Go you good thing!
This recipe has been stolen from Matt Frazier at nomeatathlete.com but I justify my theft by pointing out that it is so good, so versatile and so easy that it deserves to be seen as far and wide as possible. It's not even a recipe really, it's more like a formula that you can adapt to suit whatever ingredients you have in the cupboard and the fridge.
Go you good thing!
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We're not really into fancy desserts but sometimes you've just got to celebrate by binge eating sugary food. This pie is the perfect birthday treat for your favourite vegan. Or the perfect Sunday afternoon snack for your favourite non-vegan. Or the perfect Easter treat for your favourite coeliac... basically if someone wanted to make me this pie, I'd be happy. It uses aquafaba - which is just a fancy name for the water that you can pour off tinned chickpeas and beans. I was very skeptical about it at first but honestly, it's great. I find the water from lighter coloured beans the least "beanny" and if you can find unsalted or low salt beans, that's even better. This dessert pairs well with champagne, but then again, so does everything. As it appears here the recipe is gluten-free, though of course feel free to use wheat based flour and pastry if you're not a coeliac. Everyone loves a potato salad. It’s really just a whole load of carbs dressed up as a salad. We can say we’re being healthy and eating salad when really we’re eating a whole load of carby, bacony, eggy, creamy goodness. Gross. Enter the roast potato salad. It’s totally a winner. Yes, it still has the carby goodness of potatoes, but none of that other gross heart-attack-on-a-plate stuff. Roast a load of potatoes in the oven. They can be those fancy small ones that cooking shows always use, or just chop up the regular two-bucks-a-kilo kind. We leave the skins on, they are full of goodness and taste great plus it’s way easier. I mean, who has time to peel stuff? No one, which is why so many people don’t cook! We absolutely love this rice salad. It’s full of good things, and feels like a real treat, plus a big tub full lasts quite a few meals which saves work…I think that’s the real reason we like it! First, get your rice cooker out. If you don’t have one, go and buy one! It’s seriously the best thing since sliced gluten free bread. Of course you can always use a saucepan, water and the stove-top and it will work just as well, but then you have to have some knowledge of how to cook rice, and it really helps if you don’t forget about it and head off to the arena to ride a horse. Enter the rice cooker. Cook as much rice as you like. We’ve done this recipe with black rice, red rice and our very favourite basmati brown rice. We get our basmati brown rice from 2brothersfoods.com. It’s delicious, and way better for you than white rice. I’ve never understood the concept of the eggnog. I ate eggs as a child and well in to my early adulthood but I was always a little grossed out by them, I mean – it’s kinda like eating a baby chicken, but not really. What’s to like about that? Ok, ok, I loved the salty goodness of an egg burger with tomato ketchup on a cold morning at the Melbourne three-day-event but if the egg was under- or over-cooked look out for me gagging in the corner! So I guess this ALWAYS meant that raw eggs were out of the question, even heavily disguised. Enter the Horchata. Not really an eggnog replacement at all, but a light milky coloured drink that’s yum and especially good on Christmas morning to enjoy during present opening! I’ve experimented a fair bit with the horchata recipe looking for the perfect mix of rice, cinnamon and almond. I’ve tried rice only, almond only (gross!), more sugar and less sugar, but the winner was rice, almonds, plenty of cinnamon and just the right amount of sugar (plus a few extra teaspoons for the kids!). You’ll want about a third of a cup of rice and a cup of almonds to 5 cups of water. Plus a couple of cinnamon sticks and as much fine sugar as you like for sweetness. When we were in Sumatra we stayed at a guest house called Kupu-Kupu Gardens. Right on the bank of the Bohorok River and a twenty minute walk out of town, it was peaceful and beautiful – the sort of place you day-dream about when you're stuck in traffic or braving the heaving mass of badly dressed flesh that is the pre Christmas shopping frenzy. Guest house owner Jeff was everything you could ask for in a host – smart, great company and a really good bloke. He arranged our tours, trekking and food. Gluten free vegan? Not a problem! Every morning and evening we ate at a big, communal table just a stone's throw from the river. We were able to watch the cook at work in the open kitchen and since we've been home we've had this meal on high rotation. Luckily the kids love it almost as much as we do and because, for us, this soup is so intrinsically linked to Bukit Lawang and the orangutans we have named it after them. Don't worry, despite the name it's gluten free, vegan and doesn't require the addition of any critically endangered primates. It's pretty flexible too - just add in anything that you've got in the fridge, it's the spices that make it work. Start off by frying an onion and some chopped carrots in a bit of oil. Throw in two dried chillies, two star anise, two cinnamon sticks, three or four cardamon pods and the same number of cloves. Let that cook for a bit until it smells really delicious. Add some water (about a cup) and chopped veggies in the order that they cook. In Sumatra we had this with potatoes, tomatoes, corn (sliced into rings) and beans. Usually we do broccoli, corn, beans and zucchini (in that order) – but it's up to you. Throw in about five cloves of garlic and a good sized chunk of ginger that you've smooshed with salt. The cooks at Kupu Kupu used a rock to crush their garlic and we liked the idea so much we brought one home from this gorgeous spot... On our way home from Sumatra we spent some time in Kuala Lumpur which is a great place to visit if you love food, amazing public transport and crazy festivals. Because Sophie is a coeliac she can only eat gluten free food, a fact that complicates matters a little, particularly when you pair it with a vegan diet. To help us out we downloaded some cards with the coeliac dietary guidelines on them in both Malay and Bahasa. These were great because, as we have discovered in the past, when there's a language barrier it's really hard to mime "please don't serve me food that contains either wheat or barley". On our first night in KL we decided to eat at an Indian restaurant that specialised in Southern Indian food as it's often vegan and gluten free. The restaurant Annapuurnam was within walking distance of our hotel, the staff were cool and really coeliac friendly. As a definite bonus the food was delicious and we made disgusting pigs of ourselves and ate way too much. When we came home we decided to make our version of our favourite dish. It's really easy but you will need to buy some curry leaves from an Asian deli. Chop and partially cook about 6 large potatoes in boiling water. When they're almost done, add half a head of cauliflower that you've chopped into bite sized pieces and keep on boiling until both are cooked. Don't cook them too much or they'll turn to mush. Drain and set aside. In a big pan or a wok, fry an onion and two chopped carrots in a couple of tablespoons of whatever oil you've got in your pantry. (We don't bother with coconut oil because it tastes too much like tanning lotion and gives me flashbacks to the 1980's.) Throw in some mustard seeds – about a tablespoon, star anise, a cinnamon stick, a bay leaf, two dried chillies, a few cardamon pods and a couple of cloves. When that smells really good add in a tablespoon or so of cumin and coriander powder, some tumeric, black pepper and about two sprigs of the curry leaves that you've stripped and roughly chopped. Spices burn really easily so keep a bit of water by the pan and throw some in if you think it's getting too hot. Trust me, don't throw in some of your gin and tonic, it doesn't really affect the taste of the dish, but you'll miss your drink when it's gone. When I hit my late 30's I felt as though I was too old to be chowing down on another mammal's breast milk. It's just personal preference. I have no problem with other people doing it (in fact two of my kids do it by the litre) but it's not for me. After weighing up the pros and cons of other types of milk (like soy and almond) we decided that rice milk was the best fit for us as it was less processed and not as greedy on resources as other milk alternatives. We're really happy drinking rice milk - it's not too expensive, requires no animal welfare considerations and tastes nice in a cup of tea. After drinking shop bought rice milk for a few years we decided to make our own. If you have five minutes and a decent blender, you can too. It's definitely not rocket science. Here's how it goes... Put one cup of cooked rice, four cups of water, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar in your blender and whizz it all around for a couple of minutes - basically until it looks like milk and not like small chunks of rice floating in water. White rice makes a pretty, white milk while brown rice milk is slightly less sparkly but way better for you. And how does it taste? To be honest, quite a lot like watery rice that's been whizzed in a blender. I have to admit, we are not DIY rice milk converts - but that again, is a matter of personal preference. If you're into alternative milks you might just like it and it certainly saves money. But we reckon we'll stick with shop bought rice milk for now. PJ |
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