Isa’s Chickpea Cutlets – VeganMoFo Day 5

Day 5 of VeganMoFo asks us to talk about cookbooks that have inspired us. There are a lot more vegan cookbooks out there now than there ever have been, and you’re spoilt for choice when looking for one! But the one cookbook I always go back to is the Veganomicon. First published nearly eleven years ago, there’s now a tenth anniversary edition which I don’t have, but both versions are amazingly good! There’s a plethora of amazing vegan recipes, ranging from basics to fancy and all the way inbetween. Including one of my all time favourite recipes – chickpea cutlets.

Ok maybe they’re not the prettiest of meals to photograph, but they are amazing, seriously, well worth making. And they’re really easy too – I use the oven baked method (I think that’s often regarded as the tastiest way to make these!) and they turn out brilliant every time.

The cutlets use vital wheat gluten, which I wrote a bit about in my post on seitan last year, and they’re a great protein source what with that and the chickpeas. They’re honestly good however you choose to serve them – with salad, with roast potatoes, or in a sandwich!

The recipe for chickpea cutlets can be found either in the Veganomicon book or on Isa’s website, here! Her recipe online is for a double batch, which is well worth making as you’ll want as many as you can get.

Enjoy!

 

Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen – VeganMoFo Day 26

Today for VeganMoFo we’re writing about our favourite cookbooks. Last year, I wrote about the Vegan Taste Of… series of cookbooks, but it was a tough choice between that and Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen. So this year I will write about Vegan Richa and her wonderful cookbook.

I got this book about a year and a half ago, but I’d been following the Vegan Richa blog for a lot longer. Let me tell you, I have never had a dud recipe from Richa. This is astounding as I’ve cooked a lot of her recipes and you’d expect at least one or two to not be to my taste. But no – even ones I wasn’t so sure about  from the name (like Mango Curry Tofu) were absolutely delicious. What follows are some of my photos of food I’ve made from the Vegan Richa book/blog.

Above is the “Seitan Makhani” from her book. This is essentially a vegan version of “Butter Chicken” and oh it’s so delicious. You can buy seitan or make your own – check out Isa’s recipe for a great one – and the dish is made beautifully creamy with cashews and non-dairy milk and lots of spices.

This, whilst perhaps not the best photo, is the “Chicken-Free Balti” which I used tofu for. It has vegetables, tomatoes, all in a simmered sauce that cooks down to be thick and beautiful.

Finally – again, sorry for the poor quality picture – this is African Peanut Lentil Soup. This isn’t actually from the book, but rather from Vegan Richa’s blog. You can find the recipe here! Give it a go – it’s so delicious.

Not only is the book packed full with great recipes, but it’s a wonderful introduction to Indian cooking. If you’re already familiar with Indian cooking – don’t worry, it’s still got plenty for you – but it has in depth guides to spices, lentils, different ingredients that you may need to make Indian food. Including very helpful ingredients lists split into “Must have” “Good to have” and “Nice to have” ingredients – showing you which are essentials to buy, and which aren’t so much. This is great for those of us on a budget too.

Many of Vegan Richa’s recipes are on her blog – but the book comes with many many more that aren’t. It’s well worth buying – at just £11.99 on Amazon it is amazing value for money.

“A Vegan Taste Of…” cookbook review – Vegan MoFo Day 12

I thought long and hard about what cookbook to choose for the “Favourite cookbook” prompt. Well, to be honest, I didn’t really as I don’t own many cookbooks.

This is the extent of my collection – squeezed in next to my exceedingly larger Terry Pratchett collection.

I was very tempted to write about Vegan Richa’s cookbook which is one I do love, but I decided to bend the rules a bit. Instead of writing about my favourite cookbook, I’ll write about my favourite series of cookbooks.

I first came across the “Vegan Taste Of…” series, by Linda Majzlik, when on holiday in Norfolk at the Hillside Animal Sanctuary. They had vegan cookbooks in their shop and we picked up the “Greece” one.  It became a firm favourite and we swiftly ordered four more countries off Amazon!

The books do not have pictures or descriptions of the food – and thus are very simple and to the point. I do love a good book with pictures to drool in but these books are packed full of recipes and I find it makes a nice adventure to cook something when you have no idea what it’ll look like!

Here are a few pictures of what I have made from them:

Spaghetti with Sundried Tomato and Vegetable Sauce from “A Vegan Taste of Greece”

Sundried Tomato & Onion Bread from “A Vegan Taste of Greece”

Cinnamon Crunchies from “A Vegan Taste of Mexico”

Pea and Mushroom Risotto from “A Vegan Taste of Italy”

Vegetable and Kidney Bean Tacos from “A Vegan Taste of Mexico”

And finally, here is the recipe I promised last week in my sandwiches post. It’s slightly adapted from a recipe in A Vegan Taste of Italy.

Sundried Tomato and Oregano Rolls

• Servings: 7 large rolls
• Print

Ingredients

• 675g plain flour
• 100g sundried tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tsp fast action yeast
• 4 tbsp olive oil (or use the oil the tomatoes come in)
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 450ml hand-hot water
• olive oil for brushing

Directions

1. Mix the flour, yeast, oregano and salt in a bowl.
2. Stir through the chopped sundried tomatoes and the olive oil.
3. Dissolve the tomato puree in the hot water, and gradually add to the flour mixture, until a soft dough forms.
4. Knead well, then cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.
5. Knead again, and break into equal pieces (the amount of rolls you want to make).
6. Roll in the palm of your hand to make them round.
7. Arrange the rounds on a baking sheet, then cover again and leave for 30 more minutes to rise.
8. Preheat the oven to 200C.
9. After the final rising, brush the top of the rolls with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt, and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes
10. The rolls are done when you can tap the bottom of them and they sound hollow inside.
11. Leave to cool on a wire rack.