Persian Food

Wow it's been quite a while... but I was internetless for quite some time. Aswell as lazy... ;)

First pictures from Berlin. We went to this vegetarian bistro/restaurant/caterer ALSA and the owner is persian and holy moly his food was extremly delicious. I even liked the rice&raisins combo, something I've always detested.
This was a vegan dish, eggplant casserole with beans, lentils, nuts and whatnot. So fucking amazing!!!



And a mix of salads he had left (we got there at around 4 and almost all the plates were pretty much empty already=good sign!).



Anywho, I finally had some money to buy food. Raspberries are so addictive ♥



Spinach with cucumber, raspberries and a surprisingly good tasting basil dressing (storebought dressings mostly suck... or maybe I just always pick the bad ones).



I've been trying to catch up with your blogs and the last days were simply horrible because I had no food/money/whatsoever and your pictures almost made me cry! And realize what amazing chefs each and every one of you would make (this is not neccessarily the starving person from a couple of days ago talking, he he). Anyone up for inventing beaming and starting a delivery service worldwide with amazing vegan food creations? ;)

Purplelicious Oatmeal, Pink Cucumber Soup & Chickpea Cutlets

I made a delicious oatmeal with alpro's wild berry soy milk, cinnamon and frozen blueberries.
Talk about eye candy! Oh, how I love purple food!



Then I made a cold cucumber soup with red beets, soy yogurt, dill and parsley. I had cooked potatoes on hand which I wanted to add, but somehow totally forgot about.



And I had a good laugh when it turned out - once again - that Isa was right with her prediction in the chickpea cutlet recipe introduction text - that it'd be famous on blogs!



My mom had the cucumber soup while I finished the chickpea cutlets I had made in advance for today (after reading that they taste even better the day after) and asked if she could have one.

She took a bite and proclaimed "Delicious! You can start mass producing them!" Ha ha! Another person hooked on the famous Veganomicon cutlets. I'll buy more chickpeas today and make about 20 cutlets to freeze for my mom & me. It was her request and she reminded me again this morning not to forget the chickpeas =p



She said she especially liked the texture. "Much better than all those veggie patties which are so crumbly they always keep falling apart!"

To go with it I had some lamb's lettucce and tomato drizzled with mustard-agave-balsamic dressing and soy yogurt mixed with mustard.



A very pleasing meal!
I can't wait to have the other cutlet tonight. I'll make yellow grilled zucchini and bell pepper to go with it. And maybe either tzaziki or homemade tomato ketchup. We'll see!

Also on my to-do list: black bean burgers! I need more protein!

Veggie-Lentil Curry, Carrot Cupcakes & Falafel

Tonight I had a craving for lentils and cauliflower again, but didn't want the same meal I've had in my post before so I made a few additions.



I prepared the cauliflower the same way like I did here. The red lentils were prepared like before, too with an addition of 1/2 tsp. curry powder and a dash of chili powder.
To make the dish more colorful I roasted a red & yellow bell pepper and some zucchini that I sprinkled with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder in the oven for 20 minutes on 375°F.

Yesterday I went to the Bio supermarket to get new agave and bought Falafel. Homemade ones would've tasted better for sure, but they weren't bad and the idea of having Falafel ready within 8 minutes was quite appealing so I bought them along with new whole wheat pitas.



I bought a sunflower seed based pepper & pepperoni spread that I used, along with 1/4 cup shredded red cabbage, tomatoes and cucumber.

And I made Happy Herbivore's Fat Free Carrot Cupcakes with Maple Frosting. I used a little bit too much applesauce, because after 20 minutes in the oven they were still a little gooey inside. But did I mind? Hell no, there was no egg in there so I could have just as well eaten the raw batter =p To be honest I snacked quite a lot while mixing together the applesauce, shredded carrot and vanilla. Tasted delicious! I think I'll make that as a snack again soon!
But back to the cupcakes - my best (girl)friend tried one and loved it, the icing in particular. She's an omni so I got the "There's really no egg in there? Amazing...!" between each bite, ha ha!



So, tomorrow the big baking for the night's party will take place. I'm so excited!
I have to hurry now though, the boyfriend's waiting!

Hear you on Sunday I guess. Happy Easter and have a nice weekend everyone!

Mashed Cauliflower with Broccoli & Chickpea - Pepper Salsa

I went grocery shopping today and came home with the following!



Yes, I bought a sweet potato for the first time in my life. We'll see what will happen with it.
And since I'm craving pizza quite often lately, yet never make any dough, I bought spelt pizza crusts.

So here's what I cooked. Rather simple, but verysatisfying.



Katie's Mashed Cauliflower, garlic Broccoli and Chickpea - Pepper Salsa (red pepper, yellow bell pepper, fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 cup cooked & partly mashed chickpeas, onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar, garam masala, dried basil, nutmeg, salt, pepper).



I'm off to enjoy a long night now! I mean hey, I' haven't been on vacation for 6 months. So it really was about time!

Falafel (Crumbs) from VwaV

I had been so excited to make Falafel. I have always loved it and couldn't wait to do it myself.

So last night I finally had enough time on my hands. I prepared the chickpea mixture and the tahini sauce. Both had to cool in the fridge for 30 minutes. And I was starving already. So were my boyfriend and my parents downstairs whom I had promised to bring some of my selfmade Falafel.

Finally, after 30 long minutes, I started shaping the patties. Or better yet, I tried. They totally fell apart. I squeezed them together as hard as I could and put them into the boiling oil. They fell apart and nothing but deep fried crumbs were left.
This was 1/4th of the mixture. Ugh!
I wasn't too excited about the deep frying anyway, so I took out a pan and baked 3 patties a time in just a tiny bit of oil. They didn't stay in shape too well either, but at least you could call them a patty.

Eventually, after lots of swearing, I had 9 small patties to serve to my hungry folks. 4 for my parents and 5 for my boyfriend and me. I forgot to take a picture until I had one more bite left and that was mostly just pita bread with some cucumber and tomato.
They tasted good though. My mom gave me a call "Wow, the patties tasted great. The sauce wasn't right somehow, but the patties... mhh!" I used VwaVs recipe.

Bottom line: I will not make these again. Although the taste was good, it was just too much work. Not to mention that my apartment stank like crazy. Like I had fried fish in tons of oil, yuck. Not to mention I almost fainted when I entered my kitchen this morning.

And a picture I just found online...
I always look like that when I walk past meat in the supermarket, when my boyfriend devours a steak, my mom prepares chicken etc.
But a few days ago I had the same facial expression when I passed some people grabbing huge amounts of gummi bear bags. All I wanted to say to them was "You are aware of the fact that you're going to eat boiled pig skin, are you?" I can't help but shudder at this thought every single time. I can't believe I used to eat this stuff.


Vogue Paris October 2007 | Photographer: Steven Klein

Sundried Tomato Hummus

I made hummus for the first time: sundried tomato hummus to be exact.
And I have to admit that... I am fairly disappointed. I thought I had messed up the recipe, because it was pretty dry. Is it supposed to be like that? I expected it to be more creamy. And the taste didn't blow me away either. I looked at other hummus recipes, but they were all very much alike, so I guess hummus just tastes like that. Bummer!