Vegan Storecupboard Challenge 2024

leftatthetrafficlights

@Jacs205 - my new year starts on 7th November (actually it's late evening on 6th but no food will be eaten that late!!) so it's not as impressive as it sounds!! 😉😂 

Tonight was the pie, I'm not in the least bit hungry so I didn't eat - dh said it was lush though and we're having it again tomorrow 😁 

Jacs205

It looks lovely and I still think that's impressive being planned up for a couple of weeks.

Brie

Cleared out some frozen veg yesterday and made soup. 

OH complained as he claims he doesn't like my soup, it's boring and he'd rather have a tin of Heinz Tomato (bluerk!).  The main ingredients were carrots (had prepped carrot sticks but hadn't eaten them and knew I wouldn't soon - so into the freezer) and squash.  This was leftover tromboncino squash* that no one at the food bank wanted as it looked too weird and they didn't know what to do with it.  Frankly it was very nice, like butternut but with a milder flavour which had me worried that it would be bland.  But with the addition of some stock cubes (sorry - not vegan) as well as a healthy dose of soy sauce and a selection of herbs it all turned out lovely.  I also had a red onion in there that had been fried to give a bit more colour and sweetness as well as a few peeled (going green) small potatoes and a handful of split red lentils.  All zizzed towards the end.  Oh and a few dashes of tabasco.  

Got the OH to flavour check it for me before I was taking a bowl and he grumped "the problem with you is you make good soup."  And he had 2 bowls.  

It was a nice reminder to me that we have lentils in the drawer.  I love lentils and have lots of things other than soup I might do with them - lots of them not vegan but some are at least vegetarian (or a near miss) so I'll be trying to use those up before they get toooo much older.  


*tromboncino - bulbous bottom where the seeds are and a curving neck about 2 - 3 foot long.  The first couple of uses of this was to cut the neck bit into 5 inch lengths, cut in half length wise and simply roast.  It's solid flesh and the skin isn't tough so no waste at all on that.   Eventually I'd peeled the rest of the neck, cut it into roastable chunks and froze that.  Didn't have the energy or space to deal with the rest so that got composted.  I've used about 2/3 of what I froze in the soup but will use the rest with my other frozen veg when I need something easy to chuck in for roasting - nice to have a mix.  Or I will cook it up with chopped carrots and mash it.  

leftatthetrafficlights

@Jacs205 - thank you! 😁 

@Brie - I've seen tromboncino squash before but have never tried it - it sounds nice! 😁 

Tonight we had cannellini beans cooked in stock, mixed grains, purple cauliflower, romanesca cauliflower, beetroot, carrots and a french mustard cashew cream dressing. Very tasty and plenty left for tomorrow 😋😁 

Brie

@leftatthetrafficlights

Not sure what it is but I can't get on with purple vegetables.  At least those that are decidedly purple like the cauli or carrots.  Purple sprouting broccoli is fine as that's just really dark green.  

Do try the squash.  We've had another dozen or more dropped off at the food bank and people are very reluctant to take them.  I keep bigging them up when I get the chance as one good size one could do for 2 - 3 dinners for a family.  fyi - like I probably said - like butternut but lighter and with a texture that is heading towards a spaghetti squash.  Still hoping to get some honeynut seeds at some point - if I could grow those next year I'd be a very happy eater!!!

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - that's a shame, I love purple veg and it's so good for you too...I'll definitely try the squash if I come across it 😉 

Tonight's dinner was celeriac steak; creamy harissa cannellini beans; brussel sprouts in orange and ginger; courgette, tomato and onion saute with mixed herbs; rocket, black grape and pomegranate salad. Very tasty!! 😋 

leftatthetrafficlights

I've made some dark speckled lentil burmese tofu this morning for dinner tonight so my plan is to cube it and cook it in the air fryer. I've got leftovers from last night so I'm going to blitz the remaining courgette and tomato sautè into a sauce to mix through pasta (I've got some red lentil pasta to use up - dh isn't that keen but he'll cope! 😉) and blitz the rest of the beans into a 'hommous' to serve on the side along with a salad. I'm looking forward to dinner!! 😋

I've never made burmese tofu with dark speckled lentils before but I loved the red lentil version and I've got about 20kg of dark speckled ones so if it works out, I'll be very happy!! 😂

I've gone very plain on this one as it's a first time thing, I've just added garlic and onion granules while it was cooking and I'm not going to marinade it either but if we like it, I'll be doing a lot more experimentation 😁

leftatthetrafficlights

The burmese tofu with dark speckled lentils was okay - I need to adjust the lentil to fluid ratio a bit as it was a little too soft in the centre and the lentil flavour is stronger so a bit more experimentation with the flavours is required before I get I'll be happy with it but I'll definitely give it another go 😁 

leftatthetrafficlights

Leftovers last night as dh was out. The tofu is nicer cold - it's a good addition to salads! 😁 

Tonight is a simple one - Ethiopian lentils and sourdough pancakes for me, dh will probably want some rice so I may have a little of that too 😋 it's one of our regular meals because we both really love it plus it's very cheap, nutritious and very quick to make...a perfect combo!! 😁 

leftatthetrafficlights

Last night's dinner - managed to make Ethiopian lentils that didn't make my head explode with the heat!! 😂