Christmas Pot Luck

Last night was our staff Christmas Pot Luck. It was a wonderful eve with good conversations, loads of food and a celebration of our Exec Director having served 10 years. She is an amazing woman who has dedicated her life to serving others as she serves God.

The food was of course great & this time I actually managed to eat closer to my normal; though not fully as I did have some dairy & gluten. Of course by the time I left my fingers & knees were swollen & I was in pain!  So back to the healthy eating or I shall be sick over Christmas & I sure don't want that.

I decided to do 2 dishes Creamy Carrot Soup and a Vegan Sausage & Sweet Potato Casserole.

Creamy Carrot Soup
This is a mild flavoured soup that is rich but with a hint of orange & ginger it has a surprisingly fresh taste. Cashews and coconut cream powder provide the creaminess that holds all the flavours together.
You will need a blender for this soup.

2 tbsp water
2 onions chopped
1 clove of garlic - this is enough for this soup, just enough to add depth without overpowering it
2 sticks of celery, sliced
piece of ginger, size of 1st joint of 1st finger, peeled & sliced thin
6-8 carrots sliced, more if they are small
1 orange .
1/2 cup of cashews
2 vegetable stock cubes
1/8 tsp brown sugar - this just helps bring out the flavour of the carrots & adds another depth
2 tbsp coconut milk powder; you could use a tin of coconut milk if preferred
Water to fully cover

In a medium large soup pan put over low-med heat with 2 tbsp of water. Add onions & garlic, cook to soften. Add the celery, ginger & carrots and a little water to prevent sticking.
Prepare the orange by removing a thin layer of peel from 1/2 the orange for the zest with a zester or fine grater. Cut orange in 1/2 crosswise as you would to squeeze the juice.  Peel one 1/2 of the orange & put the segments from that 1/2 into the pan with the veg. Squeeze the juice from the other 1/2 into a cup & keep for later. Keep the peel for making the garnish.
Add cashews, coconut powder, brown sugar & stock cubes to pan, pour in water to fully cover and come a couple of inches above veg mix.
Bring to a boil & then turn down to simmer for about 30-40 minutes

Garnish
1 small carrot sliced thinly into rounds
the peel from the orange
a very small pinch of salt
2 cups of water

Place all in a small pan & bring to boil. Simmer til carrots cooked al dente, about 10 minutes. Do not drain, just place pan to side.

Serving
If you do not have a vitamix or other high power blender that can cope with hot liquids  let the soup cool for a while. Put the soup mixture though your blender in batches. It should be rich & creamy but not too thick, use the water from the garnish carrots to thin down after you have blended the complete soup mix. Discard the cooked orange peel, unless you want to cut away any remaining zest to add to the soup.Gently reheat.

Top bowls of soup with a few slices of the garnish carrots.
Enjoy

Vegan Sausage & Sweet Potato Pot
This is a hearty dish that is pure comfort food & one man said he would not have known it was a vegan sausage as it was tasty & had a nice texture.
This dish does take time & has a few different steps to make it the best taste & texture, there are shortcuts but using them gives a very different dish.

Step 1
1 large sweet potato, cut into chunky cubes
1 carrot cut into similar size chunks
1/4 butternut squash, peeled & cut into similar size chunks
1 small potato cut into 8
2 small round eggplants, cut into 8-12 bits
1 tsp olive oil
salt

Pre-heat oven to 375
In a baking tray, spread olive oil over bottom. Toss all veg in oil in pan, then arrange in one layer sprinkle with a little salt. Cook for 15 -20 mins, stir so all veg is turned over. Cook for another 15-20 mins till all veg is cooked, soft on inside with a bit of brown crispiness on outside

Step 2
Do this while root veg are roasting:
2 onions cut in 4 & sliced thinly
1 head of garlic sliced crosswise
1 tbsp vegan marg

Put marg into a large frying pan or wok & melt, add garlic & soften, add onions & cook slowly to caramelize.
Add
8-10 mushrooms quartered
1/2 red pepper
Cook for a few mins til pepper has softened & mushrooms are nearly cooked. if the mix is getting dry add a tsp each of balsamic vinegar & tamari
Add
2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped.
2 tsp of balsamic vinegar
2tsp tamari

Cover & simmer on low for 5 -10 mins

Step 3
2 Tofurky spicy Italian sausages, sliced into round (about 16 per sausage)
a little olive oil to stop sausage sticking to pan

In a large flat bottom fry pan heat oil over a medium heat add slices of sausage in one layer. Cook till beginning to crisp & brown, turn over slices & cook till crisping a little.

Combining
Add the roasted veg to the caramelized onion mix, stir. Top with sausage slices, stir to just mix them in a bit. Serve.
This goes well with a crispy salad or some steamed green veg, like broccoli or spinach
Enjoy

The shortcut ..........
I have made this all in one pan, starting with the onions etc from step 2, then a adding the veg from step three &  adding  stock then cook everything together. Just before the end I add the sliced sausage. This method produces a wetter, mushier dish; it still has flavour but is less  complex in both preparation and in resulting quality.

Moving on from 'Earthlings" movie to the simplest recipe I will ever share

I am doing a 2nd post, in the hope of taking my mind away from the trauma of watching 'Earthlings'.

If I think about the animals I get overwhelmed, distressed and so angry! If I think about what producing meat & dairy does to the planet the same thing happens.

So I try to be focused on the benefits to my body, my mind, your body & your mind, our emotional & spiritual well being & the way a whole plant food way of eating will make anyone feel better & be healthier. This does not mean I don't care about the animals, the planet etc. It means I keep my sanity & don't go round doing crazy things.... and I know that eating this way has positive effects for the animals & planet so I can rest easier.

However, to be honest, being a vegan, who is committed to a whole-plant food diet is not easy at times.

The reason is addiction.

Just like a smoker or drug addict the cravings for something that will kill you is sometimes overwhelming. I do well when I eat alone or with like-minded people. But when with others I can get weak-willed. The weird thing is each time I give in, I am so disappointed. The flavour & texture are not what I think they will be, the satisfaction is missing. The side effects of consuming the poisons of animal products are awful, pain in joints, head, foggy brain, upset digestion etc.

So I spend a lot of time & energy in creating recipes, adapting other peoples recipes, researching the effect of food on our bodies.

I love that with a few ingredients I can make something that is delicious, takes away the cravings, satisfies the taste, texture and dietary needs of my body & makes me feel good after I eat it.

Dr John McDougall has looked at what our human diet looked like in the past. He has found that "starches" are the common thread. Potatoes, rice, wheat, sweet potatoes etc. Most cultures then add other locally gathered  vegetables & fruit. As societies became more commercial, affluent etc more meat, fish, dairy was added & the more disease increased.

I was born in the mid 50's so I can remember meals that had potatoes had the biggest part of the plate, then veg fill most of the rest of the plate & a bit of meat taking up a small space. My husband's grandmother & my paternal grandfather were Irish & they grew up on mashed potatoes & gravy with some veg like cabbages or peas added. Meat was for Sunday, fish was for Friday & a slice of bacon was a treat for Saturday.

Somewhere, we got duped & put meat & dairy as the star & were told that was healthy, balanced eating. But with rising occurences of affluent diseases like heart disease, diabetes, glaucoma, arthritis it is obviously not the case.

So here is the simplest recipe you will ever get from me
Colcannon
Left over mashed potatoes
Left over veg - what ever you have
1 onion, sliced
Salt & pepper

Optional:
non dairy milk
nutritional yeast
Herbs
Steam-fried mushrooms

In a large frying pan put a tablespoon of water. Add sliced onion & steam-fry till translucent & just starting to brown. Add potatoes, add veg;  mix & stir. Heat through. Add salt & pepper .

You decide if you want smooth & creamy by adding non-dairy milk.
You can add nutritional yeast for a cheesy umami savouriness.
Add herbs for a different take.
I add steam-fried musrooms if I need a meatier texture. I like them piled on top
You can also continue cooking so parts of mix get brown & crispy more like bubble & squeak.

Simple. Filling. Tasty. Versatile.
Enjoy

Earthlings movie

I have just watched 1/2 the Earthlings movie http://documentary-movie.com/earthlings/

It starts with where our pets come from & what is done to them & that is bad enough, considering many of us claim to be animal lovers.

Then it goes to meat & dairy production. This is the most horrifying thing I have seen in years, but if someone is a committed meat eater they should watch this so they know where their "food" is coming from.

The terrible thing is there are people who know this, see this, do this for their living & still eat meat. It begs so many questions about what we are capable of to feed our addictions.

Updated position paper

My friend Gwen sent me this good news that nutritionists are updating their research:

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Publishes Stance on Vegan and Vegetarian Diets

November 29, 2016

Vegetarian and vegan diets are healthful, may prevent and treat chronic diseases, and are better for the environment, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the world’s largest organization of nutrition professionals. Researchers updated the 2009 position paper on vegetarian diets and concluded that not only are vegetarian and vegan diets appropriate for all stages of the life cycle (pregnancy, infancy, childhood, etc.), but they also help reduce the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, obesity, and some types of cancer. The updated position paper presents a section on environmental issues which concludes plant-based diets are more sustainable and less damaging to the environment.

Spiced Veg & sprouted rice & lentils

I love the fact that our community centres do good food boxes for elderly, families or those who have limited  funds. We get them for our clients & as a not-for-profit our staff & volunteers can purchase them too. These boxes contain a wonderful mix of vegetables & fruit. So today I made a big pan of spicy veg & a pan of sprouted crimson lentils, wild rice & quinoa. I bought a bag of prairie blend by floating leaf which also includes sorghum & brown rice. The sprouting means it all cooks in about 20 mins & the nutrients are apparently more available.

Spiced Veg
2 onions, chopped
1 head of garlic, peeled & sliced
2 carrots sliced
4 sticks celery, sliced
1 small-medium sweet potato, chopped
1 potato, chopped
1/2 small butternut squash, chopped
3 baby eggplants, chopped
water

Put a couple of tablespoons of water in a large soup pan, heat on medium add veg in order one at a time. Sweat a few mins

Add
2 tbsp ground corriander
1-2 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp cardamon
1-2 tsp garam masala
a  shake of gound cayenne - depends how hot you like it
Stir & sweat a bit more to remove rawness of spices.

Add
Water to cover
2 veg stock cubes
small tin black beans or chickpeas or other favourite beans.

Bring to boil, cover & simmer for 40 mins

Sever with spouted rice, quinoa & lentils or you favourite rice or quinoa.
Enjoy

Purple/Red soup... not quite Borscht

I got a big bag of beets, and a bag of small eggplants, I have seen them called Indian or baby eggplants. I roasted some & enjoyed them as a side dish, but what to do with the rest????

So my creativity got going and came up with a soup on the lines of borscht but not really borscht. It has a classic mirepoix as the start point but then the herbs change everything!

Purple/Red soup
2 onions - I used 1 yellow & 1 red, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 large beets, topped & tailed, washed but not peeled
4  baby eggplants, topped & cut into 6 pieces
2 tbsp water

Put water in pan & add veg one at a time in order, allowing time to sweat.

1 tin black beans, drained & rinsed
1 tbsp dried dill or a bunch of fresh dill
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground caraway
2 vegetable stock cubes
Water to cover all ingredients

Add these to pan with veg Cover & bring to boil. Turn heat down to simmer & cook for 30-45 min til veg is cooked. Season with salt & lemon pepper if needed.
Top with vegan sour cream if liked.
Enjoy