Cooking with Good food products ~ Vegan Rice Pudding

I saw Karen at Grumpyishmum review Good food products and I was really intrigued. I've never used any hemp products to cook before, and only knew of hemp milk, I hadn't come across hemp oil and seeds used as food ingredients in the UK.

Good sent us a selection of products to try out...

All of the products are vegan, and they are really good sources of Omega 3 - in fact the oil is one of the very best sources of veggie Omega 3 that there is as it is found mainly in meat and fish. When you are pregnant and breastfeeding Omega 3 is vital for baby's brain development, and it is required by everybody for good vision, correct immune response and building and repairing cell membranes, so incredibly important, but all of the supplements I've found are fish oil based.

As well as being vegan and high in Omega 3 the Good Oil, Good Seed and Good Hemp Milk products are suitable for a Raw Diet, they're high in Omega 6 and contain no trans fats, sugar or artificial ingredients. You can find out more about the Omega fatty acids and Good products by clicking here.

So what do they taste and cook like? 

Good Hemp Oil works exactly the same as any other oil. It can be used raw as a dressing or cooked. It has a very slightly nutty taste that it barely noticeable, so it really can be used in place of any oil. I've used it in several dishes and no-one in my family has commented at all.

We've used it frying sliced vegetables on a raklette, I used it to cook a Chinese noodle stir fry last night and I made roast potatoes in my air fryer by tossing them in a couple of tablespoons of Good Oil before cooking. I've even fried my mushrooms and onions with it to add to a burger.

Good Hemp Seeds can also be eaten raw, or added to meals.

I added a tablespoon of Good Seeds to my Quorn, vegetable and penne pasta the other night. I could taste the seeds because they were very slightly nutty, but no-one even commented, and everyone ate the whole meal. With a table full of children and young people there's usually someone to complain whenever you try something new....

The seeds have a slightly heady taste and go especially well in savoury meals that might suit mustard or cumin. I added 2 tablespoons to the batter for toad-in-the-hole and it worked excellently, it really complimented the thyme sausage.

My partner really is incredibly keen on the seeds raw and has been adding them to sandwiches as well as eating them straight from the tub as a snack. Eaten like this they are reminiscent of nuts, with a little subtle warmth.

Good Hemp Milk can be used exactly as you would use cow's milk. It can be a drink, mixed into a drink or used in baking and cooking. When you drink the Hemp Milk it has a slightly sweeter and with a hint of grass taste, but only the sweetness seems to come through in the cooking.

I decided it would be nice to make something that is milk based, and make the most of the fact I can adapt it to be vegan.

One of the simplest desserts is the humble Rice pudding, simple and comforting, and easily adapted to taste with spices, jam, honey or even cocoa powder...

Oven Baked Vegan Rice Pudding 

 

Ingredients

1 litre Hemp Milk
500ml Water
90g Pudding Rice
35g Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
Pinch of Cinnamon

Method

Grease a medium to large baking dish (or a slow cooker).
Put all of your ingredients into the baking dish and stir.
Place the dish in a cool oven at 150c/130c fan oven/Gas Mark 2 and bake for around 2 1/2 - 3 hours stirring every half hour and adding extra liquid if it needs it.

When the rice is soft and the pudding reaches the consistency you like, it's ready.
Top with whatever you wish or leave as it is, serve and eat.

Everyone agreed it was delicious, but incredibly filling - possibly because of the 'porridgey' consistency.

I haven't cooked with Hemp Milk before, and the differences I found were that it was sweeter so didn't need as much sugar, and it didn't absorb into the rice as quickly as I'd have expected and took longer to cook so therefore dried out more. I added 500ml of water, but I think realistically it would have been better with a little more, or more hemp milk, which I didn't have!

Good Hemp Oil, Seeds and Milk are available at all large supermarkets, or online from the Good Products website. I was sent mine for review.