Inspired by NYC Candle 79

We visited NYC last month and what a fab foodie trip it was! These 4 restaurants more than inspired me, they made me feel positive something similar could be done in London! I am almost always disappointed by veggie restaurants in my home town. Those in New York were seriously just in a totally different league, it almost makes me sad London is so far behind. Now for my master plan to start up a fabulous gourmet veg restaurant in London.....

• Blossom - stand out dish - Date and toffee vanilla parfait
• Candle 79 - stand out dish - Meatballs in tomato sauce
• Red Bamboo - stand out dish -Korean spring onion pancakes
• Dirt Candy - stand out dish -Murshroom pate

I of course couldn't resist to buy the cookbook from Candle 79 and had to make those meatballs as soon as I got home. Served them on tricolour farfelle with roasted garlic marinara sauce.

Sweet Vegan - Emily Mainquist

Delicious Delicious Cook Book! Everything I make from here is a huge success with non vegans. My fav book of the moment :) Below are the quickest blueberry muffins I have ever made and triple chocolate cheesecake. Thanks Emily!

http://twitter.com/emilysdesserts

Mexican Style Shepherds Pie

Considering I am British and making Shepherds Pie in a Mexican style seems very very odd to me - this was delicious! Isa's recipes are always fab so I should have known not to doubt her :)

http://www.theppk.com/2012/03/tamale-shepherds-pie/

Avocado Salad and super crispy wedges!

Both recipes can be found on the lovely Angela's blog. http://ohsheglows.com/
She truly has not only wonderful photography skills but an unbelievable understanding of what comprises a satisfying and wholesome meal. Everything I make from her blog is a huge success including these!

Japanese Curry

I absolutely love this brand of Japanese curry. I first saw it in a US supermarket and was pleased to discover it is here in the UK too!

All I do is roast some shop bought mock meat, chop it into pieces and fry with diced  courgette, mushrooms, garlic, onions and potatoes then add a tablet of this paste with some hot water and simmer until the potatoes are cooked! Pretty simple. The last time I made it, it was actually a little too runny so i added a tsp of cornstarch mixed with water right at the end.

Serve sprinkled with coriander and with lime and chappatis. My fav chappati recipe is listed below. Enjoy!

http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/chapatti.html

Malai Koftas

For our 2 year anniversary I wanted to make something a little special for the husband :) His favourite food is paneer but instead of just frying it and dunking it in various sauces I saw this on the UK food channel and thought it would do nicely.

http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/malai-koftas.html

Pecan Pie

I love your recipes Isa I really do. The only thing that ever goes wrong is that I make stupid mistakes like cracking a shop bought pie shell but never mind! I made this on Christmas day and it was beautiful. It disappeared so quickly I think my family were in love with it!

http://www.theppk.com/2011/08/maple-pecan-pie/

Some quick dinners

A bit of leftover tarka daal, some leftover rice transformed into chinese fried rice and a ready made bean kiev.

Channa masala and rice with leftover lentil cakes (started off with a recipe from the PPK and then transformed into something entirely different due to lack of correct ingredients)

2 heavenly quick loaves thanks to the PPK!

I had to mail order pumpkin puree since I couldnt find it in my local supermarket but the Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf and Chocolate Banana Swirl Loaf from www.theppk.com are seriously a couple of the best cakes I have tasted :) Parents, husbands, friends were all delighted as was I.

Homemade Pizzas

There is nothing quite like being able to have whatever veggie toppings your heart desires instead of being limited to the 1 option on the pizza takeaway menu!

I use Rachel Allen's dough recipe but not her sauce - I made my own sauce from chopped tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt and dried thyme.

http://www.rachelallen.co.uk/recipes_november08.html

Toppings included peppadew peppers, sweet corn, mushrooms, green chillies, onion and a veggie pepperoni recipe from The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions which is by far my new fav book.

This is how they looked before 15mins in a hot oven :)