It’s official - Niki’s vegan curry could help battle Alzheimer’s Disease.

Full story from the Guardian:

How curry could help fight Alzheimer’s

Ian Sample, science correspondent
Tuesday July 17, 2007
The Guardian

Laboratory tests have shown that an ingredient commonly used in curries may protect against Alzheimer’s disease by boosting the brain’s natural ability to mop up nerve-destroying protein plaques associated with the condition.

The work was conducted by researchers at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Centre at the University of California after epidemiological studies suggested that diet might explain why Alzheimer’s disease is so rare in India.

Researchers led by Milan Fiala extracted immune cells from healthy people and patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and tested how well they absorbed and destroyed protein plaques, which many scientists believe to be the primary cause of Alzheimer’s. They found that immune cells from Alzheimer’s patients were worse at clearing up the plaques than cells taken from healthy people.

But when the team added an ingredient called bisdemethoxycurcumin, an active ingredient found in turmeric root, the immune cells became more active.

Further tests showed that the ingredient altered the expression of key genes in the immune cells, overcoming the damage that had originally weakened them.

The researchers said it was too early to know how the ingredient worked in the body and whether a lifetime of eating curries had any preventative effect against Alzheimer’s. Studies were continuing to see whether a supplement is effective.

“It’s not such a far-fetched idea that this could lead to a useful drug,” said Dr Fiala, whose study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

» Full article

Well don’t just sit there - Print out the recipe and get cooking !

It’s been ages since I wacked a recipe on here. So here’s an Italian creation..err… created by a Swede who lives in Tuscany. As you will see Ilva’s recipe is very quick and simple to make, and as you will see from the photographs on her site it looks very scrumptious.

SHALLOW PUFF PASTRY PIE WITH ONIONS, TOMATOES AND OLIVES

INGREDIENTS:

• Puff pastry
• Small fat and flat onions
• Small sweet tomatoes
• Olive paste
• Rosemary
• Salt
• Extra virgin olive oil

METHOD:
- Clean the onions and divide them in two before braising them slowly in some olive oil until soft.
- Roll out the puff pastry to the size and form you want, a good idea is to make several portion sized ones. Turn up or fold the edges all around.
- Spread out a thin layer of olive paste over the puff pastry, place the onions and the small tomatoes on top and then add a little fresh rosemary.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (175° C/347°F) until golden and crisp.

» You can find more at: http://lucullian.blogspot.com/

New recipe via the Post Punk Kitchen »

Mango Ginger Tofu
prep time: 1 hour | cooking time: 35 minutes | makes 4 - 6 servings

You can prepare this in several ways, it is fabulous as a grilling marinade. Here I give you conventional oven instructions. It’s tropical, warm, a little spicy and a little sweet. The marinade will fill your kitchen with the most amazing scent while the tofu is cooking. This amount will feed 4 to 6 if accompanied by some jasmine rice.

Equipment:

• 2 9×13 baking pans or 1 huge baking pan
• a blender
• medium sauce pot with a cover that fits

Ingredients
For the marinade:

• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh ginger, roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons peanut oil or veg oil
• 2 large mangos, roughly chopped (note: you will need one more mango when cooking the tofu, see below)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 cup white cooking wine (or vegetable broth)
• fresh black pepper to taste
• dash of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 2 tablespoon rice vinegar (use apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar if you dont have rice)
• juice of two limes
• 1 cup orange juice

Ingredients for the tofu:

• 2 blocks tofu extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
• 1 mango, sliced in long thin slices
• 1 red pepper, seeded and cut in long thin slices

Directions:
Make the marinade
In a medium sauce pan, heat the oil, add garlic, ginger and jalepeno, saute on medium heat 7 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add 2 chopped mangos and saute 5 minutes

Add pure maple syrup and wine, cover and simmer 35 minutes; Uncover and simmer 5 more minutes.

Add orange juice, vinegar, lime, black pepper, allspice and salt; Add mixture to blender, puree until smooth.

Prepare the tofu
Cut tofu blocks into 8 slabs each. Place tofu in marinade in a sealable plastic bag or tupperware. Marinate in the fridge for an hour and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 375

Reserve about half of the marinate. Lay marinated tofu in a single layer in baking pan. Cook for 20 minutes. Flip tofu over and add more marinade. Dredge peppers and sliced mangos in marinade and add them to pan. Cook another 15 minutes.

Heat up remaining marinade in a sauce pan and put in a bowl on the table (or floor, where ever you’re eating) so guests (or room mates, or who ever is eating) can pour it over the tofu. Serve over jasmine rice, with a steamed vegetable, such as aspararus or broccoli.

If you could excuse the unfortunate expression for a moment - …two birds with one stone with the latest….

Sorry. It is bad. Why do people keep using it. Isn’t there something better ?

*bit of a pause*

After a quick google yes there is !
Ticklebugs.com held a contest to create a better phrase.

So to love two animals with one heart…

A new recipe for a vegan pizza in video format:

and an addition to the Jukebox - the song used in the above clip:

My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - A Daisy Chain 4 Satan »

Enjoy.

[Borrowed this from the Vegetarian Society website. Hope you don't mind Jane.]

St Patrick’s Soup

This is a potato based soup that uses oatmeal for thickening. It can be served with warm soda bread for a complete Irish experience!

Ingredients

50g/2oz butter or vegan margarine
100g/4oz onions, sliced
225g/8oz potatoes, peeled and finely diced
225g/8 oz carrots, peeled and finely diced
225g/8oz mushrooms, sliced
225g/8 oz green cabbage, chopped
pinch ground cloves
1 litre/ 1 ¾ pints vegetable stock
100g/4oz oatmeal
Salt and pepper to taste
Single cream or soya cream to swirl (optional)

Method

1. Melt the butter / margarine in a large saucepan. Add the onions, potatoes and carrots and fry gently for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the mushrooms, cabbage and ground cloves and cook for 5 minutes more.

2. Add the vegetable stock and oatmeal, bring to the boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes

3. Allow to cool, then puree in a blender or food processor until the soup is smooth. (If you prefer a slightly chunky soup, just puree half the mixture.)

4. Return the soup to a clean pan and heat through gently. Season to taste. Serve in individual soup bowls with a swirl of cream on top if liked.

© Copyright The Vegetarian Society 2002

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This one of the recipes on the VegSoc website. View all of them here. 6 in all including Colcannon, Boxty and an Irish Coffee.

Ask Metafilter about some Vegetarian questions such as:

• Should I stop being vegetarian ?
• Can a canivore become a vegetarian ?
• Vegetarian dinner
• Vegetarian cookbooks
• Vegetarian Recipes

and of course…

• Recipes posted on ScouseVeg

Been a while since I posted a recipe.
Niki likes her vegan curry, I like my chili and I found an interesting one here:

Via the Recipezaar »

Easy Spicy Vegetarian Chili
Time: 55 mins (prep: 20 mins) - Serves 7

This is a very thick chili. The bulgur almost takes on the colour, form/texture of ground meat. Excellent with fresh bread and a garden salad or as a meal itself. Freezes/reheats well.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper,chopped
• 1 medium red pepper,chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cups red kidney beans, cooked (a 540ml can, drained)
• 2 cups chickpeas, cooked (a 540ml can, drained)
• 1/2 cup bulgur or couscous, rinsed
• 796ml diced tomatoes, canned
• 1 cup salsa, medium
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup canned corn niblets (frozen works well)

METHOD:

1. Heat oil in a large pot, saute onions, peppers and garilc for 5 minutes on medium heat.
2. Add mushrooms, saute 4-5 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients except corn.
4. Increase heat to high to bring to a boil.
5. Decrease heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Stir in corn, simmer until heated through.
7. Makes about 10 cups or 6-7 servings of 1 1/2 cups.

» Link to original site with recipe

Today (Tues Feb 20th) is Pancake Day.
Below is a recipe from Foods For Life for a Vegan pancake recipe:

Basic sweet Pancakes ©

Ingredients
- 1 mug of organic self raising flour
- 1 mug of fortified Rice Milk or apple sweetened soya milk or Quinoa milk
- 1 dessertspoon of arrowroot
- 1 dessertspoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon of fructose (or Xylitol )
- 1 lime.
- 1 Lemon
- Agarve syrup for drizzling
- 1 Punnet of strawberries, frozen blueberries or raspberries

Method
1) Blend together flour, arrowroot and milk with 3 teaspoons of Lemon juice.
2) In a very hot non stick frying pan put a dribble of coconut oil and enough mix to barely cover the bottom of the pan. Swirl the mix around in the pan to get an even thickness.
3) Wait for bubbles to rise and the mix to start to set. Then toss (or flip) and cook the other side.

To Serve
Serve with squeeze of lime, a drizzle of agarve syrup, your favourite berries and sprinkle of fructose sugar. ( if you are on a weight loss plan try a lower carb sugar such as Xylitol )

—————————-

There are lots more variations such as chocolate and savoury on the site. Go to:
http://www.foodsforlife.org.uk/recipes/vegan-pancake-recipes.html

Jane O’ has a recipe for World Vegan Day:

Winter Vegetable and Pumpkin Curry

Ingredients:
450g/1lb pumpkin flesh
2 onions
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp olive oil
900g / 2lb selection of vegetables e.g. leeks, onions, parsnips, carrots, celeriac, swede, mushrooms, fennel
1tsp ground coriander
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground fennel
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp ground ginger
60g/2oz of ground coconut
30ml/10fl oz /1 ¼ cups
Vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Cube the pumpkin flesh. Dice the onion and crush the garlic clove. Place the pumpkin, onion and garlic in a saucepan with one table spoon of olive oil and sweat the vegetables until they begin to soften. Cover the pan and continue to sweat the vegetables until the pumpkin is soft. Process or mash the pumpkin and onion mixture until a smooth puree.

Cut the vegetables into pieces that will cook in an equal amount of time. Place in a saucepan with the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil and sweat the vegetables until they begin to soften and brown. Add the spices and cook for two minutes.

Dissolve the creamed coconut in the vegetable stock and add to the vegetables in the pan. Bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are just cooked. Add the pureed pumpkin, mix well and continue to cook for another 5 minutes to allow the flavours to blend. Season with salt and black pepper and serve with rice and salads. The dish freezes well.

Seek and ye shall find a very nice recipe for Saag panir, vegan-style.

Ask Metafilter is exactly that. You post a question on the site and people will respond with helpful tips, suggestions and links.

A couple of days back someone asked for some vegetarian Indian cooking tips and recipes and amongst the responses the recipe for paneer (Indian fresh cheese) appeared.

Click the Saag Panir pic to view the Vegan Feast Kitchen blog and recipe »

Direct link