These thin caramelized oat biscuits are often the first baking project Finnish kids learn - they’re so easy to make and the results are delicious. The two tricks are to leave enough room around the dollops of batter before baking, since they spread out a lot, and not overbaking them, since they burn very quickly.
These [...]
Sweet potatoes are something we didn’t use very much in our cooking before. Maybe it’s because we generally prefer locally grown root vegetables, and sweet potatoes are usually shipped in from China, USA, or Israel. But yep, sometimes we treat ourselves with a few of these yummy things, and this mash really is a perfect [...]
This spread was part of our May Day picnic. It gets its deep flavor from liquid smoke and fresh sage, and goes especially well with a bread that has a lot of flavor of its own - like the dried Finnish sour rye bread pictured below.
The recipe is very easy and quick to make, but [...]
This pie was very easy to make, and quite delicious as well. I found the original filling recipe through Eric at VeganGrub, and my only additions were a little bit of Grand Marnier, some salt to make the chocolate flavor shine, and a little bit more agave syrup than Eric used. Heikki thought that the [...]
The idea for this dish came from Antonio Tabucchi’s book Requiem. In one scene, the protagonist dines with a dead friend of his in a restaurant, and they are having sarrabulho, a traditional Portuguese meat dish. While eating, they are discussing how the meat is marinated in some white wine, caraway, garlic, and olive oil. [...]
This dish consisted of the ingredients I was able to find in our kitchen when I needed to make a quick lunch for myself. I thought about spaghetti, but there was none left, so I opted for risoni (orzo) instead. No canned beans, so tofu it was, and I was lucky enough to find a [...]
When I finally tried making my own peanut sauce, I couldn’t believe how easy it is to prepare, and to tweak according to what’s at hand. Sometimes I add lime juice, or leave out lemon grass if we don’t have it, or use coconut milk instead of veggie stock to thin the sauce, and it [...]
I literally couldn’t stop spooning this sauce into my mouth until it was all gone, so delicious it was. We had this over a mint chocolate cake that was quite simple, just the Fragrant citrus cake with cocoa powder instead of ground almonds, and mint extract in the place of all the citrus. The [...]
When I was living in Malaysia some years ago, this was one of my favourite take-away dishes. Nearby my workplace there were some food stalls that sold Nasi Lemak wrapped in banana leaves. Basically, it’s rice cooked in coconut milk and some condiments, eaten with sambal and some side dishes - yes, I think the [...]
I made this as a light lunch for myself, and it was so good that the recipe is definitely going to appear as a side dish for a larger audience. Steamed broccoli is great, and stir-steamed broccoli is even greater - it’s a quick method that gives pleasantly crispy results. Simply seasoned with nothing more [...]
I have visited the US a few times, and one of the things I miss most is that the supermarkets carry hummus and baba ghannouj in a number of flavors - my favorite being the roasted red bell pepper. Lately the bigger supermarkets in Finland have started carrying one brand of Swedish hummus that is [...]
These were some yummy cookies, and thanks to the flaxseed they keep together well and don’t crumble into a tea cup when dipped. Muscovado sugar gives them a nice brown color, and combines well with the rum and chocolate aromas. These took less than half an hour to make, and I think 20 cookies is [...]
This time of year we rarely see fresh berries, but frozen ones are quite good and easy to use. This dessert is ready practically in the time it takes to measure up the ingredients!
This sorbet melts really quickly, since its texture depends on the icy frozen berries, so it must be served immediately after making. [...]
If there’s one dish that reminds me of my childhood, it’s mashed potatoes. We always had a simple version at home, that I enjoyed with a dab of butter that melted and transformed into a lake on top of the potato mountain… I also have a vivid memory of a dinner I had at [...]
This gentle soup made an amazing weekday lunch for the two of us. Somehow it managed to be light and filling at the same time, and the subtle flavors of edamame and avocado enhanced each other beautifully.
Edamame means fresh young soy beans in Japanese, and they’re usually cooked and served in their pods. Fresh soy [...]
I fried this tempeh for lunch one day, and didn’t have time to marinate it more than an hour. It was very delicious, which made me realize that tempeh absorbs flavors even more readily than tofu does! Actually, the marinade I used is pretty close to the one we often use for tofu, but I [...]
The simple act of adding balsamic vinegar to vegetables before roasting takes their flavors to a completely new dimension. The vinegar loses its acidity in the oven, and enhances the sweet flavors of the root vegetables.
We got our monthly supply of organic flours and vegetables on Friday evening, delivered to our door by my [...]
We whipped up this pie 20 minutes before a friend came over, and it had almost firmed up after spending 2 hours in the fridge, when we were ready to have dessert. The photo is from the next day, and I do recommend refrigerating this pie overnight to let the filling firm up completely - [...]
There are various vegan omelette recipes around the internet, and we’ve tried a few of them - Susan’s version for example, which we liked as much as to make it several times. Sometimes the recipes call for chick pea flour (also known as gram), like this Indian style vegan omelette, but almost always the [...]
This is another take on Mihl’s sunflower seed spread, but this time we seasoned it with sundried tomatoes, harissa, and parsley. Really good and spicy, this goes well with potato bread and alfalfa sprouts like in the photo, and is even better with Finnish rye bread. With all the seasonings, this doesn’t have as much [...]
Moth beans are yet another new legume in our kitchen. They are very tiny, and look something like small, brown mung beans. Moth beans cook really fast, are creamy in texture, and have a nutty flavor that paired really well with the sharp dressing.
Beans:
200 g dried moth beans, soaked overnight
2 cloves garlic
vegetable broth
1 bay [...]
This was a quick lunch I made for myself on a day when I had to use up three carrots, since we’d got our organic veggie delivery the day before, and the old ones had to go. We froze a bunch of leeks after the previous organic delivery, so now I could just take one [...]
This tofu “cheese” has a consistency resembling cottage cheese, or a little like feta cheese, and is really tasty. It doesn’t taste like cheese, however, which for me is a good thing: I outgrew my cheese addiction about 7 years ago - it took a few vegan years to combat my cravings. Tofu marinated this [...]
Last week I found a post by Mihl from Seitan is my motor through Vegalicious. Mihl had developed a recipe for sunflower seed spread, and reading about it, I instantly got a feeling that this would be a new favorite at our house. First batch I made was the plain version that Mihl posted, only [...]
On Thursday evening after two dance classes I was pretty hungry, and Heikki was at a somewhat early Christmas party. Luckily this dinner didn’t take me more than about 10 minutes to make. I had marinated the tofu earlier the same day, instant cous cous cooked in a few minutes - and the Ajvar yogurt [...]
Served with a slice of bread, this soup is a tasty wintertime dinner in itself. It only took me about 10 minutes to make plus an hour to simmer. Long cooking time cuts the sharpness of the Middle Eastern hot chili pepper paste, harissa, and mellows down the garlic as well.
My soup looks more liquid [...]
On Friday, we invited some friends over before a night out. I made us three spreads to have with fresh baguette and crackers, over a glass of wine or some beer. This first one was made with sun dried tomatos, the second with fava beans, and the third with olives. I love how easy these [...]
This is a really salty spread, nice for snacking with crackers or fresh bread, and maybe a glass of red wine.
What I used:
1 and 1/2 dl olives (we had Kalamata and some leftover green ones)
3 teaspoons capers
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
I [...]
We love mashed potatoes. We also had some leftover coconut milk from curry roasted tofu and vegetables, and these two facts put together resulted in coconut mashed potatoes. Google told me that in Hawaii, sweet potatoes are often mashed in coconut milk. Here, the coconut flavor hides in the background, but still gives a nice [...]
The yogurt sauce is an Arab dish, Yogurt Ginger Appetizer (Laban ma’ Zanjabeel) from Habeeb Salloum’s Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East & North Africa. We only made minor modifications to his recipe and halved it to serve two people instead of four, and the dish came out very very good. Almonds add a [...]
Green lentils have an appealing shape, each one so perfectly round and flat. I thought of France while cooking these lentils, but can’t remember ever eating lentils there - mine probably aren’t even remotely French, but they are delicious. Green lentils keep their shape when cooked, but don’t need soaking, which is great since I [...]
An easy and satisfying lunch, preparing this dish takes only 10 minutes, and roasting about 40 minutes. I mostly work at home, and this is a great way of preparing a meal and getting other things done while it’s cooking.
Marinating the tofu would be a good idea, since now it only had a mild curry [...]
I made this ridiculously easy Chinese salad while Heikki was cooking the main dish for lunch today. This is a favorite of ours, and we make it often to accompany Chinese stir-fries. We received a big white cabbage from a local organic farm this week, and that’s pretty much all that is needed to make [...]
