Haven't posted for a while purely because been feeling really under the weather... Today feeling a bit better and so will give you a wee update as to what I've been up to : )
You'll remember from my last post that I really wanted to watch My Neighbour Totoro by the same guys who did Spirited Away. Well, I convinced C and we watched it together while recovering from our illnesses a couple days ago. It was so lovely! A lot more directed towards children than Spirited was, but was beautiful and just a really sweet storyline. It ended too abruptly for me and it felt like it didn't reach a satisfying conclusion, but I guess that just shows how into it we were really! : ) Suffice it to say I loved it. You can check the trailer out here.
Also in the last couple days, I marshalled my strength enough to make lemon and pea risotto from 'nomicon, the fabulous massive cookbook by Isa. I got it as a gift from C a few weeks ago as a well done for going vegan pressie, v. sweet and have been searching through it to find dishes that aren't too scary to make. Back when I was omni, paella used to be one of my fave things to have C make on birthdays or just when I wasn't feeling so great. I loved it, just rich and creamy and lemony and delish. The reason I always got C to make it was because I always figured that risottos were just too time consuming, I mean all that stirring... gee... So whenever I made a risotto, it got chucked in the oven instead and generally turned out ok.
However, when I first went vegan and tried my own risotto by veganising an old recipe, it sucked big time... Like awful!!!! So I was a little gun shy. But when making this risotto by Isa, oh man, it was amazing, and made properly on the stove!!!! It has all the tastes of summer, the lemon and fresh peas, (I really am not convinced it's autumn although the falling leaves and dark afternoons/rainy weather should be tipping me off right?) and it's just sublime. It's got easy to find ingredients and lasts the two of us for two days. I can't believe the way I used to think a risotto had to be, with tons of cheese chucked in to make it creamy. Ugh, thinking about it makes me ill really. This was just so creamy and tangy on it's own and is def a favourite vegan recipe that could be served to everyone no matter what dietary preference they have. Best of all, it's the perfect substitute for the paella I used to love. It has the same heartiness and the same flavours but is cruelty free. I now realise that when making a risotto, you need to take care of it rather than just whack it in the oven and leave it...
'Nomicon is an awesome cookbook and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone. When I facebooked my intention to make this, a vegan friend said she'd been a bit wary of cooking from 'nomicon cos of all the american ingredients lists. Looking through it, it's a lot more accessible than some cookbooks I've seen and tbh, a lot of the recipes involve things you can just pick up at the local supermarket... I can't wait to try some more recipes from it! : )
Tonight am making Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos from Vegan a go go, a book with a compilation of recipes from the fabulous Sarah Kramer's books - How It All Vegan, Garden of Vegan and La Dolce Vegan... Will let you know how it goes later on! : )
For now, peace, love and happy cooking,
C
No comments:
Post a Comment