Day 5 - Herb Damper and Lovely Left-overs

I love left overs!  Last night we had a yummy dinner of left overs, spruced up with Herb Damper fresh from the oven.

Cut a little x in the top of each damper roll and brush with milk before baking.

Wish you could smell this delicious just-out-of-the-oven herb damper.

We had left over Creamy Broccoli Soup from last night, and Stuffed Capsicum left over from dinner at my mum's house 2 nights ago.  Thanks mum!

Dinner is served.  It was delicious!

We didn't eat all the damper rolls between the two of us.  I took one to work for lunch today and reheated it for 20 seconds in the microwave to have with my bowl of Broccoli Soup.  It was okay but nothing beats hot damper fresh from the oven.

Damper recipe:
Ingredients:
3 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons herbs, can be dried or fresh eg thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, basil
100gm margarine melted
1 cup soy milk
a little extra soy milk for glazing

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 210oC.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together.  Form a well in the centre.
3. Mix the milk and margarine together.  Pour into the well.  Mix with a knife until it just comes together.
4. Form into rolls.  I like to make 8 but you can make them bigger or smaller.  They don't need to be neat - remember this is damper, not french pastries.
5. Score an X into the top of each damper with a sharp knife.
6. Brush with a little soy milk.
7. Bake for about 20 minutes, longer or shorter depending on how soft vs crusty you want them.
8. Serve immediately.

Note:  You can wrap half of the mix in glad wrap and refrigerate to cook fresh the next night if you wish. 

These are also very nice made as sweet damper.  Leave out the herbs, use less salt (half a teaspoon) and more sugar (1 tablespoon).  Serve hot with margarine and golden syrup or jam.  Mmmmm.  I think we might need some dessert tonight!

Day 4 - Creamy Broccoli Soup

Yesterday I had a craving for creamy soup.  This broccoli soup fits that category surprisingly well.  There are only a few ingredients so the preparation time is very quick.  But it does take a little while to boil, all the while filling the kitchen with tantalizing aromas that make me feel hungrier and hungrier while I wait.

Admittedly the soup does look a bit like an unappetizing green gloop.  It reminds me of something you might have seen on "You can't do that on Television".  But despite appearances it really is scrumptious.  Or, as my husband said, "delicious and nutritious!"

The soup is not very high in protein.  So I served it with some multigrain bread rolls, warmed a little in the oven, to the make the meal more balanced. 

I have tried a few broccoli soup recipes and over time have arrived at my own version.  It makes a big pot so no prizes for guessing what we will be having for dinner tonight.

Here is my recipe.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegan margarine (or you could use oil)
1 Onion finely chopped
3 Cloves of garlic crushed of finely chopped
2 large potatoes cut into ~ 2cm cubes
2 large heads of broccoli (or 3 small) - you can use the florets and some of the stems
2L of fluid, you can use all vegetable stock or substitute some for water depending on how salty/flavorsome you want it.  If you use powdered stock (as I do) you can start of with just a little and adjust the flavor just before blending.
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup soy milk - I recommend a creamy variety eg Vitasoy for this

Method
1. Saute the onion in the margarine or oil for 3 minutes on medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the stock, potatoes, broccoli and herbs.
4. Boil over medium heat for about 30 minutes until the veggies are mushy.
5. Take the soup off the head and use a stick blender to blend the soup.  You can leave it a bit chunky or make it very smooth.  If you want it really smooth transfer it to a blender in batches but really this is just too messy and time consuming for my liking.  Anyway, I like the soup with a little texture still.
6. Add the soy milk.  I find this usually brings the soup to a nice serving temperature.  However, if you want, you can heat the soup gently reheated over a low heat but remember to stir it.
7. Serve with a sprinkle of nutmeg if you wish but don't overdo the nutmeg or it will overpower the wonderful broccoli flavor.

Day 3 - Stuffed Capsicum

Last night I had dinner at mum's house for an early Father's Day get together.  Mum cooked up a big feast for our ever-growing family.  Roast pork was on the menu for the rest of the clan but mum very kindly made stuffed capsicum for me. 

That hand belongs to my nephew who was "helping" me take the photo.

 Dessert was Berry Bliss.  Yum!!  There was cream for those who wanted it.  Judging by the amount smeared on their faces, some of the nieces and nephews found it as useful as a cosmetic as for eating.  The fruit was so delicious I don't think it needed any adornment.

Thanks mum for accommodating your vegan apprentice daughter.  You're the best! xxx

Day 2: Bangers and Mash - Vegan Style!

Friday nights I get home from work after 7pm feeling tired and hungry.  So Friday night dinner needs to be quick and satisfying. 

Enter......  Convenience food!

I am sure baked beans on toast will make an appearance sometime this month, but last night it was Sanitarium vegie sausages.  There is a range of flavors but in my opinion the Rosemary, Sage and Parsley are pretty darn yummy.

If sausages (or their vegan equivalent) are not cooked on a barbeque they really should be accompanied by mash.  Mmmm creamy, tasty mash.

And what would bangers and mash be without gravy?  More convenience in the form of instant gravy.

Dinner took about 15 minutes from start to the table.  I chopped the potato and sweet potato very small so that they would cook quicker as they take the longest.  The other veggies took only a minute or two to chop and were cooked in the microwave.

I have hair-brained dreams of doing away with my microwave and go all purist-like and avoiding all packet foods with their artificial ingredients and planet un-friendly packaging.

But for now - convenience is a pretty high priority.  And as this dinner was quick, cheap and ticked all the boxes for variety of colourful veggies and protein content - I have no complaints. 

Day 1: Veggie Burgers and Wedges

So it is actually Day 2 of 30 Day Blog September but I am about to tell you what I had for dinner last night.  And that is how this is going to work.  Because that is easier for me, and hey, why make this harder for myself than it has to be?  So if you want to know what I am having for dinner tonight you will have to come back tomorrow.  Glad we got that sorted.

Last night I was in a photo taking mood and so here is last nights dinner in great detail.

Mix together 1 cup of bean burger mix with about half a cup of water and 1/2 tablespoon of dark soy sauce.  Set aside to allow the beans to soften.  Recipe here: Best Bean Burgers

Slice the potatoes into quarters, then each quarter into 2-3 wedges.

 

Shake the potatoes in a bag (old bread bags are perfect for this) with 1-2 tablespoons of oil and any seasoning that takes your fancy.  I used a garlic infused oil that my lovely mother bought me at a food festival last year, and about a tablespoon of "bush spice" that was in a spice rack that my lovely sister gave me.

  

Place the wedges in a single layer on a baking tray.  Bake for 35-45 minutes at 220oC, depending on how crunchy you like your wedges.  Turn once about half way through cooking. 

Prepare your fillings.  I used beetroot, pickles, carrot, avocado, mushrooms and lettuce.  

 

The yummy rye bread rolls I bought were square.  Which is no problem for homemade burgers - just shape the patties to match the size and shape of your rolls.  I always shape mine on a plate and then use an egg flip to transfer it to the frying pan.

 The burgers where fried in a splash of oil with the mushrooms.  It is important to cover with a lid while frying to catch the steam which helps the burgers to cook.  No-one wants to bite into a too-crunchy soybean.

 

I prepared the buns with spreads (mustard, avocado, tomato sauce), beetroot and pickles while the burgers were frying.  And then I put this into the oven for a few minutes which warms them up nicely.

 

5 minutes on each side - perfect!

 

Assembled and ready to serve!

 

A sneak peak inside my burger.  Quite a tower!

30 Day Blog September

During September I am going to try to blog everyday.   Actually, no, I am going to blog everyday.

Thanks to Daniel of Good Reason Blog for the inspiration and the cool graphic which of course makes it official!

So, to make it manageable for myself, I am going to blog what I have for dinner for the next 30 nights.  Now if anyone asks you "But what do vegans eat?" you can just point them in this direction.  I am sure you will find this very handy because of course you get asked that all the time.  Or is that just me that gets asked that?

I also plan to blog a little more than just a blow by blow account of a month of dinners.  In particular I want to spend some time blogging about my experiences as an apprentice vegan so far.  And I will make a few more posts on my reading journal blog and my hodge-podge-&-have-a-rant blog. 

But at least on the days when I am lacking in spare time, inspiration or both I will still be able to write a quick blog à la "For dinner tonight I had ......" and so keep up with the challenge of 30 Day Blog September.