I made this dish as an appetizer when I took part in the Greek version of “Come Dine with me”. In case you don’t know, “Come Dine with me” is a daily TV show with five amateur chefs (different every week) competing against each other, hosting a dinner for the other contestants. Each competitor then rates the host’s performance and whoever gets the highest score is the winner and the prize is 1.500 €. I was the first vegan to take part on this show. So, this was my appetizer and my guests, who none of the m was vegan loved it. My menu also made it in the book with the 20 best menus of the tv show 
. How cool is that? 
smoked tofu bites & jacket potatoes
Ingredients
For the smoked tofu bites
250 gr smoked tofu
15 cherry tomatoes
2 TS olive oil
1 TS soya sauce
The juice of 1 lemon
1/2 ts oregano
1/2 ts basil
1/2 ts parsley
1/2 salt
For the jacket potatoes
5 medium potatoes
2 TS olive oil
2 TS sea salt
Cut the smoked tofu in triangles. Heat the olive and soya sauce in a pan over medium heat, add the herbs and saute the tofu for 2-3 minutes. Skewer the smoked tofu triangles and place the cherry tomatoes in between. Top with fresh lemon juice before serving
To bake the potatoes preheat the oven at 220C. Wash the potatoes really good until you remove all the dirt. Prick them with a fork all around. This will help them cook better. Brush them with the olive oil and rub them with the sea salt. Place on the middle rack of the oven (not in a baking pan – just place them on the broiler) . Bake for about 1 to 1 hour and a half. Serve them immediately with sauce of your choice.
During the summer I made some vegan trahana. Trahanas is a traditional Greek dry food which you make with a mixture of grain and fermented milk and then you use it for thick soups. I was never a big fan of it – not even as a kid – probably because I didn’t like the smell and flavor of the fermented milk.
My mom makes trahana every summer and she suggested to show me how to make vegan trahana. Apparently you can make it without milk! And now that I am sick it was the perfect time to taste it! So here I will tell you how to make it vegan
vegan trahana
Ingredients
1 kg of fresh spinach
1 kg of leaks
2 large onions
2 spicy red peppers
4 cups fine semolina
1 TS fresh yeast
2 kg hard wheat white flour
2 tsp sea salt
To make the vegan trahana (leaks & spinach flavor)
Chop the leaks and spinach the finest possible. Peel the onions and peppers. Cut in small pieces and put them in a saucepan. In the same pan, add the leaks and spinach. Pour enough water to cover the vegetables, cover the pot and boil until very soft. Strain the vegetables reserving the broth and the pulp from the strainer. Blend the pulp in the food processor. In a large bowl, add the broth, pulp, semolina, yeast, salt and begin kneading. Add the flour in batches and if necessary a bit of warm water and knead until you form a firm dough. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough sit for at least two days until it turns sour. Then you cut the dough with your hands into small pieces and spread it on a big towel under the sun until it dries well. Every day rub the dough with your hands until you make the smallest pieces possible. When thoroughly dry store in tight containers.
The soup!
To make the trahana soup add half cup of the trahana in 2 lt vegetable broth.
Boil, add 2 TS of olive oil, reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes. Serve hot. I added few mushrooms to mine to make it more filling.
Well I am sick at home. Actually I am sick working from home. I haven’t been sick for ages and now that it hit me it feels really bad. I am having a cold. It’s not that ugly but I wish I could be up and running like usual. I can’t even go for my groceries and I have to depend on my mom. Who I asked to get me sweet potatoes and instead she brought me yams. And these yams were white. And yams are not that sweet. And yams smell different in a weird way. And I soooo bad wanted to make sweet potato puree. Seriously… yams????
I wasn’t going to give up. I was going to make that damn puree no matter what. And I did. And it was soooo good!!! The rest of it was just soup. A pot with 2 lt of soup. Yes, I am sick and I hate it. And all I eat is soup.
potatoe yam carrot puree topped with beans and veggies
Ingredients
1 big yam
2 medium potatoes
2 carrots
3/4 cup of unsweetened soy milk
2 TS nutritional yeast
3 TS olive oil
1 lt vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
Peel and cut the yam, potatoes and carrots in big chunks and cook them over medium hit in the vegetable broth for about 20 minutes. Drain and save the broth. Mash the yam, potatoes and carrots using a wire masher. Add the nutritional yeast, soy milk and olive oil and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
I served mine over red sauce and topped it with beans and veggies which I cooked in the reserved vegetable broth.
