Impress with a vegan Welsh Menu

When I first started cooking proper for friends; like invite them over at home at home for a three course meal and wine, I would always Impress them with an South Asian style meal partly because it was expected of me because I am of South Asian heritage and partly that is what I was comfortable in making.  However, in the last few years South Asian food has become very popular and now every one makes it at home, its no longer deemed to be a meal to impress as in most British homes there is a 'Curry Night' or everyone armed with or without Madhur Jaffrey's cookbook has a good curry recipe that they could knock up in their own kitchen in no time at all. There are a few exceptions to this though, I think Indian cuisine can still impress if you have someone like Reza Mohammad, Vivek Singh, Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala, Atul Kocchar to name a few cooking for you and they truly can elevate South Asian cooking to something truly impressive.

So these days, I try to impress friends and willing guinea pigs with a creative menu incorporating ingredients from my place of birth: Wales in the UK.  Here is my experimental three course vegan Welsh Menu for Vegan Mofo prompt today.

Starter
Often I will make a Welsh Dragon Leek and Potato Soup, but recently I have begun serving  Welsh Woman's Vegan Laverbread Caviar with Cashew Cream Cheese and crackers.  

What is laverbread?!  Laverbread: a traditional Welsh delicacy that is often just spread on toast. It also known as 'Seaweed Bread' though it is not a bread at all.  The best way to describe it is seaweed pate.

I think I am being a bit brave serving Laverbread as it is not to everyones taste, but if your up for trying something different and something that you may never have again - then I would encourage you.    To coax you, I will even pretentiously call this 'Mermaids Pearls', but 'Welsh Gentlewoman's Vegan Laverbread Caviar' sounds more cachet.  

For the hearty main, I often make a pastry based dish as it sticks to the ribs.  One reason I make this as making pastry from scratch always impresses people; and the other reason I make it it really does rain in Wales a lot, and when I say rains it literally pours.  And pastry based dishes are always embraced.  

So we have Welsh Laverbread Pudding which contrary to its name is actually a savoury dish - we Brits have sweet and savoury puddings - ever heard of Peas Pudding?

And if this Savoury Pudding does not appeal, then I opt for Laverbread, Mushroom and Puy Lentil Pies.

And finally, for Dessert - Vegan Welshcakes shaped into hearts if you so wish.  I am sharing these vegan Welshcakes with Treat Petite hosted by Cakeyboi. and Jibber Jabber Uk for Love Cake, the theme is Bake Local.

To make the humble Welshcake more decadent I like to serve it with a vegan Coconut Creme Brulee.   

Or if you can't do any more Welsh, then maybe a slice of this Vegan Friendly Giant Jaffa Cake will appeal, it never fails to impress.

World Vegan Day: Burmese Yellow Split Pea Samosa Soup

Oh can it be true? Yes indeed!  Two of my favourite dishes on one big bowl: South Asian style spicy Dal and deep fried triangles of delicious Samosa.

Today it is World Vegan Day and the start of Vegan Mofo.   I have no set theme for the month of November, so I will probably follow some of the Vegan Mofo themes and prompts. The theme today is what is your favourite food?  I am of South Asian heritage and very fond of my Dals and deep fried snacks including the pakora aka onion bhaji.  I consider both these dishes to be comfort food in my eyes, so you can imagine my delight when I stumbled across the recipe a few years back. 

Inspired by a Burmese Samusa Thouk they had at San Francisco's Burma Superstar  in 2007, the food blogger NCJay went back home and re-created a version.  And guess what Samusa Thouk is still featured today at the Burma Superstar restaurant.   Burma Superstar assert that it remains one of their most popular soups for vegetarians and meat eaters alike.  Well I don't think I will be travelling from Wales, United Kingdom to San Francisco anytime soon, so I am pleased this recipe was recreated in their home so that I could enjoy it in my home here in the Welsh valleys and shared with my readers as well as those of you visiting my blog for the first time through Vegan Mofo on World Vegan Day.

I think this Burmese Yellow Split Pea Dal is perfect to share on World Vegan Day as its very different from those dals you find in South Asian homes and eateries.  It contains an added ingredient in the form of shredded white cabbage.  Most Indian style dals are just made with the lentil and spices and then simmered slowly to be transformed into something quite simple, yet delicious.

The Samosa drowning in the Yellow Split Pea Dal Soup acts like a crusty bread roll or croutons.  This combination may sound a bit unusual, but it makes sense to me as my family do eat samosa this way but its with salad and a raita and then crushed into those components into a spoonful of messy deliciousness.  I won't fib, the samosa's are homemade, but not by me.  My sister in law sometimes makes me a batch that I put in the freezer and shallow fry at home when snack attacks, but feel free to make your own or even buy from a good South Asian take-away. I also loved the sharp tangy undertones of the tamarind that was soothing on my throat. 

Even though the Burmese Yellow Split Pea Soup was tad too spicy for me, I loved it.  We had it over the weekend when the Welsh weather outside turned a little nippy.  My original thoughts were this would be like a starter, but to be truthful - we were both way to full the rest of the evening to eat anymore, other than grazing on some left over Birthday cake.  Once again Happy World Vegan Day.


I am sharing the Burmese Yellow Split Pea Soup with Inheritance Recipes co hosted by Solange at Pebble Soup and Coffee and Vanilla as this recipe combines two dishes from my heritage: Dal and Samosa.  

I am also sharing it with  Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen; Sneaky Veg, Hijacked by Twins for CookBlog Share; My Legume Love Affair that was started by The Well Seasoned Cook and now administed by Lisa's Kitchen.  this month is is hosted by Briciole; Honest Mum for Brilliant Blog Posts; and finally Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition.

Welcoming November Vegan & Vegetarian Eat Your Greens Recipes

Its November and my turn to host the Eat Your Greens challenge.  For those of you who have not participated in Eat Your Greens before and visiting my blog for the first time, perhaps through Vegan Mofo this is a monthly vegetarian and vegan cooking challenge for food bloggers. 

Follow this link on how to participate and then either e mail me or The VegHog my lovely co-host with your blog post or simply 'cut and paste' your blog link in the comment section below.  If you are tweeting your recipe, please use #EatYoursGreens #eatyourgreens and include @SeasonalShaheen @TheVegHog and we will retweet all those that we see.   

If you want some Eat Your Greens inspiration, see what food bloggers from around the world shared in October, then check out my co-host The Veg Hog for inspiration.