bundles of basil - pesto that is

I live in an apartment with a balcony so I can't grow the world of veggies I want to - but I have managed to grow some herbs (parsley, mint, coriander, basil, rosemary, sage, thyme and vietnamese mint). 

I've also got some tomato plants, a couple of cucumber plants and a dwarf lemon-tree ... and no, I don't have room to sit on the balcony!

Anyway, the last few weeks the basil has just gone CRAZY! It's growing faster than I can think of ways to cook it, so I decided to make a few batches of pesto for holiday gifts. 

There was so much I had to fill the sink to wash it. Needless to say, I got a few batches outta this lot!

I made two variations, one with a crap-load of basil, a few sprigs of parsley, cashews, a few pine-nuts, olive oil and some Parmazzano (vegan parmesan substitute). The other was the same but instead of the cashews I had some blanched almonds so added them instead. (I thought later that I should have roasted them first, but it was super hot today and I didn't want to turn the oven on!)

They turned out great, I just made a delicious bruschetta by slathering the pesto on some toasted whole-wheat sourdough and topping it with tomato and cracked salt and pepper.

 

unbeatable roast potatoes

I make the BEST roast potatoes. Hands down. And here's how to make 'em. First of all, use small potatoes, I use organic baby chats. Put them in a pot of salted tap water and bring it to the boil. Boil them until they're almost cooked through, then put them on a tray and press down on them til they break open. Drizzle good olive oil over them and sprinkle fresh rosemary and rock salt (be generous). Roast in a hot oven for about 20 minutes - making sure they're cooked through and have that delicious brown crunchy crust. They're so moreish and are the highlight of a dinner party.  

radish summer salad

Today at my work there was a bag of radishes in the kitchen with a sign saying "PICKED FRESH THIS MORNING - PLEASE TAKE".

Well how could I resist? Here's a yummy salad I whipped up with them.

In the salad; radishes, red kale, carrot, beetroot, lentils

In the dressing; mustard seed, crushed garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice

Was so good - yay for work colleagues with abundant veggie patches!

chocolate ... aaaaaaaaah

My bestie Cara and her partner came round for dinner last night - and brought dessert. Oh what a dessert! I just polished off the last bit of it and thought I'd better share the love.

First of all, she found a vegan cake mix from 'Naturally Good'. It's called Deliciously Free Moist Chocolate Mud Cake Mix and is nut free, wheat free, gluten free and dairy free. It has a vegan option in the instructions where you can replace the 2 eggs with 1 tablespoon of golden syrup and 2 tablespoons of rice flour. If that's not brilliant enough, Cara in her wisdom, felt it necessary to add a handful of Sweet William choc chips to the mix too! Delish. 

Instead of icing she used a smear of Sweet William Chocolate Sauce and some fresh strawberries to top it all off. These things were AMAZING. She said they were like a self-saucing pudding straight out of the oven, and when they got to my place they had hardened up on the outside and turned into yummy brownies on the inside! Even today, after being in the fridge all night, the leftovers were fantastic.

Cupcakes are a good idea with this mix as it's super rich! I'm not usually a sweet tooth but I was dreaming of these things last night.

Thanks Cara xx

world vegan day cake

Happy World Vegan Day! I thought I'd share an amazing banana cake recipe in celebration. 

This is a variation on a friend's traditional family recipe. I've tweaked it a little and used that fabulous of fabtastics 'no egg' natural egg replacer (pictured). I found it at my local Coles, in the the health food section. It's in most health food shops so shouldn't be hard to find. You just mix 1 teaspoon of 'no egg' with 2 tablespoons of water for each egg in a recipe.

Okay, so let's get to the recipe! Preheat your oven to about 180 degrees celsius (a bit lower for fan-forced).

Here's what you need;
1 cup of sugar
125 grams of vegan margarine
3 mashed bananas
2 'no eggs'
2 tablespoons soy milk

Dry ingredients;
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

For frosting;
1/4 cup tofutti better than cream cheese
1/4 cup vegan margarine
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Squeeze of lemon


Here's what you do;

1) Cream sugar and margarine together. Separately mash the bananas and add the soy milk and 'no egg' mix. Combine this with the sugar and margarine.

2) Sift the dry ingredients into the mix and beat with electric beater for a few minutes.

3) Rub margarine in to cake tin and then line with baking paper. Put the mix into the tin and put in the oven for around 50 minutes to an hour. When it's done, take it out and let it cool completely.

4) Mix your frosting ingredients together and put the mix in the fridge while the cake's cooling so it hardens up a bit.

5) Slather the frosting over the cake and EAT!

good advice salad

My friend Jane Willcox, along with her friend Rosemary Cadden, have made this excellent little book, Making a Meal of It. No, it's not a vegetarian cook book, in fact, it's not altogether a cook book at all. It's a handy how-to guide with hints and tips about using up perishables in the kitchen - from fruit and veg to herbs, meat and eggs. 

Even though there are lots of meat/dairy recipes, it's actually really good for vegos. After all, who has more wilting greens and fermenting fruit in their kitchen? Any way, I've been poring over it for the last few days and it inspired a gorgeous salad I made tonight, so I thought I'd share it with you.

To begin with, these were the things I desperately needed to use; a sad looking cucumber, half a bunch of parsley, a half a jar of sundried tomatoes in oil and some just-about-to-sprout garlic.

In the parsley section of the book there's a great little pasta sauce mix. I varied it a little, putting the garlic, sundried tomatoes, parsley and a little oil in a blender. I then added some olives, a tablespoon of the vinegar from the olive jar and a dash of lemon juice. This turned out really lovely, but it made heaps, and I didn't really feel like pasta tonight - also, what about that cucumber? So I split the mix into two, added a bit more oil to one half and put it in the fridge to make pasta with tomorrow.

So, I heeded the book's good advice and used up some other stuff I had lying around the kitchen. I mixed the pasta/pesto whatever-it-is with a tin of canellini beans. I then added the chopped cucumber and a rogue tomato from the bottom of the fridge. I put in some tinned corn for good measure, and finally added some capers - which gave the whole thing that little kick of awesome.

It truly turned out amazing. I now have a refreshing, summery salad in the fridge, ready for me to take to work tomorrow. I'll probably put a few slices of avocado on top, seeing as that's the last thing in my kitchen that needs to be used up before I go to the market on the weekend!

Thanks Jane :)

Check out the book - there's a preview of it here, or you can buy it online through Wakefield Press here.

veggie couscous

Well, I've been busy as all hell lately and haven't posted in a while. Here's a quick couscous recipe I whipped up tonight - and hopefully I'll post a few more recipes over the next few days.

What you need;
1 cup couscous
1 veggie stock cube
Tinned brown lentils
All purpose seasoning
Cumin
Tinned beetroot
Zucchini
Asparagus
Green beans
Carrot
Mushroom
Corn
Onion
Garlic

What you do;

1) Cook the garlic and onion in oil. When browned, add the chopped carrot and green beans, then 5 minutes later add the chopped mushrooms, asparagus and zucchini.

2) While this is cooking, bring a cup of water to the boil with the stock cube and a bit of oil. When it's boiled, add the couscous, take it off the heat and set aside with the lid on for 3 or 4 minutes. When it's absorbed the liquid, fluff it with a fork to separate the grains.

3) Rinse the tinned lentils and add those and the corn to the veggie mix to heat through. Take the mix off the heat and let cool a little. When it's not so hot, add the cooled couscous to the veggie mix and add spice to flavour.

4) As a final thing - and bearing in mind that this is a quick slap-stick recipe - I chopped up some tinned baby beets and put them on top. It added that final yum factor and went well with the subtle flavours.

It's quick, yum, filling and is a well balanced meal. It keeps well for two days worth of leftovers too - my work colleagues were very jealous last time I made this :)

You can use whatever veg you have in the fridge - last time I made a version of this it was the day before market day and I wanted to use up every last thing! You can play around with the spices too - these are just what i grabbed from the cupboard.