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Not-so-Easy Aranchini with Purple Coliflower Salad

We had the crazy idea to make Aranchini.... I say crazy because it is a lot of work so only do this if you really want to impress someone. There is one thing I have to say, they are a lot of fun to make with people! I said it is a lot of work but they are not difficult to make, you need to be good with your hands and also a good deep-frier, if you can't fry them properly you'll end up with oily balls. Before you read the whole post I will just briefly explain what you need to do so that you can decide whether you want to embark on this long journey to deliciousness. You need to make: -the filling. -the rice, which needs to cool before you can manipulate it. -the batter -make balls of rice and then make a whole in them to put the filling in. -dunk them in the batter and then in bread-crumbs -deep-fry them -eat them!! If that hasn't put you off continue reading... I got this recipe from Giorgio Locatelli's Made in Sicily and then I made it vegan by changi...

Easy, Breezy, Beautiful ... Mushroom and Pumpkin Pasta Bake!!

So... More pumpkin today! As it was a pretty horrible day today, autumnal I would say, I decided to mix my two favourite autumn ingredients: mushrooms and pumpkin. I had three kinds of mushrooms at home: chestnut, button and I'll upload a pic of the other one cause I don't know what it's called... I also had some left over Hokkaido squash. Ingredients: (4 people) -any kind of pasta that you like. -1 medium chopped onion -2-4 crushed cloves of garlic (for easy removal) -olive oil -around 2 cups of sliced mushrooms (any kind that you like, shitake would be nice too) -about a cup of bite size pumpkin -1 big spoon of vegan margarine (I have alpro soya at the moment) -2 tablespoons of flour -soya milk (or any other type that you like, maybe not rice milk as it might be too sweet) -salt and pepper -cayenne (optional) -spinach? Method: Boil the pasta following the instructions of the packet. If you have a steamer you can put it on top of the pasta and steam...

Dreamy Creamy Pumpkin Soup (in other words pumpkin and white bean soup)

Can't think of what to have? Don't have time to cook? Well no excuses now... this soup takes 30 min and it's easy and delicious. If you are like me (and many other people) you have cans of different pulses in the cupboard as well as oregano and stock. So all you need to buy is a pumpkin and, as we all know, there are hundreds of things you can make with them and they also last quite a long time. So perhaps you have one lying around cause you went to the market and thought it was a good idea to buy it because you would make something with it and now you've had it for two weeks and you know it's time you ate it but you can't be arsed to cook it... so make this soup! Ingredients: (4- 6 people) - about 4 cups of chopped pumpkin (in my case it was half a pumpkin...) -1 medium chopped onion -1 cube of vegetable stock -1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano (I had fresh oregano so I put 4 sprigs) -1 can of white beans (400 gr can) -salt and pepper -water To garn...

Scrumptious Chilli (30-40 min)

I know Chilli Con 'Carne' is quite easy to make and to be honest I've never had bad Chilli Con 'Carne' but this recipe has been perfected thanks to my sister and it is absolutely scrumptious! (and very very easy!) For 3/4 people: Ingredients: -1 chopped onion -4 cloves of garlic -2 small green peppers, sliced -2 small red peppers, sliced -1 teaspoon of dried oregano -1 teaspoon of ground cumin -textured soya (you can use vegetables as well) -chilli powder (to taste) -salt and pepper -chipotle pepper (if you have it it really makes a difference) -Can of kidney beans -a couple of tablespoons of corn. -some red wine (optional) -Olive oil or vegetable oil Method: In a pot put about a tablespoon of olive oil and add the onion, garlic, oregano and cumin. Fry at medium heat until the onion is a bit translucent (be very careful not to burn the garlic). Add the peppers and fry for 3 to 5 minutes stirring occasionally so that nothing burns or sticks. ...

The Ultimate Brownie!

There is absolutely no reason why vegans should not have brownie so here I post a easy and great chocolaty brownie recipe. I really like brownies that have a lot of chocolate and I find that normally recipes that call for two kinds of chocolate are the best there should be a difference between "chocolate cake" and "brownie" Ingredients: 2 cups of plain flour 1 and a half cups of demerara sugar 1 cup of cocoa powder 1 teaspoon of salt 1 teaspoon of baking powder 1 cup of vegetable oil 1 cup of water 100 gr of melted dark chocolate nuts (optional) Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Centigrades. Mix all the dry ingredients and then add the vegetable oil, the water and the chocolate. Mix well and stir in the nuts. Put it in a suitable oven dish, 10x5 inch or 25x17 cm aprox. is what I used. I covered it with grease paper to make it easier to clean afterwards, but otherwise cover the inside of te dish with some oil or soy spread. Cook for around 20-25 min, let ...

Broccoli and soy cream linguini

I know this is a really easy and simple recipe that might not even be worth putting on a blog, but I thought that it was important to show how good vegan cream is. I hadn't given it a try until a couple of months and I am amazed. I tried Oat cream first because I didn't like soy milk, but I wasn't very impressed. I am loving soy cream! So, ingredients: (I made it for two people which for me is half a packet of pasta) 1 tablespoon of olive oil/vegetable oil (is up to you) 1 chopped onion 3 cloves of garlic half a brocolli, just cut the florets 1 carton of soy cream (or as much or as little cream as you like) half a packet of linguini pepper cayenne pepper Depending in how cooked you like broccoli start before or after you put the pasta in boiling water, most pastas take around 10 min. I like to start before because I like brocoli with a bit of bite but not too much. So in a pan with hot oil but the garlic, stir and add the onion. When they are both a bit cooked...

Corn Soup - Indian Style

This is a wonderful soup, I took the idea from Madhur Jaffrey's "World of the East Vegetarian Cooking" and basically changed the method used because hers was a bit time consuming and in my opinion unnecesary as it turned out great, although I have no doubt that it must be even better if you do it her way! (which I will try one day) Ingredients (serves 2-4) 1 big chopped onion 1 chopped clove of garlic 1 teaspoon of ground cumin seeds 1/8 teaspoon of turmeric a pinch of cayen pepper (to taste) 1 can of coconut milk 3 cups of corn (I used frozen corn which she suggests in her recipe) The recipe calls for freshly grated coconut which I did not use and also a teaspoon of sugar which I didn't put it in for no particular reason. In a pan add some vegetable oil and when its hot add the onion and the garlic and stir until it is translucent. Then add the spices and stir well. Add the coconut milk and the corn, bring to a boil, and cook for aprox 45 min at low hea...