Veganomicon - Baja-Style Grilled Tempeh Tacos (review for slaw only)

Whilst i have made the whole recipe before and loved it, it's the slaw I keep coming back to!

The slaw is a delightful mix of red cabbage, carrots, pickled jalepeños and a marinade.  It's super quick to prepare (but does require time to sit and marinade) and the end result is divine!  We both love adding it to our tacos and like the tang and crunch it gives.

This is a recipe I just keep on going back to.

Final verdict: delicious, a definite keeper
Final score: 5 out of 5!

Vegan Vegan - Costa Rican Refried Beans and Rice (Gallo Pinto)

Again, another recipe I know I made years ago and just haven't made since for no apparent reason.

The recipe states to use either pink, black or red beans - I used black as I already had some cooked up in my freezer (I assume the pink beans would be pinto and the red beans would be kidney?).  It also calls for some of the bean cooking water as the liquid but I didn't have any as my beans were already cooked so I just used some broth - but I think it would have been much better with the bean cooking water to give it the proper consistency.

If I had already had some cooked rice, then this would have been a fairly quick recipe to make, but unfortunately I didn't so it was quite time consuming, cooking the rice and allowing it to cool.

I remember being absolutely wowed by this when I made it before, but this time it was just meh - maybe a bit bland?  The only change from the recipe I made was to omit the liquid smoke, as I had run out - but I'm not really sure that would have made a huge difference.  I'll maybe try again with the smoke, but if that doesn't make a vast difference I probably won't make again.

Final verdict: ok, but kinda bland
Final score: 3 out of 5

Vegan Brunch - Classic Broccoli Quiche

So, I knew that I had made this years ago as a full sized quiche and we had enjoyed it, and for some reason I decided it would be cute to make mini individual quiches!  And it was!

Niall and I LOVE broccoli, so that's a plus for this recipe.  The other big plus is the lack of nooch (nutritional yeast), and Niall cannot stomach it.  

I found this recipe pretty simple to make, but reasonably time consuming, especially if you include the time to make the pastry and then baking it in the over.  But a lot of the time is passive, so I don't mind that too much.  A bonus is that when making this recipe I have always had left overs - bonus!!

I have made a full recipe before and the filling makes enough for a 'normal'sized pie dish, or my square baking pan (not sure on size) but this time I did a half batch of the filling and found it made enough for 3 big, very filled-to-the-brim, muffin 'holes'.

I must remember next time to reduce the salt, because (like many American recipes) I did find the filling too salty.

Final verdict: tasty pie, reasonably easy to make but quite time consuming
Final score: 4 out of 5 (losing a point for saltiness and not being a quick recipe)

Viva Vegan - Pickled Red Onions

Whilst perusing my copy of Viva Vegan the other week, this recipe popped out at me....which is strange as I've never even noticed it before!

So after going out and buying some red onions (the only ingredient I didn't have on hand), I made this one evening.  As per the recommendation in the book, I made it the night before I actually wanted to have it for dinner - the book states it needs to be left to pickle for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Well, it was super easy to make and the end result.....I wasn't exactly sure what to make of it!  Trying it on it's own, I wasn't a fan - but loaded up on a quesadilla, I quite enjoyed it.  The recipe keeps for up to 2 weeks in the fridge and so I had it the following week on soft tacos, and enjoyed it pretty fine that way too.  It added a nice crunch and a bit of tartness.

However, I wasn't blown away by it, and Niall really wasn't a fan, so I'm not sure I would make it again - and this time I don't mean that as in I won't make it again, rather I really am not sure!  I still can't decide whether I really enjoyed it, or didn't really like it.

Final verdict: I'm really not sure! Easy to make though.
Final score: 2.5 out of 5, as I really don't know what to make of it.

Viva Vegan - Shredded Seitan and Mushroom Empanadas with Raisins and Olives

Ok, so I'm not really reviewing this recipe as is because I just used the empanada filling for soft tacos.

I didn't use the specified seitan recipe from the book as Niall doesn't tend to like homeade seitan and so instead used some canned mock duck.  I initially started grating it but that was just too difficult / fiddly so I ended up just chopping it up finely - and TBH that was absolutely fine.

I didn't really make any other changes and thought that, with using the premade seitan, it cam together really quickly and was a nice and simple recipe.

I wasn't sure how Niall would like this recipe as it contained black olives, which I don't normally use, and raisins, which he's not usually too keen on - but he loved the combo!! And even commented on how he liked the olives!  I personally liked the raisins in it to give it a touch of sweetness.

We both really enjoyed this recipe and I found it more flavouful than I expected from the limited ingredients.  In fact we both enjoyed it so much that we had it again a few nights later!!  I must, must, must remember to make again.

Final verdict: quick and easy to make, and really tasty!
Final score: 5 out of 5 - WOW!

Viva Vegan - Peruvian Seitan & Potato Skewers

Ok ok, so I didn't really make this recipe, but kinda did!  I wanted a filling for soft tacos and remembered that I had made this a few years ago, so decided to base my filling on this for a change from our usual fillings.

I really only used the marinade for this recipe, as I made so many changes.....I didn't make them as skewers, didn't use the seitan recipe called for (Niall doesn't like homemade stuff and loves the stuff you can get in cans), didn't use potatoes and added some mushrooms instead.

I used the whole recipe for the marinade, but roughly half the amount of seitan (didn't really measure so not sure) and no potatoes - I wanted it quite saucy rather than a dry marinade, and if I remember I would do this again.

Having made all those changes, we loved the final result - Niall even commented how good it was.  He had been concerned that it would be vinegary as it had smelled quite strongly of vinegar as it was marinating but it wasn't.

My only real gripe was that it was quite oily but I guess that was because I cooked it all up in a pan rather than on skewers, maybe?

I have made this in the past as a pan fry thing with potatoes and that does work really we too, just wasn't what we were after this time.

Final verdict: great flavours, and with shop bought seitan a nice easy recipe
Final rating: 4.5 out of 5 (losing half a point for the oiliness)

Vegan Diner - Quick and Hearty Chili

For some reason I decided on chili a few weeks ago - I hadn't had one in ages, although we've been having plenty of fajitas, enchiladas, nachos.....why not chili!?
I used to have a go to recipe that was given to me by my sister, but I remembered making the Quick & Hearty Chili recipe from Vegan Diner a few years ago and it tasting remarkably similar to the recipe my sister had given me and that it only took about a quarter of the time.  So I grabbed Vegan Diner and that was the recipe I went to...

I made a few changes to suit what I had in and our preferences. The recipe calls for 2 cans of kidney beans - Niall isn't a super huge bean fan and I only had black beans in, so used 1 can of black beans.  I think if I had used the two cans called for it would have been too beany for my liking (and definitely too much for Niall).  To make up some of the bulk I added a bit more TVP (maybe an extra half a cup).
I also didn't use capsicum (bell pepper), as they are quite spendy at the moment and also Niall isn't keen on them.  So instead I added some mushrooms, as that was a staple in the recipe my sister gave me many years ago.

Aside from that I made the recipe as is, and I had forgotten how good it is!  It really does taste like it has been bubbling away for hours, when in actual fact it is quite a quick recipe to make.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed this and I made a mental note not to leave it so long before making it again!

Final verdict: delicious, easy to make recipe
Final score: 4.5 out of 5 (losing half a star because would have been too many beans if I'd made the recipe as is)

Thug Kitchen Party Grub - Curry Hand Pies with Cilantro-Mint Sauce

This was another dish that sprang out at me when first reading this cookbook - I love Indian flavours and I love pies....so what's not to love, right?

I'm not really sure what I had expected in my mind, but only after I had made them did I realise they're basically baked samosas!  Obvious really but I just hadn't twigged.  D'oh!

Well, I cocked up on a couple of things - firstly, I ran out of carrots, but that's not really a big deal (but they would have been nice in there).  Secondly, I accidentally cooked my yellow split peas until they were a complete mush - although that ended up working well in this recipe, I think they were not supposed to be like that based on the picture in the book.

I enjoyed the flavour, but did find them to be a little bland....next time I'd probably double all the spices, as they are only in the recipe in small amounts (e.g. 1/4 teaspoon for the whole recipe!).

What I really liked was the dough - easy to make and very easy to work with.  But again, I found probably not enough curry powder as they didn't really taste curry-ish.

I ended up making a few larger pies than the 16 small pies the recipe calls for, as we were just having them for dinner.  I made a half recipe and made 4 larger pies, so I can easily see how the whole recipe would make 16 small hand pies.

As mentioned in the book, I did find it a bit difficult to tell when they were done because of the yellow colour of the dough (due to the curry powder), and just waited until the edges were obvioulsy browned - and I probably had over cooked them slightly.

Soi what did we make of the pies - I enjoyed them and would probably make them again.  They didn't wow me, but they were good.  Niall seemed to enjoy them too.

The sauce however, not a fan!  It tasted really bitter and raw (which I guess it is) but not in a nice way.  I definitely wouldn't make the sauce again.

Final verdict: a good pie with great dough, but terrible sauce.
Final score: 2 out of 5 (pies were generally ok, but bland and definitely losing points for the sauce)

Thug Kitchen Party Grub - Bake Ziti

I just bought Thug Kitchen Party Grub this weekend when a friend told me it was only $1.99 on Kindle!! Yus!  Straight away this recipe popped out at me as something I wanted to try - not sure why, it just did!

For me it was reasonably spendy, with artichoke hearts, a whole tub of silken tofu and fresh basil but I realllly wanted to try it.  To counteract the spendyness it does make a lot - for us we got 6 BIG portions out of it (I think the recipe says 8, but we didn't serve it with any sides).

The recipe does use a lot of pans and takes quite a bit of time, but a lot of that time is passive whilst it bakes and it was actually pretty easy to make.  This was including the Blender Marinara (another recipe in this book).

I had a portion the first night and was really underwhelmed by it and found it bland. It maybe needed more salt, which is something I didn't expect as I usually find recipes in American cookbooks to be overly salty.  I think some of this was the fact that the marinara sauce was pretty basic and just tomatoes and a few herbs.  I added way less nooch as it hurts Niall's stomach, so that could have been an issue too.  I was also disappointed that I couldn't tell that there was expensive artichoke hearts in there! 

After being underwhelmed we had some leftovers tonight for dinner and it was much better!  I did add a bit of homemade aquafaba mozzarella to the top of my portion but that's a little bland too so I'm not sure if that was entirely responsible for it being much better.  I think maybe the day sitting meant the flavours melded together more.  However, for the time and cost I don't think the improvement the day after making justified it all.

Final verdict: an ok dish but one I won't bother making again

Final score: 2 out of 5 (a pretty average dish losing half a point for not showing off the artichoke hearts)

Vegan With A Vengeance - Falafel

This is my go to falafel recipe, it is soooo good.  The only change to the recipe for me is that I spray with cooking oil and then bake them for ~30 minutes rather than pan frying.
I sometimes use dried parsley but fresh is way better.  I also sometimes use coriander (cilantro) instead of the parsley to change things up (and also depending on what I have in stock)

Final verdict: a fantastic, easy to make falafel, one I make all the time
Rating: 5 out of 5

1000 Vegan Recipes - Quick Herb Bread

I wanted a bread to go with my lunchtime soup this week and decided to try one from one of my favourite recipe books - 1000 Vegan Recipes.

What the hell was I thinking!?  I know I can't make bread!! And even worse, I decided to sub some of the plain white flour with wholemeal.

Admittedly this bread was quick to throw together but the dough was so so dry and dense so I knew it wouldn't work out - I stupidly didn't allow more liquid for the wholemeal flour so I guess this was why.

The end result?  I dense, dry bread with a lovely flavour.  Really the flavour of the herbs was really nice, but the bread just sucked.  I don't know if this entirely my fault because after I made it (why didn't I look before) I Googled it and found others had also experienced a dry dough.
I may try this again written as is.....but I may not.

Final verdict: a dry, dense bread but easy to put together
Score: 2 out of 5 (but the low score may be my fault)

1000 Vegan Recipes - Curried Pumpkin Soup

So we have an abundance of butternut squash in the garden and so wanted to make some sort of pumkin soup for our lunch this week - in winter I make a big batch every week for Niall and I to take to work.

Now any soup that isn't my usual leek, lentil and barley soup has a lot to live up to - Niall and I are happy to eat that soup every day for lunch for the entire winter!!  But I needed to use up that pumpkin so.....

First of all the recipe calls for 2 cups cooked pumpkin and after chopping and deseeding one of ours, I probably had over that amount but I didn't measure (it was a med-large butternut).  I then cooked / roasted it in the oven with a bit of water (instead of oil) for about half an hour until most of it was tender.

The recipe uses chopped garlic and grated ginger - both of which I doubled because of the extra pumpkin.  It also calls for some curry powder and after getting halfway though the recipe I realised I had run out - *gasp*!  So after a quick google for homemade curry powder I used a blend of cumin, coriander, ground ginger, cayenne, mustard powder and turmeric.  But overall used double what the recipe called for to up the spice/flavours.

The rest of the recipe I followed, except adding a bit more water to get to the consistency I knew Niall would be happy with.

The end result?  We LOVED this soup!  So much so that Niall said I can make this again during the winter instead of the usual leek lentil & barley soup!

Final verdict: easy to make, really tasty.  A keeper
Score: 4.5 out of 5 (losing a half a star because as written the recipe may not have had enough spice)

So what's this about then?!

So the purpose of this blog.....
I used to use a fantastic website called VeganSprout to review recipes from cookbooks and unfortunately that was taken down some months ago.  This might not sound like a big deal but I LOVE being able to go back and see what I thought of recipes (and what my partner Niall thinks too).

Since the website was taken down, I've been writing my thoughts / variations down on scraps of paper which is very frustrating (for Niall) as they tend to accumulate in the most random places.....hence this blog.

I'm not sure how often I'll post, but as this is really just a reminder to myself I don't think that matters.  I'll mostly use this place to review recipes I've made from cookbooks....but I guess I'm not ruling out reviewing products either.