Happy Sunday, beautiful cats! Are you having a nice weekend? The past week has been another busy one: had to take my car to service, went to see another physiotherapist for my neck (I think it was a helpful session, although the pain never goes away 100% – my cervical spine is basically done, I have disc degeneration and basically discs in my cervical spine are compressing the nerves in that area and my upper back is always sore – I’ll try to share all the different treatments that I’ve done and hopefully it could help someone out there), then my taekwondo pre-grading (other two and I’ll be able to grade 1st Kup, red belt black tag!). And yesterday was so sunny that it was perfect for doing washings and put them out – and while I was there, I started doing some weeding. Also finished a book, ‘Paper Cup’ by Karen Campbell (funny and emotional, talking about homelessness in such a sweet way, without being sentimental. absolutely recommended!) and started ‘Queen Macbeth’ by Val McDermid (will let you know about this, but seems promising). And despite all this, I only slept 4 hours last night – quite unacceptable as I can usually sleep around 10-12 hours if I don’t have anything specific to do. So, I’m shattered. But you know me and you know that I love something sweet to eat – if this is also quick to make and has few ingredients, then we have a winner, which is what these Easy Banana & Hazelnut Chocolate Spread Puff Pastry Parcels by Holly Jade at A. Vogel are. Easy and delicious, you can also sub the hazelnut chocolate spread for peanut butter.

Ingredients

• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• 2 bananas, sliced
• Hazelnut Chocolate spread (i.e. Natures Store)
• icing sugar, to dust

Ingredients for the garnish

• Hazelnut Chocolate spread (Added into a piping bag)
• Crushed hazelnuts
• Icing sugar
• Cacao powder

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 210^oC and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Unroll your puff pastry sheet and cut into equal squares.
3. Place a teaspoon of hazelnut-chocolate spread and 4 slices of banana in the centre of each square, leaving around 1/4 inch to seal the edges with dairy-free milk, then top off with another pastry square. Only add mixture to half of the squares. Repeat for all of the parcels.
4. Press the edges firmly together with a fork. Make sure they are sealed or they will burst/leak when baking. Repeat for all of the parcels.
5. Pop the pastries into the oven and bake for around 10-15 minutes until fully baked.
6. Once puffed up and golden in colour, carefully remove the pastries from the oven and pop onto a cooling rack. To serve you can drizzle over some hazelnut-chocolate spread, a sprinkling of crushed hazelnuts and a dust of icing sugar & cacao powder. You can put 3 tablespoons of hazelnut-chocolate spread into a piping bag and drizzle some all over each pastry. Best served warm. Store in a sealed container and enjoy within a few days of making.

I hope you’ll enjoy them!

Love,

TVCL xx

Happy Sunday, my cuties! How are you? I know I haven’t been blogging much, but there has been a lot going on in the past months and now too – the phrase “Why am I doing this?” came out often in the past few weeks, both at work and in my personal life. Doing this Master’s degree is taking much of my free time and at work I get involved in many events and various projects: and I know that in the end, it is all positive, gaining more experience in a sector that I love, creating a bigger network and consequently also increasing visibility of the library where I work, meaning that more people will know about it and use it – it’s all positive. But it takes a toll on me, on my energy levels, mentally and physically. And every year, I tell myself that I won’t be dragged in any extra project or event and just “do my job”, but I believe that inevitably, if you are interested in your job, if you are passionate about what you do (which makes it easier to get out of bed every day to spend 8 hours at work), inevitably you’ll end up being involved in things to try and make that place better. Or at least this is what I am telling myself! Anyway, all this to say that I am quite fatigued and tired, was working yesterday and on Wednesday (my day off) I was doing a lot of “life-admin” like renewing all the various contracts, making an appointment with the dentist, going to see my osteopath, etc. However, you know how you get YouTube notifications for the channels you follow? I got the notification for this video by Merle O’Neill (if you don’t follow her, what are you even doing?! Joking, but really she’s lovely and so creative!) where she tests Viral High-Protein Vegan Meals from other food creators, and I tried two of them that are just amazing and helped me going through the week! Will definitely make more in the next few days 🙂

The first recipe is a high-protein Cauliflower Salad, originally made by PlantYou

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
• 1 sweet potato, chopped
• 1½ cups chickpeas, approximately 1 can, drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 cup quinoa, cooked
• 3 cups spinach
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
• 1 cup cucumber, sliced
• ½ cup pickled red onions, optional
• 3 tbsp fresh dill, optional

Tofu and Herb Dressing

• 1 cup extra firm tofu
• 1 handful parsley
• 1 handful fresh dill
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 clove garlic
• ¼ cup water, or more as needed

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment. If you don’t already have quinoa prepared, cook it according to package directions at this time. 1/3 a cup of dry quinoa will typically lend 1 cup cooked. 
2. Place the chickpeas, onion, cauliflower and sweet potato on the sheet pan, and drizzle with oil, and then the spices. You can do this in a bowl for easier preparation, if desired. Roast for 35 minutes, until the sweet potato and cauliflower are slightly soft.
3. While the vegetables roast, prepare your high protein dressing. In a blender, combine the tofu, parsley, dill, nutritional yeast, salt, lemon, garlic and water. Combine until smooth, adding more water as needed to reach a desired consistency.
4. When the vegetables are roasted, place a bed of spinach in a bowl, and disperse the toppings as desired, with fresh avocado and cucumber on top. If desired, add pickled onions and dill. Drizzle on the high protein dressing and enjoy

The second recipe I tried was the Sweet Potato, Tofu & Chickpea Curry by SophsPlantKitchen

Ingredients

For the tofu:

• 300g block of tofu
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp nooch
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp lemon juice.

For the Roasted sweet potato, cauliflower and squash:

• 1/2 a large cauliflower, or a whole small one, broken into florets
• 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander, 1/3 tsp turmeric, salt and pepper
• 2 large or three medium/ small sweet potatoes
• 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp coriander, 1/3 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 a butternut squash, seeds removed and cross scored
• Olive oil and salt on all of the roasted veg

For the creamy sauce:

• The roasted butternut squash flesh
• 30g soaked cashews
• 280g silken tofu
• 1/3 cup nooch
• Juice of one lemon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Black pepper
• Splash of water for blending

For the main body

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• Pinch salt
• 4cm piece of ginger, grated
• 3 garlic cloves, grated
• 1/2 a red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (omit if you like less spice)
• 1/2 tbsp Garam masala
• 1.5 tsp coriander, 1.5 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon,
• Salt, black pepper and olive oil
• 120g grated fresh tomatoes or canned chopped tomatoes (about half a tin)
• 240g cooked chickpeas
• 1/2 a litre of veg stock
• To serve: coriander, nigella seeds, yoghurt

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 200c
   
2. Break the cauli into florets, chop the sweet potato into medium chunks. Transfer to a baking tray, cover in oil, spices and salt. Score and oil the squash, then place cut side down on another tray. Oil the other side. Roast everything for 30-35 mins until taking on a nice golden colour.
   
3. Soak the nuts in boiling water and set aside. Tear the tofu into irregular chunks. Add all the tofu marinade ingredients to the tofu and combine. Set aside in the fridge.
   
4. Chop all your aromatics, grate your fresh tomatoes and measure out spices. Toast the whole spices in a dry frying pan, then bash in a pestle and mortar.
   
5. Fry the whole bashed spices in olive oil for 1 min, then add the onion and a pinch of salt. Fry on a medium heat for 8-10 mins. Add the ginger, garlic and chilli, fry 3 mins more or until the raw aroma of garlic and ginger has subsided. Add the dry spices and some more olive oil, fry for 1/2 mins more, add the grated tomatoes and another pinch of salt. Fry until they turn a dark shade of red, about 5 mins. Add the chickpeas and stock, bring the heat up then reduce and simmer for 10 mins.
   
6. Take the sweet potato and cauli out the oven when finished roasting. Transfer to a bowl. Take the tofu out the fridge and transfer to the same baking tray. Bake for 10-15 mins, until the tofu is taking on a little char.
   
7. Take the squash out, allow to cool. Scoop out the flesh and add it to a blender with the other creamy sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth, then add to the spicy chickpea mixture, reserving a little for garnish. Stir through most of the roasted veg, saving some for decoration.

Enjoy!

Love,

TVCL xx

Hello cuties! I hope you are well and having a good weekend! This week went by very quickly, but it was also full of events: while on annual leave, I met with a friend and went to the sea, saw my osteopath for my neck and shoulders pain, attended the last virtual session of the academic year for my Masters course and then back to work. On my last day off, I went to the shop for some veggies and was tempted to get some bread, but then decided to make it myself so I made this Dutch Oven Bread by Tasty.co and it really didn’t disappoint: if you want homemade bread, but are put off from all the kneading, then this is the recipe for you because there is very minimal kneading involved and you get a great result!

Ingredients

• 2 cups lukewarm water (480 mL), between 90˚-110˚F (30˚-40˚C)
• 1 envelope active dry yeast
• 4 cups all-purpose flour (500 g), lightly packed and levelled off, plus more for dusting
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Method

1. Stir the yeast into the water and allow the yeast to bloom until foamy.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt by hand. Once incorporated, create a small well in the middle and pour in the water and yeast mixture.
3. Mix by hand, wetting your working hand before mixing so the dough doesn’t stick to your fingers. The water and flour should come together and a form rough dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour in small increments, about 1 tablespoon at a time. If the dough is too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
4. Once the dough comes together, cover and let rise for 1 ½-2 hours, until doubled in size.
5. Uncover the dough and give it a few pokes with your finger. If the dough has risen properly, it should indent under the pressure of your finger and slowly deflate.
6. Using your hand or a rubber spatula, start from the rim of the bowl to work the dough loose from the sides and fold it up and towards the center of the bowl. Turn the bowl 90 degrees, and repeat until all the dough has been pulled from the sides and folded towards the center.
7. Once finished, cover and let the dough rise again for another 1 ½-2 hours.
8. Once the dough has doubled in size again, gently transfer it from the bowl to a lightly floured surface.
9. Sprinkle a bit of flour on top of the dough. Using your hands, begin to shape it into a loaf. Fold the dough under itself several times to form a ball, then pinch together the seams of dough underneath.
10. Place the dough seam-side down in a clean bowl that has been lightly coated with olive oil and dusted with flour.
11. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
12. Meanwhile, place a 6-quart Dutch oven (or heavy cooking pot with oven-safe lid) inside the oven. Preheat the oven to 450˚F (230˚C) with the pot inside for 45-60 minutes.
13. Carefully remove the pot from the oven and place it on a trivet or heat-safe surface. (Be careful! It’ll be VERY HOT.)
14. Turn the proofed dough over onto a lightly floured surface and carefully place it inside the pot.
15. Cover with the lid and return the pot to the oven.
16. Bake for 45 minutes, removing the lid for the last 15 minutes.
17. Remove the bread from the pot and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

I put almost half of the slices in the freezer so that I have nicely homemade bread whenever I want it.

Enjoy!

Love,

TVCL xx

Happy Sunday, cats! How are? Enjoying your weekend? I wasn’t working yesterday so I am taking these two days to just relax after working at the main desk for a good part of the week to cover some shifts as we are so short staffed, meaning that I had to do my usual job while also issuing/returning books and helping people with IT. No wonder I feel exhausted! And it will be like this the whole month. Oh well. As I say, the two main pleasures in life that you can do just by yourself, are eating and sleeping so this is how I have been coping with everything in the past few months. It was quite a while since I wanted to make this Mung Bean “Egg” Recipe by TheEdgyVeg and I finally managed to make it last week, and not for lack of trying: the first time, I made it with yellow peas and it wasn’t great; finding the yellow mung beans wasn’t easy but then I bumped into the yellow split lentils and I know they are not the same, but even with these the recipe came put great! As Candice says, you can use this recipe as an egg substitute like you would do with Just Egg: I’ve used it for a Potato and Onion Omelette and then for a Spring Onion and Carrot Tops Quiche. Absolutely delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 cup split yellow mung beans/moong dal/yellow lentils, soaked overnight
• 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1 tsp black salt or Kala Namak
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil or deodorised coconut oil + extra for cooking
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp tapioca starch, optional
• pepper to taste
• paprika, to serve

Instructions

1. Drain your soaked mung beans, and rinse them. Then, to the blender, add soy milk, black salt, regular salt, olive oil (or coconut oil), turmeric, garlic powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast, baking powder (and tapioca starch if you have it). Blend on high until smooth, thin and pourable.
2. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and heat up with oil (i use about 1 tbsp).
3. Pour in the bean mixture, use a rubber spatula to stir and move the mixture around. Cover for 1-2 minutes.
4. When parts of the mixture start to look like they’re “drying”, use a spatula to stir and move the mixture around to create a scrambled texture. Cover and cook for another 2 minutes.
5. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika to taste.

Enjoy!

Love,

TVCL xx

Happy Sunday, beauties! How are you? Here, I am back with the umpteenth cold – as it usually happens when I get a few days off: typical. So I have been just taking it easy, watching a couple of series, doomscrolling on my phone and making healing food (Tomato and Turmeric Soup, drinking oregano oil in nettle tea, etc.). But you know I also love sweet stuff and while Skyping my parents, my mom told me that she made these mini-strudels so it got me the inspiration for how to use the many apples that I have and followed the recipe for a Vegan Apple Strudel by ConnoiseurusVeg.

Ingredients

• 3 cups thinly sliced and peeled apples (about 2 large or 3 medium apples, weighing about 1 pound)
• ¼ cup organic granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top of the strudel
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup slivered almonds
• 1 ½ tablespoons rum
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 sheet (about 8 ounces or 250 grams) vegan puff pastry, thawed
• 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
• Organic powdered sugar, for topping, optional

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the apples, sugar, raisins, almonds, rum, lemon juice, flour, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.
3. Place the puff pastry sheet onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll it to a 12 x 14 inch rectangle.
4. Use a knife to cut approximately 1-inch strips down either (long) side of the rectangle, cutting the strips about a third of the way into the width of the rectangle (you can see a photo of this within the post above).
5. Spoon the filling down the center of the rectangle, leaving about 1 to 2 inches at the top and bottom ends.
6. Starting at the bottom, fold the strips inward at a slight diagonal, over the filling, pinching opposite strips together.
7. Brush the pastry with milk, then sprinkle it lightly with sugar.
8. Carefully transfer the parchment paper to a baking sheet.
9. Bake the strudel until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbly inside, about 35 to 40 minutes.
10. Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack and let the strudel cool for a few minutes.
11. Optionally, sprinkle the strudel with powdered sugar.
12. Slice the strudel with a serrated knife and serve warm.

Enjoy!

Love,

TVCL xx