peanut butter fudge

Quick and easy peanut butter fudge

butterfly fudge

Ingrediants

3/4 cup of soya margarine
3 2/3 cups of icing sugar
1 cup of peanut butter

Method

1. Lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking dish.
2. In a saucepan over low heat, melt margarine. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. Stir in confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, until well blended. Pat into prepared pan and chill until firm. Cut into squares or shapes.
Eat with caution!

Yummy seitan ribz

Seitan Ribz with yummy bbq sauce

This is a go to recipe for me from the greatest blog Fat free Vegan Kitchen by the wonderous Susan Voisin. Its so easy and so worth making.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/05/barbecued-seitan-ribz.html

So delicious!

Ingrediants

1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika ( i use one )
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons tahini or other nut butter
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke ( can be bought on amazon or ebay )
1 tablespoon soy sauce
about 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (see some suggestions below)

Instructions

1.Preheat the oven to 350/180 and lightly spray an baking dish with oil. 
2. Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the water with the nut butter, Liquid Smoke, and soy sauce and add it to the dry ingredients. Stir to mix well and then knead lightly in the bowl for a couple of minutes.
3. Put the dough into the baking dish and flatten it so that it evenly fills the pan. Take a sharp knife and cut it into 8 strips; then turn the pan and cut those strips in half to form 16 pieces, you can also use kitchen scissors.
4. Put in the oven and bake for 25 minutes ( some may puff up during cooking! ).
5. Take them out of the oven and marinade them in the bbq glaze or sauce, making sure they are thoroughly coated. I leave mine for at least half an hour. You can also leave them in the fridge overnight.
6. Heat either a griddle pan or a large frying pan and cook the seitan on a medium high heat turning frequently until little blackened edges appear. When ready do one last coat of the marinade and leave in tin foil to remain hot.

Crispy polenta with chives and garlic

Crispy Polenta with chives and garlic

Wonderful stuff

Ingrediants

21/2 cups of quick cook polenta ( merchant organic is great )

1 cup Unsweetened Soymilk
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
8 cloves of garlic grated

bunch of chives finely chopped

2 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp ground black pepper

Enough olive oil for frying

Nice and thick polenta

Method

1.In the sauce pan, combine everything, except the Soya milk.

2.Bring contents to a boil, whisking constantly for 2 minutes. Add the soya milk and stir with a wooden spoon with a long handle as it will spit like larva. For about another 2 minutes. Wait until its thick and hand to stir. Taste now and see if it needs more salt and pepper.

3. Line a baking tray with foil and spray with oil. Pour the polenta in and smooth it flat all the way upto the edges. I made mine about an inch high.

4. Leave to cool in the fridge. Once ready and fully cooled cut into triangles or circles.

5. Put some oil in the frying pan about a tablespoon and fry the polenta on both sides until golden brown and crispy. Drain on a kitchen cloth or kitchen paper.

Sprayed tray

You can leave this to cool before the fridge, cover with clingfilm in the fridge

polenta triangles

The finished result

Speedy lentil and Tomato sauce

Speedy Tomato and Green lentil Sauce

The sauce of deliciousness

Ingrediants

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

3 garlic cloves, grated

1 tbsp of olive oil

handful of fresh parsley

1 onion, finely sliced

2 tbs dried basil ( you can use fresh )

3 fresh tomatoes

1 cup of green lentils

2-3 tbs of tomato puree

1 tsp of sugar

1 tin of plum tomatoes

1 crust of brown bread ( I used a polish bread brown crust )

salt and pepper to taste

Give it a good stir regularly

Method

1. Chop the carrots, celery, fresh tomatoes and fresh parsley ( it will be chopped in the processor ) so just rough. Throw it into the food processor and blitz it. 

2. To the saucepan add 1 tbs of olive oil and the onion. Fry until browned. Add tin of tomatoes and break them up with a wooden spoon against the side of the dish, and the tomato puree ( add more if ou like a more tomato flavour). Add the sugar. Add the lentils, vegetable and parsley mix. Put a lid on and let it cook for about 8 mins, checking to make sure the lentils haven't stuck to the base.

3. Whilst this is cooking blitz up our bread in the processor and then add it to the sauce to thicken it. Stir through.

4. Cook for another 10-15 mins covered or until the lentils are cooked through and the sauce has become rich and thick. You must make sure that you check it regularly and give it a stir so that it doesn't stick.

5. Serve with some pasta with a sprinkling of vegan cheese.

The finished thickened sauce

Wowzer choccy vegan pudding

Soya Choccy Pudding.

Choccy puddding whats not to love

 Ingrediants

3 tbsp cornflour

2 tbsp water

1/4 cup of sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups of soya milk ( i used unsweetened )

1/2 tsp vanilla paste or extract

6 things and then chocolate pudding

 Method

1. Add the cornflour to the water and stir to make a thin paste. Set aside.

2. Put the soya milk, vanilla, sugar, cocoa powder and the cornflour paste and bring to the boil stirring constantly.

3. When boiling keep it on the heat for a little while longer until it thickens. Pour it into containers and leave to cool on the side before adding to the fridge to cool down completely.

Bubbling away happily

Cooling down then ready to munch!

roast of all midweek deliciousness

Easy midweek Roast 

The roast of delicious.

Ingrediants

1 packet of dry nut roast mix ( whichever you prefer )
1/2 cup of vegan sausage mix
1 packet of sage and onion stuffing
3 carrots peeled and roughly chopped
1 leek, roughly chopped
2 large mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 cup of almonds
about 10 sprigs of lemon thyme
salt and pepper to taste

The shape of the vegetable and nut mix

  Method

1. Chop the carrots, leek, mushrooms, almonds and lemon thyme in a processor until finely chopped. Season.Set aside.
2. Make up the sage and onion stuffing with hot water and a knob of vegan marg. 
3. Add the sausage mix and the dry nut roast mix together and add the chopped veg and nuts and water as per instruction. Give it a good stir and set aside. 
4. Cover a tray with foil. Lay out a piece of clingfilm and make the nut mixture into a large oblong. Make sure the cling film overlaps. Put the sage and onion stuffing mix on top and smooth out. 
5. Take the edge of the clingfilm and roll the mixture into a log shape. Its easier if you do this on top of the tray you want to cook it on. Its a fairly loose mixture so do this gently. 
6. Cover the log with a piece of foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 200c. Take off the foil for a further 20 mins bake in the oven till browned. 

sage and onion stuffing

 This can be eaten straight away, reheated or sliced and put in a sandwich. Its very adaptable and delicious. You can definitely change the taste to your preference.    

The monster before baking!

So lovely sliced

Close up on the roast

Wonderful leek, almond and lemon rice.

Leek, almond and lemon rice.

Yummy rice

Ingrediants

1 1/2 cups of rice
1 medium leek chopped into half circles
1/2 cup ground almonds
zest of a medium lemon and juice
fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
fresh chopped chives
2 cloves of garlic grated 
1 tsp of cumin
2 tbs of mild olive oil
2 handfuls of  golden raisins
salt and black pepper to taste
3 cups of water

Method

1. Put the rice and 3 cups of water into the saucepan. Add half the leek and the golden raisins and some salt to taste. Bring it to a boil and turn down to low simmer with the lid on. Wait about 8 - 12 and it should have all the water evaporated, if not leave it on a little longer. There will be holes on the surface of the rice. 
2. Whilst the rice is cooking put the leeks on a medium high heat with the oil. stir fry for a minute. Grate in the garlic and lemon zest. Add the cumin, salt, black pepper and fry gently. Add the ground almonds and lemon juice and fry gently ( will clump together if too dry add a couple of tsps of water ). Add the chopped herbs and mix well. 
3. When the rice is done, fluff with a fork then add all the leeks and herb mixture and gently stir through. Serve immediately with steamed vegetables, salad or a lovely curry.

Mexican style rice

Mexican style rice

Blend and add to the rice

Ingrediants

350g long grain rice ( i used basmati in the photos )
2 tbsp olive oil
Tin of tomatoes
2 tbsp of tomato puree
3 cloves of garlic
2 tsps of cumin
1 tsp of mild chilli powder
salt and black pepper
A pint of water
2 peppers red and orange
3 spring onions
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Cook the rice in the oil

Method
 

1. In a medium saucepan, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Sauté rice in the oil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. In a food processor throw in the tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic cloves, salt, pepper and cumin. Add to the saucepan with the rice .Stir in the water. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes covered.

3. In the last 7 mins add the peppers and spring onions on top of the rice to steam.

4. When the water is almost absorbed and the rice is cooked, stir through the lemon juice and serve.

The finished rice

Yummy rice

Miso soup of plenty

Miso soup with Veggies and Tofu

fresh veggies

Ingrediants

8 cups water
1 packet of easy cook noodles (rice noodles)
3 Tbsp miso
2 carrots, sliced thinly on the diagonal
3 mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce, to taste
2 tsp sushi seasoning
3 scallion, thinly sliced on the diagonal
grated ginger and garlic ( 1 clove and 1 inch of ginger )
pepper red, chopped
i red onion, diced
2 savoy cabbage leaves, thinly sliced
1 sheet of nori, thinly sliced
1/2 block of tofu, small dice
1 tsp of vecon stock
Pinch of sea salt

tofu small dice

 Method

1. In a stockpot or saucepan bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the vecon. Pinch of sea salt.
2. Melt the miso in one cup of the boiling water. Use a ladel to transfer it to a bowl and stir in the miso until dissolved. Add it to the stock pot. Add the soy, grated ginger and garlic and sushi seasoning.
3. Add the noodles and the vegetables and tofu. Cook for around 3 mins or until everything is done.
3. Serve in a bowl with fresh herbs or without. 

All cooking together

Very quick and easy meal

Serve it with the cucumber salad

Japanese cucumber salad

Great Japanese style cucumber salad

Fantastic tasting cucumber

1 1/2  cucumbers, deseeded and cut into moon shapes
4 tablespoons sushi rice seasoning
2 dessertspoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons minced root ginger

5 simple ingrediants

Method 
 
1. Start by scrapping out the seeds from the cucumbers and peeling it if you prefer. I personally like the green skin so on it stays.

2. Take a bowl and mix together the sushi seasoning, sugar, salt and finely grated ginger. Add the cucumbers and make sure all the cucumbers are coated with the ginger mixture. 

3. Put the bowl in the fridge let it stand for at least an hour but is still good the next day if refridgerated overnight.

Quinoa and black beans my style

Quinoa with black beans

Quinoa of tastiness

Ingrediants

1 teaspoon of oil 

4 spring onions, chopped  finely

3 cloves garlic, chopped 

1 tsp of minced garlic granules

100g quinoa 

1 tin of sweetcorn (160g) 

2 red peppers, chopped finely

15 fl oz vegetable stock or vecon

1 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper  ( add more if you like it hot )

salt and black pepper to taste 

1 tin of black beans or home cooked (400g) 

2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

All the happy ingrediants, animal and murder free

 Method

1. Add the oil in a saucepan. Add the spring onion and two kinds of garlic and fry until the onions are softened.

2. Add the quinoa with the cumin, cayenne pepper, half the pepper and the vegetable stock into the saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil then turn down to around a 4 low to medium heat. Cover and leave to cook for around 15 mins. 

3. When the 15 minutes are up add the black beans, sweetcorn and the rest of the pepper and allow to simmer for around another 5 minutes. Make sure everything is cooked through. You can add herbs if you like at this stage coriander or parsley would work great.

Spring onion and garlic cooking off

Happy colourful pan

Adding in the stock, lid on and simmer

black beans, sweetcorn and diced tomato

Tip: I cooked my turtle/black beans in my slow cooker the day before as you can just put them on and leave them to cook slowly on low. It works great, for bigger beans you can leave them on overnight on low, especially good for dried chickpeas.

Wonderful Quinoa served with a fresh salad.

 

   

Potato cakes of Scrumminess

Oven baked potato cakes

Fresh crunchy and soft potato cakes

Ingrediants

3 potatoes medium sized, cut into about 8 pieces per potato

2 spring onions

1 egg replacer to one egg

finely diced red onion

1/2 tsp garlic powder or granules

A pinch of chilli powder

spray oil

The potato mix ready for forming

Method

Put the oven onto 200c. 

1. Put on the seamer with the potatoes in for 15 mins.Until tender. I left the skins on mine.

2. Mash the potato with a knob of butter and set aside to cool in the fridge (This recipe works best if the potatoes are left in the fridge overnight, great for left overs).

3. Add the fine diced red onion and spring onion, chilli and garlic powder and egg replacer equivelant to one egg.

4. Really incorporate the ingrediants together. A dry mixture is essential for this recipe.

5. Using a dessert spoon, spoon a dessert spoon  ( over filled ) into your hand and roll it into a ball shape, then flatten with your fingers to about 1 1/2 inches flat.

6. Carry on making the potato cakes until they are all completed and place on a baking sheet with greaseproof paper to help prevent sticking.

7. Bake in the oven for 25 mins turning after 15 minutes. Leave until golden brown. You can serve these for breakfast with scrambled tofu or for lunchtime. The basic ingrediants can be changed for your own taste preference.

The shaped cakes sprayed either side with low cal spray

 

The finished cakes

Tagliatelle with lemon, brocolli and spinach

Tagliatelle with lemon, brocolli and spinach.

All the ingrediants ready. I used frozen spinach ( as good as fresh ).

Ingrediants

1 head of brocolli, cut into florets

450g/1lb fresh spinach or frozen

freshly grated nutmeg to taste

450g/ 1lb dried tagliatelle

30ml/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

juice of 1/2 a lemon, or to taste ( i used grated rind too )
Optional vegan parmesan 
salt and black pepper to taste 

Lemon and nutmeg a lovely combo

Method

1. Put on a large pan of salted water for the pasta.
2. Place the brocolli and spinach in a steamer, either over a pan of water or a plug in variety. Cook vegetables as your machine dictates or over a pan for 10 mins, put the spinach on for another 5. Until they are tender. Put into a bowl and add the nutmeg and lemon rind. 
3. When the water is boiling put on the tagliatelle to cook as per instructions on the packet.
4. Drain the pasta and add the oil ( or if you want fat free just leave some of the pasta water ) and add the pasta and veg ubtil well coated and evenly mixed. Sprinkle over the lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. At this stage you can add more lemon juice, salt and nutmeg. You can add some vegan parmesan cheese if you like. 
 

Brocolli ready for the steamer

Pasta at a rolling boil

Give it a good toss in the seasoning

This is a great dish you could add some pinenuts for extra protein.