A Vegan Kitchen has spread its wings and grown up. Finally, you can find all my new content on a very special (and very fancy, I reckon) website.
Don’t worry, you’ll still be getting an abundance of recipes, but now you will also find all my thoughts, some inspiration, and a bunch of tips and tricks that I want to share with you – because sharing is caring after all.
Head over to www.avegan-kitchen.com to see what’s going on there.
Prepared a really yummy dinner for a group of friends last night, and while they requested the usual Beer Battered Tacos (see recipe in previous post), I decided to test out something I’ve been wanting to try for ages — and oh my goodness they were delicious.
The Smashed Potato
Super easy to make, and super super yummy!
Small potatoes (e.g. Baby Yellow Dutch, Small Gold Yukon)
Olive oil
Rosemary
Sea Salt
2 Cloves Garlic
Place potatoes in bowl and coat with oil
Place poatoes and garlic cloves on lined baking tray and sprinkle generously with sea salt
Poke each potato with a fork and sprinkle very generously with rosemary. Place in oven (200C) for 30 minutes
Remove potatoes from the oven, press down with the back of a fork. Be careful not to press too hard too quickly or they may crumple
Place in oven for a further 30 minutes (or until skin is golden brown and crispy)
The result is a crispy on the outside, soft on the inside potato dish
Theres not too much I can say about these tacos that will really do them justice, its really just an explosion of flavours in your mouth. It’s just a general consensus that as soon as something is ‘beer battered’ it becomes that much more delicious — and this couldn’t be more true for these tacos (which i think I’ve had every second day over this week).
I first made them for my parents who after a prolonged silence informed me that this was a dish they’d return to a restaurant for (and who doesn’t love hearing that!), I then made them for my very carnivorous friends who literally demolished them (was the perfect way to introduce them to the world of tofu).
The best part about this post is that you can use the beer batter recipe for just about anything (I’m absolutely going to be making some beer battered chips next)
Beer Batter
1 Cup Beer
1 1/2 Cups Self Raising Flour
1 Block Firm Tofu
Rice Bran Oil
1 Teaspoon Paprika
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Pour beer in to a large bowl and add the flour. Mix well until smooth. The consistency should be that of thick paint
Stir in paprika and salt and let the mix sit for 10 minutes
While the beer batter is sitting, Cut your tofu in to .5 cm thick and 2-3 cm wide strips.
Lie the tofu strips between two pieces of paper towel and apply pressure to absorb the excess liquid (this will stop the batter from going soggy)
Heat a very very very generous amount of oil in to a frying pan ( super healthy, i know)
Dip each strip of tofu in to the batter and coat generously
Place the battered tofu in the hot oil (be really careful with the oil!) and make sure to leave space between each strip, otherwise they’ll stick together. Flip over the tofu when it is golden brown — will take a few minutes.
When both sides are golden brown, remove from the oil and place on a sheet of paper towel to absorb the oil
Tacos
Tacos (Obviously)
Beans
Avocado
Rocket
Sundried Tomatos
Red Onion
Coriander
Cashew Cream (I added extra water so it was easy to drizzle)
Sriracha
I decided to make mini tacos, so if you’re wanting to make full size tacos then skip this step. Find a bowl which is approximately the size you want your taco to be (mine was about 15cm diameter), place the bowl upside down on your taco and cut around. Repeat until you have desired number of tacos.
Cover eat taco with your been mix and avocado. Squeeze with a little lime juice and some salt.
Place sundried tomatos down, followed by the battered tofu. Sprinkle with diced red onion, coriander, and some more lemon juice.
Drizzle the cashew cream and Sriracha over the tacos generously
I know it has been a very long time since I last blogged, but I’ve been crazy busy and unfortunately taking photos of every step is incredibly time consuming. However, with exams behind me I now have ample time to blog and get started on my e-book!
Biscuit
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons stevia (can use regular sugar)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil
3 tablespoons almond milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Filling:
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon margarin
Directions
Combine all dry ingredients for the biscuit in a large bowl
In a small bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients and add to the dry mix
Knead until dough consistency, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
Roll the dough out between two pieces of baking paper until it is about 2-3 mm thick
Using a small cookie cutter, cut out circles of the dough and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper
Bake on 175C for 8 minutes
Mix together the filling ingredients (I used my Magic Bullet) until it becomes smooth. Place about 1/4 teaspoon of mixture on every second cookie.
Place second cookie over the mixture and press down gently, applying even pressure
So I’m finally back to posting after quite a break (yay!)
Took me about an hour to decide what to have for breakfast this morning, and after careful consideration and a little surfing on the internet, I finally decided on a galette. Was a little apprehensive as i’d never made one before, but it actually turned out so delicious!!
Rosemary and Apple Galette:
Crust (inspired by Nutrionstripped.com)
½ cup of flour
½ cup coconut oil
1 Tbs. natural cane sugar
3 tablepons cold water
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling
2 crisp apples slice thinly
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Rosemary
Add all crust ingredients in to the food processor, except for the water, and pulse until combined. Slowly add the water until the ingredients come together like a dough
Pour the crumb on to baking paper and roll out
In a small bowl add the apple, maple syrup, and cinnamon in a bowl and mix until apples are coated. Lay the apple out on the dough (ensuring to leave a few cm’s around the outside to allow you to fold over). Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes on 175C or until golden
When ready, remove from the oven and sprinkle with rosemary.
I enjoyed the galette with a cup of TinyTea, I’m on my fourth day and am seriously loving it!!!
I’m really just going to get to the point with this post, because this brownie was so ridiculously tasty!!!
16 pitted dates
1 cup finely grated apple
2 small ripe bananas (or use 1 large)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup rice bran oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 cup almond meal
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped almonds
In a food processor pulse the grated apple, dates, banana, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until really smooth
Pour the mix in to a bowl and stir in the almond meal, and flour until combined
Mix in the rest of the ingredients
Pour the batter in to a lined baking tray and smooth the top over with a wet spatula (the photo below was taken before the top was smoothed). Bake for 25 minutes on 180C or until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs
After the crazy up and down weather the Melbourne has been having, waking up to sun shinging through my window was absolutely amazing. Despite the fact that it woke me up a little earlier than I had planned on waking up, there’s something particularly exciting about starting your day with warm weather.
Not only was today’s breakfast incredibly quick and easy to make, but it is also that kind of perfect breakfast to have while sitting outside in the sun
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cups oat flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup rice bran oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon falxseed
1 banana
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate
Directions:
Start by making the oat flour. This is literally as easy as pulse some rolled oats until it becomes the consistency of flour.
In a bowl combine the oats and the oat flour
Stir in the rest of the ingredients
Roll tablespoon sized balls of mixture and place on baking sheet
Press down each ball with the back of a fork
Bake in oven for 7-10 on 175C
I served with a spice almond smoothie bowl topped with: banana, strawberry, pomegranate, raspberry, dark chocolate, coconut, and lemon rind (the recipe for the smoothie bowl can be found in a previous post)
As well as lemon, and mint infused water in my MJLSO drinking jar (yes, in case you haven’t noticed I am completely obsessed with it!)
Today was just one of those days when the breakfast I made was exactly what I felt like! Not only is this beauty easy to make, but it’s also gluten free!!
Crust Ingredients:
1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups almond meal
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
In a food processor (I used my Magic Bullet) combined the almond meal, coconut, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Pulse until combined
Grease a pie tin and press the mixture in to the bottom and sides. Ensure you leave about 1/4 cup of the mix to put on top.
Bake in the oven on 175C for 10 minutes. While the pie crust is in the oven place 1 1/2 cups of frozen raspberries in a saucepan and heat until the berries are softened. Pour the berries in to the pie crust and sprinkle with the remainder of the crumb. Place in the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Served with a passionfruit, a can of Beyond Coconut Water, and some mandarin infused water in my amazing MJLSO jar!
Last night I was reminded that a few weeks back I promised to make some vegan pancakes but never did! So, when I woke up this morning, it’s safe to say that I was incredibly excited to whip some up as, in my opinion, a fluffy stack of pancakes are the perfect satruday morning food…I mean who doesn’t want to start of their weekend on such a sweet note!
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon rice bran oil
1 tablespoon finely grated apple
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients
Make a well in the centre, and add in the almond milk, apple, oil, and vanilla.
Mix until fully combined
Heat up a frying pan, and spray with oil (I used coconut oil). Pour 1/3 cup of the mix in, when the top begins to develop bubbles, flip over and cook for another 3 minutes
I topped with banana, and maple syrup
Served with a raspberry, and orange juice crush in my incredible new Mjlso jar! Not only is the jar incredible quality, but they come with a metal straw, and you can switch between the drinking lid and the preserving lid. You buy them at http://stores.ebay.com.au/drinking-jars-mjlso?_trksid=p2047675.l2568
Yay!! So ridiculously relieved that my blog is working again, and that I can get back to posting….I have so many goodies coming up for you guys!
Tonight I was feeling like dumplings, and then I kinda felt like soup – so I figured why the hell not have both. Ended up creating the most incredibly delicious dumpling filling, so much so that my sister scooped a whole heap in to a bowl and ate it as a salad. This recipe is really easy, packed with flavour, and perfect for a cold winter night (which sadly Melbourne has been experiencing a lot of)
Dumpling Ingredients:
1/2 cup shredded bokchoy
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms (can use any mushrooms. I used portobello mushrooms as I didn’t have any exotic mushrooms left)
1 1/2 cups diced firm tofu
1/4 cup coriander
1/4 cup spring chopped spring onion
Large thumb of ginger
1/8 cup stock
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
Place the bokchoy, spring onion, ginger, coriander, stock, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a food processor and pulse
Add in the tofu, and mushrooms. Only pulse for a second or two, so that the mixture is combined, but not long enough that it has become a puree
Note: You should still be able to see larger pieces of tofu, and mushroom
Add 1 teaspoon of the mixture in to the centre of your dumpling wrapper. Dip your finger in a small bowl of water and wet the perimeter of the wrapper
Fold the dumpling wrapper in half, and press down on the edges to ensure it is stuck down. Bring the corners of the dumpling together and press hard to join. If you’re finding that it wont stick, wet the corners and press firmly again
Soup Ingredients:
10 cups of boiling water
1 brown onion
2 thumbs of ginger
3 tablespoons ABC sauce
4 teaspoons stock powder
Ramen noodles
Sriracha sauce to taste
Spring onions to taste
Fry the onion and ginger in a saucepan with a bit of oil
Add in the rest of the ingredients. Taste the soup as you go, as these are estimates of the quantities I used, I ended up adding a bit more of each. You can also add in bokchoy, and carrot.
While the soup is simmering, steam you dumplings in a bamboo basket, and prepare the Ramen noodles
To serve place some soup in a bowl, add the bokchoy, carrot, wontons, spring onion, and a squeeze of lime
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