Smooth(ie) Seduction

Learning to fall in love with smoothies as deserts have been fairly easy for several reasons: one, they are sweet, refreshing and energy pumping, two they are easy to make and take no time at all, three they can be so diverse that you just never get tired of them.

After New Year, me and Tompa decided to go back on track and loose some extra Christmas kilos. It was him who introduced me to smoothies. It was me, though who ended up pressing the blender button and coordinating the ingredients. "Let´s try this. Throw in some of that! Here, let me just do it" I took over :-)
Now making Sunday Smoothies is entirely my thing. I call it "Blending Stuff".

There is no general recipe on how to make a smoothie. Basically, anything that blends can be blended. Generally, for the sweet ones, consider: fruit (fresh or dried), nuts, seeds, milk, yoghurt, ice cream, oats, chocolate chips, sugar, honey, cream, coffee, herbs (honey mint, mint), spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise...), cooked rice or other grains, marmalade or peanut butter.

As for the savory ones, try: Vegetables, herbs and spices, yoghurt, milk, seeds, nuts, seaweed, yeast pate (really!), cooked rice, other grains or peanut butter.

Here are two of our favorite:

BANANA SHAKE:

• banana
• almonds
• soy milk
  

Peel the banana, break in three, place together with almonds and soy milk and press the button!

STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE:

• banana
• frozen strawberries
• honey
• soy milk
• lemon juice

Peel the banana, break in three, place together with the rest and press the button!

Aaahhh, this is so much fun! The Strawberry one is on its way to seduce Mike for hosting Strawberry Seduction event.

Now that I think about it, crab, I should have these more often instead of all the chocolate and cookies I stuff into my greedy .... pockets. My weight is slowly increasing........ again :-S

Mashed Potato and Vegetable Patties

Mashed potatoes on Monday, patties on Tuesday and baked veggie cake on Wednesday. Sounds nice, but who is going to cook all that, eh? Well, I don't mind. This is actually a standard three day plan in our kitchen, which all together takes roughly half hour to make. The "recipe" (I would rather call it idea) came originally from Tompa, who learned the mashed potato from his Danish friend, however I am not sure how Danish the outcome is. But anyway, here it is - a simple no-brainer, universal recipe for:

MASHED POTATOES AND VEGETABLES:

prep time: 30 minutes

• 500 g potatoes, cubed
• 500 g cubed vegetables (I used parsnip, carrot and Brussel sprouts)
• 1 big red chili
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
  
• marjoram *
  
• oregano
  
• coriander leaves
• salt, black pepper
• 1 tsp crushed cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp oil
  

* TIP: Try Herb de Provence as seasoning instead of marjoram, oregano and coriander.

Bring water to boil, add the potatoes and vegetables, lower the heat and let boil for 20 minutes or until soft. Meantime heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the onions, together with sliced garlic and chopped chili.
Once cooked, mash the vegetables well and add the rest of ingredients. Serve hot.

Easy, eh? Now that was Monday.
The next day, take the mixture out of the fridge, divide into small balls, press them to form:

MASHED POTATO AND VEGETABLE PATTIES:

• leftover mashed potatoes with vegetables
• flour (if the mixture is too watery)

Now you can:

- shallow fry them in smoking hot oil or - bake at 180 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes or until crispy.

On the third day, spread the remaining mixture onto a baking sheet (around 1 inch thick) to form a square. Top with sliced tomatoes or avocado and bake until crispy. Cut into slices and serve with dips. We ate ours with:

- sour cream whisked with wasabi paste
- yoghurt whisked with harissa paste

These were a few ideas on how to get away with the same food for three days. Add a little something here and there and trust me, nobody will notice that the same stuff was on their plate yesterday as well.

This is my three day contribution to the Potato Fe(a)st hosted by Dhivya over at DK Culinary Bazaar.

Soy Milk Pancakes

Making vegan pancakes has always been a challenge for me. I do not remember ever succeeding. Making them has been a breakfast nightmare for me, and for that reason I named them "paincakes" and decided that I didn't like them anyway.
Having a long commune and not much time to run around the kitchen with my apron on, I have been trying to experiment on Sunday mornings intending to bring a bit of royal flavor to the breakfast table, rather than the one of cereals with soy yoghurt or soy milk.
You probably know what I am hinting on here, yes, I did fight my paincake nightmare again this morning. Found the most simple recipe and was amazed by the results. Tompa jumped out of bed immediately and attacked his plate.

SOY MILK PANCAKES:

prep time: 25 minutes
makes: 6 big pancakes

• 125g whole grain flour (I used spelt)
• pinch of salt
• 200 ml soy milk (I used vanilla flavored)
• 1 tbsp soy yoghurt (optional, to fluff them up)
• oil for greasing
  

Mix all the ingredients to a smooth liquidy batter. Take care to break all the lumps.
Heat the non sticking frying pan until really hot, add a drizzle of oil and smear it around the pan. Pour in a laddle of batter and with a flat spatula, spread the batter evenly in round motions. Fry for about a minute, flip over and finish.

I added raisins to my batter, but originally I was hoping for blueberries.

Update Feb 17th - I just made these with savory filling and they were fantastic. I even added some curry powder to the batter for some extra flavor.

Update April 17th - Cannot get enough of pancakes, apparently. Today I have thickened the dough by adding some oatmeals. They came out perfect, just like the traditional American Pancakes.

We had ours with fresh cubed mango and whisked yoghurt with honey and carob powder. For even a more royal taste, try my No Fat, No Sugar, Nutty Chocolate Spread. Yum, yum, yum... Sundays are from now on Pancakes Days.
To show off, I am sending this to this month´s Weekend Breakfast Blogging to Rajitha over at Hunger Pangs. The theme is Soy and its by products. Enjoy a piece of health!

Baked Vegetable Stew

I was very happy to hear about this month´s Weekend Cookbook Challenge theme - Vegging Out! for it gave me a perfect opportunity to present the latest item in my cookbook collection - Vegan by Tony Weston and Yvonne Bishop (with their own blog!).

After gorging out at every meal occasion in London two weeks ago, me and Tompa simply could not think clearly any more. Our celebratory New Year´s trip turned into a feast quest. Brick Lane, Oxford Street, Baker´s, China town... how can you just pass by all those wonderful smells of fresh bakery, curry sauces and noodle soups?

It was not only until on one of our last days in The Chubby Camp, we ran into a little tiny corner eat out - vegan, organic, happy looking. Bamboo interior, earthen jugs and pots were yelling for attention. Since we both used to eat "those" things (and I do not mean earthen pots or bamboo interiors) in our separate pasts, we agreed to fill up on a bit of nostalgia and some "earthen stew".
An interesting menu consisted of large "scooped plates". After some mathematics, we decided to share a "5 scoop plate". Huge jars filled with curries and stews appeared in front of us with friendly explanations. Out of probably 15, we scooped out "Japanese Seaweed Stew, Mexican Bean Chilli, Mushroom Stroganoff, Chickpea Curry and Moong Dal".
Splashy scoops were socializing with each other as we carried the plate to find our tiny table with even tinier wooden stumps to sit on. Two spoons on side, our apetites ready, we dug in.
Maaaaan, was that the best and most diverse vegan food we ever got (outside our kitchen,... ehm.. excuse my shameless self-promotion ;-)... It was then, when Tompa proclaimed: "Honey, I could totally eat like this again".... And it was then, when I pleased him: "Ohhh... But let us do it, then." So we went to the store and bought the book from which I now get all my daily dinner inspirations.
We decided to go pure vegan for a month. It has been two weeks now and I feel like am back on the top of the hill (and gossip - I lost 2 kilos)...

Here is one successful sample from last night adapted from "The Book":

BAKED VEGETABLE STEW:

prep time: 50 minutes
serve: 3 people

• 2 small potatoes
• 25 g dried mushroom (I used wood ear)
• 125 g small lentils (I used Puy lentils)
• 600 ml vegetable broth
• 125 g mushroom (I used champignons)
• 1 red onion
• 1 carrot
• 120 g frozen peas (I used green beans instead)
• 125 g cabbage (I used Chinese cabbage)
• 2 heaped tsp cornflour
• 2 tsp carob powder
• 2 tsp vegan bouillon powder
• 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
• 1 tsp yeast extract (or flakes)
  
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce (mixed with 1 tsp of chili flakes)
  
• 125 ml sherry (I used dry red wine)

Prepare the vegetables: chop the potatoes, break the dried mushroom into pieces, slice the onion, chop the carrot and the cabbage and finally, slice the fresh mushroom.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (350F).

Place the potatoes, dried mushrooms and the lentils into a bigger pot, pour in the veggie broth and 200 ml water. Bring to boil and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Meantime, mix together the cornflour, bouillon powder, yeast flakes and carob and slowly mix in the molasses, tomato sauce and finally, the wine.
Pour this mixture slowly into the veggie pot and stir until the stew thickens.

Transfer the stew into a baking dish and bake for another 30 minutes. Garnish with a handful of fresh chopped parsley leaves and serve warm.

Chili brownie muffins

A long time ago, I was very excited to discover a bar of chocolate flavored with chili. Of course, I bought it, ran home and had a bite immediately. It didn't taste that great, though.... Well, ever since then, it has been sitting in my shelf, half eaten.

This Saturday, Tompa was about to return from another business trip, so I wanted to surprise him with something sweet. I browsed through some recipes, but realized there wasn't much ingredients in the house... Lazy as I was, instead of moving my butt towards the store, decided to browse more recipes, hoping to find something not-much-in-the-kitchen-friendly. And I really did. The original recipe calls for 2 eggs which I substituted for 1 banana, butter (I went for margarine) and dark chocolate, that I FINALLY had a reason to substitute for that old-ass chili chocolate... The whole recipe was a brownie, originally, but since I only had enough ingredients for a half of it, I used some muffin cups instead. YES, I pretty much changed the whole thing...

The result was more than pleasant.

CHILI BROWNIE MUFFINS:

prep time: 40 minutes
makes: 6 muffins (or 20x25 cm baking tray of brownies)

• 200 g dark chili flavored chocolate
• 50 g margarine
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 50 g hazel nuts

Pre-heat the oven for 175 degrees Celsius. Break the chocolate into small pieces, place into a pan together with the margarine and melt carefully, so it doesn't burn.
Meantime whisk together banana with sugar. Add this to the chocolate melt.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour with baking powder and the roughly chopped hazel nuts.
Mix both bowls together, you want to achieve a really thick and sticky batter. Pour the batter into the baking or muffin tray and place into the oven.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. You know they re done when the toothpick pierced through the cake comes out clean.

Well, even though the chili chocolate on its own was rather a disappointment, the muffins where a true success. Next time I plan on adding a bit of vanilla flavor and substitute the hazel nuts with almonds or walnuts.

Suganya from Tasty Palettes is going vegan this month, so this little spicy devil treat is for her to cheer her up! Here it comes, all the way to your Vegan Venture, my dear... I have been vegan myself for more than a year and still tend to be that way 90% of my eating time....

Monday Spice Collection (Part 3) - Cajun Spice Mix

After all that wonderful response I got from you guys on my previous herb and spice mixture entries, I am just more and more motivated to keep on writing this series (too bad I didnt give my sister a couple of more mixes as her wedding present)...
So here we go, after Herb De Provence and a simple but roasted Curry Powder, it is my pleasure to bring in something with a bit of a spice-kick. Even though my sister is not really keen on heat on her plate (I know, dont ask me why, but yes, we are sisters :), I decided to add a little bit of what I like to her spice collection. After all, she can only use a little bit at the time...

Cajun cuisine originates from the French-speaking Acadian or "Cajun" immigrants "deported" by the English from Acadia in Canada to the USA. It is what could be called a rustic cuisine — locally available ingredients predominate, and preparation is simple.

The aromatic vegetables bell pepper, onion, and celery are called by some chefs the holy trinity of Cajun cuisine. Finely diced and combined in cooking, the method is similar to the use of the mire poix in traditional French cuisine — which blends finely diced onion, celery, and carrot. Characteristic seasoning include parsley, bay leaf, "onion tops" or scallions, and dried cayenne pepper.

(info from Wikipedia)

The following recipe is what I mostly use in cooking stews (thickened by flour) or as a marinade (diluted in wine):


CAJUN SPICE MIX:

spice ladder: ***

prep time: 10 minutes
makes: 1/2 cup

• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp mustard seeds (yellow)
  
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp oregano
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
  
• 1 tsp paprika powder (strong or mild, I used smoked)

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. Keep in airtight container.

Here is what I do when cooking with Cajun:

1. as a marinade - mix a tablespoon of Cajun spice with chopped garlic and onions, process to a smooth paste. Add a splash of red wine and rub onto sliced meats, fish or veggies to marinade.


2. in stews - brown onions and garlic in oil, add the spices and some flour. Slowly add water and cook, until all the lumps dissolve. Add the veggies, bay leaf (very important in Cajun stews) or meats and cook until done.

And just for your (and my) illustration, here are some Cajun dining expressions.