Meditteranean Pasta

There's nothing particularly mind-blowing about this dinner - it's just an example of one of the quick, simple meals I eat when I'm not feeling particularly inspired. Despite that, it remains one of my favourites (I practically lived on this when I was a student), and it can easily be adapted for whatever veg you have in your fridge.For this one I chopped 1 onion finely, diced 1 large carrot, diced 2 stalks of celery & diced about 1 cup of mushrooms. I fried the onion, carrot & celery with a crushed garlic clove & a tiny bit of chilli paste in olive oil for about 5 mins. Then I added the mushrooms & cooked them for a couple of minutes. I added 1 can of diced tomatoes, a slurp of balsamic vinegar (you could also use red or white wine), a pinch of dry basil & some salt & pepper. I turned the heat down & let it all simmer for about 20-30mins until the sauce was nice and thick. While that was happening I cooked some wholemeal spaghetti & that's it!

I often add some protein to this sauce - lentils or kidney beans - but I wasn't in the mood. I also added some chopped black olives to my sauce after serving (D hates olives).

The leaning tower of pies

It's a funny story really. A little while ago I had a bag of mushrooms to use up so decided to make some of my lentil & mushroom pies for freezing. Everything went well until I got a bit impatient when I was trying to freeze them. I put them in a container all stacked on top of each other while they were still warm. This must have created some kind of unbreakable bond, because now, whenever I try to get a pie out of the freezer for dinner, I can only get 3. The pies in the photo below have actually been defrosted & heated in the oven & still wouldn't come apart!So, D & I have had to resign ourselves to eating 3 at a time. Obviously, we save them for those times when we are starving - lucky they're not full-sized pies. The important part in all of this is the pie itself. This is my basic recipe. I've tried Carla's and Cindy's pies this year, both of which I loved, but this is my own quick and easy favourite recipe. It relies mostly on frozen & canned food so I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand.

Lentil, Mushroom & Pea Pies

• 1-1 1/2 cups mushrooms, finely diced
  
• 1 can brown lentils, rinsed & drained
  
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
  
• 1 can diced tomatoes
  
• Salt & Pepper to taste
  
• 4 sheets puffy pastry, thawed

Heat a little olive oil over medium heat in a frypan. Add the mushrooms & cook a few minutes, until just starting to shrink. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan & cook, stirring occasionally, about 10-15mins, until the mix has thickened.

I use my pie-maker for these, so at this stage, just cut out your pastry & fit it to whatever pie-making device you are going to use. Add some filling, pop a pastry lid on it & bake for as long as it takes for the pastry to turn golden brown (if baking in the oven, just use a moderate heat - it will probably take around 15mins).Here's a pretty terrible shot of the filling. These are definitely best enjoyed with some good old tomato sauce.

Mum's scones

I've been eating these scones ever since I can remember - it's my Mum's recipe & it seems like she used to make them at least once a week (but it was probably more like once a month). Then I grew up and started making scones myself. And then I became vegan, but that was OK because the recipe was easily veganisable.

This time I made them for breakfast - they only take about 30min from prep to eating.The photo makes it seem like there are tons of the things - but I used a small cutter (5cm I think) so they're really more like mini scones.

Mum's Scones

• 3 cups SR flour
  
• ½ tsp salt
  
• 3 TBS Nuttelex, cold
  
• 1 ½ cups soy milk

Preheat oven to 210C & grease or line an oven tray.

Combine the flour & salt in a large bowl, then rub the Nuttelex in with your fingertips until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Add milk & mix until it just comes together.

Turn dough onto a floured board & pat out until 1-2 inches high (don't overwork the dough). Use a floured scone cutter or glass to cut out the scones. Place them onto the tray with edges touching & brush the tops with a little extra soy milk. Bake 10-15mins until golden & they sound hollow when tapped on the top.

I know there are lots of ways to customise scones but I pretty much just leave the recipe alone - after all, I know it works!My toppings of choice are jam (this is Raspberry) & Nuttlex with Marmite. D thinks putting marmite on them is disgusting but I really like it and no matter what he says I don't think I'm crazy :-)We had a few scones left over after breakfast, so they served as afternoon tea as well. This is raspberry jam again with some Soyatoo Whipped Cream. I haven't had the cream before & I don't really like it - too much of a soy flavour for me. I definitely wouldn't serve it to a non-vegan.

Fox Hotel, Collingwood

After reading about Cindy & Michael's first visit to this recently revamped pub in Collingwood I was hooked. Not only do they serve up multiple vegan options - they're interesting options. Then I read about their most recent visit & discovered they also have a rooftop beer garden & was desperate to visit. We finally made it on Monday night - after all, I need to gather subject matter if I'm to keep up with Vegan MoFo (that's my excuse & I'm sticking with it!).

It's worth noting what seemed to be an extensive beer menu - I saw at least 2 pages of international beers & there may have been more. I rarely drink these days, but when I do my beer of choice is Coopers Sparkling. D chose one of his current favourites - the Little Creatures Pale Ale.The prices here are on the high side for a pub (but definitely worth it), so we chose to share an entree - the Mushroom & Tofu Gyoza. They arrived quickly & were delicious. The mushrooms gave most of the flavour to the filling & I really liked the dipping sauce (it was based on soy sauce, but had something added). How do you split 5 gyoza between 2 hungry people? Well, I let D have 3 & I compensated by eating the green stuff.For his main, D chose the Whole Field Mushroom Lasagne with Three Cheeses. He really liked this but wished the lasagne serving had been bigger. Of course, with that cheesy sauce I couldn't taste it so can't give you much more detail on the flavours.There was a hiccup with my meal - I ordered the Thai Tofu Balls with Asian Coleslaw & Satay Sauce - but initially received the Marinated Tofu Steak with Wasabi Mayo. I'm not a fan of spicy food, so, even though it looked quite good, I did send it back. I have to say, the service was outstanding. I received my correct meal within 10 minutes & the staff let me know what was happening the whole time - big ticks!

This meal looks impressive - strangely there were a few spring rolls on the plate, but they tasted great, so I'm not complaining :-) The balls had a nice flavour & a perfect golden crunchy crust. They may have been a bit bland on their own, but with the satay sauce & salad this meal receives a gold star from me! If you're on the northside I highly recommend the Fox to you - friendly and attentive staff, efficient service, outstanding food and a fantastic vibe.

The Fox Hotel
351 Wellington St, Collingwood
Mon-Thur 3pm-late (kitchen 5-10pm); Fri-Sun 12pm-1am (kitchen 12-10pm)
http://thefoxhotel.com.au

Best vegan quiche ever!

I originally got this recipe from a vegetarian forum & it's a real winner. It ticks all the boxes - quick, easy, healthy & delicious. It also tastes equally hot & fresh from the oven; or cold for a picnic the next day.

The base of the recipe is a besan (chickpea) flour batter (which also makes an awesome omelet - but you will need to wait for another day to see that recipe). From there you can pretty much add whatever veg you like. The original recipe uses onion & tomato, but I play around with it, using whatever I have in the fridge. This one had onion, broccoli & tomato.My Best Vegan Quiche

• 1 cup besan flour
  
• 1 ½ cups water
  
• 2 TBS olive oil
  
• Salt & pepper to taste
  
• Pinch dry basil
  
• 1 red onion, finely diced
  
• 1 tomato, finely diced
  
• 1-2 sheets puff pastry, thawed

Preheat the oven to 220C & grease a springform quiche pan. Press the pastry into tin (my pan is quite large so I always use 2 sheets of pastry). Prick the base & cook 15mins, until puffed & lightly browned.

Whisk the flour, water, oil, salt, pepper & basil well. Pour the batter into the cooked pastry crust. Sprinkle the tomato & onion over & bake 45min, until golden & firm to the touch.

That's it! As I said above, use whatever veg you like in this - but keep it simple & don't use too much - the pastry crust won't hold too much once it's all puffed up.

Why horse racing is bad

It's the 2nd day of Vegan MoFo & I have a couple of foodie posts ready to go, but since today is the Melbourne Cup, I thought it would be more appropriate to comment on the tragedy of this so-called 'sport'.

I'm actually just going to share some information from Animals Australia since they have already said everything I wanted to say.

Firstly, I love this poster they have made - it made me smile & really goes to the heart of how I feel.Image from Animals Australia - Say 'Nup' to Melbourne Cup.

For a more serious message please watch this video to learn the truth about this horrific industry.

You can read more about this issue here.

And if you have any feelings left whatsoever, please join me in boycotting the 'Race that Stops a Nation' - this year - and every year to come. Sign the Pledge and make it real.

World Vegan Day wrap-up

Another year, another World Vegan Day celebrated in Melbourne - at the Abbotsford Convent again. This year I decided to go at lunch-time so we could enjoy the hot food. Never again - early is definitely best!

First, the food. D chose a Funky Pie for lunch - this is the Chilli Non-Carne. We initially lined up for about 15 minutes to get this - they told us there weren't any. So he got a Spicy Thai instead. Then, when he started to eat it, he quickly realised it was still frozen - not cold - frozen. Last year, we got the pies & they were still cold in the middle. We can deal with cold, but this was a little silly. So, he lined up again to get a new pie & this time they had some Chilli Non-Carnes ready. It was still only luke-warm, but I think D was determined to enjoy it after all the hassle.I had wanted a Funky Eezy Chic 'n' Cheezy pie, but they didn't have any, which I'm glad about, because I got this awesome Potato & Olive pizza instead. It was made by Crumbs Organic Bakehouse, but I think was being sold as part of the Lentil as Anything stall (the signage was confusing). This was only $3.50 (compared to the $6.50 pie) & was crunchy, hot & delicious. Underneath the potato slices was a layer of caramelized onion & garlic - yum!Dessert had to be Fritz Gelato. D chose a scoop of Go Bananas, and I got 2 scoops (because I couldn't decide on a flavour). This is Bounty & Passionfruit Kick. What can I say - perfect as always.After lunch we fought our way through the crowds to look at the stalls & I picked up a couple of things, but I really couldn't be bothered with the stress of it all so we didn't stay long. I did pick up this Jokerz bar before we left though (it's like a vegan snickers). It was so good - I'm just glad they're so expensive ($4.50) - because I could really get addicted!Things I liked at WVD this year:

• It was more spread out. The music had it's own stage area which meant you could hear yourself think in the other areas.
  
• There was a good variety of stalls again
  
• It's great to see so many people in one place celebrating veganism

Things I didn't like this year:

• Slightly chaotic & disorganised again. The main reason I went was to see the talks - particularly Eating up the World by Bruce Poon. We got there right on time but we couldn't find the talks area anywhere. Initially, we followed the signs. They led us into the courtyard area where all the hot food stalls were. No talks. So I asked the information desk - they told me to go upstairs. Still no talks. By this stage it was 15mins in to the talk so I gave up. On the way out we saw other signs for the talks area that were pointing in a completely different direction.
  
• The courtyard area is too small for the hot food stalls. Once you added the long queues for Vegi-licious, Funky Pies & Fritz to that small space, chaos followed.
  
• Still no seating for people to sit & eat. Which meant people were trying to stand & eat plates of curry while avoiding the mass of other people who were still trying to get their hands on something to eat. If it's at all possible, getting the hot food stalls out of that confined area would be a really good move.
  
• Parking! It's nothing to do with the WVD organisers - parking is always horrendous at the Convent. I'd love to be able to catch public transport there, but it would take us about 2hrs & we always have other stuff to do before or after so will probably always end up driving.

Overall, I'm sure the WVD organisers will count yesterday as a success & good on them for all the hard work!