Weekend Cooking: Veggie Challenge Wrap Up

It is August and this means that my Veggie Challenge had come to an end. My goal was to eat vegan for two days each week and I succeeded to do so :) Will I go back to may old ways...? Not completely. But first let's see what I archived.

I had put several mini goals in place for me. Things that I wanted to try to make vegan for a long time, but didn't.

These were my goals:
- Make some vegan basics like mayonnaise and faux feta
- Make or try several vegan bread toppings and spreads.
- Try my hand at vegan baking
- Go out to eat once as a vegan (lunch or dinner, yet to decide)
- Make some vegan snacks

I did make one vegan basic. The vegan mayonnaise from Gnoe which tasted brilliant. It was creamy and delicious. I did not try the faux feta yet.
I made a couple of vegan spreads to eat on my sammies. One I made in my last week and I will share that one today.
I also tried my hand at vegan baking. This was perhaps my biggest obstacle. I dunno why, because it turned out it wasn't hard at all.
I also made vegan snacks, like smoothies, toasties and chocolate-peanut butter truffles.
However I didn't dine out as a vegan. I planned to one week but then it was too busy in the city to do so. And after that week I kinda forgot. But this is still something I want to experience.

So will I be going vegan full time?
I am sorry to say that I won't. As a vegan you have to make everything yourself. There isn't much you can just grab from the shelves on a busy day. And making my own bread toppings, snacks and dinner each and every day would put too much strain on my already low energy levels. Not to mention that you can't even buy a bread in most stores and you have to travel to special stores just for something so basic.
However! Now that I am over my fear of vegan baking, I will surely make more attempts to do that. In baking there is always a huge amount of milk, eggs and/or butter involved. And if I can bring that down, it will already be a step towards using less animal products. I even bought 3 vegan baking books last month to make this easier! Also I will continue to make 1-2 vegan recipes a week. Not by accident as in the past, but by choice.
I have enough cook books in my house to do this and I will also keep visiting a Dutch vegan forum for inspiration and not to lose touch with veganism. I hope that in the future it will be easier to obtain certain items vegan. Like decent vegan cheese or bread in every supermarket.

Anyway on to the recipe I want to share with you this week. It is a cashew bell pepper spread. I found out that cashews are such an excellent base for any creamy spread now that I have a decent food processor :D

Cashew-Bell Pepper Spread:
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1 cup unsalted cashews
- some water
- salt and pepper
- 1tsp sesame oil

Cut the bell peppers and roast them shortly without oil in a pan until they blacken a bit. Mix all the ingredients in a food processor and add water bit by bit until you have a smooth spread.

I used this spread as a filling for vegan sushi (shown above) and it was one of the best tasting sushi I ever made. I made small maki rolls with it, that you make using only half a sheet of nori. It was the first time I made these little sushi rolls and it took me some practice with the amount of rice. I only made large rolls before. But you can also use this spread in a wrap with other veggies, in a pasta salad or just on a slice of bread. It is very versatile.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking. Make sure you visit the other participants as well :)

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Weekend Cooking: Veggie Challenge Week 3

As I told in my starting post, I will be participating in the VeggieChallenge. This is a Dutch initiative to make people aware and challenge them to consume less meat, fish and animal products for a month. People are allowed to set their own challenge. Like going meatless for 1 day a week, or for the whole week, it is all possible. Because I already eat vegetarian most of the time, I decided to challenge myself to eat vegan for 2 days a week in July. This is my 3rd week already!

My two vegan days were Tuesday en Wednesday and this is what I ate:

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Vegan bread with chocolate sprinkles
Lunch: Vegan bread with peanut butter and cucumber
Dinner: Mashed potatoes and fennel with a tofu loaf and peas
Snacks: Lemon poppyseed muffins and vegan chocolate chip cookies

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Vegan bread with chocolate sprinkles
Lunch: Vegan bread with mashed avocado, vegan mayonnaise and black pepper
Dinner: Masala burgers from Everyday Happy Herbivore
Snack: Lemon poppyseed muffins and a pizza toastie

Recipes:
The recipe for the lemon poppyseed muffins, I already posted last Monday! You can see it here. They are damn tasty and my BF also liked them very much.

Masala Burgers: (makes 4-5) - adapted from Everyday Happy Herbivore
- 425 gr kidney beans (without fluids)
- 1 spring onion, chopped
- 3 tbsp ketchup
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs (use vegan bread!)
- Masala mayo (see below)
- Vegan buns for serving
- Avocado for serving

Mash up the beans and add spices, onion and ketchup and combine. Shape 4-5 patties and place them on a baking sheet. Bake the patties in the oven at 375F/190C (180C for microwave oven) for 10 minutes. Flip them gently and bake for 8 minutes more. If needed flip again and bake for 5 minutes more. Serve on a bun with masala mayo and whatever veggies you want. I used avocado this time.

Masala Mayonnaise: 
- 1 tbsp vegan mayo (I used this recipe from Gnoe as my base)
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp cumin

Mix everything together and taste. Adjust spices if needed.

Pizza toastie: (grilled sammy)
- tomato tapenade
- few slices of mushroom
- dash of Italian herbs
- 2 slices vegan bread

Grill the mushrooms for a bit on the panini maker. Then just build a sammy from these ingredients and grill on the panini maker for a few minutes :)

Things I encountered:
- I finally took on vegan baking, yay me ;)
- I begin to fal into a vegan routine of easy breakfast and lunch and a more experimental dinner. This was not what I planned to do, however because I have a limited amount of energy, I have to make choices. This week I chose to bake ;)
- Now I have some basics set up, keeping it up gets easier and easier.

Because July is a long month, I have about 2 weeks left of the VeggieChallenge because I make my menu's on Thursdays. I am in fact a bit sad that it is going so fast ;)


This post is part of Weekend Cooking. Make sure to check out all the other posts! There is always a lot of yummy things to try! 

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Foodblogevent July: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

The Foodblogevent is hosted every month by another food blogger and has a different theme each month. This month it is hosted by Uit Paulines Keuken and the theme is high tea. This is my second entry for this month. Because I am going vegan for two days during this months VeggieChallenge, and I wanted to try my hand at vegan baking, this is yet another vegan entry. Don't let that stop you from making them though even if you aren't vegan. The ingredients are easy to come by and they are a breeze to make. The recipe is adapted from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (makes 12)
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup sugar (I used castor sugar)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 5tsp poppy seeds
- 1/2 tsp salt

- 3/4 cup soy milk (or almond or rice milk)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sunflower oil
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Mix with a spoon until the ingredients are well combined and form a batter. Fill the muffin tin with about a tbsp of the batter. Bake for about 25 minutes in a pre heated oven on 375F/190C (180 for microwave oven). The muffins should be lightly browned and a toothpick should come out clean.

They are really delicious! My BF also said they were good and he doesn't normally like soy milk, yet he really liked these muffins.

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Weekend Cooking: VeggieChallenge Week 2

As I told in my starting post, I will be participating in the VeggieChallenge. This is a Dutch initiative to make people aware and challenge them to consume less meat, fish and animal products for a month. People are allowed to set their own challenge. Like going meatless for 1 day a week, or for the whole week, it is all possible. Because I already eat vegetarian most of the time, I decided to challenge myself to eat vegan for 2 days a week in July. Last week I already posted about my first week. Of course now it is time for my second week!

My two vegan days in the past week were Monday and Tuesday and this is what I ate:
Monday:
Breakfast: Vegan bread with dark chocolate sprinkles
Lunch: Vegan bread with cucumber spread and garden cress. This was very tasty!
Dinner: Vegan Friendly Vegetable Stew
Snacks: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (LU Robuuste koeken), Toastie with tomato spread, mushrooms and Italian herbs. (needs tweaking)

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Vegan bread with cucumber spread and garden cress.
Lunch: Vegan bread with cucumber spread and garden cress. (yeah, I don't want to waste stuff)
Dinner: Pasta with walnut-pesto, mushrooms and sundried tomatoes
Snacks: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (LU Robuuste koeken)

Recipes:
The recipe for the cucumber spread is so easy and really good! It tastes fresh without it being too mushy and so much better than the non-vegan store bought cucumber spreads. This recipe is a keeper! The original I got from Vegetarisme.be, but because it is in Dutch I will translate it here.

Cucumber Spread: (serves 6)
- 1 cucumber
- juice of 1 lemon
- 130gr non salted cashews
- 1 tbsp fresh dill or 1tsp dried
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- sea salt and pepper

First grate the cucumber. I did this in my food processor because it has an option for that, but it can also be done by hand. Press the moist out of the cucumber in a colander with kitchen towels. Then pile in the food processor about half of the grated cucumber and the rest of the ingredients. Just use a dash of salt and pepper. Let the kitchen machine do the work until you get a nice looking spread. Scoop the spread in a bowl and mix the rest of the cucumber in. Enjoy on bread, crackers, toast or even on a bagel!

Walnut Pesto: (serves 4) from Ecofabulous koken in alle seizoenen
- 150gr walnuts
- 1 clove garlic
- handful of fresh basil (or more to taste)
- olive oil
- sea salt

Just put everything in the food processor and add olive oil gradually. It is really a taste thing. I added more basil because I thought the walnut taste was a bit too present compared to the rest. I also added the sundried tomatoes directly to the pesto, this was lovely. So it is really process and taste thing. Serve on top of pasta, on a sammy or however you like.

Things I encountered:
- This week was more easy because I was more prepared.
- I solved my toastie problem. My best success was the leftover "Fish Flavoured" Eggplant on a toastie. The pizza toastie was okay but needs tweaking.
- I am so grateful for those vegan chocolate chip cookies. They are awesome and available in every supermarket.
- Making your own spreads is fun!
- Keeping it simple is the key to success

For next week I plan to make my own Tofu loaf inspired by Gnoe. And I want to take on the challenge of vegan baking. I can do this because we are going out for dinner on one of my vegan days just so I can experience that as well.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking. Please check out the other participants for foodie inspiration!

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Weekend Cooking: VeggieChallenge Week 1

As I told in my starting post, I will be participating in the VeggieChallenge. This is a Dutch initiative to make people aware and challenge them to consume less meat, fish and animal products for a month. People are allowed to set their own challenge. Like going meatless for 1 day a week, or for the whole week, it is all possible. Because I already eat vegetarian most of the time, I decided to challenge myself to eat vegan for 2 days a week in July. So for about the next 4 weeks I will post updates on how it all went including tasty recipes!

Peanut Butter Truffles

My two vegan days for the past week were Tuesday and Wednesday and this is what I ate:
Tuesday:
Breakfast: Vegan bread with mushroom pate from the store. - I didn't really like this pate to be honest and that won't be a repeater.
Lunch: Vegan bread with mashed avocado, black pepper and some lemon juice. - How I love a good avocado! Simple but delicious.
Dinner: Thai Carrot Soup from the app How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.
Snacks: Cherries and peanut butter truffles.

Apple Cherry Smoothie

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Vegan bread and dark chocolate sprinkles.
Lunch: Was supposed to be the soup from Tuesday, but a friend stayed over for dinner so I just made another sammy. This time with peanut butter and cucumber.
Dinner: Fish Flavoured Eggplant with noodles. From the Dutch book Puur Plantaardig. Those were totally yummy!! And my favorite dish of the week!
Snacks: Peanut butter truffles, cucumber and a vegan apple-cherry smoothie.

Recipes:
The recipe for the Peanut Butter Truffles I posted earlier this week as part of the Foodblogevent. Find the recipe here!

Apple and Cherry Smoothie: (serves 2)
- 1 apple, chopped
- 20 cherries, pitted
- 1 banana, sliced
- 1 kiwi
- a handful of berries (blue, red, black, rasp, whatever you have)
- Cloudy apple juice

Put the cherries in the blender first, then add apple, kiwi, banana and berries. Blend with a generous splash of apple juice to loosen.

Fish Flavored Eggplant: (serves 4) (adapted from Puur Plantaardig)
- 2 eggplants
- 500ml oil for frying
- 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 4 spring onions, chopped, white and green parts seperated
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- juice of one lemon
- 1 tsp sesame oil


Cut the eggplants into cubes. Heat the oil in a large wok, until the oil smokes. Fry the eggplant in the oil for about 3-4 minutes in two portions. Scoop them out and leave the eggplant on kitchen towels to soak in the excess oil. Pour the oil in a jar or something but leave a tiny bit in the pan. Add sweet chili sauce, ginger, garlic and the white parts of the spring onions and stir fry that shortly. Add the soy sauce, eggplant and lemon juice and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Lastly add the green parts of the spring onions and drizze with the sesame oil. I served them with noodles but you can also serve it with rice. 


I don't know if it was really fish flavored but the eggplant was so juicy and the combination was just totally delicious! 

Some things I encountered:
- I think it is harder trying to go vegan if your house is still full with non vegan food.
- There are so many things I want to try that it is a bit overwhelming. The vegan Mayonnaise I planned to make didn't happen yet.
- I discovered that I can go without milk products and eggs just fine. It is the cheese that I miss. In the Netherlands we don't have that many tasty faux cheeses.
- You have to make a lot more yourself, which I don't always have the energy for.
- I NEED vegan alternatives for toasties ;)
- The organic store I have access to is rather small and they don't have all the stuff I need. Like natural yeast for example. This makes an extra challenge to plan stuff. (also an obstacle to make cheezy alternatives.)

This may not sound that positive but these are just some things I ran into. I am pretty much enjoying myself experimenting. But I do hate the fact that I don't have all the resources I need and that my chronic illness prevents me from doing everything I want to do. But the latter is just something I have to live with. Sometimes I am just bummed out about it though. Anyway, I already know that now that I have taken the first steps, I will keep on experimenting after July is over. I just needed this push!

For next week I am keeping it simple. I will cook one vegan bulk meal for dinner, so I can focus on making my own spread(s) for my sammies and I have an idea for a vegan toastie. More on that next week.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking. Please make sure to check the other participants as well :)

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Foodblogevent July: Peanut Butter Truffles

The Foodblogevent is hosted every month by another food blogger and has a different theme each month. This month it is hosted by Uit Paulines Keuken and the theme is high tea. When I think of high tea, I think of all kind of tasty sweets like scones, mini muffins and brownies but also cute little sandwiches. I combined sweet and savoury by making these little peanut butter balls that are one bite snacks. Because I am going vegan for two days during this months VeggieChallenge, I have chosen a vegan snack to bring to the party. The original recipe come from De Plantaardige Keuken, which I slightly altered.

Peanut Butter Truffles (makes 12)
- About 125gr peanut butter
- 25gr grated almond
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 25gr dark chocolate drops
- 25gr dates, pitted
- toppings (I used cocoa powder and grated coconut)

Place peanut butter, almonds, maple syrup and dates in the food processor and give it a spin until everything is well combined. Scoop in the chocolate drops and mix slightly. Roll small balls from the mixture and roll them through a topping of your choice. I did my batch 50/50 but in the end I liked the ones with coconut better. Keep them refrigerated for a few hours to get them a bit firmer, they will taste better that way. You can also keep them overnight.  

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Weekend Cooking: Veggie Challenge Starting Post

Some of you might already have seen this Veggie Challenge being mentioned on my blog in the past weeks. The Veggie Challenge is a Dutch initiative to reduce the consumption of meat, fish and products that come from animals. They do this because it can already make a huge difference if everyone would just eat plant based just one day a week. And with this challenge you can set your own goals. For example you can choose to eat vegetarian 1 day a week for a month or more days. It is all up to you. Because I am already eating vegetarian most of the time, I challenged myself to eat vegan 2 days a week during July. Right now I am already making preparations to start. Like buying ingredients that I will need and getting my information and inspiration together. I also stalked Gnoe from Graasland with some questions because she has been eating vegan for a while now. Thank you for answering all of my questions!

These are the books that I will be using most of the time. All though I also have a good share of vegan recipes pinned to pinterest. I am glad that I already own some vegan books and in addition I borrowed a great book from the library that I will be using. And of course the site from Gnoe which also has wonderful recipes. Making her Vegan Mayonnaise will be the first thing on the list! (because I wouldn't like to miss out on mayonnaise!

I will be doing this challenge mostly because I want to experiment with vegan cooking for a long time already and while I cook vegan main dishes on a regular basis, I have no clue what to do about breakfast and lunch. So I like to get myself out of my comfort zone so that I will actually go and try the things that I want to for so long.

My mini challenges:
- Make some vegan basics like mayonnaise and faux feta
- Make or try several vegan bread toppings and spreads.
- Try my hand at vegan baking
- Go out to eat once as a vegan (lunch or dinner, yet to decide)
- Make some vegan snacks
(date-coconut balls from De Groene meisjes) - Optional: make vegan smoothies or ice cream

So this will mean that most of my Weekend Cooking posts during July will be about eating vegan. I hope you will all be open to this and that you won't run away :) In fact I hope that some of you will try some of the recipes I post :) On the other hand if you happen to know good resources which can help me reach my goals, please share them with me.

Lastly, I want to share a vegan dish that I have made 2 weeks back from the website of Happy Herbivore. It is an Indian dish that is called Saag. The Indian kitchen seems to be the place to go if you want to eat vegan. I tried this and loved it! This Indian spiced spinach is so easy, yet tasty. Because the recipe is already in English and I don't need to translate, just click on the link to see the recipe if you are interested.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking. Please visit the other participants as well. You never know where you next meal might come from.

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