Ingredients – Cheat Sheet 100g (approx.) roast vegetables 1 tin beans – white beans, kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas ½ tsp salt or to taste ½ – 1 tsp ‘heat’ – i.e. black pepper, cayenne, chilli, hot curry powder 1 tsp spice or dried herb of choice 2 tbsp olive oil Water (enough to reach desired consistency) 1 tbsp ‘acid’– i.e. lemon juice, lime juice, white/red wine vinegar Add all ingredients to food processor and blend until smooth. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze for up to three months.   Variations Theme Bean Base Heat Acid Spice/herb Roast Veggie Vaguely South America ..read more

Pastry – Ingredients 1 ½ cups of plain flour – white or wholemeal 110g cold salted butter (cubed) ¼ cup cold water (fridge chilled is best) 1 tbsp milk for wash or 1 x egg 2 tbsp caster sugar  ¼ tsp salt  Instructions Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in a bowl.  Rub in the butter until breadcrumb consistency. Add the water and stir to combine. Add 1–2 more tablespoons of water if the dough seems dry. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using your hands, work the dough into a ball. Don’t knead though – we want flaky pastry not stretchy gl ..read more

By our Co-op Revolutionary Cinema Director After 28 years of arduous struggle against feudalism and imperialism, and proclamation of a People’s Republic in October 1949, Mao Zedong had emphasised that it was the beginning of an even more protracted struggle. The party of workers and peasants had come into power in 1949 but this did not lead to an automatic revolutionary transformation. Class struggle which would determine whether the course of development would take a capitalist or socialist path was faced with the enormous weight of cultural production of the last 25 centuries which disguised ..read more

by Winiata Puru On the 21st of October, activists from Sydney, Mittagong and Canberra gathered outside Tanya Plibersek’s (Federal Minister for the Environment) office. photo Via save our songlines on facebook We gathered to represent Aunty Josie from the Burrup Peninsula, to protest the Perdaman Fertiliser and Woodside companies which threaten the erosion of the Murujuga rock art aged over 50,000 years old—older than the pyramids! Over a million artifacts are still visible after all these years, depicting no doubt many animals, fish and birds that are now extinct. It is so important to protect ..read more

by Ilaria Catazone If you are after a quick soup that’s easy and tasty, here’s a new idea for you! And as the weather warms up, this soup is just as good served cold as it is hot. And best ever, all ingredients are available at the Co-op!!! For four hungry people you will need: One large sweet potato or two small ones (about 600g) One onion Two whole star anise One tablespoon of sunflower oil 600-800g water One third of a cup of milk (see note below) Half a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder Half a teaspoon each of nutmeg and sweet paprika (or whatever spices you like. Smoked paprika and cumin ..read more

Tofu is an international food these days. People eat tofu in many ways. They are unique and imaginative and I love them. I introduced one of the most popular, authentic Japanese tofu dishes at our previous workshop. If you go to Izakaya (café or bar) in Japan, you will definitely see ‘agedashidōfu’ on the menu. It’s another staple food for us. There are different varieties of tofu at a range of prices in Japan. The cheap ones are about 60 cents and the expensive one cost $500 for 300g! I haven’t eaten such tofu but even cheap ones in Japan are sooo delicious. Tofu is rich in nutrients and has ..read more

by Maki Watson Dining is not only about taste. It is about harmony among our five senses: touch, taste, hearing, eyesight, and smell. I think that eyesight is very important one with ‘dashimaki-tamago’, as the brilliant yellow of pasture-raised organic eggs does the perfect job of brightening the palette of tables or lunch boxes. Yes, dashimaki-tamago is one of the most staple dishes found in Japanese lunch boxes, or ‘obento’! There are two types of dashimaki-tamago, sweet or savoury. It’s up to you. My mum made sweet rolled omelette, so I believed all the rolled omelettes were sweet! But when ..read more

by Maki Watson ‘Konsai no nimono’ is the first of the ‘okazu’, or side dishes, in this recipe series. Actually, I call it vegie stew!, but it is very different from western style stew. It uses base flavourings that are common to Japanese cuisine: sugar, soy source, mirin and dashi stock.  Usually it is cooked with meat, but here I’ve made a vegan version.  I could say it is a Japanese style Irish stew.  It is one of the staple Japanese weekly dinner dishes that mothers pass down from generation to generation. They said when a girl can make Konsai no nimono, she is ready to get m ..read more

by Maki Watson Gohan (rice) and miso-shiru (miso soup) are the staple elements of Japanese dining. At meal time we serve gohan and miso-shiru along with ‘okazu’, or side dishes (we’ll be covering some winter-inspired okazu later in the series)! To tell you the truth, I enjoy making and eating gohan and miso-shiru often, however when I go back to Japan my mum’s miso soup really energises me. I feel all my cells remember my childhood and I’m held by my memories. I will also introduce you to ‘umeboshi’, or preserved plum, which is an excellent condiment to accompany ‘gohan’. Please enjoy this rec ..read more

Sunday 29th August 12pm – 3pm All Members are invited to join this year’s AGM! We will be sharing the highs and lows of the last year with time for questions and ideas for the future. We encourage ALL Members to attend to learn more about the ins and outs of our Co-operative that we love and care about so much. We will also be undertaking the essential tasks of voting in our 2021/22 Board, and approving the financial and management reports. See below for more on nominating for a Board position. A delicious lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to help us with catering. We are planning to hold it ..read more