Recipe-Leek, Mushroom and Smoked Tofu Pie

I've been loving using leeks this week as our #vegoftheweek and this pie was a big hit with everyone. It was a bit of an experiment so I was glad it turned out well!

So here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 medium leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced
• about 8 medium to large mushrooms (you could add more or less I just used up what I had left in the fridge.
• 25g non dairy butter
• 1/2 pack smoked tofu diced into about 1cm pieces
• 2 tablespoons flour
• I pack Sainsbury's lighter shortcrust pastry (sheet one-just happens to be vegan) or you can make your own
• Unsweetened soya milk (other non dairy milk would work too but steer away from sweetened ones or natural sweet ones like rice milk)
• garlic powder
• pepper
• nutritional yeast (I used about two tablespoons but you can use more or less)

Method

• Melt the butter in  a large pan.
• Add the leeks and fry over a medium heat for a few minutes stirring occasionally.
• Add the mushrooms and continue to cook for a few minutes until the leeks are soft and mushrooms have released their liquid.
• When mushrooms and leeks have cooked to your liking then stir in the flour.
• Continue to cook for a minute to cook out the flour stirring so it doesn't burn.
• Start adding the milk a bit at a time. Let it thicken after each addition then add more if you want a thinner sauce. Continue until you have sauce of desired consistency.
• Stir in the smoked tofu cubes.
• Add pepper and garlic powder to your taste.
• Take off the heat and stir in the nutritional yeast. 
• Allow to cool.
• Roll out the pastry a bit thinner than the sheet you get in the pack.
• Line your pie tin or whatever you are using-I used a casserole dish lid.
• When the filling has cooled add it into you dish then top with the rest of the pastry sealing the edges.
• Cook in oven at 180c for about 20 minutes until nicely golden brown.
• Serve. I served mine with mash and broccoli. I had leftovers the next day with salad and wedges..both worked well !

Enjoy!

Danielle x

A look back on January and what's coming up next

Is it just me or did January go really quickly? 

I thought I'd have a look back at what All Food Matters has been up to!

Veg of the Week

I've been keeping going with the #vegoftheweek promoting a different seasonal vegetable each week to promote seasonal vegetables and encourage everyone to cook with them more.Check my Pinterest account for lots of seasonal recipes.

First up was the potato. I've been trying to get out to local farm shops this month and I got mine from Maydown Farm shop just a  short drive away. They made lovely mash but I also made a 'cheesy' sauce with them for a vegan macaroni cheese and made potato cakes stuffed with mushrooms and spinach.

Next up was Kale..already a favourite in our house. We had it plain steamed, cooked in a creamy sauce with muchrooms and made kale crisps..the second attempt were less burnt!

The third veg of the week for January was the carrot! We made carrot cake overnight oats which were lovely. Then we made carrot cake bites and finally roasted carrot and chickpea soup.

Finally this week..the swede.This has been my least favourite. I do like Swede but there were very few inspiring recipes and I find it such a pain in the bum to chop it up! Nevertheless We had it mashed with carrot for our vegan Burns Night supper and made swede gnocchi.The last bit of I spiralised and added to a salad.

It was also my birthday and I had a complete day off cooking altogether!

Shopping Local

I took a drive down to Letterkenny -about half an hour away-to the Artisan market there where I picked up my swede from Ballyholey Farm shop and some smoked sea salt from Jordan's Atlantic Foods. It s a good spot but it was a bit quiet-probably to be expected in January. I also took a run down to the market that happens every Saturday at Harry's Restaurant at Bridgend. Unfortunately there were no veggies at all but I did pick up some lovely locally produced sourdough bread from Scarpedillo &Co.

So my visits out had varying success in terms of buying more local veggies. I'll be continuing to get out and about and see where else I can buy them but it got me thinking about how we can buy local but from the supermarkets if we can't always get to farm shops. So I'm doing a bit of an experiment. This week I did my shopping as normal and then looked at where my fruit and veg came from.I didn't do too well on buying local-only my potatoes and mushrooms were Northern Irish. the worst offenders were plums from South Africa and Bananas from Colombia! Next week when I go shopping I'm going to try and increase the local produce in my trolley. I'm hoping some of you will join in!

Danielle x

Happy New Year!

I know it's a bit late but Happy New Year! As always, I've been a bit slow to get back up and running with everything after the Christmas break. This Christmas was my first as a vegan, my husband's first as a vegan and my children's first as vegetarians. Was it any different? Not one bit! I still overindulged and am now trying to get back to more sensible eating! But first I need to share a couple of my not so healthy discoveries that I thoroughly enjoyed at Christmas. Firstly..and don't judge me..but the only thing I was thinking I would miss at Christmas was Baileys. It's just something I always have and only at that time of year. So I was very excited when I discovered a vegan alternative..and even more excited when I tasted it and it was.,dare I say it, even nicer than Baileys (and a bit healthier..just a bit). It's called Besos de Oro and its made with horchata rather than cream. Horchata is a Spanish drink traditionally made from ground tigernuts.

 

Cheers!

 

 

If you can get your hands on some go for it! You can find the UK distributor on Facebook clickety click here Besos de Oro . Secondly, I like to get some special chocolates at Christmas (as opposed to the standard chocolate I indulge in the rest of the year!) and was very excited to try Booja Booja chocolate for the first time. I had heard great things about them and I wasn't disappointed..they are soooo good. I got mine in Holland and Barrett .They also do ice cream but I haven't found that where I live yet! For their Facebook page clickety click here Booja Booja

 

So I was a happy vegan with my treats but all good things can't go on forever or else they wouldn't be treats so now it is back to my campaign  which I am using as motivation for myself as well as trying to get lots of you involved too!

 

 

What's the campaign about then?

 

1. It's about trying to eat healthier..cutting down on processed foods, cooking more, getting more veggies into our diets, trying to curb our sugar intake, how we need to eat differently for the planet etc.

2. It's about trying to eat more seasonally and eating more local produce. Things taste better and are better for us in season and eating locally helps local producers/businesses and helps the planet. I'll continue to promote a seasonal #vegoftheweek and share recipes and would like everyone to get involved and get cooking!

3. It's also about trying to reduce food waste..again an envirinmental concern but also to save us all some money! So I'll be sharing any good advice and tips I come across.

4. I'll be promoting what is on offer locally..restaurants, coffee shops, cafes. farm shops etc

5. I'll be looking a bit about how we can also give 'growing our own' a go even if you don't have much space.

6. It's about anything else that I think would be of interest to do with food!

 

So..come and join me.

Twitter https://twitter.com/AllFoodMatters 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AllFoodMattersDerry/ 

Pinterest https://uk.pinterest.com/allfoodmatters/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/allfoodmatters/

 

bye for now

Danielle x

Welcome to All Food Matters!

Welcome to my new blog to support my All Food Matters campaign.

I'm a mum of two originally from Warrington but living in Derry for over 10 years (after previously living here for 5 years after University). For those that don't know Derry is located in the north west of Northern Ireland and is the second largest city here. It is relatively small-more like a town-and is surrounded by beautiful countryside.

So, what is this campaign about?

Well, I love food..love eating tasty food, reading recipes, love cooking.I am also really interested in the health implications and the environmental impact of what we eat. I have been vegetarian for over 25 years and turned vegan in January this year but could definitely do better on the healthy eating front! I am also really supportive of shopping local when I can.

So this campaign over the coming weeks and months will see me discovering what local businesses and producers we have in Derry and surrounding areas. Derry recently came second in the Irish Foodie Town competition so has a big foodie scene so there should be plenty to explore! I'll also be making more of an effort to eat more healthily and seasonally and sharing lots of lovely recipes. I'll also be looking at what we can to to reduce food waste and save us all some money in the process.

I'm hoping lots of you will join in and have fun along the way!

Danielle x

p.s. I'm also on Facebook, Twitter, Intagram and Pinterest just click the social media icons on the right toolbar :)