Quick vegan Phở-inspired soup.

As a combination of it being flu times (myself, I was struck down by it pretty badly last weekend) and us having to, once again, move houses within the next month or so; I slowly started the project of cupboard cleaning to minimize our packing. You see, at the back of my kitchen cupboard a package of pho-style rice noodles have been lying around ever since I picked them up from the Asian supermarket months and months ago with the intention, of course, to make some vietnamese style soup.  Time to get them to use!

With all the herbs and spices involved, pho is definitely quite the flu killer! Normally, the broth would be left cooking for hours on end – but let’s face it, ain’t nobody got time for that (especially when you are in a race against the limited hours of daylight to get some decent photos! #bloggerproblems anyone?)

VEGAN FRIENDLY PHO

→ 2 litres vegetable broth
→ 1 onion
→ 3-4 garlic cloves
→ 2,5 cm ginger
→ 3 whole star anise (I used tarragon)
→ 3 whole clove
→ 1 cinnamon stick
→ 1-2 tbsp soy sauce
→ 1 package wide rice noodles

Toppings: Fresh Thai Basil, Fresh Coriander, Fresh Mint, Spring Onion, Bean Sprouts, Sautéed Mushrooms, Sautéed Tofu, Peanuts, Sriracha, Hoisin, Lime, Chilli Peppers

(Toppings marked in bold are the ones I used)

1. Cut ginger, garlic and onion – add in large skillet with vegetable broth, star anise, cloves + cinnamon and bring to a light simmer. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes, then add soy sauce to taste.
2. Meanwhile, prepare your toppings. Chop herbs/peanuts roughly, lightly fry some mushroom/tofu. Follow instructions from the noodle package on how to cook them.
3. When everything is ready, sieve the broth before adding to a bowl with noodles + your preferred toppings. Time to dig in!

Celebrating bidsummer, vegan lemon curd & floral crowns.

Happy Midsummer – and here is a cavalcade of photos! Since my 23rd birthday took place on the 23rd, and the following day coincided with the Swedish Midsummer, I took the liberty of creating my very own holiday – namely BIDSUMMER (birthday midsummer, get it?) yesterday.

The weather was gloomy here in Scotland so I turned the living room into a floral haven and set the table with veganized versions of dishes with typical midsummery flavours, such as elderflower, strawberries, dill and new potatoes.

As our main we had Vegoteket‘s dill- and lemon marinated tofu and parsley cream along with Annie/Vegokäk‘s French new potato salad with asparagus. As for dessert, I made a cake with aqua faba meringue, vegan lemon curd, coconut cream and strawberries marinated in mint, olive oil and lemon. It was D-I-V-I-N-E!
To wash it all down the mandatory nubbe of some leftover rum and licorice (Tyrkisk peber!) and elderflower cordial mixed with prosecco.

Sweet Potato & Roasted Chickpea Buddha Bowl | with Tahini Dressing.

I sort of “came out of the veggie closet” the other day at work, all that consumption of hummus and soy cappuccinos must have given me off. The overall reaction was the common sort of why’s and you are crazy’s and the big Q of carnivores “but what do you eat then?”

I felt a bit like well… what do I NOT eat? You know, apart from limbs from other beings etc…

And then I go home to make something as stereotypical as a bowl of veggies. But oh darn, I don’t mind being a stereotype if it tastes this good!


I follow Minimalistbaker’s recipe as a starting point, but use the following:

→ 2 large sweet potatoes
→ 1 bundle broccoli
→ 1 red onion
→ 2 large handfuls baby spinach
→ 2 tbsp coconut oil
→ 1 can of chickpeas
→ cummin
→ garlic powder
→ paprika
→ chili powder
→ ½ dl tahini
→ 1 tbsp syrup
→ ½ lemon, juiced
→ 2-4 tbsp hot water to thin
→ salt + pepper

1. Start oven at 200°C.
2. Cut sweet potatoes in halves and bake for about 10 minutes using coconut oil.
3. After 10 minutes, flip the potatoes over and add the red onion cut in wedges and the broccoli. Bake for another 10-15 minutes.
4. While veggies are roasting, toss the chickpeas with seasonings and add to a large heated skillet with 1 tbsp oil. Stir frequently until they have browned, about 10 minutes on medium heat will do the trick.
5. Mix together tahini, syrup and lemon juice. Add hot water until you have reached desired consistency.
6. Slice the potatoes in bite size pieces, divide the veg in serving bowls, sprinkle with roasted chickpeas and drizzle over tahini dressing. Enjoy!

My staple foods.

Way back in February, Frida made a post on her staple foods and I figured it was such a great concept of a post that I wanted to make one myself. (Thinking slightly of this Banksy)

So these are the groceries that are most likely to end up in my shopping basket.

The fantastic four of vegetables for me are definitely zucchini, avocado, sweet potato and mushrooms. I also tend to by plenty of broccoli (cheap, tasty, full of goods), bananas (favourite fruit) and of course ginger, onion and garlic for cooking.

I also down a pint of hot water with half a squeezed lemon each morning, so I like to stock up on those too.

I am not a big salad fan, but I adore spinach and we always have a big bag ready in the fridge for salads or working undercover in smoothies.

To bunker up on coconut cream and canned plum tomatoes are like the first aid kit for me. Not knowing what to cook? Just throw together a curry with those poor carrots that have been laying at the bottom of the fridge for the past weeks!

Same goes for rice and lentils. I also bulk buy dried chickpeas from the Asian supermarket, and use it to make hummus or blend into flour for nuggets or peazza.

A fresh basil plant often gets to adorn the kitchen window sill during the warmer months. We pinch off the full grown leaves and let the teeny ones keep growing, making sure to water it of course.

Oats are of course a must, as they are part of my daily regime and perfect to use for cookies or flapjacks when the sweet tooth kicks in.

We also get whatever plant based milk is on special, oat or soy most often.

Rice cakes and corn pasta are pretty dope to have around for us with sensitive to wheat bellies.

Soy sauce, coconut oil and vegetable bouillon to lively up the cooking…

… along with red curry paste and peanut butter aka the love of my life.

Finally, I always make sure to have some syrup, tahini and the second love of my life nutritional yeast.

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What is a must in your grocery bag? ♥