THE VEGAN NEWS
WINTER 2006
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In This Issue:
Pilafi (Cous Cous Salad)
Source: The Raw Greek by Gina Panayi (Trafford
Publishing, 2006)
Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower, roughly chopped
- 3 spring onions, sliced
- 1 red pepper, finely cut
- 1 cup of raisins, soaked for 2 hours
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tbsp flaxseed oil
- Sautéed mushrooms
Method
- Put the cauliflower in the food processor and pulse until
its consistency becomes like cous cous. Place in a bowl.
- Drain and rinse the raisins and place in the bowl with the
remaining ingredients, including the 'Sautéed' mushrooms (recipe
below). Toss well and serve.
'Sautéed'
Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 250g button mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 8 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Add salt if desired
Method
- Add all of the ingredients to a flat bottomed bowl and mix
together well, let marinade over night until the mushrooms become soft.
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Savon d'Alep Soap
A mild, perfume free, Middle
Eastern soap that's made from 75% olive oil and 20% bay tree (laurel)
oil. This hard and longlasting soap is made by a traditional
method in copper cauldrons and is then left to dry for nine
months in the
soap workshop. Coffee coloured on the outside with a dark green inner
core, it's suitable for all skin types, being particularly good for
sensitive skin and for people with skin conditions such as eczema and
psoriasis. It can also be used as a face mask or as shaving soap. I
even use
a slice of it to wash my hair and find that it leaves my hair shiny and
clean and easy to comb. A 200g bar costs £3.95. It's available
from The Natural Collection.
Shop online or call 0870 331 3333 to order. You can find out more about
this soap at http://www.karawan.fr.
Trek Steady Energy Raw Wholefood Bars
If you are looking for a healthy snack bar, then Natural
Balance Foods now
offers three dairy and wheat free Trek bars. There's Peanut &
Oat, Mixed Berry and Cocoa
Brownie. Made from natural raw ingredients with no added sugar, these
bars are bursting with vital nutrients and are designed to provide a
steady supply of energy. They are also low in fat, high in protein and
fibre and taste absolutely delicious! Containing between 200 and 240
calories per bar, the bars are made from raw unsweetened fruit, nuts,
soya, oats, spices and herbal extracts such as ginkgo biloba and
ginseng. Great for eating-on-the-go. I think my favourite bar in
this range was the Cocoa Brownie, which contained nice crispy bits that
gave it a very pleasing texture and so it came out slightly ahead of
the Mixed Berry. However, I thought they were all yummy
with a nice texture. Trek bars cost about £1.00
per 68g bar and are available
in health shops and some supermarkets. Natural Balance Foods also
produce Nakd raw fruit and nut bars. Choose from Berry Cheeky, Apple
Tart and Cocoa Loco. For a free sample call: 01844 339 142.
Oskri Organic Quinoa Bar
This
gluten and lactose free bar is made from quinoa and sesame seeds and is
sweetened with molasses and brown rice syrup. I personally found it
rather too sweet. However, I liked the sesame seeds in it and thought
it had
a nice crispy texture. A pack of three slices costs £0.59 in Holland &
Barrett.
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A quick look through the 2007 seed catalogues revealed the
following seeds that may be worth considering when deciding what to
plant next season:
- Sweetie F1 - Now
available from the Organic
Gardening Catalogue, this early maturing variety of sweet
corn produces very tender sweet kernels. that are delicious eaten
raw. Price £1.67.
I will be trying this one out myself in 2007! (Order Code: SCSE.)
- Sweet
Lightening - NEW!
A small squash (500 -750g) that can be micowaved whole. Just the
right size for an individual meal. Available from the Organic Gardening
Catalogue for £1.43.
Ring 0845 130 1304 to order. (Order Code: SQSL.)
- Black
Aztec
- An interesting blue corn on the cob that can also be ground when
dry to make a tasty blue flour. This variety is available from
Tamar
Organics for £1.20.
(Order Code: SCBA). Ring 01822 834887 to order.
- Hungarian
Hotwax - A pepper that
starts off as a yellow sweet pepper, then goes orange and finally dark
red, becoming hotter as it matures. Not a new product, but I grew some
of these plants in 2006 and would certainly recommend them. I
found that although the plants did
not do too well when grown outside, the three plants that I grew in a
sunny
position indoors were prolific and still producing
peppers in November. Highly recommended. (Order Code: CPHW.)
Price £1.51. Order
by phoning
0845 130 1304.
- Sugar
Snap Pea - I grew these peas in 2006 and was most
impressed. Easy to grow and requiring little attention, these
rather tasty peas can be eaten raw in their pods - or they can be
cooked.
Ideal for raw fooders. A tall variety that requires supports. (Order
Code: PESS.) In 2007
I will try out Sugar Bon, a dwarf version (Code:
PESB). Both of these varieties are available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.
Phone number as above. Incidently, the Organic Gardening Catalogue is
now selling a carrot called 'Yellowstone'. It's a most horrendous
shade of yellow, but they claim it's easy to grow, tasty and
interesting. Try it if you dare! (Order Code: CRYE. Price £1.43.)
Winter Sowing and Planting Schedule: For more information on what to plant throughout December,
January and February
see the NEW! GARDEN DIARY.
I would also just like to reprint a comment I received from Gill
Hirst regarding the Lazy Housewife bean mentioned in the last issue:
'We have grown Lazy Housewife
beans here in Derbyshire for the last five years. They crop early and
well and are great for drying. They can also stand the drier weather
better than the conventional runners. '
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Christmas Gift
Guide
If you are short of ideas for Christmas gifts here are a few
suggestions that you might like to consider:
- Pacifica
Soya
Boxed Votive Candle:
These rather nice vegan candles are
hand made using soy wax made from GM free grown soy. Burning for up to
50 hours, without leaving a sooty residue, they contain essential oils
and release a beguiling fragrance as they burn. Choose from
Tuscan Blood Orange, Persian Rose or Hawaiian Ruby Guava. Attractively
gift boxed, each candle sits inside a rather nice glass
container and costs £12.50.
Available from the Natural
Collection. Phone 0870 331 3333 to order. (Order number 15801).
- Opulent
Sadu Bag: The Natural Collection also sells this lovely, fairly
traded
Sadhu bag. Made in India, this unusual and imaginative shoulder bag is
not only colourful and attractive to look at it's also strong and
practical
too. (W34cm, H 38Cm exc strap). Each bag is individually
handmade and
therefore unique. A Namaste product. Price £19.95.
(Order number 15912.)
Phone number and
online ordering as above.
- Make-Your-Own
Greeting Cards Set: Why not send a homemade greeting
card this season? These sets come from Delhi and contain recycled card
made from cotton waste and sequins, ribbons and embellishments.
All
you'll need is some animal-free glue. Each set makes six
cards. Colours available are red/green or gold/silver.
Price £4.95. Phone the Natural Collection on
0870 331 3333 to order (Order Number: 15920).
- Organic
Chocolate Soap: Produced by Faith in Nature this traditionally
made and preservative free soap contains organic chocolate and
essential oils. Looks good enough to eat! Costing £1.75 for a 100g bar, this
soap is available from the Dr Hadwen Trust Orderline
on: 01462
455510. Incidentally, new
Christmas cards available from Dr Hadwen this year include Warm As
Toast
penguins, Time for a Snooze Polar Bears, Santas Little Helpers and some
rather nice Red Foxes - all printed on 100% recycled card and
costing between £3 and £3.50 for a pack of
ten. The luxury
microwaveable 454g Christmas pudding is still available from the Dr
Hadwen Trust for £3.69.
- Organic
Fairtrade Qi White Christmas Tea: This warming and spicy herbal
blend is made from white tea, cinnamon bark, cloves and ginger. Rich in
antioxidants and low in caffeine each tea bag is individually
wrapped. Why not try some this Christmas? Costs about £1.39 for 25 bags. Look
out for it in health shops. For more information visit http://www.qi-teas.com
The following ecofriendly
Christmas
presents are available from Ectopia:
- Bamboo
T shirts - Fairly traded, soft, fitted Ladies' T
shirts available in powder pink or sky blue. And every time you
purchase
one of these
T shirts a new tree is planted on your behalf in the Amazon
Rainforest! Price £25.00.
- Grow Your Own
Kits - Kits include Christmas Trees, Sunflowers
and
Four Leaf Clovers (£2.50
each)
and there's also a range of tree growing kits including ash, beech,
oak, pussy willow and
silver birch for £9.99,
plus a new holly tree growing kit for £11.99.
- Cardboard Playhouse for Children - Size 90 x78 x
120cm. Folds away after use. Rather nice and made
from recycled card. Price £
25.95.
- Wildlife
Kits - Choose from birdwatching,
bugs, the seashore, pond dipping, wildflowers or trees. £9.99 per kit. Ideal for the
budding
naturalist in the family, young or old! All of the above Ectopia
products
can be purchased online.
- Alternatively try A
Gift for Animals - a unique gift idea from IFAW.
Choose from amongst five animal campaigns including 'Save a Seal',
'Help a Bear Cub and 'Protect Elephants'. (Orders need to be
received before 15th December 2006.)
Finally in the Organic
Gardening Catalogue I
discovered:
- The Go Juice Juicer
- This is a new manual, lightweight juicer that juices
wheatgrass, herbs,
sprouts and
vegetables, plus it also minces. It can be attached to any
smooth
surface
and is easy to use and clean. So if you know someone who hasn't got a
juicer, then why not give them one of these
for Christmas? Plus of course a good supply of veggies to juice! Price £42.95 (Order Code: GOJU).
- The Go Sprout is a
new
type of sprouter that produces sprouts without
the need for any rinsing. Again this would
make a really healthy
Christmas present. Price £24.95
(order
code SRGO). Both of these products can be ordered by
calling 0845 130 1304, or you can order online. Sprouting seeds are
also available from the Organic Gardening
Catalogue.
Little money available for buying Christmas presents this year?
Don't
worry! Try visiting your local charity shops. Charity
shops can be a good source of inexpensive and unusual presents and many
charity shops now also sell Christmas cards and delicious, fair-traded
food items that make excellent gifts. By buying recycled goods for
friends and family from
your local charity shop you will be supporting a good cause, saving
money and helping to reduce the massive amount of
waste that celebrating Christmas can cause.
Of course the most earth-friendly way of celebrating Christmas is to
simply not to purchase any
Christmas
presents or cards at all! If you can afford it, why not just
make a donation to a
charity of your choice instead? Then whilst all around are dressing up
in fine attire, eating non stop and removing the wrapping paper on
Christmas day,
you could just put on some old clothes and your wellies and go out for
a long
walk along with family and friends. Believe it or not celebrating
Christmas in the traditional way is not compulsory. Why not dare to be
different this year?
Oh and if you are unlucky enough to get
six new pairs of slippers for Christmas this year, then I am sure your
local charity
shop would love to receive them after Christmas, along with any other
unwanted gifts
you may have received. Finally, I would just like to mention that
the
Woodland Trust usually runs a Christmas card recycling scheme
throughout January. Look out for card collection boxes in
branches of
WH Smith, TK-Maxx and Tesco Stores from the 2nd of
January.
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In the Wildlife Garden
Many
of our wildflowers and commonly grown garden plants are
beneficial to animals and can be used to attract wildlife into your
garden. Here, I will cover four more plants that are especially
attractive to wildlife. Details of other suitable plants
are given in earlier issues and these are now listed in The
Wildflower Index for easy reference.
Corn Chamomile (Anthemis
arvensis)
Best grown from seed, this low-growing annual plant prefers poor,
dry soil and a sunny position. It's at its best when planted at the
front of a border, mixed in with field poppies, corn marigolds,
cornflowers and corncockles. Its white daisy-like flowers should
be visited by bees and butterflies.
Corn
Marigold (Chrysanthemum
segetum)
A lovely annual wild
flower! Corn marigold has lemon-yellow flowers that are attractive to
many small insects, including butterflies and bees. In addition, it's
also used as a larval food plant by chalk hill blue caterpillars. Again
best grown at the front of a border mixed in with
other cornfield flowers. Sow
seed directly in late April. (Note:
Corn Marigold may need resowing annually as it does not always
self-seed well.)
Corn
Cockle (Agrostemma
githago)
Growing up to 1.2m in
height, corn cockle has purple-pink flowers and is a prolific
self-seeder. Best grown at the back of a mixed cornfield border,
perhaps up against a fence for support. The seed heads are striking and
can be dried and used for winter decorations, but please note that the
seeds are poisonous.
Cornflower (Centaurea
cyanus)
Also
known as 'Corn
Bluebottle', cornflowers like a sunny position and dislike chalky
soil. They have lovely blue flowers that are very attractive to bees
and to several types of butterflies. As they can grow quite tall they
may need staking in windy weather.
Finally, I would just like to remention the field poppy, which grows
well with the above plants. You will find more information on the
Field
Poppy in an earlier issue.
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The Vegan Society
(UK)
An excellent source of information for new vegans, or for
anyone who is thinking of going vegan. You can also shop or
become a
member online.
Bishopston
Trading Company
Company offering fairly traded organic cotton clothing for
women, men and children. The organic cotton is grown in North
India and the cloth is either woven by hand or on small domestic
powerlooms.
I really like the kid's stuff!
Wizzardoreas
Wardrobe Ltd
Sells Namaste, Nomad and other brands of
fairly traded men's and ladies' clothing. Note: Not all products are
vegan, so please check each item carefully before purchasing.
Nomads
Mainly sells fairly traded women's clothing, bags
and
scarves, but there's also has a small range of men's shirts. Again not
all products are vegan.
Raw Gaia
This new company produces a range
of living skin care products using 100% organic, vegan and raw/living
ingredients, plus some essential oils. The ingredients are
processed below 40 degrees C, thus ensuring that the life force,
antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, etc. remain in the ingredients.
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Winter
Book Reviews
The Raw Greek
by
Gina Panayi (Trafford Publishing, 2006)
This
collection of just over 40 tasty recipes provides a welcome raw
alternative
to traditional, cooked Greek cuisine. These Mediterranean-style dishes
are quickly and easily prepared using 100% raw ingredients and the
usual electrical gadgets. Appetizers
include Meze vegetables and olives, whereas in Dips
you'll find raw versions of Houmus and Tzatziki. The Salad recipes include a 'rice'
recipe, plus an amazing Pilafi recipe (cous cous salad) that's made
from cauliflower. Indeed both of these recipes look so
realistically grain-like that it is difficult to imagine that they are
made from vegetables at all! Finger
Foods include Dolmadakia (stuffed vine leaves) and the
walnut-based Koftedes again really do look like meatballs. In the Main course section there's a raw
version of Moussaka and the Pastitsio is a fantastic macaroni
alternative. The stuffed vegetables are excellent! Sweets include some yummy cakes and
biscuits (dehydrator needed to make these) and a halva recipe.
Finally, the book concludes with a selection of juices and smoothies
and some menu ideas/plans. Gina has allowed me to include the Pilafi
recipe in the recipe section above, so do try it out! If you'd
like to purchase a copy of this book, it's available from Trafford Publishing for £9.99, or you can email:
orders@trafford.com. For more information visit the Raw Greek, where you can also
purchase a copy of this book.
A Vegan Taste of Greece by
Linda Majzlik (Jon Carpenter, 2003)
Tickle your
tastebuds with this collection of over 120 Greek, meat and dairy-free
recipes.
Starting with mezedes (traditional Greek savoury dishes that are
served either with drinks or as appetisers), this cookery book then
goes on to offer a selection of soup recipes, based on vegetables,
pulses and pasta. Main courses include stews, casseroles, pies
and stuffed vegetables, but you'll discover more than just the usual
recipes for stuffed vegetables, moussaka and baked macaroni. Why
not try out the more unusual briami or the spanakopita recipes for a
change? There are also plenty of easily prepared vegetable and grain
dishes, which could either be used as accompaniments to a main
meal, or could simply be served with bread and salad for a light meal.
The sauces and dressings can be served either over vegetables or with
salads and include a recipe for Tsatsiki - a dressing that is made from
cucumber, soya yogurt and mint. Fresh bread is usually served with all
Greek meals, so a wide variety of sweet and savoury bread recipes are
included, some being suitable for everyday use and others more suited
to special
occasions. In Greece dessert is traditionally served with thick Greek
coffee. Check out the delicious desserts and baked goods, which include
recipes for fresh fruit salads, halva and cakes. Price £5.99.
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1996-2007
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