Cauliflower Rice Wraps

May 2, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

Quite often I sit at work bored out of my mind day dreaming about what I can have for dinner and that is often where my ideas for blog posts come from too. I wanted to make something Mexican inspired that wasn’t too heavy on the calories but still absolutely delicious. This is what I came up with! 🙂

Ingredients:

A small head of cauliflower. (I got mine in the reduced section at Tesco for 79p)
A large handful of brown lentils.
5 cherry tomatoes.
2 red onions.
Fajita spice packet. (Again Tesco have a cheaper own brand range that I used here.)
4 cloves garlic.
Some alfalfa sprouts. (Optional but a nice nutritional hit.)
Fresh baby leaf spinach, about two handfuls.
A mild shop brought salsa or if you have time you can make your own.
Wholemeal tortilla wraps.

Method:

Rinse your lentils in cold water and then place in a pan and simmer for about 25 minutes or until reasonably soft.

Heat a small amount of oil in a pan. Peel and finely chop your onion and garlic and place in the pan.

Peel the leaves from your head of cauliflower. Now you can either grate it or you can place the cauliflower in a blender with the grater attachment. Once complete place in the pan with the onion and garlic and mix thoroughly.

Now add the fajita spice, mix through and turn the heat down whilst you wait for then lentils to cook.

Once the lentils are down, drain and then mix in with the cauliflower rice. You may wish to add more spice here. I added some black pepper, mainly because I really like it! 😛

Chop up your spinach, sprouts and cherry tomatoes and place in a salad bowl. I also like to place the fajita mix in a bowl and the tortillas on a plate so everyone can just help themselves.

This recipe makes enough for four large wraps and it’s super healthy.

Spicy Green Bean Noodle Salad

April 21, 2014April 21, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

This is kinda like a comfort food and salad all in one and it certainly hits the spot.

I think we should always aim to get the most out of each meal nutrition wise, but I was a bit short on the green stuff. So if you have a fridge or freezer full of greens, get them in there too. I’d recommend mange tout, broccoli or kale.

Ingredients:

Two large handfuls of green beans. (Mine were frozen.)
Half a cucumber, sliced thinly.

1 white onion, diced.
Half a packet of wholewheat spaghetti or rice noodles.
1 teaspoon of dried chili flakes.
3 tablespoons soy sauce.
3 tablespoons rice vinegar.
1 teaspoons agave nectar.
The juice of half a lemon.
3 tablespoons of toasted sesame oil.
2 tablespoons of flaked almonds or crushed peanuts. (I used almonds.)

Method:

Get yourself a large mixing bowl. Place the diced onion, chili flakes, soy sauce, rice vinegar, agave nectar, lemon juice, toasted sesame oil and almonds in the bowl and mix together with a fork. Place to one side to allow the flavours to infuse.

Get a large pan of water on the boil and place the spaghetti in to cook for about 10 minutes or whatever the packet instructions recommend.

In the meantime, steam the green beans for about 8 minutes.

Drain both the green beans and spaghetti and place in a large serving dish, mixing together.

Now add the dressing and mix through thoroughly.

Now add the cucumber and mix again. (You add the cucumber last so that it doesn’t go soggy.)

You can then season with whatever herbs you like. I used coriander.

There’s enough for 3 to 4 adults. 🙂

You can connect with Queer Vegan on social media too.

@QVegan

Facebook.com/queervegan

Aubergine Parmigiana (Soy & Gluten Free)

April 18, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

This is total comfort food for when those spring evenings aren’t quite warm enough yet. It’s also a budget meal with just a few ingredients and herbs that you can make with what you have in a standard vegan cupboard. If you’re not vegan yet, perhaps you should visit http://www.whyveganism.com and get on that shit, right now! 😀

Ingredients:

3 large aubergines

1 glug of olive oil

2 red onions

3 garlic cloves

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

Salt and pepper to season

1/4 tub of nutritional yeast

Method:

1) Slice the aubergine into quite thick slices and rub with salt and pepper. (Aubergine tends to be quite watery and you want it to absorb all the tomatoey goodness.)

2) Place in layers in a a lasagne dish.

3) Now mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. (Except the nutritional yeast.) Leave to marinate for 10 minutes whilst you heat the oven.

4) Now pour over the aubergine dish and sprinkle all of the nutritional yeast on the top.

5) Bake for 40 minutes.

6) Serve with new potatoes or a crisp salad.

Solkiki Chocolates – The best vegan chocolate!

April 15, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / 2 Comments

As some of you may know, Mykey and I are gamers. We play lots of different things but at the moment a lot of our time revolves around a game called Clash of Clans. It’s a base build and defense game. You can also join clans of people with similar views. Imagine our delight that we found a clan full of vegans called, “Vegan Assault.” There is a great mix of people in there from abolitionists, to hardcore gamers and indeed one very handy chocolate maker from Canada.

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Mykey got talking to her and it turns out she can deliver to the UK for a very reasonable price. We very rarely eat anything like that, but we thought we’d give it a go.

They were the most milky and creamiest vegan chocolates I’ve ever had. The clan soon caught on and now we often see, “OMG THOSE CHOCOLATES!!!!!” appear in the chat.

They are vegan owned and run, create artisan chocolates by hand and they have great customer service. Please support vegan businesses where you can and especially chocolate based ones with Easter just around the corner. 🙂

Jerk Tofu With Cucumber “Pesto” Salad

March 23, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

Sunday lunch has never really been traditionally British in the Queer Vegan household. We very rarely sit down to a plate full of roasted stuff covered in gravy and anyway, if we do it’s normally at the Toby Carvery accompanied by a beer. (We’re on quite a strict diet at the moment due to Tough Mudder training so that’s really not going to be happening.)

Today’s Sunday lunch was much more typical of what we would eat and a hell of a lot healthier too. This dish is ram packed with calcium, vitamin K, vitamin C and protein.

Ingredients:

Half a cucumber.
A large handful of baby leaf spinach.
Three cloves of garlic, crushed.
One tablespoon of pine nuts.
One tablespoon of sesame seeds.
One tablespoon of nutritional yeast.
One block of tofu, drained. (Place the tofu between two plates for about 30 minutes so that as much water as possible is pressed from the block.)
Two tablespoons jerk seasoning.
Two tablespoons breadcrumbs.
Two tablespoons vegetable oil.

Method:

Slice your drained tofu into your preferred shapes. (I like a rectangle shape personally.)
Mix the oil, breadcrumbs and jerk seasoning in a bowl. Then gently cover each piece of tofu with the mixture and place straight into a hot grill pan. (The ones with the ridges that give the tofu a char-grilled look.) Each side will take about five minutes.
In the meantime place the crushed garlic into a large bowl. Grate the cucumber and the spinach either manually (good luck) or use a food processor with the grater attachment. Place these in the bowl also.
Mix around with your hands so that the garlic infuses throughout the salad and then place onto a plate. (This amount should serve two.)
Now sprinkle the pine nuts, sesame seeds and nutritional yeast over the salad and add some dried chili flakes too. (Optional.)
By now the tofu should be cooked. Remove from the hot pan using a spatula and place on top of the salad.
GET THAT YUMMYNESS IN YOUR FACE!

Mock Duck Curry

March 22, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / 5 Comments

I figured the other day that I’d not really done a half decent mock meat recipe on this blog. One of my favourite mock meats is duck. This is mainly because you can buy it outside of specialty stores and I have absolutely no idea what duck tastes like. I’d say that this tastes like a very savory braised tofu, which is great! Here’s my enthusiasm for mock duck:

Just kidding. 😉 I can show my appreciation on a far larger scale!

So here’s your ingredients list:

Enough basmati rice to feed two people.
A teaspoon of dried chili flakes.
Two cans of mock duck. (I picked these up from Holland & Barrett.)
Two tablespoons of mild curry powder.
A sprinkle of sea salt.
One tin of coconut milk.
3 cloves of garlic.
A tablespoon of vegan butter. (I used Vitalite.)
Two red onions.
Two large potatoes. (Which you can see in the picture, but I only used one in the end.)

Method:

Place the butter, onion and garlic in a warm pan. Mix until butter has melted and then turn the heat down to it’s lowest setting.

Add the chili, curry powder and salt and stir again.

Dice your potato and add that in, ensuring that it gets fully covered in the spices.

Now add the mock duck and coconut milk. If you have never cooked with mock duck before, you’ll notice it comes out of the tin looking like this:

Just chop it up into smaller chunks and chuck it straight in.

After about 20 minutes simmering on a low heat with the occasional stir, get your basmati rice on.

You’ll notice that the colour of the source will begin to change and it will begin to thicken. This is absolutely intentional. Nobody likes a watery curry do they?

After another 10 minutes your rice should be done, so drain it and serve with some fresh parsley and of course the curry, which by now has been slowly infusing for around 30 minutes.

Believe me this dish is so simple to prepare considering for the layer upon layer of flavour you get at the end of it. I hope you enjoy and please remember to share far and wide so Queer Vegan can get some exposure!

Love and light! 😀

Cashew Cream Cheese

March 10, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

I’ve been wanting to make my own nut cheese for a while now. I’ve scoured the wonderful internet and found many a hard cheese recipe that involved exotic ingredients and equipment that most people have never even heard of, let alone would actually have.

In my searching I found a blog called This Rawsome Vegan Life and she has created a creamy cashew cheese and placed it in a raw burger. This is my take on that recipe in two different styles. One will be with the raw burger and the other just as a snack.

Raw Burgers:

8 portabello mushrooms with stalks removed

Olive oil

Terriyaki sauce

Sea salt

For the filling:

6 spring onions, chopped

3 large tomatoes, diced

Dried chives

For the cheese:

400 grams cashew nuts

2 shot glasses of water

4 tablespoons nutritional yeast

The juice of one lemon

2 cloves of garlic

A tablespoon of herbs de Provence

A teaspoon of sea salt

Method:

Poor a good glug of olive oil, terriyaki sauce and a large pinch of salt into a mixing bowl.
Rub each mushroom in this newly formed sauce and place on a greaseproof sheet in a baking tray.
When this is done you have two options. If you have a dehydrator they go in there for 4 hours. If you have an oven, they go in there for 3 hours on the lowest heat setting.
Mix the filling together in a bowl and set aside.
Next it’s cream cheese time! Place all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse blend until the mixture becomes thick and creamy.
Scoop all the cheese out and leave covered at room temperature for about two hours so the consistency thickens slightly.
When the mushrooms are cooked, serve the two halves like a burger bun stuffing them full of the cheese and the filling and pressing together.
Eat with your hands! (Or if this is too messy for you, use a knife and fork. 😉 )

There was quite a lot of cheese left over and it kept outside the fridge for three days before we finished it all off, mainly on crackers with lots of chilli and garlic crushed over the top.

This cream cheese is absolutely delicious, healthy and totally addictive. I actually cannot wait to make more.

Enjoy amigos!

Caramel Walnut Bourbon Cake

February 25, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

You may already have guessed by now, but I’m not great at making cakes and take a lot of inspiration from others.

My inspiration for this particular recipe has come from this lovely blog: http://fragrantvanillacake.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/banana-walnut-caramel-cake.html

I used the exact same recipe and method, however I used 5cl of Jack Daniels rather than a teaspoon and all the UK ingredients rather than the American ones.

I took it to work and received mixed reviews. Some said it was too sweet and others couldn’t help coming back for more. Me personally I loved it, but yet again it proved that I’m rubbish with cakes. 😛

What I Ate Sunday

February 16, 2014February 16, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

Today has been a really productive and non-stressful day and for the first time in what seems like forever, the sun was out. I woke up at around 07:15 but didn’t bother to get up until 08:30 due to having lots of snuggles of felines, a large white woof and a beardy man times. I left the bearded one in bed and made an epic smoothie, which subsequently I spoiled him with in bed.

This is a banana, mango, spinach, peanut butter and raw cacao powder smoothie. It tastes like a peanut butter and banana milkshake.

That did me for the whole morning because it was so filling, however on return from our 6k walk with Bailey Woof I was getting a tad hungry so I made a wholemeal spinach and pasta “cheesy” bake with a cucumber and tomato side salad.

A little while after this we hit the gym where we lifted some seriously heavy shit. I needed a protein hit after that so when we got home I rustled up some cashew nut cheese on some wholemeal sweet onion crackers. (I’ll be posting a recipe for this soon.)

For dinner Mykey made a kale, bean, mushroom, spinach and breaded tofu stir fry which totally hit the spot.

So there you have it. Simply, tasty and healthy vegan food. 🙂

Leek & Potato Soup (Cheap As Chips!)

February 12, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

It feels like we have had two days of sunshine since the beginning of 2014. In fact the weather is so bad that there is a severe weather warning across most of the country with mass flooding and possible tornado warnings. I’ve never known anything like it in my life! Whether you believe it’s the human race’s fault or it’s happening on it’s own, you can’t deny that the weather and climate are certainly changing.

With that in mind, is it any surprise that I am once again providing you with a delicious and healthy dose of comfort food to keep you warm? Not really! 😉

I rustled this up from scratch after a walk on the beach with the dogs and my family. I believe this might have been the first time my sister Donna has tried my food and she seemed to like it, so get in! 🙂

Ingredients for 5 adults:

3 leeks, chopped

6 small potatoes, peeled

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 vegetable stock cube

1 pint of unsweetened soya milk

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

Seeded rolls to serve

Method:

Fill your largest pot to the half way point and place on the stove on a high heat.
Place the potatoes, leeks, onion, garlic and stock cube in the water and turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes.
Drain the water and place back on the hob, this time adding the mustard and soya milk. (If you want it to be extra creamy, here is the place to add a dollop of vegan butter if that sort of thing takes your fancy.)
Turn off the heat.
Use a hand blender to turn the soup into a thick and filling mixture.

Serve with “buttered” half stale rolls that your Dad picked up for 8p. 😉 (Or some nice fresh ones are just fine too.)

It has also been mentioned in a lot of my outreach work lately that people believe vegan food is expensive. Here is proof that it isn’t. The total cost of this dish per head was less than £1. Please enjoy and share far and wide.

Queer Vegan

Food, fitness and culture from a queer, vegan, metal head.

Author: Frankie Mouche

Cauliflower Rice Wraps

Spicy Green Bean Noodle Salad

Aubergine Parmigiana (Soy & Gluten Free)

Solkiki Chocolates – The best vegan chocolate!

Jerk Tofu With Cucumber “Pesto” Salad

Mock Duck Curry

Cashew Cream Cheese

Caramel Walnut Bourbon Cake

What I Ate Sunday

Leek & Potato Soup (Cheap As Chips!)