Colleen's African Sweet Potato & Peanut Stew (vegan & gluten-free)

Rocket & Roses Kitchen Play List:

Thunder ~ Robert Johnson's Tombstone
Audioslave ~ Shape Of Things To Come
Pavarotti ~ My Way
UB40 ~ Tears From My Eyes
Billie Holiday ~ I've Got My Love To Keep You Warm
Garbage ~ Supervixen
Toyah ~ Thunder In The Mountains
Jack Savoretti ~ Jack In A Box
Lenny Kravitz ~ Rock & Roll Is Dead!
Joan Jett ~ Love Is Pain
P!nk ~ Who Knew
Nerina Pallot ~ When Did I Become Such A Bitch?
Queen ~ The Invisible Man
U2 ~ With Or Without You

The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is one of my favourite cookbooks to date. So when I am lacking in energy and mobility I often find myself flipping between the pages of it looking for inspiration. And this is how I came to make (with the help of Ann..thank you!) this stew. 

I had a bag of sweet potatoes in my stocks and both Ann and myself love them. Once we started reading down the list of ingredients we realised that this recipe was the one for that day. The only ingredients missing in my stocks was the kidney beans so ML made a dash to the supermarket to buy some. I never run out of kidney beans...that shows clearly how upside-down my world is right now. With kidney beans purchased we set about making Colleen's stew. 

From the initial stages of cooking off the onions and garlic our mouths were watering, add to that the pepper and spices and we were impatient to eat it. It's very easy to make and the only time consuming task is shelling the roasted peanuts which I confess I had to sit down to do. The aroma in the kitchen was a delight and soon we were spooning a little brown rice into a bowl and smothering it with the stew. Garnishing with chopped peanuts and fresh coriander leaves we were set. 

We devoured this evening meal and probably ate a little more than we should! We were stuffed but not horribly so. The comforting sweet potatoes and kidney beans sat perfectly in the spicy peanut sauce. It was a divine meal...one I will no doubt be making again. 

And on other news...I am finally finding my fresh coriander love. Who knew? Trying to not become obsessed by the green leafy is hard...maybe I need to get a life? Anyway...I gave this recipe a 10/10 and Ann went further and gave it an awesome 11/10. It's a keeper...

Colleen's African Sweet Potato & Peanut Stew

Colleen's African Sweet Potato & Peanut Stew    Serves 4
(Recipe from The Vegan Table/Patrick-Goudreau)

3 tbsp/45 ml water, sauteing 
2 medium onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1/2" (1cm) squares
1 tbsp/15g light brown sugar (I used brown sugar/stevia blend)
1 tsp grated/minced fresh ginger 
1 tsp (2 g) ground cumin 
1 tsp (2 g) ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 to 3/4 cup (130-195g) smooth natural peanut butter (crunchy works great too!)
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" (1 cm) cubes
1 can (15oz or 42og) red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
4 cups (940ml) vegetable stock
1 tsp (6g) salt or to taste 
1/2 to 1 cup (70-145g) chopped, unsalted dry roasted peanuts
chopped fresh coriander, for garnish 

Heat water in a large sized saucepan over a medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until softened for about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper, cover and cook until softened for about 5 minutes. Stir in brown sugar, ginger, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne and cook stirring for about 30 seconds. Stir in peanut butter, distribute evenly. Add sweet potato and kidney beans and stir to evenly coat. Add vegetable stock, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until sweet potatoes are cooked. Approx 20-30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary. Serve in individual bowls topped with peanuts and coriander. 

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your week is going well?

~Red~

NB: This is not my creation and therefore take no credit for it whatsoever. It is the hard work and creation of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and hers alone. I thank her for being an inspiration and for sharing such tasty recipes. ~R~

   

Colleen's Grilled Veggie Fajitas with Cashew Sour Cream

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Luke Morley ~ One Drop
The Eagles ~ Love Will Keep Us Alive
Skin ~ Colourblind
The Police ~ So Lonely 
Halestorm ~ Love Bites
Josh Todd ~ Straight Jacket
Madonna ~ Thief of Hearts
Prince ~ Cream
Foo Fighters ~ Breakout
Billy Joel ~ Honesty
Lady Antebellum ~ If I Knew Then
Buckcherry ~ Highway Star
Alicia Keys ~ No One
Missy Higgins ~ All In My Head

During my very recent adventure in Amsterdam I was unfortunate to have experienced the worst veggie fajitas...ever. We found ourselves very hungry and decided upon an Argentinian restaurant as we could all just about find something to eat. I ordered the only veggie dish on the menu and a side order of french fries...just in case. Thankfully I did because when I bit into my first filled burrito...I was repulsed by the flavours. It wasn't the tortillas as they were freshly made and soft...very tasty. The filling when sat in its dish looked packed full of veggies and well cooked but the taste..was awful. It tasted sour...and I hate to say it...like it had been thrown together in the same pan straight after a meat dish had been cooked. I set my burrito into the veggie filling dish and pushed it away. The salad however was fresh, crispy and delicious so I filled my remaining burritos with that and enjoyed my fries. It was disappointing but I didn't let it ruin my trip. 

It did leave me feeling a little gun shy at the thought of fajitas....so I knew the only way around this was to get my ass in the kitchen and make a batch of fajitas that I know and love. And to aid this I turned to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The Vegan Table because her fajita recipe rocks. And this time I also made a batch of her Cashew Sour Cream and I loved it. Even back in my veggie days I never liked sour cream...but this...wow...something else. 

I took my first bite and my taste buds rejoiced...the great taste of the marinated then griddled veggies...the bite of the Cashew Sour Cream...the wholesome wholemeal wraps...Yum! I can now thankfully leave my Argentinian fajita experience firmly in the past...lol. This is what real veggie fajitas are all about...and you have stacks of leftovers...

Such a beautiful plate of fajitas

Colleen's Grilled Veggie Fajitas with Cashew Sour Cream   Serves 12
(Recipe from A Vegan Table/C.Patrick-Goudreau)

Snack sized tortillas of your choice

Juice from 2 limes
1/4 cup olive oil (I use Canola/Rapeseed Oil)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp mild chilli powder
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
salt and pepper to season to taste

1 large red onion, sliced into wedges
3 bell peppers (red, orange, green or yellow) cut into 1cm strips
2 courgettes, halved and sliced into 1cm strips
4 garlic cloves, halved length ways
1 cup of your favourite salsa
1 batch of Cashew Sour Cream (recipe to follow)

In a large size bowl, stir together the lime juice, oil, oregano, cumin, chilli powder, coriander, salt and pepper. Toss the onion, bell peppers, courgette, and garlic and toss well to combine.  Set aside..

Prepare your grill or roasting pan. The vegetables can be made in a large grill pan, grilled outdoors, grilled on a tabletop electric grill, broiled or roasted. It's up to you. Grilling, roasting or broiling will yield the most flavour. Cook vegetables until desired doneness, 7-15 minutes, turning occasionally to char each side. Brush on marinade as the vegetables cook. Reserve in a large size bowl. 

Grill the tortillas, about 1 minute on each side, or microwave them on high, wrapped in paper towel, for 20 seconds. Once warm, keep them in a low oven or wrapped in a kitchen towel to retain heat. 

To serve, place vegetables, tortillas, salsa, cashew sour cream, and some guacamole on a table or buffet-style on kitchen counter. Each person can assemble his or her own fajita, as desired. 

Grilled marinated veggies....

Colleen's Cashew Sour Cream     Makes about 1 cup
(Recipe from The Vegan Table/Patrick-Gourdreau)

1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
1/2 - 3/4 cup water
salt to taste (I didn't use any)

In a blender, combine the cashews, lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the water. Blend on low speed, gradually turning speed to maximum. 

While the machine is running, gradually add more water, to keep the ingredients from sinking to the bottom of the blender and until desired consistency is reached. 

Continue blending until the mixture is smooth and the consistency of whipped cream. Add salt to taste. 

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. If it becomes too thick, simply thin it out with some water. 

Creamy and with good 'bite'....

Serve...and enjoy! (Also good with a margarita on the side...lol) 

One last gratuitous shot...Is your stomach rumbling yet??? llol

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Wednesday is a pleasant one....

~Red~

Many thanks as always to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau for being an inspiration and for filling my shelves with great cook books.    

Colleen's Split Pea Soup

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Audioslave ~ Exploder
Nerina Pallot ~ The Right Side
Lacuna Coil ~ Stately Lover
Sandi Thom ~ Time
The Gossip ~ Heavy Cross
Buckcherry ~ Sorry
Sammy Davis Jr ~ Let There Be Love
All Saints ~ Black Coffee
The Virginmarys ~ Bang Bang Bang
Sufjan Stevens ~ I Want To Be Well
Beth Hart ~ Ain't No Way
Alanis Morrisette ~ Forgiven (acoustic)
Bowie ~ Heroes
Audioslave ~ Bring Em Back Alive

I am flying solo again folks..ML is off working overseas (well technically under sea as Eurostar is the transportation this time..lol) and I am using this week to try and push some boundaries. I am going to be sensible..ahem..ok so I may do too much but I have to try. As I type, I have Bowie's Heroes playing in the background...no one else is going to be my hero...that I have to be for myself. But I do have a number of people on stand by in case I get in over my head lol. Thankfully. So....

The blog update is that things are coming along albeit slowly and we have two major new snags we are trying to sort out...although they are more related to Bloggers formatting...*expletive therapy* and many people are having the same problem...so my mantra for this week is....It's during the darkest of times that true friendship shines most brightly...and that is a very personal one and the lovely friends who it is for will know its them...or at least they should! lol. The text box is frozen but the problem is being worked on.

It's been very sunny here this weekend and quite warm at times but we are most definitely heading into deep autumn weather. Now, not that we ever need an excuse to eat wholesome and homemade soups in the R&R kitchen but I was inspired to request a huge pot of one of my favourite autumn soups for this weeks lunches...and most likely dinners too! lol The recipe is the creation and hard work of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau from her fantastic cookbook The Vegan Table and I can't believe I haven't blogged it before now...but it seems I haven't so you lucky folks get it today. Now I strongly urge you to buy CPDs cookbook..its treasured in my collection. I adapted mine more in the method of cooking than any of the ingredients. I place everything in my slowcooker the night before and leave it to cook overnight. The soup you get is thicker than CPDs version but I kinda like that about it because when I am craving this soup I am also craving that comfort factor. And I also hate slightly under cooked split peas...urgh. Do not get me started on The Great Yellow Split Peas cooking disaster...*shudder* But I shall post CPDs cooking method...mine is simply this...all ingredients into the slow cooker and cook for 10 hours on LOW. Simple..

Colleen's Split Pea Soup with Spelt & Sunflower Roll

Colleen's Split Pea Soup           Makes 4-6 servings
(Recipe from The Vegan Table/Patrick-Goudreau)

2 cups/450g green split peas
6-7 cups/1410-1645ml water or veggie stock
1 med onion, diced
2 potatoes, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp dried mustard (I used 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp liquid smoke or liquid animos
salt and pepper to season to taste

Rinse the spilt peas and check for stones etc. Then place all ingredients except the salt and pepper in a large soup pan. and bring to a simmer. Cover loosely and cook until peas are tender, 1 hour or longer. Check occasionally to make sure water has not being completely evaporated. Heat should be low-medium.

The resulting soup should be thick and creamy, with the split peas quite broken down and mushy. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot.

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Monday is as pain free as possible...

~Red~ 

Walnut Pesto

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Gary Moore ~ Parisienne Walkways
James Morrison ft Nelly Furtado ~ Broken Strings
Madeleine Peyroux ~ J'ai Deux Amours
Foo Fighters ~ Still
Joan Jett ~ Misunderstood
Bowes & Morley ~ Freakshow
Natalie Clein ~ Brahms: Cello Sonata #2 in F
Garbage ~ Fix Me Now
Beulah ~ I Can't Wait
The Union ~ What Doesn't Kill You
Joan Jett ~ I Hate Myself For Loving You
The Ting Tings ~ Shut Up and Let Me Go
Queen ~ Love Of My Life
Depeche Mode ~ I Feel You

When enjoying a meal that includes pesto..I often find myself sitting there in disbelief that I avoided it for so many years. I have a slight issue with oil so I always found shop bought versions too..well..oily! lol. And when I stopped eating dairy it was yet another excuse to avoid the stuff. And then I saw a recipe for vegan pesto and decided to give it a try...and obviously making it myself I was able to control the oiliness. And what do ya know...I loved it.

I started off just having it with pasta and veggies and keeping it simple with the basil, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil. Then ML found a Healing Foods recipe for Almond Pesto and from there I was a self confessed Pesto junkie. And have tried many different types...varying the greens...varying the nuts..flavoured oils...no oils. Loved them all and especially Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Lemon Pesto Panini recipe...two words...picnic heaven!! And I am planning on a whole pesto pizza experiment soon.

ML loves a bargain and often comes home with a large bargain batch of ingredients and this week it was basil. And instantly it was a case of what we could use in our stocks to make a good batch of Pesto. No pine nuts..not enough almonds...but we did have a bag of walnuts.

This ever simple recipe was blitzed up and ML used some in a very tasty Tofu Scramble and last night it was the pastas turn at trying this new recipe. Wholemeal pasta smothered in the walnut pesto and served with some Tenderstem Broccoli made for a wholesome and earthy meal.

Walnut Pesto

Walnut Pesto  Makes approx 2/3 cup of pesto

4 pkts of basil or 1 tightly packed cup of leaves
75g raw walnuts
1 clove of garlic
2-3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (or to your preference)

In a food processor or blender roughly blend the basil, garlic and walnuts. Then with the machine running drizzle in the oil until you have your own preferred consistency. Spoon into a sealed container and store in the fridge until needed.

When using with pasta take out the required amount of pesto and allow it to get to room temp before you add it to the pasta.

Dinner..wholesome pasta with Walnut Pesto and Tenderstem Broccoli.

Naturally if you are GF just simply use GF pasta instead.

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Friday is a fantastic one...

~Red~

Gratuitous Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake...with berries..

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Chopin Nocturnes Playlist on iPod

Well..it's been quite a week here at R & R HQ...with a very bad viral nasty rampaging through my entire family. ML & I were completely floored by it and could barely lift our heads off of the pillows yesterday. And if I'm honest we are still under the viral influence and fear we shall be for a few more days to come....Urgh!...

Trustworthy stepped in and wrote a great posting about his Happy Chicken Nuggets which I thought was great and you folks have responded well to it. May keep him around you know? lol. Thanks fella...

Being on that horrific bed rest thing...I have very little to post food wise today but I do have a great photo for you to enjoy...it's virtually chocoholic foodie porn. lol. It comes via ML..who was once again cake baker commander in chief..as it was my baby sisters 30th birthday on Wednesday. And my sisters request is always the same...chocolate, chocolate and oh a little more chocolate. Crazy chick. Oh and if it's OK..maybe a little fruit to go with it...

So here it is....the 30th birthday cake...which I can confirm..tasted every bit as good as it looked. The chocolate cake recipe is Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe from Joy of Vegan Baking. It's the perfect chocolate cake and the filling and covering comes from a very old recipe of mine. Quite fudgey. The centre of the bundt is filled with strawberries, raspberries and cherries....and when you cut into the cake...there is a waterfall of fruit. And the combination of the smells of chocolate and the berries...is to die for. Yum!

So chocolately....so fruity...so good. lol

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your weekend has started well and brings you many smiles...

Stay viral free out there...*cough and sneeze*...Urgh!

~Red~

Fantasy Friday: Picnic in the Rain

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Nelly & Tim McGraw ~ Over and Over
Idil Biret ~ Chopin: Nocturne#2 in E Flat. Op.9/2 CT 109
Eurythmics ~ Sweet Dreams
Pat Benetar ~ Promises In The Dark
Neil Diamond ~ What#s It Gonna Be
Natalie Clein ~ Brahms: Cello Sonata #1 in E minor,Op.38-1
Justin Timberlake ~ FutureSex/LovesSound
Natalie Clein ~ Schubert:Arpeggione Sonate in A Minor
Evanesence ~ Lithium
Nickelback ~ Cowboy Hat
Franz List Chamber Orch ~ Bach:Orchestral Suite #3 in D
Madison Avenue ~ Edible French Chic
Ocean Colour Scene ~ The Circle
Caro Emerald ~ You Don't Love Me
The Quireboys ~ Hey You
Black Robot ~ Shake A Leg

Fantasy Friday..sheesh..they come around so quick. But that's a good thing right? Because that means it's the weekend...wehoo! lol. But then I look out the window and it's pouring with rain and it's not so much a wehoo as a hoo. lol. Anyway reminding myself that I am one of those weird rain loving folks (although even I am getting a little fed up with it now!) I decide to work with the rain and factor it into my fantasy Friday theme.

So today I am catering for a Picnic in the Rain..nope..not a car picnic by the sea..although they can be fun. I'm thinking sat under massive tree in Normanby Park on camping chairs. The tree sheltering us from the rain, enough to get comfy and eat our lunch whilst watching and enjoying the rain around us. (Told you I liked the wet stuff!! I find it calming when it isn't coming through my old house's various roofs and other places..URGH! Anyway!Ahem!)

Normanby Park ~ Picture it raining..and a rain loving
freak camped out under one ot the trees with a picnic! lol

As it's raining and it will no doubt be cold the first selection would be a soup that could be enjoyed from one the fantastic soup flasks you can pick up quite cheaply now. The soup of choice would be...

Rocket and Roses Root Veggie & Thyme Soup

This soup is a good all rounder and keeps really well in a soup flask..it will warm the cockles of your heart and your extremities too! lol. It's comfort in a bowl..great for sipping whilst rain watching.

Colleen's Panini with Roasted Veggies & Lemon-Basil Pesto

This fantastic panini recipe is one of the many fabulous recipes from the kitchen of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. I have made this many times and it works well with GF bread too..so if you are GF no fear..you can still enjoy this. I make the roasted veggies a day before so assembly is really easy on the day. And they keep well and don't get soggy like some sandwiches can. And they are just as delicious cold as they are straight from the griddle.

So drinks for this affair would be for me..as ever..water! Don't I know how to have fun, eh? lol. But I would also have with me hot water to make herbal teas or coffees. Desserts would most likely be fruit of some kind..but after the soup and Panini I'm not sure we'd have room..lol.

So there you have it..the picnic in the rain..under a magnificent old tree for shelter. After the picnic I would probably pull out my current reading book and enjoy some quiet time hidden under the tree..just lovely! lol.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Friday is less rainy and full of sunshine for you..

~R~



Colleen's Purple Potato Soup

Kitchen Play List: Bob Hope & Shirley Ross ~ Two Sleepy People
                                     P.Diddy ~ Come to Me
                                     Dean Martin ~ Ain't That a Kick in the Head
                                     Harry Connick, Jr ~ First Time I Ever...
                                     Colbie Caillat ~ Begin Again
                                     Gordon Haskell ~ How Wonderful You Are

I had a very purple morning in my kitchen the day I made this soup. I had my soup pan bubbling away on one side of my stove top and a large vat of German Red/Purple Cabbage stewing on another. I truly felt like a witch stood there tending to my two cauldrons..lol. 

I have spent the last two years trying to find purple potatoes in England. My Love has spent hours cruising all the seeded potato and seeds sites here trying to find a purple variety. A few month back we thought we had succeeded at finding some a farmers market. Bought the whole box and when we got home..we were gutted to find out they only had blue/purple skins and white insides. Very cunning sales technique of the woman on the farm stall..going back there? I think not..what a fibber! 

But during a slow cruise around one of the stores of the 'expensive' supermarket chain here in
the UK (Yes you know who you are and should be ashamed at most of your prices!) that we found a bag of Purple Potatoes. We very nearly did a victory lap around the store! And for a large bag of them they were reasonably priced at £1.45. Not too bad. So they were hastily put in our trolley. 

Back home I opened the packet and put them in my potato storer but couldn't help scratching the skin of one..just to be sure. lol. Yep..beautiful gemstone purple loviness waited for me. Success. I knew which recipe I wanted to try out first and it can be found in Colleen Patrick-Gourdreaus wonderful cook book Color Me Vegan.

It was very easy to make and the results were a bluish/purple soup that was rich in texture and very potatoey in flavour. I felt very peasanty as I enjoyed my steaming hot bowlful. We really enjoyed it after we stopped chuckling over the colour. I know...I know..small things..simple minds..Yeah, yeah, yeah. We were very excited by the purple potatoes. lol

I made one major adaption to C.P-D's recipe..which was the milk/stock ratio. I am not a huge lover of milky soups. I don't mind a hint of milk but I don't like a 'knock you over the head milky' soup. I had a very bad experience with a Courgette Soup which was predominantly soya milk..that completely curdled and did nothing for the texture. This was back in my very early days of being a vegan and it still makes me shudder to think of that soup. *shudder* I had very little experience with soya milk at that point and made us both eat the whole soup, thinking that was how it was supposed to be. lol. 

So I changed the stock amount to 3 cups and the milk down to 1/2 cup. It was still silky and rich in texture and much better suited to our palates. The recipe below is C.P-D's exact recipe. 

Colleen's Purple Potato Soup

Colleen's Purple Potato Soup Serves 4
(Recipe from Colour Me Vegan/Patrick-Goudreau)

1 tbsp oil or water, for sauteing
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2lb purple potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2 cups/470ml veggie stock
1 1/2 cup of vegan milk of choice
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a soup pan and saute the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes until the garlic has gone golden brown. 

Add the potatoes, cauliflower and veggie stock. Cover, bring to the boil, and then reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are cooked through..approx 20 minutes. 

Once the potatoes are fork tender, stir in the milk and cook until heated through, about 10 minutes longer. 

Puree the soup in a blender until it is completely smooth. Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve. 

Enjoy the purple fun! 
~R~
 

 

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Spring Greens and Sweet Potato

Kitchen Play List:  Bryan Adams ~ 18 till I Die Album

Well...what a Sunday I've just had..complete techno meltdown..lol. OK...so the hot chocolate fix helped with my own personal meltdown because of the techno problems..OK, OK so did the therapeutic expletives..However I managed to not have to throw something, much to the Sock Stealers disappointment! lol. (p.s. Sock Stealer where are all our socks? It's getting chilly here now!) My Web Master spent some time last night flipping between our computers trying to sort out the issues for me. And we may have a temporary fix...if you are reading this then my Web Master's battle was won! lol. 

So..back to the food. On Friday I made a soup that would feed myself, My Love and my sister with some left over for my sister to take home for her freezer. I am currently eating my last bowl of this soup right now. It's a soup that I have smiled at many times, when looking at the wonderful photo of it in Colleen Patrick-Goudreaus fantastic cookbook Colour Me Vegan.

Now Yellow Split Peas and I have a history...made up of hours of soaking, cooking and my almost teary state when no matter how I've cooked them..they have ended up like little defiant bullets in a bowl. Crikey these pulses have made me swear. But I bought a massive bag of them from the Indian and Continental Store that I bulk buy all my dried goods...with the hope that..this bag will bring me better results. And then I filled up my tub and put the remaining ones in their tightly sealed bag in my dry stock cupboard and there they have stayed. Until Thursday...I took the book of my shelf opened it up to the recipe read it through and thought..."This time!!!..." To hedge my bets I put the required amount in to soak overnight. 

Friday morning I went through the process of making this recipe. And it's not a hard recipe and comes together very easily. I had to substitute the collards for Spring Greens and the yam for sweet potato. After it had had it's full cooking time the spilt peas were still hard. Not break your teeth hard...but unpleasant. So I added more water to the soup pan and cooked for another ten minutes and repeated this for a further 3 times more. If I'm honest the split peas didn't get squishy soft which was a great disappointment. But they had reached a point at which they could be eaten and enjoyed. The flavours were really good and the soup was all a soup should be...warming, comforting and filling. The spices were good and the other textures from the carrots, sweet potatoes and the spring greens were pleasing. But the best part of this soup for me was the colour. It's bright sunny yellow colour was a smile inducing wonder. The cook book photo had also made me smile but the soup in front of me was even better. (Just a shame the photograph I took didn't do it justice..)

I will make this again...maybe try pressure cooking the yellow split peas first? I make C.P-D's Green Split Pea Soup from The Vegan Table..in my slow cooker after soaking the split peas overnight so maybe that would be worth a try. 

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Spring Greens and Sweet Potato

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Spring Greens and Sweet Potato
(Recipe slightly adapted from Colour Me Vegan/Patrick-Goudreau)
  
1 tbsp oil of choice, I used Rapeseed
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp curry powder (I used Medium Madras~R~)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp tumeric
1-2 med garnet or jewel yams, cut into 1" cubes (Iused Sweet Potato~R~)
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
8 cups/1880ml veggie stock
3 cups/420g dried yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed
1 bunch of collard greens, chopped into bite size pieces (I used Spring Greens~R~)
1 tsp salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper


Heat the oil in a large saucepan and then add the onions. Stir and cook until they translucent, approx 7 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the curry powder, cumin, mustard, tumeric, yams, carrot, stock, and split peas to the pot. Stir to combine.  Cover and simmer until the split peas are tender and broken down, about 1 hour. Stir often to prevent the peas from sticking to the bottom of the pan. 


About 10 minutes before the soup is done, add the chopped collards to the pot and stir to combine, and cook for about 10 minutes until they soften and integrate with the rest of the soup. Season with salt, to taste, and serve hot with freshly ground black pepper. 


NB Please remember the cooking time is an approx..mine took much longer almost twice the time and that was with soaking! So if you have any wonderful tips at cooking the perfect yellow split pea I would welcome hearing from you happily! 

And once again, thank you, to Colleen for another fantastic cookbook! 


Enjoy! 
~R~

Carrot and Ginger Soup

Kitchen Play List: Gary Moore ~ Ballads and Blues Album

I have tried for years to get on board with the Carrot & Ginger Juice train. But I can't..I'm not the biggest ginger fan. I like it in things but as a main flavour it just leaves me cold...which is a great pain for My Love who adores the stuff. lol. Ah well. 

I had a glut of carrots that needed using up and I needed to make a snack soup for the following day. The day before I had been flipping through Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's cook book The Vegan Table and had briefly glanced at this recipe. To be honest the ginger did put me off at first but the photo made it look so good I decided to try it out. 

It was simple to make...used up almost all of my carrot glut...and tasted great! I was so pleased to have made this soup. It's not as sweet as I had suspected and the ginger really is more of a hint of ginger. The colour just makes you smile as it's so sunny...it's almost like you get a shot of happy at the same time. lol

Colleen's Carrot & Ginger Soup ~ Happiness! lol

Carrot and Ginger Soup
(Recipe from A Vegan Table/Patrick-Goudreau)

2 tbsp water
1 large or sm onions
2 tsp minced garlic
8 carrots, peeled and slices into circles
2 med potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp salt 
1/2 tsp white pepper
5 cups veggie stock 

Heat the water and cook the onions and garlic until soft. Add the carrots, potatoes, ginger, salt, pepper and the stock. Cook the veggies until they are tender. Season and blitz the soup until smooth.

Enjoy the happiness! 
~R~
 

Chana Masala Nirvana

Kitchen Play List:  Evanescence ~ Lacrymosa
                                      Mr.Buble ~ At This Moment
                                      Metallica ~ Wherever I May Roam
                                      Louis Armstrong ~ Let's Do It
                                      Melissa Etheridge ~ Bring Me Some Water
                                      The Eagles ~ Last Good Time in Town
                                      Sara Sant'Ambrogio ~ Summertime

Now once upon a time..if My Love announced that a work commitment would mean that I would be eating alone..I used to be quite sad. But I take that as good sign...if I didn't miss my other half then there would be a problem right? Or is that just me? lol However, I'm getting used it and I've managed to change my sadness into something else...a free pass to cook the foods that I really like and miss (chickpeas, rice pudding, pineapple, sweetcorn..lol). Hurrah! lol So when I was told I was dining solo on Wednesday evening..I instantly thought of a recipe that I had been desperate to try out for ages. 

It's no secret that I'm a card carrying, paid up member of the chick pea club. My name is Red and I am a chick pea addict. lol. My Love..not so much. So chickpeas are usually eaten as hummus, dips and as part of something. Me? I can eat them out of the tin! lol. A couple of years ago I bought Colleen Patrick-Goudreaus cook book The Vegan Table. 

I have been wanting to try her Chana Masala recipe ever since the first time I " Ooooh'd " at the photo. But I knew this would be way to 'chickpea' for My Love. lol. So my mind was made up, on Wednesday that was my evening meal sorted out. 

It was everything I hoped it would be. Spicy, rich and choc full of chickpeas. My lips had that heady mix of numbness and tingling afterward. I made two changes to the recipe..instead of using 2 tbsp sugar...I used 1 tbsp and the recipe calls for 1 1/2 tsp chilli powder...I used 1/2 tsp hot chilli powder and 1 tsp mild. I loved this recipe and I will be making it often..even when My Love is here. lol. Sorry...

Chana Masala Nirvana! lol

Chana Masala  Serves 8-10
(Recipe from The Vegan Table/Patrick-Goudreau)

2 cups/470ml water plus 2 tbsp water, divided
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp chilli powder 
2 tbsp sugar
1 6oz tin of tomato paste
4 x 14oz tins of chick peas, rinsed and drained
salt to taste

Heat the 2 tbsp water in a large skillet/pan. Add the onions and ginger, and saute for about 5 minutes or until they are translucent. Add coriander, cumin, garam masala, cinnamon, cloves, chilli powder and sugar and stir for 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Stir to combine. 

Add chickpeas and remaining water  and cook for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. To vary thickness of the curry, either add water or let water cook down. Add salt to taste. 

So good I had to show it twice! lol

And then enjoy Nirvana! I did! lol
~R~
 

Falafel Burgers with Hummus, Grated Carrot in Wholemeal Pitta Bread

Kitchen Play List: Crippled Black Phoenix ~ Let Me Put My Love..
                                     ABBA ~ Take a Chance on Me
                                     Newton Faulkner ~ Feels Like Home
                                     Natalie Cole ~ Every Time We Say Goodbye
                                     Dan Balan ~ Chica Bomb
                                     Donna Summer ~ Hot Stuff

I was catering for the masses again today..lol. And I loved every mad minute of it. My kid brother was home visiting and he was joining us all for lunch..us all being My Love, my sister and her little ones and our other nephew J. My brother does try with vegan cuisine and he does try most things I cook for him. But the one dish that he really loves is Falafel...although when he's had it here, it's always the time when I haven't made it!! Hmm..not sure how I feel about that..lol. But today I wanted to make the burgers from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's fantastic cookbook The Vegan Table 

We like our falafel served hot or cold in a wholemeal pitta smeared in hummus and lots of grated carrot and usually some shredded lettuce. And apart from the lettuce that's how we served them today. 

The recipe was easy to follow and the falafel burgers came together really well...even with a very enthusiastic two year old doing the mixing. lol. Now as they were so many of us I made a double batch as I wanted my brother to be able to take some home with him...so I should have had between 16-20 burgers...but I only ended up with 11. But they were regular veggie burger size. Oh well. They were delicious and the texture was really good. I also liked the fact that they were baked on parchment paper in the oven and not shallow or deep fried and you didn't lose any of the flavour baking them. I think these will definitely be my 'go to'  falafel recipe from now on. If you haven't bought The Vegan Table...you really should! lol. 

Falafel Burgers with hummus, grated carrot in a Wholemeal Pitta

Falafel Burgers with Hummus, Grated Carrot in a Wholemeal Pitta
(Falafel recipe from The Vegan Table/Patrick-Goudreau)

Wholemeal pitta breads
Grated carrots
Hummus of your choice

1 14oz tin of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp tahini
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 200'C/400'F/Gas Mark 6. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Pulse the drained chickpeas in a food processor until thick and pasty. Transfer to a medium sized bowl. 

Add the onion, garlic, parsley, tahini, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and baking powder. Slowly add the breadcrumbs until the mixture begins to hold together..(I use the whole cup of breadcrumbs ~R~) Shape into patties/burgers and then place them on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes and then flip and bake for a further 10 minutes. 

Cut along the edge of a pitta and discard the edge piece then carefully open the pitta. Smear hummus on one side then cover the hummus with the grated carrot and then place a falafel burger in the pitta...and then munch away! 

Enjoy! 
~R~