New Blog Launch- Exciting News!!!

I am proud to announce my new blog spot called Vegan in the Sun.
Do not remove this blog from your list as I will keep it open for people who want to see the old recipes. Feel free to add and check out my new blog spot which would be updated twice a week or once a week depending on the situation. I am still trying to work out the kinks on the site but it is good enough for the viewing public. Enjoy
Tay

Ground Food - Healthy Alternatives to Rice and Pasta

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I was lucky enough to be raised my my grandmother when I was young. She was from St. Lucia another island close to Barbados. The dietary habits of both St. Lucia and Barbados vary even if there are in close proximity to each other. St. Lucians eat more Caribbean roots than their Barbadian counterparts which is unfortunate as they taste much better than rice or pasta and have a higher nutritional value. Ground provisions include, yams, sweet potato, green banana, dasheen, tania, eddos, breadfruit, cassava even if green banana is not a root is is still considered in this category. They all are high fibre esp cassava one of my versatile favourites. When I was growing up in Barbados I would eat these ground provisions steamed with a protein at that time fish. I remember only wanting to eat these things and never pasta or rice. It was very strange for a child not wanting pasta and these things my mom said but very good none the less. When I went vegan I continued eating roots and my dad would make this spicy sauce with brussel sprouts and serve this in a bowl full of cooked green bananas. (GREEN BANANAS DO NOT TASTE LIKE RIPE BANANAS WHEN COOKED.)Unfortunately this meal was good but it lacked the protein to be balanced and in my opinion. I am yet to develop a recipe with beans and ground provisions. I was in the supermarket yesterday and I picked up some fake chicken strips by morning star which claim to be vegan. I am not a mock meat fan but I had bought some yam and some green bananas earlier and I was trying to decide what sauce I would make with it. I decided to do a spicy Caribbean style curry and serve the ground provisions whole or "stretched out" according to my mom. This is a no frills way of eating these just cooked with some salt and served with a flavourful sauce. You can served with other cooked veg like okra and carrots to make up the plate. You can also rub some vegan butter on the top of your ground provisions before adding the sauce. I tried out my homemade pepper sauce with this dish and it was so good. I finally perfected it after calling my dad who told me to add water, vinegar and sugar to the killer hot sauce. So when you are in the supermarket and you go to the so called "tropical" section and you see these roots do not get scared to buy one and try. If you need any help in cooking email me with your questions. I think I do not eat enough roots esp since I am close to the Caribbean region but I will eat more roots be4 I am somewhere where I can hope to find some in the "tropical" section.

Dinner and some tests

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I usually do a different lunch than dinner each day. In Barbados I would eat just lunch and then have something light at night like crackers and tea. I find myself getting hungry around 7pm so I cook something else. For dinner tonight my husband was craving okras so I decided to get some and cook them lightly with salt, garlic,onions and homemade salsa and a tip of pepper sauce. It was very tasty and I even shocked myself. I rounded up the meal with some Italian sausages for extra protein.

I am still trying to make the perfect carrot cake. Thanks for the recipe you know who I mean. I will try to do it this weekend. I use to go to this cafe in the past and they would serve a warm carrot cake but it was hard on the outside and chewy on the inside almost muffin like. By accident I think I created some kind of carrot cake brownie which words cannot explain how good this was. I will add some coconut in next time and try a higher cake pan to see how it goes. Here are two photos from tonight's dinner. I have some cream cheese to make the topping but I am not into toppings. I like to eat my cakes naked:) but if I am doing cakes for others I would make a topping to please. Plus the extra calories from these topping my body cannot afford.

Amazing Chickpea Burgers with Vegan Vodka Sauce

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I dabbled in the past with writing a vegan cookbook and it is funny as I penned 3 other cookbooks be4 and there were not vegan and I did them over a summer. I started writing a cookbook but I do not want to waste my time as one person told me last year people do not read cookbooks anymore. Maybe true in some places but I believed that there was still hope. Now my audience, who will be my audience... I could never aspire to be such a success like all the other cookbook "bibles" that others are reading. Who would really be my audience? Hmm. To be honest I do not know of many vegans other than the Rastafarian community in the Caribbean and they have their own way of cooking called Ital which is vegan but something like Kosher since Ital cooking has some rules esp with cooking utensils attached to it. I am not too sure I would have to ask a Rastafarian when I get a chance but I remember there was an article with a college student in the States who was suing because he wanted them to cater Ital or something like that. Anyways I do not think much of the Rastas will be buying my books unfortunately. Now my site gets ppl mainly from North America: I want to know what appeal does Vegan food with a Caribbean twist have to you? I think many people have a misconception about Caribbean food on a whole as they do not understand what the Caribbean is in the first place. Many people think of jerk food rice and beans and sometimes even pineapple and think that is what Caribbean cuisine is about.Actually Caribbean cusine is a mixture of many different types of cusine. Barbadian cusine has African and some Spanish roots mixed with British cusine which makes it very unique. I think people think that cooking Caribbean Vegan is something special and something they could not do everyday that to would hurt the success of my cookbook. I am not giving up my dream of writing it because now is a good time for me since I have more time on my hands. I have to think about product availability because somethings I use are only found in the Caribbean. I do think that if someone comes to my blog and tries a random recipe they would have these ingredients at home. Veganism in the Caribbean( in general ) in my opinion lacks public appeal more so than other places of the world, mind you places like Spain I could imagine lacking all appeal. Many people have social bonds with the food they eat in the Caribbean and these foods would not be given up as they believe it is their identity.What is try to do is keep my identity without killing animals. Many people close off their mind about veganism or sometimes feel threatened by it. Sometimes people eat a vegan plate and do not even realise what they are eating has no animal products inside. Do they even care? My thoughts about the future is that people would care more about animal rights like they fight now for gay right, civil rights etc. I think we have come a long way even in the last 20 years. We as vegans just need to keep strong and keep the demand up for vegan restaurants,vegan apparel etc.

Ok my little reflection is over.

I decided I would keep this one for the book because it is so good I promise you..where is the Caribbean or Barbadian influence?

I feel a little more confidant about the cookbook because even if it never gets published I would be happy because I completed it.

A Bajan cooked it!

Have a good day guys

The Tempeh Experience

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Well I did it. I finally tried tempeh. The taste was interesting to say the least. This is something I think I have to try it again when I get tempeh again or try it at a vegan restaurant so I at least have an idea of what I should be tasting. Vegan Gal suggested I do a hot sauce glazed tempeh but i had no wine or vegetable broth. I created a marinade slightly similar tot the one she suggested and I soaked the precooked tempeh for 2 hours. I grilled on the stove top and I served with vegan brown fried rice. The rice saved the day.My husband had a tempeh encounter be4 he met me and described it as very bad but he wanted to give it another shot since the chef was in the house lol. Apparently I think I failed big time. He said it was 100 times better than his first encounter but if that was good I am happy I did not try his first encounter. The marinade did not penetrate through this piece of soy but I could taste no bitter taste at all. The fried rice saved it!I will try tempeh again but I have not given up on it yet.

UPDATE: I left some tempeh in the marinade for 2 days and I cooked it again. Wow very tasty and flavourful.I would definitely work with tempeh now I know the secret. The texture is very strange I do not know if I would pair tempeh with something like mashed potatoes but I will see if I source some more and do more experimenting.

Seitan Italian Style Sausage with Yam Herbed Mash

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This weekend I made about 20 seitan sausages for us as my husband likes to take high protein snacks with him to work. I first knew about seitan sausage from the Julie Hasson but I was a little skeptical making them as I am not a big big fan of seitan ..I like it but I do not want to have an overload of seitan plus, sometimes these things taste too gluteny sometimes. I brought back a Field Roast Italian sausage from NYC and we really like the taste and texture but I notice that this is just a seitan sausage with some Italian Herbs inside..hmm . I went back to everyday dish website and I looked for the recipe and started to make it as directed but I added a bit more of whatever spice she used in hers. I also added roasted red peppers, roasted eggplant and an entire can or mashed white beans so it reminded me more of the one from field roast. After steaming it in my makeshift steamer I refrigerated them and I decided to cook up 2 tonight for the taste test. This sausage did not remind me of bread and it was strangely tasting like a big mixed meat sausage of my omnivorous past. Nothing is wrong with that right at least no animals were harmed:)

I cooked up the sausages with some onions and dying broccoli and some fresh red peppers. I added some extra non sodium Italian seasoning and some tomato sausage a squeeze of Braggs and some yeast flakes and salt to taste. I added some chili pepper sauce just because I want to feel some burn in my mouth. I had a yam see Yam( True) in my kitchen for a few weeks now so I decided to cook and mash with some vegan margarine and some parsley crushed garlic and salt. This turned out to be a great dish and not too heavy on the stomach since we eat small portions. For dessert I ate a carrot cupcake test I did from. It ended up tasting like a baked pancake but it was chewy and moist for a fat free dessert. I washed it down with cook your throat ginger tea which is fresh ginger grated and boiled in water and served with no sugar.

I still have the tempeh in the fridge any ideas people. I never tasted tempeh before I really do not want to ruin it.

This is not a pizza post. Onion Tarte with American/Canadian Tid bits

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When I first met my bf who is my husband now he made me a tarte of onion tomato and olive one night and it was so yummy. Since then he has never cooked for me again.

:)

This tarte had a look of a pizza but the dough was a kind of shortcrust e.g what you make quiche with. You must pre bake the dough then baste with French mustard not Frenches mustard. I use Maille which I hope is vegan:) I do not see how it could not be. We baste the dough in french mustard and add a bunch of slow cooked onions on the dough mixed with chopped tomatoes and then we top with olives. I wanted to show off the little sliced meats and cheese I got from NYC so I added some Yves pepperoni and some follow your heart cheese. I sprinkled his French tart with Italian seasoning and made it Frentalian. It was good none the less. I suggest that you made small individual tarts so that it can be thick like a tart and look poor like a pizza. The pic is an understatement to how this taste. I suggest not adding other toppings and keep this one very simple. It is even fine for a last min picnic and the taste is very good. For the dough you can make a short crust dough 1/2 fat to flour and iced water and overwork it a bit.

Since the oven was on I made some of Julie Hasson Chocolate Mocha Cakes which are my favourite but this time I made a chocolate peanut butter ganache it was very yummy. I am still scared esp when it comes to vegan cake baking. I am afraid to try new cupcake recipes. If anyone has a fool proof one please email me it so I can make another cupcake.

Tommorrow I am going to experiment with the sole pack of tempeh I bought back with me. I have no idea what it taste like how it is suppose to be seasoned... I will hope for the best

Vegan Packed Lunches 1- Vegan Cornish Pasties

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I was speaking earlier about vegan packed lunches especially when we travel on airlines that do not provide meals anymore.
I have been tossing up a few ideas in my mind and I decided I should do some Vegan Cornish Pasties. This was the packed lunch I learned about at secondary school . It is a short crust pastry which I use most of the times for all my pastries and it is filled with grated potato,tvp and carrots. This is not only filling, but it should not get soggy, and it is something tasty. The original recipe I had used lard and even in pre vegan days I never used lard I always use to make vegan shortcrust pastry from since I was about 14 years old. I have selected 2 fillings for these Cornish pasties: lentil,carrot with a cumin and curry flavour.
and veganized Cornish pasties which is ground tvp,grated potato and grated carrots.
I will have the lentil and my husband would have the tvp one.
Note these can be miniaturized especially if you are having a party.
I was also interested in doing a Jamaican Vegan Patty. I loved Jamaican patties in my pre vegan days the spices and the soft yellow pastry. This to me was a fusion patty of British with a Jamaican influence. I work on developing the vegan Jamaican patty a little later.

Today I will post a mini tutorial on making shortcrust pastry and how to handle short crust pastry. There are a few faults in pastry making and there were drilled into my brain in secondary school. Many people are afraid to make pastry as they see this as something only for restaurants. You can make your own pastry and store it in the fridge and then use later.
I am pressed for time so I will make these Vegan Pasties in 2 days. Today I would make the pastry and store it in the fridge and a filling and tomorrow I would make the rest. It is better you bake these pasties just before you leave on a picnic or a flight and wrap in paper or a brown paper bag as it will not get soggy this way.

Other ideas for packed lunched is a slice seitan and vegan cheeze "platter" with grapes and vegan crackers.
Super stuffed potato is a potato that you bake and slice in half scoop out the inside and mix with chilli ,tofu ricotta(optional ) and veggies of your choice.Stuff the contents in the halves and re wrap with foil and bake again for another 10 mins. All you need to do is remove the top of foil and eat and this is not very messy.(Just remember to bring a fork if that is allowed in the plane)
Sandwiches are great too but try to avoid adding soggy causing ingredients like vegannaise and those things. You have to channel your inner sandwich artist and, if you want a condiment place it on the protein source and cover with lettuce. I cannot stand sandwiches with soggy mayo or ketchup on it always turns me off.
Hummus is not such a good idea because I think they consider that a "liquid"
A personal tofu quiche is great with spinach and this can be eaten at room temperature without tasting too yucky.
Cold noodle salad with vegan beef or seitan strips is lovely but be sure to eat this as soon as you can to prevent food borne illness.
There is a vegan lunchbox website as many of you know that has some interesting ideas for packed lunches with interesting lunchboxes which I wish I had because I would do more inspiring packed lunches.

Random Eats

In Barbados on Sunday many people over indulge in food to be honest. It is the time when family get togeter and have a big meal of many things like rice and peas, meat dishes, lasagne, fish etc.

It is very Barbadian to eat like this on Sunday. When I moved away from Barbados I began to do big vegan meals on Sunday but I thought it was silly because it is just 2 of us in the house. On Sundays I do the opposite now and I eat lighter than I do in the week. Sunday for me is a relaxing day not a day to slave over the stove.

Today I ate falafel and hummus in a pita very easy and I am less tired

I tried this box falafel and there is too much of something inside of it. I cannot tell what it is. It is Ok but something is overpowering. I have a short week this week so I had no time to share my homemade falafel recipe with you but I will get to that another time.

Off topic but when vegans travel there is some planning that goes into it as the airline may not serve a meal, it may not serve a vegan meal etc. I have a great recipes coming up of some pack lunches you can make that you can take on the plane. They will not go soggy or have some weird smell that has the guy in the seat behind you asking loudy whats thats smell. For me it is important to always take my food with me but I have a problem eating things that start to get too soggy. Even if I made it I cannot eat it when it goes yucky like that. So look out for this post midweek.

See you guys

Pepper sauce attempt

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I had plans to give some pepper sauce as giveaways but I cannot as this pepper sauce is way too hot as in killer spicy. I made a batch today but I have to wait for a few days to taste it. I tasted it right after I made it and the freshness does not allow you to taste the real flavour and spiciness of this hot sauce. I plan to taste it on Wednesday and I will report what happened.

I wore eye protection throughout the entire process and rubber gloves because when pepper juice gets on your hand it is over. It burns for hours depending on how much and how long you were exposed too. I think I will have to dilute this pepper sauce with water because this reminds me of the pepper I tried in Trinidad and Tobago on some doubles and I almost died in the taxi lol.I was like oh give me lots of pepper please and I was shocked at how killer insane hot the Trini pepper sauce was in comparison to the Barbadian version. The only major difference is that in Barbados they use American mustard.

This is a beautiful pepper sauce, rich colour,texture not too runny but I will know the verdict on Wednesday. Stay tuned

This is some serious peppersauce. Will save some for mum back home in Barbados. She will love this.

Thanks Cynthia for this recipe. I added ginger, eshallot ,oil and a large onion to the recipe.

Turnover recipe

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It has been bought to my attention that people have been re posting this recipe without my permission


I will post the turnover recipe there at there between July 26th- August 5th 2009 in my new blog.
Sorry for the inconvenience

Recipe Test:Vegan "Fish" cakes and vegan "beurre blanc" sauce

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It is Sunday and it means that I have to prepare some food that we would consume for the week. I was looking at the Vegan Dad website and he made some chickpea cakes that had more of a seafood spin to it even if it was not intentional for him.I tried them and I loved them. I grilled them instead and I made a vegan butter sauce from scratch. I am developing this recipe still but you can give it a try with a mild tasting protein. I do not think this would be great on tofu but someone can prove me wrong.

"Vegan Beurre blanc"

Soy milk,tahini,eshallots,brown vinegar,lemon juice, black pepper and garlic crushed. You can mix in some vegan margarine if you want to thicken this sauce. This sauce was so good. It tasted like something you would get in a fine restaurant. I did not like such a spicy chickpea cake with it though. I would in the future ease off the pepper sauce in his recipe so that the cake would be more mild so when you pair it with the vegan butter sauce it would be so great. This was so good. Please try it. Vegan Dad did a good job with developing the chickpea cakes. So try it with cooked vegetables as it is a good dinner meal especially if you are having omni guest over.

For those who wrote me about the turnover recipe I will post it this week on the blog.

Croquettes de haricots noirs

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I did not have a clue of what to pair my quinoa with . I mean it is complete in itself so it was ok but I need extra protein. I decided to crack open a can of black beans which I was trying to avoid and make something strong that could pair with the light cold salad. I may pair gluten slices with it next time. I really enjoyed quinoa for the first time in a long time and black beans which I tend not to like too much. I am a big red bean fan.


My French is really improving. I am even writing letters and emails in French. If I see an increase in French visitors to this blog I would post the French and English versions to the recipes.That is a big IF.





1 can of black beans drained


some salt to taste


pinch of cayenne pepper


some bajan seasoning optional


chopped shallots (in France they call it eschalots I hope I am referring to the same thing)


crushed garlic


little tomato paste


paprika


black pepper


yeast flakes





The breading you mix some wheat or gluten free flour and some sesame seeds ,breadcrumb and some more yeast flakes


I use a little bit of olive oil to grill these and I served with salsa


I do not think it would be a good idea to pair this with quinoa but we wanted it so who is stopping us.


I would pop these in some pita with salad and avocado instead


They are full in flavour trust me and if you are like me add some extra pepper lol

Some French product reviews

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I really like some of the beans I am not use to in the Caribbean. Could someone tell me the name of these beans in English or does it go by flageolet beans as well?

I am currently going through a box of quinoa and I really like this brand. The one I was buying in Barbados did not taste as good as this one honestly! Maybe it is the way I prepared it today I don't know ...but I am going to stick to this organic brand for now. I just realised that I can make a lovely porridge with this in the morning. I will see how it goes. I am tired of rolled oats. I may even mix this with flax seed, rolled oats and barley...hmm maybe not:)

No bake oatmeal cookies

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I really hate to light my oven. It does not cooperate with me. It is embarrassing as hubby would come and light it and give me "the look". I usually have a glass of soy milk directly after my workout. I also have something sweet, may it be juice or whatever. I decided since hubby was at work I would make some sticky, hearty chews to keep in the fridge for post training. I came across many post of the no bake vegan cookie...Great! no oven. I whipped up a little batch of these and I must say the taste is heavenly. I used some high quality dark chocolate,peanut butter, oats, wheatgerm, golden flax seeds, sesame seeds and pecans and I was very pleased. They did not hardened up as much as I expected but we like chewy treats.


Here is a photo of these treats that should not be over indulged in cough.. cough

Vegan Burger

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I have gotten lazy these past months and stop making my burgers from scratch but, those days are over. I have craving sometimes of something unhealthy and greasy and wrong in so many ways but when I look at my figure in the mirror I backtrack and I come to some middleground.


The middle ground is grilled tvp homemade burgers, homemade sugarfree wheat bread and 1 tbs of oil baked french fries.


Should I say more?


I usually use sweet potato instead because I know at least it gives me a little more than plain white potatoes.


The sweet potatoes at the supermarket look like if 20 horses ran through them so that was a big no no for me.


The bread was ok for me great for hubby.


I think I need to tweak that recipe a bit....I am thinking of using a flax egg and it needed some more gluten. I like my bread bouncy!


I remember I use to invite a few friends over in Barbados and I would serve this homemade Bajan vegan burger and sweet potato fries....now I just make this for me and hubby when we want junk food but do not want all the extra calories that come with it.


I tried to add some gluten flour in this burger and what a disaster.


I had to bake it out first to fully cook the gluten and then grill.


Cost me an extra 30 mins as I left all my binding agents in Barbados. I did use wholewheat breadcrumbs but I think it needed some flax meal or something to hold it together more. These burgers are soft in texture but full of flavour.

Curry Obsession:Roti

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I know some of you are tired of my roti post. Roti for me is in its own food group. I just love roti so much and after going vegan I was worried I would miss my favourite dish but I have not. I make roti once every 2 months even if it is my favourite it is carb heavy and I would only eat this after a big weight lifting session. You can lighten the carbs by omitting potato but my mom would say a roti without potato is not a roti lol.

Many people would think I am crazy as roti is big work.

I have made a record of preparing the "skins" the roti and the filling in 1 hour. Right now I am still struggling with perfecting the skins but this weekend the skins were better than ever.

1. I reccomend soaking the tvp in seasoned water..did I say seasoned water? Yes. I add heaping tablespoon of bajan seasoning to the tvp.

2.Adding green splitpeas gives body to the roti

3. Cook as long as you can the tvp,vegetables and onions. I reccomend cooking for 1 hour as this thick sauce forms something I call "roti juice". If you do not cook the roti filling long enough your sauce would be weak and not full body like what you see in the above photo.

4. Flavouring is your friend. Try adding yeast flakes, marmite, Braggs liquid amino acids and salt to your sauce remember the roti is a full flavour dish do not skimp on the flavour.

5.Gram masala in the sauce gives it a nice flavour

6.Do crush at least 1 clove of garlic at the end of cooking the stew. I cannot believe what a big difference this made.

7.Do include at least 2 beans, peas...I used chick peas and green split peas. I made sure I cooked the chickpeas for a long time even if they were canned chickpeas. I do not like firm chickpeas. I like them soggy full of curry and flavour.

8.Roti filling can be use as a condiment to boring rice but I would only indulge in this carb load after a workout.

Well enjoy these photos of my weekend roti.

Bajan Coconut turnovers: "Turnovers"

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THANKS

I remember on Sunday evening in Barbados as a child you would be looking forward to icecream from the truck or "bread". When we say bread in Barbados it doesnt mean a measly slice of bread. It is the numerous pastries that we enjoy on the island. I think Barbados has some of the best pastries there are. There are a mixture of British and Caribbean flavours. One that is a favourite of mine because it is not too too sweet is the coconut turnover which is just called "turnovers" in Barbados. I am not sure they are vegan as the recipe calls for milk and I use soy. I know one or two small bakeries in Barbados do not put cows milk in theirs but I cannot be too certain. I just love turnovers . Ok ok a turnover is a sweet dough filled with sweetened coconut with almond essence. It is baked and brushed with sugar water and sprinkled with sugar at the end. I love it warm with a cup of tea and I like my coconut dry. Some people like their coconut mixture a bit wetty or juicy but I love mine dry and not too sweet.


I am sorry I did not cut the inside of the turnover so you can see the lovely swirl of coconut mixture inside. I use wholewheat flour as I am not a white flour lover. These are usually brown or white you can find both easily in Barbados. Here is a photo of some I made during Easter for the hubby. He really loved them. Mine did not have a long shelf life though as they got hard after 3 days.


If anyone is interested in this recipe just leave a comment and I would post it.


I am a bit fed up sometimes as I post long winded recipes and I do not even know if anyone has a use for it. So let me know if anyone is interested in making some turnovers.

What's Bajan Seasoning and Bajan Pepper Sauce anyways?

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Well most of you that read my blog always hear me mentioning bajan seasoning.

It is a staple in my vegan kitchen because it is full of flavour and after adding a little bit to your stews,tvp,tofu or whatever it gives big flavour. Bajan seasoning recipes vary from household to household. Most people in Barbados buy from someone who they think makes the best while others buy from the supermarket. Most of the bajan seasoning I have tried are very tasty. I do not have a favourite but Amandas Bajan Seasoning is one I have been using for a while. It is actually my last as I am waiting for a shipment from my mother. For those who are worried about pepper many of the Bajan seasoning come without pepper and I even saw a no salt version of it. The main ingredients are chives which is like those green onions you would find in the states with the bulb,habenero peppers,onions, garlic, powdered clove, lime juice, tyme, marjoram, blackpepper, paprika. Some people add parsley . I will make my own when I have time to gather all these fresh herbs but I do not see this happening soon. Here is a photo of a packet of seasoning. I keep it in the fridge even if it is very strong. Bajan seasoning is used in most Barbadian cuisine. Do not get this seasoning mixed up with jerk seasoning which is from Jamaica (which is good too). I prefer bajan seasoning in my cooking though as it is not as overpowering as the jerk. I do think jerk tofu would be great.

Bajan Pepper sauce is a condiment you would find in most local restaurants

The flavour is amazing but it is not as hot as the Trinidadian pepper sauce. However I have been eating this pepper sauce since I was 3 years old. I remember as a child my mom would put it over her rice and I would not eat my rice until she give me a little. Bajan peppersauce can save a very bland dish but it packs a lot of heat so becareful. The main ingredient is mustard...yes seriously and habeneros, onions and vinegar and some salt. I am yet to make my own peppersauce. I am afraid some would get into my eyes!

Here is a photo of a bottle of peppersauce I have been picking at for the last couple of month. Mom sent me a care package. If you do go to Barbados these are 2 condiments you should pick up as they come in unbreakable containers and there are easy to put in your suitcase. Grace Pepper sauce is one most people would find overseas, I really love that one too even if it is not Barbadian. I miss Barbados

:(

Stay tuned

Coming up
Season veggie burger, coconut turnovers, and ultimate curry addiction with revamped roti .

Easy Lunch Ideas

What is easier than pouring some hot water over couscous and pairing some curried chickpeas and cooked vegetables. Hubby made this for me a few Sundays ago after our workout. I was happy to find wholewheat couscous here. Very easy lunch idea especially when you are pressed. There is a company in the Caribbean it is called Matouk ,they make great chickpeas already in curry sauce. I miss having this around but it is very easy to make your own curry.

Great Eats

I have been watching my weight these days.

Many people think that vegans do not have problems with weight but it is easy to eat too many carbs when you are a vegan and this is not always the best for some of us.

I have been making some hummous using any bean I can find. This one is white flava beans that I had left over from falafel making. I had some regular chickpea hummous so I mixed it in. I find that flava beans when paired with garlic some tahini and some salt and garlic taste like a high protein mash potato. I even suggest eating this hummous warm. Here you can see 2 homemade falafel at the side, spelt bread and some veggies with yeast flakes and golden flax seed.

I think I put some cold pressed oil on the carrots...

hmm

Easy Lunch Ideas 2

I fell in love with falafel a few months ago and hubby and I started to buy a box of dried one.

Little did I know that after 5 days of soaking some flava beans I too could make this tasty treat.

Before we get on to that falafel post I found a cool recipe idea at the back of the dried falafel box.

They suggested using it as a the sole protein source in a hearty tomato sauce to top pasta.

I said why not.

I admit the taste was a bit strange at first but after several bites I started to love it with some hot sauce.

I only eat pasta dishes and high carb dishes after weight lifting so I suggest this dish for lunch.

I topped this with yeast flakes and some salsa.

I think this is one for a rainy day.:)

Easy Dinner & Lunch Ideas 1

Well I am back

I have started taking pics again and I have many post pending. My first one will be easy dinner and lunch ideas.

I have perfected a falafel recipe and I have revamped my roti recipe ..finally I have made the perfect vegan roti in my opinion.

Anywho.. I really loved shepards pie in my pre vegan days . It is a great comfort food and easy to prepare. Took me 20 mins preparation and another 15 mins of grilling the top. My mom posted me some dehydrated tvp chunks from Barbados but she forgot to send me the minced ones. I made some tvp stew and had some leftovers of it so I just place this stew at the bottom of my baking dish and some herbed mashed potatoes at the top. I added rosemary and olive oil for extra flavour. I served it with string beans.

Black bean stew

Black Bean stew is something my dad would do at home for sunday lunch. I have changed it up a little and used loads of garlic carrots and spinach. My husband really loved this on Sunday and he ate it with brown rice. Now we are using the left overs as protein snacks for during the day and eating it hot in a thermos

I will post my final black bean stew soon I just would like to make it even more hearty.

Tutorial on Vegan Roti Making

PLEASE HEAD ON OVER TO MY NEW BLOG CLICK HERE

I will not post the full recipe now until I perfected my roti "dough" making skills and the perfect curry filling but I will in this tutorial show you how much work it takes to make roti esp when your hubby says to use purple potatoes instead of the regular white ones (lol).

Roti is ideal for a packed lunch because once the dough is made well you can eat in some paper or foil and u do not have to use any forks or whatever to eat it. This is why for a day trip to St. Barts I decided to make some roti for us to take. It is hard for find vegan dishes other than salad when you travel so it is a good idea to bring your own food and store it well. As a microbiologist I am also thinking about proper food storage especially if you will get back to your food 3 hours later. Once you take care you can store you vegan roti in some paper or foil for ur trip and sometimes I like to keep it in this kind of grand thermos if they are not wrapped.

LETS GET STARTED!!

My husband likes his roti with tvp chunks chick peas and other vegetables and unlike me he does not like alot of potato in his.

I like hot curried potato in mine and some protein.

In a medium saucepan I would usually put in some oil and some curry and cumin and let it roast up a little.

I would then add my onions garlic and chives and let them cook for a while.

I add some chick peas , spinach because I had extra and some chopped carrots.

Hydrate my tvp and add some marmite and a little bajan seasoning to it and add this to the pot.

For me at this stage I would add a few cups of water some tomata anything may it be paste some sauce I had I would add a little to add a little sweetness to balance out the spice in my roti.

I would let this cook for 20 mins and add my potatoes and salt.

I cook my roti until my potatoes dissolved a little some people like their potatoes firm. It depends. You know me I love pepper so I would add some sauce of scotch bonnet or haberno peppers and some salt some cumin some black pepper, onion powder whatever us spicy I have i add.

I remember making roti dough at home when I was 13 years old and I never used a recipe yet my dough use to be soft and flavourful

Now I suck so much at this but I am trying

I am getting somewhere.

I used 3 cups of flour to 1 cup water.

I added some fat to my skins something I did in the past but not usually now.

I added some margerine to the flour at first and some salt and slowly worked in the water.

This time I added some baking powder to my dough. I let my dough rest and I formed 6 to 8 pieces. I rolled out my dough very very very very thin and I cooked in a skillet that the French use to make crepes with because that's all I had. I cannot make the roti dough on the crepe pan by myself so I usually ask my husband to help me with this step we do not cook it too much. I cook it for a few seconds until I see faint brown spots appearing on the dough.

My dough this time was a half of a disaster but I will try again.

In the Caribbean a lot of countries in the south like Trinidad and Guyana and Barbados eat roti but it is an Indian dish that many countires in the Caribbean have adopted and did their own thing with it. I had a roti in the French West Indies and it was just as tasty as the ones I got in Barbados. Unfortunately I did not get to eat a roti when I was in Trinidad:( which people say has the best roti. Let me clear up the roti is just the dough but in Barbados we call roti the entire thing.It is not a vegan dish usually because they usually curry meat but many roti shops have vegan fillings like tvp, chick peas and whats not. The roti is served piping hot in Barbados and I serve mine hot. Since I was going on a day trip I will wrap mine up and wrap some clean towels around them and serve.

I hope this cleared up what roti actually is for some of you who never heard of it and are afraid to make it at home because there is so starting block for this.

I will post my final roti recipe soon when I did some more test runs.

au revoir

Random meals

I am sorry that I did not come through this xmas but it has been weeks and I am waiting for an internet connection so I can start back blogging. I hope to get the net in a weeks.France takes some time with paperwork...

First pic is falafel burger and a gaucomole salad with vegan cream sauce i made from scratch.The falafel was from a box.

Second pic is tvp stew with left over curry chickpeas with seseme seeds and yummy fresh vegetables with herbe de provence.

Third pic is my spaghetti and soy balls .

I do not have much time now so look out for new developments from me

hmm anyways I have been taking some pics during lunch and dinner with my husband

New Years Feast somewhat..

Finally I am in a different country. I still do not have the internet here yet but I have taken loads of pics and i have many interesting things to share. This one is not so interesting but it was tasty.

We had a French feast last night since my hubby is French. For the starter we had some somasas i threw in there because i needed some spice but after it was totally french lol.

I will post the Christmas lunch we had ahich was very Barbadian but I am still not settled yet

Anyways this dish was just some wedges baked and some veggie steak pieces we found in the Asian section and I made a sauce with it which turned out beautiful. Then just French bean with garlic. For dessert we had an assortment on mini tarts will show this later ...we ended the night with some soy dream and tea.

I didnt love this dish it was too meaty for me the richness of this fake meat was too much for me but hubby loved it

Barbados Vegan Street Foods

Hi all

PLEASE VISIT MY NEW AND EXCITING BLOG HERE as I in the process of adding more caribbean vegan guides.

Sorry for not posting in a while but I am relocating in a few days.

Trinidadian Doubles

This is one of my favourite Barbadian Street foods and it is from Trinidad. (smile). This is called doubles because it is made of two savoury sweetish pastry and the inside is curried chickpeas and there are alot of condiments that you can choose from. I got pepper cucumber pickled and spicy green onion seasoning. They are so good that you cannot just eat one. My double looks like Christmas but that is just because I asked for extra pepper.

Roti

So when I get to my final destination I will be cooking again.I went out today and I stopped for lunch at the Swizzle Pot In Warrens St. Michael and I decided to get a veggie roti. Roti is just the pastry but we call the entire thing roti here. This roti here has a split pea based skin in flour and water and some margarine and salt. It is soft and flavourful. You can buy the skins just like that and put in whatever. My roti today was chick peas and potato. You can have okra,pumpkin whatever you want inside and it is spicy if you want. I love roti so much. I will miss it. This is about $4.50usd or $9.00 Barbados dollars. This dish is very filling and it is curry based.