Monthly Archives: August 2012

Moroccan Chickpea Tagine with Fragrant Brown Rice

Posted on August 28, 2012 by | 1 Comment

This recipe has quickly become one of my favourites to impress friends with something a bit different. The lemon and olives give it a unique punchy flavour and can be made with various different vegetable. I have used courgette, but it would certainly go well with aubergine, green beans, carrots or squash.

On this occasion I served the dish with a fragrant brown rice. I always flavour my rice. You can use ingredients like allspice berries, cardamom, garlic, ginger or chillies; almost any spice or herb in fact. Why wouldn’t you when it’s so easy and lifts rice up to a whole new level. If you wanted to be really authentic you could serve the dish with coriander couscous. Continue reading →

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Slow Roasted Tomatoes with Chilli and Garlic

Posted on August 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

You wouldn’t know it if you saw the chaos surrounding us sometimes but we Veggie Runners are actually pretty efficient. This is a handy dish to pop in the oven while you’re out for a quick run or catching up on your sleep or maybe your laundry (runners do a lot of laundry…) Continue reading →

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Ras el Hanout Tofu Steaks

Posted on August 23, 2012 by | 7 Comments

Ras el Hanout is a North African dry rub, with dried peppers, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, and my favourite of all, rose petals and lavender. I love the idea of eating flowers, so byronesque, beyond romantic. You can get it in North African shops and, increasingly, supermarkets, which where I got mine.

Tofu is like a sponge for flavourful foods. I’m sure the flavours would develop beautifully if you had time to marinate the tofu for several hours, but I did mine on the fly, giving it 20 minutes after the veg had first gone in the oven, and it still had a surprising depth of flavour. I used to think that pressing tofu to get rid of the water was a throwback, but it actually vastly improves the consistency of the grilled steaks. (I think I may have been confusing it with salting aubergines.)

What this recipe is good for:

A. was doing his first triathalon, so we wanted something lean but tasty for dinner on Saturday to get him prepped. It was a short version of sprint distance (400m swim, 20k bike and 5k run), so he didn’t feel he needed an absolute mass of food or any carbo-loading. The colourful veg provided nutrients, and along with tofu and brown rice were a perfectly balanced meal.

 

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Author Interview: Run Wild, Boff Whalley

Posted on August 22, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Veggie Runners were recently lucky enough to interview Boff Whalley, author of Run Wild, a book its publisher describes as ‘A passionate and beautifully written narrative about running and the world of discovery and adventure it brings.’ A reasonable assessment, we think. Boff is a long-time runner, passionate about getting off the beaten track and exploring the wilderness. He’s also vegetarian, which makes him double-cool in our book. Thoroughly nice chap too.

‘Not long after I started running. Competing in the Three Peaks race. Around 1989?’

VR: How would you define ‘wild running’?
BW: Basically I wanted to come up with something that encompassed lots of different kinds of running, that didn’t put people off – something that might include both mountain running and canal bank running, two-day desert marathon running with parkland running. Continue reading →

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Book review: Run Wild, Boff Whalley

Posted on August 20, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Run Wildauthor, Boff Whalley, running on Otley Chevin.

Review
Run Wild is equal parts advocacy and eclecticism. Author Boff Whalley is passionate about finding places to run that are off the beaten track, whether that be hills, fells, parks, river banks or towpaths. He’s evangelical about getting out there and enjoying what nature has to offer, whether you’re starting from a city base or can get out into the wilderness.

The book is made up of random thoughts on running, covering Boff’s childhood in Burnley to life in a band and brief pop stardom (he was a founding member of the band Chumbawumba) and all points in between. I’ll admit that, as an academic whose brain screams out for structure, I found the higgledy-piggledy nature of the book (his description, not mine) hard to get to grips with at first.

Suddenly, though, it all fell in to place. This is just like running, I thought. The way your brain shifts around from place to place until you’ve found a rhythm and you find yourself following a completely unexpected train of thought. Once I’d let go of the need for structure – a metaphor for wild running if ever there was one I suppose – the book’s shifts from Lancashire Mormons to Coleridge to obesity statistics made sense. Continue reading →

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96 miles of madness

Posted on August 17, 2012 by | 3 Comments

I don’t know if I’ll look quite this jolly when it’s all over… I do know Bibi will be just as sweet though.

This post should really be entitled ‘My preparations for running the West Highland Way’ but ’96 miles of madness’ seems more apt somehow. It is a long way, as everyone I mention it to points out. And it’s a bit disconcerting when people gasp and/or grimace, even more so when they say things like ‘Are you INSANE?!’ Continue reading →

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Vegan Pesto (aka The Besto!)

Posted on August 16, 2012 by | 6 Comments

This recipe comes from our fabulous Canadian friends, Lehna and Jamie (who are known to their adoring public as burlesque goddess, Champagne Sparkles, and sound artist Jamie Drouin).

This is a stunningly straightforward vegan pesto that (sharp intake of breath) gives some of our own recipes a run for their money in the ‘yow, that is delicious!‘ stakes. Luckily, there’s always room in life for fabulous food (big sigh of relief).

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Cheddar and Dill Sauce

Posted on August 14, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Oh man, this sauce is lip-smackingly delish and it takes 5 minutes to make (yes, 5 minutes!!) It’s great with baked potatoes or pasta so perfect for runners who are carb loading in advance of a race. It’s also great for everyone else because it’s so yum. But here’s the science on carb loading if you want to know why runners should do it. Continue reading →

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Nasi Goreng

Posted on August 12, 2012 by | 7 Comments

This post is part of Meatless Mondays, a movement hoping to reduce our meat consumption, and environmental footprint. If you’re not veggie, it’s great to step out of your usual patterns, even if only to experience some great new food.

Nasi Goreng

Malaysian Breakfast food.

 

My friend Mollie first introduced me to this Malaysian breakfast dish. I was instantly hooked – it’s convenient if you have leftover rice, uses up the veg in the bottom of the fridge drawer and most importantly is ridiculously tasty .

Some people make a little one-or-two egg omelette at first, remove it from the pan, cut it into slices, to be added later when the veg has cooked through. If that sounds nice to you, give it a go. I do it my way, with a fried egg on top, for two reasons
a) I love the mixture of the unctuous yolk mixing with the sharp and salty sauce at the bottom of my bowl
b) that’s how Mollie taught me it.
You can do whatever you like best – isn’t that nice?

I like mine to be very gingery & spicy, as it means I need less of the salty soy sauce, but you know your own palette, so adjust the first ingredients accordingly. Use whatever veg you have on hand, chopped very small and evenly so it cooks at the same time. My favourites are frozen peas, cooked in the microwave first, tenderstem broccoli or julienned carrots.

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Mattar Paneer – aka Cheesy Pea Curry

Posted on August 8, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Paneer is an Indian cheese that adds great texture to curries and kebabs. If you’re a bit more committed you can make it yourself by straining curds in muslin, but I just buy it from Indian shops or larger supermarkets. Mum used to make it herself when she was more of a hippie. Maybe you can persuade her to share the recipe, if you’re so inclined.

The paneer I buy is ready-cubed, but you can buy it in a block and cut it up into 2cm cubes with a sharp knife. I keep mine in the freezer and take out handfuls as needed.

I originally found a similar recipe in one of my first Nigella Lawson cook books. I like the fact that you can make this from your store cupboard, and it seems like a bigger effort than it is. This goes into the day-to-day repertoire very quickly.

Paneer is a source of both protein and calcium, and the vitamin C in the peas helps your body absorb the latter.

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