Displaying items by tag: vegetarian and vegan foodie

And I don't mean in a dirty kitchen... CookDaily, at BoxPark in Shoreditch is where the likes of Skepta and JME eat on a regular basis. The brothers are vegetarian and vegan, teetotal and fans of these delicious meat-free dishes. 

Tonight I made Pakora with a bag of out of date spinach which was just begining to wilt. Use any vegetables that you have shrivelling in the bottom of the fridge.  Just cut the vegetables into slices, or shred according to their density.  Remember that courgettes will cook a lot quicker than chunks of carrot. I have yet to find anyone who doesn't wolf down a plate of these delicious Indian snacks. Gram or Chickpea flour is easy to find, usually with gluten free products on the supermarket shelf, from wholefood shops or anywhere 'ethnic'.

Pakora are always popular in our house. Very often I make them with chard as I have it growing in the garden. Pakora are one of those snacks that you can whisk up quickly if people turn up for happy hour and you want something hot and crispy to nibble on.

Lunch today was at Josef's Vegetarian Cafe in Bury St Edmunds.  This cafe reminds me of the late 70's and 80's.  Days of Bagwhan and the Rajneeshees when they were resident at their commune in Herringswell.  Bright decor and the smell of patchouli with a slight hessian look going through to the Lizard Room.  The food is very good.  I ate the Felafel with spicy salsa, cucumber and yoghurt raita in a warm hummus pitta.  The salads which were not mentioned on the menu were particularly good.  But oh, the service.  So laid back man. 

What to do on a weekend as miserable as this except cook? Last Sunday I went to Brick Lane and only had a fiver, although you can get a good meal for that I wanted to try more than one, so I was looking for the best bargains. I had two crispy filo pastry 'cigars' stuffed with feta and spinach for a £1 from one stall, and a box of four Vietnamese spring rolls for £3 from another. That left £1 for a  juice. As I was watching the lady make the spring rolls to order - they soak the paper in water, fill them with salad and satay sauce and roll up - I decided to try it myself, so have been to buy a pack of the papers.This is the quickest, easiest, cheapest, healthiest snack I have had in a long time. I used peanut butter with soy, honey and lime to make the satay sauce, and the sweet chili sauce that most of us have now for dipping. My spring rolls were not as good looking as hers, but tasted the same! if you can't get the papers let me know and i'll send you some.

Yes, there was only one.

Great to see the slightly hippy, bohemian Rainbow Cafe in Cambridge is still going strong.  It was one of East Anglia's first vegetarian restaurants and opened in the 1980's. Lunch yesterday was Gado Gado ( the picture does not really do it justice) resh seasonal vegetables stir fried and served Indonesian style with turmeric brown rice and side dishes of peanut sauce, plum sauce and tamari added an extra punch of flavour. What a fantastic menu of interesting vegetarian world food.  I fancy the Vegan Artichoke Parcel next time.

All you vegetarians and vegans - fed up with the unimaginative offerings in most restaurants and pubs? I had a really nice lunch here at this completely vegetarian pub a few miles out of Needham Market. What a treat! No meat!

Seven starters, eight mains, seven puds - plus a specials board.  And you can get takeaways and freezer meals too.