Stevia

I ordered a bottle of Nunaturals stevia online sometime ago and I'm waiting for it to arrive. I bought it mainly for my grandmother, who is diabetic, and also because I was curious as to how it tasted after seeing it mentioned on many vegan blogs.


Well, today we went to the nursery to buy plants for the third day in a row (my mother has taken up an interest in gardening). I cam across a potted plant in the herbs section called the 'sugar plant'; the little card stuck in the soil stated that it was 'extremely sweet with no calories'. I picked off a leaf and chewed it (yes, I shouldn't have done that; I could get food poisoning) but oh my goodness, it was so sweet! I ran to my grandmother, dragged her with me to the magic plant, and made her taste a leaf. Meanwhile, I checked out the card again - the sugar plant's botanical name is stevia rebaudiana!


Well, I bought the plant (it was only $4, and the stevia bottle costs about $9 if I remember rightly). I shall plant it tomorrow. The grandmother boiled one - one - leaf along with her tea and said it tasted just like cane sugar! I am so happy! I have been unable to wipe the enormous grin off my face since we got back. I hope the stevia extract is as wonderful as the plant.


Anyway, we are also growing methi (fenugreek leaves) in our garden. I can't wait for it to mature; methi parathas are one of my favourite foods! I love how useful a garden can be. Ideally, I would grow all my own fruits and vegetables and then instead of having to lug my oh-so-attractive cloth shopping trolley to the supermarket every time I ran out of lemons/pumpkin/oranges, I could stroll through my back garden and pick what I needed. This is convenient, because I always realise we're out of lemons at 8.30 pm when I'm about to start dinner and suddenly crave lemon juice over my rice/pasta/burghul/whatever I'm eating. Same goes for carrots just before I make carrot cake. 

Musings

I love going to the library. I have to walk two kilometres and take the tram to get there, but dahlings, it’s worth it. I usually reserve my books online, wait until they come, then haul a giant laundry basket (I mean, portable shopping trolley) with me to the library to pick them up. People give me strange looks (only old ladies wheel those fabric shopping bags!) but how else am I supposed to carry my wonderful, eagerly-awaited reservations home?

I also use my trusty wheelie when soymilk is on special at the supermarket; I walk to the supermarket, buy 10 or 15 1-litre cartons and in they go. I probably sound crazy to all of you, but hey! I save almost 70 cents per carton, and I finish about 3 a week, so it makes sense to bulk-buy. The not-so-fun part is dragging it all home, panting and puffing, but hopefully I am building up muscle so after a few more trips, I will see some sizeable biceps on my arms. That’ll be the day.

Incidentally, I swam a lot last summer and actually did gain quite a bit muscle. Now, when I flex my arms I can see ’em ripple for the first time since…well, for the first time. I can beat everyone I know at arm-wrestling (well, all the girls I know, anyway). My dad is still undefeatable.

So, anyway, back to the library thing. What exactly do I borrow? Well, magazines (French Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar), books (currently reading Lolita and re-reading Roald Dahl short stories) aaaaaaaaand…vegan cookbooks! So right now, I have Veganomicon, Babycakes, The Vegan Table and Sinfully Vegan. So many recipes, only one stomach!

My grandmother is diabetic; tomorrow I shall bake her some vegan cupcakes with diabetic-friendly agave nectar. I’m thinking chocolate. If I could only eat one flavour of cupcake for the rest of my life, I’d choose chocolate faster than you could say ‘food’. When I was a kid, I’d always go for the chocolate muffin/ice-cream/cake on display. My sister is strange. If it’s pink or purple or blue or orange, she’ll take it – no matter what flavour. When she goes to the ice cream parlour – no luscious chocolate ice cream in her cone! Neon pink and lurid purple cotton candy, because the colours are ‘pretty’! How do you veganise cotton candy ice cream anyway?

More importantly, how can I be related to someone who prefers cotton candy to chocolate?

My sister likes this stuff more? My pride is wounded! 

My extremely photogenic banana-chocolate-peanut butter ice cream; note the be-yoo-tiful scrumptious-sumptuous-looking banana and chocolate-peanut butter chunks.

I kid, I kid J I actually think my sister is absolument fabuleuse. 

Chocolate-Coconut Butter

I first heard of Artisana at Chocolate Covered Katie; and obviously when I went on their website the first thing that struck my eye was their Cacao Bliss.

Well, it is impossible for me to get my hands on any of Artisana’s products, so I must make my own. Now, this chocolate-coconut butter would ideally be made in a very powerful blender or food processor; my ordinary one died the last time I made this. (This is why I really need to figure out how to set up my Vita-Mix. I ordered it from the US, but the voltage isn’t the same where I live, so I need to have an electrician set up a transformer.)

This is one of the most dee-lee-cee-ous butters I have ever devoured. This is a pretty small batch, because my late food processor was tiny. Double the recipe if you like.

CHOCOLATE COCONUT BUTTER

(makes 155g theoretically; most is in my tummy before it gets outta the blender into the pot.)

100g desiccated coconut

35g cocoa powder

20g agave nectar (or more, depending on how sweet you like it)

Blend everything together until oil separates, then keep blending until you can’t see any flecks of coconut. This can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes depending on how powerful your blender/food processor is.

This will harden, depending on how cold it is. I like to melt it before eating; if you don’t blend it well, like I sometimes do, it won’t melt properly but will be warm and crumbly. Not good for spreading, but fine for topping cereal/porridge. You know you haven’t blended your CCB enough because, like I said, you will be able to see little tiny flecks of desiccated coconut in it. I usually have to stop before I get to perfection, because my late food processor couldn’t ever handle it. I can’t WAIT to use my Vita-Mix! I hope it gets connected properly. Why can’t all countries in the world have the same voltage! 110/120 in the US and 220/240 everywhere else? Crazy!

Anyway, there are so many ways to eat this magnificent butter!

Something about this CCB-toast combination reminds me of chocolate croissants.

As an afternoon snack - on wholemeal toast with fresh strawberries and a sliced Packham pear. Heaven on a plate, dahlings.

You don't have to toast the bread. It is simp-ly divine on freshly baked bread, and sometimes when you're peckish you don't want to be bothered with toasting.

As I mentioned in my first post, you can also use this as a topping for cereal and berries. I also like to eat it on strawberries or bananas.

On Going Vegan

Vaishali over at Holy Cow! (which I highly recommend you read – try out her banana-nut muffins!) recently posted her ‘You Asked for It’ feature, where a teen asks about going vegan in a non-vegan family.

Well, I’ve pondered about a post about my path to veganism, and this is a wonderful opportunity for me to actually type it out and post!

I think it all began when I was nine, and we had a debate in English about the ethics of keeping animals in zoos. I discovered a dog-eared, smelly book in our (very) limited library on animal rights. It got me thinking about animal rights philosophy. I had always been vehemently opposed to the use of fur (I used to, from the age of eight, dash off angry letters to the editors of various magazines about the use of fur in their spreads – which were never published). That book, for the first time, introduced me to how animals are actually raised and killed for food.

(When I was four, I asked my mother where the meat in my sausages came from. She said, and my father affirmed this, that the chicken was raised on Old Macdonald’s farm, died a natural death from old age and then, and only then, was turned into a sausage. I found this hard to swallow, but I wanted to believe that it was true, so I did.)

When I learned about factory farming, I resolved to go vegetarian (Not vegan. Vegan? How do you even pronounce that? The book was published in the ’80s. According to the book, vegans subsisted on fruit, vegetables and Marmite.)

I continued regularly to resolve to go vegetarian over the next few years, failing each time. I did however, expound volubly to my fellow nine-year-old friends on animal rights and animal liberation. They listened wide-eyed, but unfortunately didn’t take me seriously, because I didn’t practise what I preached. I still ate sausage rolls for lunch.

More than factory-farming, however, I think it was the fact that humans were raising animals with the sole purpose of enslaving them and killing them that horrified me the most. To think that to eat one hamburger, or to drink one glass of milk, involved the suffering and death of so many living, sentient beings shocked me.

When I was twelve, I was presented with a laptop. I also, around this time, heard of an organization called PETA. I googled them, came upon their website and read about animal rights philosophy. (I skipped the gruesome videos.) This is what I read: (Go to the ‘In this Section’ tab and click on each link; the actual text hasn’t changed much, as far as I recall.)

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/default.aspx

Well, that day I added ‘Go vegan’ to my to-do list and called my mother who was at work and told her I was going to go vegan. She probably thought I was bonkers (I couldn’t even go vegetarian!). It was different this time, because I was serious. For the first time, I felt really and truly and deeply convinced.

So I went vegan that day and continued to research animal rights and vegan nutrition.

My parents probably didn’t realise what was happening till the next day, when we went out to lunch and there was very little that I could eat. Now, I have always loved eating, then and now. (That’s why this blog is the Joy of Vegan Eating!) When they saw that I wasn’t eating anything but the rather wimpy salad on the table, they were alarmed and angry. I rebutted each and every one of their arguments. I scowled at them and didn’t listen to them when they resorted to pleading and begging.

That night, I gave my dear father a long lecture on why I was vegan. I covered animal rights, health issues, environmental issues…which culminated in him taking me to grocery store so I could buy soymilk and tofu and other vegan things. He did some research of his own and also went vegan. (He is still vegan today. My mother is now vegetarian and my little sister is an omnivore who intends to go vegan when she is older. People find it funny that there are three kinds of eaters in this family. In case you were wondering, majority wins, so we all eat vegan at home, apart from the yoghurt and cheese in the fridge for the ma and sis.)

I continued to devour books on animal rights philosophy and speciesism. I read ‘Animal Liberation’ and many, many other brilliant books; I can't remember the titles off the top of my head. I also converted a couple of friends to vegetarianism (still very proud of that!). I began baking vegan brownies in the microwave (I finally learnt how to use the oven a year later and now the microwave is only used for reheating). I sent emails to companies that PETA put on their ‘action alerts’ list.

I also felt better. For the first time, I paid attention to my calcium, iron, protein and B12 intakes. My energy levels shot up, my skin cleared (no more spots!), my hair grew thicker and longer. I stopped getting colds! I was pleased, but the main reason I was happy was because by choosing not to contribute to the suffering of animals I was at peace with myself.

This was four-and-a-half years ago, and I’ve been vegan since then. I actually felt that going vegan was easier than going vegetarian. There’s one kind of vegan, and so many kinds of vegetarian! I knew from that first dog-eared book that the dairy and egg industries caused as much suffering to animals as the meat industry. Vegetarianism seemed sort of half-hearted to me because of that. (What if someone ate meat but no dairy or eggs? Do they cause more or less suffering to animals?). I have immense respect for vegetarians. However, when I do things it’s ‘all-or-nothing’, to use a well-worn but apt phrase. That’s why I have been non-vegetarian and vegan, but never vegetarian. I’m sure that most people would find it easier to go vegan from vegetarian, so if you’re thinking of making the transition, go vegetarian first.

(I was very blessed that my father was supportive. Without him taking me grocery shopping and being a willing taste-tester in all my cooking experiments, this would have been a lot more difficult. It’s funny, because he was the one who used to dissuade me from going vegetarian (‘You’re a growing child! Where will you get your protein from?’). He was also the person who yelled the loudest at that restaurant all those years ago. I still am not completely sure why he went vegan.)

This is already a very long post, but there are so many more things to say! I will definitely continue this and post again over the next couple of weeks.

Hummus

So, I have this mild obsession with olive oil. Sitting in my pantry now are about three or four bottles of extra-virgin olive oil (all different blends), all equally loved and necessary. (My parents do not understand why I need so many bottles. They also don't understand why I like making chocolate-coconut butter in the food processor at 10.00 pm on a schoolnight because I've run out and want to eat it for breakfast the next morning. Sigh. Parents.)

I also love chickpeas.

And tahini.

So I eat hummus :)

This is a pretty basic hummus recipe. There are a ton of them on the net. I used to live in the Middle East, and they usually blend the hummus in a blender and remove the skins from the chickpeas so it is SILKY smooth. However, after the demise of my mother's blender, I mash this with a fork. Plus, it's easier to clean up like that. Most people prefer it blended. Also, I use quite a bit of garlic. The amount I've given in this recipe should be enough for normal people, though.

This is best eaten with piping-hot, freshly-baked, steaming khubz. If you don't have any, then you can eat it with ordinary packaged bread, like me :) Seriously, why can't they make good Arabic bread here? One day I shall bake my own bread. I shall also grow Alphonso mangoes, raspberries, blueberries and peaches in my garden, have seven dogs and seven parrots, have an indoor swimming pool and own a roomful of Picassos. And I shall still eat this hummus.

Yes, that is a cupful of extra-virgin olive oil floating dreamily on top. Don't worry - it's optional. It looks so pretty, no? Molten gold. I used a hearty, robust oil for this hummus, but a fruity one would be lovely as well. The sumac looks a little strange, but it is scrumptious. Again, don't worry if you can't find it.

PERFECT HUMMUS

125g cooked chickpeas

25g tahini

extra-virgin olive oil

¼ tsp fresh garlic

lemon juice

sumac (Optional spice. Nice lemony flavour, also traditional. I buy this at the supermarket, in the spices section.)

Mash chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice together. You can blend it if you like. Add water or more lemon juice to adjust consistency. Drizzle over olive oil and sprinkle with sumac. Eat.

For some reason, my images are being published portrait, not landscape. Merde. Quick Google - this is a common problem. None of the solutions worked though :( EDIT: I've solved this problem! 14th Apr '11

ICE CREAM!

So, I invented this recipe last summer while fooling around in the kitchen. It was hot, I wanted chocolate, I love peanut butter, so I thought, you know what I need? CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM! It's amazing. It actually reminds me of M&Ms and Snickers.

Verdict: This is the best ice cream I've ever eaten. Vegan or not. Just go make this now. Thank me later.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM

Ingredients

v     380g fresh or frozen ripe banana, chopped 

v     60ml soymilk

v     70g smooth peanut butter

v     25g cocoa powder

v     5g vanilla bean paste

v     50g (5 squares) Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa dark chocolate, broken up

Method

1)     Heat water in large saucepan. Place a smaller metal saucepan inside. Add chocolate and soymilk. When melted, add vanilla and peanut butter. Mix until a thick, smooth paste forms.

2)     Blend banana until smooth.

3)     Add chocolate-peanut mixture and cocoa; blend until smooth.

4)     Transfer to plastic container lined with plastic wrap; freeze until solid.

You can add some maple syrup or agave nectar to sweeten if you're not a huge fan of dark chocolate- personally, I think the sweetness from the banana and chocolate is enough.

I used to make this in my mum's blender - till it started SMOKING while blending frozen banana. Now I have a Vita-Mix, so once I set it up I shall use that :)

I'm thinking of subbing the peanut butter with other butters, like almond and cashew and coconut. Also, I sometimes sub 85% cocoa chocolate for the 70%. I looooooooooove dark chocolate! Seriously, I wish I could find Lindt 90% and 100% here :( Till then I'll make do with 85%.

Apple Pie Porridge

Hallo! My first post! I am extremely excited!

I <3 porridge.

I'm usually a cereal-eater. Give me a bowl of Weet-Bix with soymilk, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries and a couple of tablespoons of chocolate-coconut butter and I'm content :)

However, you know those dreary, cold, dark winter mornings? When getting out of bed is a chore and cold milk  freezes your teeth and your blood feels like it's stopped circulating? That's when porridge comes in. I usually cook it the day before and leave it in the fridge, then heat it in the microwave the next morning. So comforting!

However, plain porridge just won't cut it. It has to be interesting. So that's where this apple pie porridge comes in :) I adore apple pie. This recipe is basically porridge topped with an apple pie filling. It sounds simple - but wait till you try it! You'll want to eat it EVERY DAY!

Recipe - Apple Pie Porridge

For the porridge:
55g jumbo oats
400g non-dairy milk (I use soymilk, and you can sub milk and water if you like. I like to use the whole amount because it makes it sooo creamy, and also because it gives me a good whack of calcium in the mornings)

Cook oats in soymilk for about 10 minutes, or until done. It'll be very thin - but the next morning the oats will have soaked up all the liquid and be soft and plump! Let it cool and then place covered in fridge.

For the apple pie topping:
1 large apple (I used a 200g red delicious)
2 tsp oil (I used extra-virgin coconut, but I've also used canola)
1 tbsp lemon juice or 1 tbsp + 1 tsp orange juice
cinnamon and nutmeg, to taste
desiccated coconut or almonds or walnuts (optional)

Heat oil in nonstick frying pan. Add apple, sauté until browned. Cover and lower heat until softened. Add spices, remove from heat. Add lemon juice and coconut and mix. Leave in fridge overnight along with porridge.

THE NEXT MORNING: Simply heat your porridge and top with the apples, and savour! Ahh! Worth getting out of bed for? Absolutely!

What are your favourite ways to eat porridge? Post your thoughts!