Friday, January 03, 2020

Savory Vegetarian Loaves

It's lovely to be handed a foil-wrapped rectangle and another baking loaf tray, and be told that these were my Christmas presents. Waaaah! I was like, "Unsweetened cakes!" C was like, "No, savory things." EVEN BETTER.

The foil held a homebaked savory aubergine and courgette upside down cake that was vegetarian, containing dairy and eggs. This sort of savory cakes keep well frozen. I sliced it up, chucked them in the freezer and would simply take out each slice when I want to eat them. It was delicious. A slice is more than sufficient for lunch on many days.

The other tin that she handed to me was an unroasted vegan nut loaf. I had no more freezer space, so I put that into the oven almost immediately. These are things that I would not bake at home, even if they're savory loaves. Well, I don't own baking trays or pans. I can roast some stuff but I've got little interest in baking anything. When the nut loaf was baking, it induced nausea. (All baking smells emanating from the oven induce nausea or outright retching.) Likely from the cashew butter or soy milk, or the sheer smell of nuts roasting. UGH. I had to check with the man and ask his expert opinion. I was like, "Are you sure it isn't rotten?!" The man rolled eyes and said no, it smelt perfectly fine and Christmassy. Okaaaay.

The vegan nut loaf held so many different nuts. Once roasted, half of the loaf went into the freezer. The other half sat in the fridge to await nibbling over the next few days. It was dense and rich. Tried a big chunk first- it was super tasty. I'm fond of layering dhal and vegetable masala over nut loaves, replacing basmati rice. The nut loaf was cut up into thinner slices because when they're chockfull of nuts, a thin slice is already filling. A thick slab would be too much.

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