Vegan Potato & Corn Chowder

It has been a loooooong time since I posted anything. Time, motivation, and creativity seem to get sucked into a black hole. Of course life also seems to do nothing but revolve around dogs these days too... but anyhoo... Being sick is a good motivator for finding the perfect comfort food that doesn't require too much effort.

This week I happened to get some kind of man flu. I say it is man flu simply because the way I felt Monday I am sure nobody else has ever felt in the universe and I was obviously dying. Somebody sapped all the energy out of me and gave it to someone else. Muscles ached in places I didn't think there were muscles. Stars exploded and new universes were formed inside my head. Of course, it did not help that I had completed the City to Surf on Sunday while knowing I was sick, but of course being in the early stages of man flu I obviously thought that I was invincible against my normal rational judgement and ran the 14km anyway. At one point while running I thought I was hallucinating when I saw two Wonder Women and four giant bottles of Pure Blond beer jogging past. Possibly aliens as well. Perhaps I had wandered onto the set of the next series of Dr Who? It has since been confirmed I was not hallucinating and these strange things were in fact there and I wasn't going mad. It was all worth it though as I was running to raise funds for Greyhound Rescue. 

However. Back to the problem of finding a bowl of nourishing comfort food.

Dairy in quantity does nothing good for me. However, there is something about creamy rich food that makes us feel better. This chowder does all of that without all the nasty dairy bits. It is rich and buttery tasting from the almonds, filling, and comforting. If you use crispy eggplant instead of the bacon style slices it is also gluten free!

Ingredients

4 medium waxy potatoes peeled and diced

1 1/2 cups corn kernels

1 cup diced onion

1 cup soaked almond kernels (husks removed) soaked in 1 litre of water

2 litres of vegetable or vegan chicken style stock powder

1 packet vegan bacon style slices (or crispy chargrilled eggplant works too!)

1 bunch of dill

1 bunch rocket or spinach

pepper to taste

lemon infused EVOO

oil for sauteing

Method

1.Soak the almonds for a couple of hours or simmer for 15 minutes in a litre of water and cool.

2. Put the almonds and their water into the blender and process until very smooth. Kinda like making almond milk but we are using the ground almonds as well.

3. In a  large saucepan saute the onions in a little vegetable oil until soft and then add the corn kernels, diced potato, almond mixture, and stock.

4. Simmer until the potatoes are soft (about 20 minutes). If it is getting too thick thin it out with a little more stock or water.

5. While the soup is simmering chop up the bacon style slices and fry until crispy. Or fry up some smoky chargrill eggplant pieces instead, and set aside.

6. Take the soup off the heat, stir in a drizzle of lemon oil and pepper to taste, and the fried slices or eggplant.  Toss in rocket and dill, and stir through to wilt.

7. Serve with extra dill or rocket on top, and crusty bread.

Rawmazing Race: Raw Carrot & Ginger Soup in Amsterdam

Ok, so I know this looks like a regular soup, but believe me, it is raw. Since Holland is responsible for much of the carrots we eat today, I thought Amsterdam would be a good stop for tonight's plate hopping adventure. I juiced some carrots,then added half an avocado and some ginger and whizzed it up with my barmix. I added the black sesame seeds for a bit of contrast, but some fresh parsley or dill would probably have gone with it really well too. It was so creamy! I'll probably add this to the rotation, since Mr Bean thought it was pretty good too from the taste he had. Since carrots are a super food and their health benefits would probably fill a book, I'll keep it short. Carrots are loaded with vitamins A,C,D,E,K, B1, and B6, besides a heap of minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium (to name a few). They are also alkaline, and  high in phytonutrients, which have amazing healing properties in the body. Add to the soup the healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats from the avocado that carry fat soluble vitamins such as E and K, and I feel pretty darn good about tonight's dinner! But even if you aren't into all the nutrition of it, just try it cos it's yummy!

Gluten Free Vegan Mock Chicken in Laksa

This post should really be entitled "what I ate Monday night" because I'm not posting a recipe. Rather, I'm sharing with you this odd product I found by accident in the health food shop, and now plan on using it often. Please forgive the unusually crappy photos, largely due to a can't-be-stuffed kind of mood. But I promise you a proper post this week with a recipe...after all, it's Australia Day coming up so I would be very unpatriotic if I didn't do something for that! anyway, this packet was on the shelf below the vegan laksa paste (yeah, I know, how lazy of me not to make my own). It looked kind of like a packet of fortune cookies (I didn't look very hard obviously, but in my defence the window on the pack is kinda opaque rather than clear). Anyway... it's a dehydrated soy product called "Organic Soybean Chicken" made by Explore Asian. I'm not usually a fan of mock meats, but being gluten free and vegan I was willing to give it a shot, and thought it might go rather well with my laksa, even if I already had a packet of puffed tofu in hand. It cooks in boiling water, and then you drain and use it for whatever you like. It's kind of bland on its own, like tofu, but it has an interesting texture, and absorbed the flavours of my soup so well, I think this would be a great product to try slow cooking with. It would also be amazing marinated and used in a stir fry.

It was pretty cheap for mock meat products, $5.45 and I can get four meals out of one pack. I think it's great to be gluten free as well, as so many of those sort of products are based on wheat proteins, which I find to be very heavy to digest, and wheat free vegans miss out. So go get some! Experiment! and tell me what you made!

See you Australia Day!

Jerusalem Fart-ichoke (Artichoke) Soup

Jerusalem artichokes are one of those things that you either love or hate - especially depending on your digestive system! They are part of the sunflower family, and not related to artichokes or Jerusalem at all, but they do have a reputation for giving some people gas. I think as long as they are peeled and cooked correctly, there isn't a problem. I tried growing some a couple of years ago and nothing happened, much to my dismay. Then in disgust gave up and I threw some sunflower seeds down the back...and nothing happened. Then all of a sudden, they grew...but they didn't look like the sunflowers I'd sown. Light finally dawned on me when they died off and I stuck my hand down around the base to find these. Duh! they finally took off, those Jerusalem artichokes I'd given up on.

Soup was definitely called for, so not really knowing what to do, I had a look around for a good recipe. I didn't really find one that appealed, but I did find Jaime Oliver's recipe for sauteed Jerusalem Artichokes http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/sauted-jerusalem-artichokes-with-garlic So I followed that, and then put them in the blender with some chicken style stock (massel). Wow! So creamy and delicious, with a squeeze of lemon and a little thyme, it was perfect! The Beloved thought I'd put some cream into it, but honestly, they were so perfectly fresh, straight out of the garden and into my pot, I don't think it would be the same with store bought ones (they deteriorate quite quickly). So if you happen to grow some, or know someone who does, definitely give this one a shot. And even if you don't like eating them, they sure look pretty as a perennial sunflower patch!