Sorry!

First, apologies for being away for so so long. Well actually I don't feel too bad, since I have not given one single person ever the link to this blog, so I don't feel like I'm letting anyone down! Anyway, the main reason has been the fact I have been working like crazy, have adopted a dog (Sherman) from death row at animal care & control, and have been living in an apartment that had a kitchen composed of a fridge, stove and sink and NO SURFACE SPACE! So I've barely cooked, and I haven't been very judicious in my reading (thanks work...) so all in all felt I had very little to contribute.

But... I do have things to say. First I got a job in international conflict resolution - only for a year but still, yey for me! Second, how could I not share photos of my lovely Sherman? Third, I have started reading more, and I've started cooking. First I want to share 2 recipes that have become mainstays very quickly.

The first is from the Mayo Clinic cookbook, and is a fresh tomato sauce intended to be served with pasta (which is delicious) but which is a basic tomato salad. I use baby vine, bay plum, or just plain baby tomatoes for this - the texture is better, they're sweeter which contrasts more with the other flavours, and to be honest I'm a bit weird about big tomatoes! The best thing about this recipe is that it gets better over time, and stores (in the fridge) wonderfully. Make sure to get a good quality cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil otherwise it goes a bit clumpy in the fridge.

Just throw everything together -

4 tomatoes, about 2 pounds total weight, peeled and seeded, then cut into 1/2-inch dices
1/2 cup fresh basil cut into slender ribbons, plus whole leaves for garnish
3 tablespoons chopped red onion
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, finely minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

The second recipe is from Kristen's Raw blog - I've been trying to incorporate more and more raw foods into my diet, and came across this recipe. Even though it's cooked (and is ratatouille which I always hates, AND it involves fake meat which I generally avoid like the plague) it still appealed to me. Made this for a dinner party where I was the only vegan, and had lots of approving comments and even requests for recipes. The 'chicken' scallopini don't taste like chicken, whatever anyone may tell you - they don't have much taste (all the better to absorb the taste of the ratatouille as far as I'm concerned) and have a texture somewhere between tofu and chicken. Incidentally, I find telling any meat-eater that a substitute "Tastes just like..." is a sure-fire way to have them dislike your dish. Acknowledge it's different and they might actually approach it with less prejudice. So here is the recipe:

1. Heat a pot to medium heat and drizzle a bit of olive oil in it.

2. After about 30-60 seconds, add 2 cloves of chopped organic garlic and saute for a minute.

3. Then, add 4-5 medium organic chopped tomatoes and get them cooking for about 5 minutes or so (I have not timed this all, so these are approximations).

4. Add salt, black pepper, dried basil, dried oregano, onion powder, couple dashes of cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla extract - no exact measurements, just do it to taste. Start small and build from there.

5. Add 1 chopped courgette/zuchini. Continue cooking a couple of minutes. If it starts to boil, reduce the heat to a lower setting.

6. Add about 1/3-1/2 bunch of kale (mostly destemmed and then chopped) - cook this for a couple of minutes.
7. Put a saute pan on medium heat - add a little oil and saute the Gardein Chick'n Scallopini Breasts (available in the freezer aisle of Whole Foods Market - not sure if they're available in the UK yet) and saute them for 2 minutes on one side (at this point is when I add the kale to the sauce pot mentioned above).

8. Flip the breasts and continue cooking another 2 minutes (now the kale has had time to cook a bit).
9. Take an 8X8 glass baking dish and put the 4 faux chicken breasts in it - pour the sauce on top. Then, sprinkle Daiya or another vegan cheese on top and put it under the broiler to melt the cheese for a couple of minutes. All done! This makes 2-4 servings depending on whether you're hungry for 1 or 2 faux chicken breasts.

I'd really recommend heading over to Kristen's blog - she has amazing ideas, photos recipes and tips on how to get the most nutritional value from your food. http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/

Enough for today - I'm home from work sick and m off back to my bed. Books tomorrow, 'things I'm lusting after' sometime this weekend.