My first interview!

Today my first interview for This Dish is Veg was published - it was with the very lovely Tracy Perkins, owner of the vegan, all natural skin care company, Strawberry Hedgehog.

Take a minute to check out the interview here, and use the discount code that Tracy gave exclusively to TDIV readers to buy some yummy skin goodies!

All change for the New Year!

It's almost that time of year again - time to look back on the last twelve months and hopefully build on the positive experiences we've had as well as learn from the negative ones.

It's been an exciting year for me. I started this blog, started writing for This Dish is Veg, and had an inkling of an idea for a vegan (of course!) home-based business, and in the coming year I hope to continue doing the first two and to expand on the third!

The blog is going to have a bit of a face-lift over the next few days, and will have more varied content than there has been so far. There will still be yummy recipes don't worry, and you'll have to tune in after the New Year for the rest!

Meanwhile, have a bit of ABBA to herald in the New Year!

Have a great vegan New Year's Eve everyone!!!

Vegan MoFo! I is for...

While I love pizza and calzones, I'm not a big fan of too much dough - if I want lots of bread I'll make a sandwich thanks very much! So when setting out to make calzone dough, I wasn't interested in making regular pizza dough, I needed something thinner and crispier. As usual when I'm recipe brainstorming, I headed for Veg Web and found this recipe from Love Joy Harvest which is more of a pastry than a bread dough, and looked really promising. Of course I made a few changes lol!

This is what you'll need...

• 1 2/3 cups flour
• pinch of salt
• 6 tablespoons ice cold water (or more of needed)
• 4 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder

Throw everything except for the water in a food processor and mix well. Add the water one tablespoon at a time until the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl. Wrap dough in plastic wrap until you use it as it dries out very easily.

How many you make out of this is up to you - I usually make three big calzones, but you could easily get five or six smaller ones out of it. Just roll out the dough to about 3 mm thick, fill with whatever you have to hand (I usually do Daiya cheese and vegetables with pizza sauce) and cook at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes. Another easy recipe, that the whole family loves so that makes me a happy momma!

Enjoy!

Vegan MoFo! H is for...

When I was brainstorming what to do for Vegan MoFo, I came across a recipe for hoecakes by Paula Deen. I'd never heard of hoecakes before, but I loved the name (which has nothing to do with ladies of ill repute and everything to do with garden tools), and thought if anyone needs to be veganized, it's Paula Deen! The recipe looked pretty easy to switch from the dark side, and the family likes cornbread so it looked like a win-win situation. But sadly I forgot to take photos of the endeavor... so picture if you can, a steaming bowl of homemade veggie chili, with lovely crispy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside corn pancakes on the side and we'll be good to go.

You will need...

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup self raising cornbread
• 2 egg equivalents (I used Ener-G)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• oil for frying

Mix the soy milk and vinegar together and allow to curdle for for a few minutes, then add to all the other ingredients except for the frying oil. Heat the frying oil in the frying pan and drop the mixture into it. I used a 1/4 cup measure for each pancake. Wait until the underside is browned and crispy then flip to cook the other side. When you take them out of the pan, place on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil then munch away merrily!

Here's a pic of Paula's hoecakes... mine looked better ;o)

Vegan MoFo! G is for....

Yup, I'm still here! After being sick for a week (bleh), and sorting out my gorgeous daughter's 7th birthday party, there wasn't too much room for Vegan Mofo. I guess I'm a bad moFo-er haha!!! Alright, enough of the bad jokes and on with the show... my faux chick'n of choice used to be Quorn, until I went vegan that is. All those egg white laden goodies don't cut the mustard in our house any more and so I was a happy camper when the Gardein products came to West Michigan! I've made quite a few dishes with it, and it never fails to please. From curries to pot pies (which my husband said was just like the real version!), it works every time AND the whole family will eat it so another huge bonus. This recipe was adapted from one at Eclectic Recipes, who adapted one from Martha Stewart. I made it for the first time the week before last when I was having a friend round for dinner, and it went down really well. Hubby even took leftovers to work and it was still good!
Here's what you need...

• One bag of diced Gardein Chicken Scallopini
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of raw cashews
• 1 diced bell pepper
• 4 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
• 8 sliced green onions (I lost these on the way back from the store so didn't add them lol)
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 3/4 cup water or vegan chicken stock (I used Better than Bouillon)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• salt and pepper
• rice of choice

Start cooking the rice. The actual dish doesn't take too long, so start cooking it when the rice has about 15 minutes to go.
Heat a skillet then heat the oil over a low-medium heat. Add the peppers, garlic and cashews and cook, making sure you don't burn the garlic. Add the Gardein and brown gently. Meanwhile, mix together the cornstarch and chicken stock/water and add to the skillet. Add the hoisin sauce and vinegar and simmer for about 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add the green onions just before serving, and serve over the rice.
Yummy!

Vegan MoFo! F is for...

The first time I ever had falafel, I was living in London, and working on a market stall on Portobello Road. If you've ever been to the Portobello Road market, you'll know that the antique-y type stalls are at the beginning down by the Portobello Star and the Earl of Lonsdale (both awesome pubs!), while as you go towards Portobello Green, you get the more diverse stalls. I was right under the flyover, next to Portobello Green and at least was protected from the rain, but it could get incredibly cold there! Over the road from my stall, was a food store called 'Pita the Great' and the smells from there were AMAZING, so my nose led me to find out what the fuss was about. I bought the fresh falafel, in a pita with salad and tahini sauce, took a bite and was forever smitten. The taste was fabulous and since that day I have been a falafel lover. For this I decided to make a larger patty and have it in a bun instead of smaller balls in a pita. I'm feeling like poop at the moment (bloody cold!), and didn't feel like making pita bread but had some skinny bagels on hand which looked perfect enough to slide a falafel burger into!

So! You will need...

• 1 can of garbanzo beans (chick peas), or 4oz dried, soaked, cooked and drained
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon flour (I used whole wheat, but all purpose would be fine too)
• oil for frying
• salad
• some kind of bread to house the patties

Through all the ingredients up to and including the flour into a food processor and blitz. You want everything to be mixed together, but make sure you still get some chunks of chickpeas left. Put in a lidded container and leave in the fridge for an hour or so. I'm not sure why but it makes it less likely to break up in the frying pan if you do this! When your belly is rumbling and you can stand it no more, heat up the frying pan, add the oil, and when it is hot take some of the falafel mix in your hand, shape into a patty and cook it. It will take a couple of minutes to brown, then flip that baby over and cook the other side. Easy peasy! Repeat with the rest of the mix. I made 4 big patties with this recipe. And this is what one of them looked like...

Delicious, no?

Vegan MoFo Day 5! E is for...

Or if you live in my native land, an aubergine! I love them whatever they're called and today I wanted to try one of Susan Voisin's recipes from Fat Free Vegan. Called Creamy Creole Eggplant Casserole, I followed the recipe except for adding mushrooms. My daughter hates mushrooms and will practically refuse to eat her dinner if she suspects they are in there. Very straight forward to cook, very yummy to munch on, and you can't ask for more than that lol!

Mofo Day 4! D is for...

Daiya... I was so excited when I found out Daiya 'cheese' had arrived in our local shops, that I phoned the store and asked them to put some aside to make sure I got some! It is by far the best and most versatile vegan cheese substitute that I have tried (although I haven't tried them all I admit), and most importantly in this house, it passed the hubby test. My gorgeous husband is a non-vegan and what is always the most important when I cook anything is that the whole family likes it. If one person hates it then it doesn't usually get made again. I had tried other vegan cheese, and when he ate a piece he made 'that face'. You know the one? the one that looks like someone just chewed a wasp? I get it from my 6 year old too lol.

So, he likes the Daiya, my wee one likes the Daiya, and I'm a happy momma.

I use it anywhere that someone would use regular cheese, and it works pretty well most of the time. It doesn't brown I find, but it does melt and stretch and all that good stuff. Here's a recipe that I wrote up a little while ago that uses it.

If you haven't tried it before, check our their website and try and get hold of some.

Vegan MoFo Day 3! C is for....

Let's clear a couple of things up before we start - firstly, chocolate should be a food group all on its own, it's THAT good. 

Second, in case you didn't realize, I'm from England and over there, if you cover a biscuit with gravy and serve it with mash potato you're going to look pretty silly. An English biscuit is sweet, preferably chocolate (in my book anyway!) and needs to not fall apart when we dunk it in our coffee. My all time favorite biscuit is the humble Bourbon. Pronounced Bore-bun, not Bur-bun, it has nothing to do with the liquor of the same name, but is named for a European aristocratic family, the House of Bourbon. Here in Michigan, to buy a packet of bourbons I have to lose an arm and a leg at World Market so today we are going make our own. Hurrah!

I found this recipe from Sailu's Kitchen and set about veganizing it. Easy Peasy! Ready? 

You will need...

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup of your fave vegan margarine
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 teaspoon agave
• 2-3 tablespoons vegan milk of choice
• sugar for sprinkling

For the filling...

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• few drops vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sieve the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa together and put to one side. In a separate bowl, cream together the marg and white sugar until well blended, then add agave and vanilla essence and mix again. Add the dry ingredients to the marg mixture to form a soft dough. Add a little dairy-free milk if needed (I needed to use 2 tablespoons).
Roll the dough directly onto some greaseproof paper or plastic wrap, and shape into a large rectangle. I had to put another piece of greaseproof paper on top of the dough to stop it sticking to my rolling pin. Roll to about 3 mm think and score the dough into rectangles about 1 inch by 3. Prick the tops with a fork and dust with sugar. Cook for about 15 mins - they'll still be soft when you taken them out, but they'll harden up as they cool.
Cream all the filling ingredients together and when the biscuits are cool, start making little sandwiches! Cool huh?

Wanna see what they look like? Okey dokey!

Vegan MoFo Day 2 - B is for...

Beans, beans good for your heart,the more you eat, the more you... well you get the idea LOL! Beans are little powerhouses of nutritional goodness, all wrapped up in a convenient package.
Although you can obviously buy beans in tins at the stores, I prefer to buy them dried in bulk and cook them myself. That way, you're not having to deal with any salt, sugar, preservatives or any other added nasties that might be lurking, and it's also much cheaper which can't be a bad thing! Stored in airtight canisters they can last for ages, although the longer you have them the longer they will take to cook as they will be drier.
To use dried beans, firstly pick through and discard any bits of grit, dust and pieces of broken beans. Usually I then soak the beans overnight, replace the water out the next morning, then bring to a boil and simmer until the beans are soft. (adding more water if necessary). How long they take depends on the size of the bean you are using - chickpeas which are larger will take a few hours, while split peas and lentils will next next to no time. If you want to add salt to the cooking pot, wait until the beans are tender or it will harden the outside of the bean and prevent them from softening.
Half a pound of dry beans, when cooked, will yield just over 1 lb and will keep for a few days in the fridge, or they can be stored in freezer bags and frozen.

First Vegan MoFo Post! A is for...

How can I live in Michigan and not dedicate the Letter A to the humble apple? Raw, baked, steamed, under a pie crust or crumble topping, apples are delicious. For todays post, I'm just going to subject you to some vegan food porn... the mouth watering pic below is of Zel Allen's (Vegetarian Paradise) Apples n' cream pie which I tested for her not long ago. With a nutty pie crust, slightly crunchy apples with moist raisins, topped with a tofu 'cream', it was a huge hit and will be made again very soon.

I can't divulge the recipe, as its not mine to give, but when the cookbook comes out, go rush and buy it! Meanwhile, just dribble over the pic...

It's World Vegan Day! Have you got your MoFo on?

Happy November!!! So much is happening today that it's silly. It's World Vegan Day today and the beginning of Vegan MoFo, organized by the lovely folks at Post Punk Kitchen. It's my first time for this and I'm very excited, and wondering how I'm going to fit my life around reading the 556 blogs that have signed up for it so far. No that's not a typo, 5-5-6 blogs filled with vegan loveliness and guaranteed food porn! How can you resist?

If you're thinking, 'I want to do that!' there's still time! The final blog roll is up on the 3rd (Wednesday) so click on the logo above and sign yourself up.

I decided to do a theme for my MoFo, and starting later on today am going to be blogging on my A - Z of vegan awesomeness. There'll be recipes, food tips, and plenty of pics to drool over. Aren't I good to you?

Whole wheat bread recipe

For a long time I've been looking for a consistently good whole wheat bread recipe, that rises, isn't as hard as a brick, and doesn't fall apart when you put a knife into it. I think I've found it! While browsing the wonder that is Veg Web, I found a recipe there by dbsnova that looked good so I gave it a whirl, and it was fabulous! I made some changes to the original recipe (which can be found here), by using apple sauce in place of the oil to keep the calories down, and left out the molasses also. Here's what you'll need to make 2 1lb loaves:

•  2 3/4 cups hand hot water
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Up to 7 1/2 cups 100% wholewheat flour
• 2 tablespoons dry active yeast

Mix the yeast, water and sugar together and leave for a few minutes, until you get a brown 'froth' on top of the water. Start the mixer, and add the applesauce plus 2 cups of the flour. When combined, add another 4 cups of flour. When that's combined, add flour, one half cup at a time until the mixture starts coming away from the sides of the bowl. It will still be tacky to the touch, but not be sticking to the bowl anymore. Don't use anymore than the allotted 7 1/2 cups.
Cover the bowl and leave for about an hour, until the dough has doubled in size. Give the mixer another whirl to knock some of the air, then turn into a floured surface. Gently shape into a round, then halve dough and shape each into an oblong before placing into oiled loaf tins. Leave to rise again for about an hour, then place into a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 - 35 minutes.
When you bring the two loaves out of the oven, leave in the tins for about 10 minutes while they cool down, and they should come cleanly out of the tins.
Enjoy!

Wanna go to the very first Vegan Bloggers Conference? Course you do!!!

How exciting is this!!! Next August, for the very first time, will be a conference JUST for the ever growing vegan blogging community! Called Vida Vegan, and to be held in Portland, Oregon it promises to be super fun time.

With loads of speakers (see the current list here), a great looking agenda, and awesomely yummy food, how could you resist?

Go get a ticket now!!!

What's for dinner? Shepherdess Pie with a 'cheesy' leeky crust

Fall for me means lots of lovely comfort food, and there's nothing more comforting than a good old shepherds pie, especially one as easy as this one! This one is adapted from a recipe from the English dame of cooking, Delia Smith, and it took just a few simple tweaks to make it suitable for our vegan table. The original recipe is here.
Seeing as shepherds pie is traditionally made from lamb, this one is renamed as shepherdess pie!

You will need...

• 1 cup dry TVP (or whatever burger crumbles you like)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions
• 3/4 cup chopped carrots
• 3/4 cup chopped rutabaga (or swede if you live in good old England!)
• 1/2 level teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley (or 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley)
• 10 fl. oz vegetable stock (I used Better than Bouillon brand)
• 1/2 cup Daiya Cheddar style shreds (or whatever vegan cheese you prefer)
• 1 large leek, sliced thinly
• 2lbs potatoes
• 2 tablespoon vegan margarine (I like Smart Balance Light)

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
If using TVP, rehydrate with 1 cup boiling water.
Gently saute onions, carrots and rutabaga for about 10 minutes until the onion turns opaque.
Add the herbs, spices and burger crumbles, then gradually add the stock.
Turn the heat down and cook for about 30 minutes.
While that's cooking, peel and boil the potatoes then mash with the margarine. Don't use milk or any other liquid for this mash as you need it to be pretty firm on top of the filling.
Turn the filling into an ovenproof dish, top with the mash, sprinkle with the leek slices and then the Daiya.
Cook for 25 minutes and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

How humane is your city?

I came across this nifty site today from the Humane Society of the United States, where 25 large cities are compared for how humane they are. You can also see issues specific to your area and how you can help.

Check it out, here.

'Let's Move' launches school lunch menu contest

Let's Move (the anti-obesity campaign started by First Lady Michelle Obama), in partnership with the USDA has launched a competition to create healthy plant based school lunch menus. The participants will be grouped together and the menus judged by students initially, then as they progress through the contest, a panel of judges  and then the public via a website.

To find out more info, go here.

This Dish is Veg launches new social network!

 

The lovely people at This Dish is Veg has launched a social network! It doesn't matter if your focus is veganism, vegetarianism, flexitarian, animal welfare, or green topics, This Dish is Veg Social has a spot just for you!

Come take a peek... here!

Tonights '30 Days' show deer hunter living a cruelty free life for a month

Tonight, Planet Green is airing an episode of '30 Days' that challenges hunter George Snedeker to not only live with a vegan family for a month, but also to participate in several PETA initiatives during his stay. The show, hosted by Morgan Spurlock of 'Supersize Me' fame, takes a person and asks them to live the life of someone else for 30 days, typically taking them far outside of their comfort zone.

To preview the episode and to learn more about 30 Days, please visit Planet Green.

Happy birthday John Lennon!

I've been a huge Beatles fan for as long as I can remember (thanks Dad!), and as I got older a lover of John Lennon's solo career too. It's hard to wrap my head around the fact he would have been 70 years old today - I wonder what he would have done with the last 30 years? I'd like to think he would still be getting in people's faces while creating magical music.

Rock on John!

UK Food Standards Agency calls for cameras to be installed in slaughterhouses

Once again, a distressing undercover video has been released, documenting the cruel and unnecessary violence that animals destined for slaughter as subjected to.
The video, taken from secretly installed cameras at seven slaughter houses in the United Kingdom, has been released by Animal Aid and shows graphic scenes of animals being beaten, kicked and stunned inappropriately.
Sadly, as the cameras were installed 'unlawfully' it is unlikely there will be any prosecution, however Tim Smith, chief executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has backed a move to install cameras in all abattoirs across England saying, "We looked at the cost [of installing CCTV], and it didn't seem to us to be disproportionate, compared to the reassurance that the customer of that plant might get. If I was a major retailer in this country and thinking what I was going to give my customers that … the best animal welfare standards were being used, then I would be putting [CCTV installation] in the specification for meat procurement."

You can see the video at the Guardian's website here.

Compassion Over Killing to air two new pro-veg commercials

Starting next Monday (11th October), Compassion over Killing will air 30 second commercials portraying the miseries forced upon animals raised for food.
The ads called 'Exploring your Food' and 'A Side of Truth' are to be shown on Animal Planet, MTV and Comedy Central over the next four weeks.

Look what we had for dinner tonight...

The photos really doesn't do it justice. This looked stunning when I turned it out of the dish, and believe me this was delicious!!!

I've been lucky enough to test some of Zel Allen's (Vegetarians in Paradise) recipes for her upcoming cookbook, and this was the latest trial. It's a Thanksgiving Filo Pie, filled with lovely veggies, rice and barley, and made my kitchen smell divine!

Thanks Zel!

Meet Lady Baa Baa...

...modeling a beautiful kale ensemble at the Pasado Safe Haven.

Much more appealing than the dress we saw a few weeks ago at the MTV Video Music Awards don't you think?

I'm a Vegan MoFo... are you?

I signed up today for Vegan MoFo and I am soooooo excited! In fact I'm so excited that I wrote so like sooooooo, which I never normally do... Vegan MoFo is a month long celebration of vegan food, that started life on the Post Punk Kitchen and has now gone bananas! The idea is to write about anything food related all month long, it could be your fave vegan recipe, memories of something yummy you ate or your must have kitchen tool but the deal is you have to write every day if you can.

Up for the challenge? Sign up on the form here!

FDA warns of buying reduced price pet meds online

Second piece for This Dish is Veg today talks about the dangers of buying reduced price pet medications online, and how you can be sure that the sites you use are safe,

You can read it here...

First post of the week for This Dish is Veg!

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

First post this week is regarding Katherine Heigl and the Heigl Foundation who have initiated a series of programs in Los Angeles to help reduce the number of homeless animals who are euthanized each year.

You can read it here!

Happy World Vegetarian Day!!!

October 1st is World Vegetarian Day and to make everyone feel part of the celebration, the North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS) has issued a challenge to try and eat meat-free during this month and you could win $1000!

To find out more, check out the World Vegetarian Day home page.

Help your pet in the case of an emergency in your home

If (God forbid) there were a fire in your home, how would the emergency services know that there might be an animal in your home? As I wrote for This Dish is Veg today, Pet Plan and Wag'N have come together to help animals for National Fire Safety Month this October. It includes details on how to create you own personalized pet information poster to inform firefighters that there is a pet inside them home, what their name is and where they like to hide.

Go check it out, here!

Win a cruelty free watch with PETA!

PETA has teamed up with Fruitz to giveaway a super cute, cruelty free watch! To enter follow this link.

Today's posts for This Dish is Veg!

Two animal welfare articles today; the first on the dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan and the second on the findings of a safety expert investigating the egg farms involved in the salmonella outbreak recently.

PLRS animals update - happy post!

Last week I posted on how the animal research lab in North Carolina was closing after an undercover investigation by PETA showed the handlers treating the animals with absolutely unnecessary cruelty. Happily today the SPCA in Wake County (who took in some of the released animals) has released their own video showing the already amazing progress some for the animals have made.
Happy days!

Mary McCartney to publish veg cookbook

Mary McCartney, daughter of Paul and Linda is to publish a vegetarian cookbook next year. 

To read the full article, please click here!

Are you a cat lover?

If so Animal Planet may be looking for you! Read my article at This Dish is Veg for more details.

OK Go - White Knuckles - Fabulous message!

No-meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce, and choccy pudding

Today my beautiful daughter has a VIP day at school where they can invite someone special to come along and see what they get up to all day. She's been practicing songs for a presentation her class is giving and is wildly excited that her Grandma (my mother-in-law) is going! To round off the day nicely, MIL is coming round for dinner afterward and I'm hoping to wow her with some vegan delights. So.... on the menu today is meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce, and some choccy pudding for afters. We love choccy pudding! I made it a few weeks ago as a follow on to the Tofu and Tempeh challenge I participated in, and I just knew it would get wolfed down - I wasn't wrong!
Anyway, on to the recipes... I've bought prepared meatballs in stores before and never really liked the taste. I'm not sure if it's because they tried to make them taste like lamb (I've never eaten lamb so couldn't tell), but whatever, they weren't nice. So these are more beefy tasting and all the family like them so I'm sticking to them lol!

Here’s what you’ll need.

• ½ cup oats
• ¼ cup soy milk (I’ve not tried it but I’m sure any plant milk would work fine)
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion (or onion powder)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (use more or less depending on your taste; we love garlic so I want lots!)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1½ cups of TVP (or a bag of veggie burger crumbles)
• 1½ cup water (if you’re using the TVP)
• 3 teaspoon egg replacer (I used Ener-G)

Ok. Start by preheating the oven to 400ºF then grab a cookie sheet and some parchment paper. Add the water to the TVP in a bowl to rehydrate it. The amount of water you need varies but I usually add equal amounts of TVP to water, and if there’s an excess of water just drain it off. Leave the mixture for about 10 minutes while you sort out the oats.

Next, soak the oats in the soy milk. I usually do this in the food processor to save on dishes. I find by using the food processor to whiz the mixture up a bit helps it stay together, when I’ve mixed it by hand they still taste great but are very crumbly and can fall apart when added to the sauce later.

When the TVP is rehydrated, drain off any water and add to the oats in the food processor. Add all the other ingredients and whiz for about 30 seconds.

Form into gorgeously yummy balls, then cook for 10-15 minutes until browned.

While they’re cooking in the oven, make the spicy tomato sauce… for this you need;

• A little oil
• 1 medium onion
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tin of tomato sauce

Fry the onions slowly in the oil until soft. I usually cook them on a low heat for about 20 minutes or so, so that they don’t go brown. Add the red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning and cook for about a minute longer. Pour in the tomato sauce and heat through. When the meatballs have finished cooking, plop them into the sauce! Easy peasy! Be careful not to move them around too much as they’ll break up. Serve over pasta or on their own and enjoy!

Balinese dogs to be vaccinated rather than poisoned

Second article today for This Dish is Veg - read it here!