I am humbled and delighted to be hosting the 80th edition of My Legume Love Affair for February 2015.
My Legume Love Affair was started in 2008 by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook. This is a popular legume centric recipe blogging event. Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen is now the administrator of MLLA, as well as the occasional hostess.
This is a diverse food blogging event, so any worldwide cuisine is welcome, as long as the main ingredient are legumes. This can be beans, lentils, pulses. Peanuts are legumes, as are carob, fenugreek and tamarind. Foods made from legumes such as chickpea flour and tofu are permitted. Whatever your chosen legume is, please just ensure that it is the predominant ingredient of the recipe.
As my blog is vegetarian, entries should also be vegetarian or vegan. Only one entry per blog. If you have any older recipes that you would like to enter, please up-date and re-post them during the month of the challenge. User of the MLLA logo would also be appreciated. Finally please mention My Legume Love Affair in your blog post and link your post to this announcement, Susan's blog and Lisa's MLLA information page as well.
Please link your entry below. I will post the MLLA Round up #80 the first week of March 2015.
Thanks to Cranks, I've made many variations of the vegetarian Homity Pie at home, but last year I made a vegan version of it with vegan cheese substitute and guess what, I actually liked it and so did D.
This vegan cheese alternative came from Vegusto. So far, its been the only vegan cheese that I don't mind eating now and again; and its the one I will pick up if I am ever catering for vegan friends. Its good warm or cold. I have actually taken it into work for lunch and even a picnic in the past, but the next time I made this will be for those long exploratory or rambling walks.
Even though I am a cookbook hoarder, I am more than happy supporting our local libraries, especially as libraries all over the country are being threatened with closure and some have already sadly closed their doors.
Well the most recent cookbook to fall into my mitts is by Hemsley Hemsley. It's not a vegan or vegetarian cookbook, but it does have some stylish recipes that appeal to the eye. But the one that I chose to make was down to earth and homely. It was the Squash, Red Lentil and Coconut Curry. The other reason I wanted to make this was that I wanted to use my own home-made Malaysian spice mix. The recipe had been given to me by my Malaysian neighbours when I lived in Scotland. It's very similar to this one by A taste of memories - Echo's Kitchen.
Anyway, back to the cookbook, I have to admit I did not follow the original recipe as instructed. For a start the recipe in the cookbook uses 'bone broth' which is essentially old fashioned 'meat stock' dressed up in emperors new clothes. A recipe for this features in the cookbook, of course this can easily be substituted for vegetable stock, but once I started reading the recipe I decided to approach it the way I would do an Indian style vegan curry, sauteing the onion and garlic in vegetable oil, then adding in the spices. I have linked to the original recipe below, as well as my own adaptation.
It made for a nice, warming and filling dish. Even though the flavour of the star anise and fennel seeds (from the Malaysian spice mix) came through, D said it was one of 'the most curried dishes' that he had had in ages. This golden stew-like curry recipe makes a large portion, so we have been enjoying it over 3 days, first with rice, then crusty bread and today, rice again.
