On cold winter evenings...

...I eat this:

I've realised that I seem to blog mostly about desserts, and I really should post more main-dish recipes. I only discovered how much I like pumpkin and sweet potato this year; they really are perfect for winter. This dish is remarkably simple to make, because it's basically a bit of chopping and mixing. Place it reverently in a (preheated!) oven while marvelling its multicouloured beauty. Return in breathless anticipation while to a hearty, comforting dish that you can eat with  bread/pasta/bulgur/rice/quinoa/anything. You don't have to follow the exact recipe (I certainly don't). I use an enormous amount of garlic when I make this, plus truckloads of chilli powder. You make it how you like it :) Oh and I just realised that there is a lot of fibre in this dish. I never have a problem with too much fibre, because I suppose I'm just used to it, but if you do then perhaps eat this with white bread/pasta or use less vegetables. Or just eat it at night.

Spiced Garlicky Roasted Winter Vegetables with Beans (I need to think of a better, less cumbersome name)

250g chopped pumpkin (or pumpkin and finely sliced sweet potato - sweet potato is even better than pumpkin! make sure it's cut small or it won't cook quickly)
60g broccoli florets
60g red onion, sliced
60g red capsicum, sliced
180g cooked red kidney beans/chickpeas/cannellini beans/whatever bean you like
12g extra-virgin olive oil (1 tbsp) + more to drizzle (I sometimes use melted EV coconut oil)
15g sesame seeds (for crunch! texture! prettiness!)
2 fat cloves garlic, minced (to ward off vampires at night)
generous dash of ground cinnamon (mine is really, really generous, but do all spices to taste obviously)
about half that amount of red chill powder (I use quite a lot)
good dash cumin
salt to taste
lemon juice to finish (I use about half a lemon, or even a lime will do perfectly)

Look at the COLOURS! It's a bloody work of art. Only, it's vegan, so no bloodshed. Excuse the pun.

Combine pumpkin, onion, capsicum, oil, spices and garlic in baking dish and bake in preheated oven at 180 C for 35-40 minutes. Five minutes before it's done, add broccoli (it cooks much faster than the other veggies). When it's done, mix in your beans and lemon juice and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Drizzle more olive oil if you like (don't you love sopping up oil with bread? Anyway, you need to eat more calories in winter. Don't skimp on the healthy vegan fat, dear reader). Eat slowly, savouring the chilli-spiked cinnamony garlicky goodness in every mouthful.

This is a hideous photo, but the light is very bad on winter evenings.

I have made this particular dish, with both sweet potato and pumpkin, at least 3 times a week for the past month or so. I told you, I'm going through a pumpkin/sweet potato phase. The last phase I had was a porridge one. I haven't eaten porridge in a while; I shall make it for breakfast tomorrow.

Coconutty Hot Chocolate

Who doesn't love hot chocolate? Who doesn't love vegan hot chocolate? You can drink as much as you like without worrying that you're clogging up your arteries and slowly killing yourself with each sip. (To be honest, when I was a non-vegan, that didn't really bother me; what did was the little guilty itch that the milk I was drinking was produced by a mother for her child.  Yes, yes, okay, I'm done with heart-wrenching imagery and vegan preaching for now.)

The divine combination of coconut and chocolate, in case you haven't already discovered for yourself, is one of the most important discoveries made by mankind. Dahlings, this chocolat chaud à la noix de coco (doesn't everything sound so much better in French?) is one of the most important recipes concocted by me. This is hot chocolate at its finest: so creamy and decadent and chocolatey and intense and satisfying that a mug fills you up like a meal. Best of all, you can drink it completely sans guilt. Vegan and healthy. Drink up and feel saintly. 

Coconutty Hot Chocolate

200g creamy soymilk

50g pure coconut cream (100% coconut, with no water or additives)

10g (1 square) 85% cocoa dark chocolate (I use Lindt)

5g cocoa powder

10g agave nectar (or to taste)

In a mug, add the 85% cocoa chocolate and a little milk. Heat in the microwave until melted, then whisk together.

While the chocolate is melting, heat the rest of the soymilk in the microwave until very hot.

Add the coconut cream, agave and cocoa powder to the mug with melted chocolate. Stir together (you don't have to incorporate everything just yet). Add a little hot milk at a time while whisking the chocolate mixture briskly. When you have a thick chocolate-coconut mixture, add the rest of the milk. If you need to, heat it again. Drink.

It may sound a little laborious, but it really isn't. It takes only three or four minutes. And the results are worth it!

(By the way, I also have a recipe for equally decadent non-coconutty hot chocolate. I shall post that sometime.)

Perfection between two slices of bread

It certainly has been a while since I last posted! Fear not, I have not abandoned the Joy of Vegan Eating. I have been busy with schoolwork and......I set up my Vitamix! (trumpeting and drum roll please). First thing I made was falafel, then chocolate-hazelnut butter, then ice-cream. I'll post these recipes over the next month or so, as I perfect them.

Did anyone watch the royal wedding on Friday? I did. I absolutely loved Kate Middleton's dress! I knew she'd wear McQueen. Now all the Royal Family has to do to make me like them is to stop their fox-hunting and stag-hunting and fur-wearing and all that. 

I'll stop jabbering now, and type out my recipe. This is actually the first non-dessert/sweet recipe on my blog. It's simple, scrumptious, delicious and I really should make it more often. The thing is, it's a bit harder than spreading peanut butter on bread, which is why I haven't eaten it recently. But you must try this! You will love me forever and wonder 'How did I live before I discovered tofu/tahini/sumac?'

Tofu-Tahini Sandwich Filling (for one sandwich)

50g firm tofu

20g tahini

lemon juice, to taste (maybe about a tablespoon? I just keep squeezing.)

salt

sumac

Mash all ingredients together. Serve on wholemeal bread with chopped baby spinach and red capsicum. Make double recipe, because you will crave another sandwich immediately after your first.

I usually use un-toasted bread and pack it for school, when I have leftover tofu in the fridge.

Note the trusty kitchen scales in the background. Highly recommend you get yourself one, if you haven't already. More accurate than measuring cups and spoons and requires no washing up. Completely dependent on this old friend for all cooking and baking.  Had it for about a year, still works fine + has warranty anyway, Cost $12 if I remember rightly.

Total bliss, people. Total bliss. Eat it and feel saintly.

Next post: something to do with the Vitamix, hopefully. Depends how long it takes to make my chocolate-hazelnut butter recipe perfect.