'What's Left in the Fridge' Smoothie

Been doing that clearing out the stuff in the fridge thing for my breakfast & this turned out pretty well. Here's what I used (all measurements are vague, sorry):

half a punnet of blueberries
3 tablespoons banana soya yogurt
glass of soya milk
teaspoon of vanilla extract
teaspoon of hazelnut butter

Stick it all in a blender. Whizz. Voila! Breakfast!

Spaghetti with Tofu 'Meat'balls

I used to love meatballs as a kid so the idea of making some tofu-based ones really appealed to me. These passed the omnivore boyfriend test. I made a big batch of them & froze some for later.

Greek Butter Beans

I love this! It's a Celia Brooks Brown recipe from her 'World Vegetarian' book & much as I like to mess around with recipes this one is perfect just the way it is. It's really easy to throw together in a hurry. Just some onion, garlic, tomatoes, beans, olive oil, honey, red wine vinegar & loads of dill, oregano & thyme make a hungry vegan very happy : )

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Inspired by Rebecca I decided to finally have a go at making a vegan cheesecake at the weekend. I've had a can of pumpkin puree lurking at the back of the cupboard for many a moon so I thought I'd try to somehow combine the two. I blended the pumpkin with vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, firm & silken tofu & a little flour. The base is make from gingernuts & pecans & the top is glazed with maple syrup. Didn't turn out badly at all.

Rye Bread

Yesterday I decided that I wanted to create a rye bread recipe to use with my sourdough starter so I consulted my baking books for some inspiration. Probably my favourite of these is Rose Levy Beranbaum's 'Bread Bible'. If you're looking for just one book on baking bread this is it. It's really comprehensive & has some great tips on shaping the dough which I used to make my round loaf. Here's the recipe that I came up with:

Kerry's Rye Bread

250g rye flour
250g strong white bread flour
1 tablespoon dried active yeast
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablspoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon olive oil
180ml liquid sourdough culture
enough warm water to bind everything to a dough (sorry, I never measure this)

Mix all the dry indredients together. Add the wet ones & form into a dough. Knead for 10 mins then put into an oil lined bowl & tightly cover with cling film. Leave in a warm place to rise for an hour or until doubled in size. Punch the dough down & form into a round. Place on a baking sheet, cover with a tea towel & leave to rise again for another half an hour. Heat the oven to 200 c. Sieve some white bread flour over the top of the loaf & then use a sharp knife to slash the top. Bake for 30-40 mins.

Bring on the Greens!

Here are some things I cooked this week in my quest to incorporate a green vegetable into every meal:

- Roasted aubergine salad with red onion & capers
- Red lentils with soy sauce, ginger & chilli
- Quinoa, spinach & onion with tahini, garlic & lemon sauce
- Pasta with broccoli, chilli & garlic

Looking back at my recent posts I've noticed that 'Lizzie Dripping' seems to have become a vegan food blog. Funny how these things turn out. It hasn't been particularly deliberate. Since getting back to work it's been harder to find the time to do other stuff & as I find that most days my only creative activity is cooking it seems like a good idea to blog about that. Also, I do passionately feel that vegan food is interesting, varied & delicious & want to get that message out there I suppose.

Chocolate & Walnut Brownies

I felt like making some sweet treats this weekend. This recipe comes from Sarah Kramer's book, 'La Dolce Vegan'. Check out her blog. It's listed on my favourites as Sarah's blog. The usual eggs are replaced here with silken tofu which works really well at both binding the mixture & keeping the brownies moist. Paul's snaffled two already. Don't think they'll be around for long. Oh well, at least as the cook I get first dibs on scraping out the mixing bowl : )

Two Sausage Recipes

Out of necessity comes tasty food. I'm a big fan of the Redwood brand of veggie sausages but as they come in packs of ten whenever I buy them I always have lots left over that I never know what to do with. This week, to use them up, I tried inventing a couple of new sausage recipes with pretty good results. Here they are:


Spicy Sausage Pasta

4 veggie sausages (sliced)
onion (sliced)
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
tin of chopped tomatoes
a dried red chilli (crumbled)
bunch of flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
salt & pepper
200g pasta (I like wholewheat penne)

Start cooking the pasta. Fry the onion & sausage slices till slightly browned. Add the garlic & dried chilli & stir for a minute before adding the chopped tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the parsley & season. Combine with the cooked pasta.


Sausage, Bean & Apple Casserole

2 apples (peeled, cored & sliced into wedges)
onion (sliced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
bunch of sage (chopped)
tin butter beans (drained & rinsed)
5 or 6 veggie sausages (sliced)
big bunch of kale (washed & chopped)
250ml cider (I like the still, cloudy stuff)
200ml stock

Fry the apple wedges in sunflower oil till slightly browned. Put aside & in the same oil fry the sausage slices then add the onion, garlic & sage & a little splash of cider. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the cider, the kale, butter beans & stock & simmer for 10 minutes. Add the apple slices & season to taste. Serve with crusty bread for mopping up juices.

The Old Maltonians

Ah! Together again.

Catching Up

The wine flowed & we got to meet up withour fellow travellers Dawn & Phil.

Tiki Chic

We had a few problems getting up to Manchester. Our friends' car broke down & then we witnessed a horrible accident on the motorway. Thankfully everyone was fine but it left us all feeling a bit shaky & in need of a drink which we decided to take in the Polynesian kitsch style... in a bowl ... through a straw ... a bit too quickly.

Celebrating in Manchester

Just had a fantastic weekend in Manchester catching up with lots of lovely friends. Thanks to Georgie for lending us the car, Kate & Matt for putting up with my ipod playlists on the journey, Ben & Mark for being such great hosts & Oliver (the cat) for cuddles.

Guacamole & Roast Tomato Salsa

You may have gathered that I like Mexican food ... a lot! When we travelled in Mexico we realised how different the traditional food is from the stuff usually passed off as Mexican food over here. The dishes themselves are often quite simple. The complexity all comes in the sauces. We filled many a growling tummy with a simple meal of quesadillas accompanied by really good salsa & guacamole.

The best salsa recipe I've tried comes from the American champion of Mexican food Rick Bayless. He recommends that you roast the tomatoes, garlic & chilli before chopping. It's a bit fiddly but it really makes such a difference to the flavour. The garlic is smoky & more subtle & all the flavours intensify beautifully. The other ingredients are a little salt, some coriander, red onion & a tiny dash of apple cider vinegar.

I've tried lots of different guacamole recipes over the years but none has matched this one which I started making years ago. It's had very little tweaking since. I think the key to this recipe is the spring onions. I know lots of guacamole recipes include garlic but much as I love it I find it too overpowering here & the nice crunchy spring onions work a treat. The other thing I've discovered is you shouldn't put tomatoes in guacamole if you want it to stay green for more than about five minutes (you've been warned).


Ingredients:

3 ripe avocadoes
half teaspoon salt
juice of a lime
about half a jar of pickled jalepenos (chopped)
4 or 5 spring onions (chopped)
fresh coriander
a bit of pickling vinegar from the jalepeno jar.

Mash the avocaoes together with the salt & lime juice (this will stop it from discolouring). Add the choppped spring onions, jalepenos & coriander & a dash of vinegar & it's all done. Should keep in the fridge for 2 or 3 days.