Month: May 2022

Recipe Sunday – Cheesy Vegan Cauliflower Casserole

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Happy Sunday peeps! It has been a fairly stressful month with my work as I had organised quite a few events for the libraries of my district: it was the first time I had done something like this so my anxiety level was understandably relatively high. But all the events have been successful, well attended and the people involved were very happy as well as my manager. All this translated into the need for some good comfort food that could also tick the “healthy” box, hence the recipe I am sharing with you today.

Cheesy Vegan Cauliflower Casserole by VeganHuggs

I had a large head of cauliflower that I didn’t know how to use: couldn’t be bothered to make bang-bang cauliflower or similar and it was a bit too much for a cauliflower dip. Looking through the bookmarked recipes, here it is this beautiful casserole! Usually, I want easy and quick recipes and in this period I needed something that could be extra-easy and extra-quick. This was definitely the recipe!

VeganHuggs is one of my favourite websites for vegan recipes: I don’t know you, but sometimes, I can try many recipes from a website and they never come out great, while with some other websites, the result of any recipe I try is just delicious. Does this happen to you?

And VeganHuggs is just one those websites in the second category.

So further ado, here is the recipe – just a note, instead of steaming the cauliflower, I roasted it with a pinch of salt, pepper, turmeric and olive oil for 15 minutes at 220C.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 large head cauliflower , cut into bite-size florets (about 2.5 pounds)
  • 1 cup panko
  • 2 tablespoons vegan butter , melted (+ more for greasing dish)

Cheese Sauce

Optional Toppings

  • Fresh-cut parsley
  • Crushed red pepper flakes

METHOD

  • Preheat oven to 400° F (200° C). Lightly grease a 3-quart casserole dish and set aside. 
  • Combine the melted butter, breadcrumbs and a pinch of granulated garlic in a small bowl. Set aside.
  • To soak cashews, boil water in a small pot and remove from heat. Add cashews and cover for 15-20 minutes, until softened (*see note).
  • While the cashews are soaking, you can steam the cauliflower. Place about 1 ” of water into a med/large pot that will fit your steamer basket. Place your basket on the bottom and cover pot with a lid. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat to med-low to maintain a low boil and place cauliflower florets into the basket. Cover and steam for 7-10 minutes, until just tender. Uncover and remove from heat. 
  • Drain and rinse cashews (discard soaking water). Now place all cheese sauce ingredients in a high-speed blender. Blend until cashews have completely broken down and the sauce is smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
  • Pour cheese sauce into a medium skillet/pot over medium heat (I used the same pot for steaming the cauliflower). Cook for 4-5 minutes until it thickens up a lot and becomes slightly stretchy. Stir often to prevent burning. If sauce is too thick for your taste, you can add a little soy milk or broth to thin it out. Taste for seasoning, and add more if needed.
  • Pour ½ the cheese sauce on the bottom of the greased casserole dish. Now add the cauliflower on top in one layer. Pour the remaining cheese sauce on top of the cauliflower. Now sprinkle with prepared breadcrumbs and cover with foil. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is hot and bubbly. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until breadcrumbs are light golden brown. Remove from oven. *Sprinkle with optional fresh-cut parsley and crushed red pepper flakes. Enjoy! 

This is the perfect healthy comfort food that doesn’t require much work and the result will be just great. It sustained me for 2 dinners and 1 lunch and I tell you, it was a lifesaver!

It might be that it’s a bit too warm to turn the oven on these days, but maybe you could make it for the next rainy day.

Anyway, I hope you’ll try and enjoy this recipe.

Have a lovely Sunday!

Love,

TVCL xx

In Full Support Of Human Rights

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Since I was a little girl, with a Catholic education in a patriarchal society, I always felt that there was some disproportionate focus on the female reproductive system. My mom taught me to sit with my legs closed, not to talk to older men, and to always be presentable. When I got my first period, she explained what that meant, then she cried, grabbed a drink and called her mom. I understood only later her actions.

Getting your first period means that you are fertile and could get pregnant. I was 11. I might have had a crush on a boy and a kiss on the cheek from him was the height of my sexual thoughts. My main concerns were getting the best grades possible at school, spending time with my parents at weekends and reading.

A couple of times, when I was a bit younger, relatives tried to make me hold infant cousins: the worst horrible experience of my life. Another bad experience was the same relatives trying to convince me that it was fun to touch my pregnant auntie’s belly. I just wanted to go back home to my stuffed animals and dream of a future where I would be a successful veterinarian helping all the animals possible (spoil alert, I never became a vet because I would have had to disembowel alive animals, which is something I didn’t think it would have been useful for such an education – it wasn’t until later that you could opt-out of such practices).

In my teen years, I felt ever so strongly about the freedom of the woman’s body: everyday there seemed to be some murder where the victim was a woman and many were the attacks on a law that was established in the 70s that granted legal status to abortion (despite that being just in theory as there are many conditions that have to be applied to each case of interruptions of pregnancy).

The thought of wanting to get sterilised formed sometimes in my teens: in the high school I attended, they taught sexual education and were quite clear on the dos and don’ts of sexual intercourse and I knew ever so strongly that having children wasn’t something for me and I was wondering I could make this happen. I talked to my mom about sterilisation and she said it wasn’t possible: if you have your period you should bear children. “Thankfully”, because of some problems with my period, I had to take the pill, so that saved me for a while. But I was already looking into how to get abortions, should a pregnancy happen – it would have not been easy to get such a service because one of the conditions of the 70s law on abortion was to go through the family doctor who could have told my parents. And I got into the darker side of the research, where you see the alternative methods to interrupt a pregnancy: from metal clothes hangers to poisonous herbal infusions. I wanted to know that a solution was possible.

And I was wondering, why put women through this? Especially if it is not (allegedly) a government based on religion, why would people want to punish women for not wanting to be pregnant, or interrupt unwanted pregnancies?

Then, I moved to another country when I was 25. A couple of years later, after I settled a bit better, I asked my GP how I would go on asking to get sterilised. The GP said that since I was still under 30, I should have waited until I got to that age because I might found a boyfriend with whom I wanted to make lots of babies. I said thank you, very useless as I know I don’t want children and I won’t come to this place again. In the meantime, I moved again, got a fulfilling job and a loving and supporting boyfriend. Still haven’t managed to get sterilised, but this doesn’t mean that I want kids. We had “the talk”, basically at the beginning of our relationship, where I explained very clearly that I don’t want kids because that’s who I am and if he wanted kids he better find someone else as I didn’t want to make him unhappy. He accepted the terms and seems okay with it.

To be clear, I never had an abortion, always been careful with pills and condoms and also abstinence. But these are not viable things for everybody and if an unwanted pregnancy happens, women should be able to interrupt that. It doesn’t matter the backstory, the reasons are between the woman and her body.

People around the world have been giving emotional excuses to prevent women from getting abortions, from the “killing a baby” argument to “foetuses feel every bit of pain”. Often, the same people wouldn’t give women enough support during and after the pregnancy is completed, they are pro-death-row and against refugees.

Access to reproductive services is a women’s right meaning that they are human rights.

Already with Trump, those against abortion felt so much more empowered, we thought it was over, but then later there have been more attacks on this right – see what is happening in the U.S.A. with Roe v. Wade which potentially could have a ripple effect in other Countries.

And then there was this tweet:

I have been thinking about it quite a lot these days. It is not only an attack on women’s rights: it is also an attack on education and on women’s education. What does Matthew Gaetz mean with “over-educated”? Is an over-educated woman someone with multiple degrees? Or does this term apply to young women with a high school education? What are the premises of this tweet? Because in my circle of friends, I have women with PhDs, Master’s degrees, and high school graduates, and only two don’t have a child: one has a gynaecological disease that prevents her to get pregnant (despite trying all the possible solutions, such as multiple sessions of unsuccessful IVF), the other one got out of a long relationship because her fiance decided he didn’t want to be with her anymore after 10 years together and she had to pick herself up again.

Over-educated isn’t a thing. There isn’t anything like too much education. Education it’s a right, a human right.

And “over-educated women” is not a thing.

“Under-loved millennials”? Why? It’s not only at this moment in history that women want freedom for their bodies: the suffragettes are just one such example.Trying to focus the attention on the boomer/millennial/Gen Z etc divide only wants to derail the attention from the fact that there is an attack to human rights.

“Lonely microwave dinner”? Because said women are working and “failing at their wifely duties”? This is minimising the positive impact of women’s work in the community. One of the reasons women started working was to support their families, such as their children because the men in their lives cannot support them enough. If women don’t have time to make a dinner from scratch is because they are out doing important work, for their community and/or for their families. And even women that stay at home, might have many reasons why they can’t make a homecooked meal.

I won’t even comment on the cat thing.

Such a tweet is just despicable. And is not the only one: I took this one because is the latest example of such attacks.

And this year we already had the Pope complaining that people prefer pets over children, a very disdainful thing as apparently, the world population is dwindling (this from the leader of an organisation that has celibacy as one of their main principles). Honestly, this is a weird claim: the current global population is 7.753 BILLION. In the 1960s it was roughly 3 billion, meaning that in 60 years the people on this planet doubled. We got to 3 billion human beings in AT LEAST 2 millennia, and, yes, there have been improvements and progress in many aspects of human life which made living easier. But this doesn’t mean that we have to reproduce like rabbits. Also, what do you want to do with almost 8 billion people?

All this just put pressure on people, female and male alike. Let people live their lives, for goodness sake!

Anyway, to conclude and summarise all this,: wanting to prevent safe access to reproductive services it’s an attack on human rights. Women should be able to access abortion, the pill or whatever they need when they need it.

Just my thoughts.

Have a good night, beautiful kittens!

Love!

TVCL, xx

Recipe Sunday – Savoury Rhubarb and Cinnamon Red Lentil Curry

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Happy Sunday everybody! Here Rhubarb season has just started and I got some delicious rhubarb stalks to make so many delicious recipes, savoury and sweet. Today I want to share a savoury one: Rhubarb and Cinnamon Red Lentil Curry.

A bit of background: I never had rhubarb until last year. I am part of a community group that delivers organic fruit and vegetables straight to my door and the products they bring are all from local farms or places around Europe (Spain, Italy, France etc.) that are certified organic and everything is obviously seasonal. So last year was the very first time I got rhubarb and I had no idea what to do with that! I knew that rhubarb is usually cooked in sweet recipes, but I really would have liked to try it in a savoury one. Looking around the internet, this is one of the recipes that inspired me the most and it didn’t disappoint a bit!

So I want to share it with you.

Savoury Rhubarb and Cinnamon Red Lentil Curry by LowlyFood

Ingredients

  • 200 g Rhubarb (very finely sliced)
  • 2 Large Onions (finely diced)
  • 4 Cloves Garlic (finely diced)
  • 2 Teaspoons Caster Sugar
  • 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
  • 2 Tablespoons Garam Masala
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (or generic chilli powder)
  • 750 ml Vegetable Stock
  • 300 g Split Red Lentils
  • 150 g Spinach
  • 30 g Fresh Coriander (roughly chopped)
  • 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Method

  • Heat the tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Pour in the chopped onions and garlic. Fry for about 2-3 minutes until the onions are nice and soft.
  • Add the 200g of sliced rhubarb into the frying pan along with the 1 tablespoon garam masala, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of caster sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Cook for around a minute, stirring well to combine.
  • Tip in the 300g red lentils and 750ml of vegetable stock. Bring the pan to the boil, then turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for around 13 – 15 minutes until the lentils are cooked and the stock has reduced to a thick sauce.
  • Remove the pan from the heat and season to taste. Then stir in the 150g spinach and 30g chopped coriander. Stir the spinach and coriander until they have wilted sufficiently.

The suggestion is to eat it with pilau rice. It’s delicious!

Savoury Rhubarb and Cinnamon Red Lentil Curry

I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Love, T

TVCL xx

Recipe Sunday – Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Banana Muffins

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Happy Sunday, kittens! Here in the UK, we’ve had a couple of days of very spring-y weather with some sunshine, but without being terribly hot. And I feel that this is still muffin weather. I tried this recipe a few days ago and oh, my goodness! it’s just too delectable.

Before reading this recipe, I was thinking I wanted to do something gluten-free and lo and behold, looking through my emails I found the newsletter by Delightful Adventures where she shared her recipe for Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Banana Muffins. It sounded perfect, I had all the ingredients, only a few steps and there you have an amazing result.

Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Banana Muffins by Delightful Adventures

The only thing I modified is the flour as I used ground oats: the recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of gluten-free flour and I used the same amount of ground oats. The result is excellent!

At the same time, I have been a bit more generous in the scooping part, because I have one set of silicone muffin cups and they can yield a good amount of batter, so I got 8 muffins. Which is great because they are the perfect breakfast for the workweek, or you could have them as a quick snack for whenever.

Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I do!

Enjoy your Sunday,

TVCL xx

After My Limpia Days

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Hi beautiful people! This is going to be just a short post as a follow-up to the post about my latest Limpia which I finished a bit more than a month ago. So, here we go!

Energy levels

The first thing I noticed was that my energy levels were much improved. I felt that already after 2 weeks into the LimpiaI could wake up much more easily and ready to go on with my day. Also, I have been doing longer morning yoga sessions (always Yoga with Kassandra), which helped me much with getting on with my day.

What I Ate

For breakfast, I always had a bowl of porridge made with water and nut butter, adding either fresh (i.e. apples, pears, etc.) or dried fruits. Sometimes I would have fresh fruit as a snack before lunch. So this was easy. Porridge has many advantages from being extra filling to having important nutritional value. Should you not be able to eat oats, you could make a porridge with rice: just cook the rice until is nice and soft.

There are probably millions of porridge recipes around, but just to give you an idea this one is very close to what I do: PB&J Porridge by Domestic Gothess.

For lunch, I would have rice, quinoa or millet with sauteed veggies and legumes.

Dinner was the time I have used to diversify the menu. I made, stir fry, fritters, warm salads, etc. Most definitely you won’t starve! And you actually don’t have to think too hard about what

Baked Tofu Bites by It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken

Vegan Crispy Lentil Fritters by The Viet Vegan

Spinach and Artichoke Dip by This Healthy Kitchen

I also made dessert and sweets, like the No-Bake Oatmeal Protein Bars by Chocolate Covered Katie

or these Paleo Chocolate Pudding by The Bojon Gourmet

Conclusion on the Limpia

Limpia is a great way to detox your body: even if you should not feel the change in your level of energy, you will be doing something good for your body by feeding it fruit, veggies and whole foods. A suggestion, in case you feel uninspired, if you look for Vegan Paleo recipes without flours could give you good ideas while following the Limpia.

And while it should be done for 50 days, I’ve done it for 28 days but you could do it for 14 or 7 days. As the friend who told me about the Limpia: “50, 28 or fewer days…short Limpia is always better than no Limpia”.

With this, I leave you and if you’re going to do it, please let me know how it goes!

Love,

TVCL xx