Chilli'n Out!

Today I made a lovely black bean, sausage and apple chilli. I found the recipe on my Vegan YumYum iPhone app and it looked so simple and tasty that I decided to give it a go. The recipe can be found below, but I used half a can of chopped tomatoes instead of two diced plum tomatoes. The TSP (Textured Soya Protein) I used was the frozen kind from Tesco so there was no need to rehydrate it and it was already lightly seasoned, and the sausages I used were Linda McCartney. It was really lovely! This made loads and there was no need for any rice as the beans were so filling. The Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce really soaked in and flavoured the sausage and mince, and the black beans and carrots were slightly al dente which contrasted the mushy texture of the meat substitutes. We will definitely be having this again as it's so cheap and easy to make!  

My boyfriend has been eating vegan with me for the past few days, after I had a little breakdown and told him that I didn't think I could cope any more with him eating meat around me. This may seem a little selfish on my part, as I've never been one to tell anyone what to and what not to eat... but he does love vegan food and it's going to make it so much easier for us to eat together. I think it will do him good to eat healthier too! What he does when he's out of the house is his own business, but I am glad that he's done this for me, and he's really taking it seriously as he loves to cook and has been enjoying researching new recipes.

Chipotle Sausage Chilli with Apple and Black Beans 
Makes two hearty servings

- 1 Can Black Beans, mostly drained
- 2 Carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 Plum Tomatoes, diced (1 Cup, scant)
- 1 Cup Rehydrated TSP, see directions
- 1 Veggie Sausage Link, diced
- 1 Apple, diced (any kind, really)
- 3 Tbs Tamari
- 3 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce (make sure the label says it’s veg)
 - 1 tsp Cumin

Heat 1 scant cup of water to boiling and mix it with 1 Cup dried TSP (or follow package directions). While that is soaking, heat a large skillet with some vegetable oil. Add carrot and stir every once in a while to soften. Meanwhile, dice apples, tomatoes, and sausage. Add these plus the beans and cumin to pan. Stir and cover.

Check on your TSP. Dump out excess water as soon as it is fairly soft and add to pan. Add tamari and Worcestershire sauce, stir well, and cover. Let simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Serve with fresh cilantro or parsley.

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In other news, I've booked my ticket to Wales for Christmas to see my father. It's going to be ever so quiet as it's just going to be the two of us for 4 days, chilling out and eating good food. I can't wait! It will make a change from Christmas at my boyfriend's parents' place where there is usually 11 of us around the table! I think it will be nice to have a more relaxing time, as Christmas is usually so manic. I will definitely miss my Gerry-pups though!
























Oh and if you're looking to buy some Christmas treats, Lidl have some wonderful boxes of coconut ice... hint hint!! ;) The Turkish Delight in the picture isn't vegan as it's covered in milk chocolate, but they do sell a version with no chocolate. They are also selling their scrumptious dark chocolate Marzipan bars and raspberry liquor filled dark chocolate barrels again this year - hooray!

I'll leave you with some nice photographs I took recently:

Fry's Polony Sausage

I was in town the other day and came across this in a freezer section of a health food shop: Fry's Polony. It was quite expensive at just under €5.00, but I decided to give it a go because it was pretty large and would probably do me 2-3 meals. I was actually looking for seitan, and this was the closest I came to it that day. It does, in fact, taste EXACTLY like paté, so for people who used to like that sort of thing then this is a winner! It's garlic flavoured and you can eat it raw, heat it up in a microwave, fry it, grill it - do anything with it really. It's not very spreadable though, but I think this would be pretty amazing filling for a sausage roll. I don't think meat eaters would be able to tell the difference! It sort of tastes like the fake meat in Linda McCartney's vegan sausage rolls. Here's a picture of the sausage cut in half, you can get about 6 thick slices out of half a sausage. I had to hold it up to take a photo as Gerry kept sniffling it and trying to eat it!
















I fried it lightly in a frying pan and served it with some steamed green beans and broccoli as I was starving and didn't feel in the mood for cooking when I came home. Granted, it doesn't look very appetising or adventurous, but I did enjoy it! I'll try something a little more exciting with the other half over the weekend. I'd say it would be nice as breadcrumbed burgers, or in a warm bagel with fake cheese and rocket.

Bitta Pitta Pizza

This weekend I've been experimenting with fake cheeses and meats. I decided to make some mini pizzas out of pitta breads, cut in half, smothered in BBQ sauce, then topped with tomatoes, fake Taifun Tofu Weiner pepperoni slices and Cheezly Mozzerella style fake cheese.












 

















I remember trying fake cheese a long time ago, back when I was vegan first time around, in university... it was disgusting. However, I'm much more of a foodie now and thought I'd give it another go to see how my tastebuds would react: verdict = positive! Cheezly really does melt like real cheese, I also prefer it to real cheese as it's not as strong tasting or as stringy, so it's not overpowering and it's soft and easy to eat. I was unsure of how long to actually cook it, so I think my first pizza was a bit undercooked, but it was still melty and really delicious. I've included a close-up photo of my second pizza, and you can see that the cheese has gone bubbly and slightly browner, like real cheese does. However, it was horrible when it was uncooked, straight out of the packet. I don't think I could bring myself to eat any fake cheese product which hasn't been cooked. I think this is what may have put me off fake cheeses when I was back in university!

I'll definitely be using this again, but I won't be keeping it as a staple item in my fridge, because I simply don't see the need to eat replacement products all the time.























































I haven't used the Vegi Deli Chicken Style Pieces yet, but have had them before and they are really nice in stir fries. I was going to put them on a pitta pizza, but just decided to stick with the pepperoni in the end.

Another quick thing to do with the Tofu Sausages is chop them up and put them in BBQ Baked Beans and heat them for a minute... it's really nice for a super-rushed breakfast, and they taste so much better than the real canned mini hotdogs in baked beans. In fact I'd definitely say these babies taste almost exactly like real hotdogs. The over-processed, soft texture is exactly spot on, and they taste smoky too, like the real thing... but better!

I picked up some more noodles from the Asian market as well this weekend, as I want to make mixed vegetable Ramen soup again this week. I could spend forever looking at all the different types of noodles in their crazy, bright packaging. There are rows upon rows of them in our Asian market, and they're all so cheap at around 35-40c each! I opted for the Mama Artificial Chicken flavoured noodles that I got last time, as they were good, as well as Mama's rice noodles. I had these the other day for a quick snack and I was NOT impressed. I always put all the flavouring in straight away, but there was something funny tasting about these ones, and the chilli powder burnt the roof off my mouth!! I had to wash some of the flavouring off, it was that bad. I suppose I should have checked the taste as I was adding it, but most of the time it's fine so I really didn't think to check. I won't be getting these again.

I also picked up some artificial chicken flavoured Pho Ga noodles. These must be my favourite instant noodles of all time. Yes, a bold statement to make, but they are really that good! They are super-thin and flat rice noodles and you get a really decent amount of flavouring, herbs and garlic oil included in the packet. I remember eating these exact ones as a student in Bristol and was really excited to discover that our Asian market stocked the same ones. I should have picked up more! I have been searching for another flavour that I used to love, but I haven't been able to find it yet. I remember it being bright reddy-pink and I think it may have been pickled cabbage flavour, or something like that. Sounds revolting, but it was sooo good!