Vegetation

So as I said a few weeks ago, the plan was to cut out wheat. Well I fail. Totally. Well, no, that's not quite true either. I half fail? For the most part I am managing.

Except the other day I found my tin of Jackfruit in the pantry and decided it was time to stop being scared of it and make the pulled pork sandwiches that went around the PPK a while back (excuse the flash, winter, dark, white food, blahdy blah) and I just HAD to have it on a wheat roll (well okay, I didn't have to, but I really really wanted to, is that the same?):
It was okay. I'm not a huge fan of bbq sauce and it was soft, it looked like shredded meat but the texture was wrong. I pretty much opened a tin of green young jackfruit in water (it has to be the green stuff, if it's ripe and in syrup it won't work) and simmered it in water for about 2 hours until it started to shred. Then I helped it along with my fingers, poured in a bunch of bbq sauce and heated it up in a saucepan and poured it on the roll. I probably won't bother to make it again, but I'm glad I tried it once.

On top was Celery Remoulade which I saw on another blog linked from the PPK but which I cannot find now (so if it was yours tell me so I can fix that problem!). I did a bit of googling and found 2 main contenders. This one was the one from veganyumyum. I loved it and so did my (omniverous) Dad.

It was a teeny tiny bit too mustardy though (and I'm a mustard lover). Next time around I based it off this recipe. I shredded the celeriac finer, used 2 Tbsp of Mustard instead of the 1/4 cup and I also used half mayonnaise, half sour cream (but I think I liked it better with all mayo) and last but not least I used Verjuice instead of the vinegar, just because acidy stuff doesn't always sit so well with me. I like it better with the larger shreds to be honest. This is going to be a definite summer time favourite (too bad about the fat content however, sigh).
Today I got organized early and prepped for the Almost All American Pot Pie from Veganomicon. My kitchen smelled heavenly for hours after making the filling, although I had to add more liquid because for some reason my gravy kept disappearing (and even with extra liquid it doesn't look very gravyish but anyway, maybe it was because I halved the recipe). This isn't wheat free either (damn delicious crust!):
and of course..the money shot:
Oh! This was seriously the best thing I've eaten in weeks (I think!) and even Miss Unveggette (K my 9 year old) ate up 2 servings (she's in a "I wanna be a vegetarian phase after seeing Babe 1 and 2 this week).

I tried to redeem myself with the gluten/wheat this week, however. I baked Celines Gluten Free Fudgy Brownies (yum yum! And the best bit? They're totally healthy..you know...cause they have sweet potato in them and stuff.....sorry about the photo though, we were down to the last 2 little pieces when I realized no photos had been taken and they were melting my ice cream and it was about 9pm so it had to be a quick flash photo!):
I made Celines Crispy Seitan Bacon again (minus the charcoal. Ohhhhhh sooooo gooood) and had it with rice fettucine and Tofu Moms cashew alfredo sauce cooked my way from here (let there be no mistake about it, this pasta was good, but completely devoid of any nutritional content what so ever so not something I'd eat every day...white rice flour, potato starch and a bit of water from memory!):
And I made some cookies, loosely based on Terry's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Veganomicon. Mine however were
Choc Chip Quinoa Cookies

1/4 cup Grape Seed (or other mild) Oil
1/6 cup (or 2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp) Brown Rice Syrup
1/6 cup Rice Milk
1/4 plus 1/8 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Gluten Free Flour
1/6 cup (again 2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp) Vanilla Almond Meal (or regular would work too)
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Allspice
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Quinoa Flakes
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 150C and lightly oil a cookie sheet.

In a large bowl combine the rice syrup, oil, milk, sugar, vanilla and beat until smooth. Sift in the flour, almond meal, baking powder and soda and add the spices. Stir unti combined and fold in the quinoa flakes and chocolate chips.

Take a small bowl and fill it with warm water. Dip your tablespoon measuring spoon into the water, scoop out roughly a tablespoon of cookie dough, roll it and put it on the tray (don't bother to squash it flat, although I guess you can if you want). Repeat with remaining dough (the dough is also a little easier to work with if you leave it in the fridge for about half an hour before using).

Cook for 8-12 minutes depending on how you like your cookies.

I did some for 8 minutes, some for 10 and some for nearly 15, it didn't make a whole lot of difference the next day, some were firmer.

Please not that these are somewhat of a cakey biscuit but they melt in your mouth and were liked by the kids and both my parents (and Mum NEVER eats cookies or sweets).


Makes about 14 cookies.

Posted by Vegetation at 4:03 PM |    

Labels: Baking, Gluten Free, Mains, Pasta, Seitan, Vegan, Veganomicon, Vegetarian, Wheat Free