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Here’s the recipe:
Makes approximately two cups/serves four
Ingredients:
1 cup of cooked beans*
1 small green chile, de-seeded and copped
1⁄2 cup of liquid from cooked beans or tinned beans 1⁄2 cup of freshly chopped epazote**
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt to taste
*You can use tinned beans to save time but save some of the liquid when you drain them
** If you cannot find fresh epazote, used dried but see note below.
Method:
Heat a large frying pan and add the oil
Add chopped chile and fry for about 30 seconds
Add cooked beans and the liquid
If using dried epazote, add now
Mash the beans over a medium heat
Continue to cook for a couple of minutes while stirring
Add a pinch of salt
If using fresh epazote, add it at the end and stir through
¡Buen provecho!
Serve in tacos, enchiladas, taquitos, tortas or simply with rice.
Say goodbye to your socks because this is going to knock them right off.
Do you all know I am from Australia? Well, it appears a hell of a lot has improved down under since I was last there and one of the most drastic changes is the emergence of this absolutely stunning vegan deli in Melbourne.
My buddy Dex sent me some photos today and I actually can’t believe how impressive this is. She explained in her email that Smith & Deli is the newly opened companion business called Smith & Daughters, a super hip 100% vegan restaurant in the inner city region of Fitzroy.
Dex was impressed by the selection of goods on offer in the deli including sandwiches, pastries, pantry staples and hot coffee.
Check out the photos below and book your flights. Melbourne, we are coming for your deli food!
Things are really looking up for Melbourne vegans. Last time I was in town, I had to stress about my vegan burger being fried on the same hotplate as a runny egg. Now they have a proper vegan deli with no compromises.
Seriously, the menu is on another level.
Good work, Australia. Now, if you could just do something about the detention centres.
If you live in Glasgow and have a flexible schedule, you might just want to get involved
with this job.
The Vegan Kind is a monthly subscription box filled with cruelty-free brands. Subscribers are treated each month to a rotating selection of snacks, personal products, sweets and more.
With a huge number being sent out each month, someone has to pack all of the goodies into the boxes before they can head out the door.
Karris McCulloch, owner of The Vegan Kind, is currently searching for part time packers who will help get the boxes out promptly each month.
Karris says the work would suit a student or a person with a flexible schedule as the days dedicated to packing can change from month to month.
If packing boxes of vegan treats sounds like a fun way to pass the time and earn some extra money, you can email karris@thevegankind.com to express your interest.
My wonderful friend Mirel (click on her name to see the MOST fab vegan baked goods) sent me the following photos of some tasty-looking vegan curries she spotted in her local Asda and I must say, I am super impressed.
Mirel mentioned that these were priced at the ridiculously-inexpensive price of £1.50 each. I can’t believe how cheap they are!
It is lovely to see a matar paneer made with tofu and check out that okra. Gorgeous.
This news came out a little while ago but I don’t know how it slipped past my chubby radar.
A company in the USA called Impossible Foods is set to launch a burger in late 2016 that looks and tastes like meat but is made completely from plant protein and grains.
Honestly, take a look at this video:
I am amazed by how they have managed to make plant protein look like minced meat.
The company has the following to say on their website about how their burger looks and tastes just like animal meat:
We spent three and a half years understanding what makes the experience of cooking and eating meat so unique, and discovering proteins and nutrients from plants that recreate the experience on a molecular level.
Our biggest discovery was that a molecule called heme is the “magic ingredient” that gives meat its craveable flavor and smell. Although it’s exceptionally abundant in meat, heme is essential to every branch of life, including plants. A heme-containing protein naturally found in plants gives our meat its truly meaty flavor.
With that breakthrough, we embarked on the journey to creating a really delicious burger. We searched the plant world to find the best sources of each of the building blocks of meat, which led us to some unexpected ingredients, like coconut and honeydew melon. The result? A burger with the look, feel, smell, sizzle, and most importantly, the taste of ground beef—but made entirely from plants.
What do you think?
Would you eat something that looked and tasted as realistic as the Impossible Burger?
This early article on the development of the burger suggests it has a texture that emulates gristle and muscle tendons plus it oozes a blood-like substance when it is sizzling. All made from plant protein!
You can read more about Impossible Foods on their website, you can like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
This is one of the best things I’ve ever had on my blog.
I got an email this week from Laurie. So what, right? Well, it was Laurie from the fucking awesome punk band Slaves.
Laurie wanted me to know he likes my blog (awww shucks) and wondered if I would be interested in sharing pics and details of his recent vegan meal served by Virgin Atlantic.
Slaves is heading over to the USA for a major tour, so it was super generous of Laurie to take the time to share his mid-air cuisine experience with all of us.
Check out Laurie’s thoughts below on his LHR>LAX meal and if you are in the USA, click here to see all the dates for the Slaves tour. Like Slaves on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and go to the bottom of the post for some music videos from one of the best bands the UK has seen for decades.
OK. Over to Laurie.
First up lunch. For the main there was a delicious tomato gnocchi dish. Full of flavour. They also had a bean style side salad with a lovely mustardy dressing. The real surprise was the dessert though. Being vegan you just expect a fruit salad but Virgin have pushed the boat out and provided a nice apple crumble style dessert flavoured with cinnamon. Along with a bread roll the lunch was more than satisfactory. The only let down was the inclusion of a pack of butter which made me laugh.
A few hours later I was pleasantly surprised when a mixed bean ciabatta turned up. Usually we get lumped with falafel at every turn and it can get boring.
The ciabatta was delicious!
Lastly was a lunchbox, which consisted of a harissa hummus and pomegranate flatbread, some crisps and a chocolate. Having two bread based meals in a row wasn’t ideal but everyone in economy was in the same boat. The wrap was tasty and crisps are crisps. I was excited for the chocolate caramel until I read the ingredients and it had milk in.
All in all the in-flight vegan options were really great and surprised me. Apart from the inclusion of butter in the lunch and a milk chocolate in the lunch box. Simple things that could be easily ironed out.
Another thing to mention is vegan meals always get brought out first. Feels quite nice to be served ahead of the rest haha!
Thanks, Laurie! Not a bad meal considering what can happen to us vegans when we are up in the air.
Have you ever been to the Cowley Club in Brighton?
The Cowley Club is a member-run co-operative space in Brighton that hosts a huge number of events to raise awareness and funds for numerous social justice causes. (This is the abridged description – go to the ‘about‘ section of their site to learn more)
If you get along to this location tomorrow (Sunday April 3, 2016) from 1pm, you can consume a delicious vegan roast dinner and then stick around for a meeting to discuss your part in the planned May 7th Day of Action Against Detention Centres.
The meeting kicks off at 5pm so you have plenty of time to fill your belly with compassionate Sunday roast before knuckling down to do some good for people in need.
You can RSVP to the Sunday roast over on the Facebook event.
If you answered in the affirmative, you will probably also know this pub is famous for its burger menu but hasn’t been known for being vegan friendly.
Until now, that is.
From Monday April 4, 2016 you will be able to march up to the Lord Nelson and order yourself a spicy, chewy and entirely satisfying vegan jerk burger made by plant-based producers More Than Meat.
Barry from More Than Meat told me, “They are going to be adding a massive mouth filling almost 5 inch diameter, 200g (uncooked weight) version of our vegan More Than Meat Jerk burger to their menu. It is made with a blend of plant proteins and red kidney beans flavoured with warm spicy jerk seasoning, chilli, lime and thyme.”
Barry also let me know that if the burger is a hit, there is a chance it will also be added to the menu of a pub in Battersea that is owned by the same people.
So that means you had better get over to Southwark and eat a lot of these beauties, London!
Have you ever been presented with an opportunity that is both terrifying AND exciting?
I am THRILLED to announce I have started production on the FGV Nude Calendar 2017!
If you know me well you’ll be aware that I’ve always been more than a bit body conscious. Like many people, I have been confronted and demeaned by the mostly-unrealistic projections of what a good body should look like that are forced upon us.
These images have bombarded me from all directions, from mainstream media all the way to organisations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA). My fat, gay and vegan body just isn’t deemed ‘good enough’ by a lot of people with power and big public voices.
So why the change in attitude to showing my body in public?
A photographer approached me a few months ago with the idea of releasing a calendar with nude images of me as a way of confronting body shaming. The idea behind the FGV Nude Calendar is to challenge these damaging stereotypes head-on while also showing a alternative-to-the-ideal body type in positive, natural settings.
I have promised the photographer that all of the locations will remain top secret as we want to make a big splash when the calendar is released later this year, but I was allowed to give you a sneak preview of the shoot we did recently in Mexico.
I’m not looking forward to the snowy location shoot in a few months, but I’m sure knowing the calendar is for such a good cause will help me get through it.
All profits from the FGV Nude Calendar 2017 will be put toward a campaign to persuade PeTA to stop using body shaming, sexism, objectification of women and other forms of negative treatment of humans in their own campaigns.
