Vegan pistachio-rose water cookies

I've had a busy week preparing for a group presentation that I had today. I haven't had much time to bake this week and so after it was all over I decided to pull out my Veganomicon cookbook and whip up a recipe I've been meaning to bake for a while.

The recipe was for Pistachio-Rose Water Cookies. I've never used rose water in baking before so I wasn't too sure what to expect. 

This recipe was very simple and the cookies were lovely too. The rose water actually tasted like roses and so it gave the cookies a subtle floral taste. The cookies were very light and crispy too, making it a bit hard to stop at just one :P

I've decided to post up the recipe just in case anyone wants to try this too :)

Vegan Pistachio-Rose Water Cookies (Adapted from Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook)

Makes 32 cookies (for me it only made 27)

Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups sweetener (I used Stevia)
• ½ cup sunflower oil
• 3 tablespoons soy milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
• 1 tablespoon rose water
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
  ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
  ½ teaspoon salt
  ¼ teaspoon cardamon
• 1 cup shelled pistachio, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease two cookie sheets
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sweetener, oil, soy milk, rose water, vanilla, lime juice, and zest. Add the cornstarch and whisk until dissolved.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamon. Mix well.
4. Roll the dough into balls about 2 teaspoons in size and dip the tops into the chopped pistachios. Press down with two fingers; the dough will flatten a bit and pistachios will collect on the bottom. 
5. Place the cookies, nut side up, about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. 
6. Bake for 13 minutes; they will be soft but if you prefer them that way then that's fine because they will firm up a bit as they cool. (I baked mine for 20 minutes and they were still slightly soft in the middle and crispy on the edges).
7. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheets for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Vegan white chocolate macadamia cookies

The main reason I went vegan was because I wanted to start living a healthier lifestyle. I really enjoy being vegan and I don't see myself going back anytime soon. 

There have been many things that I've given up since going vegan such as ice cream, chocolate and a lot of my favourite types of store bought cakes and biscuits but I'm quite happy to do this because it means that I'm also cutting out a lot of junk out of my diet too. 

One of the unhealthy things that I don't eat any more are white chocolate macadamia cookies. I remember them tasting delicious, but I like being vegan far more than the taste of those cookies. 

I've been vegan for nearly two years now and in that time I've come to realise that there is usually a way to make vegan versions of most foods. 

Now don't fall into the trap of thinking that just because there's a vegan version of something that it is automatically healthy. Sure, it may be healthier, but it may not necessarily be healthy. And it certainly doens't mean you can eat ten servings of it.

I recently discovered vegan white chocolate. The brand is called Sweet William and they do dairy free chocolates. The white chocolate actually tastes pretty spot on to what I remember normal white chocolate tastes like. 

Even though I try to eat clean, I have the biggest sweet tooth and so when I was flipping through my Veganomicon cookbook and came across a recipe that I could change in order to make vegan white chocolate macadamia cookies, I just couldn't resist. I have googled some other recipes for these cookies but they all include a lot of vegan margarine and I didn't have any at home. Plus I don't really like using it unless there is absolutely no other substitute.

These cookies turned out pretty delicious. Even my mum (who usually doesn't eat anything that is unhealthy, let alone my vegan baking) enjoyed these :)

Suitable for vegans

So this is my variation of the Veganomicon recipe for white chocolate macadamia cookies. This recipe was originally for chocolate-chocolate chip-walnut cookies.

Vegan White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

Makes about 24

Ingredients 

2 1/4 cups white spelt flour (you can use plain flour)
2/3 cup oat flour (I just processed rolled oats)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 canola oil (or 1/2 cup should be ok too)
1 1/2 cup Stevia (or any baking sugar substitute)
4 teaspoons ground flaxseed
1/2 cup soy milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
3/4 vegan white chocolate bits
3/4 halved unsalted macadamia nuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Line three baking trays with baking paper.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the oat flour. 
In a separate large bowl, mix together the oil and sugar. Add the flaxseeds, soy milk, vanilla and almond extract, and mix well.
Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When the batter starts to get too hard to mix with a fork then use your hands.
Add the chocolate and nuts. 
Roll dough into 1-inch balls (or whatever size you like. Each ball of dough was about 1 table spoon for me) and flatten into disks (I prefer these cookies to be quite thin so I flattened them out as much as possible).
Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer onto cooling rack to cool completely.  

Tomato couscous with capers

I was going to cook myself something new from my Veganomicon cookbook today, but I only found out the recipe I wanted to make needed beans which have been soaked overnight. I only read this after I had gone out to the shops and bought all of the ingredients. The recipe specifically said that canned beans wouldn't work. 

But not to worry, I will get my hands on some dried beans and you'll be seeing a post for Rustic White Beans and Mushrooms soon enough. I did however, buy the ingredients to make Tomato Couscous with Capers.

I went and bought some wholemeal couscous at the shops. I didn't even know such a couscous existed. So what is couscous you ask? It is tiny granules of durum wheat called semolina. It's generally prepared by steaming and is usually served with vegetables, legumes (especially chick peas) and/or meat. 

Before I went vegan, I changed my diet to include mainly low GI foods. A lengthy explaination of the Glycemic Index will come another day when I have more time (sorry!). What I will say though is that low GI foods are great for sustained energy and to keep you feeling fuller for longer.A lot of the white frefined carbohydrates are very high GI, meaning that they'll raise the blood sugar up high and after a short 1 or 2 hours, you'll "crash" and start feeling hungry again. Another thing I don't like about white carbohydrates is that it doesn't offer much nutritional value.

So why is whole wheat couscous better than normal couscous? Regular couscous is more refined, and so during the refining process, parts of the grain of wheat is removed. Whole wheat couscous is less refined and so some of that nutrient is retained, for example fibre. There is generally more fibre in whole wheat and wholemeal carbohydrates than the white carbohydrate equivalent.

The Tomato Couscous and Capers recipe was super easy and very tasty. It was simple and could easily be paired with a vegetable and legume dish. 

On a side note, I'm really glad that I'm not completely hopeless at cooking. If I were a super bad cook, I don't think I'd be able to maintain a vegan lifestyle. I don't have anyone to cook vegan meals for me and there aren't many vegan restaurants in Australia. So being able to cook is one of the blessings I'm counting for today. 

Take a minute and think of something you're grateful for too :)

Chickpea seitan cutlets

A couple weeks ago, I tried out the recipe for seitan from my Veganomicon cookbook. In that post I said that I was also keen to make the chickpea cutlets which are apparently really good too. I finally bought some chickpeas and cooked these babies up. I served it up with a side of salad and a slice of the walnut and wholemeal loaf my friend bought for me yesterday when we went to the Coventry Markets in Morley. And there you have it, all the food groups have been included :)

Chile-Chocolate Mole

I'm a huge fan of Mexican food. Not only does it taste good, but it's easy to make vegan friendly. As I was going through my beloved Veganomicon cookbook, I found a recipe called Chile-chocolate Mole (Moh-leh or moh-lay). I had no idea what "mole" was, and even less of an idea of how to pronounce it (check out howdoyousaythatword.com).

Mole poblano, as it can also be called, is a sauce traditionally used in Mexican cuisine. The recipe in the Veganomicon is very loosely based on the traditional recipe, and has the added surprise of incorporating dark chocolate. It may seem very strange to use chocolate in a savoury dish, but I have read some food blogs that have used cocoa powder in curries. Apparently chilli and chocolate go very well together and enhance the flavour of each other. 

Well turns out that I do like this combination. The sauce was definitely different to anything I've tasted before but the chocolate flavour was very subtle, and it didn't really taste like chocolate. It added a nutty earthy flavour and it really did go well with the chilli. 

When it comes to food, sometimes you're doing yourself a favour by trying new or odd flavour combinations. Something you that you might think will be gross may actually become a favourite. Don't judge a book by it's cover. Don't judge a recipe by it's ingredients list?

Served with seasonal veggies and toasted tortillas

Vietnamese seitan baguette with savory broth dip

I pulled out my favourite cookbook the Veganomicon today and whipped up one of the 'sammich' recipes. I made a Vietnamese seitan baguette with savory broth dip. So quick and easy to make and something very new to me.

From what I've seen on Man Vs Food, there are a lot of meaty sandwiches which are dipped in or covered with broth (i.e. whatever the meat was cooked in with a bit more flavouring added to it). At first I didn't like the idea of eating soggy bread, but I'm all for trying new things so I put that thought aside.

The sammich was actually really nice and the soggy bread didn't bother me as much as I'd thought because the broth was really yum. The broth recipe called for five spice, ginger, garlic, chilli, lemon, vegetable broth and soy sauce. It was a very good flavour combination.

This dish probably isn't meant to be eaten neatly, but if you want more food in your gob and less on the plate, then make sure you cut the sammich to a good size :)

Seitan cutlets and sweet onion sauce

While I was on holiday in Los Angeles at the end of last year, my wonderful cousin took my mum and I out to a vegan restaurant called Native Foods Cafe. It was my first time dining at a vegan restaurant and so I struggled big time trying to decide on what to order. After much umming and ahhing, I decided on a dish called the Soul Bowl (named so because it was hearty Southern style food). It was with this meal that I discovered a vegan meat substitute called seitan (say-tan), as well as the deliciousness of cornbread. 

On the counter were Native Foods cookbooks for sale, and like any newbie vegan willing to explore, I bought the book so that I could have more of this seitan which I had never heard of before that night. It turns out that seitan has been around for a while and there are many recipes using it in all the cookbooks I now own. 

Seitan is made from gluten flour. It has a similar texture to chicken and is more chewy than tofu and tempeh. I've only attempted to cook seitan tonight because I've been on a search of gluten flour since returning home from America at the beginning of January. In all of my recipe books, gluten flour is called gluten vital wheat flour and so I spent most of the time walking past the 'gluten flour' not knowing that it was what I needed.

I pulled out my trustworthy Veganomicon cookbook and used their simple seitan recipe. It was super quick and easy to make and I paired the 'meat' with a sweet onion sauce, also from the same cookbook. Since going vegan, I haven't missed eating meat, so I don't think I'll feel the need to cook this up all the time, but I have missed using a steak knife. 

The Veganomicon book also has a recipe for chickpea seitan cutlets which they say will "take over food blogs worldwide". Challenge accepted. We'll see just how good this recipe is, so watch this space. 

Aioli

I love anything with garlic in it. Before my vegan days, aioli  (ay-oh-lee) was definitely a favourite. I had a bit of a craving for aioli and fries today so I pulled out my Veganomicon cook book and tried out TWO aioli recipes. One was just not enough. I coupled this with some homemade super crispy (almost burnt - that's the way I like it) sweet potato fries. 

I made garlic and basil aioli using the soya mayo-dressing from the book, and the other aioli recipe used white beans. Both were super delicious with the fries. The white bean aioli was a bit thicker while the mayo-dressing had a thinner consistency because it was made from silken tofu. 

The great thing about aioli is that it's so versatile. You can have it on some bruchetta, in a burger or just as a dip for veggies. 

Aioli cravings status: satisfied. 

Zucchini fritters and hummus

Ok, so here's a mission for you if you choose to accept: find me one vegan who does not like hummus. Go. Try it. I bet you won't find a single one. 

I love hummus like you would not believe. There are so many different variations - garlic, sweet potato, white bean...and the list goes on and on and I never want that list to end because I'm crazy about the stuff. For all of those who don't know what hummus is, it's a Middle Eastern dip/spread made with chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), olive oil and lemon in its most simplest form (more info here).

Today I was rushed for time to make some dinner for myself so I decided to pull out my Veganomicon cook book and whip up something from there. I found a recipe for zucchini fritters, and seeing as I have never made these before I made this my 'something new' for the day. I'm a bit of a fry-o-phobe, but because I was short on time, I cooked these in oil in a shallow pan. They were yummy and crispy and best of all, they tasted even more delicious topped with my homemade hummus. I used the hummus recipe from the Veganomicon book too. 

Yes, yes, the food was great, but what made my meal even better was that my brother loved them too! My brother is 10 years younger than me and his taste is that of any 11 year old. He likes junk food. The fattier, saltier and sweeter it is the better. It surprises me every time he actually likes any of my vegan food, and today was no different. I've got him hooked onto hummus now too. Even though my jar of hummus will run out quicker, I don't really mind because I just love the fact that my brother is trying new things too...and liking it :)

P.s. I don't post up the recipes from the book because I don't want to get done in for copyright issues, but if anyone would like to try one of the recipes seen on my blog, don't hesitate to leave a comment and I will get back to you :)

My jar of hummus. It will be gone by tomorrow.

Crepes

First of all, happy Australia day! 

Today's something new was crepe making! I haven't had crepes since going vegan and even though I haven't craved it, I think after making these vegan ones, I'll get more frequent cravings. 

I decided to make both savoury and sweet crepes. I rustled up some sweet potato and leafy greens and sauteed them together with onion, garlic, ginger and spices. I followed the recipe found here for the sweet potato. The roasted spice mixture smelt so good. I had left overs so I put them in an airtight container and will definitely use them again in another dish.

I used the crepe recipe in my Veganomicon cookbook for these. This crepe recipe was really good. Not only did they taste yum, but they had the same texture as crepes (from what I remember from before my vegan days) and the mixture was easy to manipulate around the pan. I didn't have a crepe pan and so I was a bit scared they'd go wrong and turnout ugly but luckily they looked really nice and didn't break on me.

For dessert I had my crepes with the vanilla ice cream that I made with my ice cream maker, and drizzled maple syrup on top. So good. Nuff said.