Soy roasted vegetables with courgette rice.

Roasted Vegetables with courgette, pepper and coriander rice.

This is a great recipe for getting rid of the fridge dweller vegetables. 
Any combination can be roasted!

scrummy food x 

Ingrediants

Roasted Vegetables

1/2 a pumpkin, cut into large chunks

1/2 butternut squash, cut into large chunks

1 large aubergine, cut into large chunks

A glug of olive oil ( enough to coat all the vegetables )

3 tbs of soya sauce

2 tsps of asafoetida (hing)

Salt and black pepper to taste

Rice dish

2 cups of basmati rice

4 cups of water 

2 courgettes, finely diced

1 red pepper

1 tsp vegan marg and 1 tsp of mild olive oil
2 tbsp of dried coriander leaf 

roasted veg seasonings

Method

1. Put the oven onto 180 to preheat.

2. Chop the aubergine, butternut squash and pumpkin into large chunks ( basically make all the chunks around the same size ). 

3. Put the oil, hing, soya sauce, salt and black pepper in a large roasting tin. Use a large spoon or your hands to coat all the vegetables with the mixture.

3. Place in the oven for 40-50 mins for the vegetables to roast. I personally turn the vegetables half way through cooking so they become stickier and the flavour gets more intense. You know they are ready when they are darker in colour with slightly charred edges.

 Roasted veggies after the oven

4. When the vegetables are half way through cooking. Chop the courgettes and peppers.
5. In a seperate saucepan add 2 cups of basmati rice and 4 cups of water. Season. Let the water boil and turn it down to a low heat with the lid on for around 12 mins. Check after 10 minutes to see if the water has been evaporated and there are lots of holes in the rice.
6. In a seperate frying pan put 1 tsp of oil and 1 tsp of vegan marg and coriander leaf, add the courgettes and peppers until tender.
7. When both the rice and courgette mixture is ready. Stir the vegetables through the rice.
8 Take out the roasted vegetables and serve the roasted vegetables with the courgette rice.

rice ready to rock

The additional vegetables for the rice

The finished dinner

vegan yuley chrimbo cake

Chrimbo big spicy fruity cake

At christmas time i always long for an iced christmas cake. There are certainly NO vegan ones I have found. On a random search i came across the most fantastic and marvellous recipe at the amazing Suma Wholefoods site ( who knew ). I have been making this beauty ever since!!!!! Thankyou Suma for allowing me to have fun with decorating a chrimbo cake every year!

  

Ingredients:

12oz / 340g plain flour
6oz / 170g soft brown sugar
6oz / 170g currants
6oz / 170g sultanas
5oz / 140g raisins
2oz / 55g glace cherries – chopped
1oz / 25g mixed peel – chopped
1/2 pint / 280ml soya milk (or you can use oat milk, rice milk, or coconut milk)
2 1/2oz / 70g soya or sunflower dairy free spread
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp mixed spice
pinch of salt
6 tbsp / 90ml brandy (optional) 

Method:

Sift flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice in to a large mixing bowl, then rub in the dairy free spread. Stir in the sugar, currants, sultanas, raisins, peel and cherries. Add the lemon rind and give it a good stir. Add all but 2tbsp of the soya milk and stir lightly. Heat the remaining soya milk in a pan or microwave so it is warm but not boiling, you should be able to touch it without burning your finger. Pour on to the bicarb and then stir it thoroughly into the mixture, without actually beating.
Put into a lined 73/4 inch diameter tin, smooth and slightly hollow out centre.
Bake at about gas mark 4 for an hour, then turn down to gas mark 3 for a further 45 minutes. It’s done when a normal skewer comes out clean.

If you are going to use the brandy:

Leave the cake to cool and then prick with a cocktail stick and feed with a third of the brandy. Wrap the cake in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight container or tin. You can pour the rest of the brandy over the cake at weekly intervals. It will keep for 4-6 weeks easily. Mine at present has spiced rum being fed into it!!!

The greatest vegan burgers in the world

Vegan burgers ( also known as Sunday Afternoon Grillers )

One day on a search for the ultimate vegan burger I found the holy grail of recipe books a full on masterpiece of burgery goodness. Joni Marie Newman ' The best Veggie burgers on the planet'.

Simple easy and above all delicious x

double burger

Ingrediants

2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil

1 cup ( 96g) TVP granules

1 cup ( 235ml) vegetable broth or water

8 ounces ( 227g) mushrooms, roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

1 cup (144g) vital wheat gluten flour

1/4 cup (60ml) tamari or soya sauce

6 ounces (170g) tomato paste

1 cup (96g) diced scallion

burger ingrediants

Method

1. Preheat the oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat.

2. Bring the broth to a boil, pour over the TVP, cover and let it sit for 10 minutes.

3. While the TVP is reconstituting, add the mushrooms, onions and garlic to the pan. Saute for 5-6 minutes or until fragrant and beginning to brown.

4. In a food processor, combine the sauteed mushroom mixture, TVP, gluten flour, nutritional yeast, soya sauce and tomato paste. Process well until its combined and meaty looking.

5. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in the scallions/spring onion. Form into 6-8 patties. You can also use a burger maker which i do.

6. You can bake or fry these, I fried mine in a large non stick frying pan ina little oil. Cook until well done on both sides.

fryng off the onions, mushrooms and garlic

process burger mix

burger press makes light work of forming patties

all made up ready for the fridge

finished yumminess

Vegan fruity tea bread

Vegan Tea Bread

I do love dried fruit and its always hanging around in the cupboard, i felt a tea bread was in order. This recipe from Chargrills x http://chargrills.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/vegan-tea-bread.html. She has some really cool recipes so i decided to get my vegan tea bread groove on! I did alter her brilliannt recipe just slightly!

tea bread can be served with toasted with vegan marg.

1 cup of tea ( i prefer a stronger variety )
1 cup of mixed dried fruit
2 cups of self raising flour

2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 cup sugar ( i used soft brown )
1 teaspoon cinnamon, all spice and ginger

Method

1. Make a cup of tea, whilst it is hot add the dried mixed fruit and leave it to cool before using.

2. In a seperate bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder and spice and stir well. Add the mixed fruit and tea to the dry mixture and stir until well combined.

3. Grease and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper and add the mixture into the tin.

4. Bake in the oven set at 180/350/gas4. Check by testing with a toothpick, if the toothpick comes out clean then its ready, if there is still wet mixture then bake it for longer checking every 10 mins till done.

ready for the oven

 
 

Sweet potato fries of serious nom

Sweet potato fries

I found this interstella recipe from Karen on this great page, 

http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/guaranteed-crispy-sweet-potato-fries-sriracha-mayo-dip

I had three large sweet potatoes in the fridge so decided today was the day. What a revelation these were absolutely beyond delish. Seriously make them you wont be disappointed.

Mmmmmmmm

Ingrediants

Sweet potatoes cut into chip size long strips

Olive oil but you can use any you prefer

1 dessert spoon of cornflour 

Needed

A plastic freezer bag

Bowl of water

Clean tea towel

Large Oven tray

Slice your sweet potato, I had large size potato.

1. Sart by peeling your sweet potatoes or giving them a good scrub if you are leaving the skins on.
2. Chop the into long chip/fries type shapes.
 

The right size

3. Leave to soak in water for at least one hour to help remove the starch.

An hour minimum soaking

4. Put your sweet potatoes in a tea towel to dry, rubbing them lightly.

5. Get your bag add the cornstarch and jiggle the bag until the sweet potato shards are covered in cornflour.

Cornflour coats

6. Place on a baking tray with a glug of oil and toss the sweet potatoes until well coated. When you are placing the potatoes leave space between them and dont crowd the pan!

ready for the oven

7. Cook at 425/220 for around 15 to 20 mins. I personally turned my sweet potatoes twice during the cooking time. They will crisp up and be so delicious when ready.

The sweet potatoes of all lush

The lentil pasta sauce of usefullness

Lentil Pasta Sauce 

This sauce came about when i was on my break from having onions everyday. Its a rich hearty sauce that can be used for all manner of dinner treats. Its easy peasy too.  

Some of the ingrediants used

Ingrediants

2 cans of tomatoes ( i prefer plum tomatoes )

2 cloves of garlic, microplane grated

1 cup of textured vegetable protein (tvp)

2 tsp of onion powder

2 tsp of garlic granules

2 tsp dried parsley

1 tbsp of tomato puree

large pinch of celery salt

1 cup of red lentils

2 tbsps fresh basil which was in the freezer, fresh basil will be fine chopped

1/2  tsp of salt or to taste

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 pint of water - more if the sauce goes too dry and thick.

Use a large pot as it will spit when cooking and thickening

 Method

1. Place all the ingrediants in a large pot and stir thoroughly, use as knife to loosely chop the tomatoes and release the juice and seeds.
2. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue cooking until the lentils are soft and the sauce thickens, around 20 minutes but can take longer.
3. You must keep an eye on this sauce whilst cooking as it does stick if not stirred regularly. Serve with pasta or use as a filling for other pasta shapes. 

N.B. This freezes well for future use!

The final thickness which is great with pasta or in a lasagne

The gorgeous sauce

Vegan coffee icecream

Vegan Coffee Coconut Icecream

Icecream most people absolutely love it, me included. Being vegan it's much harder to find good low cost vegan icecream. Its so easy to make your own with a little time and patience. Here is an adapted recipe without soya from one i found on yummly.

Ingrediants

2 cans of coconut milk

3/4 cup of dark brown sugar or white sugar

1 tsp of vanilla bean paste or essence

4 tsp of millicano or good strong coffee left over

  

4 items only

 Method

1. Place all ingrediants in a saucepan and heat till boiling then turn it down to simmer for a couple of minutes.
2. Put into a container and leave in the fridge overnight to cool completely.
3. Place the mixture into your icecream maker and follow specific directions of your model. If you dont have an icecream maker then you can add the container in the freezer, using a handheld whisk every 45 mins whizz the mixture to break up the ice crystals for around 3 hours. Freeze overnight or if impatient eat a bit! Its absolutely yummy....go on try it its so worth it!

Heat it and then cool it in the fridge overnight.

The finished product is so delicious.

The seitan of good eatin'.

Vegan Seitan steaks

I originally found the greatest recipe ever for vegan chicken fried steak from the blog Tomorrow Friendly Food. I loved the method of making this seitan and you can make enough for plenty of meals down the line. 

This lushious seitan was made in a roast style in the slow cooker.

• 4 cups vital wheat gluten flour
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 4 Tbsp of plain flour
• 2 cups cold water
• 1 cup of soya sauce ( i prefer dark for the richer taste )
• 2 Tb olive oil
• flavoring - marmite ( yeast extract ), tomato paste, herbs dried or fresh.

1. In a bowl mix together the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, flour with some black pepper ( as much as you like)
2. In a separate bowl or jug, combine cold water, soya sauce, olive oil and any flavourings you desire.
3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Knead the dough for about 5 mins until it becomes springy and stretchy.
4. Break the seitan into small burger size balls ( When the seitan is cooked in the broth it will certainly swell ).
5. Using a rolling pin, roll out the ball ( the seitan will be pretty tough so you will need to really stretch it to get it thinner ).
6. Set aside until the broth is boiling
 
 The broth for the seitan

 Broth can certainly be made with any flavour you fancy, the fun is in the testing stage. If you want a dark seitan then use soy, garlic, onion and marmite this adds  a good combination of taste and colour. You can use powdered items (onion, garlic or asfoetida powder), fresh or dried herbs as well make a great addition. You can add something spicy like cayenne or paprika for a little kick. 

7. Get the broth to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Add all the seitan pieces into the broth and allow to simmer for an hour and a half ( 90 minutes ) covered. When done cool them on a plates.
8. I usually freeze the  seitan pieces in individual bags for future use. This makes a big batch which lasts a good while. You can do so much with the steaklets after defrosting and slicing, cubing or breading.


 

The great accidental purple pasty

The great Purple pasty

 

Ingrediants 

1 potato cooked and mashed ( left over mash is a great option )
1 carrot, grated ( I used purple )
1 red pepper, chopped ( i used an array of red green and yellow )
2 courgettes, 1 grated and 1 sliced
4 spring onions, sliced
10 mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, grated
A pinch of chilli flakes
1 tsp of wholegrain mustard
1 tsp onion powder
1 seitan steak small sized cubes ( you can also use fake meat pieces that you enjoy )
7 cocktail gherkins ( optional )
1 block of pastry, either shop bought or homemade shortcrust

Those purple carrots made everything purple

The pasty stuffing mix

Method

1. Cook the onion in a large frying pan in 1 tbsp of oil. When they have fried for about 2 minutes add the grated garlic cloves and fry until soft.
2.  Add the chilli flakes to taste and the onion powder until it starts to become aromatic. Add the vegetables to the pan and stir fry for around 5-7 minutes on a medium to high heat, add the stock just a little glug until the water is released and is then reduced. 
3. Add the seitan chunks and stir fry  with the vegetables, add the wholegran mustard and the gherkins. Fry for a little longer. 
4. Lastly add the mash to the vegetables and stir through warming it with the vegetables, put aside to cool before filling the pastys later. 
5. Take your pastry and cut it into desired size for your pasty. My homemade recipe made 9 small pasties or 5 large pasties. 
6. Roll out to an oblong or a circle ( whichever you prefer ), place a ball of filling in the centre and seal edges with either water or soya milk. You can either crimp the edges or press lightly to seal it with a fork. You dont want to overfill the pasty or it will leak as the seal wont be great. Place on a greased or lined baking tray. Put soya milk over the pasties with a pastry brush.  I like to shake a little pepper over my pasty before baking.
7. Bake in an oven at 200 degree for small pasties - 15 mins, larger pasties - 20mins.  

Roll out to desired size

Binding the edges with soya milk

Just before the oven

The finished small pasties

Vegan shortcrust pastry

Vegan Shortcrust Pastry.

This is my go to recipe for pastry, its simple and is done in minutes, I find it works well in sweet or savoury dishes, go on have a go at pastry. You can make this without a processor but it does make it so fast. 

Yummy pastry

 Ingrediants

225g/8oz plain flour
pinch of salt
100g/4oz vegan margarine
2 1/2 tablespoons cold water 

Four ingrediants only

Method

1. Place the salt and flour into the processor.
2. Add the margarine when the processor is on a low speed, in small pieces.
3. Keep the processor on medium and add the water. Increase the processor gradually until all the ingrediants combine.
4. Stop when the pastry froms a ball.
5. Knead lightly to form a ball. Cover in clingfilm and refridgerate until needed. 

Non processor method

1.  Place the flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Add the margarine and rub in lightly with your fingertipsuntil the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Sprinkle over the water and mix, using a round-bladed knife, until the mixture begins to bind together and form a dough.
4. Knead together very lightly and use as required.

N.B. You can freeze the pastry at this stage for use later, it should be used within a couple of months. You could also funk up the pastry at the dry stage by adding herbs, dried or fresh ( very finely chopped ). I also use this recipe to make sweet pastry with lemon zest etc. Nuts would also be a nice edition. I would suggest a couple of tsps for this amount of pastry.  

Basic plain flour

vegan margarine

Food processor makes light work of pastry

Pastry ready for the fridge

Hot and spicy brown rice.

 Simple hot and spicy vegan brown rice dish.

I thought i would share this really tasty rice dish i created at the weekend. It was a nice low budget rice dish that was filling and healthy. We all loved it and it will certainly be a great end of the month dish. 

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Olive oil or any oil you have to hand
• 1 Red Onion quartered and sliced
• 2 Garlic's sliced
• 1/4 bag of spinach or 3 blocks of frozen Spinach
• 1 carrot quartered and sliced
• 1 yellow, red or green pepper sliced ( I like a mix of three colours together ), i used a handful of frozen peppers instead of fresh in my dish
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• l leek cut finely cut in small rings
• 2cups of brown rice
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 2 tsp of hot and spicy mix ( or to taste )

happy vegan veggies

1. Put on the large pan of water for the brown rice, add the stock cube. Boil then add the rice and cook until ready.
2. Chop the red onion and place in the saucepan with some oil ( about a tablespoon ) and brown gently. Add the garlic and gently fry. Add the spice mix to taste until its aroma becomes stronger.
3. Add the carrot, pepper and leek and spinach and peas and stir fry, if you are using anything frozen allow the water to evaporate during frying.
4. When the rice is ready I personally like to drain it then run a boiled kettle of water over the rice to get rid of the starch.
5. Add the vegetables to the rice and serve, its just as good cold the next day for leftover lunch.

brown rice on the boil

The yummiest rice