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 :)

Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

While preparing my Christmas menu and flipping through the lovely Veganomicon - I came across this recipe and it seemed so quick and easy I couldn't resist having a go! Half the recipe made the amount you see in the photo - they were heaven!!

Shahi Baked Paneer

A delicious creamy paneer dish - it is a bit time consuming so I would save it for a special Sunday lunch or a birthday meal. Huge benefit for parties in that you can make the night before, shove it in the fridge and leave the baking part till the next day.


- Soak 1 tbsp cashew nuts in 2 tbsp milk for 30mins
- Blend with 4 cloves garlic and 2 inch piece ginger until you have a smooth paste - set aside
- Deep fry 400 g cubed paneer pieces and set aside
- Boil 150g frozen peas and set aside
- Chop 2 onions and fry until golden, add 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 bay leaves and 1 tsp chili powder and fry for 1min
- Add 1 can chopped tomatoes and cook until reduced by half
- Add 200g plain yogurt, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, the paste from earlier and stir to combine
- Add 4 tbsp double cream, the fried paneer and peas and cook for 1 min
- Taste for seasoning
- Pour into a baking dish, sprinkle with a handful of grated mozarella and bake at 180 degrees for 20min
- Serve with chappatis and onion/tomato salad

Oriental Mock Chicken Salad

I used to make this all the time when I cooked meat with leftover crispy chicken and I was delighted to find it works perfectly with mock meat - I like it best with the frozen type from the Chinese supermarket.

- Cook 1 pack mock chicken breasts according to packet instructions - drizzle with olive oil first and possibly cook a little longer if not golden and crispy
- Shred 1/4 of a small red cabbage, thinly slice 1 red onion, use a vegetable peeler to shred 4 carrots and chop a handful of fresh coriander. Place this in a big bowl
- In a small bowl whisk together the dressing: 3 tbsp soya sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp sunflower oil, 2 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp lime juice.
- When the mock chicken is ready snip into strips with scissors and add to the bowl of veggies with the dressing
- Toss well and serve

Aubergine and mock chicken parmagiana (serves 2)

- Put 2 breaded mock chicken schnitzels in the oven per packet instructions (I use frys)
- Also into the oven in a roasting dish place 6 halved tomatoes and 8 whole unpeeled garlic cloves drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with dried thyme, sugar, salt and black pepper
- Both will take around 20mins
- Meanwhile slice thinly and fry 1 aubergine draining on kitchen paper as they are ready
- When the tomatoes are soft remove from the oven, pop the garlic out of the skin and place the whole mix in the blender.
- In a baking tray assemble the chicken schnitzel, a layer of tomato garlic sauce, a few slices of overlapping aubergine, another layer of sauce and top with grated mozarella
- Bake for 5mins on high until cheese is golden
- Serve with steamed green beans in a bit of butter
- Enjoy!

Acuri

My Dad used to make Acuri at home on a Sunday evening so thought I would give an eggless version a go. For those of you that haven't heard of it - it's really a spicy scrambled eggs usually served on toast.

- Fry 1 chopped red onion with 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
- Add 2 chopped tomatoes and 1 chopped chilli with seeds and fry a little longer
- Add 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt
- Add 1 block mashed firm tofu and fry till some edges look golden
- Chuck in a handful of chopped fresh coriander, cook for 1 minute
- Quickly toast and butter 2 pieces of bread - chuck the acuri on top and beat your husband to the TV to watch something lovely like the Kardashians :)

Nandos at home :)

The husband adores Nandos like possibly more than me but it is quite pricey and unfortunately we cannot eat out all the time! Here is my at home version - it was yummy and firey.

- To make the sauce blend in a food processor: half red pepper, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 5 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 scotch bonnet, 1 red onion, juice of 1 lime and juice of 1 orange. Simmer this in a saucepan to reduce - Season with salt, pepper, sugar, chopped coriander and turn off heat
- Bake 4 frozen mock chicken breasts of your choosing according to packet instructions until crispy
- Meanwhile boil 2 cups frozen peas, drain and saute in 1 tsp butter, 1/2 tsp dried mint, 1/2 tsp chilli flakes and 1/2 tsp salt. Mash a little to get that mushy pea effect
- Peel and chip 4 large potatoes - deep fry and sprinkle with paprika and salt
- Dip the cooked mock chicken in the sauce to thoroughly coat and griddle until charred black criss cross lines show.
- Stick it all on a plate and eat!

French Toast and Necterine Slices

- In a sealable plastic bag crush 2 cups Frosties cereal (anysweet cornflakes will do)
- Add to this 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder and pour into a bowl
- Add 1cup vanilla soya milk and whisk into a batter, if too thick add a little more
- Heat a pan with a mix of butter and oil- Dip 1 at a time 6 pieces of wholemeal bread into the batter and fry until golden flipping half way
- Serve with slices of fresh necterine and maple syrup

Teriyaki stirfry with crispy noodles and garlic brocolli

I love nothing more than crispy crispy noodles in a chinese restaurant, this is my at home and hopefully slightly healthier version! Serves 2 with some leftovers for the next days lunch.

- Chop the very ends off 8 pieces of tenderstem brocolli and place in a small saucepan
- Boil the kettle
- Fry in groundnut oil 1 sliced onion with 8 sliced mushrooms and 4 crushed cloves garlic
- Add 15 thick slices of your favourite seitan - I used a new version that came in a glass jar from Whole Foods, fry mix for about 10mins
- Meanwhile pour hot water over 2 nests of egg free but still yellow thread noodles, cook for 3 mins, drain in cold water and fry in 2 tbsp ground nut oil with 1/2 tsp salt until crispy
- Pour hot water over the brocolli, boil for 5mins, drain, return to the pan with 2 crushed garlic cloves and 2 tsp butter and cook until the garlic is done
- Add 4 tbsp teriyaki sauce to your mushroom, onion, seitan mix, stir to combine, add 2 tbsp chopped coriander and turn off the heat
- Enjoy :)

Sweet potato and butternut squash soup

This is one of my mums favourites and a version of something I once saw on Saturday Morning Kitchen :)

- Peel, scoop out the seeds and dice 1 butternut squash
- Peel and dice 3 sweet potatoes
- Peel and slice 1 white onion and crush 8 cloves garlic- Fry all the above in 2 tbsp good olive oil and 1 tbsp butter for aboout 15mins
- Add 1 veggie stock cube to the pot and pour boiling water from the kettle in until all the veg is covered
- Add salt and black pepper the soup and bring to the boil
- Simmer for 20 mins or until squash is soft
- Turn off heat, use a masher to mash some of the chunks but not all, taste for seasoning and enjoy

Yummy potato salad

-Boil 20 small new potatoes in salted water until tender
-Meanwhile prepare vegan mayo
-Mix in a food processor 60ml soya milk, 2 crushed garlic cloves and 1 tsp cider vinegar
-Slowly add 150ml sunflower oil while the food processor is on medium speed until the mayo has a creamy consistency
-Add a generous twist of salt and black pepper, mix and taste
-Drain the potatoes and add to a bowl with a big bunch of chopped mint and 4 finely sliced spring onions
-Add the vegan mayo and stir to combine

Serve preferably on a sunny day with bbq veggie sausages and burgers!