Mushroom Pasta

This is a fast but tasty meal for a weeknight, great with a salad.

Ingredients:

olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves

mushrooms (5-7 large mushrooms or about 10 small ones)

tarragon, parsley, and/or other herbs

pasta (about 50 g per person)

water

2 eggs

truffle oil

black pepper

Instructions:

1. Warm the oil in a frying pan and chop the garlic and add it to the pan.

2. Brush the mushrooms clean, slice them, and add them to the pan. Sprinkle with the herbs.

3. While the mushrooms are cooking, boil the pasta in the water.

4. When the pasta is al dente, drain it, then beat the eggs in with the pasta, stirring the whole time.

5. Stir in the mushrooms, season with truffle oil and black pepper, and serve.

The Joy of Salads

Salads are such an easy, healthy dinner, and they can be varied endlessly. A recent salad consisted of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, radish sprouts (for some zing), hard-boiled egg, and flaxseeds, and I made a simple dressing from olive oil, ume plum seasoning, and tamari. It was delicious and filling.

To vary, use different nuts or seeds or sprouts. Add peppers, olives, shredded beetroot or carrots, or other vegetables. Even some fruits, such as apples, work well. For dressings, use lemon juice, yogurt, herbs, vinegar, and various oils. And so on. Be imaginative!

Vermicelli Dessert

This is like rice pudding, but with noodles instead of rice, and not baked.

Ingredients:

½ cup – 1 cup milk (I used rice milk)

1-2 tbsp sugar (I used coconut palm sugar)

1 tsp cinnamon

50 g raisins

50 g almonds

75 g vermicelli noodles

Instructions:

1. Warm the milk with the sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan for about 5-10 minutes, until the milk reduces somewhat.

2. Add the raisins and almonds and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

3. Add the noodles and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Pour into bowls and serve.

Cashew “Cheese”

This is similar to the almond cheese I posted not that long ago, but it has a more distinct cashew flavour, somewhat like cashew butter. This means that it’s not the best raw cheese to use in pasta, for example, unless you like cashews. It is good on toast or as an appetizer. You can season it however you like (I give a suggestion below)

200 g cashews

water

2 probiotic capsules (from a health food store), or about 2 tsp probiotic powder

1-2 tbsp yeast flakes (such as Engevita)

1 tbsp coconut palm sugar or honey or regular sugar

1 pinch salt

1 tsp black pepper, optional

Instructions:

1. Soak the cashews in water overnight.

2. Drain the cashews and grind them in a food processor or blender until fairly small (they can look like the ground almonds you buy in the store or a bit bigger). Add a little water if you need to.

3. Open the probiotic capsules and pour the powder in.

4. Mix well. Put in a bowl, cover the cashews with plastic wrap so the plastic is touching the cashews, and then leave the cashews to ferment for 24-48 hours. Taste after 24 hours to see if it’s sour/cheesy enough for your taste.

5. Season the “cheese” by mixing in yeast flakes, sugar, salt, and black pepper, or any other combination of flavours.

6. Serve on crackers or toast or in a bowl as a dip.

Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

1¾ cups flour (200 g)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp sugar

1¼ cups milk (about 300 ml) (I used rice milk)

1 egg

200 g blueberries (I used frozen)

oil

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients except the oil together.

2. Warm oil in a frying pan and make 2-4 pancakes at a time.

3. Serve warm with agave or honey.

Queer Quotes

These names: gay, queer, homosexual are limiting. I would love to finish with them. We're going to have to decide which terms to use and where we use them. For me to use the word "queer" is a liberation; it was a word that frightened me, but no longer.

--Derek Jarman

I'd add that we're not yet at a place where we can get rid of labels, but I'm hopeful that we will some day... 

Pasta with Raw Cheese

One evening, I was feeling weak and told M I was just going to make a simple, dull pasta dish. It turned into anything but dull. It was delicious and I couldn’t wait to eat the leftovers the next day for lunch. The raw cheese added a great flavour.

Ingredients:

broccoli

pasta (about 50 g per person)

olive oil

1 tin artichoke hearts

1 tin tomatoes

olives

raw cheese (see recipe a few posts back; you can also use regular cheese if you prefer)

truffle oil

Instructions:

1. Wash and chop the broccoli and boil it and the pasta together for 10-15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Drain and add the artichokes and warm for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice and simmer.

3. Slice the olives and add them.

4. Serve the pasta and broccoli topped with the tomato sauce. Add spoonfuls of raw cheese and drizzle with truffle oil.

Leek Soup

This was a very simple recipe for a chilly day, delicious with fresh bread.

Ingredients:

2 leeks

oil

1 stock cube

2-3 small potatoes or 1 medium one

water

milk or cream (I used rice milk)

black pepper

mint

Instructions:

1. Wash and chop the leeks. Fry them lightly in the oil and crumble in the stock cube.

2. Wash and slice the potatoes and add them to the pan.

3. Add water and cook for 20-30 minutes (until the potatoes are tender).

4. Blend with a hand blender and add milk or cream to taste. Season with black pepper and mint to taste.

Vegetable Stew

This was a hearty meal, especially served with the dumplings and bread I posted in the last two posts. You can easily vary the amounts and the vegetables.

Ingredients:

oil

5 shallots

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 vegetable stock cube

1 pinch rosemary

2 tbsp flour

3 parsnips

4 carrots

½-1 sweet potato

4-8 little new potatoes or 2-3 medium potatoes

1 apple

water

½ cup orange juice

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large oven-safe casserole.

2. Dice the shallots and sauté them for a few minutes over low heat.

3. Add the honey, tomato puree, stock cube, rosemary, and flour, and cook for a couple of minutes.

4. Peel and dice all the vegetables and the apple. You can choose how large to leave the pieces. Small pieces cook more quickly but large ones might look nicer to you.

5. Add the vegetables to the pan and cover with water and orange juice.

6. Roast in the oven, covered, at 180 C for about an hour.

7. Stir, add the dumplings (if using them), and cook for another 20-30 minutes.

Dumplings

I saw a recipe in <a href=" http://www.vegetarianliving.co.uk/themagazine.php?issue=18">Vegetarian Living magazine</a> for root vegetable pot roast with parsley dumplings and since M’s mum gave us her Le Creuset stoneware, I thought I’d make a variation on the dish in the stoneware for when she came over for lunch.

These dumplings can be varied with any herb or spice (or none) and can be used in most soups or stews.

Ingredients:

6 tbsp vegetarian suet (about 50 g)

1½ cups flour (125 g)

1 tsp baking powder

2-4 tbsp fresh herbs

5-8 tbsp cold water

Instructions:

1. Mix the suet, flour, and baking powder together.

2. Wash and chop the herbs and add them to the mixture.

3. Add enough cold water so the mixture gets pliable. Roll it into little balls.

4. Put the dumplings into the soup or stew and cook, covered, for about 20-30 minutes.

Almost White Bread

I don’t really like white bread that much, but M and M’s mum prefer it so when we had her mum over for lunch, I thought I should make a white loaf. But to make it a bit healthier, I added some brown flour too. I couldn’t go fully white! But if you prefer white, use all white flour instead. We let it prove twice, but once is enough.

Ingredients:

5 cups flour (about 500 g) (I used 3 cups of white bread flour and 2 cups of brown bread flour)

2 tsp yeast

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp honey

4 tbsp oil (I used 3 tbsp sunflower and 1 tbsp olive to add a slight tang to it)

1 cup warm water (about 225 ml)

Instructions:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together, then add in the honey, oil, and water. Mix with a bread hook in a stand mixer or else knead on a floured surface. We mixed it in the mixer and then M kneaded it too.

2. Leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour.

3. Knead again and either prove a second time or bake.

4. Bake for about 20-25 minutes at 200 C.

Eating for Health

I’ve been a vegetarian for over a dozen years now and for some time before that I only ate chicken and fish. My family thought – and still thinks – that it’s “weird” and “unhealthy” to be a vegetarian. They often make comments about what I eat (or don’t eat) and tell me it’s impossible for me to be healthy as a vegetarian.

Actually, however, I have fibromyalgia, so the situation for me is different than it is for my nay-saying relatives. The fibro was extremely bad during my undergraduate years. Doctors put me on so many medications that I felt spacey and drugged out for much of the time. There are months that I can scarcely remember.

Then one doctor suggested I try cutting meat out completely. I’d long considered vegetarianism for ethical reasons, but it was simply too difficult in my family, because of a strict father who would not have permitted me to eat something different for dinner than he ate. But then I had permission – even encouragement – from a doctor. My father was not going to argue with a doctor.

Okay, the doctor also suggested I cut out bread. I tried that but it was hard to give up, so that didn’t last.

The vegetarianism did last, though. I found that I definitely had less muscle pain with a vegetarian diet. I was able to do the ethical thing and also take care of my health. I went off all medications (except the occasional over-the-counter pain-reliever), I slept better (still not brilliantly, I must admit), and the pain was nowhere near as bad.

I still had to deal with complaints and derision from my family (who sometimes take pleasure in taunting me by showing me the big steaks they are eating and/or making animal noises while they chow down on lamb chops or pork roasts), but I moved away from my hometown and was able to take complete control over my diet.

Mentally and physically, vegetarianism has been very healthy for me indeed.

Red Rice and Lentils

This sounds plain, but the flavours work together well and this has a sweet finish. You can, af always, add other herbs, spices, or vegetables.

Ingredients:

olive oil

2 shallots

2 tsp honey

1 stock cube

¾ cup red rice

water

¾ cup puy lentils

2-4 tsp tomato puree

watercress

mint

Instructions:

1. Warm the oil in a saucepan.

2. Dice the shallots and add them and the honey to the pan. Fry lightly for a few minutes.

3. Add the stock cube and rice and mix everything for a moment or two.

4. Add the water (about twice as much as the rice) and simmer for about 10 minutes.

5. Add the lentils and more water. Cook for another 25-30 minutes, checking for the tenderness of the lentils.

6. Stir in the tomato puree, watercress, and mint.

Raw Fruit Cake

This is another recipe I learned at the raw food workshop, but as usual I changed it. I made it in a heart-shaped silicone mould (which we lined with plastic wrap, for ease of removing and cleaning) and it was very nice for a luncheon with M’s mum, although I think she might have thought it was a bit too hearty. We liked it, though.

You can of course also add liquor, such as whisky.

Ingredients:

700-900 g dried fruit (depending on how large you want your cake) – you can use dates, apricots, prunes, raisins, figs, sultanas, currants, or any other such item. I used apricots, raisins, dates, and prunes.

1 lemon

½ cup orange juice (you can also add or use instead any other fruit juice; I had pear juice left from the previous recipe – the pear cake – so I added that as well)

2-4 tsp cinnamon

1-2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp vanilla

100 g ground almonds

whole or flakes almonds

Instructions:

1. Chop the fruit and put it in a large bowl. Add the zest and juice from the lemon, the orange juice, any other juice, and the spices. Leave to marinate for a few hours.

2. Chop some of the fruit finely in a food processor, adding in some ground almonds. Add more almonds and fruit, a bit at a time, and keep chopping until smooth. If you want, reserve some whole fruit.

3. Put the fruit and almond mixture into a tin (add the whole fruit if you kept some). Decorate with the almonds or incorporate them into the mixture.

4. Leave to set in the fridge for some hours (or, if you must, bake it for a little while at low heat).

Pear Cake

Some time ago, I discovered <a href="http://bravetart.com">BraveTart</a>, a fantastic dessert blog. This is the first dish I’ve made from it, but I’ve changed it from a <a href="http://bravetart.com/recipes/PearLayerCake">layer cake</a> to just a regular cake and I’ve adapted it to our tastes.

Ingredients:

about 550 g firm pears (about 3 pears)

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 pinch salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

1½ cups sugar (200 g)

½ cup vegetable oil (about 115 g)

1¾ cups flour (about 170 g)

Instructions:

1. Peel and grate the pears, then squeeze out most of the juice. Save the juice.

2. Whisk the eggs, baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and sugar together.

3. Pour in the oil, still whisking.

4. Add the flour and the shredded pears. Mix.

5. Pour the batter into a greased tin. Bake at 200 C for 20-25 minutes.

6. You can pour some of the pear juice over the cake as a sort of topping, or heat it with sugar or honey into a sort of syrup, and then pour it over the cake.