Dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free ‘Orgran’ custard

 (store-bought cake: Mrs. Crimbles vegan Ginger step cake) and the Orgran custard!

 (home-made apple-bottom muffin, with Orgran custard and banana slices)

Orgran wheat free, gluten free custard powder mix is surprisingly amazing!

It is based on natural gluten free ingredients complemented with natural vanilla and natural beta carotene. It doesn’t contain cane sugar, animal fats, dairy or artificial additives and can be prepared easily in the microwave.

I always add vanilla though, at least 6 drops of essence, or a teaspoon of vanilla powder, maybe more for your own taste.

It’s easy to prepare and has simple-to-follow instructions on the back of the box. The only thing you’ll need in addition is a kind of vegan milk; be it almond, oat, quinoa, soy, etc. I used soy and it was beautiful.

The texture is exactly how it’s pictured on the box!

It’s made from:

Maize Starch, Natural Vanilla Flavour, Salt, Natural Colour: Beta Carotene.

Here’s the link for the nutritional properties: http://www.orgran.com/products/170/

And while you’re there, check our Orgran’s other amazing products!

 

 

Chickpea and Tahini burgers/falafels

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas (or 1 1/2 cups cooked), drained and rinsed
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 4 buns or pita pockets (burgers or falafel’s – you’re move!)

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Pulse the chickpeas in a food processor until thick and pasty. (you can mash them by hand.) Transfer to a medium-size bowl.
3. To the bowl, add the onion, garlic, parsley, tahini, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and baking powder. Slowly add the bread crumbs until the mixture holds together. Add more bread crumbs, as needed. Shape into patty shapes.
4. Place on a nonstick cookie sheet and bake for 10–12 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Using a spatula, flip each patty over, and cook for 10–12 minutes more until the other side is golden brown. Remove from the oven. Alternatively, you may fry the patties with a little oil in a pan on the stovetop.
5. While the burgers are cooking, make the tahini sauce, below.

3/4 CUP SESAME TAHINI
5 TABLESPOONS FRESH LEMON JUICE
1 SMALL TO MEDIUM CLOVE GARLIC, MINCED
3/4 TO 1 1/2 CUPS WATER (DEPENDING ON DESIRED THICKNESS)
1/2 TO 1 TEASPOON SALT, TO TASTE (VARIES WITH AMOUNT OF WATER USED)
A HANDFUL OF VERY FINELY MINCED FRESH PARSLEY
CAYENNE TO TASTE

1. PLACE THE TAHINI, LEMON JUICE, AND GARLIC IN A FOOD PROCESSOR FITTED WITH THE STEEL BLADE. (YOU CAN ALSO USE A BLENDER.) BEGIN TO PROCESS.
2. KEEPING THE MOTOR RUNNING, SLOWLY DRIZZLE IN THE WATER, CHECKING EVERY NOW AND THEN TO MONITOR THE CONSISTENCY. WHEN IT IS AS THICK AS YOU WANT IT, TURN OFF THE MACHINE.
3. TRANSFER TO A MEDIUM-SMALL BOWL OR CONTAINER, AND SEASON TO TASTE WITH SALT, PARSLEY, AND CAYENNE. COVER TIGHTLY AND REFRIGERATE UNTIL READY FOR USE.

I serve my burgers with airy-free margarine in buns, egg-free mayonnaise, spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes and a dollop of ketchup!! I also love them with a smearing of home-made basil, garlic & pineinut pesto! Yum-a-rama!

How to you eat yours?!

 

Vegan Pizzas!

At the Organic Foods & Cafe, I found vegan, gluten-free pizza base mixes! Of course I grabbed a bunch of these ingrediants and seemingly spirnted to the tills!

Last night, the fella and I mixed, kneeded and topped away unti we came up with two gorgeous pizzas!:

1. Spinach Alfredo, on a base of basil & spinach pesto with spicy BBQ-marinaded seitan.

2. Mushroom and pine-nuts on a tomato and garlic base.

PIZZA 1: Spinach Alfredo, on a base of basil & spinach pesto.

Ingredients

• 1 vegan pizza dough (prepared or slightly baked)
• 1 (12 ounce) package soft silken tofu , drained (I went without for this recipe, as I topped the pizza with sliced seitan instead – marinaded in a spicy-BBQ sauce for 15 minutes).
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach , thawed and drained (I used fresh baby spinach leaves. I also re-topped the cooked pizza with some fresh uncooked leaves).
• 1 medium yellow onion , minced
• 3 -5 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pinch of grated nutmeg
• salt
• pepper
• 1 cup shredded soy cheese (I went without)
• Kirstiies extras:  sliced seitan – marinaded in a spicy-BBQ sauce for 15 minutes.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°FF.
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet.
3. Sauté some of the spinach, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, nutmeg for about 5 minutes.
4. A. In a food processor blend, spinach mixture and tofu until smooth. (I skipped this step as didn’t use the tofu) then spread on dough.
   B. If you’ve also skipped step 4A- opting out of the tofu for this recipe. You can use a different sauce for the base. I used my own home-made pesto sauce. The recipe is on this blog! I added extra un-blended pine-nuts, and spread the basil & spinach pesto on the round pizza base
   C. I then opened a pack of seitan, and sliced it into coin-sized shapes, even bigger if you’d prefer. I filled 1/4-1/2 a cup of marinade (usually I pre-make it myself, but for this one I used a shop-bought spicy BBQ marinade) and a tablespoon of non-dairy butter. I used ‘Pulse’. I mixed t up and popped the newly sliced seitan into the cup and left there to marinade for around 15 minutes. Then I spooned them out and placed evenly on the pizza. Lastly I sprinkled some pine-nuts, fresh baby spinach leaves and fresh basil leaves on top.
5. Sprinkle non-dairy cheese if using.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crust is a golden brown.
   
   
   
   
   THEN…EAT!! YUM-A-RAMA!
   PIZZA 2:   Mushroom and pine-nuts on a tomato and garlic base.
   Ingredients

   For the sauce

   • Fresh Tomato – 1 big pureed
   • Tomato sauce – 1/4th cup
   • Tomato paste – 4 tablespoons
   • Garlic – 4 cloves( grated)
   • Italian herb seasoning – 1/2 teaspoons

   For the topping:

   • Tomatoes – 1 big sliced in thin rounds
   • Onion- 1 big sliced thin
   • Mushrooms – 1cup sliced, sauteed in 2 cloves of garlic
   • Aubergines
   • a handful of fresh baby spinach leaves
   • A handful of pine-nuts

   

   Directions

   Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

   Chop all the vegetables into bite size pieces. Add some olive oil to a frying pan on the stove and put your aubergines in first, sprinkle a bit more olive oil over the top. Sauté the aubergines until they become soft, add in the tomatoes and the mushrooms, allow it to cook a further 5 minutes on a low temperature. Season the vegetables.

   Combine the pine nuts,  garlic, soy sauce, a teaspoon of olive oil and some salt and pepper in a blender and grind to a fine and crumbly consistency.

   Spread some tomato paste onto your pizza base and top with some vegetables and the nut mixture. Sprinkle a little olive oil over the top and put into the oven for 10 -15 minutes. When you remove it from the oven top with fresh basil leaves.

   
   

   

   
   
   
   

Sacred Chow, West Village, NYC

http://sacredchow.com/

Sacred Chow provides organic, vegan, Kosher, and ethically produced foods for in-house and catering events. Gluten free desserts, brunch, proteins, and other gluten free food always available.

On their website, they state they are: 100% Ethically Kosher * 100% Low Carbon Code * 100% Eco-Vegan * 100% ♥ Healing. 

But I noticed they don’t state just how yummy their food is!

From Tapas, to Heroes, from cheesecakes to a healthy smoothie; their menu is surprisingly LARGE for such a cosy eatery.

The staff were extremely friendly, the decor was nice and the natural lighting was lovely.

wheatball hero

seitan hero

Soy hotdog

Tomato soup

Cheesecake with palmnuts

 

Cafe Blossom, NYC

http://blossomnyc.com

187 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY and 466 Columbus Ave, NY!

Cafe Blossom is a gorgeous vegan eatery in NYC. There are four titles under it’s brand:

• http://blossomnyc.com/
• http://v-notenyc.com/
• http://blossomdujour.com/
• http://blossomnyc.com/cafeblossom.php

My fella and I, in NYC over Christmas frequently Cafe Blossom, over 6 times! And I seldom left without a take-away cake or cookie.

Blossom’s tagline is: “Blossom is first and foremost animal caring”. And this couldn’t be more true. From the magazines stocked in the eatery, to the knowledge of the staff and quality of food on offer.

 

OoLoo Tea

Cookie dough shake

cookie dough shake

Vegan beer

Tempeh 'bacon' burger

Nom-a-rama

Cashew-cheese ravoli

Quinoa and lentil burger

Seitan sandwich

Seitan sandwich

 

Every time we visited Blossom, we had a wonderful time, we talked to the staff for long periods of time, we very much enjoyed our food, the atmosphere, company, quality and uniqueness of the food and the overall experience.

 

Thank you, Blossom.

 

 

 

 

Organic Foods and Café: Haul

http://www.organicfoodsandcafe.com/

http://www.facebook.com/organicfoodsandcafe

The ‘Organic Foods and Café’ is a family run organic supermarket and café that sells fresh organic and biodynamic food, supplements, skincare, cosmetics, baby items and household cleaning products.

According to their website (linked above) they have several outlets across the Middle-East (Dubai: the Greens (near Tecom, not The Greens Community in the Investment Park, and [The] Dubai Mall – which replaced the Satwa branch. Abu Dhabi: Masdar. Bahrain: Seef Mall)

The Organic Foods and Café is the only certified organic outlet in the Middle East! And the largest supplier of organic products in the world!

You can find everything here, from freshly baked bread (you have to see it, it’s so good!) to fruit and vegetables. Supplying over 12,000 hormone and chemical free products direct from family run organic farms throughout the world as well as the largest range of gluten-free products in the region, the Organic Foods and Café caters to the health conscious and eco conscious consumer (you have to buy the gluten-free and 100% vegan custard powder!!)

According to their website, the Organic Foods and Café opened its first store in Satwa, Dubai, UAE in 2004 and then its second outlet in The Greens in 2005.

In 2008, the supermarket and café in Satwa was replaced with a new store three times the size in Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping mall. Organic Foods and Café is currently expanding with several new stores opening in various locations throughout the GCC.

Their Mission Statement reads as:

• To provide a warm and friendly environment that meets the needs of our customers (Kirstiie’s sidenote: Accomplished!)
• To stock the best range of organic brands at affordable prices and to meet the requirements of those who follow specific diets, whether for health reasons or personal lifestyle choices (Kirstiie’s sidenote: Accomplished!)
• To help raise awareness about the importance of eating organic biodynamic foods, not just for one’s own health but also for the benefit of the farmers who produce the crops as well as the environment and animal welfare (Kirstiie’s sidenote: Accomplished!)

 (They create vegan pizza’s too!)

On the Vegan and Vegetarian section of their website, they state the following:

“These days more and more people are opting for a vegan / vegetarian diet. To cater for the needs of our customers who are vegan and vegetarian we bake vegan cookies and cakes once a week. You will find these labeled in our bakery. We also offer a service whereby customers can pre-order vegan birthday cakes or small cakes. 
Our recommended vegan product is: CONSCIOUS CHOCOLATES. Not only are they raw and extremely nutritious they also taste amazing. They come in 8 flavours and are dairy free, wheat free, egg free and sugar free.

(Kirstiie’s sidenote: I got some of the ‘Dairy-free alternative to Milk Chocolate’ and it was…Amazing! It didn’t taste like Diebetics chocolate, like candy, or overl rich or sickly. It tasted just like regular ‘Cadbury’s chocolate’ for example; but EVEN BETTER!

• Number 1: It’s KIND! (Not animals hurt or tortured here people!)
• Number 2: It’s healthier, no added sugar, gluten-free, and no fatty milk!
• Number 3: Its organic and guilt-free!
• Number 4: It just tasted BETTER!

When my fella and  approached the Dubai Mall branch, we were shocked…Pleasantly! We didn’t expect the store to be so big! It was split between being cafe and a supermarket, and our eyes swiftly moved towards to vegan pizza menu, and vegan options at the buffet counter – Peanut Tofu anyone?!

I then went on the hunt for some Gluten-free items (as well as being vegan). And there they were; a whole few isles full of them~!

I literally had tears in my eyes, I never thought I’d be able to get these things here. I couldn’t believe it. To be honest, I still can’t – it’s pretty fantastic! After attacking the gluten-free isles; grabbing vegan egg-replacer, vegan custard powder, and vegan pizza base pack/mix – I turned around, and saw it…Chocolate, dairy-free, purely vegan, gluten-free, wheat-free, chocolate. Lot’s of different types and variations.

This is the custard powder in action!! I added vanilla essence and it really finished the recipe off! I poured it on home-made Apple-Bottom Muffins and topped with sliced bananas:

I went looking for dairy-free milks, and found the largest selection I’ve ever seen in one place! They not only had different brand options for Soy/Soya Milk and Almond Milk, they had oat milk, rive milk, even quinoa milk!

And then, the largest surprise so far…Something my fella and I discovered whilst on holiday at Christmas in New York…SEITAN and….TEMPEH!!!? In Dubai!! SO HAPPY!

I then, in the baking section, found: Soy Protein powder and Xanthan Gum!

If you’re near-by any of the locations, and you haven;t yet been to the Organic Foods and Cafe, stop in and just have a look, I guarantee you’re be in for a treat!!

Items that I’ll be looking our for at my next visit; a good vegan toothpaste, nutritional yeast and soy yogurt/cream.

Crêpes/English pancakes

On pancake day, as my fella for traveling for work – I didn’t bother making myself pancakes, I would have eaten the lot!

So a few days later, when he returned home; I made, for the first time- vegan pancakes; English ‘Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday’ style.

These are thin Crêpes. Unlike the thicker pancakes, these are versatile in that you can make them sweet or savoury! You can fill them with yumminess, roll them up and stuff ‘em in your face!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 Tbsp. nondairy margarine, melted
• 1 Tbsp. sugar (I only use brown, or succanant)
• 2 Tbsp. American maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Oil, for frying

Directions

•In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, blend together the soy milk, water, nondairy margarine, sugar, maple syrup, and salt. Add the flour and mix again. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 2 hours.

•Lightly oil a small NONSTICK (!! Important): skillet or crêpe pan and place it over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, pour in 1/4 cup of the batter and swirl it until it covers the entire bottom of the pan.

Cook the crêpe until it is golden then flip it and cook the other side.

Fill with anything you like! I served mine the traditional way with a squeeze of real lemon juice, and avoided the infamous sprinkle of additional sugar. But you can coat with vegan chocolate spread, you can add sliced bananas, blueberries – whatever you desire!

Hey presto, basil pesto!

Pesto sauce is amazing on toast/brushetta, great on bread, delischious in pasta and handy for adding to dshes!

It keeps well in the fridge (1-2 weeks) and it stores fantasticlaly in the freezer (1-4 months). Although, I’ve heard of people freezing this recipe for over a year and it still being yummy.

Note: the nuts you choose influence the taste! You can use walnuts, pine-nut seeds, etc!

Ingredients

•  2 cups, washed, loosely packed stemmed fresh herbs- basil, cilantro, parsley, mint (I chose basil, as per the title! .)
• 1/2 cup shelled pecans or walnuts (I used pine-nut seeds)
• 2 cloves fresh garlic (this amount is dependent on your taste)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup good tasting extra virgin olive oil, as needed (I found 1/2 a cup was a little too much. But again, this is down to preference, and how much of the recipe above you’re sticking to. I’ve mixed it up using different measurements before, so this part will change as the measurements do).
• Sea salt, to taste

Combine the fresh herbs, nuts, and garlic in a food processor (I used a blender! A bit tougher to do, you need to add olive oil early to avoid an explosion! .) And process the mixture until it turns into a coarse meal. Slowly add extra virgin olive oil in a steady drizzle as you pulse the processor on and off. Process until it becomes a smooth, light paste. Add enough olive oil to keep it moist and spreadable. Season with sea salt, to taste.

Cover and store chilled for at least an hour to saturate the flavors. I like to pour a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil over the top to help keep it bright green.

I stored the fridge one in a store-bought vegan pesto jar that I washed out. I’m excited to make advertising for it, and one of those cute ‘tea-towel’ covers with a ribbon, wheee .

• Makes roughly a rounded cup.

Note:  Pesto can darken if heated (basil turns black) so add it to hot dishes at the very last minute if the colour is important to you.

 

Strawberry spinach salad

Ingredients

• 1 bunch spinach, rinsed (I used baby spinach leaves)
• 6-10 large strawberries, sliced thinly
• 10 button mushrooms, sliced and lightly sauteed
• drizzle or three of balsamic vinegar (it really depends on your taste)
• 2-3 tablespoons of sesame seeds

Directions

1.In a large bowl, mix the spinach and sliced strawberries.

1. Sautee the sliced mushrooms, a little salt – to taste
2. Once cooled down, pop the mushrooms into the bowl with the spinach leaves. Stir in the sesame seeds. Pour balsamic vinegar over the spinach, strawberry and mushroom mix and toss to coat.

Making a meal out of it!

Inspired by a dish that I got at cafe 'Cultures'!

Blackberry and apple crumble

Ingredients:

• 2 cooking apples chopped into small pieces
• 5 tbsp water
• 4 tbsp wheat free flour
• 1 tbsp vegetable margarine
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• Tip tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• A handful of raisins (I used a raisin/sultana mix)

• 1 tbsp ground almonds (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. In a saucepan, over a gentle-moderate heat, cook the apple in the water until soft and stewed. Keep stirring to prevent apples from sticking and burning on botom of pan. It cooks more quickly if, in between stirring, you keep the lid on too. Add the one tablespoon of lemon juice. I squeezed a lemon (1 tablespoon’s worth) straight into the pan.
3. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, rub the margarine and flour with your fingertips until it completely blends together and you get a fine crumble.
4. Add the ground almonds, 2 tbsp of the sugar and stir the mixture well.
5. When the apples have stewed, add the leftover tbsp of the sugar and the cinnamon and stir in until sugar dissolves. Add raisins and take off of the heat. Add blackberries. You can even add red berries or your own choice!
6. Put the apple mixture in an ovenproof dish and cover with the crumble.
7. Bake for approximately half an hour or until the crumble is golden brown.

Alike with the apple crumble, this is lovely on its own, but you could  serve it with a vanilla non-dairy custard, a dollop of silken tofu, oat cream or soya icecream. Even vegan banana ice-cream! The recipe for this can be found under ‘Desserts’.