Saturday 31 March 2012

Pierogi! Ahem, Pyrohy!


Oh. God. Pierogi's. My heart. Melts. Just thinking about you.. I was introduced to these little bundles of pure sunshine many many moons ago by one of my greatest friends Talia; a Ukranain who once swore to me that she would attempt to eat at least 'one of every Animal in the world'.. Oh boy, I miss that girl. And so, in her honour I have created a vegan perogi, or as she would say, Pyrohy(pronounced, Pe-ra-hair).

(nb. Making pierogi's takes hours! So, I recommend making at least 100 per sitting)

Recipe:

- Mashed Potato
4-6 large potatoes
1/2 cube vegetable masell
1 large garlic clove
Milk and nutelex as required

- Dough:
3 cups plain flour
3 TBsp coconut oil
3/4 cup of water(or more)

Method:

 - Mash:
Boil the potatoes with crushed garlic until tender. Drain the water, add stock cube, nutelex, and “milk” to the potatoes, and whip everything until smooth. You want to get it nice and creamy, so try to work out all the big lumps.

- Dough:
Stir together flour, water, and oil until you get a workable dough. Knead for about three minutes, keeping your fingers wet to keep the dough from drying out.

- Assemble your pierogi:  
Grab a handful of dough and Roll out onto a floured surface using a floured rolling pin. The dough should be spread thin but sturdy enough to maintain without ripping. Cut circles in the dough using a egg round or a glass. Take about tablespoon of the filling and place it into the center of the dough. Fold into a crescent and pinch closed. You can use a fork to compress the seal if you like, it's all a matter of personal choice, either way, make sure the seal doesn't have any gaps, as this will keep the pototo from escaping during cooking(and leaving you with a limp dough sack). Set each one aside on waxed paper until you have all completed.

- Once all pierogi's have been assembled you can either Freeze them for later use (gently layer within waxed paper so they do not touch, freeze over night. Once frozen you can transfer them to plastic bags or containers) or COOK THEM!



 - Cooking your pierogi: Boil a pot of water, then add the pierogi. Boil for about five minutes, or until each pierogi floats to the surface of the water. Scoop out or drain off water. Add a kind dose of butter and leave it to melt for a minute or two. You can now chose to eat your little joy drops straight up (Maybe with some vegan cheese. Onions. Fakon. Soy sour cream etc) or you can Fry the suckers (gently until golden brown on each side).  Serve with some greens or other colours and INHALE! 


How many can you do?

Friday 2 March 2012

The New healthy eating plate.


The new Healthy eating plate courtesy of Harvard School of Public Health

The new healthy eating plate was released by the Harvard school of Public Health recently and it endeavours to show you a quick and easy guide into how each meal should be planned. The general healthy eating guide is 1/2 Vegetable(including a small amount of fruit) 1/4 whole grains and 1/4 protein. It also advises to limit red meat and avoid bacon, cold cuts and other processed meats and replacing unhealthy saturated fat with healthier unsaturated vegetable oils. Also not making a huge showing is Milk and dairy, in which you are also advised to limit... Interesting stuff huh! I have been trying to follow this general plate rule since becoming a vegan (thanks to the Kind diet) and find that it is so much easier to have a guide to go by.

Following you will see the new healthy eating pyramid as well as the age old eating pyramid. Noticing the changes that are being observed and recommended by such high nutritional authorities makes me pretty happy that people are starting to realise that animal and animal bi products are not necessary! All awareness is success!


New Healthy eating Pyramid


Previous USDA Food Pyramid