Go go gazpacho!

The first time I ever made gazpacho, I was thoroughly underwhelmed. "This is basically just wet salad," I thought, and decided that in the future I'd prefer to have the salad. But a pit stop in some small city one hot and hungry day when me and my Mum were driving the length of Germany with friends, we ordered the only vegan thing on the menu - gazpacho. It was served in a glass, with ice, and it was salty and garlicky and tomatoey and hit the spot in a way I wasn't expecting.

Back in Sweden, which actually managed to turn out a few weeks of sweltering summer, I wondered if I could recreate the satisfaction. And I became a gazpacho convert. Not because it is the most delicious thing in the world. But because for a summer's day when you're not super hungry and really don't feel like cooking, gazpacho is a fast, cooling, healthy lunch with enough of a flavour punch to keep you satisfied. And it takes less effort and time to prepare than a salad.

I like my gazpacho thick and a bit less ... wet salad-like. That means I shove the following in a blender:
- tinned crushed tomatoes (unless I have fresh)
- a slice of stale bread
- capsicum if I have it (I even tried it with ajvar once, it was awesome)
- a little vinegar
- a splash of olive oil
- 1-2 cloves garlic depending on size
- a little chilli powder or sriracha
- herb seasoned salt and black pepper
- a little water

And you blend it up, adjust to taste, and you are gold. If you want to eat it right away, put some ice cubes in to make it cold. Otherwise you can of course refrigerate or even put it in the freezer for a bit. I topped mine with chopped olives and basil.

Mediterranean bangers and mash

Tonight's dinner:
Home-made chorizos using the recipe from Vegan Brunch (next time I personally would up the garlic a lot, and the spice), accompanied by potatoes mashed with olive oil, roasted root veges and braised red cabbage with coriander seeds.

The last was inspired both by some of the delicious spiced cabbage dishes Mum and I ate in Poland, and by the memory of a Greek pork dish that my Dad used to cook me when I was younger. In the original dish, pork is first fried then cooked in red wine until it reduces, after which crushed coriander seeds are added. I thought it would be yum to do something similar with red cabbage, but living with a teetotaller we don't have wine in the house. I subbed for some vegetable stock, lemon juice and pomegranate molasses. The result came out sweeter than the original, but still hit the spot. I'd love to try it with the wine sometime.

Lemon Chick'n and Mango Fried Rice

This is delicious authentic Asian take-away food exactly like the kind you find anywhere except Asia...
Lemon chicken was always one of my favourites when my family got Chinese take-aways, and this is my Mum's recipe for making it at home. I've used Fry's chicken-style strips here, but you can do it with cubes of tofu too, fried salt and pepper tofu style. It makes a pretty fast, impressive and delicious dinner when paired with fried rice, tonight served with a winter vegetable riff on Isa's Mango Fried Rice (with red cabbage and cauliflower and green capsicum, and sans basil).

Chinese Take-away Lemon Chick'n

For the batter, mix together cornflour, salt, pepper and some baking powder (about 1 tsp per 4 Tbsp cornflour). No-Egg is good if you've got it. Add water, one teaspoonful at a time and stirring after each, until a loose batter is formed. Dip your (defrosted) chick'n strips in the batter and fry on each side in hot oil until puffed and golden, and keep warm until ready to serve. You can also deep fry 'em.

For the lemon sauce, combine the following ingredients in a saucepan:
grated rind and juice of 1-2 large lemons (can sub oranges for some or all)*
1/4 - 1 tsp of vege stock powder (be careful here, as stocks vary in strength. Start with a little).
1 Tbsp cornflour
1-3 Tbsp brown sugar (depending on how tart you want it, and if you've put in orange or not)
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 - 1 cup water (again, depending on how concentrated you want it)

Stir until the cornflour has dissolved, then heat until clear and thickened (saucy). Serve the fried chick'n strips with the lemon sauce poured over, and chopped spring onions. Serve with plain rice and fried/steamed vegetables, or for a fancier meal, serve with a dish of fried rice and veges like the one linked to above.

* I like to combine the juices of both fruits so I can cut down the added sugar. It still works out very lemony if you don't put in the orange rind. Obviously, if you sub orange for all, you will have Orange Chick'n, not Lemon, but that's ok. That's a take-away thing too.

The strips:

Potatispizza with smoked tofu crumbs

I don't know where potatispizza (potato pizza) comes from, but I will always associate it with a Swedish friend of mine, and vegan mentor, Markus. I have made many variations, with additions of leek or shallots or spinach, but the basic combination of potato, pizza dough, garlic and olive oil is pretty hard to beat. It's sort of garlic bread, pizza and chips in one. I'm not claiming it's healthy, but it's comforting, delicious and pretty easy to make.

To make it, prepare pizza dough using wholemeal wheat flour, or a mixture of rye flour and wheat flour (to make it more Swedish). When risen and all that, roll out thinnish to your desired pizza shape. Put it on a lightly greased oven tray or wherever you usually cook your pizza. Sprinkle with finely chopped garlic, and cover with thinly sliced rounds of potato. They should overlap so that the dough is covered. I usually press down slightly too. Top with extra toppings - spinach, thinly sliced leeks or shallots, herbs (oregano is best), and this week's delicious offering - crumbled smoked tofu which crisped up into crunchy succulent bacon-like morsels. Drizzle with olive oil and top with salt (nice salt if you've got it, table salt if not) and a little pepper. Bung it in the oven at about 250 degrees Celcius and bake until ready (dough is lightly browned, everything else done), about 15 mins maybe?

Pizza served here with lettuce, roasted broccoli and roasted asparagus (in the same oven as the pizza).

Cajun Chickpea cakes with Spicy Tomato Jam

Vegan Dad's Crispy Cajun Chickpea Cakes

Pretty much just followed his recipe, but subbed carrot for capsicum because that's what we had. Subbed cumin for the paprika for the same reason. Also left out the parsley. Ours came out less crispy - possibly an oil temperature/amount issue. But still delicious.

Tomato Jam

Combine the following in a saucepan (measurements are a guide, I usually just dump stuff in according to taste):

500g crushed tomatoes
80mL finely diced onion
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary (or a little less if dried)
30mL sugar (or 1 Tbsp pomegranate molasses)
2/3 tsp salt
pinch black pepper
pinch chilli flakes
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

Simmer on a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30-60 mins till reduced and jammy.

Fika for a group

We had a casual flat-warming last Sunday afternoon, with people dropping in and out. With uncertainty over exactly how many would be coming, when, and how hungry they would be, figuring out what to prepare was initially a bit daunting. Also, we still had a lot of sorting out to do to get the place ready for visitors, so I didn't want to spend all day in the kitchen. In the end, the spread was easy, cheap and delicious:

My never-fail wholegrain bread, freshly baked
The potato and spinach bake from Vegan Brunch
Home-made hummus
Store-bought ajvar
Home-made tapanade (recipe below)Quinoa tabbouleh with roasted eggplant and pomegranate molasses dressing (recipe below)
Afghans
Watermelon mocktail (recipe below)
As well as ubiquitous chips and fizz

Plenty to go round, plenty left over (and we weren't complaining), good at any temperature.

Green Olive Tapande

Basically you need green olives (with or without pimento stuffing), capers, and garlic. Blend it all up in a blender with a little olive oil and a little water until a chunky dip forms. I added parsley, a little nutritional yeast, a little lemon juice and a little sriracha chilli sauce. Tapande is pretty much ground up olives with add-ins, so start with olives and test your way forwards.

A little goes a long way, so don't feel like you have to make a whole lot. Excellent on crackers, toast, or fresh bread. For some reason right now I want to dip celery sticks in it, but that could be just me. (Gluten-free)

Quinoa Tabbouleh with Roasted Eggplant and Pomegranate Molasses Dressing

Um, this one isn't really a 'recipe' either. Basically, roast your eggplant according to how you usually do it, and let it cool. Chop it into little bits, along with finely chopped cucumber, tomato, and plenty of chopped parsley, and add everything to cooked quinoa. Dress with olive oil, a little minced garlic, a little pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve cold or room temperature.
(Gluten-free)

Watermelon and Mint Mocktail

Blend de-seeded watermelon flesh till liquid (pulpy ok). Mix with a decent amount of lime juice, some freshly squeezed orange juice if you want it sweeter, and some chopped mint leaves. Add sparkling water or ice if desired. Serve cold.

Wilted Spinach and Chick Peas

This is quintessential Mum's cooking - easy, simple, healthy, quick, and tasty.

It makes an excellent lunch paired with wholemeal cous cous or pasta. Rice or bulgur or polenta or any of that would probably be excellent too. Roast potatoes? A fresh salad? It's really flexible, and works well as a flavourful and nutritious side-dish as well.

Basically, fry diced onion and plenty of finely sliced garlic in olive oil until softened. I chucked some sliced celery in there too, because upping the vege count never hurts and I had celery that needed eating. Carrots would probably be awesome as well.

Then add a good amount of cumin, and some ground coriander seed, paprika and chilli (powder, flakes, or sauce - if you've got fresh chillies then slice 'em fine and chuck 'em in with the onions instead). Add some chopped nuts (not heaps, just enough for some crunch), and continue frying until browned.

Add cooked chick peas and some chopped spinach (leaves direct from freezer ok). Stir together until spinach wilts. Squeeze lemon juice over generously and add salt (or extra chilli sauce or oil) to taste. Serve it hot or cold or at room temperature.

Chinese soup base

Very happy to have finally produced a more-ish Chinese soup base. Chinese clear soups usually have quite a subtle soup base that sets off all the delicious goodies floating around in it (like noodles, wontons, thin slices of mock duck, pak choi, carrots etc). It's not like Vietnamese pho or Thai tom yam soup, but it shouldn't taste of nothing either. In fact, the subtlety is something I've found quite difficult to recreate at home, especially without MSG. I usually end up putting in too much of something, it really requires a bit of patience - a little of this, a little of that, till you get something you like.

First you want a nice simmering pot of stock. Then add some Chinese five spice and some thinly sliced ginger root and shallots. Add a little soya sauce (I used dark mushroom soy, which makes the soup darker but adds a nice depth), some sesame oil and a small squirt of sriracha - you don't want it spicy (or just some chilli flakes if you don't have it, but you might need a little of something acidic as well). Taste and add salt and more of any of the other stuff if needed. When you've got your soup base delicious, add noodles, wontons, pak choi, sliced carrots, etc. Today I chucked in cooked rice and brown lentils, carrots and pak choi. Cook till everything is tender. To serve, top with thinly sliced shallots and garlic, lightly fried together.

Edamame polenta cake with fried tomatoes and herbed yoghurt dressing

This was inspired by a delicious lunch served at a conference I attended recently at Handels Högskolan in Gothenburg. As a vegan I wasn't sure what to expect - some conferences I've been to have had an entirely vegan buffet for all guests, while others have offered non-meat eaters simply a pile of unadulterated chick peas. This lunch was catered by the restaurant there, and I was pleasantly surprised when the staff handed everybody with dietary requirements (nut-free, vegan, gluten-free) a plate of perfectly prepared polenta studded with edamame beans. This was topped with fried tomato slices and fresh herbs.

Here is my recreation, with the addition of herbed yoghurt dressing:

1) Prepare polenta according to instructions on the package, using a good amount of stock and adding dried or fresh herbs if desired - I used thyme and oregano. (Sometimes I prepare my polenta fairly bland, if I'm using it as a base for spicy sauces. Here you want it to taste good on its own. No stocks are created equal, but I used 1.5 cubes in about as many litres of water.) About 10 mins before the end, add edamame beans. Not too many, you just want enough to stud the polenta and provide some protein. I used about 1.5 cups.

2) When polenta is done, pour into a lightly oiled casserole dish and leave to set (in the fridge once cooled enough). Can do this overnight.

3) Prep your herbed yoghurt dressing. This is in no way an exact science - pretty much just bung nice tasting things in thick soy yoghurt and you'll be good. We added what we had on hand: fresh dill, some chilli flakes, a little mustard and minced garlic.

4) Now fry your polenta. Cut into the set polenta into squares and fry each side in a little oil over medium high heat. Polenta can be a bit tricky to fry, so maybe have a go on a practice piece first. The golden rule is to have a high enough heat that it doesn't just go soggy (it should sizzle when it hits the pan), and you want to let it sit long enough to develop a proper crust, so don't try flipping it too early. I think Isa's instructions for frying tofu apply here too.

5) Top the fried polenta slices with fried/seared tomato slices and the yoghurt dressing. Serve with salad for a bright, delicious and reasonably healthy lunch.

Pasta alla Veganara

I love this. It's easy, fast, and delicious. The sort of slightly fancy comfort food that looks appetizing in the frozen dinners section of the super-market. Don't go there! They're not vegan! Also, this is more delicious and almost as easy.

Vegan Carbonara Sauce

I cannot remember where I found this recipe online, but it is amazing:


INGREDIENTS

2-4 Tbsp cashew paste (or cashew meal, whatevs)
1 Tbsp white miso (I have never tried this, in all honesty. It's fine without).
1 Tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper
1 cup plant milk (I've done it with water instead, with some soy flour thrown in)
1 cup stock
2 Tbsp starch
3 Tbsp chickpea flour (optional, but I like the colour and slight egginess it provides)
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional, not sure how it'd go with the miso though)

METHOD

1. Whisk the cashew paste, tahini, miso (if using), mustard, garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper until smooth (add a little of the plant milk if needed). Whisk in rest of the milk, stock, and starch (dissolved in a little liquid first, so you don't get clumps), nutritional yeast and chickpea flour (if using) until combined.

2. Heat over medium-low, stirring lots (don't let the bottom catch!) until it begins bubbling and becomes thick and creamy. Turn off heat.


For Pasta alla Veganara, serve this sauce with pasta, peas, other veg if you're keen (spinach or broccoli would probably work nicely. And for some reason I'm thinking corn... what is this turning into? Sorry, Italy.), and Vegan Dad's delicious tofu pancetta. The last time I made this I was thinking of trying smoky soya sauce chickpeas instead of tofu, but that'll have to be next time...

Timing wise, put your pasta on first and start your pancetta. The sauce comes together very quickly (I don't even really bother measuring anymore - it's very forgiving). When everything's done - add your sauce to your pasta, 'pancetta' and peas (can add direct from frozen) and warm through until everything is hot.

of cabbages and condiments

A friend of mine was joking recently about how much she loves cabbage. Sure, I dig cabbage. It's delicious in coleslaw, stir-fried (especially on it's own with lemon juice and garlic), in curries and soups, in dumplings or spring-rolls, or as a wrapper for cabbage rolls. I like it in Asian noodle salads. I love the recipe from the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook of cabbage salad with candied walnuts (and her nearly raw tahini noodle salad), and this Hot and Sour Cabbage Soup of hers looks delicious too. Another friend linked to this exciting-looking Dutch comfort food recipe (easily veganisable). Ok, so there are lots of things you can do with cabbage. But it's the weekend and I wanted something easy, fried and delicious that didn't require me to go shopping. And I knew exactly what to do with that cabbage all lonely in our refrigerator...

Behold,  

Fusion Barbeque Cabbage Pancake!

This is inspired by my attempt one time to recreate vegan okonomiyaki, especially without tofu, because we seldom have it. There are heaps of good recipes abounding on the net, for example: the beautiful and thorough tutorial here, or this one using a Japanese yam. But lacking ingredients for these, I just went with cabbage pancake. I'd like to try again with spring onions and using broth in the mix and ginger and proper stuff to put on it like tonkatsu sauce and spicy vegan mayo. But I had some newly purchased HP sauce that I was looking for an excuse to put on everything...

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Finely chop some cabbage, maybe 2 - 3 cups. Grate 1-2 carrots.
2. Dump some flour (maybe 1 1/2 cups) and some chick pea flour (1/2 cup) in a bowl. Add 1 tsp baking powder and some salt. Mix it all around. Add the veges. Shouldn't be too much flour left over in the bowl, and all the veges should be covered in flour. Add more of something if ratio doesn't look good.
3. Preheat a frying pan with some oil on medium heat.
4. To your flour and veg, add 1-2 flax eggs (optional), 1 tsp light-coloured vinegar, and enough water to make a thick sticky batter (spoonable, rather than pourable).
5. Spoon into pan and flatten out into a large pancake. Fry gently on both sides until set and cooked through.

Serving suggestion: fried onions, HP sauce, smoked salt, sriracha sauce.

How to make your stir fry taste like Chinese take-aways...

Sometimes I think I should open a Chinese restaurant in Sweden - I know exactly how to cook inauthentic Chinese food! Tonight's super speedy and very delicious offering was stir-fried vegetables and cashews with hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce is magic. It's rich, fruity, fermenty, and savoury all at the same time. It transformed something that was pretty much three types of cabbage (according to the Swedish definition) over nasty par-boiled rice (which somebody bought by mistake) into a very satisfying and yummy dinner.

According to my experience with inauthentic Chinese food, and various websites, the Chinese holy trinity of flavours are ginger root, sesame oil and garlic. If you have all these in a meal you are well on your way to it tasting sort of Chinese (and by Chinese, I mean "Chinese", at all times through this post). I like to slice my ginger and garlic into thin slices, so they are identifiable in the stir-fry and don't get too burnt. Other important additions are spring onions, something kind of acidic (Chinese cooking wine, or rice vinegar, or citrus in a pinch), and something salty with a depth of umami flavour (soy sauce, hoisin, black bean).

Then, for the bulk of your stir-fry, try veges like onions, capsicums, broccoli and/or cauliflower florets (and finely chopped stems), carrots sliced into coins on the bias, cabbage, green beans. My favourites are broccoli, carrots and cabbage, which we ate today with cauliflower as well. This isn't fried rice, so put away your frozen peas and corn.

For your protein, you can try Chick'n strips like the one made by Fry's. Or we just went with roasted cashews and sesame seeds. There's a reasonable amount of protein in the veg anyway if you use stuff like cauliflower and broccoli.

As for the actual stir-frying, don't overload the wok. Fry in separate batches if necessary. And fry on a high heat, stirring lots, until you've got the texture you want. Also, don't chuck in all the veg at the same time - onions take much longer to cook than garlic, and broccoli takes less time than cauliflower. Don't fry your spring onion at all - just slice finely into rings and sprinkle over at the end. And if I'm doing the Chick'n thing, I usually fry that separately.

I usually fry in a neutral oil (like canola) until everything is pretty much done, then add a splash of soya sauce, sesame oil and wine/vinegar (if using citrus, I squeeze it over once I've dished up). Once it's properly done, add your hoisin or black bean sauce, roasted nuts and/or Chick'n, and mix around. Add some chilli sauce if you're keen. Eat over rice, obviously, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and spring onion if desired.

Chocolate birthday cake (the best)

I had a friend's birthday to bake for and then Isa at the Post Punk Kitchen came out with this recipe for Chocolate Yoghurt Bundt Cake. It had to be done! I didn't have enough chocolate for both icing and putting in the cake, so I left out the chocolate chips. I also cut out some of the sugar, because I often find Isa's baked goods too sweet. The result was a very dark chocolate cake, which I quite enjoyed. But I think in this instance the sugar amount given is justified, especially without the chocolate chips. I did take inspiration from a Sacher torte, covering the cake in apricot jam and then a rich chocolate-based ganache.

This is a good cake if you want quick and easy without sacrificing fancy. With all the yoghurt, it's not even all that unhealthy. I think it might be the perfect cake. A cake's cake.

Things do do with chick pea flour (besan)...

I love chick pea flour! It is nutritious, tasty and gluten-free. However, I sometimes find myself looking at it in my pantry and thinking - what will I do with all this chick pea flour? Here are some answers...

1) Make gravy. Chick pea flour makes an excellent base for a roux. For an emergency dinner I made a white-sauce style gravy with a chick pea flour base to pour over pasta and beans. It means you don't get that wheat flour sauce on wheat pasta vibe.

2) Make a besan cheela (an Indian pancake a bit like an egg-free omelette)

3) Make an omelette.

4) Make pakoras (Manjula's Kitchen has a lot of pakora recipes, but me I'm dying to try her bread pakoras some time)

5) Make spicy Indian crackers!

6) One day I will try this amazing looking vegan cheese recipe.

Guacamole

People put all kinds of things in their guacamole. My mum puts fresh basil and tomatoes in. I've heard that certain Central American countries put celery in. I like it with lots of garlic and lemon juice. But this is just a quick note to say that the other day we accidentally chucked a whole bunch of dried sage into our guac instead of black pepper. And actually, it was very tasty. Something to try if you want something savoury and unusual. I think we ate it with some kind of Oaxacan mole. That is all.

Post Punk bouillabaisse

I really wanted to make Isa's latested creation - vegan bouillabaisse. I wanted to make it so much that I couldn't wait until I had a chance to buy the ingredients (not having nori and fennel on hand all the time). But, despite a lot of needs must substitutions, it still came out delectable. I'm still keen to try it as written some time, but it's good to remember that this version will more than do in a pinch:


As the linked recipe, but with celery instead of fennel, fried zucchini instead of roasted squash, dried thyme rather than fresh, no nori, and tomato paste instead of tinned tomatoes, with some fresh cherrry tomatoes chucked in for texture. I also upped the spice.

Lovely for a winter's evening - hearty, brothy, and a bit fancy with the spice and the orange zest. Not your run of the mill lentil soup.

Wonton soup!

Tonight I wanted wontons (I wonted wantons?). Nice sloppy wet ones in a soup. Despite the fact that we had very little of the stuff I consider essential for a wonton soup. We did, however, have wonton wrappers.

We filled them with:

Finely chopped onion, broccoli, garlic and ginger root, lightly fried.
Cooked brown lentils
Very hot sweet mustard
Hoisin sauce
A splash of vinegar

And cooked them in a broth made of stock, soya sauce, sesame oil, a little sugar and lemon juice (as out of rice wine vinegar), together with thinly sliced carrots, celery and ginger root.

(No amounts for you... Just go with what tastes good. Add a little at a time till it gets to the yum place.)

And it was goo-ood! Sure bok choy or kai-lan and some Chinese noodles would have been awesome, but all in all I was more than satisfied.

Wonton folding instructions abound on the internet, or you can be lazy like me and just fold them into triangles. Just be sure to seal them tightly.

Easy morning waffles will make your Sunday better

No pics because they were delicious and we ate them all. We ate them with orange squeezed over them. We ate them with Tofuline vanilla ice cream. We ate them with syrup. Yes we did.

Also, Sarah's pro-tips for no tears waffle-making:
- grease your waffle iron between each waffle! Obviously spray is good, but we used a pastry brush.
- you can tell when the waffles are not ready, they sort of glue the waffle iron together. When the waffles are ready, it should want to open.
- don't burn yourself.

Recipe from Vegansaurus (best name ever! Check out their adorable T-Rex pic), except with less sugar because I prefer to put sweet stuff ON my waffles/pancakes. Also I used half oat milk and half water, because I am a cheapskate. Still delicious, and I think water makes things even crispier.

No Tears Waffles

First, preheat your waffle iron, because the batter comes together in a jiffy.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
2 Tbsp brown sugar (or white if it's what you've got)
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
 2 ½ cups plant milk (or sub half water)
2 Tbsp canola oil

METHOD

1. Using a fork, mix together the dry ingredients in a big bowl.
2. Add the wet stuff. Mix it all gently together with a fork or a whisk till a smooth batter forms.
3. Make the waffles! Pour some batter into your greased, heated waffle iron (not too much - better too small a waffle than overflow madness! Test your way forwards carefully!). Cook till done (i.e. golden brown and delicious).

Serve with pretty much anything - fruit, vegan cream, ice cream, chocolate sauce, syrup, etc.


No idea how many waffles this makes because we just kept eating them. Recipe doubles well. Any spare waffles can be frozen and reheated later in a toaster.

The Bready Brunch

Yesterday I got up, ate some of the dreaded porridge with some lingon berries to liven it up, and set to work on making bread.

First up was my favourite wheat bread recipe - dense, filled with delicious seeds and carrots. But before adding these, I split the dough in half, put the to-be-seeded bread part aside and added more flour to what was left, to make a smooth white bread dough. This, after rising, was turned into Panipopo - Samoan buns that I loved as a child (note that I followed the linked recipe only for the sauce, which is vegan). There were a few bakeries in Newtown where you could get aluminium trays of the things, delicious browned buns with a thick coconut sauce soaked into the bottom. Delicious. So dessert (morning tea? I don't know, what do you call the sweet things you eat after brunch?) was sorted. (I also sneakily saved some dough for frying and turning into toutons, delicious things that my mother keeps writing to me about from her RSL in Newfoundland. Not having molasses on hand, we ate them with fig jam.)

The seed bread we ate in thick slices with scrambled tofu - fried with garlic, onion, cumin, paprika, thyme, green olives, broccoli, and a small sprinkling of nutritional yeast. So, so good.

So that was a lot of links there, but here is my favourite bread recipe, which started the whole thing.

Wholemeal Bread

(you can use white flour too. If you want to omit the seeds and grains, as I did for the toutons and panipopo,  then just add some more flour a little bit at a time till a smooth dough forms).


3 cups white flour
2 cups wholemeal flour
2 cups mixed seeds/grains (my favourite combo is rolled oats with linseeds and sunflower seeds)
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
1 grated carrot (optional)

Mix the above together in a large bowl.

The heat the following liquids to finger warmth:

1 1/4 cup water
1 1/4 cup plant-based milk (or more water)

 Dissolve 50g fresh yeast in the liquid.

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and knead on a clean, lightly floured surface for 5-10 minutes until smooth, adding flour as necessary. Place in a greased bowl, flip dough over once (so that it is greased all round), leave in a warm place until doubled in bulk.

Knead lightly and shape, and leave again until doubled (I don't always do this). Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 mins until golden.