Vegan in Los Angeles

Recently we visited the United States for a quickie marriage in Las Vegas but found ourselves on the biggest vegan food adventure ever.
The absolute abundance and availability of vegan food in America is overwhelming! We took every opportunity we could to eat as much as we possible.
First stop was Los Angeles. We arrived in the morning, dumped our gear over at the hostel and adventured down Melrose for some quick eats and some light shopping which is where we found M Cafe. And who would be sitting beside us but The Veronicas! I also found out via twitter that Pete Wentz had been there the same day.
M cafe is a vegan/macro style cafe on Melrose which offered a great menu. I had the macro plate which consisted of brown rice, pickles and tofu. It was pretty nice and not expensive at all.
We walked down to The Grove and explored The Whole Foods Market there as well as the Farmers Market too. Got some lunch there then got the bus up to around Hollywood and Highland where we discovered a Trader Joe's. We spent the day on a hop on/hop off bus tour.

That night we ate at Swingers Diner. Burritos and Nachos. Eaten too quickly to take a photo. I think this is when I began my root beer addiction!

Our second day was spent at Universal Studios. We had packed our backpack full of goodies from Whole Foods but the security guy/bag checker didn't like that and made us throw away some of our food. Vegan options were few and far between but we spent most of the day on rides anyway.

Dinner was at Doomies Home Cookin' and holy jeebus, it was AMAZING! I had fried chicken and mashed potatoes and Andy had parmigiana. We also had a jalepeno popper entree which was too hot for my liking but Andy LOVED! Highly recommended for those DIY style Punk eatz. 

Days 3, 4 and 5 we spent at Disneyland! After trawling the internet for weeks beforehand I discovered a treasure trove of secret vegan eats. I don't have too many food photos from Disneyland because I was too busy soaking up the Disney atmosphere and chasing Disney characters.

The one thing i did get a pic of was this was an amazing portabello stack with cous cous. DELICIOUS! It came with a side salad which was also really tasty. I think it had raspberry vinaigrette. From the Blue Bayou (it overlooks the beginning of the pirates of the Caribbean ride)

So that's most of L.A, I'm sure I have forgotten something but next up is Las Vegas and the wedding.

Where have you been?

Blogging and blogger slump.
Here's a photo dump for your enjoyment

All photos taken with instagram

What do you do when the fridge is bare?

Google, of course!
Throw in a few key words such as COCONUT MILK, TOMATOES, RICE and VEGAN and what do you get?
Tomato Curry with Coconut Milk. Ok, so it's not exactly Vegan but pretty easy to veganise.
And as usual, I had to play around with the recipe. Here is what I did.

2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes
2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 red chilies (if you like really hot curries)
1 can coconut milk or cream
3 tsp chickpea (besan) flour
1 can chickpeas
Salt to taste


Put the canned tomatoes into a heavy bottom fry pan, add salt and bring to a boil. Add cumin, red chili and turmeric powders. Keep boiling then add coconut milk to the mixture until it thickens. Add the chickpea flour mixed in little water and cook until you get a nice, thick, saucy consistency.  Turn down to a medium low heat and add chickpeas and cook for a further 10 minutes. Dry fry the cumin and mustard seeds until you hear them popping and then add to the curry. Stir through and enjoy on a bed of rice.

A Very Vegan Xmas courtesy of The PPK

Vegan White Choc Macadamia Cookies. Recipe coming soon!!

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Originally uploaded by for_esme

Crazy Rumours Review - Coming Soon!

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Originally uploaded by for_esme

The best vegan moussaka you will ever eat

A few days ago I accidentally saw a tv show by Master Chef's winner Julie Goodwin called Home Cooked. In this particular episode she was making moussaka. I love a good moussaka and the best one I have ever tried is in Veganomicon but the only problem is that it takes AGES to make and assemble. Julie's recipe takes about 20 minutes to prepare and about 30 minutes to cook. It seemed pretty simple to veganise, so I gave it a go a few nights ago and was super impressed with the results.
The recipe goes a little like this......


2 medium eggplants, cut into 1cm thick slices
salt
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 pack sanitarium vege mince
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup red wine or veg stock
1 can whole peeled tomatoes


Béchamel Sauce
3 Tbs Nuttelex
3 Tbs  plain flour
1.5 cups water (or soy milk if you like)
½ cup nutritional yeast


Salt the eggplant slices on both sides and lay between 2 layers paper towel for around 15 minutes. Wipe carefully with fresh paper towel to remove salt and liquid that has been drawn out of the eggplant. Fry in batches in vegetable oil over medium-high heat until browned; drain on paper towel.


In the same pan, add a little more oil and brown the vege mince, breaking up lumps with a wooden spoon until crumbly and browned. Add the onion and garlic and cook for a further minute. Stir in cinnamon and allspice and cook for another minute. Add tomato paste and stir to combine. Pour in canned tomato  and red wine/stock and cook until the liquid has evaporated and the meat sauce is quite a dry mixture; around 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180° C /160° C (fan forced).

Melt nuttelex in a medium saucepan and stir in flour. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until thick, smooth and coming away from the sides of the pan. (This is called a roux.) Add a little of the water/milk and stir quickly; the mixture will form a dough immediately. Keep stirring and adding water/milk a little at a time. Once all the milk is added, stir (using a wire whisk if there are any lumps) and allow the sauce to thicken and the flour to fully cook. Stir in nutritional yease. Taste and add salt if required.

To assemble, place a layer of eggplant slices into the base of a 24x36cm baking dish. Top with half the "meat" mixture. Repeat with eggplant and sauce and finish with a layer of eggplant slices. Pour over the béchamel sauce and sprinkle with breadcrumbs, almond meal and some pine nuts. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

I'm definitely more of a Poh fan but Julie has won my vote with this recipe!

That weird uncomfortable silence leaks onto the internet

You know what is really creepy? People who google my full name and come across my blog. Isn't that what facebook is for? Come on lurkers, say HELLO! Blog stats are starting to make me feel weird.