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.

Lentil Stew & Sesame Rice

February 4, 2014February 4, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: my family are difficult to feed. Each one has a different food that they dislike. Some won’t eat peppers, some won’t eat anything green, some won’t eat spices and others won’t eat mushrooms or tomatoes.

My way of eating changed dramatically when I left home. I started to experiment with world cuisine and ate foods I’d never have dreamed of eating before, which goes to show that a lot of people who are fussy eaters, me previously included, carry a lot of their dislike in their head rather than in their taste buds.

I am often tasked with cooking when I stay at my parents because I am adept at cooking large quantities of tasty food in a relatively short time. I decided to make this lentil stew and add various ingredients that I am constantly told won’t be eaten. Needless to say, it was all eaten.

Ingredients:

285 g red lentils
2 tbsp. coconut oil
2 large white onions
1 tsp salt
5 cloves garlic
1 cube of frozen ginger
2 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. cayenne pepper (All of them hate spice.)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes (My mum and little sister hate tomatoes)
1 lemon
700 ml vegetable stock
Fresh parsley
400g brown rice
65 g sesame seeds (My little sister won’t eat seeds.)

Method

Do the rice first because it takes forever!

Place rice in a pan of boiling water and allow to cook on a low heat for about 45 minutes.
When rice is cooked, drain and mix with sesame seeds.

In the 45 minutes it takes to cook, get on with the stew!

Rinse the lentils under cold water and leave to drain.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and salt and cook until the onion is soft.
Now add the garlic, ginger, cumin and cayenne and keep stirring.
Add the vegetable stock, lentils, half of the lemon cut into slices and chopped tomatoes.
Simmer on a low heat for about 30 minutes.
Finely chop your parsley and sprinkle with freshly squeezed lemon juice from the remaining half of the lemon.
Serve to your fussy family and watch them all eat it! 🙂

Super Secret Scrambled Tofu Recipe: The Best You’ll Ever Have!!!!

January 30, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / 1 Comment

I think people are a bit lost when it comes to tofu. It’s this white squishy block which doesn’t taste like anything. I saw an episode of Come Dine With Me once and a vegan guy on there served his dinner guests raw tofu and avocado. What the hell was he thinking? YUCK!

The number one rule is flavouring: herbs, spices and marinades are the best but sauces, bread crumbs and oils can also be great too.

On Facebook I’m constantly raving about how amazing Mykey’s scrambled tofu is, so I finally caught him in the act on Sunday morning and took some pictures.

First let’s get these ingredients down:

A large handful of fresh baby leaf spinach (frozen is far too watery.)
6 large button mushrooms
Tumeric
Black salt (not essential but will make the tofu smell and taste more like egg.)
Terriyaki sauce
1 pack of chilled firm tofu (not silken)
A dash of oil
Wholemeal sourdough bread to serve
Nutritional yeast

Method:

Heat the dash of oil in a frying pan.

Slice your mushrooms and place into the pan, stirring every minute or so.

In the meantime, drain your tofu over the sink.

When the mushrooms have begun to soften, add the tofu by squeezing it through your hands so it crumbles. Break any extra bits up with your mixing spoon.

Now add about a tablespoon of powdered turmeric, a glug of teriyaki sauce, two tablespoons of nutritional yeast and two pinches of black salt and mix together.

Add your spinach and mix in until wilted.

Now you can turn off the heat whilst you wait for you bread to toast.

Spread generously with vegan butter, add tofu and then get it all in your face, with ketchup.

Oh and be careful, other’s in your house may want some too! 😛

What I Ate Saturday

January 30, 2014January 30, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / 2 Comments

Saturday can be a lazy day for us when it comes to food, but we still try and make it as healthy as possible.

For breakfast Mykey made blueberry and banana pancakes drizzled in maple syrup. He has a way of making them really thin and light so that they aren’t overly filling, but still really tasty. I don’t like to feel too full up in the morning, especially if we are going out for a long dog walk straight afterwards.

For lunch we had two whole meal pitta breads sliced into pockets and stuffed with cucumber, fresh tomato, sun dried tomato and hummus.

For dinner we were really lazy and went to the Toby Carvery. Now I know what you’re thinking, however both of the big UK carvery chains have vegan options. Crown has one and Toby has two. You can read more about the Toby Carvery on this great blog site: http://veganvoxblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-ordinary-vegan-toby-carvery.html?m=0

I had the vegan shepherd’s pie with loads of veg, but sadly I didn’t take a picture. I found this one online though, so I hope it will suffice. (It’s almost what I had anyway, but with much less potato! :P)

Stay healthy.

Chickpea Balti

January 19, 2014January 19, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / 1 Comment

Everyone loves a good curry right? Well let us make a healthy and tasty alternative to the traditional takeaway. 🙂

Ingredients:

2 mugs of brown rice

A can of chic peas

A large handful of fresh baby leaf spinach

2 white onions

5 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon mild curry powder

1 can of chopped tomatoes

Salt

Chili flakes

Fresh coriander

Method:

Get the rice in a pan and pour over some water. Boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. (Rice always takes AGES.) Drain and plate up.
In the meantime (like the 30 mins it’s gonna take the rice to cook) chop the onions and garlic and fry in a little oil.
Add all the spices, salt and a sprinkle of chili flakes to your flavour choice.
Now drain your chic peas and add to the pan. Mix well with the spices to ensure that they are full coated.
Next, add your fresh spinach and stir into your curry mixture until it starts to wilt.
Finally add your can of chopped tomatoes and heat through adding salt if required.
Serve with fresh coriander and shop brought mango chutney.

Please enjoy responsibly! 😛

Get Your Healthy On: Vegetable Stir-fry

January 7, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

Sometimes to be healthy it’s all about taking it back to basics. Here’s one of my favourite and very basic recipes that is guaranteed to fill you up and not break the bank.

Ingredients:

A whole pack of mushrooms

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

A mug of brown rice

A mug of red lentils

Method:

Place the lentils and brown rice in a pan of boiling water and cook for 30 minutes on a medium heat.
In the meantime, cut, chop and peel all of your vegetables.
Place in a hot pan without oil and stir constantly for 10 minutes so that they do not stick.
Turn the heat off and allow to cool, whilst you wait for the rice and lentils.
When the rice and lentils are nearly done, crank up the vegetable pan again.
Drain and rinse the rice and lentils and place at the bottom of a bowl. Top with your steaming hot vegetables.
Sprinkle with chilli flakes, fresh coriander and soy sauce for some epic flavour.

500 calories, low fat and high fibre – not that us vegans really worry about fibre! 😉

That recipe will serve two adults.

Vegan Juicy Lucy Burger

January 3, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / 1 Comment

Do you know what? Sometimes I’m flicking channels on my TV and I come across something ridiculous like, “Man Vs Food.” I often sit there and think, “well that would easily be veganised.” So that is exactly what I have done.

I searched around for the perfect vegan burger patty when I suddenly realised that the most perfect were the cheapest ones available because they most resemble the cheap meat put into non-vegan burgers. The 99p pack of four Holland & Barrett burgers. 🙂

Ingredients:

4 vegan burger patties, defrosted

2 large burger buns

4 potatoes

1 block of Cheezley mozzarella style, sliced very thinly

Ketchup

Salt

Pepper

Vegetable oil

Method:

CHIPS

Get your oven on and up to full whack.
Slice your potatoes into wedges and place in a baking tray. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a dash of oil.
Place chips into the oven and cook for 35 minutes.

BURGERS

Get your four defrosted patties and lay them out on a chopping board.
Push down on them with the palm of your hand so that they stretch outwards, but not too thinly.
Place some thinly sliced cheez on one patty and then place the other patty on top.
Crimp the edges with your fingers so there are no gaps.
Do this so the four patties turn into two cheese stuffed burgers.
Heat some oil in a pan (there isn’t enough fat in the burgers and they will stick to the pan otherwise.)
Place burgers in pan for about ten minutes, flipping every couple of minutes so each side gets nice and brown and that the cheez melts all the way through.
Serve in a nice big burger bun with tons of ketchup and your home cooked chips!

Not healthy in the slightest, but it bloody well had to be done! 😀

Christmas Tapas Menu

December 16, 2013December 16, 2013 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

I’ve only really come around to the idea of Christmas this year. Every year previous I’ve organised an event called Big Gay Christmas, where we would typically avoid general Christmas activities, get drunk and have a laugh with our friends. I would host an open house party and people would drop in and out all day, eat food and play video games with me. It also meant CHAMPAGNE FOR BREAKFAST and who doesn’t like that one day a year? Last year unfortunately I was severely let down. I spent most of the day by myself, until a kind friend invited me over and by which point I was so drunk and upset I fell asleep on her sofa. With that in mind I decided that my generosity was no long appreciated and therefore would no longer be offered. Luckily I have a lovely Beardy who has a great family and they are having us and the woofer over for Christmas. This gives me great joy because for the first time in ten years, SOMEONE ELSE WILL BE COOKING! (Although I have agreed to make mulled wine.)

I’m at Mykey’s family for Christmas, so that means I’m at my parent’s for New Years. I promised them I’d make something tasty, so I decided I’d do a bit of a random tapas menu. Clearly I needed to practise it as well, due to my family being rather large. (Quite ironic for someone so avidly against population expansion.)

The menu is as follows:

Parsnip soup
Home made bread
Plant based cheeses
Chutneys and jellies
Bread crackers
Dutch apple cake (blatantly store brought)
Sweet, breaded and roasted “ham”
“Steak” and ale mini pies
Fruit jelly and custard
Roast potatoes
Thai “fish” cakes
Mushroom pate

Obviously you need to like make gravy and steam some vegetables of your choice, but that is a 4-6 person spread right there.

Red Lentil Dahl

November 3, 2013 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

This is a dish I have been making for years. It’s really simple and totally yummy! 🙂

Firstly you’re gonna need some ingredients:

* Two handfuls of red lentils

* 800 grams of chopped tomatoes

* 4 cloves of garlic, crushed

* 1 can of coconut milk

* 2 cubes of vegetable stock

* 2 white onions

* 1 tablespoon of garam masala, cayenne pepper and cumin (each)

1) Heat some oil in a large pan. I used a wok because this makes plenty.

2) Now add in your two chopped onions and garlic. Give it a good stir to cover everything in the oil.

3) Turn the heat off and place the red lentils in the pan. Mix through thoroughly adding all the spices as you go.

4) Now add the whole can of coconut milk and again mix and stir through. (Turn the heat back on now.)

5) Open and pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan.

6) Place your stock cubes in the pan, add half a pint of cold water and again mix through.

7) Turn the heat right down to it’s lowest and stir the pan every few minutes for about 20-30 minutes, or until a good chunk of the liquid has been absorbed.

8) Serve with garlic and parsley vegan buttered chapatis.

Vegetable Paella

October 21, 2013 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

Sorry I’ve not posted in a while! I’ve unfortunately had a lot of anxiety issues lately but fear not, I’m back on track to being a super fitness fiend.

Seeing as we’re all feeling the squeeze at the moment, I thought I’d do another one of my Cheap as Chips meals. Most of the ingredients you should have in your cupboard or fridge and if you don’t, you should be able to source them from your local corner shop.

Ingredients

1 red onion
2 bell peppers (you can even go for frozen ones if you’re super skint.)
A large handful of frozen peas
2 cloves of garlic
2 fresh tomatoes
1 tablespoon paprika
1 pint of long grain rice
2 pints of vegetable stock
A good pinch of black pepper

Method

Chop your peppers, onion and garlic and place in a heated pan with some oil. Add your frozen ingredients (which for me was just peas) and mix.

Then create a well in the middle of the pan and fill with your two chopped fresh tomatoes and the paprika.

Now pour the vegetable stock straight into the well in the middle and mix everything around thoroughly.

Add the rice and mix through thoroughly.

Allow to simmer on the lowest heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. In this time the liquid will start to be absorbed by the rice, so make sure it doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pan.

Once 20 minutes has passed, sprinkle with pepper and allow to stand for another five minutes. (The longer you leave it the thicker it will become.)

Queer Vegan

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

dinner

Leek & Potato Soup (Cheap As Chips!)

Lentil Stew & Sesame Rice

Super Secret Scrambled Tofu Recipe: The Best You’ll Ever Have!!!!

What I Ate Saturday

Chickpea Balti

Get Your Healthy On: Vegetable Stir-fry

Vegan Juicy Lucy Burger

Christmas Tapas Menu

Red Lentil Dahl

Vegetable Paella