I actually managed to eat out a couple of times since I started this new regime. It hasn't been easy, but I managed to have a couple of delicious meals that didn't make me feel TOO deprived!
I was up in Dublin recently and went for a lovely sushi meal in Musashi on Capel Street. I just had to sneak in my soy substitute (Bragg's Aminos) and forego the pickled ginger. I love sushi and how light yet filling it is, so I was delighted to be able to go crazy and order loads :) I've made my own sushi in the past, you just need sushi rice and nori sheets (both are readily available in the Asian shops around Ireland), the fillling of your choice and some dipping sauce (soy sauce, tamari or Braggs Aminos) and wasabi paste. I tend to stick to vegetable fillings such as avocado, or carrot and red pepper when I make my own. Optional extras include sushi vinegar and a rolling mat (I've never used sushi vinegar and I found a plate much easier for rolling the sushi than a rolling mat). Here's a simple recipe to get you started, the trick is to make sure the rice is cool, but not completely cold or it sticks together too much, making it impossible to spread over the seaweed: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cucumber-and-avocado-sushi/Here's a recipe for raw california rolls from Michelle Hanley Nutrition and Juice Specialist (I haven't tried these myself though):
California Rolls
2 nori sheets
2 teaspoons mellow white miso
2 cups alfalfa or clover sprouts (optional)
1⁄2 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
1⁄4 cucumber, seeded and cut lengthwise into thin strips
1⁄4 cup grated carrot
1⁄4 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into thin strips
Tamari for dipping (optional)
2 nori sheets
2 teaspoons mellow white miso
2 cups alfalfa or clover sprouts (optional)
1⁄2 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
1⁄4 cucumber, seeded and cut lengthwise into thin strips
1⁄4 cup grated carrot
1⁄4 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into thin strips
Tamari for dipping (optional)
1) Lay one sheet of nori, shiny side down, on a bamboo sushi mat.
2) Using the back of a teaspoon, spread 1 teaspoon of the miso in a single horizontal strip anywhere along the bottom third of the nori.
3) Along the edge of the nori closest to you, layer half of the optional sprouts, avocado, cucumber, carrot, and bell pepper.
4) To roll, grip the edges of the nori sheet and the sushi mat together with your thumbs and forefingers, and press the filling back toward you with your other fingers. Using the mat to help you, roll the front edge of the nori over the filling. Squeeze it with the mat; then lift the mat and continue rolling.
5) Just before completing the roll, dip your index finger in water and run it along the far edge of the nori sheet. This will seal the seam of the roll. Cut the roll into 6 pieces with a serrated knife.
6) Fill, roll, and slice the other sheet of nori the same way. Arrange on a plate and serve immediately, with a small bowl of tamari for dipping, if desired.
2) Using the back of a teaspoon, spread 1 teaspoon of the miso in a single horizontal strip anywhere along the bottom third of the nori.
3) Along the edge of the nori closest to you, layer half of the optional sprouts, avocado, cucumber, carrot, and bell pepper.
4) To roll, grip the edges of the nori sheet and the sushi mat together with your thumbs and forefingers, and press the filling back toward you with your other fingers. Using the mat to help you, roll the front edge of the nori over the filling. Squeeze it with the mat; then lift the mat and continue rolling.
5) Just before completing the roll, dip your index finger in water and run it along the far edge of the nori sheet. This will seal the seam of the roll. Cut the roll into 6 pieces with a serrated knife.
6) Fill, roll, and slice the other sheet of nori the same way. Arrange on a plate and serve immediately, with a small bowl of tamari for dipping, if desired.
Or if that's too much work then try making a sushi bowl instead: http://www.veggieful.com/2013/11/vegan-sushi-bowl-recipe.html
The rest of my meals this week were less exotic though unfortunately.
Lunch
My new food processor arrived, and I realised that because I never had a food processor before I don't have any recipes which need to use one! So to try it out I made my own simple hummus. It came out really well - I used slightly less oil than they suggested in the recipe so it was a little thicker than shop-bought hummus, but it tasted lovely and was really filling. The possibilities are endless for the future though: I think I'll try adding some olives next, or extra lemon and coriander, or maybe some smoked paprika :)
Dinner
1. This week I tried the other goats cheese and pasta recipe that I mentioned in an earlier post: Goat cheese apple walnut pasta. This tasted lovely and made a really fast mid-week dinner. the only substitution was low sodium vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. I used brown rice pasta in this dish.
2. Once again I had a lot of bits of veg to use up after the weekend and I really wanted to see if this Ethiopian Stew recipe was as tasty as the African sweet potato curry I made last week. Unfortunately it wasn't as tasty, and was a little too sweet for me due to the cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. It was probably my own fault as I made quite a few changes to the recipe: I left out the split peas, didn't use the berbere spice mix (too much trouble to make!) and just used the vegetables I had in the house. If you try it (and please do, as it's so unusual) let me know how it turned out
3. I had a second brown rice pasta dish this week - Smoked salmon with creamy courgette sauce. I used this recipe as the inspiration for my latest soy cream creation (I made so many changes that I think I can call it my own recipe). I used red onion instead of leeks, I left out the asparagus, I substituted soy cream (with a little nutritional yeast) for the regular cream and I cooked all the smoked salmon in the sauce for a few minutes, as I prefer it that way. It's another great, fast dinner www.taste.com.au/recipes/
Helpful site
A friend of mine introduced me to this site:
You simply type into a list all the ingredients you have in your house and it shows you a lot of recipes you can cook with those ingredients. It's so handy! You can also highlight certain foods that you really want to use and it concentrates on giving you recipes with those ingredients.
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