Category Archives: midorigreen

I had a marvellous Saturday. I spent the morning at my allotment mainly harvesting produce. Then I devoted the afternoon to cooking said produce plus the goodies I’d picked up at the market earlier in the week. I was tired by the end of the day but so happy.

Clockwise from top right

Caramel apple peanut bar – This is divine. The photo does not do it justice. It’s from Veganomicon. And a tip for anyone else making this – follow the recipe. Do not decide that you will make some sugar syrup because you don’t have any date syrup, or believe that a microwave works just as well as a pan over a low heat. It still tasted good but I want to experience the ‘ribbons’ of caramel the recipe refers to.

Mexican millet – another Veganomicon favourite. I successfully deviated from the recipe by chucking a load of sweetcorn in.

Tortilla – This is my take on a Spanish omelette with potatoes and onions. I replaced the eggs with a gram flour batter. I am currently experimenting with the various approaches (fried potatoes? Boiled potatoes? Thick batter? Thin batter? How much salt? Add nutrition yeast?) in search of the perfect combination.

Radishes, cucumber and rocket

Wishing you all things green,

Annastasia

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What’s been rocking my world this week? Based on a meme by Gala Darling

Melissa shoes – I adore Melissa shoes. I first came across them on Amelia Raley’s blog Doublespeak and have since gathered a small collection. They are so comfortable. I love the variety of styles. I love the way they are perfect for wet UK summers. I love that they’re vegan. It’s been a good week for my Melissa collection. I bought a pair in cowboy boot style for festivals fromNonnon (who use the excellent and communicative DPD to do their deliveries). My parents bought me back a couple of pairs from the US where Melissa has done a collection for Forever 21.

The happiness project by Gretchen Rubin – Just reading this is making me happy. Having borrowed it from a friend I can see that I’ll have to buy my own copy so I can dip into it frequently for inspiration. I can see that I’m doing the right things – I’m being myself, I’m embracing novelty, I’m working on letting things go, I’m trying to get more sleep. It’s good to know that there are other people out there doing the same.

The universe sending me signs – Well ok it might not be the universe but it’s great that when you start thinking about something (like relaxing more) and then something to help appears – e.g. a one minute meditation film turns up in your inbox. Or the wonderful colleague who brings in her shoulder massager for you to try and as a result you feel calm, energised, and a tad floppy all day.

Family – You don’t realise how much you miss your family until you spend time with them.

Foraging – picking handfuls of blackberries on my way to work is foraging at its easiest and most delicious. If only I’d taken a photo before eating most of them.

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I really enjoy looking at food. Even if I have no plans to buy anything there’s a certain pleasure to be had in admiring produce of all kinds. As a vegan I’m always intrigued to go somewhere new and see if they have products I haven’t previously tried. So I was pretty excited to hear that the new home for London Vegan Drinks was going to be Wholefoods Market in Kensington. I’ve visited the Piccadilly store on a couple of occasions and was happy with some more time in a similar environment.

As LVD didn’t start until 6pm I had plenty of time to enjoy vegan goodies in Camden.

My first stop was Loving Hut for some stir fry and a vanilla milkshake.

The guys serving couldn’t have been more helpful. I also had a great chat with another customer who said the place had turned him vegan 3 and half years previously. He’d bought a bunch of work colleagues over for the buffet and been amazed at how good the food was. When he found out it was vegan he decided that he’d better become one.

I was too full for dessert but happily a stride around the market and stables area left me ready to enjoy some sweet treat at Cookies and Scream.

I turned up at Kensington Wholefoods market expecting a store similar in size to the Piccadilly Circus one. I had no idea that this was 3 floors of mega store. I could have spent hours browsing on the ground floor (vegetables without plastic packaging, open barrels of lentils, peanut butter grinders, vegan chocolates) but thought I should go and be social!

The second floor is perfect for London Vegan Drinks. The room with a view is glorious, and has the best fake grass I’ve ever come across. I must confess I did spend some time digging down trying to find the soil because I was convinced it couldn’t be fake. The food court has ample food and drink options, and plenty of seating. I had vegan beer and pizza but could see plenty of things to try in future months. Hey, they had root beer…

I was really impressed with how welcome Wholefoods made us. From goodie bags to menus to smiley staff, it was a really great experience. It’s clear that Wholefoods get that vegan like to eat and drink as much as anything else. Food is important to us and we like to enjoy a variety of food stuffs which don’t all have to be totally healthy. We love cake as much as the next person.

I couldn’t resist picking up some groceries before leaving and am determined to check out some of the other services on offer. I love the thought of taking my own bottle to fill with olive oil, and I’m sure I spotted a similar offering for wine.

So to sum up I’m really excited about what Wholefoods has to offer, and looking forward to the next London Vegan Drinks so I can explore more.

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I made this lunch pretty much entirely for the delicious dressing. It’s from a recipe in The Garden of Vegan. It’s easily overlooked as the recipe title focuses on the spinach and tofu that form the salad, rather than on this delicious tangy dressing. It’s perfect for the hot weather we’ve been experiencing of late.

The hot weather has also made lunch outside a truly enjoyable experience. Having recently moved offices I’m getting to appreciate riverside walks and plenty of delightful spots for lunch right on my doorstep.

Clockwise from top:

• Sex and Stravinsky by Barbara Trapido – enjoying this so much I might have to do a rare book review post
  
• Home grown strawberries and dark chocolate
  
• Twiglets
  
• Wonderful dressing – a blend of miso, oil, vinegar, ginger, soy sauce and garlic
  
• Salad – radishes, various leaves (spinach, rocket, Oak leaf lettuce) and Italian style tofu (yes, plain fried tofu would have worked fine but I was feeling inspired).
  

This is where I enjoyed my lunch while listening to birds and watching butterflies.

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