I hadn't caught up with my sister in ages because I'd been poorly and the last thing she needed was to catch anything I had whilst she was recovering from Guillain Barre Syndrome. But today she and Mum came for lunch. It was such a beautiful day (between downpours) and we decided to eat al fresco. I absolutely love eating outdoors when the weather is warm enough, it really does make you feel like you are on holiday. We were lucky enough to miss the showers, but just after we cleared up the heavens opened!
The spread I put on was a simple but tasty variety of vegan food and included some french-like bread spread with vitalite, a gorgeous garden salad put together by my sister, falafels, Mediterranean couscous (yep another packet was lurking in my cupboard), toasted seeds, beetroot and a trio of dips. The dips I chose were houmous (of course), olive tapenade and creamy celery. Recipes below.
Olive tapenade Ingredients
100g black pitted olives
10g Capers
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Garlic clove
Dash Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Method
Put everything into a food processor and blend to a paste.
Creamy Celery Dip Ingredients
3 Ribs Celery
1 Tbsp Vegan cream cheese
Dash vegan Worcester sauce
Dash Olive
1 Tsp Dried Parsley
½ Tsp Dried Thyme
Method
Put everything into a food processor and blend to a paste. Be careful not to add too much Worcester Sauce or Olive Oil you don't want to make it too runny.
The spread was perfect for a glorious sunny day (between showers). Both Mum and my sister thoroughly enjoyed it.
Hi there
Its been ages since I last posted! Two weeks to be precise, but a lot has happened and blogging had to take a back seat whilst I dealt with other priorities. It hasn't been the most pleasant two weeks, I've had a horrid stomache bug, had a nasty accident where I fell from a style onto my head (I have the cuts and bruisers to prove it- ouch!) and been worrying about three other family members who are not well either!
But I'm pleased to report that things are getting back to normal and family are on the road to recovery and my bruises are turning from black and blue to a yellow tinge.
With everything going on I haven't really been in the kitchen much too, I didn't eat anything for almost two days with my stomache bug, which is one reason I think I fell from the style.
To top it off the weather has been pants too hasn't it and the weekend we went away camping it absolutely threw it down and we had thunder and lightening, which poor Marco didn't like at all. His first camping trip was one disaster after another. I just hope it hasn't put him off altogether.
So what have I been eating over the last two weeks then...............................
Bank holiday hubby, Marco and I went to Mum and Dads for a buffet. I always take a few dishes with me for others to try and ensure that I have something for myself. Mum is pretty good tho, and always makes sure there is something for me. Bank holiday was no exception, we had jacket potatoes, salad, houmous and the dishes that I took with me. These included:
- Red onion caramelised tart
- Coleslaw
- Thai coleslaw
- Curried chick peas
- Satay courgette ribbons
- Chocolate torte
My recipe for coleslaw can be found on this blog, but this time I used red cabbage as that's what I had in my fridge. The Thai coleslaw was veganised from a recipe in a free supermarket magazine and the curried chick peas and satay courgette ribbons were adapted from recipes posted by fat free vegan, called zucchini 'noodles' with sesame peanut sauce and two chickpea salads. The red onion caramelised tart was easy to make. All I did was saute 2 red onions and 2 brown onions in a little olive oil over a low heat for about 15 minutes, then I added brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and cooked for another 10 minutes. Top a sheet of already rolled puff pastry (jus roll is vegan) with the mixture and sprinkle a little vegan cheese on top and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. It was delicious and so easy to make.
