New Beginnings and Dessert for Breakfast

I know it has been almost a year since I have blogged, despite both encouragements and specific requests that I resume my cooking adventure.

Supporting Cody, my dalmatian, through his successful fight for life became a major pre-occupation, only to have my own 6 month health challenge to follow. Cooking -and blogging- faded to the background.

Having both recovered, I am more now than ever aware that good nutrition is absolutely essential to wellness. I have also recognized the importance of letting go of meaningless distractions and focusing on what really matters in life and, for me, compassion for animals matters. The vegan adventure has re-begun.

I came across this recipe on the web and the creator cooks alot like I do: glance at the recipe, improvise, throw in a bunch of stuff and then see what happens. A cooking blog soulmate?

This is beyond easy to make and an absolute treat to wake up to. Like eating dessert in the morning.

Banana Bread Oatmeal

• About a cup and a half to 2 cups of steel cut or large flake oatmeal
• 1-2 very ripe bananas (I used two)
• brown sugar to personal taste (I used vanilla flavoured agave syrup)
• chopped walnuts (no measurement I used a large handful.  )
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups almond milk
• cinnamon (I just shook some in)
• 1 tsp vanilla(my addition)

Add all ingredients into slow cooker and set on low for 8-10 hours or overnight. I added some extra agave and nuts to mine.

When Bad Wine Goes Good

For me, one of life's great pleasures is to relax with a glass of red wine and  not just drink it, but thoroughly experience the flavours and aromas. Unfortunately, utter disappointment was to be my fate that night when I took that eagerly-anticipated sip only to discover that this wine is actually kind of  disgusting.

I often hear chefs say or write that if the wine is not good enough to drink, than you shouldn't be cooking with it. I dare to disagree. My beginnings of enhancing the flavour of stews and chilis with wine started with a particularily offensive (and, of course, large)  batch of red wine that I inherited from my father's make your own wine days.

This sauce has become one of my favourite recipes that I use for rejected red wine.  It is ideal for gnocchi and pasta but I have also used it with rice dishes.

Herbed Tomato Sauce

1 can tomatoes with juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1.5 tsp dried thyme
1.5 tsp dired marjoram
1 bay leaf
1.5 tsp pepper
1.2 cup red wine
1/8 cup dried basil
1 tbsp dried parsley

Combine tomatoes, garlic, onion, oregano, thyme, marjoram, bayleaf and pepper in a large pot and bring  to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, stirring opccasionally and cook 30 minutes.  Add wine, basil and parsley and cook 30 minutes longer. Remove bay leaf.

Group Effort

A friend and I recently got together for an indian food night where we both contributed towards the meal.  I can accurately describe my friend as Martha Stewart in disguise (if you add a sweet personality and subtract the criminal record). With full awareness of the contrast in cooking abilities and feeling woefully inadequate, I really wanted my potatoes to turn out well.

I started by following the recipe to a tee but found myself obsessively tasting and adjusting the spices to bring it to the level of heat that we both appreciate. It is a quirk of mine that I am not able to leave things alone; a quirk that has led to the creation of both masterpieces and messes.

Later, as we were chatting while she finished working on the last of her dishes, I realized we shared the same habit. We ended up tasting, discussing and creating a new flavour together and having a load of fun doing it.

While there are certain recipes that call for exactness, cooking is an art, not a science, and we should all free ourselves to create something new.

Coconut Cauliflower Curry
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced ginger root or powder
3 cloves garlic minced or crushed
1/2 tsp ground/crushed peppercorns
6-8 whole peppercorns
1-2 cinnamon sticks
6-8 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1-2 tsp curry powder or garam masala
1/4 cup water
2 onions chopped
1 can tomatoes with juice
1/4-1/2 can of light coconut milk
2 carrots, chopped
1 head cauliflower cut up into florets
1 cup chopped green beans


 In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions with
ginger, ground pepper, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, cloves & bay
leaves, and cook until onion is tender. Add carrots, cauliflower, and
greens beans and toss until all vegetables are coated with oil and
spices.

Transfer vegetable mixture to crock pot. Add water to skillet to
dislodge spices and add to crock pot mixture.

Add canned tomatoes with juice. Add preferred amount of coconut
milk along with preferred amount of curry.

Toss to combine ingredients. Cover and cook on High for 4-6 hours.

Indian Potatos

3 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds ( I used dijon mustard)
1 pinch gournd cumin
1 Tsp tumeric
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 knob ginger, peeled and finely chopped
6 potatoes, peeled, partboiled and cut in cubes
A touch of margarine
4 tbsp tomato sauce or to taste
ground coriander, to taste

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the spices for a few minutes.  Add the margarine then the potatoes, making sure they are completely coated in the spicy mixture.

Cook for about 10-15 minutes, then stir in the tomato sauce and the coriander

Drinking.. er.. Ringing in the New Year

I place a high importance on healthy eating and an active lifesyle but I also find it essential to indulge occasionally.  Over the Christmas season,  it is downright impossible to behave with that never-ending supply of chocolate that appears at the office, parties and basically every where you go in the month of December! I knew my defeat was inevitable when the chocolate aggressively hunted me down and taunted me. (Don't judge, you weren't there)

One holiday favourite that I was especially craving was Baileys irish cream. You can't buy a vegan version, but you can make it yourself.

I was fairly skeptical that Baileys could be replaced, but it really was delicious; creamy and very much like Baileys.  I combined two different recipes to get the taste I liked. It doesn't last permanently like the commercial kind, so I suggest making it for your next get together. Cheers!

Vegan Baileys

1 can coconut milk                                2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp raw or brown sugar                    3/4 cup whiskey
2 tbsp chocolate syrup                          1/3 cup strong coffee

Combine all ingredients thouroughly using a whisk. Do not froth. Keep refrigerated, prefereably in a dark bottle.

This vegetable needs a makeover

Cauliflower is definitely not my favourite vegetable. I dislike the texture, find the flavour bland and cooking it often leaves your house smelling like you have played host to an entire team of bean burrito eating rugby players.

However, Cauliflower is a member of the super-powered cruciferous vegetable family which has a ton of health benefits, including fighting cancer, so I figured it deserved at least another shot at being invited to my dinner table. (It's rude to exclude family members, even if they are vegetables)

Fortunately, this recipe transforms the lowly cauliflower to an extremely edible rating, especially the caramelized pieces (yum!) and the curry spices camouflage the typical cooked cauliflower smell.

Roasted Curried Cauliflower

1 large cauliflower
Curry Powder (I used garam masala)
Olive oil
Kosher or sea salt

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Break cauliflower into medium-small florets and place in large baking pan. Be sure the pieces are evenly sized as possible. The smaller you make the pieces, the more caramelized they will become.(trust me, you want this).

Drizzle cauliflower pieces with olive oil and season well with sea salt and curry powder. Distribute evenly in a single layer at the bottom of the baking pan. If necessary, use a second baking pan to be sure pieces are not crowded.

Cover pans with foil and place in oven. Roast, covered for 10-15 minutes. The cauliflower should be slightly soft and starting to look translucent. If not, replace foil and cook another 5 minutes.

When cauliflower has finished steaming, remove the foil and toss with tongs. Continue to roast, stirring every 8-10 minutes until the tips begin to brown and become crisp. (approximately 30-35 minutes).

Adjust salt to taste and serve.

Gratitude and Burnt Offerings

As the lone vegan attending my cousin's Thanksgiving dinner, I have been given my first opportunity to bring something other than salad, so I figured this dish better be exceptional.

My trial run ended with the smoke alarm going off as I had become distracted with other activities and didn't notice the pot had dried out, resulting in charred sweet potatoes and the stench that was to last for days as a reminder that I will never appear on the Food Network.

In my determination to create the ultimate vegan dish to wow the carnivores at the gathering, I have noticed that none of my focus had been on preparing for the actual reason we are gathering; To acknowledge all the blessings we have received and express our gratitude. Perhaps, even share those blessings with others.

Truly feeling gratitute can be a challenging thing in our superficial, self-obsessed culture where the media would leave us to believe the most newsworthy story is what Pippa Middleton wore down the street yesterday,  while almost completely ignoring the proverbial elephant in the world room that there are thousands of people starving, or already dead, in Somalia as we speak.

Without the realization of that we are outrageously fortunate, compared to the world scale, we are uncapable of feeling true gratitude, nor are we inspired to help those who are in lack. I encourage you to join me in actually taking time to count our blessings and then pay a bit of it forward. If you would like to help out with the East Africa drought, this is an excellent organization.

https://donate.mcc.org/project/east-africa-2011-drought-response

Caramelized sweet potatoes

1 pound sweet potatoes
1/2 cup pineapple pieces
1/4 cup coconut oil or margarine
1/4 cup raw sugar or maple syrup
2 tbsp pineapple juice
pinch of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger powder combined

Boil unpeeled sweet potatoes in pan of salted water until just tender. Remove from heat and drain well. Cool slightly, then peel.

Preheat oven to 400F or  200C
Thickly slice sweet potatoes and arrange in a single, over-lapping layer in a greased oven-proof dish. Drizzle melted margarine or coconut oil on top.

Sprinkle with the sugar, juice and spices. Bake 30-40 minutes, basting occasionally, until golden brown.

Cooking for the vegan, allergic masses

Our Western diet is evolving; our culture now embraces all different kinds of ethnic cusines and there are more vegans than ever before, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, there are also more food allergies than ever before, which makes attending a potluck and cooking something that is both appealing and not going to  make someone ill a bit of a challenge.
While I will be the first to admit that I have completely destroyed recipes before, I have not, to this date at least, ever killed and/or maimed anyone with my food. To keep with that tradition, I made sure I had a recipe that was vegan, gluten free and nut free. It is wonderfully spicy and easy to make.

Punjabi Chana

2 cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup coconut oil
6 tsp garlic paste
2 dry red chillies, ground with a little water (I used red chili flakes)
6 tsp ground coriander seeds mixed with a bit of water
4 cups chopped tomatoes
6 green chilies, chopped (I used canned)
1/4 cup finely chopped ginger
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves

Heat the oil in a pan , add garlic paste and fry until golden in colour. Add the red chilies and coriander seeds. Stir-fry until water evaporates.

Add tomatoes, green chillies and three quarters of the ginger. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until oil comes to the surface.

Add the chickpeas and mix. Cook for 5 minutes, mixing well. Add lemon juice, garam masala and the dry fenugreek leaves. Mix well. Sprinkle the remaining ginger on top.