Ras El Hanout

I think I'm forever indebted to my colleague for introducing me to ras el hanout. Well, she mentioned the spice mixture, I got intrigued and investigated. Which lead to the discovery of this really quite amazing recipe. It's quick, easy and can be adjusted to suit your taste. I found the original recipe here. It called for soy curls, which don't seem to be available in the UK. I used tofu chunks instead and added an aubergine because I thought it would taste nice, but I think it would be perfectly fine with just veggies. I also went down the lazy route and used canned chopped tomatoes and substituted sultanas for the raisins because I don't like raisins but love sultanas.


Vegan Moroccan Tagine

(4-6 servings)

1 tbsp oil

3 medium carrots in big chunks

1 large yellow onion in big chunks

1 potato in big chunks

1 aubergine in big chunks

1 Tbsp fresh ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can chickpeas, drained

handful of sultanas 

1 pack marinated tofu pieces (160g)

juice of one orange

2 cups veg broth

salt & pepper to choice

1 Tbsp ras el-hanout

1 cup whole wheat couscous

1 1/2 c veggie broth

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

Cut up the veggies in similar size chunks.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and add the carrots, onion, potatoes, aubergine, garlic and ginger  and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions have softened a bit. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, sultanas, tofu, orange juice, veg broth and ras el-hanout. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for about 30 minutes (or until the veggies are nice and cooked).

While the tagine is simmering, bring 1 1/2 cups of broth seasoned with cumin and turmeric to boil in a smallish pot and prepare couscous according to package direction.

Serve tagine on a mound of couscous.

Marvel in the awesomeness of a simple and tasty dinner.

Hello Again!

This is the wagon. I fell off slightly.

Strictly speaking, I'm not vegan anymore. I'm mostly vegan, dietary vegan, that is, but I make exceptions. Basically, I make my diet fit my life and listen to my body (most of the time).

This has lead to the following: I revert to being omni when I'm at my parents, as everything else just stresses out my mum and I don't want to cause her unnecessary hassle. And while I try to eat vegan while on holiday I'm not beating myself up if foods contain ingredients that I shouldn't eat.

It was pretty easy to eat vegetarian or even strict vegetarian when I was in South India - they do amazing vegetarian food down there, it's a vegetarian's paradise. Coincidentally, I was one of the few people in the group I was travelling with that didn't experience any stomach upsets. Go figure.

The USA were a completely different case. It started on the flight to Las Vegas when the airline (British Airways, can't recommend long haul flights with them at all) messed up food orders and couldn't find my vegan dish. I got fish instead. Las Vegas is awesome, but the grasp on vegetarian or, god beware, vegan food is pretty loose. I got offered chicken when I asked for the vegetarian option, because obviously chicken grow on trees...

There probably are amazing vegan restaurants tucked away somewhere and they've got a bigger choice in vegan groceries than the UK, but we only had an RV to drive around so I wasn't really up for exploring the small streets. Then we hit the desert (Burning Man) and while my camp mates tried, they occasionally got it totally wrong. And I still had to eat.

Back home, in the UK and when I'm cooking for myself, I don't eat meat, I don't eat dairy, I only sparingly use eggs but I do eat fish now and again. I love sushi and get weird cravings for raw fish if I don't have it every other week or so. When others are cooking for me I'm vegetarian and only eat lactose-free cheese or dairy (I'm still lactose sensitive, so that part of veganism isn't a choice for me).

I do acknowledge that I feel best when I eat a strict vegan diet (although I seem to have to watch my Omega 3's somewhat) and it's what give me the best results if I'm practicing Bikram yoga (Bikram yoga hates junk food, it makes me nauseous during practice). But I also have to acknowledge that sometimes a vegan diet causes more problems than it's worth. Eating out with non-vegans or on the go becomes a huge mission and I love food too much to deny myself things I want to try.

To cut a long story short: I do my best, but I'm not stressing myself out about my food choices.