Aldi and Lidl vegan products.

TheFortField

Deleted User wrote: »

I have a small (700 ml) cuisinart food processor that is very handy for making sauces or dips.

For those that like pesto or hummus -

A lovey creamy non greasy pesto -

2 cups of basil (or one cup of rocket & 1 basil)

1 clove of garlic

Juice of half a lemon

1/4 cup of a soft nut like - pine or raw cashew or walnut (best to soak the cashew or walnut in boiling water for 15 minutes before using)

2 heavy tablespoons of nutritional yeast

1-4 teaspoon of salt

3-5 tablespoons of water

Fire all into a food processor and blend.

Klopparama, thank you for sharing your pesto recipe! I made pesto last night and I shall never use the shop bought ever stuff again. It was really delicious and so easy to make. I made two minor changes, I limited the salt to half a teaspoon and I added some mint leaves. I'm going to try your hummus recipe next

davidjtaylor

Home-made pesto with fresh basil is to die for.

TheFortField

Absolutely, basil is my favourite herb, it's just delicious.
I love the fragrance too, I always have a couple of pots of basil on my kitchen window sill.....simple pleasures and all that!

igCorcaigh

Would I need a food processor to make pesto?
I only have a blender and nutri-bullet.
Might turn it into a foamy sludge

TheFortField

A blender or nutri-bullet will work perfectly for making pesto. I used my nutri-bullet as it's quicker and easier to clean than my large blender

igCorcaigh

TheFortField wrote: »

A blender or nutri-bullet will work perfectly for making pesto. I used my nutri-bullet as it's quicker and easier to clean than my large blender

Excellent! Might give it a shot then. I like the small container on the nutri-bullet. Good for stuff like this. Big blenders are wasteful. And pesto ingredients are €

That recipe should read 1/4 (quarter) teaspoon not 1-4 as in one to four teaspoons.

Only noticed that now.

So 1/4, a quarter, teaspoon of salt.

If you put in more than a 1/4 teaspoon of salt it would be inedible.

TheFortField

TheFortField wrote: »

Klopparama, thank you for sharing your pesto recipe! I made pesto last night and I shall never use the shop bought ever stuff again. It was really delicious and so easy to make. I made two minor changes, I limited the salt to half a teaspoon and I added some mint leaves. I'm going to try your hummus recipe next

That pesto added to a good quality pasta like a red lentil or chick pea pasta is great.

You could also add some chopped sundried tomatoes and or chopped olives.

Lovely with a glass of good quality red wine.

redlead

Obviously the carbon footprint of livestock and dairy is massive but was just wondering is there any decent research done on the footprint of our vegetables as they are often shipped from all over the place. It would be really really hard to restrict yourself to locally grown produce only.

davidjtaylor

redlead wrote: »

It would be really really hard to restrict yourself to locally grown produce only.

It's difficult to feed yourself totally with locally-grown veg. etc and still have a really varied diet. Nonetheless, anyone aware of the hidden costs of transport should do their best. The bulk of a western diet can be gotten reasonably locally and stuff from further afield used in moderation.

We definitely need more people growing veg., fungi, seeds, nuts, fruit and grains in this country, more polytunnels, more willingness to take responsibility for our impact.

I look at 'local' as being three-fold:

(1) the farmers' market down the road plus whatever you grow yourself (the impact of our peas, potatoes, grapes, apples, pears, tomatoes, rhubarb, cabbage, kale, spinach, garlic, onions etc are measured in food metres);

(2) food sourced within Ireland itself and

(3) food grown with these islands. Even without fossil-fuel transport, we can trade food with the UK.

You can get a huge variety of 'British Isles'-grown food - even quinoa and chia! Look at this lot, from one single supplier.

TheFortField

F.Y.I.

Spinach recall over Listeria contamination fears.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2018/0928/998636-spinach-recall/

davidjtaylor

duridian wrote: »

Thanks for the tips folks.

The reason I mentioned draining away the soak water waa something I read specifically about using raw almonds. It said that the soak water from almonds would contain pythic acid, which can inhibit the body’s ability to absorb nutrients.

duridian, came across more information about phytates in this nicely nerdy piece.

While phytic acid has a bad reputation, it has some benefits. In their 2002 review, Minerals and Phytic Acid Interactions: Is It a Real Problem for Human Nutrition?, Lopez et al point out that phytates can prevent lipid peroxidation, iron oxidation of colorectal tissue, and calcium-based kidney stones.

I was investigating the pluses and minuses of soy. The message I take away from the website is the usual one about just about anything in a vegan diet: moderate amounts are fine, possibly beneficial, caveats apply to people with specific conditions.