Eating out

A busy weekend in London and Brighton with some snazzy eating fitted in.

For dinner on Saturday my friend and I went a-hunting for something to eat nearby to Euston Station. Our first attempt was Hummus Bros on Southampton Row however Mrs. Brains here failed to notice their opening times 'Mon-Fri'! Luckily it wasn't much of a walk to our next option, Orchard. This was located in quite a charming 'Edwardian arcade' and we took advantage of the mild weather and sat outside.
After a little confusion regarding how much bread was available, I ordered the soup of the day, leek and potato with a drizzle of chive oil, and this came with some yummy salty and nutty bread, like nothing I've ever tried before!

The menu also included a vegan sandwich and about 5 out of the ten 'plates' (of which they say you should buy 2-3 per person) were also vegan. The staff were very friendly if a little unclear about their bread situation! Prices were reasonable and we both felt lovely and full for just under £18 between us.

On Sunday another friend (hey little miss popular ay, 2 friends!) popped down to Brighton for a catch up and so we headed to one of my favourites, Wai Kika Moo Kau for lunch. I have always got the mini vegan breakfast here, it's just consistently great and a steal at £3.50. This time, however, I decided to break the mould and went for the bang-bang tofu wrap which was amazing noms. Baked tofu with coriander and lime and sweet and sour sauce on lettuce in a toasted wrap, mmmmm.

Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival

Quite a mouthful...literally! (oh I'm cringing at the awfulness of this pun already)

We took a delightful wander up and down New Road, Brighton today perusing the many stalls of the Food and Drink festival. Mushrooms, cider, jam, sausage, falafel, fish, all colours of the food spectrum represented.

Spied this awesome salad from a distance, I've never eaten flowers/petals before and it's something I really want to try! With so much food available though, salad wasn't going to cut it for lunch.

We then came across Titbits catering who had some really tempting nibbles on offer. They run a pop-up restaurant just down our road every Friday which we've been meaning to visit for ages but it's quite pricey and the right special occasion just hasn't arrived yet.

I went for a sweetcorn fritter with fresh tomato salsa and Josh opted for a sundried tomato sausage roll.

They both tasted sooo good and were presented so nicely, I almost don't want to mention that josh found a pebble when he tried a bite of mine! Luckily there were no broken teeth so we moved on unperturbed.

There were a few freebies on offer along the course of the road. I tried some delicious olives, if only my purse could stretch to such whims as my stomach demands!

We finally decided on trying this for lunch:

I was drawn in by the words 'banana curry' and thrilled to find out everything was Vegan. The kind lady working the stall talked me through everything. (I've got quite a low spice threshold!) Then she filled up my tub with mixed 'stir fried veg', layered on banana curry, added chili bean sauce and then topped with avacado and lime on top. We added a tiny bit of lime pickle at the corner too.

Fortunately we were less than a minutes walk from the pavilion gardens so sat in the sun having a munch! One portion of this was enough for both of us but we still had space to share a slice of Chocolate cake from the Vbites stall! (no photo as we were in a rush for the cinema, guess I'll just have to go back again!)

Is this my longest blog post ever? Big hug for sticking around. xx

Vegan MoFo

Vegan Month of Food starts on Sunday and what better excuse to get blogging again! Throughout the month of September I'll be blogging as regularly as poss. As you can tell by now I tend to dip in and out of things quite a bit but I'll be making every effort to commit for this special event. I'll be taking a lot of cues from here as well as a few things I've been meaning to post for a while.

In the meantime, here are some updates from me:

Wednesday marked the 1 year anniversary of living in Brighton with my BestfriendBoyfriend Josh. It really is the most fantastic city, exactly what I'd hoped for and there is still so much more I want to explore!

 I've just harvested my first red tomato! It was deelish and I'm looking forward to plenty more along with the odd sweet pepper if I can coax them to ripen. Last week I downloaded Instagram for our Ipad and that rosy beauty was my first upload. I'm not posting too much at the mo, (taking photos in public with Ipads looks weird doesn't it?!) but there are a few foodie snaps tentatively testing the water!

Till Sunday x

(Tr)eating out!

This weeks excitement comes in the form of two wonderful restaurant visits. The first, Terre A Terre, is somewhere I've wanted to visit for ages but never have (it's pretty expensive with posh gourmet food) and the second was SAF (Simply Authentic Food).

At Terre A Terre I was treated to this feast by my friend Lindsay, It's a mini version of each dish on the menu and really was fantastic. They were happy to alter the dish for me and gave us a great explanation of each bite (which I promptly forgot!) There was also a heavenly carafe of wine which I've been dreaming about ever since. Without wanting to sound cheesy it really was an explosion  - wait I googled a better word - eruption of flavours!

Whilst in London visiting friends on Friday we paid a visit to the Kensington Restaurant, SAF, which is located upstairs of the (unsurprisingly disappointing) Whole Foods Market - Basically a reeeeally expensive market for people who are too good for Waitrose. The restaurant is open plan within a canteen-like area which gave it a relaxed feel despite it being obviously posh. I had the:
Kerabu Rice Paper Roll
Rice paper wrap with baked marinated organic Saf brand tofu, Chinese cabbage, sprouted mung beans, mange tout, spring onions and bean sprouts with a miso sambal sauce

 I always strive to order things I haven't had before and this was no exception, the tastes and textures were exciting although overall I would have appreciated something a little starchy on the plate. Kind of ignorant to go to a restaurant with health and wellbeing at its core and then expect something naughty though! My friends had mushroom risotto made with bulgar wheat and Ratatuille Farinata so perhaps this is just another case of food envy on my part! I'd really recommend a visit, or at least check out the menu!

Another big treat this weekend was my second ever Thai green curry made with love by my friend Hetti (and 2 lowly peeler/choppers!) She even recreated the heart rice from last week, mega cute! 

Original Thai curry

Thai curry a la Hetti - Pretty perfect!

Everything's a teeny bit rushed today sorry! Starting my new job tomorrow!

Utterly Heavenly Butternut Squash Soup

Okay so maaaybe i've built this up a little too much, you'll have to make it and see!
Ingredients for four servings:
1 Large Butternut squash
1 Onion
1 Large clove of garlic
Olive oil
Water
Salt (& pepper if that's your thaang)
1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Chop the butternut, first in half lengthways, remove the seeds (save them!) then chop slices about 3cm thick and chop these into 3cm chunks.
3. Spread onto a baking tray and drizzle with oil, give it a mix to get them all coated. Put in the oven for around 25 mins - this can vary quite a lot with different ovens, take them out when they are soft and have just started to develop a tinge of brown on the edges.

 4. Whilst you are waiting for the butternut, chop the onion and mince the garlic, heat oil in a large pan and fry on a medium heat until translucent. I like to put a lid on to keep it very moist.
5. Add the roasted butternut to the pan and pour on enough water to just cover. Leave to simmer for 5 mins and take off the heat.

 6. When cool enough to do so, blend. If the soup seems too thick add extra water in small amounts.
7. Conduct the all important taste test, add s&p to your requirements.
8. Warm the soup and it's ready to serve.

Moreish toasted seeds
Remember I told you to save those seeds? These are my absolute favourite snack at the moment, not sure if it's because they are a rare treat or because they're so goddam moreish but I just have to share this with you.
1. Rinse the seeds to get rid of most of the butternut pulp.
2. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a frying pan
3. Fry the seeds untill golden brown
4. Add salt to taste and then nomnomnomnomnom.

This weeks meals:

Josh's Falafel & Houmous sandwich with  ginormous
wedges @Infinity foods cafe, Brighton

Garlic mushroom and bean chili jacket with a sexy
 salad @Infinity foods cafe, Brighton

Totes forgotten it's name but this was a wonderful Thai dish
@The Office, Brighton.
Look at that heart shaped rice! <3

Graduation, relocation and food creation.

It's now been two weeks since I moved to Brighton (with 5 smelly days at Bestival squeezed in somehow) and I feel I haven't even scratched the surface of this cosmopolitan metropolis. There's a wholefood store about the same distance from my new house as the village shop used to be in my childhood home so I really don't have any excuse for boring easy food (overlooking my inherent laziness of course). After much hunting I've managed to wrangle myself a job and so I can now finally become more devoted to this embarrassingly neglected blog.

Firstly, check out these burgers (or sliders as the 'mericans call 'em). I've only recently discovered Chef Chloe and there's a whole host of dishes on my to do list but this was the one that caught my eye first and I am soooo glad it did! It's not a cheap or quick dish to make (if you use dried black beans they need to soak overnight) but it will keep for a day or so in the fridge and makes about 8-9 pattys.

Wonderful gloopy goodness.

The mac 'n' cheese is next on my to-do list - watch this space.