TASTY VEGAN TREATS FOR CHRISTMAS

TASTY VEGAN TREATS FOR CHRISTMAS IN KEEPING with our founding editor’s stance on animal welfare and vegetarianism, and Spiritualism’s long and proud legacy of improving the lives of animals (more about that at another time), we are pleased to offer four tasty, cruelty-free recipes, for the Christmas table or holiday party season, with which to tantalize your guests.

Not only were Maurice and Sylvia Barbanell vocal in their support for animal welfare, his spirit guide, Silver Birch, had staunch views on the way humankind treats other species of life, explaining: “When you have reached the stage that you are aware of the responsibility you have towards all other forms of creation, then automatically you cannot contribute to the cruelty involved in their slaughter, and that is an index of your spiritual development.”

With the upsurge in popularity for vegan (plant-based) food, we have invited Amber Wallbank, Psychic News’ circulation manager and editorial secretary (and also a vegan), to share four of her own recipes, for Gingerbread Vegans, Italian Rosemary and Red Onion Hummus and a wonderful dairy-free peanut choccy treat called Vickers (it rhymes with another well-known chocolate bar and tastes very similar).

There is also a sumptuous recipe for one of the tastiest meat substitutes available, called Seitan, which is made from (wheat) gluten flour.

Enjoy experimenting with Amber’s tasty offerings, knowing that no animals have suffered in their production. Although offered as “Christmas” treats, we suspect you’ll be enjoying them throughout the coming year.

Photo: Amber Wallbank

Italian Rosemary and Red Onion Hummus serve as a party dip with breadsticks or crudités Serves 8 Preparation: 10 minutes Cooking: 5 minutes 600g tinned cannellini beans (1½ tins) 1 tbsp tahini 2 garlic cloves 1 sprig fresh rosemary + extra for serving 2 red onions Juice 1 lemon ½ tsp salt ½ cup (120ml) olive oil + 1 tbsp for frying 1. First, dice the red onions and fry in olive oil until browned.

2. Then drain the water from the tinned cannellini beans and empty them into a food processor along with the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Blend until combined.

3. Allow the fried onions to cool and add to the food processor with the rosemary and salt and blend again until all ingredients are combined.

4. Allow the hummus to cool in the fridge before serving. Add a few rosemary leaves as garnish.

PSYCHIC NEWS | DECEMBER 2017

27

FEATURE

Gingerbread Vegans serve with coffee, as a festive party snack or as part of a Christmas hamper Makes 16 cookies Preparation: 20 minutes Cooking 10: minutes 350g plain flour + extra for rolling 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon 125g Stork vegetable shortening 175g light brown muscovado sugar 4 tbsp golden syrup 1 tsp Orgran egg replacer (to 2 tbsp of water) – this is now widely available in supermarkets and health food stores.

Usually found in the ‘Free From’ aisle.

4 tbsp icing sugar or white writing icing Photo: Amber Wallbank

Vickers keep these indulgent treats in the fridge until it’s time to eat them Serves 8 Preparation: 20 minutes Cooking: 5 minutes

1. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon into a food processor.

2. Add the vegetable shortening and blend until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

3. Next, beat the golden syrup and egg replacer until combined and add to the food processor along with the sugar. Combine until the mixture begins to form a doughlike consistency.

4. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a smooth ball. Then wrap in clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

5. Turn the oven to 180°C and line two (approximately 20x30cm) baking trays with baking parchment.

12 pitted dates ¼ cup (60ml) almond milk ¾ cup (146g) peanuts ¾ cup (190g) crunchy peanut butter 4 tbsp golden or maple syrup 3 tbsp coconut flour 200g Bourneville chocolate

6. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface until 0.5cm thick.

1. Place the dates, almond milk and one third of the peanut butter (¼ cup, 63g) in a food processor and mix until combined – don’t worry if the dates haven’t blended completely.

8. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

2. Take out the blade of the food processor and add the peanuts – mix with a spoon until combined well, then spread the mixture into a baking parchment lined freezer proof dish, approximately 10 x 15 cm.

3. In a bowl, mix together the rest of the peanut butter, syrup and coconut flour until creamy. Spread this on top of the other mixture until even.

4. Freeze for at least 2 hours (or overnight).

5. Place the chocolate in a bowl and allow to melt over a simmering pan of water on a low heat.

6. Take the Vickers out of the freezer, place onto a chopping board, remove the baking parchment and with a sharp knife cut lengthways down the middle and then into bars of approximately 3cm in width.

7. Take the chocolate off the heat once melted and with two forks, take each peanut bar and coat it in the chocolate.

8. Place the bars onto a baking parchment-covered tray and place in the fridge until the chocolate has hardened.

28

PSYCHIC NEWS | DECEMBER 2017

7. Using roughly 7 x 9cm gingerbread people cutters, cut into shapes and place on the baking trays – making sure to leave a gap so they don’t melt into each other.

9. Once removed from the oven, leave them to cool on the tray before transferring them to a wire rack to cool until ready to ice.

10. If using icing sugar to decorate, combine with a little water (start with a tablespoon) until it’s runny enough to decorate with but still thick enough not to run off the cookies.

11. You can use a piping bag to decorate or a cocktail stick dipped in the icing for a basic gingerbread cookie finish.

Photo: Amber Wallbank

FEATURE

Savoury Seitan Steak be creative with this wonderfully chewy vegan meat substitute Serves 8 Preparation: 20 minutes Cooking: 65 minutes

1. Put all ingredients into a large bowl and mix with your hands until a dough is formed.

This is a basic recipe for making seitan – the perfect replacement for meat in any recipe. Once made, you can keep it in the freezer and defrost for one to two hours before use.

2. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 3 minutes.

Slice, chop and shred it to suit any recipe.

It can be fried, grilled or barbecued. Play around with the recipe until you find the consistency you prefer – firm or soft. And you can add other ingredients to change the flavour to suit you. This recipe is for a fairly soft but chewy centre, crispy on the outside.

4. Simmering liquid: 4 cups (960ml) of vegetable broth 4 cups (960ml) of water 2 tbsp (35ml) of low salt soy sauce

For the dough: 2 ½ cups (250g) Vital Wheat Gluten Flour (available from Amazon) 3 tbsp of yeast flakes (or ½ tbsp of yeast extract) 1 cup (240ml) vegetable broth/stock ¼ cup (60ml) low salt soy sauce 4 tbsp lemon juice 4 cloves garlic finely chopped 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger (or dried)

3. Break into 2 pieces and knead each one for a further 3 minutes. Form each piece into a ball.

5. Put all ingredients for the simmering liquid into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and then simmer on a low heat.

6. Place the 2 balls of dough carefully into the liquid and simmer for 45 mins. Turn over halfway through.

Take off heat and leave for 15 mins.

7. Drain and slice into required shapes/ sizes and fry on both/all sides until the outside is crisp.

ENJOY!

WHY I BECAME VEGAN

By Amber Wallbank CHRISTMAS is an exciting time of year for many; the presents, the festive cheer and the food. But unfortunately for a lot of vegans, the food aspect can make this joyous time of year uncomfortable to say the least.

Whether it’s the relatives forgetting to cook the potatoes in oil instead of goose fat, or the contradiction of seeing an advert of a dead turkey surrounded by a happy family, Christmas can be a difficult time for vegans.

I’ve been vegan for seven years and was vegetarian for a year beforehand. My decision to cut animal products from my diet was, at first, a purely moral one, after discovering exactly how the meat, dairy and egg industries work. I won’t go into any gory details, but I hope many readers will decide to research this for themselves.

After doing more research and talking to other vegans, I started to discover just how detrimental these industries are to the planet and the effect that their products have on our health.

I firmly believe it is our moral obligation to go vegan; for the animals, for the planet and for our own well-being. And it’s so easy!

The first week I turned vegetarian, I thought I would starve to death. “What do I eat?” is all that ran through my mind. I felt like I’d put a barrier up between myself and food; if I could last a week, then that in itself would be an achievement.

Then, all of a sudden, this world of food and flavour burst open in front of me. I soon became passionate about food and the multitude of recipes out there that I had never even known about or acknowledged before. It was as if that week of struggling to find food I could eat had pushed me through the looking glass and into this marvellous world where I could eat whatever I wanted, consequence free.

This feeling increased tenfold when I became vegan, and continues to increase with each year as I learn more about the endless list of vegan recipes available to us and my own collection expands. n PSYCHIC NEWS | DECEMBER 2017

29