Vegan Lunch Recipe: Trio Of Dips

As a vegan, my idea of a naughty dinner isn't fast food. That's my idea of being really grossed out. My idea of a naughty dinner is carb loading on home-made turkish bread smothered in delicious dips. Also, if you can bear to share, these also are really easy to whip up when people are coming over, and can be made extra healthy by serving with chopped veggies and crackers.

Vegan Lunch Recipe: Brown Rice and Pineapple Salad

I love pineapple. I love it with ice-cream, I love it on pizza. And I love it in salad. It's one of my favorite savoury salad fruits, along with mango. Anyway, even people who aren't cracked about pineapple should give this salad a go. It makes a lovely colourful accompaniment to any picnic table.

Vegan How-to Recipe: Burger Buns

These are everything in the processed white-fluffy-bun range your little heart could POSSIBLY desire. I now, even though it's considerably more work, make burger-buns EVERY TIME I want to have burgers because they taste SO MUCH BETTER than supermarket ones. I promise. TO THE KITCHEN!

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Burger Beet Patties

Just say yes, guys. Just say yes. I found this recipe on the post punk kitchen, and I make them ALL THE TIME. With my own home made burger buns. Hells yes, these burgers are the business. And friends, are they FILLING. Let us begin:

Vegan Lunch Recipe: Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas and Cauliflower

This is a great salad. It's great with other salads, it's great with gluten shnitzels (which I'll be serving them with), and it's great on its own for lunch. AND it's protein packed because of the quinoa/chickpea combo. Boom.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Nut Burger Patties

This recipe is adapted from one of the Hare Krishna recipe books. I'm pretty sure it was originally vegan anyway, bless them, but I added some stuff for extra deliciousness.

These babies can certainly be eaten on buns, with a bit of ketchup and mayo and mustard, some fried onions, some sliced tomato, lettuce, beetroot, avocado... god I'm hungry. Or, if one can't deal with the idea of eating bread (that was me) One could serve it with bean salad and a roast veggie stack. DEEE-LICIOUS.

Vegan Lunch Recipe: Easiest Mixed Bean Salad

Ever had that uh-oh, I-have-to-take-a-plate-to-a-picnic-I'm-already-late-to feeling? Or even that dinner-is-in-half-an-hour-and-it's-all-beige-thus-far feeling? Who hasn't. Let's make it colourful and massively tasty, and take half an hour. This is a go-to summer salad which is great for lunch, or a side for dinner. And it's like ONE STEP SALAD. Boom.

Vegan Breakfast Recipe: Miracle green smoothie

 

I am not one to get over-excited about smoothies. In fact, I have harboured a deep suspicion about smoothies for some time now, assuming drinking your breakfast is a rookie move. Even as I get older and lazier, I still like chewing. Furthermore, I used to not think of a smoothie as REAL FOOD. 

Until I met THIS smoothie. This guy is so packed with nutritious goodness it keeps me full for hours, and makes me feel AMAZING. I am not kidding.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Orecchiette with white wine, garlic and greens

This is a delicious, visually appealing dinner. A grown-up dinner. A dinner that I got from a cookbook and altered slightly... and that cookbook was by my fave vegan author, Isa Chandra Moskowitz. LOVE HER. It's not an all-the-time dinner... there's no protein source included... but it's really, really tasty. And therefore excellent to serve to non-vegans, to set a good example about how TRULY QUALITY a good vegan pasta can taste. Let us begin:

Vegan Dessert Recipe: Ginger and apple steamed puddings

I had a lot of apples. A LOT. I also had the desire to slather something in caramel sauce and coconut ice-cream... and I realised the best way to do that was through together a whole load of delicious stuff and steam it in the oven.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Pad-Thai, sort of

You know that bit in Hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy, where Arthur keeps trying to get a cup of tea from the machine on that improbability space craft and it keeps on giving him 'something that is almost entirely, but not quite, exactly unlike tea'? This is my 'something that is almost entirely, but not quite, exactly unlike Pad-Thai'.

I love a good stir-fry, but I generally get the hankering for one right before I make dinner, so there isn't time to pre-plan it shopping-wise. So tonight I got together all the bits and pieces I had that seemed appropriate and made the closest approximation to Pad-Thai that I could. And it tasted AMAZING. So I'm passing on the recipe to you guys. Don't say I don't do anything for you!

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Rainbow risotto for a rainy day

Risotto. Is there anything more satisfying on a rainy day? This risotto is a flavourful medley of reds and greens, and, once you have the hang of it, is pretty easy, just with a lot of stirring.

Vegan Breakfast Recipe: Chia pudding

When you go to work very, very early in the morning (or you're just very, very lazy) sometimes putting any effort into breakfast at all is really hard. And maybe you would be tempted to skip breakfast, but we all know that is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!

With this handy prepare-the-night-before, keeps-for-a-couple-of-days recipe, you will ALWAYS eat breakfast, and LOVE it. And you can feel good about the fact that you're eating all those awesome power foods, so you can feel full all morning, AND you've basically eaten dessert for breakfast. This is a win win!

Vegan Lunch Recipe: Fresh rice-paper rolls

You know how sometimes you're all like, "wow, I really feel like a sandwich, but I don't actually feel like bread, and I definitely don't feel like a salad." You know how to solve those problems? Instead of bread, rice-paper. YEAH. And it is actually as easy as making a sandwich.

Vegan Breakfast Recipe: Staying-in-bed-all-day pancakes

These pancakes are SO GUARANTEED AMAZING that firstly, you will dream about them, and secondly, you will be in such a carb-sugar coma afterwards that it's the perfect excuse to have breakfast in bed. So you don't have far to fall into your carb-sugar coma. And in that coma you will dream about these pancakes. AND THE VICIOUS CYCLE WILL CONTINUE.

Here, friends, is the recipe:

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Colourful corn pudding with beans

This recipe is basically my tortillas recipe but with corn pudding instead of tortillas. Make the pudding first, then serve with bean and corn mix, an avocado salsa, some sour-cream, and a sneaky jalepeno if you're feeling dangerous. The balance of flavours between the sweet corn pudding and spicy toppings and smooth avocado makes this baby a winner in either summer or winter.

Vegan Dessert Recipe: Oh-My-God Caramel slice

I saw a post on instagram where somebody had made vegan caramel slices, and I got all nostalgic for the little buggers. I remember they used to get the most glorious caramel slices in at Ginos, the caramel was to die for. I guess the amount of butter they packed in those babies would lead to me dying for them as well, eventually. Anyway, I decided to look on the net for approximate recipes.

There were so many, and I would love to have a go at some of the raw recipes at some stage soon, but this first go I went for extreme processed sugar decadence. And it went pretty well, I must say, although these slices are certainly not for all-the-time.

But if you want to hear someone say "I can't believe that is ACTUALLY vegan" then these are probably what you want to produce.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Gallo Pinto (Rice and Beans)

Oh. My. God. It might not look like much, but this guy is the highest level of comfort food known to humans. We discovered gallo pinto (direct translation "speckled/spotted hen") in Nicaragua, where they sold it everywhere for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's greasy, it's fantastic with hash browns or faux meat sides or veggies or... well, anything. It's a great side, and it's also great in a giant bowl on its own.

And it's cheap. And pretty easy. There is NO DOWNSIDE. Aside from the fact that it's pretty bloody unhealthy, but you know, you can't win em all!

Vegan Dinner Recipe: A whole lotta lasagne

Veggie lasagne has NEVER BEEN EASIER. Okay, that might be an exaggeration. But it's VERY EASY. Obviously there's the whole cooking-time to factor in, but on the whole, this is a no-fuss, well rounded meal packed with veggies and lentils and whatnot. I even add some cashew ricotta for laughs, and the bechamel effect. This is PERFECT in texture (I've spent so long making them accidentally to moist or too dry!) and serves a reluctant four (or an enthusiastic three. Four with salad.)

Here we go!

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Yellow split pea dahl

Today I worked and then immediately went to a class, and didn't get home till five thirty. Needless to say, EXHAUSTED! But, because I'm a clever kid, I remembered this morning to soak a cup and a half of yellow split peas in about three cups of boiling water before I left the house, because then I could rest easy about dinner.

This is such an easy meal and works with a variety of things.

Because I'm scraping the bottom of the cupboard I'm going to add peas for a bit of green. If I had spinach, I would either add that during cooking around where I'd add the peas, or, I'd cook it up separately with some garlic and fenugreek leaves. Also, I will be serving the dahl with roti, but it works just as well with any of the usual suspects: naan, rice, fruity nut rice (I love that stuff)... yeah.

To the recipe!

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Hearty sweet potato, carrot and chickpea soup

This is a delicious, winter-y, orange-coloured soup, perfect with bagels, if I don't say so myself. And it's bloody easy. It's less than an hour and serves about six people. Let's get to it!

Vegan how-to: Bestest bagels

I have eaten a lot of bread in my time. Arguably, too much bread. (Arguably because I might argue that there is no such thing, although my bathroom scales may disagree. I've eaten bread from all the cultures, I'm a bread adventurist.

And in my very experienced opinion, if you see a Jewish bakery, that's where you want to get your bread. The Jewish people have it going on when it comes to baking, and I was determined to learn bagels. Because bagels are my favourite bread.

When I discovered the secret to bagels, I was so excited, because it's just one extra step in the process and makes all the difference. Also, bagels are NATURALLY VEGAN. During my conversion I realised I wouldn't have to sacrifice bagels, and that has made everything much easier for me!

Interest piqued? To the recipe!

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Creamy mushroom pasta bake

I wish this was the finished version. I didn't get to see the finished version, it was gone by the time I got home. Imagine this but a bit brown from being in the oven, okay?

I don't know about you, but as a vegan, one of the things I really missed was creamy pasta sauce. I lot of my pastas required it, and I didn't just want to switch to tomato pasta all the time. So I did my research like the diligent person I am, and discovered the secret.

Cashews. They just need to be pre-soaked.

Don't believe me? You NEED to try this. Just you wait.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Mixed veggie coconut korma

This meal is wholesome and filling and hearty, and only as spicy as you want it to be. Today was miserable weather so it seemed like just the ticket, and it was definitely worth it!

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Black-bean filled tortillas with sweet potato

This recipe is the bomb. We are big fans of Mexican-style food in this house, and obviously the discovery of tofutti sour cream meant that we hardly had a dent in the Mexican experience after switching to vegan. These tortillas (or are they enchilladas? buritos? I JUST DON'T KNOW!) have a variety of fillings to cram in for the perfect balance in taste. And, while there are a lot of components, the cooking of them is dead easy.

Vegan Breakfast Recipe: good, ole fashioned porridge

There is nothing quite like porridge on a cold winter's morning. Well, sort of. I mean, pancakes are obviously a winner. Hashbrowns and mushrooms fried up with some tomatoes and a big whack of avocado. But sometimes, you know, it's Monday morning and all of a sudden it turns out you don't have time to whip up a batch of pancakes. Or sweet potato hashbrowns (i will DEFINITELY put THAT recipe up soon!)

Vegan Dessert Recipe: A little bit of Baklavas

I had left over filo, so I decided baklavas were the go. Just a little bit of baklavas, just a brownie tin full. A thin brownie tin. Obviously I wasn't going to go out and buy extra filo (I definitely thought about it).

They turned out so beautifully, although they aren't as pastry-ish as traditional baklavas (as these are "leftover pastry baklavas'). I'm putting the little recipe up here. It's easy to adapt for larger amounts, but I'll make a full quantity as well and update the recipe next time I whip up a batch (this will be soon). Also, I forgot to take pictures of this being assembled. So I'll DEFINITELY have to make a new batch.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: The mighty taco

Tacos, baby.

Do these really require an introduction? I mean, EVERYBODY loves tacos, right? I have been really working on vegan alternatives for Mexican style food because Mexi is quick and casual and flavourful and fun.

I've just realised that I forgot to put jalapeno chillies on top. NOOOO! Now I'm going to have to make tacos again.

This recipe could serve up to four, because it makes quite a bit of bean filling. Make sure you buy enough taco shells and try not to overfill them (if you must over fill them, wear a bib).

Vegan Dessert Recipe: Quick baked apple scones

We had these left over apples in the fruit bowl. They'd sat there, waiting to be chosen, but had been constantly bypassed for fresher fruit (we have a quick and varied fruitbowl). And now there were a bit soft, a bit bruised, and a bit unappealing. So I decided to get creative, but not too creative, because I didn't want to spend hours baking a pie. So here you have it - dessert for four in half an hour.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Spinach filo comfort pie

I've really missed spinach and feta pie since going vegan, and I'm going to try and replicate it. Right now. With you guys as my witnesses.

Be afraid.

Kidding.

To the kitchen!

Vegan Lunch Recipe: Classic curried 'egg' sandwich

Sandwiches made my shudder for the longest time. Ugh. They made me think of school lunches, what a drag. Hot vegemite sandwiches, curling at the edges, that sit in your bag FOR EVER. Yep, I was off sandwiches for ages. And then I remembered sandwiches and thought I'd give them another crack.

You know what kind of sandwiches I loved on the weekend? Egg. It's odd, because my relationship with egg was always a bit uneasy, and soft poached eggs made me feel actually sick. But a good ole, hardboiled egg mashed up with some mayo and curry? Loved it.

Fast forward to me no longer eating egg. Excellent decision, except for the whole missing egg sandwiches on the rare occasion I even thought about sandwiches at all. But then I discovered this recipe, and now it is my staple sandwich go-to. Thanks, online vegan community!

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Baked red curry

I don't know why there's a difference, but baked curry kicks normal, cooked-on-the-stove curry's arse. I don't know why or how, but seriously, once you've had a baked curry you'll start feeling disdainful about curry cooked any other way. This is a household favourite, and when word gets out that this is dinner, there's no way anybody's got other plans. This recipe serves three, and I serve it with steamed rice. There are never left overs!

Vegan Breakfast Recipe: Naughty macadamia chocolate maple scrolls

So, maybe it's the weekend and you're thinking pastry is everything you'd like for breakfast. Or an afternoon snack. Or a just-anytime-treat. I don't blame you, friend. Pastry is AH-MAY-ZING. And I have adapted these little beauties for all your delicious bread-y breakfast and snack needs.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Nosages and hash browns.

You know how sometimes you think that a lazy fry up is just the ticket for a quiet night in? Well, this is that fry up. It's super quick (provided you've done a wee bit of prep earlier) and it's FRIED, so that is a bonus. And I like to serve it with steamed veggies so it takes on the vibe of a well rounded meal.

Alternatively, scrap the veggies, fry up some onion and mushroom, roast some tomatoes in rock salt, and serve this meal up as a massive vegan breakfast.

So versatile!

Friday night vegan dinner review

That, my friends, is a steak-eater eating a vegan mushroom stack. He liked it so much he went back for seconds, and furthermore coined the phrase

"If it grows on a tree, it's alright with me."

I'm not counting my vegan chickens yet, but I admire his adventurous vegan spirit.

Vegan Cheesecake Experiment: Mango lime panacotta

This is attempt two for the perfect vegan cheesecake. Noting this after the fact, it turned out AMAZING, but not cheesecake. It had the consistency of a pancotta, so clearly I have to work on the agar agar quantity and possibly work with more acidic ingredients to achieve a more cake-like consistency. Sorry, I've been drinking.

CHECK OUT THIS RECIPE FOR VEGAN MANGO LIME PANACOTTA I INVENTED, IT'S AMAZING!

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Mushroom and mash stack with a red wine reduction

Dinner time! It's Friday, I've attended a tutorial, mastered MLA referencing, finished a fifteen hundred word critique, and experimented with cheesecake (stay tuned for the results!)

So tonight we have dinner guests who have just moved house, so I want to do something nice because I reckon those guys have probably been living on take away. I'm cooking for himself (obviously), Jen Raccoon (enthusiast of vegan food) and Paul (steak lover). It's a challenging combo, so I've chosen to make a roast veg salad and a beautiful looking mushroom and mash stack.

So my whole house smells like wine, everybody wins.

Vegan Lunch Recipe: Roast veggie winter salad

You know how sometimes you really want a salad, but it's COLD outside?

Well, this salad.

I'm using it to serve with dinner, but it's a good ole any time food. And it's healthy, but not TOO healthy.

Shall we begin?

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Half hour bolognaise spectacular

Hey pasta, what would I do without you?

Cry, probably.

Anyway, I had the most ridiculous amount of stuff to do today. What I mean is, I had to write an essay and do a whole load of editing, so of course I also baked some goodies (recipe will be forthcoming) and cleaned the entire house. Including the shower. Ugh.

The good news is, the house is SPAHKLING. But I was running short on time to prepare dinner, because I'm going out tonight. So pasta it was, with whatever I could find in the fridge.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Savoury tofu-cakes

They're here! It's savoury tofu cake time! Get excited!

No seriously. We have these babies for dinner ever couple of weeks because they are simple to prepare and delicious.

This is a half hour meal spectacular again, except that it's better if you mix up the tofu cake mixture about an hour before you fry it so all the flavours hang out together. I always do, but if you're in a hurry you can get away with just fifteen minutes of sitting.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Asian-Fusion-Udon-Noodles

Okay, today has been NO FUN. Left house at 6:15. Arrived at work and tried to re-assemble dismantled bits of coffee machine. Failed. FAILED. Had to call in re-enforcements who brought chocolate to me on their day off. Ate chocolate (obviously). It was a cheeky little dark Italian number and improved my day somewhat. Left work covered in coffee, went straight to a uni tutorial.

So basically I got home at five o'clock with a MASSIVE headache, feeling like I needed something more nutritious than chocolate, something full of tasty goodness, and something I could cook that didn't involve being in the kitchen for longer than half an hour.

Enter the Asian Fusion Udon extravaganza.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Fat pizza!

Monday today. It's been pretty poor weather, and today is my one full day off in the week (because I don't have work or interning or uni) so I have time at home to cook, should I so desire.

And who doesn't desire pizza, like, all the time?

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Day-before-shopping-day Dahl

Frying goodness

It's Sunday, and I worked all morning and did uni readings all afternoon. I DIDN'T want to shop for dinner. Tomorrow is veggie shopping day, thank you very much, and I don't darken the door of a supermarket on a Sunday. That way madness lies.

Vegan Dinner Recipe: Spinach cannelloni like Nonna never made

I promise to get better at taking photos.

It rained all day basically, which meant there was really no reason to leave the house. Himself had a hangover and I pottered around, and since I wasn't doing much I decided to get experimental and make spinach and vegan ricotta cannelloni for dinner.

Stop, in the name of good taste.

Amazing vegan burger in Kampot, Cambodia

I love food. Love it. Food is great. And I don't take food for granted. I would never do anything to jeopardise our relationship.

I became a vegetarian at thirteen because my house went vegetarian.

It wasn't a big deal, because I wasn't really into meat. I mean, I didn't love taking a THERMOS OF DAHL to school while all the other kids were eating sandwiches, but that is a story for another time. In my late teens I realised that vegetarians were derided and considered difficult to feed. So I started eating seafood, the least offensive (IMO) of the edible flesh.

Fast-forward to 2013, almost twenty years after I stopped eating almost all the meats. My partner in crime (who will henceforth be referred to as 'Himself') decided that his time with me had involved too much butter, too much cheese, and too much saturated fat.

So began the conversion of our house to animal-free. (Mostly. I mean, we couldn't get rid of the dog.)

Look at that face.

I was concerned, obviously. As I mentioned above, I love food, and while I could do kick-arse vegetarian food a lot of my recipes featured butter. Blue cheese. Boconccini. And there was the other concern as well. I've already copped a lot of shit in my life for being vegetarian. And I'd always mocked vegans. Was I putting myself in a category that meant I would never be safe from derision again?

We didn't go vegan straight away. I had to check that I could do it, investigation was required. I have some amazing friends who would email me internet recipes to assist my research, and got some cookbooks, started reading.

And I discovered some stuff.