Archive for March, 2008

Ginger & Garlic Sauce

Monday, March 31st, 2008

A quick and tasty sauce that will turn regular fried vegetables into ommnomnom

Ingrediants:

  • 1 cup hot water
  • 1/2 a veg stock cube
  • 1 tablespoon garlic salt
  • 1 tablespoon ginger
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon dark soy
  • 1 tablespoon cornflour

Directions:

  • Stir everything together in the cup
  • Add to veg about 2 minutes before you are ready to serve
  • Tip: If you’re using tofu with your veg, throw in a good dash of the sauce to get it started

A word from one of my Favourite Veg*ns

Friday, March 28th, 2008



I hold a warm place in my heart for the woman charmer that he played in Star Trek, and the quick witted lawyer in Boston Legal, and I adore the fact that he played host and narrator to a short documentary supporting vegetarianism: The Vegetarian World.

 



I’ll admit, it’s a rather PG introduction to vegetarianism, but anything narrated by that wonderful voice goes down easy. Shatner believes “Vegetarianism is not just a diet, it is a whole approach to life” which, I guess, is the reason I became a vegan. He goes on to talk veganism as the purest of the vegetarian diets.

It’s sad that at the time of making, back in the early 80s, there was a realization that if the world could reduce it’s consumption of meat by 10%, it could feed 60 million more people. As it stands, about one third of cereal grown is used to feed the rich countries live-stock. According to a report by the UN, entitled Livestock’s Long Shadow in 2006 the number of overweight people (1 billion) outnumbered the malnourished (800 million). Mmm, they have also gone as far as to state that livestock products are one of the major contributing causes. Their current statistics for world obesity weighs in at 300 million.

Of course, it would be naive to think that you have to be an omnivore to be over-weight. Shatner himself nearly died during a hip replacement because of heart complications that were due to excess weight.

William Shatner is not the only geeky vegetarian that I have a soft spot for. Leonard Nimoy would have to be up at the top of that list. As Mr Spock, the first officer aboard the Starship Enterprise, he played the first vegetarian to appear regularly on television. Vulcans did not consume meat, although they did use futuristic technologies to replicate food to taste like meat. A 24th century quorn no doubt.

Solar Ovens are in BBQs out

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

The folks over at My Urban Garden is telling us to forget the bbq and frankly I’m excited.
While these bad boys aren’t available in Ireland, you can buy them online at UnitedSolarEnergy.com


A feature that I find strangely awesome is that it floats!

That photo from USE looks strangely dated, according to their site they have been doing solar research since 1977. Personally, I’m going to get in touch with the old man and see if his solar installation-abilities could be used to manufacture a home-grown version. Bring on the Summer, and roasted toasted veggies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ommnomnom

Wakame Salad and Miso Dressing

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

Ingredients:
For the Salad:

  • 2 tablespoons dried Wakame kelp
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • Cucumber, peeled and julienned
  • 3 chopped Spring Onions
  • Cherry Tomatoes cut in half
  • Daikon, boiled and julienned (These are even tastier if you stew them in a Konbu stock)

For the Dressing:

  • 2 tablespoons of light miso
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/4 cup good olive oil

Directions:

  • I used dried pre-cut wakame from the Asian Market on Drury St.
  • You need to reconstitute the wakame in the cold water for about 6 or 7 minutes
  • Meanwhile you can make the dressing. I usually keep a few empty jars around the house for sauces. The easiest way to make this is to throw all of the dressing ingredients into a jar.
  • Make sure the lid is tight and shake vigorously
  • Shake the wakame dry and toss with the other salad ingredients
  • When you are ready to serve drizzle the dressing over your salad

Wakame Salad and Miso Dressing 81/366

mmm Mac Peanut-Butter Brownie Cupcakes

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

Proof of my mac fan-girl-dom and <3 love of tasty tasty buns

Apple mac brownie cupcake

Ingredients:

  • 2 cup flour
  • 2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 3/4 cup coca powder
  • 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup rapeseed oil
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped vegan dark chocolate
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Icing-sugar to sift
  • Cardboard and a Sissors

Mac mac mac

Directions:

  • Turn on the oven at Gas mark 5. It should be hot by the time you have finished mixing the ingredients.
  • Sift flour, coca and baking powder into a large bowl
    Add sugar and salt
    Whisk in the water and oil
    Add chopped nuts and dark chocolate
    Mix in the molasses and peanut butter with a wooden spoon until gloopy
  • Dollop the mixture into each bun case; they should only be about half way full.
  • Pop in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes, until they are soft, but the knife comes out dry.
  • You can either eat them now, or wait for them to cool down and make a cardboard stencil for the mac-tacular effect ^_^ Tastes better with HB Soya ice-cream

mmmMac Brownie Cupcakes 78/366

mmmMac ^_^

Oh hai

Friday, March 21st, 2008

First post so I’ll direct you to my profile. So what does a vegan eat in Dublin? Honestly, I’m still learning. Since making the change, I have learned about the contents of the food that I once took for granted, some decent recipes, and a passion for vegan cookery books. I want to document this journey. What better way to document something than through food and photos.

And now for tofu the vegan zombie dancing to thriller: