Vegetarisk Festival 2018 - Copenhagen VegFest

Last weekend we ventured to the Copenhagen VegFest, also known as Vegetarisk Festival 2018. I was gutted all year that I missed this event last year, so I wasn't going to let it slip this time. It was indeed a lovely happening with loads of good food. It actually turned out that everything was vegan and not just vegetarian. The location was a beautiful park close by the beach on the seaside. The weather was okay on the weekend, so it was a lovely day spent there.

We sampled several new and old vegan products, like Oumph! a Swedish protein product made from beans. Have you seen this product in shops elsewhere outside of Scandinavia? Also Hälsans Kök, Edgy Veggie and many more were there offering some tasty samples.

We ate Argentinian empanadas with portobello mushrooms, black beans and sweetcorn freshly grilled on flame. They were absolutely gorgeous, and gave me an inspiration to make my own empanadas.

The delightful Happy Not Dog truck was also there, and we had their vegan hotdog with all the traditional ingredients in gluten-free bread and rice-lentil patties with salad and dressing.

The food was so good. I could've eaten so much more there, but had unfortunately different dinner plans for the evening. Next year I will go prepared with a suitable hunger!

Here are some photos from the event. I hope you'll enjoy looking at them.

 

Broad bean and fennel stew

What busy times there have been. I will try to tell you everything in due course, but first I just wanted to get this dish posted quickly. It has mainly been work, so nothing really exciting, but I also have a couple of photo stories from some Copenhagen vegetable happenings for you.

It's still summerly and warm, but I slowly start craving for more wholesome warming dishes like soups and stews. So I made this vegan broad bean and fennel stew also containing carrots, romano pepper, heirloom tomatoes and peas.

I got the inspiration for this dish online when I was looking for broad bean and fennel recipes. The recipe is originally by Vicky Jones, published in her book Out of the Pod, and then re-published by Hodmedod's, where I found it. I have altered it for my means, so the version below is mine.

It was such a nice and comforting dish, and I can't wait to eat more of this kind of food in the autumn. I have also bought my first winter squash of the season, which I will be delighted to cook soon. But here is now this stew recipe.

Broad bean and fennel stew

Ingredients

1 fennel

1 onion

3 tbsp olive oil

2 red carrots

1 small romano pepper

2 garlic cloves

2 large heirloom tomatoes

1 cup broad beans

1 cup peas

½ cup red wine

1 tbsp vegetable stock powder

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

Fresh thyme

Method

Cut the fennel into slices and chop the onions. Heat olive oil in a pan and start cooking the onions and fennel in it. Cook them until they are soft and browned.

Slice the carrots and pepper, and add them to the pan.

Chop the garlic finely and also add it to the mix, followed by the cubed heirloom tomatoes, broad beans and peas.

Season the mix with vegetable stock powder, salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Let the mix simmer for a while and then add the wine to it. Simmer it under the lid for about an hour. Season with some fresh thyme.

Serve the stew with the side of your choice: crusty bread, potatoes etc.

I'm sharing the recipe with this month's Eat Your Greens hosted by Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen and co-hosted by me. Again, the dish doesn't look fully green, but it does contain plenty of greens and other vegetables.

Have further a nice week!

Your VegHog

Olive rolls

How has your week been? It has been another busy one for me, but luckily it's Saturday now. I haven't been at home much this week, and I feel like I haven't slept much, but now it's time to relax. The weather seems pleasant, warm but not too hot, so we will be going to town for lunch soon.

I still haven't managed to bake any lovely berry tarts or such this summer, but I've baked a lot of different kind of rolls. This is a recipe for olive rolls that are always quite popular in our household. They are easy to make and are just lovely freshly as breakfast.

Olive rolls

Ingredients

200 g wheat flour

200 g spelt flour

1 tbsp dry yeast

1-2 tsp sea salt

250 ml lukewarm water

4-5 tbsp olive oil

1 cup green olives

Sunflower seeds

Method

Mix the flours, dry yeast, water, olive oil and salt and knead to a dough.

Carefully fold the olives into the dough, and let it rise under a teatowel for about one hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 250 C.

Shape rolls from the dough, put some sunflower seeds on the top (and the bottom, if you wish), and bake for about 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

In My Kitchen in August

Oh dear, it's already August and I'm back to my own kitchen after the holiday. I brought some Finnish products home with me, like my old Kuksa that was still at my mum's place. It's a wooden cup in the style of what Sami people in Lapland use. Mine isn't unfortunately such a Sami original, but it's nice nevertheless. Here are some more items from Finland.

I ate quite a few of these Vihis while I was in Finland. It's a vegetable pie in a deep-fried doughnut dough type of pastry, and they are just so tasty. Traditionally these pies are meaty, but now a few veggie brands have appeared in the shops, and they seem to be a great quick snack.

The perfect accompaniment with Vihis are Crafty Ciders dry apple cider made by Saimaan Juomatehdas. I think I've mentioned this product here before, but it's worth talking about more. The cider is unfiltered and made from apple juice in a traditional way, and it's also vegan and gluten-free.

This Pässi IPA goat IPA was also a very pleasant drink with a nice label.

I brought these dried crushed peas and dried whole broad beans in Finland, and they will be a really handy dry staple in my kitchen. I've already made some burger patties from the pea crush, and might publish the recipe here soon.

I cooked a creamy and cheesy vegetable bake with courgettes, carrots and cauliflower for my family, and it actually went down pretty well. It's a shame that all the vegetables are hiding under the cheese, otherwise it would look quite vibrant.

So that was my haul from Finland pretty much aprt from th eusual rye bread and favourite cheese. I haven't bought as many strawberries this summer as I would like to have, but got to enjoy them a few times. However there is still time!

I tried these vegan cheeses by Astrid och Aporna, and I'm not sure, if I like them that much. I think that the smoky one was alright, but had quite a rubbery texture. I didn't like the vegan parmesan, as the flavour was too strong for me, although the texture was fine in that one. What's your favourite vegan cheese, any recommendations? Or do you perhaps have any ideas, in what sort of dishes should I use the rest of these not to waste them?

Finally I want to share a breakfast pizza with you, as it's the finest thing to have the next day after you've been making pizza. I think that a homemade pizza is always tastier the next morning. This is a pineapple pizza, my favourite!

I'm sharing this post as usual with Sherry from Sherry's Pickings and the In My Kitchen challenge.

Your VegHog

Cabbage fried rice

It has been a busy week with quick meals and hot nights. The temperatures are still high, which makes sleeping at night very difficult. Now I'm finally a bit fresh again after sleeping a long night. I'm preparing late breakfast while I write this post. Today we'll have savoury oat porridge made with oat milk and oaty spelt rolls with cheese. Then we are planning to head to town to the vegetable market, where there is also currently a stage for the Copenhagen Opera Festival. I'm not the greatest opera fan, but if I can get a little bit of culture while shopping for my veg, I'll be very happy.

Now as the theme of the week was quick cooking, this is a really quick vegan stir-fry dish that I favour on many weekdays. Only the vegetables and protein are variable, but the basics are the same. It's always a good idea to hold a basic stock of soy sauce, miso, mirin and sesame oil, as you can make really flavourful meals with them. I chose crunchy red cabbage as the main vegetable for this dish, and of course there had to be some tofu.

Cabbage fried rice

Ingredients

125 g tofu

Vegetable oil for frying

1/4 red cabbage

4 small carrots

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

2 cm fresh ginger

1 red chilli

1 tbsp white miso

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 cup jasmine rice

Method

Cut the tofu into cubes and fry them in vegetable oil until golden brown. Set them to side.

Cook the rice while you do the prep.

Slice the cabbage, onion and carrots, and chop the garlic, chilli and ginger finely.

Fry the onion and carrots in oil, shortly followed by the garlic, chilli and ginger. Then also add the cabbage and the sauces to the pan. Let simmer for a little while.

Mix the tofu and rice into the vegetables. Serve and enjoy!

Your VegHog