Meet the Head Chef of Vegan Gourmet Caravan

It occurred to me, while looking through vegan blogs, that there is a theme and many employ the same type of head chef. So I thought I’d introduced you to the head chef of VGC.
Name: Skadi.
Age: 4.
Occupation: Head Chef and Supervisor of all kitchen activity.
Breed: British Short Hair.
Likes: Long naps, hot chips, boxes, bouncy balls and singing to the birds.
Dislikes: Sudden loud noises, nap interrupters, her travel box and surprisingly all meat apart from tuna (and we had nothing to do with that).

Nuggets with Chips

Sometimes – Sunday morning after a late night or when you come home late after long day at work – the most cooking you want to do is put the oven on. You don’t want to see a spoon, mixing bowl or chopping board. All you want is the TV and a meal. Usually at this stage you’re also looking for some junk to eat. We’ve trailed a few things from the supermarket freezer and thought we’d post one of them – there will be more to follow!

The Mains:

Fry’s Vegetarian Chicken-Style Nuggets

Ingredients: Vegetable protein (Soya), Flavourings, Wheat protein, Wheat flour, Vegetable oil, Sea salt, Garlic.

The Side Dish:

McCain Healthy Choice Frozen Chips

Ingredients: Potato (97%), canola oil, salt

Condiments:

Any sauce and salt you like – we like: Sweet chilli sauce (an oldie but a goodie)or Smokin' Mango Chilli Sauce

Verdict:

The Fry’s nuggets are pretty good. We’ve had them a couple of times and like the flavour and texture – just like a nugget. They’re not too fatty or covered in oil. Not too flavour packed I find the more you eat of them the more you like them! They made even better with a sauce. We like to eat them for a late morning breakfast or lunch.

Update: It appears that Skadi is also a fan of these nuggets.

BROOKLYN PAD THAI

Our blog looks a little neglected and it's true we're bad parents but as some of you would know Mike and I have just returned from a month long holiday touring Turkey and Egypt. It was such an amazing trip and a well earned break for both of us. Turkey is absolutely amazing with so many spectacular sites and Egypt is a completely different world. The only downside to the trip is that being Vegan is not always the easiest eating style, especially when your tour includes many hotel buffets aimed at tourists - think nothing but meat and cheese, salads yes but you can't trust the water the veggies were washed in. So we didn't have a wonderful gourmet journey but we weren't expecting to which is why when we got home we were dying for something Vegan and yummy!!!

So last night we called in the experts to solve our food crisis by grabbing Vegan with a Vengeance off the bookshelf. We wanted something fast and easy for after work but tasty and awesome to fulfil our food lust after eating token roast veggies at international buffets. We searched through the book growing hungrier by the second until we came across the recipe for Brooklyn Pad Thai. It was everything we wanted - different to what we had eaten, fast, easy and incredibly yummy looking. Without hesitation we started cooking and it was fantastic. One of the best Pad Thai's we've had and we really loved the slight heat from the addition of the chillies. I think it's definitely become one of our after work favourites.

Here is the recipe but we've modified it a little to our liking.

Serve 4

Ingredients:

For the noodles:

• 450g rice noodles
  
• peanut oil
  
• 450g tofu, cut into thin strips
  
• 1 medium red onion, cut in half and sliced thinly
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  
• 1/2 tbsp finely chopped lemongrass
  
• 125g bean sprouts
  
• 8 spring onions, sliced into 4cm lengths
  
• 1/4-1/2 tsp dried chill flakes
  
• 50g chopped roasted peanuts
  
• lime wedges for serving

For the sauce:

• 6 tbsp tamari
  
• 6 tbsp sugar
  
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
  
• 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
  
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
  
• 3 tbsp tamarind concentrate

Directions

1. Isa suggests that you make this in two batches so the noodles don't go soggy- which works out well if you want to make it go for two nights (which we do).
2. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together and prepare noodles according to the package instructions.
3. Preheat your wok or frying pan, med-high to high heat. Add peanut oil and fry the tofu until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside. You may want to rest it on absorbent paper to get rid of some of the oil.
4. Add a little more oil and half the red onion, stir fry for 30 seconds. Add half the garlic, half the lemon grass and half the chilli flakes, stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Add half the sauce, and when it starts to bubble (almost immediately), add half the cooked noodles and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly until noodles are cooked. Then add half the tofu, bean sprouts, spring onions, chillies, and peanuts, stir for another 30-60 seconds, then transfer serving bowls and serve with a lime wedge.

This recipe comes from:

Vegan with a Vengeance : Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock

by Isa Chandra Moskowitz