Vegetarian Quote

For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love. --Pythagoras

Green Stir-Fry

Green Stir-Fry

This can be endlessly varied, depending on what sort of veg or spices you have on hand. It’s fast for weekdays.

Ingredients:
1 leek
½ green garlic
1 courgette
½ cabbage
1 handful cherry tomatoes
oil
spice (curry paste, miso paste, soy sauce, sweet-and-sour sauce, etc)
noodles (I like rice noodles)

Instructions:
1. Wash the vegetables and dice them.
2. Stir-fry them in the oil and add the spice of your choice. Mix well.
3. When it is all nearly cooked, add in the noodles. Stir-fry for a couple more minutes, then serve.

Dark Chocolate Pudding

This is pudding in American sense, not the British one, which means it is a creamy dish not unlike custard. You can use this recipe with milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate and you can freeze it to make ice cream, too.

Ingredients:
¼ cup sugar (I used brown)
3 tbsp corn flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup double cream
2 cups milk
200 g dark chocolate

Instructions:
1. Mix all the ingredients but the dark chocolate in a sauce pan. Warm over low heat, stirring often, until well-blended.
2. Chop the dark chocolate and add it to the pan. Continue cooking and stirring until the chocolate has melted.
3. Place the mixture in a bowl in the fridge and leave to cool a few hours.
4. Serve with berries and/or cream.

Earl Gray-Poached Salmon

Yes, another fish recipe. Well, sometimes it can’t be helped; such are the compromises we must make. This is a fun, flavourful way to make fish – you poach it in tea. Served with vegetables, it’s a light meal.

Ingredients:
3 cups boiling water
2 Earl Gray tea bags (or other tea sort)
½ lemon
2 salmon fillets

Instructions:
1. Put the water in a saucepan and add the tea bags. Let steep for 5-10 minutes.
2. Wash the ½ lemon and slice it thinly. Add the slices to the tea.
3. Keep the skin on the salmon fillets but scrape any scales off it.
4. Remove the tea bags and add the salmon to the tea. Poach over low heat for about 10 minutes.

San Francisco

Over the summer, I was in San Francisco for work and I was thrilled to be in such a veggie-friendly and queer-friendly place. I was really spoiled for choice – at least on the food front I was; I certainly wasn’t looking for any other women when I’ve got the best at home.

Every restaurant I went into had a few vegetarian options on the menu, and not just the usual Portobello mushroom burger or stuffed red pepper (I must point out that I didn’t go to any steakhouses or anything like that, so I have no idea if they offer vegetarian options or not). There were also quite a few restaurants that were only vegetarian or even vegan. One I wanted to get to but didn’t have a chance to was called Greens. A woman on the plane was raving about it and I was sad that I never got there.

Golden Era was a vegetarian Chinese restaurant and my friend and I loved it. I often have trouble in Chinese restaurants because they seem to use pork products in a lot of dishes (don’t get me started on my trip to China, where I mostly ate white rice and cabbage), so this was a real treat. I loved not having to ask if any meat was used in the dishes.

We also went to Herbivore and it was so good that we want back another day. I especially loved the carrot cake. The atmosphere was relaxed and casual, which was nice too.

The gourmet treat of the trip was dinner at Millennium, an upscale vegan restaurant. I was with a friend who claims to hate lentils but he gobbled up the delicious lentil spread served with the bread. He also loved the cornmeal cake he had for dessert, though he claimed not to like polenta (which is made from the same thing). I found the food to be thoughtful and flavourful and it was wonderful to sit in a fancy restaurant and enjoy all the things that come with classy eating and to know that all the dishes were cruelty-free.

But while the eating was generally good (don’t remind me of the meal I had at the garlic restaurant, which made me feel sick and stinky for days), other aspects of the trip were less pleasing. The gay neighbourhood, the Castro, had loads of gay men, but I saw few women. The gay bookshops were out of business (though other bookstores have gay shelves). The work event I went to was dreadful. Food makes up for a lot, though, so I definitely recommend San Francisco as a vegetarian destination.

My Cousin Chad’s Pasta

When I was last in my hometown, one of my two lovely cousins cooked a couple of vegetarian dishes. Let me point out that no one else in my family is a vegetarian and that my cousin is just 21. I think that will emphasise to you just how kind it was that he went to all the effort for me.

One night while everyone else was dispersed, Chad made me pesto pasta. It was so nice to sit with him and chat and eat food that he’d cooked especially for me. I immediately requested the recipe for the blog. And if you need any work done on websites, do use Chad’s excellent services.

Thanks for being such a great cousin, Chad!

Ingredients:
1 box of farfalle pasta (about 450 g)
water
1 clove garlic
1 tsp butter
1 jar traditional pesto (about 180 g)
1 jar sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil (about 240 g)
parmesan, to taste
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Instructions:
1. Boil the pasta in the water. This will take about 12 minutes. Strain the pasta, then put it back in the sauce pan.
2. Mince the garlic and add it, the butter, and the pesto to the pasta. Chop the tomatoes and add them.
3. Season with parmesan and red pepper flakes to taste. Stir everything together.

Squash Couscous

This was a simple weeknight meal that was healthy and full of flavour. The tomatoes might seem a bit odd, but I had tomatoes to use, so I added them. It worked fine, but you can leave them out too.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
oil
1 courgette
1 tsp sugar
2 tomatoes
200 g couscous
water
¼ cup raisins
handful of pine nuts (about 30 g)
2 tbsp crème fraiche or yogurt, optional
salt
black pepper

Instructions:
1. Wash the butternut squash and coat it lightly with oil. Roast it in the oven at 200 C for about an hour, until the skin has browned. Leave aside to cool.
2. Wash and dice the courgette. Fry it in oil over low heat for about 8-10 minutes. Add the sugar so it caramelises.
3. Meanwhile, peel and de-seed the squash. Dice it into small pieces and add to the pan.
4. Wash and slice the tomatoes and add them as well. Continue to stir-fry.
5. Put the couscous in a pot. Boil the water and add it to the couscous. Leave it to stand, covered, for about 5 minutes.
6. Add the raisins and pine nuts to the squash.
7. For a more creamy couscous, add the crème fraiche or yogurt to pot and mix in well.
8. Season the squash with salt and black pepper to taste.
9. Serve the squash over the couscous.

Courgette Muffins

These taste quite healthy and are great for breakfast or as a snack with a cup of coffee or tea. To make them slightly less healthy, use all plain flour (no spelt) and up the amount of sugar a bit.

Ingredients:
1 medium courgette
2½ cups flour (I used 1 cup spelt and 1½ cups plain flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ cup cocoa powder
¾ cup sugar
1 dash salt
1 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ cup raisins

Instructions:
1. Grate the courgette and then squeeze it out or leave it to drip for 10-15 minutes.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and salt together.
3. Blend in the eggs, oil, vanilla, and lemon juice.
4. Add the grated courgette and the raisins. Mix well.
5. Place about 2-3 tbsp batter into muffin cases.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 175 C.

Avocado Mousse

There is an ice cream shop not far from where I grew up that has many unusual types of ice cream. At least unusual to me – the owners are from the Philippines and they serve flavours that are typical of their homeland, such as yam and avocado. I really like those flavours and I began to realise that avocado in particular works well in both sweet and savoury dishes.

So when I saw this recipe for avocado mousse, I wanted to try it, although I adapted it to make it a bit sweeter and creamier. M was pleasantly surprised, as she had expected it to be disgusting, and we even served it to a friend who came over.

I think it could also work well to freeze this mousse and serve it as ice cream. Yum!

Ingredients:
2 avocados
2 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup sugar, plus 1 tbsp
2 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup milk
¾ cup double cream

Instructions:
1. Halve, peel and pit the avocados, and put the flesh into a food processor. Mix until soft, then add the lemon juice, the ½ cup of sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla. Mix again.
2. Add the milk and mix well.
3. Whip the double cream with the 1 tbsp of sugar and the other 1 tsp of vanilla until firm.
4. Fold the avocado mixture into the whipped cream.
5. Refrigerate for an hour or so and then serve.

Pasta with Beans and Peas

This is a simple pasta dish that was great at the height of summer with fresh produce.

If you eat seafood, you can add in some prawns as well. My M likes prawns, so I add them in sometimes for her.

Ingredients:
½ red onion
olive oil
1 tsp sugar
200 g runner beans
200 g sugar snap peas
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp tomato purée/paste
cream, to taste
200 g multigrain tagliatelle
water to cook the pasta in

Instructions:
1. Dice the onion and fry it lightly in olive oil, then add the sugar to caramelise it.
2. Wash the runner beans and sugar snap peas and cut them as necessary. Add them to the onion, along with the coriander, tomato purée/paste and cream.
3. Meanwhile, boil the pasta in the water.
4. Serve the vegetable sauce over the pasta.

Avocado with Caviar

Avocado is so versatile and yet many people rarely use it except in guacamole or the occasional salad topping. I’ve had avocado ice cream that is amazing, for example, and I think it’s worth trying avocado in more sweet dishes as well as savoury ones.

I made a simple avocado starter the other day. M didn’t like the raw onion in it, so next time I’d caramelise it first, to soften the sharp oniony edge.

Ingredients:
2 avocados (1 avocado per person, or half an avocado if you’re serving this as a starter)
½ half red onion
200 ml sour cream or crème fraiche
60 g caviar (use fish roe if you eat fish or one of the vegetarian substitutes if not, such as the ones made from seaweed)

Instructions:
1. Half the avocados and remove the stones.
2. Dice the red onion. Mix it into the sour cream or crème fraiche and then mix in the caviar.
3. Fill the avocados with the creamy mixture.

Creamy Couscous

This is a creamy couscous with just a bite of flavour. I had some gravlax sauce on hand, which is mustard and dill, so I used that, but any mustard would work well (not dried mustard but mustard sauce).

Ingredients:
100 g couscous per person
water to cover the couscous
1-3 tbsp yogurt per 100 g
½ tsp – 1 tbsp mustard (or gravlax sauce, if you can get it)

Instructions:
1. Put the couscous in a sauce pan. Boil the water and pour it over the couscous. Cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
2. Mix in the yogurt and mustard.
3. Serve with vegetables or other items.

Best LGBT Blogs

This list of the best LGBT blogs is a couple of years old now, but it’s still worth a look.

Pot Pie

Growing up in the US, I regularly had what we call “pot pie”. This is a pastry filled with vegetables and chicken or turkey. Once I became a vegetarian, I wanted something with the same sauce but without the poultry. So I made my own version, and I’ve successfully served it to people here in the UK, and they have complimented me on it.

Ingredients:
500 g puff pastry
1-3 carrots and/or parsnips, chopped into pieces
water or milk
1 celery stalk, chopped
1-2 cups frozen veggies
some chopped tofu, if desired
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup milk
1 vegetable stock cube
salt
black pepper

Instructions:
1. Roll out the pastry and make two pieces from it.
2. Peel and dice the carrots and/or parsnips, then cook the pieces over medium heat until slightly soft in water or milk to cover.
3. Wash and chop the celery. Add it and the other veggies. Cook briefly, until defrosted. Add the tofu if using it.
4. Add the flour, milk, stock cube, salt, and pepper. Cook a bit more over medium heat, stirring.
5. Put one crust on the bottom of a pan. Top it with the filling.
6. Add the other crust on top.
7. Bake for 30 min at 220 C, until golden.

Queer Quotes

I’ll be teaching some of Allen Ginsburg’s poetry this year and of course we’ll be discussing the relationship between his queerness and his creativity. I like this quote:

America I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel. --Allen Ginsberg

I think we should all be putting our queer shoulders to the wheel!