A week of VEGAN - Meal Plan - DAY 3 - Porchini. Pie. Peaches

Day 3 of my Week of Vegan - meal planning and I thought I spent far too much time thinking of food before!  OMG.  Obsessed AND consumed!  I'm getting frustrated though, flicking through all my books and notes and vegan blogs flinging their recipes at me all day!  There are so many recipes out there...thousands and thousands...ahh!  I want to be cooking them all and sharing them with the interweb AND creating more.  So much VEGAN food the question 'what does a vegan eat' should really be obsolete by now.  It's equivalent to saying what's a computer, well ALMOST.  So girl (me) stop your rambling and get on with it! Ok, OK!

For my lunch (are you wondering what I had for breakfast?....today was stewed apple and peach blended with cardamon, gogi berries, fresh ground flax and a spoon of coconut flour...no pics)

Lunch was soup...YES, I DO eat a lot of soup.  It's easy - good, filling - yum, inexpensive - bonus, AND I can make batches to freeze. 

WILD mushroom soup with a wee chipotle kick (kick entirely optional!) & socca bread

I experimented before following recipes using flour but I think the flavour and intensity of the mushrooms is diminished...lost in a black hole somewhere in the galaxy.  This is the best I've come up with so far...


100g dried mushrooms (re hydrated..retain the water..approx 1 cup)
100g chestnut mushrooms
1 leek
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp onion granules
water..approx 5 cups + the mushroom soak water/broth
a few shavings of nutmeg
handful of parsley (you can also use 1 tsp thyme or tarragon...I am going to try dill next time)
Ms Salt & Mr Pepper to your liking

oh and oil for frying..OO or Canola.  say...1 tbs or, for those of use who don't measure... a decent splash.

Do you want the kick?!...a inch slice of chipotle (or more?) if you desire.   Don't use the seeds unless you want your socks blown off.


1.fry the onions, leeks and garlic
2. in a separate pan (mushrooms like space) fry the mushrooms with a shaking of ground black pepper
3.combine all ingredients in a saucepan and gently simmer for 15 mins. 
4. blend to smooth
5.optional....grace with a squeeze of lemon


I served it up with socca

1 cup besan/chickpea/garbanzo flour sifted

1 tsp onion granules

1 tsp dill (or whatever herb you like...mixed/tarragon/fenugreek leaves are good if you are eating Indian food)

1/4 tsp black salt or asofeteda (this adds a pungent slightly sulphuric flavour, granted not for everyones palate but I like)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

water to blend to a batter consistency

All in a bowl, whisk and then add to a  hot, lightly oiled fry pan.  Then do like a pancake.  Flip and cook through.

After lunch, walk to shops to go say hi to new cafe owners then home for emails, littering my floor with cookbooks and study.  Before I knew it it was time to make dinner!

Ladies and gentlemen I give you......SAUSAGE, CARAMELIZED ONION AND TOMATO TART

I've not had this tart for ages.  I was going to make a leek pie but didn't want to use leek again, in case you got bored!  I'll share that one another time as it is utterly happy making.  I opted for sausage, caramelised onion & tomato tart instead.

I'd made some pastry in the afternoon and it was chilling out in the fridge.

For pie pastry you will need to have the following ingredients;

1/2 cup chickpea flour

1/2 cup spelt (I can tolerate this ok in small quantities but me and wheat are not bedfellows, if you want GF then use sorghum, amaranth...would potato flour work?  I've never used it as I once read potato was the sporn of the devil)

1 tbs vegan butter

1/4 tsp salt

sift, add cold vegan butter and then lightly knead.  Add water..I think it was about 1/2 cup but sorry cannot remember but you know what pastry feels like right?  Roll out into the shape you need for your pie dish.  Mine was square.

preheat your oven to 190

roll to about a 1/4inch thickness and then gently line your dish (ooh, grease the dish with a bit of vegan butter first). pop it in the oven for about 6 - 7 mins so you don't get a soggy bottom.  Put aside.

Fill me up -

1 can of tomatoes (I used 4 large fresh toms peeled and chopped - its a bit more subtle and I didn't have any tins)

2 onions cut into rings

2 cloves garlic

2 cooked vegan sausages - this is for two people..adjust to suit.  I popped them in the oven earlier to keep the pastry company

1 tsp mixed herbs

1 tbs fresh chopped basil and a few leaves for dressing

*mushrooms are nice in this dish too but I'd used them in the soup so didn't want to overload you with fungal

electricity mark 190

1.saute onions in oil until caramelised.  I add the sliced garlic just before the onions are done so as not to burn

2.add the tomatoes, herbs and s&P and cook for about 10 mins. 

3. chop the sausages (if you are cooking a larger pie then they look great left whole) and add to the sauce.

4. pour into your pastry

5. decorate top with fresh tomatoes and grind over some black pepper

6. bake for 30mins

7. garnish with basil before serving

and then she ate dessert...PUDDING!

Roasted peaches and lemon tofu cream

Now, I must tell you I get a kick out of planning stuff to save time and money, so whilst the oven was baking my tart I also popped whole peaches into a kind of bag thing I made out of foil and put them in the oven.  They roasted to sweet perfection, collapsed and soft.

I had some tofu in the fridge that needs to be used so I made a citrus tofu cream.  Ice cream would be a very happy 'holding hands' kind of partner to Miss Peach too.

100g silken, firm tofu - if you don't do tofu use avocado
juice of 1/2 large lemon
2 tablespoons sweetner - agave or maple etc.
pinch of salt

topped with almond flakes I was too impatient to toast...TOAST them!

All you do is blend and chill for at least an hour unless your tofu is fresh and was sitting patiently in the fridge.

I served the cream up as a syllabub in a glass with a layer of fruit sweetened apricot jam.  I hummed happily as I ate this.  Do you get fits of giggles when you eat lovely food..and hum too?  I have also been known to dance because I just can't contain it.....or is it just me?

Scrummy diddly umptious!