Summary (Pea Soup)

This was a scrumptious, filling meal. Super easy to make

Pea Soup (Adam 4/5 Alex 4/5)

Doesn't blow my mind, but it was homely. We enjoyed it in the park and it was one of the best soups I've had as a stand alone meal filler. We used ruffles all-dressed chips as 'soup spoons' which was extra fun!

Pea Soup

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves: 6

1 900g bag Split Peas
2 medium onions
3 cloves garlic
1 leek
2 small carrots
2 stalks celery
1 cube vegetable bullion
salt (to taste)
sage (to taste)
parsley(to taste)
oil
water

Fry onions, garlic, and leeks in oil over medium for 4 minutes. Then add in other ingredients and enough water to cover all the ingredients. Bring to a boil, then cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Add more water if necessary.

Summary (poutine)

The. Best. If there is one recipe on the blog (aside from Chinese week, which you must do), make this one. Easy and very very yummy. My mother was down for the weekend and was thoroughly weirded out/ impressed by the strange concoction.  
 Daiya, a soy-free vegan cheese is a bit of an esoteric ingredient. We found it at the Stone Store in Guelph, but you could probably find it at any health-food/hippy-food store.

Poutine (Adam 5/5 Alex 6/5)

All that needs to be said has been said. Put on epic music; cook; enjoy. 

Meal 3 (Poutine)

Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Fries
5 medium potatoes, cut into fry shape
Vegetable Oil
1 Package Daiya (soy-free vegan "cheese")

Gravy
2 tbsp margerine
1 onion, diced
2tbsp flour
1tbsp cornstarch
1.5 cup water
2tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp nutritional yeast

Fry onions in a small pot with the margarine over medium for 4 minutes. Add remaining gravy ingredients and turn heat to low.

While the gravy is simmering on low, cut the potatoes. Place the cut potatoes on a plate and microwave for 5 minutes. Transfer onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 350 until golden brown (~10 minutes).

Top fries with gravy and daiya. Microwave for an additional 30 seconds.

Enjoy noms.

Gravy based on this recipe

Summary (TVP Tortiere)

I found the bare bones of this recipe while perusing the internet some time ago. It was such a weird idea, I never thought I'd actually make it. Then the blog happened...

Tortiere (Adam 4.5/5 Alex 4/5)


Ok, so I feel the need to justify giving this only a 4/5. The recipe is amazing, but when we made it we used oil instead of vegetable shortening in the crust- big mistake. Vegetable shortening makes the world go round, and the blood pulse through my veins (although ironically it does the opposite of that). There. I said it.

Otherwise the recipe was yum yum, yum yum yum. yum.

Meal 2 Summary (TVP Tortiere)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4

Crust

3 cups white flour

4tbsp sugar

1 cup vegetable shortening

4tbsp soymilk (or water)

Filling

4 sm mushrooms

2 sm onions

2 tsp vinegar

2 tsp soya sauce

1 tbsp oil

3 sm potatoes

Allspice

Basil

Salt 

pepper

Parsely 

Basil

Thyme

2 cups Tvp

1 cup boiling water

2 cups water

2 cloves garlic

3 sm carrots 

Directions

Fry onions and garlic in a medium pot over medium heat for about 4 minutes. In a small bowl, add the water to the TVP. Add this and the remaining ingredients into the pot, bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cook while preparing crust (10 minutes).

Prepare crust first by cutting vegetable shortening into flour in a medium bowl. Add sugar, a pinch of salt, and soymilk (or water). Mix and then flatten half into a pie dish. Add filling into pie dish. Flatten the remaining half of the crust and gently place on top of the tortiere filling.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until slightly brown crust appears. Fill one's self with food.

Inspiration from here and here. 

Summary (Ketchup)

This was a nice easy ketchup to make. Further, the results were astonishing! I think Adam almost fainted with tasty overload- I soon followed.

No one eats ketchup just like that!! Here it is on some of Adam's favourite home made burgs' and focaccia.

Ketchup ( Adam 5/5  Alex 5/5) 

When considering the rating, Adam said "put me down for 5/5, no question". THAT'S how good it was! 

'nuff said.

Actually no. It was quite easy to make and has a high yield. Cost was pretty low too, so it's a good investment. 

Ketchup (Catsup for you Americans)

Time: 45 mins

Serves: (makes 1L)

2lbs tomatoes, diced

5 medium onions, diced

1 cup vinegar

2/3cup sugar

2tbsp salt

1tsp cinnamon

1tsp cloves

1/2tsp allspice

1/2tsp mace

1tbsp mustard seeds

1tsp dill, minced

Bring tomatoes and onions to a boil in a medium pot. Lower heat to low, add remaining ingredients. Maintain a simmer for 30 minutes. After the ketchup has cooked for 30 minutes, blend it, and pour it into containers.

Enjoy delicious. 

Inspiration: this recipe

Meal 1 Summary (Vichyssoise)

We had two guests over to direct us in the making of this amazing dish! Marc and Guy came and taught us how to make Vichyssoise (of which neither of us had heard).

Vichyssoise: (Adam: 4/5 Alex 4.5/5)

I must admit, I was initially a bit turned off by the striking colour which Guy described as 'Algae soup'. My qualms were resolved the instant this sweet soup touched my lips. Yum YUM. We have some good guest cooks! Perhaps we should have others cook for us every night :)

Vichyssoise (Potato Leek Soup)

Prep time: 10
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 hungry men (we are now above the age of 20, so yes, we are men)

Ingredients:
3 leeks
2 tbsp margarine
3 cups potatoes, chopped
2 tbsp dill
1.5 bullion cubes
2 cups water
1/4 cup vegan cream (optional)

Fry leeks over medium heat in margarine. Meanwhile, boil potatoes until soft. Then drain potatoes, and add back to pot with leeks and remaining ingredients (minus the cream). Simmer for 10 minutes, then blend mixture until desired consistency. Then add cream.

Inspired by this recipe

Week 4: Franco North America

Not sure if this counts as an ethnic region, but we make the rules. Adaptations will abound. Joy and potatoes will be had.

Grocery List:

2.5 kg Potatoes
1 medium bag Split Peas
2 lbs Tomatos
3 Leeks
1 Bunch Celery
8 sm Mushrooms

Total: $23

Recipes:

Vichyssoise
TVP Tortiere
Poutine
Home-made Ketchup
Pea Soup

Meal 2 Summary (Focaccia and Pasta Aglio e Olio)

This is a classic Italian meal that I have gotten used to growing up as a kid (Alex). The focaccia recipe takes a while to perfect, but I imagine someday we'll get there.  Be prepared for carbs. Guess Nona doesn't believe in atkins.

Focaccia (Adam 4.5/5 Alex 4.5/5)
Yum. I'm a bread sucker and this was wonderful. Rosmary on top, margarine in the middle, yummy all around.


Pasta Aglio e Olio (Adam 3.5/5 Alex 4/5)
Really easy meal. Don't be deceived: it's taste value is quite high. That being said, I like more that oil and garlic in my pasta (sorry alex)

Focaccia and Pasta Aglio e olio

Prep time: 15 mins

Waiting: ~1h (dough rising etc)

Serves: 5

Focaccia

1tbsp yeast

4c white flour

2tsp salt

1tsp sugar

1cm slice Crisco/ vegetable shortening

Place 1tbsp yeast in a small bowl along with 1tsp sugar and 2cups warm water. Stir and let sit for 15 minutes. While waiting, fill a large bowl with 2c white flour, 2tsp salt, and a 1cm slice of Crisco. Mix the Crisco in. After the yeast is prepped, pour into the large bowl, and add another 2c white flour. Mix an knead dough. Add more flour if too sticky. Place in a bowl and cover for 45mins. After this time, spread the dough out on a full size baking sheet, and let rise for another 15 minutes. Bake for ~10 minutes at 370F or until lightly browned. 

Pasta Aglio e Olio

1/2 package spaghettini or spaghetti

1/4c olive oil

salt as needed

6 cloves garlic, chopped in half

5 large mushrooms

Heat the oil in a small pan over medium. Add the garlic cloves and chili peppers if desired. Stir to ensure garlic doesn't burn. After the garlic is browned slightly, turn the heat to low and cook mushrooms for 5 minutes.

Bring a large pot full of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook to desired consistency. 

Mix pasta and oil. Salt as needed (don't hold back on the salt! It brings out the flavour). 

Meal 1 Summary (Mushroom Wine Risotto)

A classic Italian dish. Using Arborio is key here in order to create the thick consistency desired. Usually risotto is cooked with white wine, but Adam had some leftover red from a friend, which gives it a super dooper wooper fun colour.

Oh, we also had some leftover baguette and bruschetta topping from a family supper, so we tossed it in!

Mushroom Wine Risotto (Adam 4/5 Alex 4/5)


A great filler meal. Prep was easy and decent output. As it always happens when I don't watch Alex, he added too much rosemary. I keep telling him, but he doesn't listen. BEWARE! Rosemary is good, but not too much. edit: yes I do

Mushroom Wine Risotto

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time 40 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1lb mushrooms, chopped
2tbsp olive oil
chili peppers to taste
1tbsp Rosemary
2tbsp wine vinegar
1.5 cups wine
1.5 cups Arborio rice
~4 cups water

Fry the cut onions and garlic in a large pan with 1/2 the oil over medium for 5 minutes. Add the chili peppers, rosemary and rice, cook for another 5 minutes (to brown the rice). Add the wine and 1cup water. Simmer for 40 minutes, adding water as needed (try to maintain an oatmeal consistency). Add salt as needed to the risotto.

While the risotto is simmering, prepare the mushroom topping! Fry the cut mushrooms in a small pan over medium along with the other half of the oil. Fry until desired consistency is reached (~10 mins for us).

Once both are done, serve the risotto on a plate with the mushrooms on top.

Note: For the wine, you can use leftovers (we had some leftover homemade red!) or if you are even cheaper, you could probably get away with wine vinegar, which we bought at the grocery store for about $2.

Week 3: Italian aka We are Lazy and Italian is Easy

So...  I think we're doing a reduced Italian week, because things just got crazy this week. For those of you who have been considering it, I suggest you try a grocery list of ours and follow along one of the weeks! This one is particularly cheap (which means I like very much!)

Grocery list: broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms (2 medium containers), head of garlic, shortening, 1 pckg arborio rice

Total: $16.69

What we're cooking:

Mushroom Risotto
Focaccia Bread
Pasta Aglio e Olio (with some veggies)
Roasted Veggies

Yum!

Meal 3 Summary (White Bean Dip)

This was a fun little dish that probably was the easiest to make of any of our recipes so far. It was great: a dish very unlike our "usuals."

White Bean Dip (Adam 4/5 Alex 4/5)

This was really fun to do as a mini-dinner. I would suggest it as an appetizer: we dipped bread it in, but you could also dip in some veggies. The original recipe is made with fermented soybeans, but we used more common white beans instead! If you wanna be funky, you could try out some different beans. As is said in the recipe, the addition of lime (or lemon) juice is a key addition.

White Bean Dip

Cooking time: 15 mins
Serves: 6

1/2 can white beans
1/3small onion, minced
3 mushrooms, diced
1 small hot pepper, minced
1 can coconut milk
2.5tbsp cornstarch
1 cup water
3tbsp lime juice (makes it super yummy)
salt as needed

Mash beans. Pour coconut milk into a small pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add remaining ingredients (save water). Place the water in a bowl, add cornstarch and whisk. Add water+ cornstarch to pot. Lower heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Add more cornstarch to desired consistency.

Loosely adapted from this recipe.

Meal 2 Summary (Red Curry, Coconut Soup)

Summary

Thai! Am I right? What more needs to be said?

Red Curry (Adam 3/5  Alex 3.5/5)

This curry was fairly run of the mill. While delicious, it received a low rating from Alex because it was not different than our usual curry dishes. It wasn’t spicy enough, unfortunately. That being said, our dinner guest, Ramita, said that it was very tasty!  I suggest adding some more cayenne to ensure a proper spice level!

Coconut Soup (Adam 4/5  Alex 4.5/5) 

Woowee as Adam would say! I love anything with coconut milk and this is no exception! It has a great variety of flavors from intense spice to sour with a hint of salt. The tangy taste was a yummy addition!

Coconut Soup

Coconut Soup

1. 0.5pkgs tofu, diced
2. 2 cans canned coconut milk
3. 2 cups water
4. 1 (1 inch) piece ginger
5. 3tbsp lemon juice
6. 2 stalks lemongrass (optional)
7. 1 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced
8. 1 tablespoons hoisin sauce
9. 1/4 cup brown sugar
10. 1 teaspoon red curry paste
11. 3 stalks green onion, thinly sliced
12. 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

Directions

Add all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Once a boiling state is achieved, drop heat down to low and cook for 10 minutes.
Recipe can be found here.

Red Curry

Red Curry

1. 1.5 pkgs tofu, chopped in pieces appropriate to your mouth size
2. 2 tablespoons cooking oil
3. 2 tablespoons red curry paste
4. 2 green onions, chopped
5. 2 small onions, chopped
6. 3 cloves garlic, chopped
7. 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
8. 2 cups coconut milk
9. 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
10. 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
11. 2 tablespoons white sugar
12. 1/2 cup cilantro leaves

Heat oil in a medium pot and fry onions with heat on medium (both green and otherwise) for 5 minutes. Add garlic and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and drop heat down to low. Cook for 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

Recipe adapted from here.

Meal 1 Summary (Rice Paper Rolls)

[Insert yum yum comment here]. This week, we had the pleasure of two wonderful dinner guests. Clara even (with some help and taste testing from Adam) brought along some dessert yummies! She also showed us this amazing blog with vegan quasi healthy desserts that blow your mind!
To compliment the rice paper rolls, we ate some more of the heaps of cabbage salad we had lying around.

A picture of the Rice Paper Rolls (in case you couldn't figure it out)

Our lovely complementary cake. Thanks Clara and Adam!

Rice Paper Rolls (Adam 4/5  Alex 4.5/5) 

Unlike many of our other recipes, this was not found on the web. This is based off of the memory of a similar dish that Alex's dad whips together for special occasions (read: when he begs enough). It's a really simple and versatile dish. Really, you can put whatever you want inside of them! 

Cake (ALWAYS 5/5 IT HAS CHOCOLATE)

'nough said. (Cake recipe Mousse recipe)

Thai Rice Paper Rolls

Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 5

1 package rice paper rolls

Protein Innards

1. 1cup chickpeas
2. 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3. 1/4cup parsley 
4. 2 cups bean sprouts
5. 1 bell pepper
6. salt
7. 2tbsp sweet chili sauce (optional)
8. 2tsp cumin

Carrot Innards

5 carrots, grated

2tbsp lemon juice

2tbsp sugar

1tbsp sesame oil

1/4cup cilantro

Sauce Innards (or dipping sauce if you're a dip)

1. 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2. 2 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
3. 1 tablespoon water
4. chopped roasted peanuts

Directions

1. Put all of the Roll Innard ingredients in a small pot and cook over medium for 10 minutes.
2. While these innards are cooking, prepare the carrot innards and set aside in a medium bowl.
3. Then prepare the sauce ingredients.
4. Once the cooking is done, the ingredients can go into rice paper rolls.
5. Place a sheet of rice paper into a bowl filled with warm water. Once the paper has become soft and malleable, take it out, place it on a tea towel, and pat it dry. Then place it on a plate, put a little of each innard along the middle (similar to the way you would make a fajita). Then wrap by folding each side in (the paper will stick to itself, and it will look like a burrito)!
6. Eat.
7. Complain because you're too full.

Week 2: The Thai Experiment

This is going to be the best week yet. Thai is amazing.

Grocery list: 4 cans coconut milk, lime juice, 1 can white beans, sweet chili sauce, hoisin sauce, mushrooms (~1lb), garlic, 2 hot peppers, 1 bell pepper, bunch cilantro, fresh ginger, peanuts.

Total: $28.76.

What's on the menu?
-Green Curry
-Mushroom Curry
-Soy Bean Dip
-Coconut Soup
-Rice Paper Rolls

Meal 3 Summary (Cabbage Salad, Chinese "Steamed" Buns)

Wowee. Lots of good food and unconventional to boot. We were not sure what to expect, but it turned out to be quite filling.

Cabbage Salad (Adam 3.5/5  Alex 3.5/5)
This recipe worked out well: not too much work and a ton of salad. We have a giant tupperware of leftovers for today. Although it must be admitted that we were initially wary of the notion of a cabbage salad, this dish brought an unexpected surprise. We added some extra filling from the Chinese "Steamed" Buns on top of the salad, which made the dish even tastier.

Chinese "Steamed" Buns (Adam 4/5 Alex 4/5)
I got the idea for these buns from a place I used to go in China Town in Victoria. They sold steamed buns filled with barbecued pork, so this is in essence a vegan adaptation of that. Though traditionally steamed, we baked the buns instead as a way to make the recipe easier. The first time making these was a bit chaotic and took a little long, but most of the time was spent trying to figure out what we were doing. We suggest using left over seitan if you have any from the mandarin seitan. The result was really really tasty.

Chinese "Steamed" Buns

Prep/cook time: 45 minutes

Makes: 8 buns

Buns:

1tsp yeast

1 cup warm water

2 cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vegetable oil

Filling:

2tbsp vegetable oil

2tbsp sugar

2tbsp wine vinegar 

2tbsp soy sauce 

1tbsp grated ginger

1tsp cayenne

2 stalks celery, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

3 small carrots, diced

1 recipe seitan (optional)

Dissolve yeast in water. Mix in the other ingredients (I used a fork and then my hand; the original recipe called for an electric mixer). Knead. 

Leave dough for 5 minutes. Then roll it with a rolling pin (we used a bottle because we didn’t have one) on a lightly floured surface into 40cm by 25cm dimensions (you can role it to whatever dimensions you want, depending on how you want the buns to look). With your fingers, brush the surface lightly with water.

Prepare filling by frying the spices in a small pot along with the oil on medium. After 3 minutes, add remaining vegetables and cook over medium low for 10 minutes. 

Add the filling just far enough away from one of the longer edges so that you will be able to roll the dough over it. Roll the dough over the filling and continue to roll it into a log. Cut the log into eight even pieces. Close the ends of the cut pieces, so the filling wont fall out.

Let the pieces rise in a damp cloth for about 20 minutes (if you’re impatient, you can take them out after 10, but they may not rise quite as much).

Bake for 15 minutes at 350, or until slightly browned and have a firm, but not crispy outside. 

Let cool slightly and serve.

You can really add any filling you want to the buns; we just made one up. Dip in any applicable sauce you have lying around the house. For dessert, we suggest using the left over marmalade as a filling.


Adapted from this recipe.

Cabbage Salad

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 8

1. 2 cups Cooked white rice
2. 1/4 cup vegetable oil
3. 1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted
4. 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
5. 1/2 head cabbage, shredded

Salad Dressing

1. 1/3 cup vegetable oil
2. 1/3 cup wine vinegar
3. 2 tablespoon soy sauce
4. 1 tablespoon sesame oil
5. 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions

Fry nuts and sesame seeds over medium heat in the 1/4cup vegetable oil. After about 5 minutes, add the rice. While frying, shred the cabbage and place in a large bowl. Prepare the salad dressing in a separate small bowl and whisk together. Add the dressing to the cabbage along with the fried rice. Toss and serve! This was adapted from a recipe found here.