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[veganbuds]

Hello dear VeganBuds, I am looking for an alternative to sour cream. Ideally, it would be sourcable locally in Latvia. Something to add to vegetable soups, sauces and stews in order to add some fat to help through the winter. Coconut milk is great, but by the time it reaches Latvia, so much energy is used up by all the people involved in the process, that I guess these people probably consume more dairy products to get this energy back than I save by using coconut milk. Any ideas? Thanks, Z.

Hey Z! Sorry for very long wait for a reply, the message slipped my gaze...Well, I am afraid there is not yet such an alternative to be used in soups and stews and warm sauces which is locally made and does not have the additives to preserve it for months and years. There is one alternative for salads/cold sauces - from the producer Gardais the sauce called Baltā mērce. I have also used in a soup, but just as tablespoon of “sour cream”, like in good old days. In a warm meal it will dissolve itself in the original contents. Hmm, but maybe this is it! I somehow thought that it is not a good thing, but maybe it is! So this is my suggestion!

[veganbuds]

Ātra, asa zupiņa 🌶

Ziemas vidus, pavasara pirmās cerības - īstākais laiks kāda vīrusa saķeršanai. Vegāns un slims - ko nu? Te būs īsa, ātra, goda vārds, 15 minūšu recepte, lai iedabūtu sevī paprikas dotos labumus un ar asumu izdabūtu no sevis liekos draņķus.

Tev (vienai zupas porcijai) vajadzēs:

veselu papriku

lielu sauju indijas riekstu

čili - pārslas vai pulveri - jebkuras asās garšvielas, kas liek tecēt ūdeņiem pa degunu, pa acīm, pa ausīm... pievieno nedaudz vairāk, kā Tu spēj turēt

citas garšvielas - melnos piparus, tuč sāli

papildus, variācijai - maza sauja sarkano lēcu, šalotes sīpols un glābšanas dienests - kokosriekstu piens, ja nu asums par traku.

Recepte vienkārša - sagriez to, kas jāsagriež, nedaudz apcep katliņā, tur pievieno arī garšvielas, tad - ūdeni un vēl pēc mirkļa visu sablendē. Indijas rieksti izlīdzinās iespējamo asumu, bet ja nu tiešām čili piešāvies par daudz - liekam lietā kokosriekstu pienu.

Lai labi garšo un tek laukā!

Laura

//

Very simple and quick 15 min recipe to shake your immune system. For one portion you'll need:

one whole bell pepper

handful of cashew nuts

chili - flakes or powder - anything that will make your nose to run, your eyes to cry and yourself to not understand where you are

additional, for variation - small handful of red lentils, shallot, and for the safety, in case the dish got too spicy - coconut milk.

Fry chopped bell pepper in a pot, add spices, also ground black pepper and salt, after a moment add the other ingredients and water and after another moment blend everything together. Voila, it's ready!

[veganbuds]

Ciorba de Fasole - pupiņu zupa 🇹🇩

Sākot jauno gadu, tas ar kaut ko ir jāsāk. Lai gan jaunais gads nenes pēkšņi daudz vairāk laika, tomēr šādam gardam ēdienam (Ciorba de Fasole), kas ir viens no Rumāņu nacionālajiem ēdieniem, pupiņu zupai, laiks atrodas. Ja nu ir pavisam liela luste, tad var uzcept maizi un zupu ieliet maizē! Gatavošanas laiks: no 45 min līdz 1,5 h, sanāk vismaz 4-5 brangas porcijas.

Tev vajadzēs, jebšu receptē rakstīts:

400-500g baltās pupiņas (manējās ir no tik jaukā veikala Rīgā “Zeroveikals”)

1 burkāns

1 pastinaks (es gan izlaidu, jo veikalā neatradu...)

1 selerijas sakne, normāla izmēra

2 sīpoli (esmu iecienījusi šalotes sīpolus)

1 jebkuras krāsas paprika, man paķērās sarkana

2-3 lauru lapas

1 dārzeņu buljona kubiņš

pušķītis diļļu

drusku timiāns

sāls, pipari

pāris piparmētru lapas (šo centieties neizlaist, bija laba piedeva buķetei)

tomātu pasta

sarkanās paprikas pasta (man nebija un tāpēc es dāsni piebēru paprikas pulveri)

Papildus - tofu, lai pagatavotu “bekoniņu”.

Garā gatavošana: iepriekšējā vakarā iemērc pupiņas ūdenī, neaizmirsti ūdeni kādu reizi nomainīt. Sāc vārīt pupiņas, bet pirmo ūdeni, kad tur sāk burbuļot, lej ārā. Lej virsū tīru ūdeni un turpini pupiņas kādu pusstundu vārīt, pieberot sāli, piparus un pieliekot lauru lapas. Kamēr šie draudziņi tur vārās, sagriez visas saknes, es kapāju diezgan smalki, izņemot seleriju. Man patīk dārzeņus vienmēr pirms likšanas zupā apcept olīveļļā, tad nu to arī darīju. Izņemot seleriju. Saber visu katliņā pie pupāmun gaidi nākošo pusstundu. Šo laiciņu vari izmantot, lai sagatavotu tofu marinēšanai - sagriez to šķēlītēs un liec traukā ar tuč tuč eļļas, sojas mērces, kūpinātas paprikas pulvera un tuč tuč karija. Ieliec ledusskapī! Kad arī nākošās 30 minūtes ir pagājušas, pievieno tomātu un sarkanās paprikas pastu, kā arī sakapātas dilles un piparmētru. Pavāri vēl kādu brīdi, slēdz ārā un lai tuč pastāv. Pa to laiku vari cept tofu - garajā versijā to liec uz cepampapīra un iekšā plītī, īsajā versijā - apcep uz pannas. Voila, gatavs! Lej zupu traukā, pievieno tofu “bekonu” un kādu zaļumu. Nenorij mēli!

Zupas īsā gatavošanas versija - ņem jau gatavas pupiņas no veikalā nopērkamiem skārda traukiem un Tev sanāks ietaupīt vismaz pusstundu! Dari visu to pašu, tikai pupiņas nebūs jāvāra.

Labu apetīti! Kaķīši.

[veganbuds]

COCONUT CURRY NOODLES

Have you ever experienced such a moment, when the meal you just made was so so delicious you forgot to brag about it, post your Instagram stories, call your mom? Yes? Well, this happened to us when we made the delicious coconut-curry noodles - the photo above is fake, since we forgot to make photos while being busy eating and had to stage the 'final' result. Nom!

Here are the ingredients for this recipe, which takes around 25 minutes to prepare and was enough for 3 people + leftovers to take to work the next day:

1-2 carrots

2 bell peppers (red)

2-3 garlic cloves, 2-3 onions

pack of champignons or even better - wild/forest mushrooms

bamboo shoots

1 can of chickpeas

2 cans of coconut milk

noodles to your liking

spices - curry, tumeric, salt and pepper, some fresh cilantro

Chop all ingredients. The trick is to stir fry each of the different ingredients (except the bamboo shoots) on a pan separately. Especially make sure that the bell pepper has become soft!

Mix all fried veggies together, add spices, add the coconut milk and let everything simmer for a few minutes, in the meantime boil the noodles. Now you have two options - either put the noodles in the veggie-coconut milk mix and let them sit for some minutes or don't put them together - your preference! Ready!

Enjoy with a glass of ... anything you like.

Yours, The Vegan Buds 

[veganbuds]

VEGANIZED CHOCOLATE BROWNIE

Every now and then there comes a moment when you need to celebrate. Anything. A new beginning, a closure, sun in the sky... For this one-of-a-kind brownie you really don't need much. You need good company, a bit of time, patience and preferably a freezer. 'Weird things to combine', you might think. But this is exactly what we did.

To immerse yourself in a divine chocolaty taste, you will need:

Bauck HOF mix for chocolate brownies (yes, we are this lazy, but we know how good it is!), the mix can be bought in most of bio-eco shops

200 g margarine (or experiment with adding less)

1 banana or 1 flaxseed egg

dark chocolate

100 ml plant-based drink

optional - additional baking powder to help the brownie rise to the skies even more

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Smooch the banana into a puree or prepare the flaxseed egg. Melt the margarine for easier mixing and combine all ingredients, then put the mixture in your cooking pan. You can use anything you have at home - we used a round pan, so the brownies became a chocolate cake. For the classical square shaped brownies use a baking tray with 4 corners. Bake for approx. 25 min.

To add an extra umpf to the brownies, melt a chocolate bar (we did it using the good old bain marie method, super fancy term for breaking chocolate into pieces into heatproof bowl, then putting that bowl in a pot with water and heating up the water, and with additional stirring your chocolate will be melted in almost no time), wait when the brownie cools down and then pour the chocolate on top. To achieve a super smooth layer of chocolate, put it for a few minutes in a freezer! Enjoy the brownie with a nice cup of coffee, tea and friends.

Yours, Ilze & Laura, the Vegan Buds

[veganbuds]

PANCAKES FOR EVERYONE

For a long time, I was thinking that vegan pancakes are some urban myth - no milk, no eggs? And I remember that sunny Saturday morning some time ago when I invited my friends for a pancake brunch but the outcome was just burnt pieces of raw batter. So... for almost a year I was scared to bake pancakes again. That was before I learned about the FLAX SEED EGG. Yes, you read that right. Crushed flax seeds are wonderful egg replacement when it comes to baking goods. And apparently, they are super good and healthy especially for folks who don’t use animal products in their diets (like vegans).

For approximately 10 small-ish pancakes you will need: 1 tablespoon ground flax seed 3 tablespoons water 1 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour) 3/4 cup non-dairy milk 1 tablespoon sugar 2 tablespoons oil 1 tablespoon baking powder (once I baked pancakes also without baking powder, they were okay, not so fluffy, still yummy) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (optional) 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Soak the ground flax seed in 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Set aside. 2. In a separate bigger bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. 3. Add the non-diary milk, oil, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and flax seed-water solution. Whisk together until smooth. 4. Heat a pan with some oil to medium-high heat. 5. Spoon 1 big tablespoon batter onto pan for each pancake. Cook pancakes until edges appear dry, flip and cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side. 6. Serve immediately with your favourite toppings - jam, berries, peanut butter, sugar or anything else.

 And there you have - easy vegan pancakes. Wonderful to share or have for yourself.

Peace and love & pancakes, Ilze

[veganbuds]

AVOCADO, CUCUMBER, LIME AND MINT ICE-CREAM

Have you ever made ice cream at home? Did you need a special ice cream making machine? Well, vegan ice cream needs only three things - ingredients, a blender and a freezer, as simple as that. This recipe falls into category of “15 minutes dish” * , so I am happy to present - avocado, cucumber, lime and mint ice-cream!

You will need:

cucumber (washed, not peeled);

handful of fresh mint leaves, mine are from the garden and my palms still smell nicely!

juice from one lime;

avocados;

sweetener (stevia, brown sugar or anything else you like or have)

Cut the cucumber in smaller pieces, avocados in half, squeeze the juice from the lemon and mix everything with a blender until smooth. My blender is not the best, so I had a bit of trouble with blending all the cucumbers. Place the mixture in a container and put in a freezer. For a nice and smooth consistency, mix with a fork every half an hour. Enjoy!

* well, in order for the ice-cream to freeze, keep it in the freezer for 2-3-4 hours, depending on your freezer. Be careful to not to keep it there for too long, then it loses it's creamy consistency.

[veganbuds]

ALL YOU NEED IS... CUMIN!

“All you need is love!” sang Ewan McGregor in the movie that always sheds some tears, but this time all you need is some leftover items in your fridge, around 15 min of cooking time and cumin which is the star of this movie. As I have discovered, cumin is also the magical spice that gives hummus it's taste. 

Next to my singing talents (I know all the songs from the Moulin Rouge), apparently I also have the talent to put the leftover things together for a nice meal. So here is a recipe which was born in my mind one nice Thursday evening while dining with my friends.

You'll need:

tomatoes in a can - full or half of a can is enough

any type of beans, but my suggestion is kidney beans

shallots (2-3) and garlic (2-3 cloves)

spices - salt, pepper, garlic powder and the star of the dish - cumin

optional - peanuts or anything else crunchy, e.g., sunflower seeds

Chop garlic and onions in thick slices, put them to fry in olive or coconut oil. While they are getting their golden tan, rinse the beans, if you have taken them from a can. After few minutes of frying the shallots and garlic, add the tomatoes, beans, spices, nuts, stir and let it all simmer for some 7-8 minutes. Add cumin generously - I would say 1 - 2 tsp of it. In case you would like your sauce thick, take whole (canned) tomatoes, chop them yourself and choose the amount of liquid you'll add. As a side dish for the sauce - basmati rice (it has been tested and is a very good combination), or anything else you have, this time I had quinoa mix! Decorate with anything you have, I had something very Latvian - the dill : ) 

Keep on loving those plants! Laura

[veganbuds]

TOFU SANDWICHES WITH HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE

Hello dear people! If you love food as much as I do, then you will enjoy these sandwiches as much as I did. Dutch people eat a lot of bread (and Latvians do too), so I decided to put a little bit of effort and step-up my sandwich game.

You will need: bread (I even toasted mine) different kind of toppings - I used kale, shredded carrots, sliced tomatoes, cooked tofu (check the recipe here how to make it extra crunchy) and homemade vegan mayonnaise.

How to make the mayo? Easy-peasy, my dear hungry friend. I didn't invent it myself, I checked how other people do it and this recipe is from a blog called The Happy Pear. My suggestion is to follow the recipe and use sunflower oil because it has a milder taste. I used olive oil and it was a little bit too sharp for my liking.

Long story short - to make a mayonnaise you will need: 1 clove of garlic (roast it for the extra nice taste), almost full but not really full tablespoon of mustard (Dijon mustard, if you have) salt, pepper 1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice 150 ml soya milk (check if it’s possible to get unsweetened one) 150 ml sunflower oil. Then blend together garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice and soya drink.  Once these ingredients have blended together, slowly pour the sunflower oil into the mixture while still blending. That’s it. It was that easy!  

Swipe some mayo on bread, put your favourite veggies, add some tofu, cut those sandwiches, share them (or not) and enjoy your Pinterest-looking piece of bread.

Čau-kakao, Ilze

[veganbuds]

1, 2, 3 - READY! SAUCE

When friends come over and you just want to make for them something for the soul, some soul food... and you want it quick, just make a delicious and filling sauce! This was one of the times I used the ingredients I simply had in my pantry. And since the sauce was so good, it disappeared in a split second, so all that I could do is to make a drawing of the ingredients :-D

You will need (for 3-4 portions):

1 red onion

2 garlic cloves

champignons

dry soy flakes

soy or rice cuisine creme

1/2 can of brown/kidney beans

spices - I used garlic powder, black pepper, curry powder

coconut butter for frying

Start with frying sliced onion and garlic in coconut butter. Fry until they get transparent/brown-ish. Then add sliced champignons - the amount depends on how much you love champignons! In the meantime pour hot water over, let's say, a handful of the dry soy flakes and let them swell. Then, in a moment, pour over a bit of soy sauce.

After frying the onions, garlic and champignons for a few minutes (do not overdo!), add the beans and the soy flakes, mix, let them cook for a bit, then add spices and as the last thing add some of the rice or soy cream - again do not overdo, this time the less the better!

The sauce tasted well with some couscous and voila - again a bunch of happy and satisfied bellies!

Lots of love, Laura

[veganbuds]

EAT YOUR GREENS - SOUP VERSION

Hi, hello! Spring is finally here, and usually, that means that I crave something green, easy to make and refreshing. While I am still waiting for all the garden goodies to grow and end up on my table, I made a quick scan through my fridge and pantry and decided to make this soup. Plus, green is one of my favourite colours, so why not to make a very green soup?

Ingredients:

2-3 small onions 2-3 garlic cloves 1 zucchini 1 leek 1 pack of frozen spinach half of your thumb-size piece of ginger vegetable bullion cube/powder black pepper oil water

+ you will need a blender (!)

How to make it:

1. peel and chop onions and garlic; 2. take a large pot and heat some oil (1-2 spoons); 3. add the chopped onions and garlic to the pot, simmer until they are nice and transparent; 4. while that is happening, chop that beautiful zucchini into small cubes and cut the leek into slices; 5. add the vegetables to the pot and let them cook for 3-5 minutes; 6. boil water in your water kettle; 7. add water to the pot with vegetables, and when you see the first bubbles, add the frozen spinach; 8. add the bullion and let the whole thing boil for 8-10 minutes; 9. cut or grade the ginger and add it to the mix; 10. sprinkle some black pepper and take the almost ready soup off from the fire; 11. take your blender and blend everything until smooth and no big pieces are floating around; 12. place the pot back on the fire and bring it to a boil; 13. soup is ready to be served and eaten.

Also, I realized that I am very impatient and taking photos of food is not my calling in life, I am a little bit jealous of those fancy food-bloggers. Then again - my food is made to be eaten while it is hot and taste is what matters to me. And while I am taking photos, my soup is getting cold, I can’t have that :D

Go green and eat soups, Ilze

[veganbuds]

CHICKPEA AND CARROT “RAGOUT”

Dear food lovers, After few days in a row eating gnocchi's and heated up soy schnitzels, it was time to use a bit of inspiration from a plant based recipe book and to create something to make my taste buds happy. So I made something like a ragout using chick peas and carrots. Here is the recipe.

What you will need:

Chickpeas (for most of the time I use the dry ones, soak them for few hours (and not at all 8 hours), boil (I would say 30 min max, also not 2-3 hours, as is written on the pack) and rinse) and to season them with curry;

Carrots (and to season them with salt, pepper and garlic powder);

Shallot onions;

Olive oil;

For the sauce: peanut butter, soy sauce, coconut milk, brown sugar/stevia;

And as usual - a handful of love, joy and happiness.

Start with the carrots - chop them in approx. 1-1,5 cm pieces and put them to boil. Meanwhile, cut the onions in slices and roast in olive oil until they get soft and change colour. I can suggest to not to overdo with the amount of olive oil, because next you will be adding the chickpeas, but they do not absorb the olive oil that much. But before you add the chickpeas, add the curry to the onions, mix and roast for a minute or so. Then add the chickpeas, mix and roast.

When the carrots become soft, put them on a separate pan in a bit of olive oil, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and roast for few minutes. In the meantime, prepare the peanut butter sauce - mix together 2-3 tbsp of peanut butter, add 2-3 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of brown sugar or agave syrup, half of the coconut milk from the small can and mix all together.

And the last step - put the carrots with the chickpeas, add the sauce and mix a bit, leave on the stove for not more than half a minute and there you go! The meal is ready. Eat with crackers or anything else you desire.

Another plant based meal made with love and care! Yours, Laura

[veganbuds]

HOW TO MAKE TOFU TASTE LIKE...SOMETHING

I have heard (mostly from people who are not vegans themselves or people who don’t really know how to prepare tofu) that tofu tastes like a) nothing, b) rubber boot, c) piece of cardboard, d) devils armpit, etc. Well, let me teach you a little trick that will make your tofu taste amazing and people will be asking: “Damn, how did you cook this fine piece of tofu?”. And, no, the secret-not-so-secret ingredient is not cocaine or even dried hemp, even though in the picture it might look like that. It’s not.

So, first you take a piece of firm tofu. Then, slice it and put a press on it - set a plate/cutting board on top of the tofu and weigh it down with something heavy - like a pot full of water. Leave it for good 15-30 minutes. Oh, and add a piece of paper towel between the tofu and the plate so it can soak up the moistness. 

Next step - cut the tofu into pieces. I went for little cubes, but yours can be anything else.

What you need to do next is choose the spices you like. I took paprika powder, garlic powder, thyme, salt and onion powder, plus soy sauce. Mix those spices together in a little bowl and then coat the pieces of tofu with this spice mix. Great, done! 

Now comes the trick part - cover your tofu pieces in cornstarch. After adding the cornstarch, the tofu should be evenly coated with a sticky, gummy layer of cornstarch.

Take your most beautiful cooking pan and heat it up, add some oil and then add those tofu pieces. Pan-fry until they are golden or change the color (if you use soy sauce, they will get dark brown as the soy sauce already changes color of the tofu). Transfer to the cooling rack or just a plate covered with some paper towel to remove the extra oil.

I added those pieces to the salad, but they can be added to a soup or any other meal. Or maybe even eaten as a separate little snack, nom!

And, voila! There you go. Taste buds satisfied! Stay awesome, Ilze

[veganbuds]

COOK YOUR SUCCESS - WORKSHOP

“Cook your success” is the name of a workshop I attended recently. It was organised by Szilárd Márton, coach and outdoor trainer. Here is what Szilárd says about the workshop: “The Cook your success workshop is about discovering how stress affects our way of communication and regaining balance while delegating, coordinating and leading several tasks in our everyday life. I find cooking to be an optimal, very exciting and colourful tool to develop and finetune this skill-set. The workshop is adjusted to the needs of the participants while still being challenging enough whether they know how to cook or not, whether they know how to aim for leadership or not.” It was three days (3-4 hours each time), 4 people and 12 different dishes!

I would like to share these recipes as a great and beautiful outcome of the workshop apart from the fact that I was learning how to delegate tasks, how to work in a team of four people and how to prepare a dish in a specific time limit having a limited budget. Not only we cooked, but experienced how it is to do it under stress and how to manage it, reflecting on our experiences after the meals had been served. A good tool to find similar things in our every day life!

On the second day my task was to prepare a desert and my ingredients were vanilla, soy milk and mint. And my first instinct was - rice! I will simply boil rice in soy milk, add vanilla pudding, some brown sugar, almond crumbles and some berries. Best idea ever I must say! Have a look:

Then came the third day. One of the tricks that Szilárd gave us was unusual ingredients for dishes, for example, a ginger for salad, red onion for dessert or mint for the main dish. Out of  the ideas to find a fitting recipe, which also had to be vegan (success!), here is what me and my colleagues came up with.

PUMPKIN, APPLE, AND CARAMELIZED ONION VEGAN QUESADILLA AS A DESERT

Please equip yourself with the following ingredients:

2 onions (1 sweet white onion and 1 red onion (HERE is an explanation with all different onion types that I was even not aware of...)), sliced thin

1/4 cup vegetable broth (plus more as needed)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 cup pumpkin puree or we used sweet potato puree

2 tsp maple syrup or anything else syrupy

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp crushed dried rosemary

pinch of cayenne (optional for heat)

1 apple (sliced thin)

4 medium tortillas

In a large, preferable non-stick skillet, heat vegetable broth over medium heat. Add sliced onions and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until they get dark and caramelized. You might need to add an additional 1-2 tbsp of vegetable broth if the onions start to stick to the pan too much. Try to keep them in one even layer. They can overlap a little, but they will steam and not caramelize, if there is a mound of onions. When the onions are caramelized, turn off the heat and add the balsamic vinegar. Stir to coat the onions.

In the meantime, while the onions are cooking, stir together the pumpkin or sweet potato puree, maple syrup, chili powder, smoked paprika, rosemary and cayenne.

Now, take one tortilla and lay it flat. Spread the puree mixture all over the whole thing. Place onion mixture over one half of the pumpkin puree. Add the sliced apple on top of the onions. Fold the half of the tortilla that only has puree on it over the other half and do this for the remaining tortillas. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add a bit of oil and place the folded tortillas in the pan (to put two at the same time seemed to be a wise choice). Cook for a few minutes on each side until brown and crisp. Nom nom nom! Ready!

SALAD WITH GINGER? YES! 

To be honest, I have a feeling it could be any kind of salad, but I made chickpea salad with ginger and sesame dressing. You will need:

Chickpeas/garbanzo beans (best taste is if you soak and boil them, I prefer the extra effort over the quick option of taking canned beans)

Chopped red bell pepper

Chopped carrots (as small and thin as you can make them!)

Chopped cucumber

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

For the Dressing:

2 tbsp Sesame Oil

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger or more, depends on your love for ginger

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame seeds

Mix everything together and top with some more sesame seeds. Remember, that this salad is quite filling for the belly, because of the chickpeas!

COUSCOUS WITH MINT

Take a bowl and stir together couscous, finely chopped garlic and scallion, zest from one lemon, a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour over the couscous mixture hot water or vegetable broth, then cover tightly with a lid and let sit for 5 minutes. Add freshly chopped mint leaves, fluff with a fork and stir in the olive oil. Voila, it's ready! For a better outcome, choose some nice (bio/organic) couscous.

And the end result presented for the jury (oh yes, there was a professional jury evaluating our dishes!):

Yours, Laura

[veganbuds]

ALL THOSE NON-MILKS*

One day a Latvian in the Netherlands went to a simple groceries shop... Oh, my lucky, lucky taste buds - I froze at the shelf of all the non milks. So. Many. Different. Varieties. O.M.G. Alpro is on fire, Oatly as well, Dreams, and Kokos... So I decided to try them all! Well most of them, I am a volunteer with no salary, so ...

I will award the non-milks some points - the more Lauras is given, the better in my opinion it is!

9 and 10 Lauras go to Alpro Banana and Alpro Dark Chocolate drinks - yes, yes, I can feel those added sugars, but it is a sweet delight!

7 Lauras for Alporo Soya Original - it's simple, not too sweet, right to the point.

7 Lauras for Alpro Haver - slightly sweet, good taste, very good for coffee

5 Lauras for Alporo Soya Vanille and Soya Red fruits/berries - simple, sweet, but the taste is a bit plain

5 Lauras for Alporo Cashew - very rich in fat, not so nice to just drink, but could be a great addition for a porridge, or muesli or to make a creamy sauce.

5 Lauras for Alpro Rice - neutral taste, goes okay with coffee

3 Lauras for Alpro Soya Unsweetened - eugh, so this is how a carton tastes like?

3 Lauras for Oatly Orange - Plus Laura for effort, but again it tastes just weird, there is a pinch of Fanta there, but... no, not really!

2 Lauras for Oatly - mm, tastes like nothing, is not good for coffee, is ... just weird

Alpro Soya Machiatto ... I run out of money, oupsies.

Have a milky day! Laura

* non-milk - milk made out of plants or nuts - soya, rice, almond, coconut, oats etc.

[veganbuds]

GREEK LENTIL SOUP - FAKES

How nice it is [for a while] to live in an international crowd - I am collecting some of the national dish recipes from various countries, that are either already vegan or can be [easily] veganised. This time I am off to Greece [I have never been there myself, please, when is the season of cheap tickets and nice weather?]! Fakes (pronounced 'Fah-kehs') is an especially filling meal, oh yes. It is traditionally served with a drizzle of olive oil and some vinegar. I did not have one, so this time I tried without.

You will need:

Brown or red lentils (leave them in a pot of water for a few hours to soak), 

Carrots,

Optional - a bit of potato, a bit of paprika,

Onion, garlic,

Tomato paste/puree,

Seasoning - salt, pepper, curry, smoked paprika (will give a sensation of “fake meet”),

Olive oil,

Lemon juice, red wine vinegar

Heat up olive oil in a saucepan. Add garlic, onion, and carrot; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent. Pour in lentils, add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until the lentils have softened, depending on the type of lentils you took it would be 20-40 min. Add additional water if the soup becomes too thick. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste. When serving, drizzle some fresh lemon juice!

Enjoy! Καλή όρεξη!

Laura

[veganbuds]

GINGERBREAD COOKIES 🍪

Hello, hello, hello!

Did you miss us? Well, we did miss you! So we have come back right before Christmas to offer you an easy-to-make, easy-to-bake Christmas cookie recipe. By not following the regular rules of gingerbread-making, quick cookies can satisfy your cravings. So here is what you need:

1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup malt extract or if you do not have - a syrup might replace it

1/4 cup water or non-dairy milk

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp from each of the following salt, nutmeg, cinamon, cloves

1 an 1/2 tsp ginger powder

35 tbsp of love from each baker present in the kitchen

Mix all wet ingredients in one bowl and all dry ingredients in another. To avoid lumps in your dough, use a strainer and step-by-step add the mixed dry ingredients to the wet ones. Works best when you work together, teamwork!

Now comes the fun part - it is enough to leave the dough in the fridge for only 15 minutes. Use this time to refresh yourself, tell jokes and drink Christmasy drinks. Then, with wet fingers, make small roundish figures from the dough. If at first they look a bit weird - do not worry - when they come out of the oven, they are simply delightful!

Bake for around 10-12 minutes/180C. Check - if they are still too wet, leave them in the oven for a few more minutes. Voila! Your delicious Christmasy snack is ready!

Spread love, kindness and cookies!

Yours, Laura & Ilze