Vegan Grilled aubergine with chick pea purée & harissa Recipe

I've done recipes from Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food before and that's because Nigel is my homeboy. I've not found a bad recipe yet - they're all good. It's not a book that is aimed a vegetarians, but my mate Nige, that's what I call him when we hang out, is amazing at getting the seasoning just right on everything he does and that is a special skill that is useful for any cook. Plus there's a boatload of tasty veggie recipes in the book that are easy to do and will make you look good in front of your friends.

This recipe was so simple to do and I reckon that a deconstructed version would work really well as dainty h'orderves for your next dinner party. And any left over chick pea puree make a very tasty bean dip with tortilla chips.

Here's a vegan version of Nigel's recipe...

Vegan Grilled aubergine with chick pea purée and harissa

1 x 400g tin chick peas, drained
a sprig of fresh thyme, plus 1 tbsp chopped leaves
225g large diced, peeled potatoes
3 large cloves of garlic, halved
salt
1 large aubergine, weighing about 275g
150ml pint virgin olive oil
50g vegan margarine
harissa sauce
1 lemon

1. Tip the chick peas into a pan and cover them with water or vegetable stock. Throw in the thyme sprig and bring to the boil. Add the diced potato and two of the garlic cloves. Salt and simmer for 15 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, slice the aubergine into 12 rounds about 1cm inch thick. Chop the two remaining garlic cloves and add to oil with the thyme leaves. Brush aubergine with thyme and garlic oil and cook under or over a preheated hot grill for 7-8 minutes, brushing with more oil as necessary; turn once. 
3. Remove the thyme sprig, drain chick peas and mash. Stir in the margarine. Season with salt. 
4. Put six of the hot grilled aubergine slices on a warm serving dish, place a generous spoonful of chick pea purée on each. Spread the remaining slices with a little harissa, then place on top of the others to form six sandwiches, three for each person. Serve with lemon.

Source: The Guardian

Happy Birthday to Hip Hop Vegan, Andre 3000

Source PETA

 It's May 27, which means that Roots and Greens has the honour of celebrating the birthday one our favourite human beings and commited vegan, Mr. Andre 3000. Along with performing serious services to awesomeness with hip hop crew Outkast, Andre 3000 has dabbled in acting, activism, fashion, and music production. His commitment to the cause earned him a place as PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity in 2004. For his birthday, I put on the Love Below and I've prepared a special Andre 3000 inspired vegan meal that even Ms. Jackson would like. Happy birthday Dre, I hope you like the Bombs over Butter bean Cassoulet with Idle -Wild Rice and Spinachplayalisticohsosimpesideofsalad as much as I did.

  Idle-Wild Rice

Wild rice needs a little bit more prep than most store bought rice. I used a Thai Glutinous Black Rice for this and it need to be soaked for a hour before I could put it in rice cooker - but it was worth the wait for the beautiful colour and nutty flavour of the rice. I'll be honest, though, I didn't find it that sticky!