I'm back ...with some onion crackers

Back to the routine! Or almost, because luckily am not at school yet: It will start in two weeks. Ugh! It will take me some time to get used to it again: getting up at 6:00 AM (although now I get up more or less at the same time, at least I know that I am not in a hurry and I can have breakfast slowly), taking the bus, having lessons until half past two, waiting for the bust for 30’ (or 40 if there are traffic jams), having dinner at 4PM, doing homework and studying….and start all over again! Sounds boring, huh?

So I am trying not to think about it and enjoy instead my last days of vacations. Or at least all I can enjoy it while revising for school and doing my research project (I would never thought that transcribing interviews would be so time consuming! >.<)

At the end, I didn’t reach the 1.000 photos (ohhhh!...), but I have lots of them anyway. Because putting them all in one post would be a guaranteed crash for your computers (and maybe for my bandwidth too), I will divide them in many posts. After all, I would like to write more Russian (and Catalan and Spanish) recipes, and that photos will be perfect to go with them.

I don’t have any typical Russian recipe yet, but I am already thinking about how veganize some of them (because most of them are not vegan). But the problem is….which food is typical Russian food? If I had to decide looking at what people eat every day, I would have to say that Big Macs and kebabs (at least in Moscow)are traditional Russian food, which of course is not.

Another reason why it took me so much to post anything is that after coming back from Russia, I was not able to relax for a simple reason: I didn’t have my baggage with me, which the air company lost. Luckily, they found and returned it to me two days after….but what a shock!

Savory Onion Crackers So I don’t have a Russian recipe yet, but a review for an Indian one instead: savory onion crackers (nippatu). This crackers are my contribution to the September edition of Tried&Tasted, created by Zlamushka. This month the featured blog is Madhuram’s Egless cooking and the event is hosted by Poornima of Tasty Treats. It will be announced soon, but you can already look for a recipe to try in  Madhuram’s website =) This is the second month that I officially create the T&T logo! =D I created the first ones just because I like graphic design, but Zlamushka asked if I would like to be the T&T logo designer and I agreed ^^ This month I used the photo of the onion crackers. My verdict? Delicious! I baked them two days ago, and there are only two crackers left, lying in the fridge (it’s unbearably hot here. Even nuts go off with that heat! We keep our gomasio in the fridge, just imagine! T_T). I was a little bit hesitant at the beginning because of the onion. I was sure that I would like it, but I could not say the same about my family. But they loved them even more than I did! I recommend adding some extra salt and sesame seeds on top before backing for more crunchiness. They taste great cold or warm, but if you store them in the fridge but don’t like cold treats, try to put it under the grill or in the toaster (with the accessory for buns, or your cracker will fall). Microwave can turn them too soft (at least for my taste) I changed very little things: I didn’t have cilantro leaves, so I added 1 teaspoon of dried dill and ½ spoon of Provence herbs instead. I substituted the butter with margarine and used 1 cup of white flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour.

An alternative to classic chickpea hummus: white beans with avocado

Have you ever wondered why does time pass faster when you don’t want it to pass fast? It’s already July, and I almost haven’t realized it. Thanks to everybody for you words after my disappointment with the job. I suppose you are right: I will find something better =)

There is a heat wave in Spain now. At this moment, I think that it would be colder in an oven than outside. I don’t know how does people survive in the Sahara, but I don’t envy them. My father has been struggling with the air conditioning, but it has been a waste of time: the temperature is still so high that we even had to put the chocolate in the fridge to prevent it from turning in an almost done hot chocolate.

My mother told me that I was born in 30’ minutes, and I think that such a fast birth affected me, my brain and my common sense, because today I went running at 5 p.m., during almost one hour, at 32ºC. Nevertheless, I have survived, and now I am sitting in front of the laptop, in the living room (I escaped from my tiny bedroom at its stifling atmosphere), next to the fan (it’s better than nothing, although I have the feeling that it only moves the hot air) and sweating buckets (after finishing the post I will dash off for a shower), but very happy.  Some people don’t understand why I love running, they say it’s a torture, but for me the endorphin injection after it worth all the effort. I also love the feeling of the blood moving through the veins and the heart bombing it. It makes me feel alive =)

Now, it’s enough of talking about running, and let’s talk about food. After all, we need food to run, to cycle, to walk your dog or even to move your fingers to type on the keyboard (in case is the only exercise  you do). The problem is that when it’s hotter than in the hell (I have never checked it personally, though, if you are wondering), the last thing you want to is to be near the stove. Actually, the last days I forgot about my morning oat porridge, and substituted it with cold granola (it was the first time I did it and I burned it) and green smoothies. But because I am not a raw vegan, although I tried to go high raw for a time, I can’t survive on smoothies, and my body also craves some protein.  The solution? Delicious, creamy, highly nutritious and the best of all, cold, hummus. You can even do it without turning on the stove, just opening a can….although with such a heat wave I think that it would be enough to make you sweat.

White bean avocado hummus This time I wanted to try an alternative to the classic chickpea hummus, and I chose white beans. Just plain they have a creamy texture, but to give them more creaminess I also added avocado, but left outside the tahini (mainly because I didn’t have any). Nevertheless, I thought that it needed some nutty touch, and I threw a little bit of peanut butter …and of course, olive oil for the fatty acids (and extra flavor).  I encourage you to try different versions, substituting the white beans with black beans, kidney beans, cannellini beans or why not, chickpeas. Serve with diced avocado on top. From: my own creation Ingredients: -1 cup of cooked white beans -1 ripe avocado -2 Tablespoons of peanut butter -2 Tablespoons of olive oil -Salt and pepper to taste -Water as much as needed If using uncooked beans, soak them overnight and cook during one hour or more. If not, just open the can ;) Put half of the beans in the food processor and add a little bit of water. Puree until smooth Add all the other ingredients slowly, adding as much water as needed during the process. Adjust the water to the desired consistency (I like my hummus on the fluid side)

Last Friday I had to do some passport photos because I didn't have any and I needed them for the school fees. I'm not photogenic at all, but it could have been worse.

Let's go for tapas!

I must confess something: I have never gone to bars for tapas. Yes, I have been living for almost ten years in Spain; yes, some of my favorite ingredients are typically Spanish (like the olive oil, and I enjoy oilves and beans as well), but I have not had my "tapas" experience yet. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I live near Barcelona. Another thing I must confess: although "Chronicles of a Russian vegan girl living in Barcelona" is written in the header of the blog, I don't live in Barcelona city, but in a town 45 minutes from it. But nobody knows where is Cunit (do you?), so I wrote Barcelona and I didn't bat an eyelid. Did I cheat? Maybe, but just a little bit. Well, as I was telling, I live in Barcelona, where there is not as traditional as in other places of Spain to eat tapas. One of the main rules when you go to eat tapas, is that you don't go to just one bar, but to many. But nowadays people have so little time that a quick tapa is common too.

Why I am talking about tapas? First of all, because I have wrote about Russian food and even Polish food, but never Spanish food (and I am living in Spain!). And when it's about Spanish food, tapas are as ineludible as paella, bean stews or Iberian ham (unfortunately, many traditional Spanish dishes are not vegetarian friendly, but can be adapted easily. Nevertheless, the vast majority of Spanish wont't agree to substitute Iberian ham on their sandwich with seitan or tofu). A lot of recipes can be classified as "tapas", from gazpacho to "pinchos" (little snacks on cocktail sticks), not forgetting Spanish omelette, croquettes or just canapés. The important thing is that they are served in small portion, so you can taste many different tapas.

And the other reason why I am writing this post is because I decided to participate in another blog event (can one become addict to blog events?): The june edition of "Waiter, there is something in my....", which theme this time is tapas. This time the event is hosted by Spitton Extra. The event started in January 2007, and is hosted in rotation by Spitton Extra, Passionate cook and Cook sister.

I thought about going creative, and create some very imaginative and unusual tapa (maybe veganazing some non-vegetarian tapa. What about chickpeas "spanish" tortilla?), but finally I decided to do the easiest but one of the most autenthic tapas: bread with tomato. It's as easy as it sounds, but more delicious than you can imagine. If you go to Spain, you will have difficulties to find some Spanish who puts butter on its sandwich. In fact, "buttery" sandwiches where a bigger headache for my classmates when we went to England on a school exchange than the language (at that moment, I was not vegan yet, so I had no problem because butter is widely used in Russian cuisine). Instead of butter Spanish use olive oil, and now that I am vegan is one of the things I like the most about Spanish cuisine. But I don't want to entretain you more, so here you have the recipe. Enjoy! =)

I also chose that tapa because is typically Catalonian. They call it "pà amb tomaquet", and it's the base of all the sandwiches (not only in Catalonia). But you don't need to make a sandwich because it's so tasty that it is usually eaten alone. It's very important to choose high quality ingredients: the best bread is the called "pan de pagès", a rustic bread, which is slightly toasted. An extra virgin olive oil, dense and fragant is also crucial. But I wanted to go further and I topped my "pan con tomate" (in Spanish) or "pà amb tomaquet" (in Catalonian) with baked red bell pepper. The best would have been the "piquillo pepper", a smaller red bell peppers which come from Navarra, but any would work.

Bread with tomato and baked red bell pepper Serves: 2 - 2 slice of rustic bread - 1 tomato, halved - 1 clove of garlic, halved - a few slices of baked red bell pepper - extra virgin olive oil -salt 1. Toast each slice of bread and rub them with the garlic. 2. Rub them as well with a halve of the tomato: it must be "juicy". Splash with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. 3. Put a slice or two of baked red bell pepper on top and enjoy =)

Pan con tomate y pimientos asados Hace 2 porciones - 2 rebanadas de pan rústico -1 tomate, partido por la mitad -1 diente de ajo, partido por la mitad -unas cuantas tiras de pimiento rojo asado -aceite virgen extra -sal 1. Tuesta cada rebanada y frótalas con el ajo. 2. Frótalas también con el tomate: tiene que ser jugoso. Rocía con un buen chorro de aceite de olive y añade la sal. 3. Pon una tira o dos de pimiento rojo encima y disfruta.