Glazed Courgettes and Brussels Sprouts

This is such a wintry side dish but because I make so many different recipes, it’s June as I’m posting it! I served it over couscous, which I spruced up with plain soya yogurt, lemon peel, and lemon juice.

Ingredients:
1 courgette
about 10 Brussels sprouts
1 tsp oil
2 tsp honey
1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions:
1. Wash the vegetables. Slice the courgette and halve the sprouts.
2. Heat up the oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the veg. Add the honey so that they caramelise.
3. Continue frying for a few moments, then add the lemon juice. Fry 2-3 more moments.
4. The honey and lemon juice will make a little sauce at the bottom of the pan, so serve the veg with the sauce poured over it.

Vegan and Berry Chocolate Cake

This is almost the same as the vegan chocolate cake I posted before, but I added berries. I did a combination of raspberries and cherries, but really any berry would be fine. I’ll make it with blueberries some time too.

You can double the recipe and make two cakes, then put frosting between the layers.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup ground almonds
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 pinch salt
3/4  cup soy milk
175 g (about 6 ounces) tofu
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for the baking tin
1 cup berries

Instructions:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl or food processor.
2. Add the soy milk to the dry ingredients and mix again.
3. Blend the tofu in a blender until creamy. Add the oil and mix again.
4. Add the tofu to the other ingredients. Mix well. Add the berries last.
5. Oil the baking tin (or line with greaseproof or parchment paper). Pour the batter in.
6. Bake at 180 C for about 20 minutes. Frost if desired.

Roasted Vegetables

This is a simple side dish, but it’s very tasty. Use sugar instead of honey to make it vegan.

Ingredients:
2-3 parsnips and/or carrots
5-6 small potatoes
1 fennel bulb
olive oil
1 tsp honey/sugar
sea salt
black pepper

Instructions:
1. Wash and peel the parsnips and/or carrots and the potatoes and then slice them. Wash and chop the fennel as well. Put the vegetables in an oven-safe dish.
2. Pour olive oil over the vegetables.
3. Roast at 200 C for about 10 minutes. Then add the honey/sugar and salt and pepper to taste and stir.
4. Roast for another 20 minutes, stirring now and then.

Fish Stew

You can vary this according to what you have on hand (for example, use coriander but not lime or curry paste) or which type of fish you like. You can also add prawns. I made this spicy for me by adding dried chilli and Tabasco, but I left it milder for my sweetheart.

Ingredients:

around 6 waxy potatoes

1-2 carrots

a couple of small pieces of lemongrass

water

one head of spring greens or a similar amount of spinach

oil

around 200 g fish (I used coley)

lime leaves

curry paste

coriander

black pepper

1 tin coconut milk

Instructions:

1. Wash and slice the potatoes. Wash, peel, and slice the carrots.

2. Put them and the lemongrass in the water and boil for about 10 minutes, until the potato has softened. Drain.

3. Lightly steam the greens and the oil.

4. Remove the skin and bones from the fish and chop it into pieces.

5. Put the greens, potatoes, carrots, and fish in a pot and season/spice according to taste. Add the coconut milk and cook, covered, for about 15 minutes.

Whole-Wheat Olive Focaccia

This is not exactly focaccia, not like the recipe I posted a few days ago. This is more inspired by focaccia. I wanted to make a whole-wheat loaf with pieces of olives in it and I wanted to use the focaccia method. This requires more kneading and you won’t end up with the light bread you get from focaccia, but it is tasty.

Ingredients:
5 cups brown (whole-wheat) strong bread flour (500 g)
1½ packages dried yeast (each package is 7 g or ¼ oz)
1 tsp salt
5 tbsp olive oil
2 cups tepid water (about 400 ml)
1 tin olives (about 200 g)
extra olive oil
warm water
sea salt
rosemary, optional

Instructions:
1. Mix the flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, and water together with a wooden spoon in a large bowl.
2. Turn out onto an oiled surface and knead well, for 5-10 minutes.
3. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
4. Knead again, for another 5-10 minutes.
5. Slice the olives and roll them into the dough (save some to decorate the top, as desired). Shape into a loaf.
6. Dip your fingers in warm water and made indentations in the loaf.
7. Sprinkle with olive oil, sea salt, and rosemary.
8. Bake 220 C for about 15-20 minutes.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Here’s a classic, vegan style! You can top with some shredded cheese, if desired.

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
oil
1 tsp sugar (or honey if you’re not vegan)
1 package soya mince or other non-meat product (about 250 g for 2 people)
2 tins tomatoes (whole or chopped)
spaghetti (about 100 g per person)
water
black pepper
olive oil

Instructions:
1. Chop the onion and garlic and brown them in oil. Add the sugar so they caramelise slightly.
2. Add the mince to the pan and let it brown for about 5 minutes. Then add the tomatoes (break them up if they are whole) and their juice.
3. Boil the spaghetti in the water.
4. Season the sauce with black pepper and olive oil and serve over the noodles.

Focaccia

Such an easy and delicious bread. We make it a lot and I’ve been trying variations on it to come up with the best recipe.

Ingredients:
5 cups strong bread flour (500 g)
1 package dried yeast (7 g or ¼ oz)
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1½ cups tepid water (about 400 ml)
extra olive oil
warm water
sea salt
rosemary, optional

Instructions:
1. Mix the flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, and water together with a wooden spoon in a large bowl.
2. Turn out onto an oiled surface and knead well, for 5-10 minutes. Shape into a loaf.
3. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
4. Dip your fingers in warm water and made indentations in the loaf.
5. Sprinkle with olive oil, sea salt, and rosemary.
6. Bake 220 C for about 15-20 minutes.