Easy peasy rice paper rolls

Sure these are super-simple, but if you've never made them before, you might shy away thinking they're too fiddly.

They're not. They're SO not.

All you need is a bit of bench space, some pre-sliced veggies and pre-soaked rice noodles and you're ready to roll. You could add anything you like to these babies, but I tend to stick to the tried-and-true carrot/cucumber/capsicum trio. I'm thinking next time of maybe adding some marinated tofu batons to give them a bit more oomph, but I truly love the fresh taste of crispy veg and am not usually in the mood to have it overshadowed.

Don't ask me to pop in non-marinated tofu. I'm just not ready.

Oh and the dipping sauce is the funnest part of this. You could mix together some soy, lime juice, brown sugar and chopped chilli with a little coriander/cilantro, or you could just smother them in kecap manis like we do and roll about moaning over how good it is. I'm really happy for you, and Imma let you finish, but sweet soy sauce is one of the greatest condiments of all time. OF ALL TIME.

Ingredients:

rice paper wrappers
rice noodles, soaked according to package directions
assorted veg, julienned
fresh herbs - I use coriander/cilantro and mint. And lots of it!

Directions:

1. I usually soak the rice paper wrappers in a shallow bowl of warm water until pliable. I also just saw on TV this is too much soaking, and you should just splash water on them and spread it around until it soaks in. I've not tried it, but it sounds good. Either way should be fine.

2. Line up your noodles, veg and herbs just a little ways up from the bottom of your wrapper, and away from the sides.

Like thus.

Then carefully fold the empty bottom part of the wrapper over the filling and gently fold in the sides. Don't be afraid to grip your contents fairly firmly with your fingers or you'll just squash the whole thing and end up wrapping it like Veggie Dad does. Don't do that.

Continue rolling, ensuring the sides are tucked in and press down the final edge to seal. I like to then rest it on the seal to help it stick together while I make the rest.

Et voila:

Dip. Eat. Moan. Make some more.

You know you want to.

Vegetarian Caesar Salad

I'm regularly ridiculed at family gatherings with this salad. By the meat-eaters, obviously.

It has no bacon, for a start. Ludicrous.

It has no anchovy in the dressing. Who would eat this monstrosity?

Well, they do after they've tried it. Sure they whine about the lack of bacon but they can always go home and fry up a few lardy strips if they're so inclined. I'm not and it still tastes good! In fact, it's surprising how good it is and I can't take any of the credit for it, really. It's all in the dressing. That I get out of a bottle.

I do chop up some crispy "chicken" strips and add for a more substantial dish, and I really think it's important to boil your eggs for only 7 minutes or so - I don't like them totally hardboiled, but a bit soft and gooey.

Anyway, it's far from traditional but it is an easy salad that packs a lot of flavour. I'm not sure you can really argue with that!

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 head cos lettuce
1/2 loaf turkish bread, spread with butter and Gourmet Garden Garlic cut into small-ish cubes.
2-3 crispy "chicken" strips
Praise Caesar Salad Dressing (anchovy-free and awesome)
3 eggs, boiled in their shell for 7 minutes then chopped when cool enough to handle
shaved parmesan

Directions:

1. Bake the crispy strips and bread cubes until golden brown and cooked through. Chop strips into cubes.

2. Mix the salad, dressing, eggs, strips, turkish bread and parmesan. Shave more parmesan over the top.

Sweet potato and red lentil bisque - an Oprah recipe

Sometimes there's that rare moment when you read a recipe and realise you have all of the ingredients ready to go. Flipping through the O Magazine recipe book I picked up on my trip to DC, I came across this gorgeous soup and knew I needed to make it for dinner. As I was alone I was seriously considering vegemite toast, but this looked so healthy and delicious and would be awesome for lunch the next day.

I love anything with coconut milk, and everything is blended so there's no scary lentil bits or anything. Just a lovely velvety soup with a slightly sweet flavour. Excellent for some of the cool nights we've been having. Crusty bread with lots of butter wouldn't go astray...

You can find the recipe here. I've not taken nearly as gorgeous a photo as they have (and I also had no pomegranate), but you get the idea!

Sundried Tomato and Goat Cheese Mini Quiches

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<center><a title="Veggie Mama" href="http://www.theveggiemama.com/p/meatless-mondays.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a63/britney_jean_spears/Veggie-Mama-meatless-monday-button.jpg"/></a></center>

How cute are these little thangs?! And you know what? They're the easiest thing in the world to make. And even good cold. Hell, you could even make one big quiche because all it requires is an impossible quiche recipe... doctored up a little.

I can't remember which one I used now (it's around here somewhere!) but this recipe on taste.com is very similar and will work perfectly. Just swap the chorizo and capsicum with chopped semi-dried tomatoes and bits of goat cheese (I used the marinated stuff in a jar), top with parsley and some basil, and cook 15-20 minutes. Easy peasy!

I made these for a party that required canapes that could be eaten without plates and utensils. They're tiny and bite-size, and work just as well in lunchboxes. You could even make a huge batch and freeze. By lunchtime they'll be ready to go.

Let's see what you've got!

Linky bitz...

♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday.
♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button above and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.
♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!

Where it says "Name", you might like to add the name of your dish instead or as well.

Meatless Monday - Mexican Pizza

For more info about my Meatless Mondays linkup, go here, or the Meatless Mondays tab at the top of the page. Link up with your own - I love seeing what people are eating!

This week is an easy dish that I like to grab when I'm starving. Mexican seems to work really well for fast food! I usually make a burrito or a quesadilla, but this dish was born from me getting thoroughly sick of both of them and wanting something a little different. You can absolutely use a proper pizza base, or make your own dough, but I just used a tortilla and ate it with a knife and fork, because it tends to go a bit soft. It can also be made for as many people as you want, I won't give measurements :)

Ingredients
1 tortilla per person
refried beans
salsa
sour cream
guacamole
fresh tomato
sliced green onion
coriander/cilantro
any hot sauce you wish - I used Tabasco and the sauce my chipotles came in.

Directions
1. Preheat oven or grill/broiler.

2. Spread refried beans on tortilla and top with salsa. You can also mix the two if you like. Sprinkle cheese over and bake/broil until cheese is golden and tortilla is crisp.

3. Top with sour cream, guacamole, tomato, onion and coriander/cilantro. Sprinkle over hot sauce.

Pretty easy, huh?

Usual spiel:

♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday.

♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.

♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!

Check out last week's link for inspiration.

Healthy Mac and Cheese

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Yah-huh.

This tastes as good as it looks.

With about half the cheese and fat usually associated with macaroni and cheese.

And you know where it came from?

This guy:

Good old Dr Phil - the smart-talkin', no-drinkin', weight-watchin' TV lord. Once upon a time he wrote a book about losing weight. I read it even though I'm 5'10" and 59 kilos dripping wet because I'll read anything he writes. I'm a teensy bit of a fan.

But even if you're not, some of the recipes in his cookbook are actually good! Admittedly I did change this one a tad, because I just cannot do low-fat cheese. I think I'm allergic to it or something. I'm definitely allergic to food without flavour, I know that much.

This mac and cheese has a ton of flavour, with only one cup of cheese, low-fat milk and two cans of chopped artichokes... even though I only used one. Praise be to TV, it's a welcome addition to anyone's repertoire.

Once upon a time I made Paula Deen's macaroni and cheese. It's a heart attack on a plate and it still didn't taste as good as this. I sort of want to slap myself for saying such a thing, but it's true! I'll be making it again. And again, and again, etc.

If you want to make it too, here is the original. No butter, wholemeal pasta, low-fat mozzarella. It'd probably be pretty good.

If, like me, you have to change stuff according to your own tastes, you can follow what I did. And suit it to yourself!

Bon appetit, baby!


Ingredients
Nonstick spray
2 cups low fat or fat free milk (I used soy)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup tasty cheese
1/5 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
8 canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
3 cups cooked pasta (I had no elbow pasta so had to use fusilli Jerry).

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Spray a baking dish with spray and set aside.

2. Heat butter and flour over a medium heat until melted. Stir 1 minute. Add 2 cups milk and stir constantly until thick and bubbling. You can turn the heat up if you're brave.

3. Stir in cheese and cook, stirring until melted.

4. Add onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, nutmeg, pepper, artichoke hearts and macaroni. Cook until just heated through.

5. Pour into prepared baking dish and press down lightly. I topped mine with a little extra cheese and multigrain breadcrumbs. Bake until bubbling and lightly browned, about 20 mintues.

Do you believe me? Would YOU try it?

Baked ravioli bites

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I am starting to think about bite-size food a lot more now that Veggie Baby is eating solids. And while she's a little way off eating these gorgeous cheesy bites, it doesn't mean you have to be! A fun weekend dinner for your kiddies, or even an appetiser or cocktail party food with a difference for you.

The possibilities are in no way limited to cheese ravioli with pasta sauce. You can use any flavour ravioli (and yes, I know these are actually agnolotti!) and any flavour sauce. You could even hand-make the ravioli if you are so inclined... and have the time.

I like to bake these, as they come out just a little crisper than fried. But fried helps to cook the ravioli dough better. It's up to you! It's probably easier to throw them in the oven, you can fit more in and they don't have to be watched so intensely. And that whole "they're not fried" thing.

Try them. They'll be a hit!

Ingredients

refrigerated ravioli

egg

breadcrumbs

pasta sauce

Directions

1. Dip ravoli first into egg and then into breadcrumbs. You can add spices and flavourings to the breadcrumbs if you like, but I prefer to keep these simple.

2. Place on a baking sheet and spray lightly with oil. Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Serve with your favourite pasta sauce.

Think your kids will like them?

Lentil and balsamic tomato pappardelle

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Spaghetti Bolognese is one of those ubiquitous dishes. Everybody eats it, everybody cooks it, everybody likes it.

Except me.

Maybe because we had it upwards of three times a week (may be an exaggeration... but not much!), maybe because I don't like the way spaghetti feels in my mouth, maybe because I just don't like tomato pasta sauce. I don't know. I rarely never cook it and pretty much never want to eat it.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, QUIT CALLING IT SPAG BOG.

It makes me think of a toilet.

Mr Veggie Dad finds my bolognese aversion tough going, as he really likes it. And he makes a mean version too, just quietly. Sometimes I make similar sorts of things, like this lentil dish, and it seems to suffice. Want to cut down on meat? (And since when did mince get so expensive? I thought it was just snouts and tendons...) throw in some lentils. Add something, anything, for the love of god other than spaghetti and hey... even I might eat it.

Cover it in parmesan and I'm your man.

You could make this even better (and I have), by roasting halved tomatoes until soft. Then squashing them with salt and balsamic and adding to the lentils. YUM.

It's easy, quick and good for you. A delicious dish on a cold night with a sneaky red. You know you want to.

Oh and don't forget the garlic bread. Tell 'em Veggie Mama sent ya.

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can green lentils

1 can chopped tomatoes

A good splash of balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
a pinch of sugar
salt and cracked black pepper
Fresh pappardelle pasta, or cut your own from fresh lasagna sheets.


Directions:

1. Heat some oil or butter in a saucepan and fry onion over medium heat until translucent. Add garlic and fry 1 minute.

2. Add everything else and bring to the boil. Let simmer for at least 10 minutes. The longer you do, the richer and better it will taste.

3. Cook pappardelle according to package directions.

4. Test your sauce for seasoning, add to pasta, cover the lot with parmesan.

5. Never eat spaghetti bolognese again.


Seriously... am I the only one that doesn't like it?

1.

Japanese potato salad

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Oh Japan. There was so much to you that I fell in love with.

Toilets that played music. Pedestrian crossings that played music. Gadgets that played music. Buses that told its passengers over the loudspeaker to not talk on the phone too loud in case it annoyed the other passengers. Incredibly sweet and kind Japanese EVERYWHERE. 

Even their fire hose covers in the street were cute.

Golden Hello Kitty idols in the street were cute.

Hello Kitties made of flowers in the street were cute.

Japanese girls on TV were cute.

Insanely gorgeous places to stay were insanely gorgeous.

Incredible English translation was awesome.

Please excuse my rather tipsy head there.

Their cute food was cute. They had Hello Kitty stamped on tiny sausages for kids. Just about everything had a face. I fell in love with edamame. I fell in love with the dainty portions, the prettiness of their food, the care with which it was all prepared.

And I fell in love with Japanese potato salad.

Every morning we would walk to the dining room of our ski hotel for breakfast. You never knew what you were going to get - one day it was some kind of filled cabbage leaf in some kind of broth, the next it would be tiny sausages, a stalk of broccoli, an ice-cream scoop of potato salad and three carefully-placed dots of ketchup. 

I kindly offered my sausages in exchange for extra portions of potato salad. I'm caring like that.

Recently Veggie Dad scored a win when he bought me Adam Liaw's cookbook - you know that incredibly talented and adorable, green-jumper-wearing, samurai teddy bear that won Masterchef? Yeah that guy. And in his cookbook, he gives a recipe for Japanese potato salad. 

私の名前はStaceyである。 私はポテトサラダを好む。

Ingredients:

4 large floury potatoes

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

1/2 small lebanese cucumber

1 small white or brown onion, thinly sliced

1/2 small carrot

1 egg, at room temperature

1 cup kewpie mayonnaise

Directions:

1. Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes. Boil in salted water 15 minutes until quite tender. Drain and return the potatoes to the hot pan. Stir regularly over very low heat 2-3 minutes to dry the potatoes without burning.

2. Transfer the potatoes to a deep bowl and season with a little salt and white pepper. Using a wooden spoon, crush the potatoes against the bowl to make a rough mash. Whip the potatoes vigorously with a wooden spoon for a few minutes until fluffy. Leave to cool to room temperature.

3. Meanwhile, peel the cucumber, leaving on a little peel for colour and texture. Cut in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds. Slice very thinly into half-moons. Combine the cucumber and onion and toss with a little salt. Put in a colander and leave to drain for 15minutes. Rinse off the salt under running water and dry on paper towel.

4. Peel the carrot and thinly slice into half-moons. Boil in salted water 3-5 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside on paper towel to cool.

5. Bring a small pan of water to the boil. Add the egg and boil 8 minutes, then transfer egg to iced water to stop the cooking process. When the egg is cool, peel and roughly chop.

6. Add the mayonnaise, carrot, cucumber and onion to the potato and whip vigorously with a wooden spoon. Stir in the egg. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Wonton soup for you!

I was that freak wandering up and down the streets of Melbourne CBD recently looking at all the places that may or may not sell soup. Specifically wonton soup. The sad part was, it was about 7am and apparently places that sell wonton soup in the CBD have this thing were they don't open at that hour of the morning. I know! I couldn't believe it either. I wanted that soup so bad.

The community in which I live is more "let's surf for three days straight then get a beer and some chips", as opposed to "where would you like to eat tonight dear? Malaysian? Korean? Italian? How about some Ethiopian?", which I have to say is much more my style.

It's usually left to me to make whatever it is I'm craving, because it just doesn't exist where I am. And now that Veggie Baby is on board for the ride, it's not as easy to pop to Brisbane or somewhere similar for the day to get my fix. It's much more of a production and she wouldn't like the soup anyway, so it's back to the kitchen I go.

With my head full of wonton soup needs and my chest full of cold and/or flu, shit was about to get serious if I didn't make this soup a reality. I needed that soup like a flower needs the rain, like a poet needs the pain, like I need a new simile.

Not having any meat in the soup makes it a bit tricky flavour-wise, but with a good stock and plenty of onion, garlic and ginger, anything is possible. This soup filled my requirements, and when I posted a picture to Instagram, I even had people from the US demanding to be flown in to eat it. Trouble was, I wasn't going to share my soup with a single soul. NO SOUP FOR YOU!

Except if you make it yourself...

Ingredients:

For the soup:
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 red or green chillies, roughly chopped
a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled
2-3 coriander stalks
6 cups water or stock or a mixture of stock and water (be careful with the soy if you use stock)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketjap manis
Salt and pepper
carrot, spring onion and bok choy sliced thinly, fresh corn kernels
extra coriander for garnish

For the wontons:
1 packet wonton wrappers
1 clove garlic
6-8 field mushrooms, minced
1 small carrot, cut into very small cubes
a splash of soy
a few tablespoons of ketjap manis, enough to moisten the mix
1 teaspoon cornflour

Directions:

1. Process onion, garlic, ginger, chillies and coriander root in a food processor until mush. You could alternatively use a mortar and pestle to crush.

2. Fry this off in a little oil for a minute or so. Add your liquids and sauces.

3. Bring to a boil and then simmer while you make the wontons.

4. For wontons, fry the mushrooms, carrot and garlic in a little oil until soft. Add sauces and sprinkle cornflour over, stirring to combine and slightly thicken.

5. Lay out your wontons and spoon a teaspoonful of mushroom mixture into the centre. With your finger, run a little water around the edge and then fold in half, sealing the edges tightly. You can scrunch them up or fold the corners together to make neat little wontons.

6. Either cook your wontons in the soup gently with the extra vegetables (carrot, etc) 3-4 minutes until all are cooked. If you're a purist (some people don't want the flour on the outside of the wontons to mess their soup up), cook them in boiling water before adding to the soup.

7. Check for seasoning and adjust to your taste. Add coriander and any other garnish. Fresh chilli would be good.

8. Serve immediately. If there are going to be wontons left over, I would freeze them immediately and put them into the soup to reheat later. I wouldn't cook them and leave them in the soup or it will go all mushy and awful and you will curse me until your dying day. I can't have that!

Decadent Chocolate Mud Cake

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that all home cooks should be armed with a good mud cake recipe.  Even me, someone who isn't much of a fan of cake. To me, they're too cake-y (heh), oftentimes dry and lacking in flavour. I also didn't find mud cakes all that palatable - too dense, usually served cold (a travesty!) and weirdly textured. 

My husband said to me one day recently "so... you should probably do a chocolate mud cake for your blog", wink wink nudge nudge, so to appease him, I did. But it had to be something I wanted, so it had to be made with very little flour. I wanted sort of a cross between a pudding and a cake - no ghastly dry tasteless bits. A flourless chocolate cake with flour, if you will.

I also needed an excuse to wear my super-cute Smitten apron I had won through a promotion Liss from Frills in the Hills was running on Pinterest. If you've never been to Pinterest, stop what you're doing immediately and go look. It's porn for anyone with eyes and a house. 

Welcome to the Veggie Mama kitchen.

 Cutified x 1000 thanks to Smitten apron.

Sure I grease my tins with whole blocks of butter... don't you? ;)

Inspected and approved.

Even by the humans.

Ingredients
200g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
250g best-quality cooking chocolate
1/4 cup self-raising flour

Ganache:
150g cooking chocolate
3-4 tbs cream

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar.

2. Add eggs, one at a time.

3. Melt chocolate and add to the mix with the self-raising flour.

4. Bake at 180C oven for 45-50 minutes.

5. When cool, ice with ganache.

Ganache:

1. Melt chocolate with cream. Add more cream if chocolate is too thick.

We're fond of putting this in the microwave... then serving it with ice cream. Yep.


*Disclaimer - I am in no way affiliated with Smitten. I simply loved their products and was lucky enough to win one. They are awesome and you should check them out. They make candles too! 

Raspberry and White Chocolate Cookies

In March, I held a giveaway for Veggie Mama's first blogobirthday... and these delicious cookies were the prize for one lucky recipient. What's a birthday without presents?

The problem was, they were really good. Like, really good. And it was very difficult not to eat several one as I was packing them up to be shipped to New South Wales. I couldn't stand it. I had to make another batch. I'm not into sharing food! I'm the kind of person that eats popcorn one kernel at a time, and have to defend my stash from the handful-grabbers... I'm always left with less than a third of the goods after I've shared with another. Plus I just really like food, and want it all to myself!

Now, though, I can share with y'all by giving YOU the recipe and you can make 'em. And I'll go take a nap.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup frozen raspberries

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat your oven to 180C.

2. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. It will be much easier if your butter is softened beforehand. I usually make biscuits at the drop of a hat and have only rock-hard butter. short bursts in the microwave is a winner!

3. Add egg and vanilla.

4. Mix in flour and baking powder. Stir in half the white chocolate chips.

5. Drop tablespoonsful on a tray covered in baking paper. Press in some raspberries and chocolate chips. I do this so they don't break down in the batter and go all squished and turn the batter a weird colour, especially if they're frozen. But you can do it however you like.

6. Bake 15-20 minutes until lightly browned and cool on a wire rack.

7. Post some to me.

Slow-Cooked Peas in Butter and Garlic

I eat my peas with honey
I've done it all my life.
It makes the peas taste funny,
but it keeps them on my knife.


Ok that's not entirely true. I've never eaten peas with honey. Or on a knife. But I recite that little poem just about every time I eat peas, and I've done that all my life!

I actually quite like peas. They're fresh, green, and taste great with gravy. And mint. And mint gravy. But never before eating this dish had I ever closed my eyes and groaned in pure pea heaven.

"Pea heaven?" you say. "It does not exist."

Well let me change your mind. If you like butter and garlic and deep flavours in your veggies, you'll like this. I promise. The peas don't even taste like peas. They taste like little morsels of heaven.

I have adapted the recipe from here. The post that changed my life.

Ingredients:
4 cups frozen peas
1/4 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
1. Melt the butter over low heat. Add peas and garlic.

2. Cook over low heat for 20 minutes.

3. Tweet me and tell me you were wrong about peas never being palatable, ever, full stop.

Strawberry Pop Tart Scones

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I'm always bemused by the difference between scones and scones. You know, the English-style round ones with jam and cream, and the American triangle ones stuffed with things other than sultanas... thank goodness. I just can't come at a sultana scone.
When I saw this recipe for strawberry pop tart scones, I didn't even baulk at them not being round and familiar, like I usually do. All I knew is that I wanted them. I wanted their crunchy, breakfast-food-style strawberry goodness immediately, if not sooner. Pop Tart scones? Amazing.

Unfortunately it was nowhere near strawberry season when I made them, so I decided to add strawberry jam preserves instead of the fresh strawberries the original recipe called for. Not a bad idea, it turned out. Crunchy. Soft in the middle. Strawberry-y. I ate them for morning tea with a cup of coffee, but they could really be had any time. Breakfast, weekend brunch, after-school afternoon tea... you can even tell yourself they're healthier than a breakfast pastry. Probably because they are!

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
85g tablespoons butter, grated
1/2 cup cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup strawberry jam

Icing:
1/2 cup icing sugar
a drop or two of pink food colouring
Enough milk to get to the right consistency - a teaspoon at a time.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250C

2. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, and baking powder. Rub in the cold grated butter with your fingertips until blended and the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

3. Add milk, cream and egg. Mix until a dough forms, adding the jam half way through.

4. Pat dough into a large circle on a lined baking tray and cut into eight pieces. Separate the pieces about an inch apart and bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden.

5. Mix the icing and drizzle over.




So what do you prefer? The traditional English-style scone, or an American-style triangle? And what do you top them with?

Broccoli Cheese Soup

From: Rebecca Marshall
Sent: Monday, 14 June 2010 12:16 PM
To: Stacey Roberts
Subject: RE:


Honey there are some things broccoli should never be and soup is one of them. There is something vomity about it in liquid form anyway and you go and add cheese? What are you? On crack?
 
 
 
From: Stacey Roberts 
Sent: Monday, 14 June 2010 12:18 PM
To: Rebecca Marshall
Subject: RE:
Seriously. After all these years and all this Veggie Mama-ing, you still don’t trust me? Why would I bring to you a disgusting soup? It’s one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted. Rich and velvety, the thing is like nectar from the gods. Sure I was apprehensive the first time I made it, but I can’t imagine what life would be like without this soup in it. Ye of little faith.

Pah.

Meanwhile you had such a bad week with replacements last week. Wield the power and cut his darn copy.


Kind Regards,
Stacey Roberts
***** News Editor
 
 
From: Rebecca Marshall

Sent: Monday, 14 June 2010 12:21 PM
To: Stacey Roberts
Subject: RE: Well I expect a thermos of said soup at your earliest convenience. Until then you are safe from elimination and still in the MasterChef competition.




Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large head broccoli
2 potatoes, diced
1 litre vegetable stock
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup grated tasty cheese

Directions:
1. Saute the onion garlic in 1 teaspoon each butter and oil over medium heat until translucent.

2. Add the broccoli, potatoes and stock and turn up the heat. Boil 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.

3. Meanwhile, melt the 1 tablespoon butter in a small pan over low heat. Add the flour and cook 1 minute. Add the milk and whisk vigorously until smooth. Cook slowly until the sauce is thick and creamy. Add the cheese.

4. Blend the soup to a puree and add the cheese sauce. Serve with lots of delicious, hot bread.

Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

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There's no need to be afraid of vegan baking.

Once upon a time I thought vegans ate nothing but weird meat analogues and nuts and seeds and other strange things this little country girl had never heard of. And lentils*. The horror!

Turns out I was wrong. Which happens sometimes when you actually learn about things rather than just assume. And I had a lot to learn.

The first time I baked a vegan cake, I could not believe the results. I was nothing if not a devotee to butter, and I knew how important eggs were for making things rise. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't a well-flavoured, moist cake that's for sure.

All vegan baking really comes down to is perhaps some dairy-free margarine and something to replace the eggs - apple puree, vegetable oil, mashed banana - it isn't really difficult. And in fact can be quite helpful if you are halfway through a cake when you realise you don't have any eggs. Something I've done once or twice. Ahem.

As I've said before, I'm really fussy with my food. If it isn't amazing, I won't eat it. Life's too short, right? Well I'm rarely a cake eater, but when I do indulge it's only with something that isn't a waste of time and calories. Pleased to say this cake is neither.

Now this isn't my recipe, I've only tweaked it from the vegan guru Isa Chandra Moskowitz and her revolutionary book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. It's the vegan cupcake bible, and Isa is the vegan baking messiah.

Anywhere you see extra flavouring, I've added cherry brandy essence. The rest I kept exactly the same. I also added chopped glace cherries to the top and sprinkled a little cocoa powder over. Try it! You might like it. I served these to the guests at my baby shower, none of whom are even vegetarian, let alone vegan.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180C and line a muffin or cupcake tray with liners.

2. Whisk the soy milk and vinegar and set aside for a few minutes. Add sugar, oil, extracts, and beat until foamy.

3. In a separate bowl, sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until there are no big lumps.

4. Fill liners 3/4 of the way and bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and cool before frosting.


Vegan Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dairy-free margarine (Nuttelex is good)
1 3/4 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A drop or two of cherry brandy essence
A drop or two of pink food colouring
1/4 cup soy milk

Directions:
Mix!

For more vegan deliciousness, visit the "links" bar at the top of the page. A whole new world awaits!

* lentils are delicious. Little did I know...

Cinco de Mayo - Veggie fajitas and homemade salsa

First of all, whenever anybody says salsa, in my head I'm repeating the above scene... where George and Jerry are discussing salsa being the number one condiment in America... and Jerry saying "It's because people like to say 'salsa'!"... and I can't say salsa properly again after that.

It's easy for me to see how it did become the most popular condiment - I like a sauce to be spicy and flavoursome. I'm not about plain old ketchup, I'm the one sneaking back to the kitchen to doctor it up somehow. Salsa fits my bill perfectly. And all you have to do is throw things into a blender and voila! spicy salsa.

Mexican food is one of the easiest and best cuisines to eat if you're vegetarian, going veg, or just wanting to eat less meat. It's so adaptable, and its big, bold flavours satisfy any kind of appetite. I usually go for a cheesy enchilada or bean burrito, or even a crispy taco on Mexican nights around here, but it's hard to go past a spicy veggie-filled soft wrap with a dollop of sour cream and some SALSA!! on the side. Yum!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Fajita ingredients:
2 capsicums, one red, one green, sliced
1 onion, sliced
7-8 portobello or field mushrooms, sliced
juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
2 chillies, sliced
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
tortillas, coriander and sour cream to serve.

Method:

1. Put the capsicum, onion, mushrooms, garlic and chillies in a bowl. Add lemon, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and marinate at least 1 hour.

2. Fry over medium-high heat until veggies are soft and browned, about 8-10 minutes.

3. Serve on tortillas with optional extras.

Salsa ingredients
1 400g can diced tomatoes
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
1-2 red chillies or jalapenos, roughly chopped
juice of a lime
small handful chopped coriander
pinch of sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. Pulse until desired consistency.

Finish Quantum and the Chocolate Challenge

I'm a teensy bit competitive. Not the sweaty, athletic type, but if there's a challenge going on, I don't like to lose. You're looking at a crossword competition champion and inaugural ice-block-eating winner. Oh! and once I had to suck jelly through a straw with my hands behind my back. I won that too.

And if you don't like to lose, don't play me in Trivial Pursuit...

If you want to see my dreams die before your very eyes, play me in Scrabble (yes, I completely suck even though I'm a professional writer... go figure), Monopoly, checkers, chess (I have a deep-seated love-hate relationship with it) or poker. That being said, I'm a mean Boggler and Battleship-er.

When someone throws down a challenge, I more than likely accept. I want to triumph, dammit! I was encouraged by the good people at Finish to bake an uber-ooey-gooey caramel chocolate brownie and to wash the pan with their new Finish Quantum tablets in my dishwasher. I was skeptical. I mean, tons of the caramel from the eggs had melted through the brownie and was now stuck fast on the bottom of the pan. I couldn't even scrape it off. 

Well we couldn't have it going to waste now, could we?

Yet, the next morning both Veggie Dad and I were genuinely surprised to see a very clean pan indeed. 

Impressive...

Sure there was a little left over, but it brushed right off, and did I mention the baked-on caramel?

This killed me.

The fun part is that we got to eat these brownies. You can too! And if you make a ridiculous mess like I did, then email finishsamples@handlingmatters.com.au for your very own free sample of Finish Quantum. #winning!

Delicious easter egg brownies are constructed thusly:

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter

200g dark chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup caster sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup plain flour, sifted

2 x 110g packets caramel easter eggs

cocoa powder, to serve

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan forced. Coat the baking dish in non-stick spray.

2. Place the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water on low heat. Don't let the bowl touch the water.

3. Cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes until smooth and combined. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar thoroughly until you have a silky consistency. Set aside for 5 minutes.

4. Stir in beaten eggs and flour. Pour a mixture into a prepared dish. Spread top evenly with a spatula. Press chocolate eggs into brownie mixture.

*Disclaimer: I was given this challenge and all the necessary items as a gift from Finish. I wasn't obliged to write anything at all. However, did I mention the baked-on caramel?!

Audrey Gordon and the Roast Vegetable Salad

I love comedy. I love books. It is my personal belief that there's nothing better than when the two are combined.

I was made aware recently that the hilarious team from Working Dog Productions had taken a potshot at the foodie culture by creating their own celebrity chef, and in turn had her create a cookbook. Now I like my wit drier than a desert, and when a satirical publication is passed off as legitimate, (hello The Onion), I am especially impressed. Particularly if it leaves people a little unsure if they're being had or not.

Working Dog have amused me over the years with The Castle, The Panel, and Thank God You're Here, and are made up of members of the D-Generation and The Late Show (seriously funny Australian comedy that I still watch today), and their creation of Audrey Gordon does not disappoint. As she moves to Tuscany to immerse herself in the culture, customs and cuisine, Audrey's impertinent attitude (she was voted Britain's Sternest Chef for three consecutive years) makes for compelling reading. There was a joke on just about every page that I found genuinely funny ("The Piazza Pallazzio has genuine period charm. Each of its 66 rooms boasts antiques such as Etruscan rugs, four-poster beds, vases and dial-up internet"), and I am an exacting comedy consumer. I'm a tough nut to crack.

Complete with recipes I want to try marked...

All the recipes included in the book are real, and actually quite delicious. I'm told the book is "a practical guide that will help you carry off everything from a lazy Sunday brunch with friends to a formal sit-down banquet for 300 lactose-intolerant, diabetic vegans with severe peanut allergies". You can't get more helpful than that.

I decided to put the roast vegetable salad to the test - something easy I could throw together, but still be delicious. Given that it is getting into cooler weather too, a salad sort of needs to be a bit hotter and heartier to go with your meals This will do the trick!

Ingredients:
10 new potatoes, halved
2 white onions, sliced
2 large carrots, cut large chunks
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 zucchini, thickly sliced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
olive oil
salt
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
50g pine nuts
150g flat-leaf parsley, washed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. Place the potatoes in a saucepan of water and bring to the boil for 5 minutes until they're just turning soft, but not cooked.

3. Put the potatoes in a large bowl along with the sliced onion, carrot, garlic cloves and zucchini. Sprinkle with rosemary, thyme and a good slug of olive oil. Toss to coat the vegetables with the olive oil then season with salt to taste.

3. Spread the vegetables on an oiled baking tray and bake about 35 minutes until they begin to brown around the edges.

4. Stir in the cherry tomatoes, and continue cooking for a further 15 minutes.

6. Toss the roast vegetables in a large bowl with the pine nuts, parsley and balsamic vinegar.


Audrey's Tip:
Heat is the very essence of cooking. It's what causes individual ingredients to lower their barriers and intermingle with each other, eventually yielding to the moment, rather like vodka at a dinner party. That said, it's imperative that you use no more and no less heat than is needed. The last thing one wants is to startle the garlic or flummox your onion.