THE VEGAN NEWS
THE VEGAN NEWS
WINTER
2004/05
- Recipes
- Vegan Product Review
- Don't Miss! This Month's Article - Herbs for Wildlife
- In the Veganic Garden
- In the Wildlife Garden
- Web Sites
- Book Review(s)
- The Wildlife Database
Winter Recipes
Broccoli and Mushrooms in Creamy Almond Sauce
Source: Based on a recipe in A Vegan Taste of India by Linda Majzlik (Jon Carpenter, 2002).
Ingredients
- 350g broccoli, cut into small florets
- 100g mushrooms, wiped and sliced
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 50g ground almonds
- 25g flaked almonds, toasted
- 2 tsp. mild curry powder
- 1 tsp. black mustard seed
- 1/2 tsp. ground mace (optional)
- 300ml water
- 125ml soya milk
- 1 dessertspoon corn flour
- Place the vegetables and spices into a pan. Add the water and mix well. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently, cooking until the vegetables are just tender.
- Dissolve the cornflour in the soya milk and add to the pan, along with the ground almonds. Mix well. Bring back to the boil and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened.
- Remove from the heat and stir in half the flaked almonds. Serve garnished with the remaining almonds.
Serves 2 for a main meal or 4 as a side dish
You can order a copy of A Vegan Taste of India direct from Jon Carpenter by phoning: 01689 870437 (UK orders). Please email: jon@joncarpenter.co.uk for overseas enquiries.
Winter Product Reviews
Sheer Bliss Soap (Updated January 2009 - This product is no longer available)
I tested out four different types of Sheer Bliss soap. All of the bars lathered up well, were pleasing to use and had fairly smooth edges. Sheer Bliss soaps are handmade from the finest vegetable and plant oils using a cold process, with some of the soaps containing vegetable butters such as shea or cocoa butter for additional richness. Aromatherapy oils and herbs and spices provide fragrance and natural clays are used for colour and texture. These gentle and moisturising soaps are ideal for delicate skins. What's more they make great Christmas presents!
Each 100-110g soap bar costs £2.95 (wrapped) or £2.50 (unwrapped). Guest bars (25g) are also available for £0.95 and 1kg Soap Logs for £20.00 (cut/uncut). Note: Some Sheer Bliss soaps contain milk products and are thus unsuitable for vegans.
- Lavender & Geranium - This soap has an interesting purple and pink marbled texture and a lovely, strong perfume. Ideal for those who love the refreshing smell of lavender.
- Bergamot & Cedarwood - A plain, unisex, cream-coloured soap with a mild, yet pleasant smell.
- Avocado & Cocoa Castile with Tea Tree - This plain cream-coloured soap is strongly perfumed with tea tree oil and is especially suitable for people with sensitive skins. Rich and creamy.
- Orange Blossom - A pale orange-coloured soap with a gorgeous orange perfume. My favourite!
Rebar
Made from more than 20 different fruits and vegetables including wheatgrass, these vegan bars contain no artificial ingredients and are completely GM, gluten, sugar and fat-free. Each 50g bar contains 8 servings of organic fruit and vegetables and as well as being high in fibre (6g/bar) will supply chlorophyll, iron, calcium and vitamins A and C. Rebars are only gently processed to maintain enzymes and they are also easily transportable. Ideal for lunchboxes and for Christmas stockings too! Tasty, satisfying and so much better for you than synthetic sugary snacks, they have a moist, chewy texture and a unique but pleasant taste that's not too sweet. Look out for them in your local health food shop. (Updated January 2009 - This product is no longer available)
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What's Happening in the Veganic Garden this Winter?
For information on what to plant in January, February and March, please consult the Gardening Diary.
What's New in the 2005 Seed Catalogues? (Section updated January 2009)
Well now that the nights are drawing in and it's starting to get colder, I've been amusing myself by thumbing through next season's seed catalogues. If you're still undecided as what to grow in your garden next year, then you might like to consider some of these suggestions:
The latest Thompson & Morgan catalogue contains some interesting offerings. There's Green Goddess an attractive pale green, pear-shaped Chinese radish. Or alternatively, you could try out the tennis ball sized Chinese radish Mantanghong F1 Hybrid (Beauty Heart) (Order code: GAA0987 - These seeds are still available in their 2009 Catalogue), which is green and white skinned with an inner magenta core. Both of these radishes are fairly mild in flavour and are sown in June/July. I also noticed that Thompson & Morgan are selling seeds of Ferline. (Order code: GAA0899 - Still available in their 2009 Catalogue). This blight resistant tomato is well worth considering, just in case 2005 turns out to be another damp summer. Do you like BIG strawberries?! Then why not try out Maxim (still available in their 2009 Catalogue), which is the biggest strawberry currently available!
For an interesting homegrown salad try Baby Leaf, a multi-coloured cut and come again salad mix, available from Tamar Organics (small pack (LTBB) £1.99/large pack (LTBX) £9.99). (Still available at this price in their 2009 catalogue.)Their new Slug and Snail Shocka could also be worth trying, if slugs are a problem in your garden. This roll of fabric is coated with copper, which slugs and snails won't cross and can be cut to size and placed under pots, or around susceptible plants. Alternatively, you could experiment with their new slug rings, which are also made from copper. (Both of these products are still on sale in 2009 catalogue.)To order these products phone: 01579 371098, or email: sales@tamarorganics.co.uk. Finally, for an interesting and informative read, The Organic Gardening Catalogue is still selling Pauline Pear's Gardening on A Bed System, which clearly explains how you can do less work in the garden yet still increase your yields by adopting a bed system. (Updated January 2009 - Price £8.45, Order code: BKBE.)
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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 another three 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.
Thistle (Cirsium spp.)
Thistles are excellent plants to grow in a wildlife area, providing nectar for many species of butterflies. Look out for brimstones, small tortoiseshells, painted ladies, clouded yellows and skippers visiting your plants! They are also the larval food plant for red admiral caterpillars and birds such as finches, linnets and siskins will eat the seeds. Thistles usually have purplish-red flowers on spiky stems and are best grown in a sunny position. Plant welted, musk or globe thistles as a nectar source for butterflies and bees and milk, musk, scotch and woolly thistle to provide food for birds. Incidentally, some ground beetle larvae eat the seeds of spear thistle. The thistle shown in the picture on the left is being visited by quite a few hoverflies. Thistle seeds can be purchased from John Chambers (Tel: 01933 652562) or from Suffolk Herbs (Tel: 01376 572456). That's if you don't already have enough of these plants growing naturally in your garden!
Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum subsp. sylvestris)
Commonly found growing by the roadside, on waste land, or on canal and river banks in the wild, this stately plant will also grow well in the garden, where it is best planted at the back of a border. Teasel has small purple flowers, followed by prickly heads on tall stems. These look especially attractive, if left in the garden throughout the autumn and winter, but the heads can also be dried and used in indoor flower arrangements. Teasel flowers will attract a wide range of wildlife, including the humble bee and many kinds of butterflies. In the autumn goldfinches feed on the seeds. Seeds are available by mail order from John Chambers (Tel: 01933 652562).
Iceplant (Sedum spectabile)
Iceplant has clusters of lovely, dark pink flowers that are very attractive to bees. It is also an excellent plant for attracting butterflies into your garden, being visited by many species, including red admirals, painted ladies, peacocks and small tortoiseshells. It's also the caterpillar food plant for chequered blue, small tortoiseshell and magpie moth larvae. Plant sedum in a sunny border for a brilliant autumn display. Iceplant can be very difficult to grow from seed (although seed is available from John Chambers, if you want to try this), so it is better to purchase ready-grown plants from a garden centre. It is also easily propagated from cuttings. Avoid using the variety 'Autumn Joy', which is unattractive to butterflies. Despite its flowers not yet being fully open (and hence paler in colour) the sedum in the picture is already being visited by a bee!
Other Interesting Websites
The Vegan Society (UK)
An excellent site and a particularly good source of information for the those who are new to veganism, or for anyone who is thinking of going vegan. You can also shop online.
Online shop selling organic skincare and natural beauty products. All products are earth friendly and vegetarian and many of the products are also suitable for vegans. As well as a wide range of skin and bathroom products, you'll find baby care products, deodorants, suncare, natural supplements and essential oils. Full ingredients are listed, so that you can see what you're buying.
Sells a wide range of sustainable products online, ranging from household, bodycare and cleaning products through to books, natural paints and energy saving devices. Many of these products are suitable for vegans. Worth a visit!
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A Vegan Taste of Thailand by Linda Majzlik (Jon Carpenter Publishing, 2004). ISBN: 1 897766 92 0
A Vegan Taste of Eastern Europe by Linda Majzlik (Jon Carpenter Publishing, 2004). ISBN: 1 897766 93 9This recently published and exciting collection of over 120 exotic and tasty recipes provides a excellent introduction to Thai cuisine.
The concise introduction gives a brief history of Thai cooking and some background information on how food is eaten in Thailand. This is followed by a section entitled 'The Vegan Storecupboard', which provides useful information on the Thai ingredients used in the recipes. Most of this book is devoted to the recipes, which are divided into: Soups, Snack Foods, Rice and Noodle dishes, Curry Pastes & Curries, Vegetable Dishes, Salads, Accompaniments, Desserts and Fruit Cocktails. Many of these recipes are very quick and easy to prepare and of course cooking times can be further reduced by cooking extra rice, which can then be used in stirfries etc. the following day. Quite a few of the recipes contain tofu, which has been valued in the Far East for centuries and a few recipes have been veganised by using TVP as a meat replacement. All in all, quite an inspiring recipe book, which mainly uses stir fry and steaming techniques.
Following a similar pattern to the previous book, the introduction is followed by an eight-page account of the ingredients required in a vegan Eastern European storecupboard, most of which many of you will probably already have in stock anyway. Linda Majzlik clearly explains how to make your own sour cream from silken tofu and also offers a vegan version of Horseradish sauce. Unfortunately this book does not seem to contain a recipe for Sauerkraut - the pickled, fermented cabbage, which is so popular in Eastern Europe.
The nourishing recipes are divided into: Soups, Main Courses, Accompaniments, Sauces, Snacks, Grains, Breads, Salads, Desserts and Baking. Contains many down-to-earth recipes that are ideal for use at this time of year. Why not bake your own rye bread, or try out some of the hearty and warming soups and the tasty and satisfying stews and casseroles this winter? And yes, there is a recipe for Hungarian Goulash!
You can order a copy of these two books direct from Jon Carpenter by phoning: 01689 870437 (UK orders). Please email: jon@joncarpenter.co.uk for overseas enquiries.