Vegan Brussels

EDIT: Since I first wrote this blog post quite a few very helpful readers have made some corrections about my impressions of what is and isn't vegan. So make sure you check out the comments section!



Every vegan knows that one of the most difficult things about being a vegan is finding places to eat in a foreign country, especially if the language is not your mother tongue. Happy Cow is my go-to place to find places to eat but it's not always possible and, sometimes, when you do rock up at a restaurant listed as vegan-friendly, you can find yourself lost looking for a restaurant that hasn't existed since 1998 or in front of a waiter who has never heard the word vegan in his/her life.

Luckily my recent trip to Brussels was pretty successful on the food side of things. There's a great vegan restaurant open for lunch right in the centre of the city and a couple of other vegan-friendly hotspots littered around town. Also, Belgium is the chocolate capital of the world so you can get some really great, high-quality, milk/butter-free chocolate. But you need to be careful where you shop.

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Chocolate

To start my little guide to vegan Brussels I'll give some hints about where to find good chocolate that is suitable for vegans.

The wikitravel website recommends Neuhaus and Leonidas on the cheaper but still good quality end of Belgian chocolate but I'm not sure I'd recommend either. Both seem to use butter instead of cocoa butter in most of their dark chocolates. You can get dark chocolate on a stick in Neuhaus that is vegan but that's about it. We also went to two separate stores and the service was friendly but pretty hopeless. Leonidas was very similar but the chocolate was even cheaper so I couldn't find any vegan-friendly options at all.

Galler Chocolatier chocolates can be found in most supermarkets.
It's great quality chocolate but a bit cheaper than the chocolate found in boutiques
(but not lesser quality!).

 I did find vegan friendly options in the local express supermarkets like Carrefour and GB. My particular favourite was Galler whose Noisettes chocolate (hazelnuts in cocoa butter and surrounded by dark chocolate) was absolutely delicious. It's definitely more expensive than chocolate you'd buy in the supermarket at home but it's still a lot cheaper than what was being sold in the 'boutiques'. I also saw Galler chocolate being sold in many of the chocolate shops that have a mix of brands. Just be careful to check out the ingredients (helpfully in English as well as Dutch and French) because some of the dark chocolates have cream in their centres.

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Frites

 The frites (fries/fried potato chips) in Belgium are supposed to be the best. The secret, apparently, is that they double fry them so the chips are crispy and golden. There are many places to pick them up around the city (you can see Wikitravel's recommendations here) but you shouldn't pay any more than about 3 euros for a large cone including a sauce.

One of the great things about the frites in Belgium is the huge range of sauces available for them. Unfortunately, most are not vegan so you might just have to stick with ketchup or, like me, without any sauce at all. You also need to be careful that the store you go to uses vegetable fat to fry the chips in. A quick Google search should help you out.

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Den Teepot
Rue des Chartreux 66, Brussels
Open: Mon-Sat 12pm-12pm

Den Teepot is the only vegan restaurant in Brussels.

This is Brussels only vegan restaurant and is, unfortunately, only open for lunch Mon-Sat 12pm-2pm. The menu is very simple but this means the food comes out very quickly but is beautifully presented, fresh and very tasty!

There are two soups available (a miso or a vegetable soup) as a starter and then you choose one of four options for your main. These options are actually all very similar with only slight additions as they go up in price. Dish A is a brown rice and vegetable dish (it sounds basic but it tastes brilliant!) for 9 euros. Dish B is Dish A plus a croquette of brown rice, quinoa, potato and herbs (11 euros). Dish B is Dish A plus seitan (11 euros). Dish D is Dish A with the croquette and the seitan (13 euros). There is then also a selection of cakes (not on a menu but rather delicately laid out on a cake dish and brought to you for your selection) and herbal teas, if you are still hungry.

The vegetable, brown rice and croquette dish (Dish B) at Den Teepot.
The flavours and textures on the plate are magnificent!

Even though the dish looks very simple it is packed with individual flavours and is really quite filling. We both had Dish B and were surprisingly full after the meal despite the fact that we were ravenous before.

The only complaint I'd have is that we were not offered any water and the food is quite salty. It's also not easy to find the restaurant (it's upstairs to an organic food store; just head through the wooden door as soon as you walk in to the shop's front door). However, the waitress was lovely (and spoke Dutch, French and English) and the food was really delicious so I would highly recommend a visit!

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Mr Falafel  
53 Bd Lemonnier, Brussels
Open: Daily 12pm-midnight

The very petite Mr Falafel has tasty and inexpensive
vegetarian food.

Mr Falafel is a very tiny falafel snackbar between the two exits of the Anneessens tram/metro stop or about a 10 minute slow stroll from the Grand Place so it's very convenient to get to. It's not exactly in the most spectacular part of Brussels (there seem to be no women on the streets after 8pm at all) but it's one of the only places in town that is 100% vegetarian and it's extremely cheap. It's 3 euros for a pita with hummus and 4 falafels and you then help yourself to quite a big range of salad and sauces to stuff your pita with. Not all of the salads are vegan but I just avoided the ones that looked like they had cream in them (I'm not sure if the lovely lady behind the counter speaks French or English because our total transaction was done with smiles and gestures so I didn't get to ask about the salads so just took the ones without sauces).

A falafel from Mr Falafel: pita filled with hummus and falafel that you then
stuff with your own choice of salad from the salad bar.

There are a few tables and chairs in the tiny space but you might end up sharing a table because it's a popular spot! If you are after yummy, cheap vegetarian food then this is the place to go!

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Le Pain Quotidien
Several locations, see website for map.

Le Pain Quotidien, Rue des Sablon

 Le Pain Quotidien is actually a chain of bakeries found all around the world, including Australia and the UK, but the majority are in Belgium, where the chain started. It is quite a pricey bakery/cafe/restaurant but their goods are quite yummy and the service is quite pleasant. We visited the same store (Rue des Sablons 11) twice because it was situated across from the very beautiful Notre Dame du Sablon and about 200 metres from the the Magritte Museum, Fine Arts Museum and the palaces.

The organic (bio) muffin at Le Pain Quotidien is vegan and delicious!

The vegan options are clearly labelled VEGAN on the menu (if you are eating in) or the price list (if you take away). The take away prices are much less than the eat-in prices, even for the same items. On both occassions I had the organic vegan muffin (one was blueberry and the other apple). The cafe has a pleasant, shared oval table as well as some more formal, smaller restaurant-like tables in the back but I would recommend skipping the extra costs involved with dining in, grabbing your muffin and taking it to the Place du Petit Sablon, across the road, to eat it in the park.

If you happen to take a day trip to Bruges (which I would highly recommend, but pack a raincoat!) there is also a store there.

Take your vegan muffin across to the lovely Place du Petit Sablon.

Spiced Cocoa Muffins

These chocolatey but earthy muffins are perfect for winter afternoon tea. My muffins came out a little cracked on top due to the fact that I am too lazy to move the racks in my oven. But they were still really delicious! The recipe is adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking (which is the best vegan baking book ever so you should all get it).

Spiced Cocoa Muffins

3 tsp ground flaxseed (or other egg replacer for 2 eggs)

4 tbsp water

1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

6 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking/bicarb soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1 cup soya milk

1/2 cup vegan butter, melted

1/2 cup vegan choc chips

Preheat over to 200C (400F).

Whip together ground flaxseed and water in a small bowl.  Add milk and melted butter.

Mix the dry ingredients (ex choc chips) together in a separate large bowl. Add the liquid mix to this and stir until just combined. Stir in choc chips.

Spoon into pre-greased muffin pans. I normally fill 12 to just under the brim of the muffin tin. Put it in the centre of your oven and bake for 15-20 minutes (skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean except if it hits a melted choc chip!).

Take them out of the over, let them sit for 5 minutes and then cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Sauce

My new year's resolution was to eat healthy on week days and eat whatever I like on weekends. I also promised myself to exercise more and have been going to pilates twice a week (and have consquently been in constant pain). I've been pretty good at sticking to my resolution and so on Saturday night I had no problem at all with eating this lucious bowl of fruit with chocolate sauce.

I've never made chocolate sauce before (and couldn't be bothered looking up a recipe) so I broke up a couple of blocks of vegan cooking chocolate, stuck them in the microwave for a minute or so (checking every now and again to make sure it wasn't burning) then added a few teaspoons of agave nectar and a tablespoon or so of soy milk. And it was delicious!

Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding

I have fond memories of the magic that is self-saucing chocolate pudding from when I was a kid. However, my memories consist of me helping mum empty the packet mix into a microwavable bowl and cooking the pudding in the microwave.

I actually have nightmares about baking in the microwave.

Despite this I was always amazed at how the pudding rose above the sauce and it was always delicious (cf to the rest of Mum's cooking) despite its shocking origins.

I've been wanting to make one for a while but it just never happens. However, my friend Maree was visiting me on her 12 month world tour and I decided to make it for dessert (since I don't have any cake tins yet and it was the only thing I could think of to cook in a Pyrex dish with the ingredients I had). So here it is!

 Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding

Pudding:

1 cup of flour

3 tsp baking soda

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 cup brown sugar

80g butter melted

1/2 cup soy milk

1 tbsp ground flax seed w/ 3 tbsp water*

Sauce: 

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/4 cup boiling water

For the pudding mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the flaxseed with the water until it is thick and creamy and add the rest of the wet ingredients. Then very slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients stirring as you add. Pour into an oven safe dish (I used a round Pyrex dish) and smooth the top.

For the sauce mix the two dry ingredients together and then sprinkle over the top of the pudding mix in the dish. Then very slowly pour the boiling water on top of the pudding as well. It's best to use a spoon to do this so that the sugar mixture isn't too disturbed and you get an even sauce.

Put the Pyrex dish onto a tray (to collecting spilling liquids in the oven).

Bake for 40 minutes and serve immediately with soy ice cream!

* Or other 1 egg equivalent.

Brownies

So I've posted the recipe to these delicious goodies on this blog before (see Chocolate Brownies post) but I wanted to talk about it again because a) it's Vegan MoFo and the other thing I cooked last night is being saved up for an extra special post sometime in the future and b) I think these ones look better than the last I made. These were delicious and gooey and oh so yummy.

I have heard a lot of people talk about if they are in the cakey or the fudgey brownie camp. I like this recipe because you can use the same recipe to please people in both camps depending on how long you leave it in the oven. I have also found that the less chocolate chips I use the less gooey it is.

  

BTW Happy Bonfire Night to those in the UK. I did not partake of the activities because I decided to go to a maths lecture instead. However, except for the fact that I lost my phone in the rain somewhere between home and the CMS, it was well worth it. If you know any maths and ever get the opportunity to see Bela Bollobas speak you should definitely go if only to boggle at the things that he finds "trivial" (such as, oh let's say, this trivial little thing).

Choc Chip Cookies

I've mentioned them before but it just occurred to me, as I went to find the recipe on this blog (as the cookbook it comes out of is somewhere in a box on a boat on a very large ocean), that I've never posted the recipe on here. So here it is: the yummiest choc chip cookies I've ever tasted.
 

Choc Chip Cookies 

  

adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking

2 1/4 cups plain flour*

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup of vegan butter**

3/4 cup of white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)

2 tsp vanilla extract

egg replacer for 3 eggs (inc water)***

1 cup semi sweet choc chips

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)**** 
 

Preheat oven to 190C. Whip the egg replacer until thick and creamy in a small bowl. Whip together sugars and butter in another bowl with vanilla extract. Add egg replacer mixture. Mix flour, salt and baking soda in another bowl and then add to the wet mixture. Once it is combined and nicely moist add the choc chips and nuts (if using). Spoon onto lightly greased baking trays and cook for about 10 minutes.
 

Notes: 

• Be careful once you take them out of the oven to cool and are transferring them to a wire rack: the melted chocolate can be quite hot.
• The dough is quite tough to handle, especially once you've put the chips and nuts in. At the moment I'm making do but once my mix master gets here it will be doing this heavy work.
• The cooking time really depends on your oven. My old oven use to take 20 minutes and this one takes 10.  The cookies don't go too golden so don't be deceived but they should develop some colour.
• Everytime I've cooked these they have come out a different shape. Depending on what type of butter I use normally determines if the cookies will spread a lot or not (Nuttelex = spreading!). Also, if your oven is too hot they will spread and if it is not hot enough they won't.
• Practise makes perfect: use your normal oven with the ingredients you typically use and practise, practise, practise!

* Wholemeal (wholewheat) flour also works well and is much better for you I am sure! 

** Yeah, this is a lot of butter. Don't eat all of the cookies and blame me for weight gain! Also, see notes above about effects of different butter.

*** I'm just using flaxseed now (1 egg = 1 tablespoon flax seed with 3 tablespoons water). In Australia I was using Orgran No Egg and I think in the US Ener-G Egg Replacer is the popular option. See the boxes for equivalence. Just be careful because the flaxseed uses more water than the others so you might need to add a tiny bit more flour to compensate. The dough should be quite wet and sticky but you don't want it too sloppy.

**** I use walnuts although have used peanuts successfully with this recipe in the past.

Chocolate Cheesecake

My Dad loves cheesecake. He also has a bit of a cholestrol problem. So I served him up some of my chocolate cheesecake and he loved it. He said he could tell it wasn't real cheesecake, and it's true that it doesn't have the same heavy cheesy taste, but it's light and delicate and delicious. And very easy! The only con about this recipe is that it uses two tubs of vegan cream cheese. My favourite to use if Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese (which my local Coles stocks and I'm pretty sure you can get it at Woolworths too) but it's quite expensive. I also have a lot of trouble getting reasonably priced vegan chocolate cooking chips. So I normally just buy a dark vegan chocolate cooking block and chop it up. Takes time and is a bit messy! Still, it's worth it if you are having a dinner party and want to serve up something yummy!

Chocolate Cheesecake

from The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets 

Filling:

6 tsp egg replacer

1/2 cup water

1 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips

690g vegan cream cheese

3/4 sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cookie Crust:

1 cup crumbled vegan cookies (I find chocolate ones are yummiest!)

1/2 vegan butter melted

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Lightly oil a round springform pan. Mix crust ingredients together and press into bottom of the pan. Mix egg replacer and water together in small bowl (best done with electric hand mixer or food processor). Melt chocolate chips in the microwave or double boiler. Beat together cream cheese, sugar and egg replacer mixture in food processor (although I use a blender). Mixture should be smooth and fluffy. Add melted chocolate and vanilla to this and blend again. Pour into prepared crust.

Bake for 50 mins. Be really careful with baking time. The cheesecake centre should barely jiggle when the pan is tapped.

Remove from the oven and let it cool completely in the pan. Then move to a serving plate and cover with cling wrap and put it in the fridge overnight. If you need to serve it straight away you need to chill it for at least 2 hours.

Chocolate Brownies

Chocolate Brownies

from The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets 

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tbsp water

2 tsp ground flaxseed

1/2 cup water

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips (or just chop a block)

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease 20cm square baking tin with canola oil.

Stir together sugar, applesauce and 2 tbsp water in a bowl.

In a smaller bowl combine flaxseed and 1/2 cup water and add to applesauce mixture with vanilla.

In yet another bowl combine flour, cocoa, bp, salt, choc chips and nuts. Then add to applesauce mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour into pan and bake for 40 minutes. You want the brownies to be moist so the edges should start to come away from the pan as it's ready but it shouldn't be overcooked so that you get a cake-like brownie (unless you want it like that!) so the old clean knife in and out trick won't work. The knife should look like it's gone through moist cake but not doughy batter. Let it cool before cutting and cut with a sharp knife.

Best Chocolate Cake ever.

This chocolate cake recipe is moist and delicious and never ceases to please. I made it for my cousin's 21st last week and no one could tell it was vegan.

Best Chocolate Cake Ever
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups water
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 180C.
Mix all the dry ingredients together. Mix all the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Then add the wet to the dry. Stir until you get rid of lumps but try to do it quickly so you can start baking while the vinegar does its thing. Bake until it springs back. 20-45 minutes.


Best Chocolate Icing Ever
adapted from Easy Vegan Cooking
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup cocoa powder
4 tbsp soy milk
1 cup raw sugar (raw does work best)
1 tsp vanilla essence

Combine first 4 ingredients over medium heat and bring to the boil stirring constantly. Boil for 1 min then take off the heat. Let it cool, beating occassionally. The colder it gets the more frequently you need to beat. When cold, add vanilla essence.

To speed up the cooling process I sometimes stick the saucepan in the fridge or freezer. You need to remember to stir it, though.

Spread over a cold cake and put the cake in the fridge. This icing tastes great but will melt if it's put on a warm cake or left out in the heat.