Vegetarian Chatter

SB, our blender cost approx $600 incl. postage (but hey, it has a 2 horsepower motor!). The course was run by a couple called Anand and Runi. They live in Northern NSW, but do courses all over the place. I just had a look at their web site, rawpower, and their next course in West End is in October.

There is a great web site that lists different green smoothie recipes.

In summer, DH and I try to eat at least 50% raw and there are some weeks where we would eat up to about 75% raw. I find it easy to eat raw food when the weather is really hot. We also have a 9 tray food dehydrator. We don't use it as much in winter, as I prefer cooked food when the weather is cold. Actually, we have a few different things in our dehydrator at the moment- apple; pineapple; a mix that will become herb crackers after about 12 more hours of drying, and 11 tiny pie bases that I will add chocolate sauce to tomorrow morning (the choc sauce is made out of raw cocoa powder, and the pie bases are made out of flaxseed, almonds, oats and dried apricots).

mum2missm I'm at work so don't have it on hand but will be home by lunch time if you still need it then... dh makes it (not me) and he doesn't soak the lentils though, he got the recipe from an Indian cooking class a few years back along with a YUMMY chutney which I make (and he doesn't) :lol: I tend to maily use red lentils when I cook with them because they soften up really quickly and make everything thicken up :) I thnk his dahl has yellow or brown? Sorry, that's not very much help is it!

Dahl Curry or Soup
(3-5 people, cooking time 70 minutes)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup yellow split peas (do not pre soak)
1/2 cup red lentils (do not pre soak)
1/2 cup mung dhal (do not pre soak)
Up to 2.5 litres of water
1/2 tablespoon turmeric powder
Pinch of salt
150 ml of ghee (50 ml to cook, 100 ml to fry)
1 large onion sliced
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
2 teaspoons cumin powder
500 g mixed vegetable (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup fresh chopped coriander (to cook and for garnish)
6-8 fresh curry leaves (12-16 if dried)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds

METHOD

In a large saucepan mix all the lentils (split peas, red lentils, mung dhal) and wash thoroughly with hands (repeat 2-3 times). Add 2 litres of water, turmeric, salt and bring to the boil.

Add 50 ml of ghee, half of the sliced onion, 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic, chilli flakes, cumin powder and cook for about 30 mins on medium heat with the saucepan half covered (stir occasionally and add water if too thick).

Add the mixed vegetables and half of the fresh coriander and cook for a further 20 minutes (add water if dhal is too thick).

In a frypan heat 100 ml of ghee then add curry leaves, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, stir, then add the remaining onion and cook on medium heat until onion is golden brown stirring as required. Add 1 teaspoon of garlic and cook for a further 1 minute.

Add the contents of the frypan to the lentils then put some dhal into frypan and stir briefly then put it back into saucepan (this gets additional flavour from frypan). Mix well, and garnish with the rest of the fresh coriander. Serve hot as soup, or with basmati rice or Roti bread.

Tomato Chutney
(Cooking time 25 minutes)

INGREDIENTS

50 ml cooking oil
6 fresh curry leaves
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
4-6 dried chillies
1 large finely sliced onion
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cans peeled tomatoes
Salt to taste (1-2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon raw sugar
1/2 cup fresh coriander (finely chopped)

METHOD

In a frypan heat the oil then add curry leaves, cumin seed, mustard seed, dried chillies, sliced onion and cook for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, mix well and cook for a minute then add turmeric powder, stir, then add tomatoes and salt and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes (stirring occasionally). Add garam masala, sugar, coriander and cook for a couple more minutes.

NB: Tomato Chutney can be kept in fridge for up to 2 weeks and served as an accompaniment or as a relish. Serve hot or cold.

Far out, I dont log on for almost two weeks and it literally takes me almost an hour to catch up on you lot!
Congrats Mum2missm! Throughout my pregnancy all my family gave me crap about how we were going to have a skinny baby because we are vego... 8lb6 showed them! You can easily have a healthy pregnancy without eating dead animals.
Crack up about the Mum not getting any solids, I think it was Cherished??(welcome back by the way :))
Dinner tonight was crapola pasta with a jar thrown in, very nutritious, not.

Snugglybean, Im into making a brown rice risotto. My DP hated brown rice too but he quite likes this meal. I just make the rice as per usual in the rice cooker, but in a fry pan I do garlic, onion, zucchini, sweet potato, mushies you could add whatever, fry them up good and well. Then add tin of tomatos to which I then do coriander,paprika,oregano and whatever other herbs then once its simmered a bit chuck in the rice then salt pepper and grated(vegan) cheese. Made it for lunch today, tasty!
Brown rice and roast veg salad.

Roast 2 spanish onion, 1 or 2 capsicum, 1 sweet potato,2 zucchini etc
Cook about 4 cups brown rice and cool.
To rice add aprox 3 tbsp oli oil and 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar.
Add about 10 kalamata olives chopped
Mix in cooled vegies and add a bag of rocket before serving.

More of a summer meal but I like to serve it with turkish and its delish on the side of a bbq meal.

Hope everyone is well*

What is your best vegan cheesecake recipe? I want to make one for my mums group but have to blow them away - before I tell them it is vegan. he he. Actually even though Rocky is big for meat eaters they are all great and try to bring something vegetarian to meet ups (except I am on a diet - eek!).
So back to the point - awesome cheesecake recipes - one that most people seem to like.
Love you guys!

I made a beautiful orange spiced cake (vegan) for playgroup today so hopefully it will go down well (but at 15g of fat per slice I won't be having any :(). I used my grannys old lemon cake recipe and substituted the 'no egg', soy milk and nuttelex and added a dash of allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Yum yum!

Your very welcome mum2missm :)

krysalyss how did you go with a cheesecake recipe? I'd love one too... Your orange spice cake sounds yummo can you give me the recipe? are you keeping under 20g of fat per day? The 1st time I calorie counted I tried to stay under 20g of fat per day and counted it for the first 4 weeks. I wasn't getting anywhere near 20 grams so I stopped counting it, I figured if I had something which I knew was fattening it would be ok because on all the other days I was well under 20grams with my regular diet :)

hey cherished - havent got one yet. I dont know how you stay under 20g. My recommended intake (from calorie king) is 38g. I find it a lot harder to stay under my fat than my calories so I do watch my intake.
I wonder if it is worse to go over your fat or calorie intake? I thought probably calorie.

krysalyss That's an easy one, I'm sure I've read his saying, "fats count but calories are king" heheheh So I think It's most important to stay right on the calorie count. Yes the Calorie king fat amount for me is 30g. I think weight watchers, Jenny craig or something is 20g of fat per day so I just had that in my head when I did my 1st calorie king diary a few years ago... I just doen't have many fats in my diet, even when cooking I skim the coconut cream from the top of the can and heat that up and it turns into an oily paste, I use that to cook onion or tofu in and spices for a curry etc, if I am making something else I will just cook off the onions with a smidge of water or use crushed tomato. I'l often use light cream in the pan and than add mushrooms etc or I'll add a bit of stock all instead of using oil to cook with. When I first started looking at my calories cooking with oil was the first bigy so I found ways to cut it out iykwim. Other than oil the only other place I get fats really is in things like avo, milks, my flaxseed oil is the main daily fat, cheese and really that is kinda it.... I know other foods I am eating have 'fat' in them but compared to a regular diet of meats, cereal in a box, chocolate bars (even many muesli bars), chips etc my diet of fruits, vegies etc is pretty low fat :) Thankfully that is an area I don't need to worry about :)

Oh good cos I am often quite a bit under my calorie count - just due to exercise really because that affects calories but not fats. The orange cake is really yummy. The recipe is:

175g nuttelex (light is fine)
175g caster sugar
175 SR flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons of 'no egg' with four dessertspoons of water and mixed well with a fork
1 grated rind (lemon for lemon cake - orange for spiced orange cake)
A dash each of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg (for spiced orange cake)

Melt butter and caster sugar slowly in a pan then take off the heat. Add rind. Mix baking powder and flour together in a separate bowl. Add 'no egg' and flour/bp mix alternatively to the pan and mix well. If mix seems a little doughy add a dash o (light) soy milk.
Bake in a greased/lined loaf tin at 180deg for 50-60 mins (my experience is that the baking paper is necessary otherwise it really sticks)

Mix 50g of caster sugar with juice of one lemon/orange, Sprinkle on top of cake immediately after cooked. Allow to cool before serving.

Hey Girls,
Hope your all having a good weekend :)
Breakfast today was 'special baked beans'
Fry onion and garlic, add mixed herbs of your choice, fry capsicum and a bunch of mushrooms then add a tin of cheapo baked beans, simmer and serve on toast a bit of grated cheese on top brings it together if you eat it.
Yummo!!
Went shopping yesterday down the goldie and discovered the cheapest sushi train they have all plates $2.50 and all you can eat for $13 on sunday so we pigged out to the max. I loooove sushi! Had a falafel kebab for breakfast at the shops too, looove my falafel! I love to eat pretty much. All the time :)

Going back to aaages ago I remember you mentioned that you saw a vegan dietician for your kids Krysalyss, just wondering if you could share some of the things she said for food? Started DD on solids about a month ago and just wondering some good meals for her. If any of you other girls have some suggestions? Its weird I know all about my own health but when it comes to Bubs I feel a bit .. well not dumb but I wasnt raised veg so dont know anyone IRL who has raised a veg infant.

Hope your all well :)

Peach - there's a sushi train at stones corner that does all plates $2.50 at certain times of day, can't remember what days though, we've only been once.
I worked as a nanny for a few years, and with one family, their little girl was being raised vegetarian, not by any kind of choice, just because her parents never got around to buying meat for her. So I got her going on red lentils at 9 months, and she adored them. I just cooked them up, 1 cup lentils to 1 1/4 cups water (multiply if you want) and then I would freeze them up in cubes, and add it to all her other vegies, so I knew there was at least some protein going in. I also used to spread the lentil paste on sandwiches for her, and that was a big hit.

krys - I do have a great cheesecake recipe for you, and when I come down off this massive bike high I will type it out. Alternatively, it's in a really good cookbook that I would love to lend to you, can post if you like. It actually has several different varieties of cheesecake in it, although I've only ever used one of them.

Nuts. That's my main fat intake, I'm sure of it. I eat a few sort of oily things (yesterday's lunch was turkish bread with olive oil and dukkah) but I reckon the majority is nuts.

Dukkah
1 cup nuts of your choice (yesterday's mix was cashew, pistachio, macadamia, almond and walnut) Toast them off, with spices of your choice (1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 of coriander seeds) til just lightly browned and fragrant. Add 2 tbsp salt (I used macrobiotic sea salt) and 1 of peppercorns (any colour) and any herbs you're using. I was feeling fruity yesterday, so chucked in some lemon myrtle and sumac. You can also add flaxseed and/pr sesame seed, but I didn't have any. Blitz the whole lot in your super-awesome food processor (mine is not super awesome, but this still seems to work) Then spread on a tray, and put in a low oven for 15 minutes (keep an eye on it) Leave oven door ajar, and oven turned off, and let it dry out. Store in airtight containers until ready for use.
:D

Quiet round here...
I just came to brag about my yummy dinner :D Sweet potato and rosemary barley stew with spiced tempeh medallions and steamed green beans. DH was a bit uncertain when I suggested it, but loved it when he got it.

ooh,that sounds delicious. Now you have to share the recipe! I have been looking at ways to incorporate barley into our meals.I have a packet in the pantry, now I know what I must do with it! And we have an enormous rosemary bush in our vegie garden.Your dukka sounds yummy too.I have never made it from scratch.How did your ride go? Bet you werehungry after that! (see,I am trying to stay on topic, sort of).

Krysalyss, your cake sounds awesome.I am going to bake it some time soon. I last made a cheesecake about 18 months ago.I have a few recipes at home, but I can't remember which one I used.It was with silken tofu.I would like a recipe where I could use tofutti creamcheese instead (or as well as) silken tofu. I am happy to type out the cheese cake recipes that I have if you would like.I just don't know if they are any good.

Hello to Peach, Cherished 1 & Christy .

Hope you pregnancy is going well Mum2mm.

Hi Girls,
Hope your all well.
I love dukkah! And Im almost out of my stast so will have to make some from your recipie Snugglybean. The best dukkah ive tried is from 'brookside olives' they sell at riverside and southbank markets. All the rest are so dull Ive found.
And that stew sounds good too. Where do you find your recipies? And thanks for the lentil tips for DD :)

I was craving chocolate when I was in big w the other day and I found they sell a vegan, nut free, gluten free chocolate bar. Kinnerton its called. So Im eating it at home the other night and looked at the wrapper and its out of date by 3 months!!! Was going to take it back half- eaten but was craving it this morning and have started eating it again heheh. Anyone seen the old episode of the simpsons where homer has the 10foot sandwich? The duff gardens episode... hilarious :)

Hope your all well, Im in a constant state of sleep deprivation these days :P

I don't know if I'm technically considered a vegetarian or just very fussy.
I will eat chicken, but only if it's chicken breast, I don't like any other part of the chicken...least of all the thigh.

I eat dairy and eggs.

I will eat red meat but only if it is completley melt in your mouth tender and with no fat or grissle, but will only eat it once or twice a year.

I always take the vegetarian option and will always request one. I'll only eat chicken meals at home or at someone's house, never from a restaurant because it's unlikely to be cooked in a manner that I like.

Hi daniellabella, maybe there is a vegetarian inside you just waiting to get out!

Peach, I am cracking up at you eating the choc after knowing that it is past the use by date. That is the kind of thing I would do. If there is choc in the house, it doesn't last long with me around. I am happy to find another choc connoiseure! I know the choc you are talking about. It is so easy to eat that one in one sitting. They also make a box of after-dinner style mints. Very yummy... I have also been thinking about info to give you re: solids for your DD. However, my DS is not on solids yet. And my other two didn't go on to solids until 10 months (I exclusively BF until then), so they went straight to finger foods and I skipped the puree stage. So, sorry I can't be more help there. But I would recommend checking out the vegfamily website and/or getting hold of a book called 'Raising Vegetarian Children: A Guide to good health and family harmony' by Joanne Stepaniak & Vesanto Melina.

We are having a vegie & red lentil curry for dinner. DH is cooking. And I am about to have a green smoothie, so that should pick me up for the rest of the arvo.

Blessings to you all.

My recipes come from in my brain :)

D'ellabella - anyone can hang out in here! Good recipes flying around all over the place! I thinkt he concern when you're not officially veg is that maybe you don't necessarily go out of your way to make sure you are getting enough protein, fibre, iron, B12 etc. So do make sure you are.

Ali - ride was awesome, could have done it twice over! We'd prepared a big pasta bake to come home to, and each ate two bowls of it, then had potato and olive pizza for dinner. It was carb on carb on carb, but it was SO good! Also, drank so much Gatorade on the day I'm surprised my blood didn't run green!

Lollers at the duff gardens episode peach. It's so funny.

Sweet poato and rosemary barley stew:
Finely chop one onion, fry off in a bit of olive oil. Turn up the heat, add chopped mushrooms and a few crushed garlic cloves. Douse with a tiny bit of water, then add barley (maybe a cup?) and 3 cups stock. Add cubed sweet potato and bring to the boil, then simmer for 45-90 minutes (until barley is soft. Different kinds take different cooking times, so you sort of have to do it by feel) Add 3 or 4 sprigs of chopped rosemary last minute, stir though well.

Tempeh medallions
Cut tempeh into desired sizes. Brush (or spray) with cooking oil, then coat in a mix of cornflour, ground oregano, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. In a large saucepan, heat some oil, and drop four half cloves of garlic in. let them bubble and go brown, swirl the oil around so the garlic flavours it. Cook the tempeh pieces on medium-high heat until browned and smelling incredible.

To serve: dump the barley in a bowl and arrange tempeh medallions on top in the centre. Use steamed green beans to make a teepee over the tempeh. Looks spectacular.

Thanks for the recipe snugglybean. I appreciate you writing it out. I am going to put it on my meal plan for next week. I am glad the ride went well, and that it energised you. I use to carb up when I was a competitive swimmer. Pasta for b/fast before a competition. I like the sound of your potato and olive pizza. We make a potato, garlic,red onion, olive oil and rosemary 'pizza' - the base is puff pastry. Very nice.

Yesterday, we had a heap of green apples that had been hanging around a bit long. I was going to slice them and stick them in the dehydrator, then I decided to make the apple slice recipe on the Borgs Pastry package (SB, we also buy this one because it says vegan on the packet). It's nice to stumble across a recipe that is already vegan and that doesn't need to be modified. Anyway, it was very easy to make and very nice.

Hi Girls,
How is everyone going?
Man Im a shocker, I finished that whole chocolate bar, just kept going back untill it was all gone:doh:
Thanks Aliash on the book recommendation, ill have to check it out.
I went to one of my good friends wedding yesterday and it was the most amazing day, but for once the catering was brilliant vego food! We had little asparagus and hommus/beetroot 'boats' and guacamole on mini toasts and there was another platter with 3 bean tarts and sweet potato balls, and so many other things I cant remember. The caterers were so lovely too, they knew DP and I were vego so always came around to us first, stoked! I had a couple of sneaky champers with pineapple juice, great day all round.
Tonight made my brown rice risotto added cashews, lentils, sesame seeds, pinenuts aswell as field mushrooms, sweet potato and spices oh and chopped tomatos. Im a sucker for risotto, so easy! Had a friend over friday and made an eggplant and mushroom risotto too, delish!

Hope your all having a great weekend :)

Oooh your risotto sounds good.I will have to start making risotto.I think I have only ever made it once. We had soup tonight. I guess you would call it a vegie minestrone. Lots of legumes, potato, pumpkin, blah, blah. Nice anyway. I made some more apple slice this weekend. I made scones this morning. Don't ask me why.I just got the urge.I made one batch and that didn't last long, so I made another one. We had them with strawberry & rhubarb jam (from our local farmers' market).

LOL about the chocolate....I wonder if they are still selling the out of date ones?

That wedding food sounds great. I am glad you got preferential treatment like you deserve! Does sound like a great day.

Oh I love scones with strawberry jam! I like to make them with half wholemeal and half plain flour.
I had only made risotto once in my whole life until DP got me a rice cooker last dec, now Im constantly making it, its just so easy and you can walk away and not have to worry about it burning or anything.
What base do you use for your apple slice?

Funny you said that about the scones.The first batch was wholemeal, the second batch was 2/3 wholemeal, 1/3 white.

The apple slice is from a recipe on the back of a packet of borgs puff pastry. So puff pastry is the base. Not very healthy I know, but yummy nonetheless.

oh, yums on the wedding food!
We had a party on Friday night, cranked out a few vegan delights, including beetroot dip, which one of my friends wanted to eat with a spoon when he'd run out of crackers! We rolled out some hot food later on too, which was a hit!
Ali, how do you do scones? I haven't done them since we've been vegan, but I'm getting an urge.

Went to a picnic with some vegans today - we got invited very last minute when we bumped into some friends, so didn't have much to contribute, except a bit of homebrew and some bread, but there was no need! Some delicious cookies, and dips, heaps of fresh vegies, rice paper rolls, and best of all, no need to keep asking for the list of ingredients! SO good!

Just made a very cool vego pasta for tea ... it's not vegan, but I'm sure it could easily be so ...

Ingredients:

375g pumpkin, cut into small cubes

500g pasta

1 tblsp butter
1 onion, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tblsp honey
1 cup cream

1/2 cup parmesan, grated.

Steam / boil / microwave pumpkin until just tender.

Add pasta to boiling, salted water and cook.
Meanwhile, melt butter in pan and gently fry onion until soft & golden.

Add garlic & cinnamon, fry for another minute.

Add cream, pumpkin & honey and cook until warmed through & slightly reduced

Stir parmesan through gently until melted, season with salt & pepper.
Drain pasta, return to pan and stir through sauce gently.

Serve with shaved parmesan and chopped chives.

I had a yummy green vegie risotto last night - leek, zucchini, spinach and peas. Then I loaded it with toasted pine nuts (we have a glut at the moment due to DH and I both thinking the other hadn't bought any) It was SO good!
Then afterwards, we had a caramel banana self saucing pudding - a practice run for some friends coming over next week. It was also really good. So rich, so very deadly :)

I am definately going to have to get in to risottos.

Kazbah,I love creamy pastas (although we use coconut cream or non-dairy cream cheese these days) and I really like pumpkin with wholemeal wheat or spelt pasta.

Ok, basic scone recipe:

1.5 cups of plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup of nuttelex
1/2 cup soy milk

My tweaks:

I prefer to use wholemeal self raising flour, and I still add the baking powder (helps them to rise better). Obviously,the dough requires a bit of extra soy milk when using wholemeal flour. I suppose you could add sugar too, but we would usually have jam or golden syrup on them so I think that is enough sweetness for us.

Tonight I added 4 cloves of garlic to the dough, so that we could have garlic scones with our goulash. I am on a real scone trip at the moment! The kids enjoy helping and they are quick to make. Before this week, I honestly hadn't made them for about 2 years. I try not to use much nuttelex in our food. I mainly use it for baking. We don't have it on toast, I use flaxseed oil or avocado instead.

Now Snuggly, you can't tantalise us with your rich and deadly dessert without even giving us a rough guide as to how to make it! You should know better by now ;)

I hope everyone is well. :D

I finally got to Tian Ran on the Gold Coast (chinese vegetarian). It is to die for. I loved it and the people were so lovely too. Took my brother who does eat meat and he thought it was awesome.

Oooh,we loveTian Ran too. We go every time we are on the Gold Coast. We have been known to eat there 3 nights in a row when staying on the GC! :D

So, tell me. What did you have?

I had sweet and sour 'fish', salt and pepper tofu, and greens with chinese mushrooms. Sooo yummy!

Caramel banana self saucing pudding....

To make caramel sauce, melt together 50g nuttelex, 1 1/2 cups water and 1 cup brown sugar over medium heat.

In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup SR flour, 1 cup almond meal, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 super-ripe bananas, 75g melted nuttelex and 1/2 cup soy milk. It should be pretty stiff. Dump it in your baking dish, pour sauce on top, bake 40 mins at 160 degrees. Enjoy in small doses cos it's SOOOO rich!

Hi girls :) I've been pretty slack posting on this thread lately! I would like to share a recipe that dh made up for pumpkin soup.... I know there are a million different ways to make pumpkin soup and it's not that exciting but here it is :)

Pumpkin (who would have guessed lol)
Fresh ginger
Fresh coriander
powdered coriander
cajan spice
mixed herbs
salt
coconut cream/milk

Add as much of the spices etc to your own taste and enjoy with a spash of fresh lime juice over the top, a swirl of the coconut cream (for looks) and a sprinkle of cayenne peper :p We also don't completely mash up the pumpkin because we like ti a bit chunky here and there and I have also added red lentils when I have made it

YUM YUM YUM to the self saucing pudding!!! AND I want to go to this vego place on the Goldie too.... If I am ever down there I will check it out ;)

Hey!
Can I join the fun? I think I might have something to contribute here... I'm a vegetarian, and a chef. I've been vegetarian most of my life, had a few lapses as a teenager, but went back to being vego from the age of 17. There are a multitude of reasons for being vegetarian, so I don't need to list mine. And besides, two thirds of the world's population is vegetarian anyway, whether by choice, faith, or economic circumstance.
I've worked for places like Tofu Shop International in Melbourne, CERES, Lime Tree Cafe (in Dubai), a brief stint at Soul Mama, a childcare centre, amongst a few other non-veg establishments (gotta pay the bills, even if it means grilling steak - not many options for specialist veg chefs outside Melbourne!) and have owned and operated a cafe/deli on the Sunshine Coast, Qld, for a few years too. Other chefs often ask what type of food I like to cook most, and they don't understand when I say vegetarian. They somehow believe that to be limiting ("what, salad??") but really it allows so much creativity and endless inspiration because I can cook something from any country in the world. All cultures have peasant food that is predominantly vegetarian. It's nourishing, comforting, interesting and healthy, and best of all, it's cheap. So I like to stir the pot a bit (pun intended!) and challenge other chefs to prepare a meal from only 5 ingredients, and none of them has a face or a pulse. These days tho, I just refer myself a cook, since there's a lot of ego and nonsense associated with the title of chef. It's not that rock 'n' roll!
As for me, I don't do mock meat. I just don't feel the need to replicate the texture of meat. But I can certainly see it's place, and it's fantastic for a lot of reasons. Especially cooking for kids. Peer pressure can be full-on! And satisfying those cravings for those who are just used to it. I guess I'm just used to avoiding gluten products, since so many customers of mine were coeliac.

Whoever asked about Lamyong products, they're pretty good! The Nasi Lemak is good and spicy!

Anyway, that's been quite a rambling post for me! I'll come back and post recipes as I think of it. I have bazillions!!

P.S. I was once briefly married to a guy from Rocky, who was a fitness instructor/body builder and also vegan. At the time, it certainly helped dispell the myth that all vegetarians are pale and anaemic and eat only brown rice and lettuce... but like they say, you can take the boy out of Rocky but you can't take the Rocky out of the boy! He went back to eating meat (and became considerably more aggressive. Coincidence??) and we have since divorced.

NaNa I am so excited I wet my pants a little bit! Welcome aboard! I used to live near Tofu Shop :)
lol at the "what, salad?" Story of my LIFE! I am SO sick "So what DO you eat?"

In other news, got a bit shirty with someone at work today who said "you should appreciate these (salmon cakes) you're vegetarian" and then proceeded to tell me you could be vegetarian AND eat chicken. This issue seems to be worse in Brisbane than it was in Melbourne. Or is it just me?

To put some sort of positive note on this rant-a-licious post, I made white bean dip for work today - pusually a winner, but today I put lemon juice in it and OMG I am in LOVE! I used canned cannellini beans (not usually my style, but was using work kitchen, which sucks) juice of 2 lemons, rosemary and garlic. I ate so much of it that you can probably smell my garlic breath from Rocky :lol:

Please, no pants-wetting on my account!
I find you get that "vegequarian" thing everywhere. I just got back from overseas, and apparently fish is a vegetable in France. Bet you didn't know that!! :lol: According to one waitress - "it's not meat, so it must be a vegetable." argh!
Oh, I love skordalia made with white beans and tonnes of garlic! I put mint and cumin in mine sometimes.
On the dips theme, here's a rough recipe for the bestest beetroot dip ever. Normally I am allergic to anything this pink but it's too delicious to resist!
1 medium sized beetroot, peeled and chopped (raw is best)
handful of dill &/or mint
garlic clove
slosh of tahini
splash of pomegranate molasses
cumin
salt and pepper
lemon juice
olive oil
Whack it all in the blender and whizz it till it's a paste. Throw in some chickpeas if you want, or some yoghurt if you do dairy, just to make it stretch.
This is awesome with bread or vegie sticks, but I love it on a sandwich with grilled eggplant, tofu (or haloumi) and rocket. Vitamin Pink!
oh, I forgot to mention, I can't do quantities...

Hey NaNa, Welcome Welcome! Great to read your 'story'. I look eagerly forward to your recipes.I get where you are coming from regarding mock meats. I once had someone say to me 'why do vegos want to eat something with the texture and taste of meat?'and before I could answer, a non-vego piped up with 'they are not opposed to the taste [of meat], just the killing'. And I thought, yeah, couldn't have said it better myself. I do love the mock 'beef' at Tian Ran,its main ingredient is mushroom actually. And my 2.5 yr old son loves vegie sausages. But he has never had a real sausage so I don't think he would ever think of it as 'fake meat'.

Yeah,snuggly,I am with you on the fish and chicken 'vegos'. I often get, 'but you do eat fish don't you?'. So, how were the salmon cakes?! ;) Can't comment on the Mel/Bris issue, but isn't it commonly said that QLD is about 20 years behind the rest of the country? ;)

Cherished 1,I am making pumpkin soup on Saturday night,I am going to use some of the ingredients you suggested.I always throw in a handful or 2 of red lentils,and usually some fresh ginger,and I love it with coconut cream. Will try cajan and mixed herbs.

Has anyone seen a new doco called 'Meat the Truth'? It's about the environmental impact of animal agriculture. I have just got hold of a copy. Haven't seen it yet.Will let you know what it's like.

Hi guys and welcome on board NaNa

I have to say I like a good mock meat done well. But I remember making vietnamese spring rolls for my dad and he kept referring to the tofu as mock meat. I kept telling him just to think of it as tofu - not pretend meat!

I was watching cook and the chef a couple of days ago and Maggie was making Tripe something. Simon was obviously not keen at all. When he ate it, it was actually really nice and he said "It tastes like tofu!"
I thought it was hilarious to have it said the other way round for once instead of "of that tofu isn't bad it tastes like chicken"

YAY :welcome: NaNa! :D So excited to have you here! I'm gonna make your dip on the weekend as dh and I always have raw fresh beetroot in the fridge for juices and we love to put it raw in our salads too as it adds a splash of colour and it's deliciously sweet (but not too sweet) for a change in a regular salad :p mmmmm I can taste it now with a glass of red wine? btw where on the sunshine coast were you?

Girls I too find the fish/chicken vego hilarious! A lady at work was telling me on Wed that her friend is vegetarian ?but? she eats fish! I very politely told her that her friend isn?t vegetarian then and she just couldn?t comprehend that :rofl: I was at work so I didn?t want to go on with it and I love my client she is a sweet heart so I didn't want to be rude either but is surely is very entertaining to watch and listen to those fish/chicken eating vegetarian stories!

Snug Bug I nearly wet my pants reading your post! :rofl:

Well I can't wait to make that self saucing pudding and the orange cake!

Alisha Enjoy your soup and I might try to get a hold of a copy of that meat doc too...

ok I'm at work and nearly got sprung before! so I'd better get off BB :rolleyes:

With you on the no quantities thing NaNa. I cook by feel. (And taste, and looks etc)
I looooooove mock meat - hardly ever eat it though, especially now that we are without car. We tend to just have it when visiting my parents in Sydney or DH's in Melbs. We go through sausage phases, usually depending on how much other stuff we buy at the supie.

We have a birthday at work today and managed to score a vegan cake, from someone who didn't even know I was vegan - she was just worried about allergies! It's got huge chunks of apple in it and is cinnamony good, so I'm having a good time :D we'll talk waistlines later...

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We have a birthday at work today and managed to score a vegan cake, from someone who didn't even know I was vegan - she was just worried about allergies! It's got huge chunks of apple in it and is cinnamony good, so I'm having a good time :D we'll talk waistlines later...

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HAHA Snugbug it's a shame 2 of the girls in here are also on the weight loss thread ;) But I can't talk, a client bought me a apple and cinnamon slice/cake thing on Tuesday that she had made so I ate it :redface: What a score though that you got a vegan cake!