Eat Your Greens September Round Up

Its the end of September and you know what this means, #Eat Your Greens Round up.  

We have six super vegetarian and vegan recipes, all very different and all inspiring.   

The first Eat Your Greens recipe for Pesto Pasta Primavera comes from Kimmy who blogs over at Rock My Vegan Socks.  She actually shared it with #EatYourGreens last month, but we missed her out, she was very understanding as these things happen, and out of courtesy I thought I would share her recipe for Pesto Pasta Primavera first.  This dish was created out of Kimmys love for fresh basil and light food, most of the ingredients came from her local farmers market including the broccoli and artichokes.  I want to tuck in, do you?!

The second recipe comes from Cheryl who blogs over at Madhouse Family Review.  Cheryl shares Moroccan Spiced Courgettes, a twist on traditional ratatouille. Courgettes can be quite bland but smothered in a richly spices tomato sauce elevates courgettes to a wondrous vegetable. This would be a fabulous accompaniment to any meal.

Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen shared Creamy Avocado Carrot  Kale Slaw with Chickpeas.    Lisa  tossed this Eat Your Greens slaw in a creamy, tangy and zesty vegan avocado and mustard dressing.  It ticking all the right boxes for me.

Johanna from The Green Gourmet Giraffe brings to the table Asparagus Strawberry and Greens Salad.   I like the different levels of green, green from asparagus, green from avocado and green from the rocket and green from pea shoots.  Her salad is coated in poppy dressing.  Its a healthy bowl of greens that makes you feel like an angel in heavens kitchen. 

My lovely co-host The Veg Hog shares with us Braised Beans and Tomatoes.  She admits that she stole this lovely recipe from her partner.  The green beans are slow cooked in a beautiful rich tomato sauce lushness. Thank you VegHog's partner, we salute you and thank you for sharing this handsome bowl with us. 

And finally, my own contribution which was Stuffed Fantail Courgettes.

I hope you will join in October with your #EatYourGreens vegetarian or vegan recipe.  The #EatYourGreens challenge in October will be hosted by my blogger buddy The Veg Hog, 

Follow this link on how to participate and then just leave a comment with a link to your blog post either here OR on The VegHog's #EatYourGreens hosting page. 

Berbere Split Pea, Sweetcorn and Yellow Courgette Soup

Its a soup kind of day.  

 I actually made this Berbere Split Pea, Sweetcorn and Yellow Courgette Soup when I had courgettes growing in the garden plot, they have come to an end now (though I have still have some courgette dishes to share).  

In recent years I have been exploring and enjoying more and more Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. The last recipe I made was during Refugee Week.  I have to admit this Berbere Soup is not authentic, but it is inspired as I was given a little jar of homemade Berbere spice blend by one of the volunteers in my workplace.   

This soup not only has homegrown courgettes, it also has but yellow split peas and sweetcorn enhanced with a good sprinkling of Berbere spice blend.  If your  interested in seeing more Ethiopian and Eritrean recipes, please see here.  I am sharing this with Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition;  Food of the Wold hosted by Simple Living Eating and the spotlight is on Ethiopian cuisine; and  Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Vegan Stuffed Peppers

I know stuffed peppers are considered old fashion vegetarian food, but I do like them, especially when flavoured well.  

But I had not planned on making Stuffed Peppers. ... Why?!

Well if you look closer, you can see that the peppers are getting a little wrinkly.  Sometimes I would throw peppers beginning to lose their shine and crispness in a vegan Chilli Pot, but this time I stuffed them with Bulgar wheat.  It made for a change.

For the recipe follow this Stuffed Pepper recipe and just replace the rice with Bulgar wheat.  I am sharing this with Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Utterly Scrummy Food For Families and Fuss Free Flavours for the simply reason that this is a frugal recipe and pepper can be stuffed with all kinds of vegetables and grains. Go on get creative. 

Welsh Vegan Festival

Wow, what a jam packed weekend I have had.  Yesterday we went to the annual Elvis Festival in Porthcawl and this morning to the first Vegan Welsh Vegan Festival in Cardiff. 

I apologise in advance, I know my photographs are not great, but one reason this time that is legitimate is that the venue The Tramshed which is a theatre was a dark venue. I did my best for the stall holders there to showcase their vegan offerings.  

I have to kick start with Cafe Atma which is based in Cardiff.  Here are three burgers Chakra Burger, Babu Burger and The Nutty One. 

 Falafel Wrap and Kofta Wrap

Gav and his colleague are from Tandoori Q .  On my wish list is one of their Tandoori Ovens, my father would be pleased.

  Mex It Up cooking up some Jackfruit on twitter.

Viva Porthcawl Elvis Festival

Even though I had a busy week at work and was looking forward to a low action chilled weekend, we had already unknowingly made plans for the weekend and there was no lazing around.

First there was Saturday: there was the annual Elvis Festival in Porthcawl and then Sunday I wanted to go the first Vegan Welsh Festival in Cardiff. 

A few years ago we were excited to find out about the Elvis Festival in Porthcawl.  Apparently it the world largest Elvis festival.  Its now in its 12th year and of course, D as an Elvis Presley fan just had to attend (and for those of you curious, no there was no Elvis quiff).  

For those of you who have not heard it this event, every September thousands of Elvis Presley fans and impersonators mostly from around the U.K descend upon the Welsh seaside town of Porthcawl in South Wales. During the annual Elvis Festival Porthcawl gets dubbed at Porth Vegas!

Here is when we went to the Elvis Festival in 2014. And here are some selected photographs from Saturday. 

Chocolate and Plum Cake

The past month, I have been making, baking and eating some variation of Plum Cake, but this is one of the most delicious cakes I have made in a while. 

As much as D likes chocolate, he is not really a fan of chocolate flavoured things but he also adored this too.

The sponge was almost fondant like, perhaps my whipping and whisking made a difference this time.

I am sharing this We Should Cocoa that celebrates  six years of sharing chocolate sweet and savoury recipes; and Bake of the Week hosted by Casa Costello .. 

For the Chocolate and Plum Cake follow the recipe here, but reduce the flour by 50g and replace it with 50g cocoa powder. 

Vegan Beetroot and Soy 'Lamb' Curry

Another long working week and I am so glad its Friday.

Let the weekend begin.  

I made this vegan Beetroot and Soy Lambless Curry last week with one of the beetroots that was bestowed upon me by a friend of a friend who has an allotment.  I made Beetroot Chutney with one of it and the other, I made this Pakistani Beetroot Curry.

I've had beetroot in a curry before, 
Sri Lankan Beetroot Curry
and Red Onion, Red Cabbage and Beetroot Curry

In some South Asians home cooking beetroot with lamb known as Chukhandar Gosht  is quite popular, I have to admit it was not smoothing I grew up eating, but when I saw the recipe a few years back on blogosphere, I bookmarked to make a vegetarian version of it with faux meat.  Well here it is, the 'lamb' is replaced with vegamigo Soy Schnetzel which I used for my Ethiopian Tibs recipe.  I have found Soy Schnetzel so much nicer than supermarket brand faux soy pieces.

Graffiti and VX Bristol Vegan Junk Food

I still have loads of photographs to share from my holiday in England, but over the weekend on impulse we went to the city of Bristol.

Although the were not many new additions to the Bristol Graffiti art scene, we did spot some. Here are some photographs of Bristol Graffiti Art: Love it or Hate it - its one of the things that makes Bristol the vibrant and colourful city it is. 

If your interested in Bristol Graffiti Art, you will may be interested in the links below too. 
Graffiti Art Down Bristol Alleys
Stokes Croft: Relentless Optimism
Stokes Croft: Part of Bristol Graffiti Art
Welcome to Bristol Graffiti Art Part 1
Welcome to Bristol Graffiti Art Part 2

Dwindling Harvest

The fruit and vegetables in my garden plot are beginning to dwindle

I share some golden and red cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse.  The lettuce has either bolted or the slugs have got to them. 

A handful of runner beans.  We didn't plant that many, but we have have enjoyed them mostly steamed over the past month.

Although I have some beetroot growing in my garden, a friend of a good friend handed me a brown paper bag that contained some beetroot from her allotment plot.  I thought it would be rude not to accept as it was a gift to welcome the start of a new working relationship.  I made this Beetroot Chutney.  I will share the recipe later in the week. 

In the paper brown bag, there were also a couple of allotment grown carrots.  D was a little jealous of the soil covered carrots as we didn't grow any this year, next year we hope we will. I am going to enjoy these two carrots, simply grated in a salad or coleslaw.

The nasturtium flowers are still growing in my garden plot, but some of the plants are turning to seed.   I harvested some fresh green nasturtium seeds for preserving.  Recipe coming soon, so if your interested come back later in the week. 

I mentioned last week that many of the plums had fallen to the ground and bruised.  These are the last of my homegrown plums, other than those still hanging on the branches trying not to be bullied by the breeze and be knocked down to the ground. 

I am sharing this post with  Harvest Monday is hosted by Dave over Our Happy Acres.

Black Bursa Figs Mozzarella Pizza Tart

It's a a pizza kind of day.

 Except this is not a pizza, its more of a tart.  

I made this a few weeks back with what is a luxury fruit in our home: fresh Turkish Black Bursa Figs.  

I was a little unsure when D picked these Black Bursa Figs, as we had plums falling in our garden, but he said he wanted something different fruit to eat for a change from the usual apples, bananas and oranges.  I then thought fair enough we don't eat fresh figs much, only if we go overseas to places like Turkey or Cyprus.  

The figs are squat like in shape and much darker in colour, deep purple and nearly black in places. They made for a nice change, but we had way too many and they were super ripe and fragile to the touch.   I decided to make a pizza like tart.  I spread a little green basil pesto on the base, topped it with slices of figs then dotted it with some mozzarella balls (you can use a vegan alternative if you want).  Then it went into the oven for around 20 minutes or so, until golden.  As this Black Bursa Figs Pizza Tart can be sliced into many little bite size pieces, I am sharing it with Tea Time Treats as the theme is Savoury Foods hosted by Lavender and Lovage, Travels for Taste and Jo's Kitchen. 

Innocent Badger Cookbook Smoky Pepper Stew

I am so glad its Friday.  First week back at work after a week off was hard and this week seemed to be harder as every single day I was super busy, that is good as it makes the time pass, but I am tired and am so looking forward to a lie in and not having to get up 6am in the morning.  Thank goodness for weekends.   

I made this dish a little while back its a Smoky Pepper Stew.  The smokiness from paprika.  I served it with rice.  

I am sharing this with  Plant Based Potluck Party and Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition; and and Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads .