Healthy Blackberry Polenta Muffins

I just made these little beauties from the "How it all Vegan" book I got on the weekend. I only made half of the recommended ingredients, just in case they didn't turn out well (and seeing as the boy isn't that fond of anything cake-like I guess I'm not going to eat THAT many muffins on my own, right?). But my oh my do I wish I'd made the full amount now! They are just SO good, and very healthy tasting as well... AND the boy loves them, so it would have been quite handy to have made more. Here's the recipe below. I substituted blackberries for the raspberries and rice milk for the soya milk, as it was all I had at the time. Half of the ingredients made 6 small muffins which would be ideal for breakfast, accompanied with some fruit and a cup of coffee.

RASPBERRY CORNMEAL (POLENTA) MUFFINS
175g/6oz Cornmeal
175g/6oz Plain Flour
Dash of Salt
90g/3oz Sweetener
Three-Quarter Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
4 Tbsp Oil
175ml/6fl oz Soy Milk
175ml/6fl oz Orange or Apple Juice
1 Tsp Vinegar
115g/4oz Raspberries

Preheat oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. In a large bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, salt, sweetener, and bicarbonate of soda. Add the oil, milk, juice, vinegar and berries. Mix together gently until just mixed. Spoon into lightly oiled/non stick muffin tins and bake for 35-45 minutes. Test with a knife to see if done. Makes 6 large muffins.

Here's the inside of one of them, it's not like this all the way through, I just happened to break it open on a rather large blackberry! They are lovely and juicy and soft when they come straight out of the oven. I can't wait to make them again with raspberries. I might experiment and throw some random ingredients in next time, like some vanilla extract and some dessicated coconut!

Bagel Mania!

I've been having a couple of bagels here and there recently. Tesco's own value bagels and Weightwatchers bagels are surprisingly low in calories and make an excellent alternative to a plain old bun or sandwich. The other day I made a lovely rocket, cucumber, sweet pickled pimento pepper and beetroot bagel. It was so unexpectedly good, that by the time I thought I'd better document it for the blog, it was actually all in my tummy!

Today however, I made another one before heading to the gym to burn it off! I pan-fried some left over Polenta that had been marinading in BBQ sauce. I added some BBQ seasoning powder while frying it in olive oil. It was a bit unhealthy looking by the time it had cooked, but it was damn tasty! I put this in a bagel with a pickled pimento pepper and some lovely Irish tomato relish. It was heavenly!!! I'd have added some rocket if I'd have had any left in the fridge...

I guess I should have put the relish on the top half of the bagel so it could be seen in the photo as it looks a little plain here. I was a little too rushed to eat it before it got cold to faff around taking photos - but you get my drift! ;)

Southern Fried Polenta Pineapple Salad

I love to experiment as you all know, and I came up with this little beauty: Polenta cubes tossed and fried in "Southern" spices, with Pineapple chunks on a bed of Tomato & Rocket. It was VERY tasty! The sweetness of the pineapple really compliments and works well with the spicy polenta. It was absolutely delish :) I got the spices from the Asian market. Back in the day when I ate meat I used to love the crispy batter on KFC, but disliked the chicken itself, as it was just too greasy and offputting. So the jar of spices was a very welcome discovery and it goes all battery like proper KFC batter when you cook it. I just love it!

I had this just after getting back from a 4 hour hike (yes 4 hour!) up the mountains around Glendalough. My friend and I walked 11km, most of it up steep inclines. Well worth it though, the scenery was breathtaking, and we got one hell of a workout! The weather here in Ireland has been beautiful today, most of the country is having barbecues and is very, very drunk.

Hello people!

I thought I'd start this blog because I really have trouble tearing myself away from other people's vegan food blogs, and I thought I'd do something productive so other people can see what I eat! I'm not some kind of masterchef, nor do I cook everything 100% from scratch all the time - but what I do eat I try to be adventurous with and make it super tasty, healthy and good to look at! There are so many blogs out there written by people who have loads of time to cook amazing dishes and by people who obviously have a lot of talent in the kitchen - my aim is, however, to show you what the average vegan person eats: nothing too fancy or complicated, food that can be made easily by anyone on any kind of budget.

I'll also be documenting various new food products that I discover, restaurants and cafés around Dublin, and anything else of interest that is relevant to my life as a vegan.

I'll start with a few random pictures of things I've made in the past for you to see:

Here are some roasted chickpeas I made. All you have to do is get a can of chickpeas, drain them off and pat them dry, toss them in olive oil and sprinkle them with seasoning of your choice. Then roast them in the oven, turning occasionally, until crispy and golden. Leave them out to dry in the air so that they harden and become all crunchy... mmmm!














I love making bento boxes and taking them to work for my lunch. I really need to do this more often! Here is some sczechuan marinated tofu with brown rice and some Japanese umbrella cookies and peanut brittles for afters. I used to be pretty creative with my lunches, they were often concocted with leftovers from the previous evening's dinners.



I made this stirfry because I wanted to try out the lotus root that I'd bought from the Asian Market. There's mushrooms, onions, baby corn and sugar snap peas in there too. It was fried up in a bit of teriyaki sauce. The root is pretty hard to slice thinly. I served this with polenta cubes on the side, which were coated in southern fried style spices.



This is Moser Roth chocolate, available in Aldi stores. It is vegan, although is made on a line with chocolate that could contain milk, so that is mentioned on the package. I am totally addicted to this stuff! They make excellent varieties of dark chocolate, including mint, chilli and my favourite - almond and orange. They come in packs of 5 small, thin bars, perfect for snacking!



And of course... PANCAKES! Made from a simple batter of flour, baking soda, soya milk, cinnamon and a little bit of sugar. Who needs eggs? Decided to make these smaller, thicker American style pancakes instead of thinner ones. The toppings are warm red berries with agave nectar, peanut butter, and blackcurrant jam. I loved the way the hot juices from the berries soaked into the pancakes, it reminded me of the upside down summer fruit bread pudding my mum used to make when I was little - deelish!