Vegan Store Cupboard Challenge

[Deleted User]

Long time no post!!:o Rl has been chaotic to say the least so I have been awol....determined not to let that happen again!

Since my last post, I have had another suma order so my house is brimming with lovely food and my ds has built me some storage so I have places to keep it!! :rotfl:

I had my dgs this weekend so (over)bought some fresh veg and fruit - needless to say that I still have plenty of it left - half a red cabbage, a cauliflower, half a swede, half a celeriac, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, mango, satsumas, nectarines and bananas!!
I am not getting anything else until all of this has been used - so far I'm planning to cook sweet and sour cauliflower balls; a seitan casserole served with broccoli and red cabbage; ramen and sushi with a mango and nectarine salsa; sweet potato gnocchi with tomato and olive sauce. In all honesty, that will probably take a week to get through! The kids will eat the bananas over the next few days and I'll probably eat the satsumas - any veg which hasn't been eaten I will turn into a soup so hopefully there will be no waste at all!;)

rawr_

Loving the sound of sweet and sour cauliflower balls! I've been reading this thread for a while, been vegan for just under 2 years. I need to start cooking more stuff from scratch at the weekend in batches for the week!

mark55man

enjoyed skimming this thread - have vegan kids so we tend to eat mainly vegan when they are at home - will be reading through more thoroughly

[Deleted User]

The sweet and sour cauli balls went down a treat I also made some sticky ginger and chilli seitan which was adored by everyone - ds has put an order in for more already! :rotfl: I haven't done anything else off my list yet (thankfully, all the stuff is still more than edible ) as dd asked me to do some lentils and buckwheat for dgs so we've had that instead (plus a few bits and pieces we found loitering in the freezer )

I've got a reasonably quiet weekend ahead so will be cooking - I'll make most of the stuff that I intended to do and then freeze what I don't use straight away - I'm taking some food to bil later in the week so that he doesn't starve when I take my sis away for the weekend so will be using up some of what I have for him too.....

I've found a recipe for vegan hollandaise sauce which I intend to try this weekend - vegan 'eggs' benedict is on the cards for brekkie Saturday

[Deleted User]

The vegan version of 'eggs' benedict was pretty good had to play around a bit with the 'hollandaise' sauce but not bad at all!

I've still got masses of veg left in the fridge (thank goodness root veg lasts for ages! ) but won't be using it till next week now as I'm away for the majority of this one when i get home I'm going to have a quick stocktake and sort a meal plan - I'm going to make a real effort to take better care of myself after my holiday so it's important that I get my diet right - it's always a struggle as a sporadic eater must do better!!

[Deleted User]

Don't think I've posted this previously on this thread but put it onto gc yesterday it's the easiest foccacia I have ever made!!

500 g bread flour
1 very full tablespoon instant yeast or quick rise yeast .
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
450 mls COLD water not warm water
4 tablespoons good olive oil for drizzling (Just drizzle as much as you feel comfortable with on top )
2 tablespoons fresh or dried rosemary
sea salt flakes or crystals for scattering

Instructions
In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, yeast and salt then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Add the water and mix well until you can see no more dry flour and you have a wet, slightly lumpy looking mess. Make sure to scrape right into the bottom of the bowl.
Cover with cling wrap or a clean shower cap and leave in the kitchen/ somewhere warmish for a minimum of 7 hours and a maximum of 9 hours. Do not refrigerate and do not leave anywhere really warm. Just normal room temperature is fine.
About 20 minutes before the time is up preheat your oven to 400°F and line an 8 x 8 square pan (a cake tin or brownie pan) with parchment paper.
When the oven is at temperature, scrape the dough out of the bowl and into the pan. It will be clingy and sticky but that is normal.
Once it's all in the pan, flatten it out so it's as even as you can get it all over, then using a finger dipped in olive oil, make dimples all over the top.
Drizzle over the olive oil (be as generous as you feel comfortable with) and sprinkle on the rosemary and salt.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 37 - 40 minutes.
When done it will be starting to go golden brown in places on the top. If you want it a little crustier you can bake it for another 5 minutes but no longer as otherwise it will become dry.
Remove from the oven, lift out using the paper as handles and place on a cooling rack.
Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting

[Deleted User]

Made a 'fridge remnants' dish yesterday - I had a pot of basil 'goo' (basil, garlic, balsamic, olive oil) which I added to a couple of chopped vegan sausages, half a packet of vegan chorizo, half a chopped onion and a tin of cherry tomatoes. I served it with pasta, salad and the focaccia bread and will have the rest of it today with some Mediterranean potatoes

[Deleted User]

Checked out the fridge, fruit bowl and cupboards for any 'fresh' stuff that I had left...found a few carrots, quarter of a swede, half a red cabbage, four lemons, an apple, a couple of garlic bulbs, some onions, a green chilli, some sprouting new potatoes, two sweet potatoes and some sprouting big potatoes!

I sliced the cabbage and added a chopped onion, chopped apple, some demerera sugar and some raspberry and blueberry balsamic that was left from some beetroot I made last year along with a dash of oil then popped it in the oven. I whipped up some seitan and made a casserole with the swede, carrots, an onion, stock and the new potatoes.

I also made Moroccan lemon potates with the normal potatoes, the rest of the onions and garlic along with the green chilli, the rind and juice of the lemons, a teaspoon each of ground coriander and ground cumin and some stock....I'll use the fluid from this as a soup and serve the potatoes separately with something else later in the week.

The sweet potatoes will last another couple of days and I found a packet of tortillas in the freezer so I cooked some black beans and will make enchiladas towards the end of the week

smallblueplanet

squirrelgirl wrote: »

... I whipped up some seitan...

How do you make seitan?

[Deleted User]

Here you go smallblueplanet:

7oz wheat gluten; 0.25 cup chickpea flour; 2tbs nutritional yeast; 2tbs mixed herbs; 2tsp 'chicken' stock powder; 1tsp onion powder; 1tsp paprika; 1tsp garlic powder; 1tbs olive oil; 1tbs tomato paste; 1 cup veg or 'chicken' stock. For the broth - veg or 'chicken' stock

Mix all the dry ingredients, whisk together the wet ingredients and add to the dry, mixing until combined. Knead the dough for minute then leave it to sit for 5 mins. Bring the broth to a boil then lower to simmer - (if you want to cut the seitan in half or shape into balls etc this is the time to do it) add the seitan. Simmer for 45-55 mins (slightly less if the seitan has been shaped into balls) turning every so often. Once cooked, let it sit for about 10 mins and then serve.