Chocolate and Beyond

Recipe: Vegan Cuban Black Bean Soup

 This soup is a serious game changer! I haven't managed a recipe post in a long time, because life has taken me on so many paths this last couple of years. However, can you imagine how good this soup must taste, to be the first thing I blog about in such a long time? Yep. It was soooo good that I'd made enough for three to four hearty portions, with some gluten free soda bread to go with it, and yet we ate the whole lot. Greedy greedy. But it was begging us to eat it. No messing.

I'd been looking for a way to use the black beans that I'd had soaked the night before and then cooked, thinking maybe they'd end up as burgers, or a black bean chilli. Then I discovered a nonvegan recipe for a stew/soup type dish, which had a large amount of dead pig in it. Well, obviously I wasn't going to make that, but I understood that with it being 'ham', there would probably be a smoky, salty flavour.  

It's not food, but it's vegan - Tropic Skin Care!

So I've joined Tropic Skin Care. As if life wasn't hectic enough :-) Alongside doing a PhD and running an extremely busy vegan social group in Manchester, I've become a Tropic Ambassador, too. I'm totally in love with the products, have noticed a huge difference to my own skin from using them, and I wanted to earn some extra income, so when I learned what it was like to be part of the Tropic team, it was a done deal. See my picture? That's me on stage at the Tropic 'Glammies', after doing so well in my start up.

Have you heard of Tropic? If the answer is no, then you definitely need to hear about it! The company is owned by Susan Ma and Lord Alan Sugar, and I was converted after discovering that two of their products, the Tamanu Healing Balm and the Organic Elixir Oil, worked brilliantly on helping my eczema. This was after not finding anything else anywhere near as effective in the almost three years of having eczema. Plus, I've become super aware of using skin-safe products, not ones that have several carcinogens (such as parabens) in them. While my makeup bag may have been full of vegan-friendly high-street products, I found a substantial amount of nasties in them! This I am now rectifying as I replace with Tropic.

Recipe: Vegan Fish Pie (can be made gluten free)

Are you ready to get your face into this?! I hope so, and that you'll find it a recipe worth waiting for, being that I'm now a relatively irregular food blogger! Yes - vegan fish pie - replicating all the delicate flavours of a 'real thing' white fish pie, without participating in any of the harm that goes with it (yes, fish DO feel pain, and fishing has caused a massive ecological problem, and continues to do so).

I'm pretty impressed with pie, and so was my non-vegan taste-tester, who came for dinner on the evening I created this. I NEVER normally cook with 'meat' substitutes for non-vegans, preferring to show the variety that can be had with plant-based cooking, that doesn't involve switching a flesh food for an analogue. Also, most 'meat' alternatives don't equally compare (they are different, rather than better or worse), and I don't want to leave non-vegans seeing it as a 'like for like' and then thinking that we vegans are somehow missing out.

Recipe: Smoked Paprika, Sweet Potato & Chickpea Pot Pie

Okay, no word of lie, this is pretty damn good pie. The filling is a delicious mix of smoky, spicy and sweet, topped with just enough pastry to make it seem a little sinful, but not enough to make it that sinful, really. It's a great pie to make for dinner guests, or you might just make for a family dinner. Or do what I did, make for guests that can't make it to dinner, and then plan to eat it all yourself!

Normally I'm not a recipe fascist, by any means. I often say substitute and swap ingredients as much as you need, or within reason. But for this pie, if you really want the experience I just had in eating it - then you have to do as the recipe says - at least for the flavourings/spices. The smoked paprika is very essential to this working. Don't use standard paprika - go buy some smoked. It's available in Asda and Morrisons and wherever, so do make sure to get that in.

Vegan 'Pop Up' Gourmet Dining by Matthew Nutter at Nooch!

Last night, my friends and I were treated to an amazing extravaganza of vegan gourmet dining. The food was created by 'plant powered chef' Matthew Nutter, at a 'pop up' restaurant in the quirky setting of Nooch in Wigan. Over the next few weeks, Matt is going to be creating imaginative vegan menus at Nooch that most definitely wipe the floor with any stereotypes of 'vegan food'.

Oh my! Our experience was such a whirlwind of taste sensations. Seven courses in all, in the unique and colourful cafe surroundings, and with a table laid with real vinyl record placemats to add to the quirky touch.

Guest recipe from VegFestUK: Chilli Tofu

Okay folks - I know it's been absolutely ages since I posted a recipe (broken camera, still not got another one I can actually use, and have started a PhD!), so I'm thanking VegFestUK Brighton for providing me with this guest recipe for you to get your teeth into :-)

I haven't tried it myself yet but I love chilli tofu so it's going to make it's way to my dinner table soon. And the bonus is, it can be made in advance and warmed up before serving.  It is sugar free, gluten free, and can be oil free too.

And if you don't already know, VegfestUk Brighton 2015 is going to happen on the 28th and 29th March. I was there a couple of years ago and it was fabulous (this year I'm going to manage Bristol, not Brighton). Hope you can manage to get to it, and enjoy the recipe!

Chocolate and Beyond - Make Me Best Vegan Blogger 2014, Please!

Well folks - if you have been enjoying Chocolate and Beyond and my recipes, it's time to show me the love. How? By casting your vote in this year's VegFest Awards 2014, where my little ol' blog has been, wait for it, NOMINATED! Yes. For the Best Vegan Blogger award.

Voting opened on the 1st July, and closes on September 15th, giving you all plenty of time to start voting  and, if you didn't mind, sharing my post to try and tally up a few more votes.

Come on people - you know me and my recipes deserve it :-) Vote for me here, please: http://www.vegfest.co.uk/vote

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Foraging recipe: Goosegrass & Pea Macaroni Salad

Spring is all around and so are the fruits of nature, you only have to know what you're looking for. And after going on a foraging walk a couple of weeks ago with a friend, I discovered a new, foragable food that is in abundance in the UK at this time of year - goosegrass. It's everywhere, including in big crops right on my doorstep where I walk the dogs. It's very distinctive, as it feels sticky, and it tastes great - a bit like spinach when cooked, with a slightly more bitter edge, like rocket (but not as strong).

So free food, grown in nature, that tastes good. How can you grumble? A true gift. Therefore I set about making my first recipe ever with goosegrass, and decided on this very budget-friendly Goosegrass & Pea Macaroni Salad, which is easy, tasty, and full of garlicky flavour. Something that you could quickly try yourself if you go out and harvest some of the goosegrass that you'll no doubt find all around you.

Review: Win Vegan Easter Eggs & Chocolate from Ethical Superstore!

What's there to complain about in life when the postie delivers a box of vegan choccie and Easter eggs, all for you? This week has been a tough one as I fell sick last Sunday and am still not right. But on Friday, I was cheered up immensely after I opened a package to discover that Ethical Superstore sent me this scrummy little selection of chocolate goodies. And being that I had to cancel my weekend going-out plans, what else to do but eat my way through this yummy assortment?

Recipe: Lazy Vegan Stove Top Frying Pan Pizza

The things you manage to discover when your oven explodes and is out of action! There is always a silver lining, because now I've found out how to make this amazing stove top, frying pan vegan pizza, and I doubt there will be any going back. It's soooo easy - and probably far more energy efficient too. And I think if I was to use vegan cheese, I'd be able to give it a minute under the grill to melt it.

Yes, so last week I decided to use the pyrolytic (self-cleaning) function on my fancy pants oven for the first time. It's never been used or cleaned before, because I guess the fact that I only ever cook vegan food in my oven means it doesn't get slathered in grease the way a non-vegan oven might. Anyhow - within 15 minutes of it being switched on, a bomb went off in my kitchen (i.e. the internal glass door shattered), and that was that. My oven is ruined. Luckily, it is still under guarantee, and the engineer has been round and ordered a new glass pane. But it's out of action.

Recipe: Leek & Potato Vegan Frittata

This is vegan comfort food at its best! Hearty, filling, simple to make, and - for those who are interested - entirely gluten free. It was so delicious that once it was cooked, I found I couldn't stop eating it. I managed to get through a full half of the frying pan for my dinner last night! That certainly hadn't been intended, as I was full after a quarter. Then this morning, I ate the rest with baked beans for my breakfast. Yummy. But smothering it in sweet chilli sauce is a must, I find.

I've been on a mission to use my cupboard and freezer stock to reduce food waste, and focusing on buying fresh produce that is on offer since my budget is restricted. This means I have been a little more creative with food over the last few days. I don't often buy leeks, but I got these ones on a special deal in Aldi and came up with this recipe. It's a take on my popular mushroom vegan omelette, using gram flour (chickpea flour) as the base and binder.