All posts tagged: coconut

Vegan baking for the Vegan Challenge

Published by

I haven’t posted many entries on The Bruges Vegan lately, because I was busy posting a series a vegan baking recipes on our other blog veggieleven.be. In April 2015, I posted a vegan baking recipe daily, to match the Vegan Challenge (a campagne of the Dutch organisation NVV). So all in all 30 recipes for pies, cookies and muffins! We’ve been vegan for quite some years now, and I’ve baked many goodies in that time, so I thought it would be a good occasion to show newbie vegans or those trying a vegan lifestyle that baking pies, cupcakes and cookies without animal ingredients is … easy as pie! 🙂 Some of the recipes were already posted on the Bruges Vegan, and some other are favourites of mine or recipes which I consider to be good introductions into the world of vegan baking. You can see the overview of all recipes in this blogentry on veggieleven.be. Here are some more pictures.       I’ll be posting some of the vegan baking recipes here too in the upcoming months!

Coconut lime muffins

Published by

These are my new favourites! I’ve only made these coconut lime muffins once so far, but I’m sure I will be making them many more times again! A pretty straightforward classic muffin recipe, with a tropical twist. Close your eyes and think lime cocktails, beaches with coconut trees, and enjoy your muffin 🙂 Ingredients coconut lime muffins (vegan) 1 cup all-purpose flower 1/2 ts baking powder 1/2 ts baking soda 1/4 ts salt 1/3 cup coconut oil 3/4 cup sugar 1 cup coconut milk 1/4 cup soy milk 1 ts vanille extract 1 ts coconut extract 1 tbs or more grated lime zest 1 cup dried shredded coconut Preparation Preheat the oven to 180° (350°). Put paper liners in a muffin tin (12 muffins). In a small bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan. In a large bowl, mix the sugar with the melted coconut oil. Add the wet ingredients: coconut milk, soy milk, vanilla extract, coconut extract and lime zest. Add the dry ingredients …

#20 Restaurant Lan Na Thai, Mechelen **

Published by

Restaurant review #20 – Lan Na Thai is a Thai restaurant in the center of Mechelen (Malines). It’s about a big 5 minute walk from the market place. (** See NOTE at bottom of post) We made a reservation for a Saturday evening, at 7PM. Good thing we made a reservation, because the restaurant soon filled, and the owner had to refuse several patrons. It’s not a big restaurant (I’m guessing about 20 to 25 seats) and tables are placed pretty close to each other. Update  – see below –  The menu on their website mentions several vegetarian dishes separately, of which most seem to be vegan. We asked whether the vegetarian dishes we ordered did not contain any dairy or egg, and the waitress confirmed – although seemingly a bit confused by our question at first – that they didn’t. Nonetheless we did get a bowl of prawn crackers as a free appetizer, not really reassuring. Let’s hope the staff in the kitchen was more knowledgeable (one is of course never 100% sure when dining out that everything served is vegan). We …

#15 Restaurant Rosenobel, Antwerp ***

Published by

Restaurant review #15 – Rosenobel just opened a couple of months ago. It was announced in several media as being a vegetarian restaurant, although they also serve non-veg items. On their website they state to have a ‘vegetarian inspired kitchen’. We had already emailed to ask whether they also have vegan items standardly available and got an affirmative reply. Great! The restaurant is located at the foot of the cathedral in Antwerp, and although we knew this, we walked by several times in search for this restaurant. There is no sign on the front wall with the name of the restaurant, and given the lounge seatings behind the front windows it’s not really apparent this is a restaurant. To be clear and prevent you from wandering in the cold like we did: if you are facing the front entrance of the cathedral, restaurant Rosenobel is located on your left. We were there for lunch on a Saturday and the restaurant was remarkably quiet (just one other table besides us). Vegan items are not indicated on the menu …

#6 Restaurant Chang Thong Thai, Bruges **

Published by

Restaurant review #6 – Chang Thong Thai is a Thai restaurant in a small alley next to ‘t Zand. Their online menu card lists several vegetarian/vegan dishes seperately. We’ve already heard some experiences from other vegans and vegetarians about this place, so we decided to go check it out ourselves! It was a good thing we made a reservation for dinner, because shortly after we arrived, the place was packed (on a weeknight). Although it is in the city center, we hardly saw any tourists probably because it’s not in a main street. There’s a small area upstairs with some tables as well, but since the toilets were located there we decided to take place at one of the tables downstairs. Tables are stashed pretty close next to each other, which made us a bit uncomfortable (hearing every word of the conversation of the couple next to you, willingly or not, is not really enjoyable). Comfy arm chairs though. This is dining in a traditional Asian style setting (well, you know, Western Asian style), with buddhas statues …

Zaboer Asian Food, shop Bruges

Published by

Shop review #1 – After our restaurant visit to restaurant Chang Ton Thai (review will follow) we accidentally stumbled upon this Asian shop just around the corner, next to ‘t Zand: Zaboer Asian Food. Quite a surprise, also because it was still open at 21:30 (which is quite unusual for shops in Belgium, most close at about 6 or 7 pm). UPDATE: see below! It’s not very big, but has some specialities which are not so common to find, and may interest vegans: a wide variety of dried beans and lentils, some brands of coconutmilk that I’ve never seen before, and a good collection of spices and herbs (eg, I saw different kinds of kardemon pods, which are not so commonly available in regular shops around here). A bit messy and untidy place though, not all items were clearly labelled. Also noticed some items which were past their expiry date, eg a tiny flacon of coconut extract (yeah! never found this before!) which was a bit overdue, and as such I got it for free, thanks! …