Trend of the Month: Veganism

For the last few months I have almost and accidently gone vegan. Since we visited Thailand last year, I have not been interested in meat. Not sure if it was the copious amounts of chicken and pork that I seemed destined to eat at every meal while there, or the plethora of meat on a stick stalls at every street market. Nonetheless, since we came back, I have liked meat less and less, until it has almost been removed from my diet. I stopped eating dairy in an effort to lose a little weight (and clear up my rosacea), and apart from the very occasional inkling for eggs benedict, eggs simply remind me of my distaste for the Dukan diet (although, side note: the Dukan diet really does work). I don’t prescribe to the Vegan "label", (I have eaten fish, yogurt, butter, eggs and three tiny pieces of bacon during this time), but as veganism becomes more, dare I say “trendy” ... there are so many options for delicious, tasty, easy foods, that don’t use animal products. Once you try it, you will realise how taxing and heavy animal products are for your body (not to mention how taxing it is for the environment). And there are just a few reasons at the moment that make it worth thinking about: 

The recent Horsemeat Scandal – not one I totally understand. At the risk of being controversial, to me, if you eat animals, you eat animals (which sometimes I do!). Having not grown up on a farm, I don't see much difference between a horse and a cow, other than our perception that a horse is a pet, and a cow is a meal. The issue I have is that the ingredients were not labelled. Do yourself a favour and either a) don’t buy processed meat (or anything!) or b) give meat a miss altogether for a few days and see what happens. Read more about the scandal here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_meat_adulteration_scandal

My New Roots Raw Brownie. This brownie does not use butter, oil, sugar ... actually, none of the bad stuff. It’s totally delicious, totally choc-latey and totally easy to make (providing you have a good food processor ... this recipe got the better of one of my trusted appliances, and was a large reason that I invested in the industrial Magimix. Read more about the Magimix here.) And the best part – you can eat a lot of them without worrying about how fat they’ll make you. Butter fat = people fat. Vegan raw brownies = awesome.

http://mynewroots.org/site/2011/04/the-raw-brownie-2/

 
If those two reasons are not enough to convince you, then perhaps I need to leave it to JT; he’s bringing vegan back.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xy35qv_justin-timberlake-bring-it-on-down-2-veganville-veganshake-snl-3-9-13_music#.UUcsJ1eBWSq

GG Rating: Good for Buckwheat Believers because of the change of mindset required.

Photoblog: Le Marche Raspail

I recently got back from a long weekend in one of my favourite cities - Paris.  From London, it's a short two hours by train, and its gastronomic and couturier inclinations both delight and inspire me every time I go. As I have been almost annually since moving to the UK seven years ago, I have seen most of the major sights at least once or twice, so recently I have been trying to find things to see that are off the beaten track. This past Sunday (while my husband ran the Paris Marathon), I discovered “le Marché Raspail”, which claims to be the largest Organic Market in France, and one of the largest in Europe. I tasted and smelled my way along the stalls (even managing to converse en Français with a gentleman who sold local organic honey – which, as he described, is floral without being over-powering... I describe it as tasting like bees, summer, lavender and heaven... I’ve been eating it straight from the jar), and although the market was smaller than I expected, it was even more lovely than I imagined.

It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining, and I sampled homemade crepes with organic jam, fresh goat’s cheese and freshly baked bread. I revelled in the copious displays of vegetables (only the French can make something as simple as an artichoke look sexy), the laid-back atmosphere (French vegan hippies DO exist, despite the French inclination for all things cheese and egg related), I bought an artisanal tart for the marathon runner to enjoy post-race, and felt like I was in my element once again.

 

GG Rating: Good for Spelt Supporters - Everyone should go!

Which Mix?

Two industrial strength indestructible canisters, 6 razor sharp steel blades, 3 in-store demonstrations, 1 customer service call, 2 two horsepower motors and 8+ trays of raw brownies = two true loves.

Comparing the love I have for my Vitamix and my Magimix is like comparing the love I have for my mother and my sister. One has been around longer, it’s taller, has held a place of esteem in our household for some time now, the capability of its customer service department is indicative of its North American origin ... it comes with a cookbook, and it started me on my foray into the world of whole foods. The other is newer, shinier, and comes with lots of bells and whistles (and sometimes, if the conditions are right, it will even sing). It has a bilingual manual, it has three buttons (which I often push), and its blade/motor combo senses resistance and increases the force.

Both reside in a special place in my heart on my counter, and sometimes I need one ... sometimes I need the other, sometimes I need them both. Rest assured, both have played an important part in shaping how I cook.

I first fell in lust with the Vitamix after standing at the entrance to WholeFoods and watching a smoothie, hot soup and sugar free ice-cream come out of the same machine in the short course of 15 minutes. True love came next when the canister basically washed itself (add water, soap, turn it on for 3 minutes, rinse and voila! – clean as new!). Over the following year, I talked about the Vitamix non-stop. When finding a chunk of kale in the smoothie that should have been smooth (blended with a sub-standard £15 hand blender): “this wouldn’t have happened if we had a Vitamix”. When having to blend nuts in batches because the processor attachment (to the same sub-standard hand blender) had only a 200ml capacity, thus tripling the amount of time to blend anything: “if we had a Vitamix, I’d be done by now!”. When pureeing soup, and overheating the motor and tangling the blade on a mess of tarragon and vegetables (on yes, the same sub-standard hand blender): “this would never happen if we had a Vitamix!”. My husband finally tired of my tirades, and on Christmas morning 2010, I awoke to the most glorious present: my very own Vitamix! The next year was an avalanche of smoothies, soups, dips, tapenades, and easily chopped and ground nuts, coconut flakes and flax seeds. But then I tried to make the Raw Brownie...

The Raw Brownie by My New Roots is one of the most delicious and healthy items you will ever eat. It consists of only four ingredients (walnuts, almonds, cacao powder and medjool dates), and is a cinch to make ... if you have the right tools. The Vitamix easily crunched up the walnuts into a fine powder, and blended the cacao powder in, but when I added the first Medjool date, I knew I was in for trouble. The Vitamix struggled to blend and puree the thick sticky substance, and adding subsequent dates only amplified the problem. When it let out a groan and a moan, I resorted to hand-mixing the dates, cacao and walnuts, but the final texture was lacking – it was not uniform and there were lumps and bumps – precisely what I had wanted to avoid.

I knew that something had to be done. Without enough liquid in the base, the Vitamix is not effective. Although the blades are strong and puree more finely than any blender I have tried (you will not taste even a smidgen of kale in your banana smoothie), you must add some kind of liquid or the Vitamix fails, and fails epically. Many times when making a hearty hummus, I have been forced to liquefy and water down what could have been the most delectable dip. When chopping nuts, etc, I am now very careful to turn it only to low and to fill the canister reasonably (not enough product inside causes the blades to spin like a figure skater on speed). And no more do I EVER attempt to blend dates of any kind.

Having tasted the raw brownie once, and not willing to ruin my Vitamix further (or to ruin the new one that Vitamix sent me after being unable to fix the old one, which may or may not have been damaged by the two dates... who knows!?!), I started thinking about an industrial food processor. Again, the rhetoric began. When making dip and having to add extra liquid: “if we had a food processor, the hummus would not run off the celery!”. When eating store bought brownies and feeling sick afterwards: “we would be eating the Raw Brownie now and feeling quite smug and superior instead of bloated and bourgeois ... if only we had a food processor!” When reading one more My New Roots recipe that required an industrial food processor “that looks so delicious!!! My horrible life would be changed forever with the purchase of an industrial strength food processor, because I would be able to make XX dish!!!”. Again my husband tired of the tirades, and when Christmas 2012 brought an onslaught of financially themed gifts, we decided to take advantage of "The Sales", and we, indeed, bought an industrial strength food processor: the Magimix. Although unable to wash itself and lacking slightly in the pureeing ability (only, however, in comparison to the Vitamix), this machine blends dates and nuts like nobody’s business. After numerous rounds of perfectly textured hummus, copious batches of 20 minute raw brownies, and a more consistent feeling of smug superiority, I think my husband has seen the value of the investment- because an investment it is (or perhaps it is just the value he has gleaned from a quieter kitchen/living room/flat, now that the outbursts have stopped).

These machines do not come cheap, so before shelling out loads of dough, decide what you will use more. For dips, salads and baked goods, the Magimix is a much better choice. For soups and smoothies, the Vitamix is the clear winner. The Vitamix comes as it is, the only additional equipment being a plunger (they call it a “tamper”) to help push whatever dip/sauce/chunk of fruit has escaped, back into the blade in order to help blend better. The Magimix comes with all sorts of attachments – the most useful ones being a smaller canister/blade set for small volume items (no need to dirty the whole machine if only chopping a few nuts), a medium canister with shredding/julienning options (great for coleslaw or kaleslaw!), and a whole plethora of others that I’m sure do amazing things (but I have not yet tried)! Side note – apparently (on the model that we bought) you can even buy a juicer attachment, eliminating the need for multiple machines on the counter or in the cupboard.

Given the variety of things that I enjoy cooking, both of these machines are very special, in their own way. The Vitamix (like my mother) has been in my life longer, and we have a special bond, as it was the first industrial machine I acquired. It made me beautiful, healthy dishes, and taught me that starting the day right (i.e. with lots of fruits and veggies) was important to my overall health. Although I didn’t want to give up the counter space (or the bond I had with the Vita-mix), we found room for the Magimix, and now I cannot imagine culinary (or sisterly) life without. The Magimix serves a different purpose, but both [machines] are always there when I need them. Both are an excellent addition to cooking, health and life!

GG Rating – Good for Flaxseed Fanatics due to the high initial cost (but good overall value).