Last night for dinner we had delicious roast vegies - pumpkin, kumara, beetroot, carrot and capsicum, with red onion and garlic. I'm eating the leftovers for lunch today. I am a huge fan of roast garlic - cut the top off the bulb and roast the whole bulb, then squeeze out the cloves. We keep leftovers in the fridge which I often eat as a snack! I find it tastes sweet rather than extremely garlicky, and is quite nice cold. Everyone should try it!

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Today we went snorkeling at Leigh, which is so amazing as you are swimming with the fish! Afterwards we went to the Leigh Sawmill Cafe for pizza, hot chips and beer. I can't recall the name of the pizza I ordered, but it was a vegetarian one without the cheese, and was $25. The service wasn't so good, most likely due to us arriving in the middle of a soundcheck, but the food was great and I'd definitely go back again.

Leigh Sawmill Cafe
www.sawmillcafe.co.nz
142 Pakiri Rd, Leigh
09-422-6019

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The last few nights we've had beautiful raw salads for dinner. They're so delicious and give me so much energy - it will be midnight and I'll still be working and not feeling tired at all! We make a dressing with chopped chilli and ginger and crushed garlic, along with balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and oil. Slice raw mushrooms and marinade them in the dressing. We then throw together whatever salad type stuff we have - spinach leaves, chopped cherry tomatoes, sliced courgette, capsicum, carrot, celery, sweetcorn kernels, radishes, sprouts, etc. It may not sound filling, but it is!

Fiona also made a batch of banana and chocolate cupcakes that we've been having for dessert. She used Whittakers Mocha chocolate, and the cupcakes are sooo good. I've had three today already!

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I am currently in Dunedin, working and holidaying for a few days. I wasn't too worried about finding vegan food as my friend Justine had told me she'd been down here and been to The Arc and a few other places.  Fiona arrived a couple of days before me, and had sent me a text saying that there is a vegan cafe around the corner from our hotel, which was great to hear.  I arrived on Saturday, and since Fiona was out on a photo shoot I wandered around on my own searching for the vegan cafe she had told me about. I didn't find it, but found the Potpourri Vegetarian Cafe on Stuart Street and had a nice meal of vegetable Pakora and three different salads - a carrot salad, quinoa salad and lettuce salad. The Pakora was so filling I couldn't eat all of the salad! I think it was also the best Pakora I've ever had! The pakora was $6.50 and it was $5 for three salads. As well as counter food, they have a breakfast and mains menu, so I am planning on going there for breakfast tomorrow!

Once Fiona finished work and came back to the hotel, we went out for margaritas with the owner of the modelling agency here, then went to an Indian restaurant that Fiona had spotted earlier, Indian Summer Restaurant on Moray Place. It was nice to see that they specifically mentioned that they made vegan food on the menu! I ordered what I usually order when I eat Indian, Chana Masala. It was really tasty and the rice was great too. I ordered mine hot, and while it wasn't as spicy as I usually prefer it was quite nice for a change as I could taste individual ingrediants like ginger. I was sad that I couldn't finish my curry and have been thinking about it ever since! My curry was $15.50 and was a good size, not too big - if it wasn't for the margarita and the beer I had with dinner I would have been able to eat it all!

Yesterday we spent the day out at the Moeraki Boulders on another photo shoot. It turns out Circadian Rhythm, the vegan cafe Fiona told me about is about a block away from the modelling agency, so while people were getting ready I went to pick up some coffee and check out the food. Since it was early, the counter food wasn't quite ready so I went back about 9am and bought some chickpea pies, pakora, and a piece of chocolate mud cake for us to take to the shoot. It was all so amazing, especially the cake! This morning Fiona and I went back for breakfast as they also have a breakfast and mains menu. I couldn't decide between tofu scramble (which I absolutely love) and the pancakes. I ended up copying Fiona and ordering pancakes, which can be made gluten free. They had banana and cashew in between them as well as on top of them, and were topped with soy ice cream and berries. It was a bit like having dessert for breakfast! They were so filling I couldn't finish mine, but have the rest sitting next to me for when I get hungry again!

I'm still here for a few more days, so will have another update later, but in the meantime please let me know if there is anywhere else I should go!

Potpourri Vegetarian Cafe
97 Lower Stuart Street
(03) 477 9983

Indian Summer Restaurant
110 Moray Place
(03) 477 8880

Circadian Rhythm
72 St Andrew Street
(03) 474 9994

On our way down to Taupo, we stopped in Hamilton for lunch, mainly because I'd been to La Commune before and loved it. Unfortunately we discovered that La Commune is now a different cafe, without all the vegan and gluten free goodness. We spotted Metropolis across the road the thought we'd see if there was anything suitable there and luckily there was. I asked the waitress what was vegan on the menu and she pulled out a special menu for people with specific requirements and there were a number of meals that were able to be done vegan, gluten free etc. I forgot to ask for gluten free bread, but apart from that my baked beans were great! I never eat baked beans from a can at home, but it is one of my favourites when it comes to brunch at a cafe. If you are in Hamilton, go to Metropolis and ask to see the vegan menu!

Metropolis Caffe
211 Victoria Street
(07) 834 2081
metropoliscaffe.co.nz

My two most used cook books are How It All Vegan and The Garden Of Vegan but Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard, so I was surprised to see that Sarah has a third book out that I didn't know about! And it looks as though there is a fourth that is due to be released any time soon (her website at http://www.govegan.net says September, but I can't find the book - titled Vegan-a-go-go, you know, for travelling vegans - listed on Amazon.) 

Apparently La Dolce Vegan is similar to the previous books in terms of style and recipes i.e. the photos and design of the book, and how it covers meals from breakfast to dessert.  La Dolce Vegan also covers making your own fake meat, and has recipes such as Mocked Clam Chowder and Fake Chicken and Rice Soup.  I'm looking forward to making the coconut and banana pancakes and also the blueberry crumble! 

I'm really looking forward to ordering a copy of this book as the previous two are the only recipe books that I actually read, most likely due to them containing a whole lot more than just recipes! They are not only great for those who are about to become vegan (or those new to cooking!) as they contain a lot of general tips about cooking and vegan, but as someone who had been vegan for a few years when I first saw these books I still found them very useful and informative.  The only problem I've had has been tracking down some ingredients here in New Zealand, but found health food stores to have a wide range, so have been introduced to a few new things such as Braggs. 

Have you got a copy of this book? What are your opinions of it? 

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Once again it has been quite some time since I updated and although there has been a number of meals I wanted to write about I've now forgotten what they were, and I still haven't had my camera fixed, so here is another post with no photo...

Yesterday I had a craving for hot chips with chilli to dip them into. I love hot chips, and like them even more when there is hot sauce. A couple of times I've experimented with roughly mashed chilli beans (so the sauce they come with becomes thicker and bean-ier :) and it was good but not quite what I was looking for.  So last night I put some oven fries in the oven and made up this recipe for a chilli:

First I put some cumin seeds in the frying pan and then took them out once they were toasted and ground them in my mortar & pestle.  Once grounded, there was about 1.5 teaspoons worth. I put about 2 teaspoons of ground coriander and 1 teapsoon of ground cumin (not the seeds I just toasted, but more cumin) into the frying pan - you may want to add less in case you don't like corainder and cumin as much as I do!  Then I put some olive oil in the pan, on the opposite side to the spices and fried about 2/3rds of a chopped onion (I chopped it quite roughly and in hindsight think that finer would have been better), two cloves of crushed garlic and a few chopped chillies with the seeds.

Once this had cooked, I added one can of tomatoes (I can't remember what brand but they were Mexican flavoured, had some paprika etc. in them), one can of large kidney beans (drained) and one can of black beans with the brine or whatever they're in (I can't remember the brand, but they're the organic ones - I prefer the taste).  I then added a bit of water, and brought it to the boil. Once boiling, I then turned down the heat a bit so it could simmer. Towards the end I added the cumin seeds, a couple of teaspoons of crushed chilli from a jar (it wasn't spicy enough!) and some salt.  It was sooo good!

I had thought about using a can of brown lentils in place of one of the cans of beans, so I might try that next time.  It also would have been good with some vegies such as finely chopped mushroom, peas / carrots / corn, capsium, brocolli etc. It might be also be good with some fake cheese or nutritional yeast sprinkled on top.

The night before that we made tacos for dinner.  Fiona heated up a can of chilli beans and cooked the taco shells (both just from the supermarket) while I made guacamole from avocado, crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. We then made a salad with baby spinach leaves, bean sprouts and a chopped green chilli, with lemon juice and balsamic vinegar.  Put the beans in the taco shells followed by the guacamole then salad. Top with chopped cherry tomatoes. Yum!

Can you tell I'm still obsessed with beans?! Tonight I'm going to the Ponsonby Food Court where once again I'll have a delicious Mexican meal with beans!

I've never been a fan of fake meat apart from vege sausages, but Fiona bought a pack of vegan chicken burger patties from the Tofu shop (on Dominion Road, Auckland) and I've been loving them - we even had them for dinner two nights in a row! Instead of using buns we've been using spelt bagels from Mamata Bakery (Richmond Road, Auckland) - you can buy a bag of six frozen bagels if they're out of fresh ones or you simply want to stock up on them like me.  

The burgers themselves are pretty straightforward - fry the patties, toast the bagels, throw them together with some avocao, hummus, mustard, onion, beetroot, lettuce or spinach leaves and tomato!

It's nearly BBQ season again - I think I'll have my first one next week, after daylight savings begins - so I may be adventerous and try some more fake meat - last summer I had some BBQ'd chicken nuggets that my friend Kat got from the Health & Vegetarian store in Mt Albert.  I also want BBQ'd tempeh, tofu, eggplant and I'd like to try a few different ideas with the tofu this summer. Yum, I can't wait!

Although it has been open for quite some time now I only managed to go to Shaky Isles in Kingsland for coffee for the first time this past weekend.  I had the Whittakers Mocha which was really good! I think it's just a regular mocha but with a Whittakers dark chocolate sante bar in it.  So so good!  But beware trying to eat the chocolate and have a conversation at the same time - it's quite messy! Also, for those of you who don't drink coffee, it may not be worth going there - one of the people I was with asked for a chai and was told "we only make coffee".  Perhaps we should have guessed by the name of the cafe.  I had a look at their menu and was happy to see that they have a vegan option for breakfast and that they have gluten free bread available. I think I'll be going there for brunch this weekend!

As a designer, it was one of the best looking cafes I've seen in some time. They obviously take care with the design of their menus and their branding and the look of the cafe - it is quite different to other cafes but it definitely suits what they're about and was refreshing to see. 

While in Kingsland I also finally saw the new Mexican place I'd heard about but never been able to find - it's where the pizza place was, Kalamaloo or something like that?  Anyway, I'll also be goign there for dinner as soon as I can! 

Shaky Isles Coffee Co
492 New North Road
Kingsland
Auckland
0-9-815 3591

My current food obsession is beans! I want to eat them every day, and I think I have actually eaten them every day for a couple of weeks, whether I've been eating at home or eating out. I love them all! Mexican beans are my favourite, from the refried beans on vegan Hell pizza to the Mexican cafe or the Mexican at the Ponsonby food court, or canned chilli beans and hash browns at home for breakfast. 

I'd bought a can of organic black beans from the supermarket and attempted to make a bean dip to eat with corn chips, however I put in waaaay too much red onion and it was barely edible.  A ton of sweet chilli sauce later and I was able to eat the dip but must have had pretty bad onion breath! From memory I think I made it similar to hummus - some onion, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, sweet chilli sauce and maybe some coriander. Next time I'll just add the tiniest amount of onion... 

I'd told my friend Kat about the bean dip disaster and she mentioned how when she was in America her friend would heat up a can of black beans which the sauce from the can, drain the sauce and serve with guacamole and salsa.  So a couple of nights later that's what I made for dinner.  It was pretty good, although I would have preferred something else with the beans as they were a bit bland.

Another favourite as I've mentioned before is the blended cannellini beans! I've been eating the leftovers with corn chips, so yum! 

I'm also loving edamame beans - I've always ordered them when going out for Japanese food, but have discovered that you can buy frozen bags of them from the Tofu Shop.  We've been keeping a few bags of them in the freezer, they're a tasy and healthy snack, and quite cheap at around $3 a bag.  You just need to bring a pot of water to the boil, empty the bag into the pot, cover for a couple of minutes, drain and serve!  

Let me know if you have any other suggestions for meals that include beans! Or tell me what your current food obsessions are!