the inside, crunchy on the outside, these little fried triangles are much tastier than armadillos and a lot less cruel too 😉

Ingredients (Makes ~ 40):

Filling :

  • 2 x sweet potatoes
  • 1 x tsp chilli flakes (more if you like it spicy!)
  • 1 x tsp garlic powder
  • ½  x tsp ground ginger
  • ½ x tsp ground cumin
  • ½ x tsp ground coriander
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Dough:

  • 2 x cups flour
  • ¾ x cup boiling water
  • Pinch of salt

Method:

Filling

  1. Prick the sweet potatoes all over and bake in the oven at 180oC until soft all the way through inside (will take 30 – 45 mins).
  2. Take out of the oven and leave until cool enough to handle.
  3. Peel and pop the flesh into a bowl.
  4. Add the other ingredients to the potato and mash until smooth.

Method:

Dough

  1. The dough is super easy. Mix the ingredients together in a bowl and mix with a metal spoon. Once combined knead with your hands until a smooth elastic dough is formed.
  2. Roll out as thinly as possible (use a small sprinkling of flour if things get sticky) and use a square pastry cutter to stamp out as many squares as possible.

Method:

Fryangles

  1. Add a teaspoon sized dollop of the sweet potato mix to the centre of each square.
  3. To make the triangle, pick up the square so you’re holding the centre (like how I’d imagine you’d begin to roll a cigarette?!) and fold diagonally. Press the sides together to seal them.
  4. Deep fry the Fryangles at 190oC until they are golden brown and floating.
  5. Drain and serve.

I served mine with a sfv chip-shop curry sauce. They were deeeelicous and even omni husband was in his element – he went back for seconds!

And if you’re more health conscious than me, you can always fold your Fryangles into a tortellini shape and boil them instead. This creates a kind of pasta – dumping hybrid. Stodgy but satisfying!

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♥ Pecan and chocolate chunk brownies

Jun25
PS11

Years ago, before I turned vegan, I made some very yummy brownies for work, which had they not have contained dairy milk chocolate, would have been SFV. I was reminded of my recipe when I was flicking through a free copy of LABL magazine. Inspired by this article, I routed out my recipe and simply swapped the chocolate for a dairy free version.

The best part of this recipe is that brownies are super easy to make!

Pecan and chocolate chunk brownies

Ingredients:

  • 125g x plain flour
  • 175g x caster sugar
  • 35g x cocoa powder
  • 125 ml x sunflower oil
  • 125 ml x water
  • 35g x Dairy free “milk” chocolate (broken into chunks)
  • 5g x chopped pecans
  • 1 tsp x baking powder
  • 1 tsp x vanilla extract

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180oC.
  2. Then, simply mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and cocoa powder together, before adding  the oil, water and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly until a smooth glossy batter is formed. Then fold in the nuts and chocolate chunks.
  3. Pour the mix into a lightly greased 7 x 7” baking tin and bake for 20 mins. I turned the tin around after 10 mins to ensure an even bake.
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Before…
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…and after

4. Allow to cool before cutting into 8 triangles.

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Enjoy with a nice cuppa 🙂

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♥ Vegan Las Vegas – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Sep14

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So, the end of August was my birthday. But not just any birthday, it was the big 3-oh! Can’t believe that I’ve been on this planet for 3 decades!!!
(And what’s even more unbelievable is that I ate animals for 2.5 of those decades 🙁 Still, shows it’s never too late to change for the better!)

Anyway, in order to celebrate, my lovely husband had planned a semi-surprise trip to Las Vegas. I ate sooo much amazing food whilst I was there, most of my clothes are too tight now!
#noregrets.

A lot of people had “warned” me that I’d really struggle out there… but they were so wrong, just check out Happy Cow and the PETA “Eating Vegan at Fast Food Chain Restaurants” guidance.

Not all the food was great though, so I have split my review into the Good, the Bad and the Ugly:

The Good

Nacho Daddy
I’ll start with the best, Nacho Daddy was SO good that we went twice!
Although this Mexican restaurant is a bit of a carnist’s dream, it has an entirely separate vegan menu and it is aaaaamazzzing! They even do vegan queso and sour cream <3
On the first visit I went for the quesadillas and a side of chips. And on the second visit I went for the loaded nachos. Holy guacamole, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
They also do tacos, burritos and fajitas. In fact I think the only thing that was missing was a chimichanga (my absolute favourite).
They were open until 1am as well – making it a perfect stop after a few drinks on Fremont Street or after seeing a show.

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Loaded vegan nachos

Quesadila

Quesadila

Ronald’s Donuts
Ronald’s Donuts is a little place that not-surprisingly serves donuts as well as coffees.
What was surprising was that over a third of the donuts were vegan! And it was here that I lost my bear-claw virginity. I also had a gorgeous raspberry and a custard donut. They were REALLY good. But it was a REALLY bad idea to go on the rides at Circus Circus afterwards, eeeeeurgh!
I thought the donuts were very reasonably priced as well – cheaper than a Krispy Crème with the added bonus of being cruelty free.

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Bear Claw!

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Custard donut

Pop Up Pizza
Pop Up Pizza is a little pizza bar located in the Plaza hotel. The plastic furniture and casino surroundings don’t make for a romantic meal setting, but its well worth a visit. Or, they deliver if you’d rather eat in the comfort of your hotel room.
They have various vegan toppings – including Daiya cheese- that you can use to create your own (massive) pizza, or if you are passing by, you can pick up just a slice or two of their “Soho” which is vegan mozzarella, spinach, roasted mushrooms, artichokes, and roasted bell peppers. Bellissimo!

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The Soho

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Komol Restaurant
Another place which is good for pleasing carnists and vegans alike is the Komol Thai restaurant.
They have a really extensive selection of tofu and mock meats – including vegan shrimp which I added to my veggie chow mein (made with rice noodles). It was sooooo tasty and I really like the fact that you are asked how spicy you would like your order. The portions were mega generous too – I had my leftovers doggy bagged up so I could give them to a homeless person (there are a lot of people sleeping rough in LV).

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Chow Mein with rice noodles and faux shrimp

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Red 8 (located in the Wynn Hotel)
The Wynn and Encore hotels are awesome for vegans. Every restaurant has a separate vegan menu!
Red 8 is located in the Wynn and offers an Asian style menu. It is a little pricey but the food is very good and the restaurant makes a great location for a special date night.
I had the Gardein Cashew Chick’n with Celery, Mushrooms and Ginger. The Chick’n was so realistic I had to get the hubby to try it and convince me that they hadn’t messed up my order!

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Gardein Cashew Chick’n with Celery, Mushrooms and Ginger

Rainbows End
Rainbows End is a fantastic vegan and veggie store with a café attached. I spent most of my spending money in here! Unfortunately the café was closed when I visited but luckily they have a chiller full of burritos, hummus pots, potato salad and other yummy treats to take away. I went for the burrito and also bought a ton of treats to bring home, including jerky, blue tortilla chips, Dandies marshmallows, Chao cheese and some Tofurkey sausages (luckily the aircon in the room was so cold that everything kept!)

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Shop front

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Burrito

Einstein Bros Bagels
So no, the vegan friendly bagels here weren’t the most interesting food I ate during my visit, but what vegan doesn’t love PB&J?! (Except maybe one with a peanut allergy…)
I used this site to check out what was safe, there are quite a few options, including hummus 🙂
Don’t be afraid to order what you want if that particular combination isn’t given as an option on the menu.

PB&J

PB&J

Chipotle
I never thought for a second that a fast food joint like Chipotle would have a vegan option! But they do and it was yummy! I had a tofu sofritas taco with guac and I loved every second of it.20160830_135017 20160830_135025

Amorino Gelato
These gelato bars are actually all over the place (including Europe) and there is more than one in Vegas itself. But the first time that I ever saw one and realised that they did vegan sorbet was at the Las Vegas North Premium Outlets. They offer various different vegan flavours, including pistachio and blood orange and ginger (the two that I picked) as well as mango, chocolate and banana.
Pricey but definitely made trainer shopping with the Hubby more worthwhile!

Blood orange & ginger and pistachio

Blood orange & ginger and pistachio

American Airlines
So, American Airlines didn’t provide me with the best meals of my life, but the food I received was at least vegan and was neither bad nor ugly. In fact it tasted pretty good!
For dinner I receive a yummy veggie tagine as the main, with a fresh salad on the side, a bread roll, a nice vegan marg (wish I could remember the name – I also had it on my trip to Kos), a jam, some crackers and a reasonable sized bottle of water. Unfortunately the pudding was the dreaded fruit salad (I HATE melon, good people of the world – please use your imagination and stop offering me this as a dessert!!! I want cake dammit!), but otherwise I was very impressed.

Breakfast was some mini hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach. Again, not gourmet but I did enjoy it.
Such a shame that we only flew with this company in one direction!

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American Airlines vegan meal

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American Airlines vegan breakfast

Starbucks
Starbucks is Starbucks….. but as far as I am aware, we can’t get the infamous “pink drink” in the UK! Order a Strawberry and Acai Refresher – but ask for it to be made with coconut milk instead of water. This was such a delicious treat 🙂 probably for the best that I can’t get one over here. All that sugar, I’d have no teeth left!

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The Pink Drink!

The Bad

Wendys
Hahah, oh Wendy’s!
I followed PETA’s advice and asked for a “veggie sandwich” – which I thought was going to be a bread bun filled with a bit of salad and pickles. I had planned to fill it with French fries to make a chip butty…
The lady who worked here was so super lovely, she said she would make the sandwich herself to make sure that the new person “didn’t mess it up”. She did mention that the tomato and pickles would be wrapped up in lettuce… but I hadn’t twigged that the lettuce was substituting the bread!
Most.tasteless.lunch.ever! To be fair, I could also have had a plain jacket potato or a salad… but maybe I’ll just not bother with Wendy’s again unless it’s an emergency!

Wendy's

Wendy’s

Ihop
I saw that Ihop did grits and so I told the hubby that we could go there for breakfast. But I couldn’t find them anywhere on the menu!!! So I made do with hash brown, an un-buttered English muffin and some avocado. The avocado was beautiful, but I was paranoid that I could taste burnt meat juice on the hash brown. It didn’t look like it had been cooked on a dirty meaty grill but I just couldn’t enjoy it.

Hash brown, avocado and English muffin

Hash brown, avocado and English muffin

107 Sky Lounge
I got a little bit tipsy when we went to the 107 Sky Lounge in the Stratosphere hotel (where we were saying). I was getting a little peckish whilst looking at the stunning views when I saw that they had hummus and lavosh on the menu…. (Let’s forget that I’m pretty certain that I have a chickpea intolerance!) I ordered and was well excited to see that it came served in a Martini glass! Classy as f*ck!!!! But my excitement was short-lived when I saw that the lavosh bread came with cheese on it 🙁 So I sat there, in a swanky bar eating a Martini glass full of hummus with a teaspoon – not my finest moment!

Hummus cocktail :')

Hummus cocktail :’)

The Ugly

British Airways
We flew with British Airways for the journey home. This airline claims that “your sense of taste changes when you are flying at 30,000 feet” and that “After conducting extensive research we have improved the food and wine we offer, so it tastes even better in the air than it does on the ground.”

Well I don’t think for a second that anyone tested the vegan option before selling it – either in the air or on the ground!!! Bleurgh.
I was given a tray that was marked as vegan, but the main hot dish was labelled as being lacto-ovo vegetarian… also there was a carton of milk for my tea and a salad dressing that contained milk as an ingredient. Good job I am suspicious of everything and checked! So I called the air steward over and asked her if I had received the correct meal. She said “yes, it’s marked as vegan”. To which I replied “no – it’s labelled as vegetarian”. So it got taken away and brought back to me and I was told “It was just the main meal and the milk that wasn’t vegan so we swapped the meal and removed the milk”.
Err no, the salad dressing?!
Seriously, I could have eaten that – what if I was allergic?!

So, alongside my dry salad and cup of black tea, I got some veggies, some rice and some brown stuff. Controversially, I usually quite enjoy airplane food… but this had a really weird aftertaste to it. Not nice at all. And the dessert didn’t make up for the disappointment of the main – whilst everyone else chomped down on a piece of cheesecake, I got the usual crappy token fruit salad. Booooo.
I got excited when I saw breakfast consisted of a huge slab of tofu, spinach and potatoes. But again, there was a weird aftertaste and everything was coated in oil. Seriously, spinach is the wettest vegetable ever, why the heck did it need so much oil?!

Must do better, BA! If you need someone to give you some ideas and taste-test your offerings, drop me a line! :’)

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BA vegan meal

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BA Vegan breakfast

 

 

Whilst I’m still typing, I HAVE to give a mention to the following establishments:

Others:

Veggies House
I’m sooooo sad that we didn’t find the time to visit this place. The menu looks amazing and the reviews I read were really good. If we are lucky enough to visit Vegas again, we are 100% giving this eatery a try! If you’re into your mock meat, I definitely think Veggies House will be a winner!

Vegan Bites Bakery
Another place I’d really wanted to go to. I’d planned to make a stop for some cookies, or maybe a brownie. But after that bear claw I just didn’t fancy it 🙁 I regret it now!

Six Flags Magic Mountain
Ok, so 6 Flags Magic Mountain is most definitely not in Las Vegas. In fact, it is in Los Angeles. It’s a four hour drive away – 7 hours if you get stuck in a horrific traffic jam coming back like we did. BUT I think they deserve a mention for having a clearly labelled vegan option at the “Go Fresh Café” stand – AND ITS NOT SALAD!
I had some Gardein crispy tenders and fries (although I could have had fruit or baby carrots if I’d have preferred). I was well impressed! External food and drink isn’t allowed so I’d honestly thought I was going to starve to death 🙂 Good job Six Flags! I hope you continue to impress us by extending your menu!

 

So here we are at the end of my Las Vegas adventure! Still alive, not protein deficient and once again proving that it really isn’t that hard to remove cruelty from your plate 🙂

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Giant Harley

View from the hotel

View from the hotel

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Along the Strip

Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam

 

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♥ Anzac Biscuits

Aug21

Mmm, I love these syrupy, coconutty, biscuitty discs of delightfulness <3

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The hubby does too – I’ve had to make these 3 times this week!

My original inspiration for this recipe was off the BBC Good Food recipe. But they were pretty easy to veganise.
And if you can live without harming others, why wouldn’t you?

Anzac Biscuits:

Ingredients

  • 85g porridge oats
  • 85g desiccated coconut
  • 100g plain flour
  • 100g sugar
  • 110g vegan marge (plus a little extra for greasing your baking trays)
  • 1 tbsp. golden syrup
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to 180oC.
  • In a large bowl, mix the oats, coconut, flour, sugar and bicarbonate of soda.
  • In a small pan, melt the marge before stirring in the syrup until completely mixed. Stir in the apple cider vinegar.
  • Create a well in the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the marge mixture whilst stirring. Keep on stirring until all of the marge has been absorbed.
  • The mixture will seem a little dry but that’s ok. You should be able to roll heaped-teaspoon amounts into balls.
  • Place each ball onto a greased baking tray and squish down into a thick disc shape (around ¼ inch high). The key is to squash as flat as you can without causing the edges to over crack – you want to maintain a round shape.
  • Remember to leave room in between each biscuit to allow for spreading.
  • Put into the oven for 12 minutes.
  • Halfway through cooking, squish each biscuit with the back of a spatula to flatten them down.
  • Keep an eye on the biscuits in case they cook faster than the 12 minutes. You can tell when they are done because they will be a beautiful golden brown and won’t squash any flatter when you press them with the spatula.

They got the Liz seal of approval! :D

They got the Liz seal of approval! 😀

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♥ Smoked Paprika Sausage

Aug14

I was in two minds whether to blog about these or not. It was very hard to get a photo that didn’t look like…. Well…. Use your imagination.

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Tastes more appetising than it looks….

However, these sausages taste a lot better than they look! And the skin makes them extra fun to make.

And, they contain both tempeh and seitan! That makes them vegan level 8 – right?!

Spanish Style Sausage recipe

Ingredients:

Dry-

  • 2 x tsp onion granules
  • 2 x tsp garlic granules
  • 1 x tsp sage
  • 1 x tsp thyme
  • 3 x tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 x tsp salt
  • 1 x tsp cumin
  • 1 x cup wheat gluten

 Wet-

  • ½ x tbsp. soya lecithin (optional but improves the texture)
  • ½ x tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 x tbsp. port
  • 1 x jar tempeh (230 g)

Skin –

  • 2 x rice paper sheets
  • 1 ½ x tbsp. liquid aminos (or soya sauce)
  • 1 x tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ x tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 x tbsp. boiling water

Method:

  • Put the dry ingredients in a food processor and give them a good mix.
  • Add the wet ingredients and whizz until a dough starts to form.
  • Take the dough out of the food processor and give it a good knead for 8 mins.
  • Roll out into 2 x sausage shaped and wrap up each one in Clingfilm.
  • Pop into a steamer and cook on a medium heat for 45 mins.
  • Take out of the steamer and allow to cool before removing the Clingfilm.
  • Make a marinade for the skin by mixing all of the ingredients apart from the rice paper.
  • One at a time, soak the rice paper sheets in the marinade until beginning to soften.
  • Roll up each sausage in one rice paper sheet.
  • Heat up a frying pan with a little oil and add the sausages. Fry on each side until browned.

I sliced up each sausage and added to a spicy tomato sauce to make a tasty Patatas Bravas <3

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Topped off with homemade vegan cheese <3

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♥ Popcorn Tofu

Jun5

20160324_200515Tofu is an excellent source of amino acids, calcium, iron and loads of other good stuff. But who gives a crap, sometimes you just want something deep fried and delicious. Popcorn tofu – all of the taste, none of the campylobacter!

There are various tofu popcorn recipes knocking around, but I didn’t peek! This recipe is all  my own – although I guess the concept is pretty basic 🙂

This recipe comes as three parts: the tofu, the “egg” wash and the coating. It looks like a lot of ingredients but its well worth it. The result is lovely, slightly tongue tingling pieces of tofu which are soft in the middle but wonderfully crunchy on the outside.

Ingredients:

  • 250g Tofu – firm, not the silken variety.

“Egg” wash:

  • 1/3 x cup non-dairy milk (40ml)
  • 1/3 x cup Aqua faba (40ml)
  • 1 x tbsp. cornstarch

Coating:

  • 1 x cup plain white flour (125g)
  • 2 x tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 x tsp ground coriander
  • ½ x tsp ground ginger
  • 1 x tsp salt
  • ½ x tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ x tsp ground cumin
  • ½ x tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ x tsp tumeric
  • ¼ x tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 x tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you’re a hot head!)
  • 1 x tsp dried sage
  • 1 x tsp dried parsley
  • 2 x cloves (ground)

Method:

  1. 1. Drain and press the tofu in advance. Once prepared, cut into 1inch cubes. (Tip: For an even more authentic texture, freeze and defrost first. Shaking a few drops of liquid smoke over the cubes adds even more taste.)
  2. Whisk up the aqua faba, dairy-free milk and cornstarch until white and fluffy. Pour into a bowl along with the tofu cubes and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  3. In the meantime, create the coating by mixing together the flour, herbs and spices.
  4. Roll each cube of tofu in the flour mixture until coated and set aside for a few minutes. You will see the coating turn a yellowish colour as the turmeric soaks up the moisture.
  5. Add all of the coated tofu cubes into the remaining flour mixture and give them a gentle toss to make sure that they are fully coated. The coating might look a little lumpy but this is good as it gives a nice authentic texture when fried.
  6. Deep fry at 190oC for 3 – 4 minutes. The tofu will float when cooked and should be a nice golden colour.
  7. Drain on some kitchen roll before enjoying!

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Tip: It is best not to overcrowd the fryer. So unless you have a very large fryer I would recommend cooking in two batches. You can keep the first batch hot and crispy by spreading out across a baking try and putting in a warm oven.

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♥ Baked Cheezecake

May1

Cheezecake 1

Smooth creamy fluffy baked cheezecake. This dairy-free version is protein-packed and lactose free. And if you’re careful with your biscuits, nut free too!
I tried this out on several people, including the husband and the Besties. They said it was lovely but I have to be honest – I can’t remember what traditional cheesecake tastes like! But this one definitely looks like the real McCoy and is undeniably scrummy.

Ingredients:

  • 150g ginger nut biscuit
  • 60g vegan margarine
  • 375g firm tofu (not silken)
  • 350g firm silken tofu
  • 245g non-dairy yoghurt (1 x cup)
  • 200g sugar (1 x cup)
  • 3tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 3tsp vanilla essence
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 100g plain white flour (2/3 x heaped cups)
  • 2 tsp agar agar powder

Method:

  1. Line the bottom of an 8-inch* spring loaded tin with grease proof paper and grease the sides.
    *I wouldn’t advise using a larger tin, but a smaller one should be ok, but you may need to alter the baking time slightly.
  2. Whizz up the ginger nut biscuits and marg in a food processor to make crumbs which will mould together when pressed. Press into the bottom of the tin and put into the fridge to chill.
  3. In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 165oC.
  4. Prepare the cheezecake filling by whizzing together the tofu, yoghurt, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and salt until smooth and creamy (at least 5 minutes).
  5. Add the flour to the mixture and whizz up again until thoroughly combined.
  6. Pour the filling onto the biscuit base and use a spatula to smooth down the top.
  7. Put the tin onto a baking try and put into the oven for 1 ½ hours. You’ll know when the cake is cooked as it will have browned slightly on the top and will be pulling away from the edges of the tin.
  8. Leave to cool and set before attempting to remove from the tin.
  9. Serve!

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If you’re feeling fancy, you could serve with a nice fruity coulis!

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♥ Creme Cheeze

Apr9

Creamy smooth, mildly cheezy with a slightly acidic twang – Creme Cheeze is super versatile! Spread it on a bagel, stir it into hot pasta or pipe it into a cherry pepper. Just make sure you make it in advance as it will need to firm up in the fridge overnight.

Ingredients:

  • 75 g of vegetable shortening
  • ½ x block firm silken tofu (drained and cut into smaller pieces)
  • 2 x tbsp. non-dairy yoghurt
  • 1 x tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 x tsp salt
  • 1 x tbsp. nutritional yeast

Method:

  1. On a low heat, completely melt the vegetable shortening in a small saucepan (but don’t allow to get too hot).
  2. Take the pan off the hob and carefully add the tofu and mash into the shortening with a fork. It will sizzle but this is fine – the heat will help to take away some of the beany taste.
  3. Add the other ingredients and stir together.
  4. Whizz together using a hand blender until smooth.
  5. Pour into a container, cover and chill overnight.

 

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♥ “Bacon” crumbles

Mar22

This isn’t the most healthy recipe that I’ve ever come up with, but at least none of the ingredients have been classified as carcinogenic like real bacon!

I never liked real bacon anyway, the amount of fat that comes off it is grotesque. If you don’t pour bacon fat down the sink for fear of the drains getting blocked, I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t be adding it to your body. After all, your arteries are much thinner than the kitchen plumbing!

These delightful little crumbles make a great topping for soups and salads, or can be added to a dairy-free carbonara sauce to add a salty, crunchy hit.

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Ingredients (Makes 1 ½ cups):

  • 1 x heaped cup wheat gluten (equal to 160g)
  • 1 x tsp garlic powder
  • 3 x tsp smoked paprika (split into 2 & 1 tsps)
  • 2 ½ x tsp salt (split into 2 & ½ x tsp)
  • 3 x tbsp. vegetable oil (split into 2 & 1 tbsp.)
  • ½ x tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 x tbsp. Maple syrup
  • 1/3 x cups water (equal to 175 ml)

Method:

  1. Add the wheat gluten, garlic powder, 2 tsp paprika and 2 tsp salt to a food processor and whiz until blended.
  2. Add 2 tbsp. vegetable oil, soy sauce, maple syrup and water and blend until “crumbles” form. If the crumbles look too floury then add another tablespoon of water. However you don’t want big chunks as these won’t crisp up as well.ps.2 20160322_183736_resized
  3. Add 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil to a non-stick frying pan and heat over a medium flame.
  4. Add the raw crumbles and fry until browned and slightly blackened in places. Be sure to continually stir to prevent the crumbles from burning. This will take 15 – 20 mins.
  5. During the last few minutes, add the remaining 1 tsp paprika and ½ tsp salt and stir well to make sure the crumbles are evenly coated.
  6. They will firm up and become more crunchy once cooled. If adding to a sauce, add last to make sure they don’t go too soft.

Flash-Gordonette…X

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