Dinosaur Kale Mac and Cheese

Because dinosaurs are cool.

Chili and Lime Black Bean Burger

The perfect vegan burger!

Beer Battered Halloumi

Nom, nom, nom.

Ginger and Chili Tofu

Crispy delicious tofu that's easy to make... say what?

Chocolate Cake Balls

Cakes, but not as you know them.

Sunday, 2 January 2011

Christmas Leftovers

Christmas always leaves tones of left overs, despite the fact we completely over fill ourselves! Most meat eaters are left eating turkey sandwiches, turkey curry, ect, ect. But being vegetarian I'm left with loads of vegetables to cook with (as my parents buy too much and don't cook them) and also a lot of cheese. And in keeping with my New Years resolution I used some to learn a new recipe, spicy parsnip soup. I was lucky enough to get some white truffle oil, which I have been putting on everything! (I would drink it if that wasn't completely disgusting) including the soup as it goes really well with parsnips. Most of the left overs went in to making different soups, but I also wanted to make a huge cheese feast pizza with all the different varieties of cheese, but they mysteriously went missing...
So here is the recipe I tried for the soup:

2 parsnips chopped
1tsp olive oil
2 knobs of butter
1 small onion chopped
1 garlic clove crushed
1/2 tsp of curry powder
enough stock to cover the vegetables
Chili garlic salt (to garnish)
White truffle oil or olive oil (to garnish)
(serves 2)

First lightly fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil with the curry powder until translucent. Then add the parsnips and the butter (you can use a vegan margarine if you want vegan soup) and cover for 10-15 minutes until the parsnips have softened. When the parsnips are ready, pour over the stock and bring to the boil for a few minutes, then remove from the heat and blend in a blender or with a hand blender. serve up and garnish with some chili garlic salt and truffle oil.

New Years Resolution

I don't think I have ever really made a proper New Years resolution, and if I have then I definitely haven't stuck to it. This year is my final year at uni, so my resolution should be to work hard, but I think that is a given. So in order to help myself work harder I want to insure that my body and mind are in top working order too. My resolution is to go back to how I was at the start of the summer, where I got up early nearly everyday of the week to go for a run, searched for new recipes to make every day and didn't have facebook! I've never felt better than I did this summer, and most of it was down to eating a proper diet and regular exercise. And when I ran my first 10k in September, I can honestly say it was the best I have ever felt. So here's to another year, with my first resolution, and hopefully I can stick to it!

Monday, 27 December 2010

Fondue

This Christmas my dad brought me something I really wanted, but probably shouldn't have. My very own fondue pot! I know fondue is very 60's, unless you're in France or Switzerland, but I was still very excited. The first time I tried fondue was when my boyfriend took me to Paris. I was looking on the internet for restaurants that would serve vegetarian food, and found Pain, Vin, Fromages a tiny restaurant that serves traditional french fondue, as well as raclettes and tartiflettes. The restaurant was amazing and I instantly fell in love with fondue, well, what's not to love, melted cheese on crusty bread!

And when we got home we realised that my boyfriends parents had a fondue pot! We have fondue as an occasional treat, as I'm sure its about as bad as eating 5 big macs. And I now that I have my own pot I can share this much loved treat with some other friends and family. It may be retro food, but this social dish should have a revival! I used my pot for the first time tonight and shared it with my mum, but I forgot to buy methylated spirit, so it was powered by cupcake candles!


Sunday, 26 December 2010

The Microwave

My Dad has never had a microwave in his house (he is a technophobic hippy!) and we haven't had one in my mum's house for over 4 years. So when I came down on Christmas morning to find our fruit bowl (often filled with random objects and a lonely fruit) replaced by a microwave, I didn't really know how to feel. There's once in my house at uni, so it's not like I'm scared of them. It just feels weird to have one in the house. When I first got to uni, I hardly ever used it as I was so used to cooking everything in the oven. I've realised how useful they are for some things, like making a jacket potato. But I still think people rely on them too much, I even know a few people who don't own an oven! And they also bring the convenience of the microwave meal, which, although I have had a few and probably will eat a few more, don't really like. I think it's a shame that most children today aren't taught how to cook, or how to use the stove or the oven. If I have children I'd love to raise them without the connivence of the microwave, so that they have to learn how to cook, because I think there is no better feeling than cooking yourself a nice healthy meal!

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