Hi everybody! How is everything with you? Here we’re really getting into Autumn: yellow, orange and red leaves falling on the floor, the specific autumnal smell in the air… oh, so beautiful! And this really calls for comforting recipes (also, considering all the matter of rising living costs, we really need some good food to lift our spirits!). Pumpkin/squash recipes are usually perfect for this weather, but I’ve never been too keen on them: probably because my family had only made roasted pumpkin, which I don’t think is the best way to eat a pumpkin. However, I have been slowly warming up to this vegetable and last year I’ve been using it to make sweet dishes. And this year, I’ve seen the video by Calum Harris of the vegan PlantBoiis making a Pumpkin Curry where his premise was that he “usually would say ‘no’ to a pumpkin curry, that would be the last of [his] options” except for this recipe, so I decided to try it. And let me tell you, as someone who isn’t a fan of pumpkins: I. LOVE. IT. Dead easy, quick, flavourful and delicious.
4 tsp garam masala (3 for the pumpkin, 1 for the onions)
2 tsp turmeric
1 garlic bulb
Loads of salt and pepper
Drizzle of light olive oil
1 large white onion
4cm ginger (with the skin is fine)
1 red chilli (de-seeded if you don’t like spice)
1 heaped tablespoon mango chutney
1 tin (400g) chickpeas
1 tin (400g) coconut milk
500ml veggie stock
Seeds need big pinch of salt, a drizzle of light olive oil and 1 tsp cumin
1-2 poppadoms
Top with pomegranate seeds, pinch of fresh coriander and the crunchy topping
Method
Cut and seed the pumpkin and put in the oven for 40 minutes (recipe doesn’t say, but I guessed 200° C) with the garlic bulb, seasoning with garam masala, turmeric, salt, pepper and olive oil;
Clean and soak the pumpkin seeds;
Chop the onion and put it in blender with ginger and chilli (if you use it);
Transfer the blended ingredients to a pan, stir fry until caramelised then add the mango chutney, veggie stock, chickpeas and coconut milk. Add the roasted pumpkin and let it simmer for 40 minutes.
In the meantime, roast the seeds with some olive oil, salt and cumin for 20 minutes,then take them out of the oven and grind them with the poppadoms. Use it to top the curry with also pomegranate seeds and coriander.
Hello cuties! How is everything with yous? I hope you’re having a brilliant weekend, spending it doing what makes you feel good. If you’re not, and you have to deal with unpleasant things, I really hope you’ll get over this soon. In any way, I feel that the recipe I’m sharing with you today will bring a smile to your face.
Pear muffins are something I wouldn’t have thought I would have loved this much because I’ve never been a fan of pears. But at some point, I found myself with so many pears and wasn’t sure about what I could do with them: a browse online for “quick vegan pear recipes” and there it was, Comforting Wholesome Pear Muffins by SeitanIsMyMotor! Tried it, absolutely loved it and you will too!
6 mini pears or six pear quarters (or ½ cup diced pear)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200°C and grease 6 muffin tins with oil.
In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda and mix well.
Stir in remaining ingredients except for pears.
Pour the batter into the muffin tins and press pears into the batter. Or, if you are using diced pears, mix them into the batter before pouring the muffins into the tins.
Happy Sunday, beauties! The past three weeks have been busy, had to work two Saturdays in a row and also helped cover for other members of staff during the week, and I’ve been getting at the end of the week just drained, no matter all the “keeping hydrated + exercising + sleeping 7 hours per night + eating healthy”. But Saturday night means also cabbage soup! Comforting and warm, full of healthy veggies, it’s the perfect dish for the end of a long week.
This is my favourite Vegan Cabbage Soup by LovingItVegan. The recipe calls for Cayenne pepper: I don’t really use it, but obviously, if that’s your taste go for it! Same goes for the broth/stock: the end result is already flavourful so you can skip this (perfect if you have to keep an eye on your salt intake too!). Also, I like to switch the beans I put in the soup: any white beans are great, but also Borlotti and Red Kidney work well in this recipe.
Happy Sunday, dearest! We’re getting into Autumn, my second favourite season, with the leaves turning from green to yellow and orange and all the different tones of these colours, the air becoming less and less hot perfect for snuggling under a blanket on the sofa with a warm mega-mug of tea. Yes, I love Autumn. And with this season we can finally bake and make all that food that heats up your kitchen. So I feel that today is a good time to share this recipe for vegan sufganiyot that I found ages ago, tried and loved it. It’s unclear why I haven’t shared this with you earlier!
I found the recipe by chance, don’t even remember how the search went, but I’m glad I found Mayim Bialik’s recipe for Vegan Sufganiyot because it’s easy to make and oh my goodness! So. Delicious. I didn’t know about sufganiyot (and various other spellings): they are basically Jewish doughnuts made usually for Hannukah. And for those of you who don’t know her, Mayim Bialik used to play Amy in The Big Bang Theory and she also acts and is the executive producer of the sitcom Call Me Kat. On top of this, she has a PhD in neuroscience! And she’s vegan. Really difficult not to like her!
So, here is this delicious recipe!
Ingredients
0.25-oz. envelope active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. warm (about 110°F) soy, rice, or almond milk
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
Egg replacer equivalent of 2 eggs
3 tbsp. unsalted vegan margarine, melted and cooled
Nonstick cooking spray
6 cups vegetable oil, for frying
Icing sugar, for sprinkling
About 2 cups raspberry jam (optional)
Method
1. Combine the yeast, sugar, and 1 cup of the warm nondairy milk in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, about 8 minutes.
2. Whisk together the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the yeast mixture, egg replacer, and margarine, and beat until the dough is soft but not sticky, about 3 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smooth and elastic, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the dough to a medium bowl coated with nonstick cooking spray, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Punch down the dough. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough a few times, and roll out to 1/4-inch thick. Cover with a clean dish towel, and let rest for 5 minutes.
5. Using a 2-inch-diameter cookie cutter, cut out rounds and transfer to a lightly floured baking sheet. Re-roll the scraps, and cut out the remaining dough. Cover the rounds with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 20 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot until it reaches 375°F.
7. Place a wire rack on top of parchment paper or on a baking sheet, and line with paper towels or brown paper bags. Working in batches of four or five, add the doughnuts to the hot oil and fry, turning once, until golden and puffed, about 1 minute per side. Using a slotted spoon, place the doughnuts on the paper towels to cool.
8. Sprinkle with icing sugar. You can also make some jam-filled doughnuts, by spooning jam into a pastry bag fitted with a plain 3/8-inch tip. Pierce a hole in the side of a doughnut with the tip, and squeeze in jam to fill (the filled doughnut will feel heavy). Note: Be sure to drain well before serving and enjoy!
Hello, hello, beautiful cats! I hope you’re enjoying your weekend! A few days ago was my birthday and nothing scream “birthday” to me as tiramisu. It has been the dessert that my aunt used to make for all my birthdays and although my mom would make a delicious cake for my birthday parties, my auntie’s tiramisu has always been a favourite.
In a heat-safe bowl, combine instant coffee granules, sugar, and boiling water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Let come to room temperature. Take out the Cocowhip from the freezer and let sit out at room temperature to soften while the coffee mixture cools down.
Fully dip your Biscoff cookies, one cookie at a time, into the sweetened coffee mixture and layer in a flat and shallow container (I used a 3.2 cup Rubbermaid [affiliate link] container). Work quickly as the cookies start to disintegrate fairly quickly once soaked.
Then add a layer of Cocowhip on top of the soaked cookies, about 1/3 cup per layer.
You’ll be adding 3 layers of soaked Biscoff cookies, and 3 layers of cocowhip. I did 6 cookies per layer, with a thin layer of Cocowhip between each layer.
I like to add an extra thick layer of Cocowhip on top, then dust with a coating of cocoa powder to finish. I dust using a fine mesh sieve to create a light, even layer of cocoa powder.
Cover and let it set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Happy Sunday, kittens! I hope you’re having a nice weekend. Here it has been very hot for a few days, with a very clear sky and temperatures around 27°C which is exceptionally high for where I live! Today I decided to go to the shops to get a little present for a colleague: the shop I wanted to visit is not in the town centre and I can reach it in 15 minutes by walking, so I went to the shop, got the present and when I went out it started raining. I got literally soaked! Wasn’t expecting that. Oh well, that’s life. Anyway, enough of my adventure! Because it is so warm, I wanted to share the recipe for a dessert that doesn’t need too much heat to prepare and is still extremely delicious: Vegan Chocolate Covered Strawberries by Nutriciously!
I made them quite recently and are already on my list of favourite recipes. In addition, if you omit the white chocolate these are also a great snack or dessert for when you do the Limpia.
Ingredients
1 lb fresh strawberries (450 g)
Vegan chocolate coating
1 cup semi-sweet dark chocolate, chopped (100 g)
1 tsp almond butter (optional)
½ cup vegan white chocolate, chopped (50 g)
Toppings
Instructions
Prepare the strawberries
Rinse and drain the strawberries without removing the green leaves.
Pat dry with paper towels and place them in the fridge.
Make the chocolate coating
Get two clean bowls and put the chopped dark chocolate in one, the chopped white chocolate in the other.
Fill two pots ¼ of the way with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat, then place the bowls inside — make sure they are big enough to cover the pots!
Let the chocolate melt over the sightly boiling water, stirring occasionally.
When the dark chocolate has melted, add the almond butter and stir to incorporate.
Dip & coat your strawberries
Remove the strawberries from the refrigerator and get a tray lined with parchment paper.
Gather your toppings: melted dark chocolate, melted white chocolate, crushed almonds, shredded coconut and cocoa nibs. Make sure each of them gets its own little bowl or plate.
Grasp your first strawberry by the small green leaves and dip it into the melted dark chocolate, aiming to coat the strawberry evenly. Shake off any excess, then put your coated strawberry on your prepared tray. Repeat with the remaining strawberries and place them in a single layer on your tray. Drizzle a few of them with more black or contrasting white chocolate by using a fork or a piping bag.
Finally, add some crunchy toppings! Roll your chocolate-covered strawberries in the prepared bowls with crushed almonds, shredded coconut or cocoa nibs.
Refrigerate the decorated strawberries for 30 minutes before serving.
Easy-peasy! I hope you’ll enjoy these snacks perfect for the summer.
So, some time ago I went to the beauty salon in the town where I live. Despite being a little salon, all the products that they use are cruelty-free with a choice of vegan products too: this is thanks to the owner of the shop, a lovely lady that loves animals and is a firm believer that animals shouldn’t be exploited in the beauty industry (she’s not vegan, but she’s doing her little bit by making a choice that I snot made that widely in the place where I live).
Anyway, I go there once in a while to have my nails done (and last year I was invited to three weddings so I felt I would have liked to have my nails and hands looking nicer than they usually do) plus the staff is always so nice and we often have a good chat and laugh.
The last time I went there, with the young lady that was doing my nails we were talking about making food, how good is it to have dinner ready when going back home after a long day at work and this kind of stuff. A bit of context, she is not a vegan nor vegetarian but sympathises with the cause, however, she lives with her fiance who is most definitely a meat-eater and also quite picky so it can be difficult to have him eating vegetables.
Then we started talking about how food cultures are different everywhere: for example, while here it’s almost unthinkable to eat a horse, she was quite surprised to know that where I grew up, horse meat is not that unusual. From there we went on that in many Asian Countries, dog and cat meat is also very common, and there she said: “Well, yes, in the end, what’s the difference between cows and cats? If you can eat a cow, why can’t you eat a cat?”. Like that. She talked about one of the main principles of veganism so casually. And I’m like “this is all veganism is about!”. It was very interesting and a different point of view from the usual one that I get in the village where I live: most of the people keep sustaining that eating meat it’s good, it’s only natural. True, here there are a lot of farmers meaning that not only the farm workers but also their families are more inclined to think this way.
Go Vegan word-art
So I am here basically alone in my veganism (after 4 years living here, I still haven’t found a single vegan despite media saying that vegans are on the rise here in the UK), and I this girl is talking about eating cows is the same as eating a cat!
This made me think that then the message is out there, we need a bit more advocating, showing that we are not extremists, just that a life it’s a life: it doesn’t matter if it is a sheep, a dog, a horse, a rabbit etc. A life it’s a life: as vegans, we probably have stopped, watching the heartbreaking videos of cows before being slaughtered, how you can see the fear and anguish in their eyes. It is undeniable. I always wonder if those killing them do see it, if they have thoughts on this. Even the animals raised “well and with care”, left out grazing: they have then to kill them. Don’t they see what we see?
The message is there, my kittens. We just have to keep going, keep spreading the word the way you are doing. But. Keep. Going. We can do it.
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.
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.
Hello peeps! Today I would like to share something that has helped me for almost 7 years when suffering from chest infections and bronchitis: the tomato and turmeric soup. I hinted in another post that that’s my remedy for this kind of illness, although it hasn’t worked for the Covid symptoms.
Now, I must say that this is not really a recipe of my own, but first of all, despite good research online I haven’t been able to find the original recipe again, and secondly, it is almost 7 years that I’ve been making it and I would say that it is become kind of my recipe, at least the one I am going to write about.
Then
One of the ailments that affected me since I was a child, was chest infections: when I was younger, I suffered these a lot, I got bronchitis so many times (sometimes twice a year) and I also got pneumonia twice (not that it’s something I’m proud of)! But it’s to give you a picture of my health. And obviously, each time meant taking loads of antibiotics. Obviously, when you are young, you just want to get rid of the illness, so you take whatever they can give you, so I took so many medicines.
Now
When I moved to the U.K., roughly 7 years ago, I obviously caught a chest infection. That time I went to the GP and took the antibiotics. However, I started developing the idea that there might be something else to help with chest infection problems. I started looking for information online using keywords such as “natural remedies chest infection”: this research conducted to several of the usual websites when you’re looking for medical assistance, such as WebMD and HealthLine, all of them giving the same remedies such as hot water and tea. [The best result I found is this one – Turmeric Tomato Detox Soup: however, it is not the “original recipe” and I haven’t tried it, so if you decide to make this recipe please let me know!] But then at some point, I found a page on another website providing the recipe of a tomato and turmeric soup perfect for chest infections, giving also all the specifics of how every single ingredient and their measurements worked its magic. The turmeric/black pepper ratio has to be 3:1 in order for them to activate in the right way. With the following recipe, I have been trying to keep those ingredients and measurements.
Since then, I have never had to get chemical antibodies again (and hopefully, it will stay that way!) and I get rid of the infection in 3-4 days.
Before proceeding, I have to say that I decided to share this recipe because is something that has always worked for me and never needed other drugs, but always consider to seek advice from a doctor if you are unsure.
The Recipe
The best way for this recipe to be effective is to use fresh tomatoes, however, tinned tomatoes can also be effective: I’ve made it a couple of times this way because I was out of fresh tomatoes and in no condition of going out to buy them so I used what I had.
Ingredients for two soups:
5-7 big vine tomatoes, chopped;
3 red onions, chopped;
5 garlic cloves, minced;
1 tablespoon olive oil;
1 tablespoon turmeric powder;
1/3 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
Method:
In a pot, heat the olive oil and when hot add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds, then add the onions and cover to let cook until soft. At this point add the tomatoes and cover again for 3 minutes, until the tomatoes have released some juice.
Now add the turmeric and black pepper and give a stir to mix everything. Turn the heat off, cover and let cool off for a few minutes.
Finally, blend everything.
Serve hot.
Note: If you make this for your dinner, be prepared to sweat. A lot. This is great because the concoction is working.
I hope you won’t ever need to make this soup, but if you find yourself afflicted by bronchitis or chest infection and you make this recipe, let me know how it goes for you!
Hello dearest friends! I have been wanting to write about travelling as a vegan for quite a while and it would be safe to say that this was one of the main aims of TheVeganCatLibrarian. Then, reflecting a bit on the various themes as well as on what happens around you and the people that you meet, I thought it would have been better to set some foundations on veganism and take it from there. While I believe that there is more to say on the basics of veganism, I would like to get started on the travelling-as-a-vegan side of the blog. And I would like to start with Iceland.
Introduction to Iceland
Sooo, Iceland was on my bucket list for ages. All those that know me, do know that I LOVE the cold: this goes to cold weather, cold countries (maybe less cold people but some are okay). Since I was a child, I have romanticised on these cold places as where I grew up didn’t get much snow and even in Winter, there is a thermal excursion of up to 20° C (meaning that even if we were to reach -10°C at night, during the day it would easily go up to +10°C). Also, for a kid heavily bullied because of her physical appearance, cold weather means not having to strip off the essential layers of comfy protection (see oversized sweaters). And another reason for which I love the cold is that it’s much easier to cope with it than with the heat: if you have enough clothes, you can survive, and you can also move without fearing to faint. Note: I am talking of up to -15, being well wrapped up or being able to have a warm shelter and warm food; I am not talking of extreme situations nor I am saying going to below zero temperatures without being well equipped, I am not *that* naive; and I know that there are people who thrive in the heat. The fact remains, that I have always loved autumn and winter much more than spring and summer (so much so that spring makes me feel unwell and you can read more here).
Iceland sits on the Northern Hemisphere, almost in between the European continent and North America: it is very frequent for flights to stop in Reykjavik to refuel and people are also stopping there for one or more nights on their way to the other continent. Iceland is also close to Greenland and it is possible to do a day trip from Reykjavik (although it is expensive). From the UK, the easiest way to get to Iceland is by flight and it takes roughly 2hours.
The whole Icelandic island is a mixture of perennial glaciers, wonderful waterfalls, spectacular moon-like scenery and bare land; to this, add geysers, volcanoes and much tundra. It also has beautiful fjords, especially in the North-West of the island.
Okay, taking into consideration all this, clearly the main source of food is not vegan (see fish and cattle and all that derives from them: all of them swim or roam free during their lives, and while here we don’t really condone eating animals, there is this meagre consolation.). But, as we are resourceful vegans, we can survive and thrive even in a not-that-vegan-friendly place.
Jökulsárlón
Litli Geysir
Vegan Iceland
To be honest, the first time I went to Iceland in 2014 I didn’t look too much into vegan places: I booked the 6-day trip very quickly basically from one day to another almost as a spur of the moment kind of thing and I hadn’t planned nothing. Also, I wasn’t too sure about the chance of Iceland having dedicated vegan places. As I relied on hostels, I was able to cook stuff for myself and the meals were mostly sandwiches and fruit. The sandwiches were consisting of bread, vegetable spread and salad ingredients. The brilliant thing was the presence of few healthy shops like Holland&Barrett, so there was quite a lot to choose from for my sandwiches. I survived well for the whole trip, from Reykjavik to Akureyri in the North, the East Coast and back to Rekjavik passing by the Vatnajokull and Vik in the South. There were also many 7/11 markets where I would grab snacks and I stopped for a couple of dinners to get chips from local restaurants.
The second time I went was in 2017 for a Rammstein concert and I was much better-prepared thanks to a classmate who told me when she went to Rekjavik she actually had food in a vegan place, apparently quite famous: Mama Reykjavik. For my 3-day trip to the West Fjords (one part of the island that I didn’t manage to visit in 2014) I relied on some premade vegan-friendly food that I could find on the road as well as local cafes for small snacks along the road trip (that area is not very populated and you could go for several miles before being able to find some houses, but you would be surprised by what you could find in these isolated cafes these days -see vegan snickers at Stúkuhúsið – Café!).
Food from Mama Reykjavik Snickers by Stúkuhúsið – Café
As you can see, it is possible to cope well as a vegan in Iceland: you can go almost everywhere and be able to eat more than decently. I don’t know if it would be possible to live for months or years in this country, but there are vegan places in Reykjavik so probably there are some “permanent” vegans (as opposed to the tourist ones).
It must be said that this food is not very cheap, but also Iceland, like the other Northern Countries in Europe, is generally speaking quite expensive. Both times I went, it was on a budget (£ 1,000 for food, accommodation and travels for 5-6 days): I looked for the best flight deals, stayed in hostels (which, by the way, are the best, cleanest, friendliest hostels you’ll ever find) and ate out 1-2 times each vacation, relying as I said, on markets.
Conclusion
Iceland is a fascinating country and if you can go, do it because it is worth it. This was a tick on my bucket list, and I am extremely happy to have been able to go there twice. If you think that as a vegan, it would be difficult, I hope this post helped in showing you that there are really no issues! The only slight problem might be the costs, but even if you do only one holiday per year, go to Iceland to spend a few days in one marvellous land.
Please, let me know if you have any questions or feedback 🙂
The Vegan Cat Librarian 