weekend waffles at mr nice guy

I think by now most Melbourne vegos are aware of the 100% vegan delights to be found at Mr Nice Guy. But what you might not know is that their expansion from sweet goods has moved into savoury and meal foods, which I highly recommend. On a recent visit to the Ascot Vale shop with K the Moody Noodle and Ms Fi, there were bagels and cornbreads (gf) consumed; and on an even more recent visit with both Moody Noodles (and Danni and her E) there were spinach and cheese scrolls, sausage inna bun, and even more bagels. But most important of all, on weekends they veer back into more sweetness, and make available a gluten-free, fructose-free, and corn-free waffle.

My friends, do not be that person with their skeptical face on. These waffles are so good. They come in three flavours (caramel + banana, original, and strawberry + chocolate), and they are all good, and the only thing that could make them more perfect would be if the icecream were made onsite and not that So Good vanilla stuff. There was the perfect amount of toppings to make it excellently covered and not too sweet. I finished my waffle and was perfect but could not move, could barely roll on out of the shop.

Of late I also recommend the chocolate babka and the blt bagel, which are available along with some cupcakes at the Prahran shopfront.

Nobody else has reviewed the waffles yet, get on it.

Mr Nice Guy
151 Union St Ascot Vale (get there on the 59 tram)
Prahran Markets, Commercial Rd Sth Yarra (get there on the 72 tram)

Black Forest Cheezecake + a Birthday Picnic

Recently Planet Vegmel turned three! To celebrate there was a picnic at the Edinburgh Gardens, as well as our favourite new tradition of making a zine. This year's zine features secrets of not the inner North, and you should all download it!

I made the super awesome vausage rolls because I really wanted Wendy to try them (having spent the last six months in Beijing talking them up to her), but this meant bringing a gluteny savoury that K couldn't eat! To compensate, I went to extra special effort with my sweets contribution: vegan, gluten-free black forest cheezecake.


This recipe was inspired by a piece of cake I had at the Heavenly Plate on a recent trip to Perth which was amazing and I was so excited to try making some sort of black forest cheezecake myself. This version isn't quite right, there are several changes I have in mind for the next iteration, but for a first attempt (and my first cheezecake in over a year) it was not bad at all.

I used the triple threat chocolate cheesecake in My Sweet Vegan as inspiration/guidance for proportions.

black forest cheezecake

ingredients

1 packet of chocolate biscuits (I used the leda tim tam substitutes)
third of a cup of sugar (I used a mix of white and coconut sugars)
two tablespoons margarine


3 tubs of vegan cream cheese (approx 700g)
300g silken tofu
300g dark chocolate
three quarters of a cup of white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
shake of salt

a can of berries, preferably cherries but mixed will do
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
quarter cup sugar
extra chocolate for drizzling

method

Crush the biscuits, mix with the third of a cup of sugar and the margarine. Add some extra chocolate in the form of cocoa if you like. Press into a lined 22 cm cheesecake or springform pan for a thin crust, or a smaller pan for a slightly thicker crust.

Mix together the cream cheese, tofu, vanilla extract, salt and the three quarter cup of sugar until smooth. Melt the chocolate and combine through until looking delightfully brown. Pour carefully into pan on top of crust, and drop the pan a time or two to smooth it out if necessary. Bake at 175C for about 50 minutes.

After it has cooled (I usually do this overnight), over heat bring together the can of berries (mostly drained, but with a little of the syrup), the cornstarch and the lemon juice with the remaining sugar. Stir over heat until it's come together like a jam, and let cool a bit. Then pour it over the cake. When this has cooled a little more, melt the remaining chocolate and drizzle it over. Serve and eat it, it's so good.

Changes I would like to make in the future: an extra berry layer on top of the base; a thicker base (maybe half again); something "white creamish" like a real black forest cake (maybe a white chocolate tofu layer); fresh cherries on top.

japchae

Being a big fan of sweet potato, not only did I order (and love) the japchae at Saveurs de Coree, but when I saw sweet potato noodles in the shops a few days later I immediately purchased a packet. And I have no regrets. Sweet potato noodles take a little longer than wheat noodles to cook, and I went really light on the sauces because I didn't want to overwhelm the awesomeness of any sweet potato that might make its way through.

This recipe is not strictly japchae. I should have added some mushrooms or something, and I didn't add a sweetner. But it was so good, and I am looking forward to trying this again soon.



japchae
serves two people

ingredients
200g dried sweet potato noodles
1 clove garlic, minced
1 carrot, julienned
a little bit of broccoli
little bit of chinese cabbage (just the leaves, cut tiny to wilt fast)
a dash of light soy sauce (or gf tamari)
a small amount of sesame oil (about a teaspoon or so)
some sesame seeds

method
Boil the noodles until they are delightfully soft, about five minutes or just over. Drain and cut (or cut in the wok, just know they come long and you have to cut them).

In a hot wok, add some cooking oil then throw in the garlic and the carrots. Fry about for a minute or two, then add some water and the broccoli and wombok, and put the lid on to steam. After the broccoli has gone beautiful and bright green, lower the heat and add the noodles, soy/tamari, and the sesame oil. Toss to combine, let them all cook together for a minute, and plate. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Delicious, fast, made from sweet potatoes. No regrets.

eggy tomato / 炒鸡蛋西红柿

It never even occurred to me to veganise this very common Chinese dish until my housemate V started attempting to cook it just the way her mum does. Fried egg and tomatoes is common and cheap and fast, and is comprised almost entirely of tomato and eggs, but I decided it was possible and after a couple of attempts I have it all sorted. Since then I've made it several times. It's not exciting but it's easy and it contains some good things, and it's quick comfort food when I'm home late from work.

Don't talk to me about the photo below, I'm so used to the exceptional photographic conditions in my kitchen in Brunswick that I think I'm going to have to make some modifications to get my food photography anywhere up to where I need it to be for the eleven more months that I'm here.



vegan eggy tomato
comfort food

chop two large ripe tomatoes into thin wedges. in a fry pan, heat a large dollop of oil, throw in a tiny bit of minced garlic and then throw in the tomatoes. add a dash of water, and leave to fry for four or five minutes, until the tomatoes are seriously starting to wilt (but not fall apart). mash in 300g of silken tofu, and mix in a dash or three of light soy (or gf tamari for gf) and a tablespoon of nutritional yeast. leave it to simmer on high heat for two or three minutes. garnish with a little pepper or fresh spring onions if that takes your fancy. Makes a nice second or third dish in a meal, or you can eat it on its own with a spoon.

chocolate caramel slice

For the Planet VegMel Picnic (more on the picnic later) I made chocolate caramel slice, originally seen on Johanna's blog. I had quite a different experience than Johanna. She worried that the base was too crumbly, that she might have overcooked the milk because it didn't look right, and too liquidy a chocolate layer. I on the other hand had a lovely time. The base pressed in quite well, and I've never used condensed milk of either the dairy or soy variety previously, so had no idea if it was working and just went with it; and the chocolate was a perfect consistency. And it turned out well! Very crunchy, and the base was a bit high (I used a 20x20cm tin instead of 20x30, and that was a mistake), but overall it was an easy and delicious experience. And at the end of the picnic there was only one lonely piece of slice left!

I also made this gluten free, with a direct substitution of Orgran's GF flour for the flour in Johanna's recipe. I didn't even add extra liquid the way I usually would with a GF conversion, and it turned out just fine.

This is a picnic submission for that recipe seems very familiar...



chocolate caramel slice
originally at Green Gourmet Giraffe

base
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup brown sugar
quarter of a container of nuttelex (125ish grams)
1 cup GF flour

caramel layer
330g soy condensed milk (or 1 tin)
2 tablespoons or so of golden syrup (I didn't measure, just squeezed the tube until I got bored of squeezing)
30g nuttelex

chocolate topping
150g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Base: mix all the ingredients and press into a lined tin. Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes.

While the base is in the oven, in a small saucepan over a lowish medium heat, constantly stir all of the caramel ingredients until it has thickened and is a light golden brown. Hopefully the base will be ready just as the caramel is, because then you can pull it out, spread the caramel over it, and shove it back in the oven. At the same 180C temperature, bake for 10 or so minutes until it's a deep golden brown. Mine went very brown, but it wasn't burnt and it was all okay. Set this aside to cool and go about your business.

When it's cool, melt the chocolate and mix in the oil. Spread it over the caramel layer, and leave it in the fridge to set. I left mine over night. I then brought it to room temperature before cutting.

Cut it small because it's quite sweet!

lemon pepper cashews

I was bouncing around the house on Sunday night, all my chores completed and mainlining some television, when I thought I'd give this recipe for a cashew snack by Cindy and Michael a go. I wasn't sure about the lemon-salt-pepper-sugar combo, but their blog declared them 'universally addictive' and who am I to go past a description such as that?

They're so amazing that I left the container on the table with an airy instruction to Danni that she could try a couple, if she wanted; when I got back from my adventures in town, I discovered she'd eaten over half! It's a good thing they're easy and fast to make. A brilliant and delicious snack!

This is another remix for that recipe seems very familiar...



lemon pepper cashews
originally at Where's the Beef

ingredients
1 cup raw cashews
quarter cup sugar
salt and pepper to taste (generous portion - I was a bit timid and it definitely could have done with more)
zest of a medium-sized lemon

method
In a frypan over a medium-high heat, start stirring the cashews and the sugar. When the sugar starts to melt, lower the heat and keep stirring until the sugar is completely melted and the nuts are a lovely golden brown and completely covered in sugar. Turn off the heat and crack through some salt and pepper, then stir through the lemon zest.

Spread the cashews out on a lined baking tray and leave to cool. The baking paper is important, as the sugar will have started to caramelize and you don't want to lose any of its deliciousness from being stuck to a tray! Store in an air-tight container. Or eat them all.

easy brown lentil salad

As the weather warms up (not that today is that warm), I've been making some salads. My salad making has become distinctly influenced by the salads made at Friends of the Earth in Collingwood, which is not a bad thing at all; the focus at FoE is on really simple, roundly nutritional salads, and it's exposing me to all sorts of salad combinations I'd never previously considered!



Twice now I've made this lentil salad at home. If you use canned lentils (which - this was my first time!), then it's fast and easy, and delicious! It goes well as a side with pies, or puff pastry triangles.

easy brown lentil salad

1 x 400g can brown lentils, rinsed well + drained
1 carrot, peeled + diced tiny
half a punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
handful spinach, rinsed + torn
half an avocado, diced
1 - 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, preferably fresh but does not have to be

method: combine all the ingredients. serve or eat from the bowl.

dangerously close cupcakes at cupcake central, hawthorn

Recently, due to a random conflation of circumstances, I started drinking coffee.

Also recently, as I blogged about previously, Cupcake Central opened near my office, and sells at least one type of vegan cupcake a day.

So every now and then, I drop by to pick up a coffee and/or a cupcake. They've got bonsoy going on, too, which is just the best.

I'm trying to restrict myself to one cupcake a week, but I will be honest, some weeks you just need more than one, and this was one of those weeks.



Monday I picked up a soy latte and a peanut butter and chocolate gluten-free and vegan cupcake. I took a mug from the office kitchen, because I don't have a keep cup, and they were a bit confused about me having a mug! But that was fine, and then it rained in my coffee on the way back to the office.

Fi has a post (to which I can't link, as LJ appears to be down) about the chocolate peanut butter cupcake, and how it was nothing special. I absolutely must disagree. I thought the peanut butter to chocolate ratio was just perfect, and the icing complemented it wonderfully. To work out who is right, and decide which cupcake is better (the peanut butter chocolate or the red velvet), we have decided that we have to adjourn to Cupcake Central and sample them both at the same time; however to do this Cupcake Central would have to make them both on the same day. Maybe if more people eat vegan cupcakes they will do this?



Last night I had to go to a work thing until 2030, so I allowed myself a consoling late afternoon cupcake (and then, later, a cone of poutine from Lord of the Fries). Available was the chocolate chocolate (gf), which is a good, serviceable cupcake.

I am really enjoying having Cupcake Central so close: I just wish they'd bake more than one vegan flavour per day, so I could have a choice!



previous visit.


Cupcake Central
Shop 7, 672
Glenferrie Road
Hawthorn

easy bean + potato curry

One of the things I love the most is curry. I love simple curries that require nothing further than throwing some things from jars into a pot, and I love complex curries that require me to start thinking about it a full day in advance, and are a lot of physical effort. I love sampling new curries at restaurants, and curries at new restaurants. I love them all.



I threw this potato and bean curry together when I was feeling a bit down and just wanted a whole lot of delicious things, and didn't have to put in too much effort. There was no grinding involved, no pounding together to make a paste; it was fast and simple, with a handful of ingredients and some time simmering on the stove. It was something I made up, and I am definitely going to make it again. I loved the sauce especially - three days later as I was eating the leftovers, it was super delicious.

This curry is medium spicy.

easy bean + potato curry

ingredients
oil
1 brown onion (diced)
2 clove garlic (minced)
a small amount of ginger (grated or minced)
1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala (make your own if you need the meal to be gluten free)
1 teaspoon tumeric
2 small tomatoes (diced)
4 medium sized potatoes, white or red, scrubbed well and diced
a handful of snake beans, tailed and chopped in to halves or thirds
1 can coconut milk
some stock or water (a few cups at least)

method
Fry the onion in some oil until it's getting soft, then add the garlic. Follow this with the ginger, coriander, cumin, garam masala and tumeric, and quickly fry until fragrant, then throw in the potatoes. Let them fry for a minute, before adding the tomato and some water. Bring to a boil, then reduce and put on the lid. Simmer for ten fifteen minutes, until the potato starts to soften, then add the beans. Add more water if necessary, then simmer for another ten minutes. The potatoes should be super soft. Add the coconut milk, simmer another five minutes, and then you're done!

Serve with lots of mushy rice.

shakahari v

My friend Matthias is in town, and I went to meet him at his hotel in Carlton...sadly there was no booking for him! But he was fresh off the plane and really hungry, and had to lug all his stuff around until he could find a new hotel, so we stayed close to Carlton and nabbed a table at Shakahari last night.

I was super excited to find out that next week is a new menu, and they are easing it in! The old menu has some items crossed off, and we were presented with a hand-written replacement! It was a bit hard to read, fair warning, if you go there before it gets typed up.



Off the new menu, Matthias ordered the new couscous dish, which featured really delicious chickpeas in a great sauce, with almonds, roasted tomatoes, and a lot (A Lot) of parsley. This dish was really tasty, and I look forward to ordering myself some time.



I went for the risotto pot pie (gf), which has been on the menu for a while but I had yet to actually sample. I really liked it! Not an overly exciting flavour, but the addition of pine nuts made it really fun, and it was a nice dish. The accompanying vegetables were good, except for the mushrooms, which were half cooked and not that nice to eat.



For dessert we both ordered the vegan almond panacotta (gf), which is new to the menu. This was an interesting dish. I liked the flavour of the panacotta, which was very mild, but it had a gritty texture which was a bit unexpected, and not at all like the beautiful smoothness of the tofu caramel. The panacotta is accompanied by an almond toffee and a very sweet citrus sauce. Both of these were way to sweet for me - I had to very lightly drizzle the sauce, otherwise it was too much for me, and I barely ate any of the toffee.

Overall, the new additions to the menu seem interesting, but there are still more things to try off it. The new dessert is fun, but I'm not sure it's really my thing. If you want to try the panacotta out, I recommend sharing it, it's a bit overwhelming on its own.



Previous shakahari visits one, two, zero, zero prime, three, four.

Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton

tofwd + crumbs organic bakehouse

Crumbs Organic Bakehouse is located in Ascot Vale, if you need to google it. I've never been there, and I don't know if they sell direct to the public, but I do know that they stock the cake displays at both Friends of the Earth and TOFWD.



During Worldcon I brought some friends across to DeGraves Lane in order to introduce them to the wonders of cakes as provided by Crumbs. I love this chocolate and sour cherry cake most of all: it is usually moist and rich and super delicious. They also do a citrus cake, and a tropical cake, and all three of these cakes are gluten-free and vegan. They are expensive pieces of cake, but they are totally worth it!

If you are looking for a nice piece of cake, I definitely recommend the cakes provided by Crumbs. They are good. Very Good.

discobeans cafe and artspace, northcote

DISSENT AMONGST THE VEGAN RANKS:

Em and I went to Discobeans for dinner. I was, I will admit, slightly inebriated on half priced margaritas from Taco Bills, but we were both reaaaalllllyyyy looking forward to trying it out, especially as it had been talked up by Toby. Delicious Japanese food! Fun space! Oh yeah!

I am sad to report that both Em and I were so disappointed by our meals that we decided not to risk it to try the dessert.



Em went for the soba noodles in soup (swapped out for rice noodles). We love noodles in soup! And yet - so disappointing! These were the saltiest soup noodles ever. It was as if an entire cup of soy sauce had been poured in to the broth. I have seen Em drink up the soup after finishing her noodles, but not this time.



I ordered the belly plate (I think that's what it's called). This dish was ok, though the rice+quinoa combo was dry and the vegetables were bland. The tempeh was nice, as was the peanut sauce. The black beans were also a bit average. So yeah - okay, but nothing special at all.

SADFACE! Good service, though. And nice that they have gluten-free options. Just - sad about the food. :o(


Discobeans Cafe and Artspace
238 High St
Northcote

gluten-free available

brunch at green tambourine, brunswick

At the beginning of July, posters started appearing on poles around Brunswick. Green Tambourine! Middle of July! Well, middle of July came and went, and finally, at the very end of July, Green Tambourine opened up on Albion Street.

Just after it opened I had wandered in, on a quest for vegan muffins (they are closer to my house than A Minor Place), which they allegedly had, but they had sold out, and I promised myself that I could go there earlier in the day eventually. But funnily enough, I don't really go out for brunch that often, unless I have a reason. I rarely organise to meet people for brunch just because.

And then, Danni's parents came to town for the weekend! So it seemed like a confluence of events! A SIGN!



I went for beans. The beans come all on their lonesome, so I ordered some toast to go with it. I totally didn't need the toast! The beans were so filling and delicious on their own (though the toast was quite nice too), that the bread was nothing but a delightfully unnecessary aside! But I ate it all up anyway - I do wish, however, that it hadn't been plain, which I assume is a side effect of asking for no butter. The beans were filled with chickpeas, white beans, and kidney beans, and had a mild tomatoey flavour. Lovely!



Danni went for the mushrooms, without the feta. The mushrooms were also very lovely, nice flavour.

All in all, a nice experience. The decor and ambiance is fun, too - a wood fire in one of the rooms, and the cabinet filled with goodies by the door. Lots of outdoor tables, too, for milder, less cold days.

Prices were ok. My beans cost $9, which is a bit pricey for a bowl of beans and no toast, but given how filling it was, I'll forgive it. Will definitely return again (I still have to try the muffin), especially as it's so close to my house!


Meveg at Eat More Vegies has also reviewed Green Tambourine!


Green Tambourine
179 Albion St
Brunswick

gf available

curries + recipe by my mum

So I was staying with my parents! And my mum loves to cook for me. SO SHE DID. Not heaps, because I was only in town for almost but not quite five days, but every cooking was a delight.

Because we're super Malaysian, it was mostly curry. And that's totally okay, because my mum makes some really great curries.



On Saturday night she cooked a pumpkin curry and a mixed-vegetable curry. OH YEAH.

On Tuesday, I was concerned that maybe I would be eating bread all day (toast, then sandwiches, then more sandwiches on the plane), so my mum cooked me a delicious eggplant curry for lunch.



There's something about a good eggplant curry that's just really awesome. Done well, the eggplant falls apart and is all squishy and kind of fatty, and it soaks up all the flavours and it's delicious. And my mum does a good eggplant curry. Which I am going to attempt to share with you! I say "attempt" because I sort of kept looking over to see what mum was doing, but my mum very rarely actually measures things out so it's all a bit of guesswork. Just go with what works best!



eggplant + mixed vegetable curry

Slice a couple of Lebanese eggplants lengthwise into strips. They don't have to be super thin. In a little bit of oil, fry these until they colour, then set aside. You'll add these in again at the end.

Pound together two large shallots and three large red chillis, and in the remaining oil, start to fry this. As it becomes fragrant, add some water and two lengths of lemongrass. After five to ten minutes, add two diced potatoes, one diced carrot, and two diced tomatoes, as well as some fresh beans (if you're using them - or add them in ten minutes if you're using frozen). At this point, also add a bay leaf and some fresh lime kaffir leaves. Add some more water, and some garam masala (you will need to make your own if it needs to be gf), and leave to boil, lid on.

My mum has a lime kaffir tree, and at this point I'm pretty sure I stared at it, longingly.

After twenty or thirty minutes, the vegies should have softened. Add one small can of coconut milk, and the eggplants. Leave to simmer, lid off, for another ten to fifteen minutes.

Serve and eat.

brunch at source foods, highgate

My favourite place to have brunch in Perth is Source Foods. They know what vegan means (they call it 'NAP' - No Animal Products), which is rare enough in Perth; and they serve tempeh, which is also pretty unusual.

Anyway, it's my favourite, so Alexa and I went there on Saturday morning.

We took advantage of the lovely Perth weather to sit outside. Usually in winter I find it too cold to sit outside in Perth, but one winter in Melbourne and suddenly it is glorious! I didn't even have to wear a scarf! Or a coat! It was amazing!



I ordered, as I have many times before, the vegan heaven: tomato, two (two!) types of mushrooms, wilted spinach and baked beans, served on crisp bread with hommus. I also ordered it with a side of soy-marinated tempeh. It was so amazing. SO AMAZING. I ate it all up.

Alexa ordered the mushroom crostini, mushrooms with wilted spinach on hommus and crisp breadishness. She was indulging in mushrooms in her mushroom-hating housemate's absence.

Not pictured: our juices. Alexa ordered orange + ginger, and I ordered the 'zinger,' which contains orange and ginger and asomething else that I can never remember, maybe apple.

After brunch we went adventuring: to North Perth, where we visited Little Design Horse; and then in to Mount Lawley, where we visited Planet, primarily so we could visit the greatest bookstore in the world. I know some people prefer Oxford St Books in Leederville, but I can never go past Planet.




Previous visit: here.


Source Foods
289 Beaufort St
Highgate

gf available (this post is tagged gf because the menu can be very gf)

gluten-free derby snacks

On Saturday Jo, Em, Danni and I joined K and Toby and two of their friends at roller derby. Well, maybe they joined us. Or something. WE ALL WENT TOGETHER.



Derby bouts are always a bit epic, having to stand in the queue for a million years, elbowing away for space, having to put up with the smell of sausages and really bad toilets, but this one was twice as epic, because there were two bouts, starting at five and finishing about nine. RIGHT OVER DINNER TIME. So we prepped up with goodies.



I made some rice balls. There were more than featured here! I basically smushed together some cooked rice with some tomatoes, a little bit of onion, some herbs and some mashed chickpeas. Cashews would also have been a good addition. Then I baked them for a while, until they were golden. Seen here with some sweet chilli sauce that Vicki left at my house and I keep forgetting to give back.



Jo made some sushi. Mmmm sushi.



Em made some citrus cookies, that were light and fluffy and kind of like eating cake. CAKE COOKIES. It's like a world of revelation.

K made some of Cindy's peanut butter rice bubble chocolate slice things, maybe one of them will link me to the recipe (I always seem to be saying that lately...). These were delicious! Whilst I was at friends of the earth earlier in the day, I picked up some raw chocolate truffles to go along with the snacks.

Bringing food makes it a lot more fun! Yay!

triple threat chocolate cheeze cake from my sweet vegan

This chocolate cheezecake (from My Sweet Vegan, pg126) was so incredibly rich, if you look at the photo you can see where the vegetable fats started to separate. I think our oven was too hot (it often is), or the cake didn't need quite so long, because it was a little over cooked.

Although it has three layers, it was not overly complicated or time consuming, though I did have to do a lot of mixing. Hooray for the Bamix! I didn't make many mods - I used Nice biscuits, like I usually do with cheezecake, and I'm not positive that I used granulated sugar (often I use caster sugar instead).

It was so rich, I refused to eat it later in the week.

Next time I make this, I will a) allow myself more time (it was still warm when we went to eat it a few hours later), and b) use the leda chocolate tim tam things, in order to make it gluten free.

I really like My Sweet Vegan, I've made some delicious things from it. Highly recommended!

nacho style baked potato

A few weeks ago we made baked potatoes for the first time in a while, and it was pretty exciting! We flustered around the kitchen, and made some mistakes, and ended up with some delicious potatoes for dinner!

Recently, I went to class and left Danni (and Jo) in charge of dinner, and a decision was made to do it again, but with a twist - nacho toppings! It was BRILLIANT.



For inside the potatoes, Danni fried some cumin, paprika, and chili flakes (lots) with some tomato sauce, then added some refried beans and about a third of a can of diced tomato. This simmered on the stove for about fifteen minutes.

The potatoes were then topped with grated cheezley. This concoction was then wrapped in alfoil and baked for about fifteen minutes at 180C.

In the meantime, Danni made our usual red bean and rice mix. This was served on the side of the potatoes, with a little guacamole.

It was SUPER DELICIOUS.

vege2go, east brunswick

Despite living less than a fifteen minute walk from vege2go, before last week we had never tried their food! So when the opportunity to sample their wares in the company of Kristy and Toby arose, we took it.



Because I had heard around the place that vege2go now no longer does dine in, we ordered a takeaway. But Kristy and Toby reported back that there were people dining in! So now I don't know. If you have heard either way, please let me know!

Anyway, vege2go is all vegetarian, and has a range of vegan and gluten free options.

Danni and I decided to pick two dishes to share, going for the lasagna and the quinoa casserole. The lasagna was excellent, had a great taste and texture, nothing too overwhelming or bland. I would definitely eat it again.

The quinoa casserole (gf) was a bit bland and uninteresting, and there was something about the combination of quinoa and vegetables that I didn't like. Not a repeat for me.

Kristy ordered the stuffed capsicum (gf), which was filled with rice and some sort of sauce. This (which I sampled) was pretty good! And now I'm on a bit of a stuffed vegetable roll.

Toby went for the vegan parmiggiana. Not as good as the EBC parma, he declared, but still good.

We shared two sides, the roast winter vegies and the Mediterranean rice salad (both gf). The roast vegies were excellent, and there was something about them that I'd love to replicate. The rice salad was not great, Kristy insisted it tasted like cat pee, which is hardly a recommendation.

Finally, Kristy and Toby decided that we needed to splurge on dessert. The tiramisu, about which I've heard a lot, was delicious (and I don't like coffee). The chocolate mousse (gf) was good, and interestingly gooey.

All in all, would try again for a takeaway dinner, but nothing spectacular.

vege2go Vegitalian Food Store
452 Lygon Street
Brunswick East

GF options available
not open Sundays

coconut and red lentil soup

This lentil soup recipe from 101 cookbooks is so delicious, we've made it three times in the last month! It's a really easy recipe, with not a lot of prep, though it does take a bit of time to cook.



Every time we make the recipe, we modify it a tiny bit more, so I'm going to post the recipe below with our mods, and come back to make more notes every time we make a change. They're only little changes, just tweaking to our tastes, but it's worth it.

I like to serve this with fresh roti, but toast or bread also works fine.

coconut and red lentil soup
recipe modified from 101 cookbooks

I'll be honest, by the time we're done with it, it's basically dahl as soup, but I'm okay with that. Because it's delicious!

ingredients
1 cup yellow lentils
1 cup red lentils
1 carrot, diced
1 small potato, diced
some ginger, minced
2 tablespoons curry powder (lol - I've got some that I use specifically for these sorts of recipes, but I don't know what its specifics are)
shake or three of ground cumin
shake or two ground coriander
4 cups vegie stock
4 cups water
2 tablespoons nuttelex
a third of a cup of tomato paste
1 small can coconut milk
half a dozen cherry tomatoes, halved
some spring onions, chopped

method
Soak the lentils in some cold water for a while, about twenty minutes. Rinse them, then in a big pot, bring them to a boil with the stock and the water, plus the carrot, potato, and half the ginger, then simmer with the lid on until the vegies are soft, about twenty-five minutes.

In a fry pan, saute the curry powder, cumin and coriander for thirty seconds, carefully not burning anything, then add the nuttelex, tomato paste, and half of the spring onions. Fry them all together for two or three minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat. It should smell delicious!

Add this all, along with the coconut milk, to the lentils, after the twenty-five minutes of simmering. Continue to simmer, this time with the lid off, for another fifteen minutes. Then add the cherry tomatoes for about five or ten minutes. You can modify the thickness with a little more water if you require it.

Serve with the remaining spring onions, and roti or something delicious.