VeganMoFo 01!

This is my first VeganMoFo post. And this is the plan:

1. Blog about anything food, nothing specific, just eats and drinks, for the first few days, to get me started.
2. Fusion dinners. I’ll try (try!) to make mix food from different cultures
3. Anything brunch or snacks
4. Food that reminds me of Mauritius or inspired from Mauritian cuisine (yes, I don’t blog enough about Mauritian food. So, here’s a chance! I’ll add in my own personal touch to them)

Well this is just the plan…I’ll try as much as possible to stick to this but we’ll see!

So, for my first post I’m going to talk about my experience of British food (or more so English food)!

When I first went to England in 2004, the food was a shock to me. It was plain and bland and I thought I could never ever like English food at all. One food that struck me most was the Jacket Potato more so because of the name than what it really was. Why do they call it ‘jacket’ potato? I would wonder. Well, it’s simply a baked potato served with the skin on. It is very commonly served with butter, sour cream and chives, but also very often stuffed with anything-that-comes-to-mind when the folks go bonkers! It is pretty interesting but I took a while to try and like it. But now, I totally looooooove it! Jacket potatoes can be a very nutritious meal if served with healthy low-fat ingredients.

Well my choice of filling this time was lentils sautéed in tomato sauce.

For jacket potatoes, the best potatoes to use are floury ones (or ones labeled as baking potatoes). They should be baked for an hour and half to two hours in the oven depending on the size. But I cheated and steamed them for 20 minutes first, then baked them for 45 minutes until the skin was crispy.

Jacket Potato with Lentils

Ingredients (4 servings)

4 medium to big baking potatoes

Filling:

1 cup (180g) black lentils
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 red onion, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon demerara sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon dairy-free cheese powder (I used the Free and Easy Dairy Free Cheese Flavour Sauce Mix)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon (or to taste) coarse sea salt
Parsley for garnish

• Brush and wash potatoes.
• Bake potatoes at 190 degrees Celsius (for 1½ to 2 hours) until the inside in cooked and the skin is crispy. (Or you can cheat like me!)

To make filling:

• Boil lentils until tender but not too mushy. Drain water (or keep to use in soups later on) and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a non-stick pan.
• Add onions and sugar and stir for a few minutes.
• Then add in tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes until liquid is slightly reduced. (Alternatively add water if required if too thick)
• Add cocoa powder and cheese powder. Sprinkle with thyme. Cook for one more minute.
• Add lentils. Stir and mix well. Adjust consistency with some water if required.
• Add salt. Sprinkle with some chopped parsley.
• Make a cross incision on the baked potatoes. Slightly open them and stuff with filling.
• Enjoy warm!