Kale Soup & Irish Potato Bread

A quiet return after gasp almost three years away!

This winter Steve & I have had an abundance of kale. Four fields were planted in with it as winter feed for the cows. Though both us & the cows are on our last little section of field- we have eaten it every single day over the winter. Thankfully- we love it. Here's a photo of the cows enjoying it:

This last field is a variety called "hungry gap", so named because it really takes off during March when there is traditionally a gap between winter & spring crops. The new shoots are so tender and delicious! We even make like the cows and eat the stripped stems raw :)

The past few weeks this has been one of our staple meals. One of us will pick a big bunch of kale, then in the soup it goes. Talk about fresh! The more kale you put in, the more green your soup will be. We love it when it's really green- it just looks like spring that way.

The bread, is really what dreams are made of (it's the potato), it's so easy- especially if you start it the night before, and put it in the fridge overnight. It makes a little mess, but is more than worth it. It is spongey and light in the best possible way, with a nice crust on it. Perfect for soup dunking!

KALE SOUP

Ingredients

• Olive oil 1 onion


• 2 cloves of garlic (or 4 wild garlic leaves if available- love these!


• 2 ribs of celery (optional)


• 1 tbs coriander paste (or chopped fresh coriander)


• 1 vegetable stock cube1/2 tin of coconut cream


• 1 1/2 cups of red lentil


• water to cover


• 3 medium sized heads of kale (leaves & stems only)


• salt & pepper to taste

1. Chop your onion, garlic & celery and put them in a large pot on a medium-high heat.


2. Drizzle in olive oil to give a good coating, and stir in your coriander paste.


3. Once the onions and celery has softened a little pour a small amount of water in, just to cover what's in your pot. Put your stock cube in and let sizzle away until your celery is nice and soft.


4. Pour in your lentils and coconut cream. Pour in water so it's just above the lentils in your pot. Stir well and let simmer on medium heat. Keep an eye on it as you may need to add some water. You'll know when your lentils are done because they'll start to look all nice and puffy, but by all means have a taste to check. You want them nice and soft.


5. When the lentils are cooked, put in your kale, pressing the leaves down into the lentils. If your lentil mix looks a bit dry, pour in a little more water so the kale is just covered.


6. Let the kale cook for a couple of minutes- it doesn't need long at all. Then give the whole thing a nice whizz with a food processor stick.

IRISH POTATO BREAD

Lemon polenta cupcake with blueberries

The last three months have been pretty uninspired in the kitchen.

It seems that Stevie took up and left with his bags and my zest for most things.

I was quite happy to put it all on hold until we were together again, but four weeks turned into eight, and now it's been almost twelve...

While I have been eating well, (although admittedly it's not quite the same eating by yourself), I have taken strike action regarding baking...

It was one part protest and one part self preservation...

However yesterday, finally feeling defeated by this separation, but buoyed by the relief of surrendering to what is, I decided to bake.

I completely winged the recipe, but I think they turned out really well. Lemon, polenta and blueberries make very good friends :)

I've already eaten three, see what I mean about self preservation!?

One of those was eaten at about 5 this morning, as I watched the Italy vs Spain game - good, (if early breakfast), bad game :(

I'm freezing the rest for future snacking, (never tried this before).

Makes about 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 Tbs applesauce

1 1/2 Tbs oil (I used canola)

1/2 cup raw sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup rice milk

1 cup polenta

1/2 cup spelt flour (any flour would be fine)

1 tsp baking soda

Zest & juice of 2 lemons

1 1/2 cups blueberries (I used frozen)

Method

1.Mix applesauce and oil in a large mixing bowl until well combined.

2.Add sugar and mix, adding a little bit at a time.

3.Add vanilla essence and rice milk, mixing well.

4.Slowly add the polenta, flour and baking soda, combining well, before adding more.

5.Mix in the juice and zest, till a nice smooth batter is created.

6.Coat the blueberries with a handful of extra flour, and stir them into the batter.

7.Fill a cake tin or cupcake liners with the batter and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C/395F for about 18 minutes.

Plum Cherry Pie with Vanilla Ice-Cream

He said "It's almost as good as a lovers made orgasm"..

Yes, this tasted pretty mindblowingly good!!!

Stevie and I went to my Dads farm last weekend..

We picked (rescued) a huge bag full of cherry plums-

Ducking under the cover of the trees cool branches, weighed down by the ripe red baubles..

We are going again next week, to pick the other varieties of plums.. oh the possibilities!

I got an ice-cream maker for my birthday, and have been having a lot of fun playing with it..

Sometimes, things just come together at the final turn, when you never expected they would even turn out, and all you can do is ahhhh in wonder at the outcome..

Our pie mixture was too runny, so we added more arrowroot and crossed our fingers..

We wondered if an ice-cream made purely from soy milk, vanilla and arrowroot could be good..

Did walnuts (in the crust) even go with plum cherries?

Somehow it all worked, and it was incredible!

Pie crust recipe will follow shortly..

Homemade Pasta with Basil Pesto

Arrr nothing beats fresh homemade pasta..

Store bought fresh pasta is always made with eggs, so veganini's miss out.

It is slightly arduous to make, but the taste more than makes up for this.

The quantities always vary depending on the weather and the type of flour you're using, among other things..

A woman I know always has an extra mound of flour on her chopping board, which she calls God.. "Because you never know when you might need it, it's good to always have it close at hand"

I basically add some plain flour to a mixing bowl. Add a generous slosh of olive oil. Sprinkling of salt. Just enough water to form a dough. Then I mix it around a bit, to combine it all really well.

Then I pass the dough repeatedly through a pasta maker, to make it more and more thin, ultimately using the cutting piece, to crank out my strings of pasta..

Fresh pasta only takes a couple of minutes to cook.

-Made by Stevie & Sally

Making love in the kitchen -Broccoli & Tofu with Tomatoes

There has been change a foot in the world of veganini..

I didn't intend to turn my back, (again), on my dear little & oft neglected blog.

I just lost the words..

There has been a lot of love making in the kitchen.

Learning the subtle art of co-creation..

I've done the director-&-the-directed kind before.. and even the you-do-the-cooking-I'll-do-the-washing-up kind, but I've never experienced true co-creation.

For someone that got very good at cooking for one, and thus, was very used to pleasing herself, it hasn't always come easy..

And really what else is it but what you're used to, when it comes to finely diced, or coarsely chopped, and other such things?

It's not even about jocking for position of who-knows-best, it's about finding that soft centre, where two people come together and the differences and similarities merge together in the most beautiful and satisfying way..

That soft centre, is the nicest place to inhabit..

He sizzled the tofu, and I simmered the sauce

Lime & Coconut Birthday Cupcakes

As you can see, I was very excited to get "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World", as a birthday gift..As soon as I lay eyes on the recipe for these cakes, I wanted to make (eat) them..

So, party cupcakes they were..

There was some recipe tweaking of course.

More lime juice, some lime pulp, more coconut cream, and some other little things here and there..

They were D*E*L*I*C*I*O*U*S :D

Mulberry Just Cares For Me

Hmmn mulberries.. you forgotten fruit of childhood.

We would collect branches from the tree, and keep them in a shoe-box.. where we'd watch our little silk worms, grow, and transform..

Always eating, eating, eating.. and then spinning, spinning, spinning..

We would squish the berries between our teeth, purple trickling down our chins, as we walked home from school..

There is a tree on my walk home now. I watch it change through the year, waiting for the berries to come. They are there now. Almost black and full of juice, leaving their lovely impressions on the ground below.

So, mulberry pie..

Ingredients

2/4 cup almond meal

1/4 cup plain flour

1/8 cup canola oil

1 Tbs cold water

1 Tbs maple syrup

1 1/2 cups mulberries (washed, destemmed)

2 Tbs jam (I used plum)

1/2 cup water

2 tsp arrowroot (or cornflour)

2 Tbs maple syrup

Method

1.Mix almond meal and flour together in a bowl, and add oil and water, combining with a fork as you go. You want a nice crumbley consitency to start with. As the dough begins to form, add the maple syrup, and mix to combine well, until mixture forms a dough.

2.Form dough into a ball and chill until berries are ready.

3.Put jam and water in a small sauce pan, on medium heat, and stir well as heated, to created a syrupy mixture.

4.Add maple syrup and arrowroot to the syrup (mix the arrowroot with a tiny bit of water first, so it doesn't clump together in your syrup).

5.Pour syrup over berries, and stir well to combine. Squish berries roughly with a fork.

6.Take chilled dough, and spread inside a small greased pie dish. Start in the centre and work your way out.

7.Pour berries into pie dish and bake in a pre-heated 200C oven for about 15 minutes

Easy and yummy!

If you can't get enough of mulberries- sigh, only for those in the southern hemmisphere this time of year.. follow this link:

http://recipefinder.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=150273

I'm thinking of making it for a party in a couple of weeks.

Carrot-Pineapple-Coconut-Macadamia Nut Cupcakes

What happened to the cupcake girl?

It seems when I do bake cupcakes these days, rare as it is, I fall back, on this familiar favourite.

From my adaptation of Isa Chandra's carrot-coconut-ginger-macadamia nut cake recipe, from VWaV..

Non vegans & vegans alike seem to love these..

I ate three the day I baked them!

You don't bring me zucchini flowers anymore..

I've been enjoying cooking multi part meals lately..

I remember the first time.. way back when.. there were many hungry guests.. and an Indian feast, not yet materialised.. I think we ate at about 10pm..

These days, I'm much better..

And if I'm not the one cleaning all the pots, hey, why not use many ;D

Last night there was:

*steamed broccoli, dressed in lemon juice and olive oil

*roasted red capsicum

*shitake mushroom, and leek risotto

*deep fried zucchini flowers

Ingredients:

zucchini flowers (figure about 4 per person as a side)

1/4 flour (for every 8 flowers)

Drizzle of olive oil

1/8 cup water (approx.)

vegetable oil for frying

1.Wash and dry zucchini flowers.

2.Stir olive oil into flour, combining well. Add water, slowly, stirring well to combine. You want a nice thick-ish slurry.

3.Heat oil for frying.

4.Place flowers in batter, to coat well, allowing the excess to drip off.

5.Place carefully in hot oil, and allow to fry for a couple of minutes- Until the batter has turned a little golden, and the zuc's are tender.

6.Scoop the zuc's out, and drain on kitchen paper.

Artichoke from the farm

I've never eaten such a tiny, and tender artichoke before..
This one came from the farm, the first of the season.

Growing up, my Dad always said the culo(bum) was the best bit..

We would eagerly peel back the layers, scraping our teeth as we went.. til we got to the heart.. or ass of the artichoke.. depending on your point of view.

We would take turns at having a little nibble, savouring the delicious taste..

Ingredients:

1 artichoke

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Olive oil (same amount as juice)

Sea salt

Method:

1.Steam the artichoke, until the culo is tender under a fork..

2.Place in a bowl, and open leaves a little. Pour combined oil and lemon juice over the artichoke.

3.Sprinkle with sea salt.

So simple, but so delicious.

Asparagus from the farm..

Why does everything from 'the farm', taste so good!?

Is it the love with which, it was grown, and picked, and finally given?

The weather is warm enough to eat outside now..

The kind of weather, that encourages you to linger some time, after the last mouthful is gone..

Ingredients:

Bunch of asparagus, ends trimmed, chopped in half

Juice of 1 lemon

Olive oil (about equal to the lemon juice)

Sea salt

Method:

1.Steam asparagus, really lightly, so it's just tender under a fork, but still has a little crunch.

2.Remove, and plunge in a bowl of cold water.

3.Drain stems, and place in bowl.

4.Pour olive oil and lemon juice over stems, adding salt, and stir well to coat!

Pumkin Risotto

Mmmmn I love my risotto.

The starring role in all my dishes these days, goes to my olive oil..

A gift from my father, imported from Greece.. it still has little chunks of olives in it..

It is the most delicious oil, I've ever eaten.. and so now, I eat a lot of it!!

Everything is made all the more tasty, by it's presence.

Pumpkin Risotto

2Tbs olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped finely

1 clove of garlic, chopped finely

1 red chilli, chopped finely

1-2tsp dried sage

5 swiss brown mushrooms, roughly chopped

1/4-1/2 pumpkin, peeled & roughly chopped (I forget what kind I used)

1- 1 1/2 cups aborio rice

500ml vegetable stock (I used massel 'chicken' stock)

Good slosh of white wine

Salt & pepper to taste

1.Put onion in pan with olive oil, and cook until softened. Add garlic, chilli and sage, and cook til fragrant.

2.Add mushrooms and pumpkin, and cook until mushrooms have softened slightly.

3.Add rice, and cook, stirring, until rice have a little translucent sheath.

4.Season with pepper.

5.Add stock, one ladelful at a time. Stirring constantly. Make sure stock is fully absorbed by rice, before adding more.

6.Use wine in the same way as the stock.

7.When the rice is nearly cooked, reduce the amount of liquid you add each time.

8.Season with salt as needed- most pre-made stocks are quite salty aleady.

YUM YUM!

Spaghetti and Sunshine

What a great combination.

Spring is here it seems, and the air is pregnant with warmth and possibilities...

I've been making the most out of it, and sitting outside to eat.

Lots of spaghetti in the house of veganini lately. Not sure why that is- Maybe because for me, it's pretty fail safe.

Olive oil. Onions. Garlic. Red chillies. Red capsicum. Carrot. Swiss brown mushrooms. Zucchini. Chickpeas(can). Whole tomatoes(can). Penne.

YUM! :)

Vegan Vacation

Many big shifts have occurred in the world of veganini, and all the while many meals have been cooked & eaten. Yet I never once did, visit my blog.
Things fell apart, and reformed again, in to something different.
But I am back. And I share once more, these little meals I make.
I am a happy little veganini once more. Come sit down at my table..

Carrot, coconut, pineapple & macadamia nut cupcakes

Every good vegan loves "VWaV"..
I really, really want to love it.. I try hard.. and although I like a lot of the recipes in it.. I'm not smitten..
But, there is always at least one exception to any rule..
And for me, these are it..

These cupcakes make me overlook my overall VWaV noncholance, and testify to it's fabulousness..
I swear I would buy the cookbook, just for this recipe :D

Every vegan and non alike, I feed these too.. comes back for another, and another.. and finally the recipe..
My sister-in-law to be, had heard about them, because my brother had been pestering her to make them..
He was in town for a few days, so I made a batch, and gave him a box to take home to share with his finance.

I swear the addition of pineapple, takes these above and beyond..
They are just little parcels of tropical goodness! :D

So make these- and try adding the pineapple chunks..
[Fresh would be nice.. but usually I just use a whole tin of chopped pineapple.. ]
And tell me these aren't some of the best little cupcakes you've eaten :D

Italian Beans

Hello. Hello little blogland :D

I've been on staples for the past couple of weeks.

All the tins of organic stewed tomatoes are now gone, same goes for all our pasta.

Yes! there has been a lot of pasta in the house of veganini lately..

Lucky I'm so fond of it.

This recipe idea came from Tessa's "Apples for Jam"..

It was nice as a side dish, although I'm not sure what would make a nice accompaniment.. ideas??

Ingredients

1Tbs olive oil

1/2 red onion

1 large clove garlic, chopped finely

1 tsp dried basil

1 tin stewed whole tomatoes

1 tin cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

Salt & pepper

Method

1.Place onion and oil in a fry pan on medium high heat. Cook until golden and translucent.

2.Add garlic, and cook until fragrant.

3.Add remaining ingredients, and cook, stirring occasionally until tomatoes have reduced and are nice and thick.

Pumpkin Risotto

If you want the recipe I can supply it..

But right now, I'm typed out..

So I offer you instead, a photo of the end result..

La Pizza Rossa - Take II

I have been cooking.

I just don't have anything (photos) to show for it- oh, that is unless you want to come over and eat the old leftovers, still in my fridge!? :D

Last night, cucciolo mio was out go-karting, so I made La pizza rossa again..

I feel like saying "Hello love!", when I take the tray out of the oven..

Just baking it, makes the house smell soooooooooooooooo good!

Cleaning up after making the dough isn't so wonderful.. but this pizza, is definitely worth it!

This time I put baby spinach, olives, onions & pine nuts on top..

Tre Colori Pasta

It has been a while. I'm sorry for neglecting you little blog. I swore I wouldn't.

I need the cactus of the blog world. One that seems to actually prosper from ill treatment.

There was a flu, a trip inter-state, and the beginning of a new course..

Lot's of soups, eating out.. and more recently, sandwiches to go.

[My new little college's cafe is vegetarian/vegan!

So far I've only sampled the vegan banana bread.]

When I was inter-state, visiting my brother, he took us to the local Italian supermarket (huge).
I bought this charming pasta, with not much of an idea, what I would actually use it for.

I may need to have my brother send up some packets for me- as it was so delicious, this is bound to go quick!

Again I'm in dire need of a big food shop, but rather lacking in the funds, so every meal is a take on bubble & squeak right now.

Thus was born, tre colori pasta- three coloured pasta.

Ingredients:

1/4 onion, chopped finely

1/4 red capsicum, cut into thin strips

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp chilli paste

1/2 zucchini, cut into ribbons

Method:

1.Put your pasta water on to boil, and cook pasta as per directions. Heat olive oil in fry pan, and add onions and capsicum. Saute until soft.

2.Add the garlic and chilli paste, and stir well.

3.When you can smell the garlic, add the zucchini. Cook until tender.

4.Drain pasta, turn out 'sauce' mixture into empty pasta pot. Add drained pasta, and a lug of good olive oil. Stir over heat for a couple of minutes.

5.Serve with salt and pepper.

La pizza rossa

Oh man- what can I say about this pizza?

Last night before I went to sleep, I was muttering to cucciolo mio, about my plans for adapting the recipe to suit every meal of the day..

"You know.. I could do dessert pizza.. like pizza hut's 'apple pie' pizza.. except not disgusting.. in fact yummy.. with apples.. and cinnamon.. and oh!.."

For me, this was pizza dough nirvana.

Squish the baked pie between your fingers, and it slowly rises back to it's original fluffy shape.

And it was quick to make too. I have been searching for this here recipe, for a long time.

I was intending to use the recipe straight out of Tess Kiros' "Apples for Jam" book, but after starting, saw that it called for much more rising time than I was prepared for..

So.. I winged it..

Tessa was right on, when she said:

The dough must be sticky (this is what gives a nice texture to the cooked pizza), so don't feel you've done something wrong or be tempted to add any more flour.... It takes about five minutes to get the dough unstuck from my hands and find my ring.

Recipe for one large pie

Ingredients

Dough:

1 3/4 cups warm water

10g dry active yeast

1 tsp agave or honey

1 Tbs olive oil

600g (1LB 5oz) flour (I didn't use all of this)

Tomato Topping:

4 Tbs olive oil

1 large garlic clove, pressed and minced

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

3 basil leaves, chopped, or a liberal sprinkling of dried basil

Method:

1.Put the water, yeast, agave, olive oil and 3 fistfuls of the flour in a the bowl of a food processor.

Mix until smooth. Cover and leave for about 15 minutes, or until it has a nice layer of froth on top.

2.Place olive oil & garlic in a medium sized frypan, on medium-high heat, and cook until you begin to smell the garlic. Add the tomatoes and basil, and reduce heat slightly.

3.Add flour, in small portions at a time, mixing well in between. Continue adding flour, until dough gets a good consistency- it should be still super sticky.. Mix for a good 4 minutes.

4.Remove dough, and place in a well greased (olive oil) large bowl, and cover with a cloth. Leave in a warm place to rise (about 20 minutes).

5.With well floured hands, and some flour on hand to add to dough, if too sticky.. Turn out dough onto a lined, pizza baking tray. Squish out, until it meets the edges of the pan, and is uniform in thickness. Leaving a nice width crust, use your fingers to make indentations over the remaining pizza.

6.Pour tomato sauce over pizza dough (saving space for the crust). Place pizza in a pre-heated 200C (350F) oven, for about 15-20 minutes, or until crust is nice and golden brown.