Revive cookbook

A shout out for the revive cookbook. I received vol 3 as a birthday present. My omnivorous sons were staying and I was trying to cook stuff that was good for me and still appealed to them. A couple of the revive recipes went down a treat.


Quinoa and Cashew mingle was a hit as was the Penne Alfredo with pureed tofu in the sauce - actually the sauce was sooo good I wanted to drink it with a straw while I was cooking it!


Revive cookbooks have become a hit in the wider family - other members own the 1st 2 books. Revive is a café in Auckland - lunch there is wonderful - I can testify to that!


My only caution would be to those trying to follow the same diet as I am - watch the oil - where it says sauté in oil - I just use stock or water and it comes out fine. Coconut cream in some of the sauces - my suggestion would be to use lite coconut cream and just don't dine on that too often.


It's wonderful to find a really great New Zealand vege cookbook - if you haven't got one - go out and buy one now!

What I ate in the holidays

It's a bit like those talks we used to give at school.
Since last posting we've had Christmas, New Year, a birthday for me, visiting family. Honestly I have been really pleased with how it is gone, gained no weight over Christmas and managed to lose a little since. I think the clarity about my food choices has been the most helpful thing.


We all have things we compromise on and I compromised on the oil - not that I went all out for greasy foods. There was some oil in the dressings and coconut oil in the cheesecake base, cheesecake also had some sugar in the filling.


For our family Christmas dinner I brought along 3 salads - the Indonesian Rice Salad (already posted here) and 2 from Get Waisted by Dr Mary Clifton - the spinach & strawberry salad (which looked as fabulous as I thought it would and was yummy, & the Aztec black bean salad - beans to punch up the protein, lots of colour and crunch and flavour. All 3 salads were a hit with the rest of the family.


We are keen on our garlic bread here in NZ, I provided some garlic bruschetta - simple roasted garlic spread on slices of French bread and slices of wholemeal rolls - this disappeared in short order and was also declared a hit. (roasted the garlic the day before so not too time consuming either).


For dessert I made a raw cashew cheese cheesecake (my eldest son is a huge cheesecake fan). I used one recipe for the base, one for the filling and made up my own topping. (pomegranate seeds & blackberries dredged with pomegranate molasses - yum). The cheesecake was also a resounding hit with the rest of the family. As there were 12 of us it was just a small slice each, topped up with fresh fruit salad it made for a wonderful dessert.


There was other food on the table but being committed to no animal products meant that I just wasn't tempted. (actually 1 small compromise here - it was my sisters 60th birthday so had a very small slice of her cake). It was all wholefoods anyway so the wholefood part wasn't even an issue. After dinner I didn't feel bloated and over full as has happened in previous years.


The food I ate was delicious, looked beautiful and left me feeling great not guilty - I LOVE eating this way.

African Sweet potato and peanut stew

3 tablespoons water (for sauteing)

 2 medium yellow onions, chopped

 3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

 2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped into bite-sized pieces

 1 tablespoon light brown sugar

 1 teaspoon grated or minced fresh ginger

 1 teaspoon ground cumin

 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I halved this)

 1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter (crunchy is fine too)

 3 kumara peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

 1 can (15 oz.)red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

 1 can (15oz.) diced tomatoes or 2 fresh tomatoes, diced

 4 cups vegetable stock

 1 teaspoon salt

 1/2 cup chopped, unsalted dry-roasted peanuts (optional)

Chopped coriander for garnish

 

Heat water in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add bell pepper, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in brown sugar, ginger, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne pepper, and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.

 

Stir in peanut butter, distributing evenly.  HINT: Prepare peanut butter by adding 1/4 cup of HOT water and mixing in a separate bowl.  Then it will be thinner and easier to mix in when you add it.  We did this and it helped.

 

Add kumara, kidney beans and tomatoes.  Stir to coat.  Add vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the sweet potatoes are soft (30 – 40 minutes).  Taste and add salt if necessary. Serve over your choice of grain with chopped peanuts& coriander on top!

 

I did the first bit up to adding the peanut butter then transferred to a casserole dish added the kumara etc and baked in a moderate oven for about 40 minutes. Used about half the stock with the method.

I chose to cook it in the casserole as I was taking it to a family meal & as my Dad is elderly & frail and loves mashed potatoes we had mash to accompany it and a lovely salad. Everyone was wanting seconds!

This was from Colleen Patrick-Gudreau's book "The Vegan Table"

Translating American ingredients for Kiwis

In no particular order these are some ingredients found in American recipes in books and websites and their NZ equivalent names.

 

It is a list I have been meaning to post for some time and am happy to add more terms if anyone messages me.

 

Cilantro                                Coriander leaves

Swiss Chard                        Silver Beet

Garbanzo beans               Chickpeas

Beets                                    Beetroot

Bell pepper                         Capsicum

Scallion                                 Spring Onion

Rutabaga                             Swede

Fava Beans                         Broad Beans

Squash                                 marrow

Arugula                                 Rocket

Corn starch                         Cornflour

When you have to take a plate for dessert/cake - try Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients:

• 15 ounces no-salt black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 whole, ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 Tbl cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup regular or non-dairy chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1/2 cup instant oats or oat flour (made in a food processor from raw oats) I used oat bran - that worked well - 1st time I made it was a bit moist, next time added a little more oat bran & cooked longer - perfect!)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8×6″ pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine all ingredients, except oats, in a food processor. Blend until smooth.
3. Stir in the oat flour / oats until blended well. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour batter into the pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Had 2 events in the space of a few days to bring something for - these went down a treat! As usual both events had way more food than needed so leftovers from the first were dropped off to appreciative family & for the 2nd were taken to work and polished off by work mates.

These are definitely the least unhealthy brownies I have ever eaten, but still should not be regareded as "health food" to eat unlimited amounts - best option for me is to give it away.

Easy Black Bean Miso Soup - This is super quick & delicious

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 1 15-ounce black beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 1/2 cup cooked beans)
• 1 1/2 cup miso broth (see directions below – I used the miso paste)
• 1 cup homemade stewed tomatoes (or 1 can tomatoes, just be sure to add some great spices to liven it up. eg – 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp oregano, ½ tsp chili flakes)

Instructions

1. Bring all three ingredients to a boil in a sauce pan.
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer for five minutes.

Alternative

If you prefer to use miso instead of packaged miso broth, simply use 1 1/2 cups water in the recipe. After the soup comes to a boil, spoon 3/4 cup broth into a measuring cup, add 1 teaspoon miso, mix well, and pour back into the saucepan.)

 

this is from http://jlgoesvegan.com/

I had this for a quick dinner, while the soup cooked I assembled a green salad - talk about quick, easy, delicious and yum! I can see this will go on my mental list of quick options when I get home hungry and tired.

 

I bought miso paste and only use it occaisionally - it's been sitting in my fridge for ages and keeps really well. Can be a great flavour booster for soups and dressings.

Sri Wasano's Infamous Indonesian Rice Salad

Edit Title/Description

Sri Wasano's Infamous Indonesian Rice Salad (Mollie Katzen)

This is undoubtedly the best rice salad in the world. I make it every Christmas - this recipe makes a lot! It's from Mollie Katzen's "The Moosewood Cookbook"

 

Yields: 4 to 6 servings

Add Ingredient Add Divider

Ingredients

Add Cooking Step

Directions

 

1. Combine 2 cups of brown rice and 3 cups of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer until tender - 35 to 45 minutes. 

 

2. While the rice cooks, combine in a large bowl the following:

1/3 cup peanut oil

3 Tbsp Chinese sesame oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1 to 2 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (to taste)

2 Tbsp rice or cider vinegar

1 cup chopped fresh pineapple (or canned in juice)

 

3. Add the hot rice directly to the bowlful of dressing. Mix well. When it has cooled to room temp, cover tightly and refrigerate until cold. Shortly before serving, stir in:

 

3 scallions, finely minced (both whites and greens) (=spring onions)

1 stalk celery, finely minced

1 medium-sized red or green bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 8oz can water chestnuts, drained and thinly sliced

1/2 lb fresh bean sprouts

1/2 cup (packed) raisins or currants

1 cup coarsely chopped peanuts and/or cashews, lightly toasted

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

Optional: fresh snow peas for garnish