Vegan and vegetarian food scene in Copenhagen – Part 2

I started this Vegan and vegetarian food scene in Copenhagen series in June about good places for vegetarians and vegans to eat out in Copenhagen. If you missed part 1, you can find it here. Back then I introduced three lovely restaurants in Copenhagen offering nice vegan and vegetarian food and where I'm a regular (by the way, Madenitaly have gone fully vegan in the meanwhile).

Today I want to write again about three restaurants in Copenhagen. Two of them are vegan and one is a vegan and vegetarian friendly place.

Plantepølsen

• Jægersborggade 39, 2200 København

Plantepølsen, aka the plant sausage, is a fairly new addition to Copenhagen's vegan scene, as they opened the restaurant this year, but they have already become my favourites.

They make vegan gourmet hot dogs with creative toppings. The hot dogs are so tasty and their different homemade vegan sausages are of very high quality. The menu never gets boring, even if you visit them more often.

This small restaurant is located in Jægersborggade in Nørrebro. It's a nice street with small shops and cafés, and I really like spending time in that area. Next weekend they will have a Christmas street party, which is always a great event. I really hope to get some vegan sausages then!

Souls

• Nørre Farimagsgade 63, 1364 København N and Melchiors Plads 3, 2100 København Ø

Souls is a vegan restaurant offering high quality local food and cocktails in their two branches in Copenhagen. Their portions are colourful and inviting. Unfortunately I've only managed to visit them once, but the food was really tasty, so I'll have to go again soon.

They have a versatile menu for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. Their dinner menu includes for example diverse vegan burgers, ramen, pizza and salads.

When I was there, I had a tasty seitan sandwich and my friend had a pancake stack with fruit. It was a lovely place for a cosy lunch. By the way, my photos were taken in much warmer times, no more outdoor dining here!

La Neta

• Nørrebrogade 29, 2200 København

La Neta is one of my regular places that I like to visit especially for a relaxed Saturday lunch. It's a Mexican restaurant serving tacos and quesadillas, and they have many vegan and vegetarian options. They also serve good quality craft beer by Mikkeller and other brewers.

I like the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant, and the food is outstanding. My main favourites are potato quasadillas, refried beans quesadillas, Mexican rice and totopos with refried beans, but they have several other options that I also occasionally enjoy.

Here are links to the websites of these restaurants, if you want to have a browse: Plantepølsen, Souls and La Neta. What do you think of these places? Would you be interested in visiting some of them?

Have a great Sunday!

Your VegHog

Pan-fried brussels sprouts with roast potatoes, beurre blanc and cauliflower cheese

One month to go until Christmas Eve! I think I'm ready, although time is flying awfully fast. I thoroughly enjoy this time of the year. It's nice to see streets getting Christmas lights and Christmas markets opening. It's dark and cosy and I think it's almost better than the big fest itself. What are your feelings about this? Are you already preparing for or thinking about Christmas?

Today we will put our lights up, and will heat the first mulled wine. I haven't fully decided yet, how to put the lights, but we will only have a couple of simple light chains.

Today's dish already fits the seasonal theme. It's something that I would happily eat as a veggie Christmas dinner, a dish of pan-fried brussels sprouts with roast potatoes, beurre blanc with green and pink peppercorns and cauliflower cheese.

Pan-fried brussels sprouts

200 g brussels sprouts

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 garlic clove

Salt

Ground black pepper

Trim and cut the brussels sprouts into halves.

Cook them in water for a few minutes until almost tender.

Heat the butter and oil in a pan.

Press or chop the garlic clove finely.

Fry the sprouts with the garlic and season.

Roast potatoes

300 g potatoes

Vegetable oil

Salt

Smoked paprika

Peel the potatoes and half or quarter them depending on the size.

Cook them in water until almost done.

Drain the water and shake the pot a little bit to give the potatoes a fluffy surface.

Add some oil and season with salt and smoked paprika.

Place the potatoes on a baking tray and roast in the oven at 200 C for about 40 minutes until they have a crispy surface.

Beurre blanc

1 small onion

150 ml white wine

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

125 g butter

Pink peppercorns

Green peppercorns

Chop the onion finely and heat it with the wine and vinegar.

Reduce until about the half of the liquid has cooked off.

Remove the onion with a sieve leaving just a clear liquid.

Add the cold butter into the liquid, a small piece at a time and keep whisking.

Finally add the peppercorns to the sauce.

Cauliflower cheese

1 cauliflower

1 garlic clove

1 onion

Vegetable oil

1 tbsp vegetable stock powder

Salt

Ground black pepper

100 g grated cheese

Cut the cauliflower into florets and cook them in water until nearly done.

Chop the garlic and onion finely and cook them in vegetable oil until soft.

Add a little bit water to the onion mix and stir in the vegetable stock powder and season.

Place the florets in an oven dish or small ramekins, and add the onion mix on the top.

Cover with grated cheese and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.

That was it, quite a bit of components, but nothing complicated. This dish is my EatYour Greens contribution for this month, and it's actually also the last round of 2018. You still have time to submit your recipes until end of November, if you want to take part! Eat Your Greens is a vegan and vegetarian cooking challenge hosted by Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen and co-hosted by me.

Have a nice weekend!

Your VegHog

Chickpea and spaghetti squash curry

I bought another spaghetti squash, because there have been so many around and they are quite cheap at the moment. I've quite grown into liking spaghetti squash, as it can be slipped into so many dishes, like curries, veggie lasagnes, pasta sauces etc. I always roast the squash brushed with oil and then just scoop out the flesh. Have you tried any other cooking methods with it?

Now I made another curry with spaghetti squash. I also added bell pepper, chickpeas and red lentils to the curry, and it was really wholesome and flavoursome. The bell peppers brought the slight crunch and nice red colour, and the red lentil added nicely body to the sauce. Chickpeas are of course always good in warming curries.

The curry is fully vegan, and also quite a budget meal, if you want to save some money before Christmas. Have a look at my recipe below.

Chickpea and spaghetti squash curry

Ingredients

½ spaghetti squash

1 red bell pepper

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves

1 red chilli

2 cm fresh ginger

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1/3 cup red lentils

Vegetable oil

2 tbsp garam masala spice mix

½ tsp ground turmeric

1 tbsp vegetable powder stock

250 ml coconut milk

1 cup jasmine rice

Method

Roast the spaghetti squash in the oven, and scoop the flesh out once it's done.

Soak the lentils in water.

Chop the vegetables and start cooking the onions in the vegetable oil.

Add the garlic, chilli, ginger and bell pepper to the pan.

Than add the chickpeas, lentils and spices.

Stir for a while and then also add the coconut milk and let simmer until the flavours have blended nicely.

Stir the roasted spaghetti squash in.

Cook the rice and serve it with the curry.

Enjoy!

I'm sharing the recipe with My Legume Love Affair #122 hosted by Renu from Cook with Renu.

The cooking event was started by Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook and is now hosted by Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen. It's a lovely cooking challenge for vegan and vegetarian food featuring legumes.

Your VegHog

In My Kitchen in November

I wanted to give an update of what's been going on in my kitchen. There has been only little cooking going on, I must confess, or the cooking has mainly been done by my partner, as I've been busy with other things. But I still have some nice new things to share with you.

I have a new cactus that looks really nice on the window sill in the kitchen. I bought it at a local street fest and put it into one of my Finnish tea tins.

There have been more flowers in my home, like these cabbage flowers and protea. They were so irresistable looking in the market so I had to get them.

Have you tried tomberries? Apparently they are world's smallest tomatoes. I had never seen them before, but of course had to get them now. They are just tiny tomato balls, and quite a neat idea to add to salads etc.

This chilli powder is a great spice addition to many Mexican style dishes. It's not too spicy, but adds a nice flavour.

I tried risotto chips with roasted tomato and basil flavour, which were quite nice. It's good to have different snacks once in a while.

Here are some various vegetables and fruit that I've cooked with, and below are some recent dishes that came from my kitchen.

My partner's seitan steak with mashed potatoes and leeks. He makes such good seitan dishes, and this steak was just perfection.

I regularly make these twice-baked potato skins with leeks and cheese. They are so comforting.

Good old rice and beans combination for a weekday dinner.

These huge bean burgers were a great purchase, such firm patties. I served them with halloumi and tomato-chilli sauce.

I'm sharing this post with Sherry from Sherry's Pickings, who is hosting the In My Kitchen challenge.

Have a nice weekend!

Your VegHog