Garlic Dough Balls

This is just like you might get at a restaurant, except our version is vegan, plus it’s cheaper to make it at home.

Ingredients:

1 cup strong bread flour (about 95 g)

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp yeast

1 tbsp olive oil

80 ml warm water (about 1/3 cup)

3 cloves of garlic

fresh parsley (about 2-3 tbsp)

more olive oil

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, oil, and water together. Leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour

2. Dice the garlic, wash and chop the parsley, and warm them together in the oil.

3. Separate the dough into 8-12 small balls and let rise for another 20-30 minutes.

4. Brush with the garlic oil and bake for 15 minutes at 200 C.

Aubergine and Shallot Quinoa

This is good as a main course or a side dish. It’s easy and healthy, too.

Ingredients:

2-3 shallots

oil (I used some coconut oil and some sesame oil, for a nice combination of flavours)

1 aubergine

quinoa

water

Instructions:

1. Dice the shallots and fry them lightly in oil.

2. Dice and add the aubergines and brown in the oil.

3. Cook the quinoa in the water according to the instructions on the package.

4. Serve the quinoa with the vegetables.

Flatbread

A quick and easy bread to make to have with a salad or soup.

Ingredients:

2¼ cups strong white bread flour

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp baking powder

4 tbsp oil (I used 3 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil)

½ cup warm water (about 150 ml)

Instructions:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together, then add the oil and water. Blend well.

2. Separate into balls (about 5-6 with this recipe) and flatten them.

3. Fry one at a time on both sides over medium heat in a non-stick frying pan.

Veggie Quote

Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it. -Milan Kundera, novelist, playwright, and poet

Honey Cake

We had some friends over to celebrate one of their birthdays and I wanted to make a cake that had no dairy or soy in it, so M could eat it. I decided to make a honey cake (never mind that I’m allergic to honey!). I made it a day in advance so the flavours could blossom, so to speak.

If you want, you can add a milk glaze (½ cup confectioner’s sugar and 1-2 tbsp milk or rice milk).

Ingredients:

½ cup water

2 tsp instant coffee

3 eggs

¼ cup sugar

½ cup honey

3 tbsp oil

1½ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ginger (you could also use cloves)

2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Boil the water and mix it with the instant coffee, then leave to cool.

2. Separate the eggs and beat the whites until stiff.

3. Mix the yolks with the sugar, honey, and oil until creamy.

4. Mix the dry ingredients together, then mix into the honey. Add the coffee.

5. Carefully fold the egg whites in.

6. Bake at 165 C for about 35 minutes.

Mushroom Wellington

This is great when you’re having guests for dinner as it’s hearty and tasty, and it looks pretty.

Ingredients:

400 g spinach

2 garlic cloves

2-3 shallots

oil

300 g mushrooms (I used two different types for a nice combination of flavours)

1 tbsp parsley

1 package puff pastry (500 g)

1 egg

Instructions:

1. If the spinach is frozen, defrost it. If it is fresh, wilt it.

2. Dice the garlic and shallots and fry lightly in oil. Brush and chop the mushrooms and add them to the frying pan.

3. Mix in the spinach and chop and add the parsley.

4. Roll out the pastry and then fill it with the mushroom mixture. Since this is a wellington-style dish, you want it to look like a thin log of pastry (i.e. the mixture is completely surrounded). You can also make individual portions rather than one large one.

5. Beat the egg and brush it over the pastry.

6. Bake at 220 C for 35-40 minutes.

Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients:

2½ cups strong white bread flour

1½ cups oats

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 package active dry yeast

1¼ cups milk (I used rice milk)

Instructions:

1. Combine all the ingredients except for the milk.

2. Warm the milk until it is lukewarm. Then add it to the rest of the ingredients.

3. Mix everything well. Then turn out onto a lightly oiled surface, cover, and let rise for an hour.

4. Knead, shape into a loaf (or round, whatever you prefer), and put in an oiled loaf pan or on an oiled baking tray. Let rise for another hour.

5. Bake at 200 C for 35-45 minutes.

Coconut Pasta Sauce

Stay with me here, because I know this sounds weird. But I had this ½ tin of coconut milk leftover from the rice pudding I posted in the last post and I was going to make a Thai red curry. But M’s tummy was being sensitive, so she suggested I use it to make a pasta sauce instead of something spicy. I lightly stir-fried some spring greens in sesame oil, added sugar snap peas, and then threw in the coconut milk. We had this with farfalle and it worked out really well. It was full of flavour and lightly sweet. You could also add smoked fish for an extra dimension, if you eat fish.

Dairy-Free Rice Pudding

Since my sweetie can’t have dairy but wanted rice pudding, I tried to think of a way of making a nice dairy-free pudding for her. You need very little sugar since the coconut milk is quite rich and sweet on its own.

Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

oil to grease the dish

½ cup pudding rice

2½ tins of coconut milk (save the other ½ tin for something else)

4 tsp cinnamon, or more to taste

1 tsp nutmeg, or more to taste

2 tsp vanilla, or more to taste

2 tbsp coconut palm sugar (or regular sugar), or to taste

½ cup raisins, or more to taste (I soak them in boiling water first, to plump them up)

Instructions:

1. Grease an oven-safe dish and put the pudding rice, 1½ tins coconut milk, and 2 tsp cinnamon in it.

2. Bake at 150 C for 40 minutes

3. Stir, then grate in the nutmeg. Add another ½ tin of coconut milk and the vanilla. Bake for another 20 minutes.

4. Stir again, then add the rest of the coconut milk and cinnamon, and the raisins.

5. Bake for another 20 minutes, then serve.

Buckwheat Pancakes

Serve this with bananas or berries. We had it as a comforting dinner one chilly winter evening.

Ingredients:

1 cup buckwheat flour

½ cup plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 tsp sugar

2 eggs

1½ cups milk

oil

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together except the oil.

2. Warm the oil in a frying pan.

3. Fry the pancakes on both sides until browned.

Happy Birthday, M!

Today is my beloved wife’s birthday, so I just want to wish her a wonderful day. She makes every day a joy – I feel like the luckiest person in the world because I wake up next to her.

So here’s to you, M. Many, many more happy and healthy birthdays to you.

I love you!

Artichoke Pie

This was delicious with Jules and Sharpie’s spicy mint sauce.

Ingredients:

100 g spring greens or spinach

oil

1 tsp honey

2 tsp tamari

1 tin artichoke hearts

1 container tofu

2 eggs

phyllo dough

Instructions:

1. Wash and chop the greens/spinach. Steam or stir-fry with the oil, honey, and tamari until wilted.

2. Drain and chop the artichokes and chop the tofu. Mix them and two eggs with the greens.

3. Lightly oil an oven-safe dish. Place two sheets of phyllo on the bottom. Top with some of the mixture.

4. Place another sheet on top, then add the rest of the mixture. Top with another sheet of phyllo.

5. Fold the dough so it forms a package and brush a little oil on top.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 200 C.

Seasoned Chickpeas

This is easy to vary, as you can add any spices you like. You can have this as a snack (instead of crisps, for example) or with rice. I served it with red rice and radish sprouts recently and it worked out very well. A dollop of sour cream or yogurt would go well with it too.

Ingredients:

1 tin or container of chickpeas

olive oil

spices (I used 1 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tsp crushed chilli flakes, 2 tsp mint, 1 tsp ginger)

Instructions:

1. Rinse and drain the chickpeas.

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the spices, cook for a minute or two, then add the chickpeas.

3. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring once in a while. Then increase the heat and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the chickpeas are popping a bit.

4. Serve as is or with rice.

Sweet Potato and Aubergine Curry

I had sweet potatoes leftover after making the pancakes I posted the other day, so I thought I’d make a curry with them. I also had an aubergine that was verging on too old, so I decided to use it up. I wasn’t sure how well they’d go together, but luckily, it actually did work out quite well. The sweet potato tasted great with the spicy curry sauce and I would like to try it with courgette as well some time.

Ingredients:

1 aubergine

1 sweet potato

oil

1-3 tbsp red curry paste, depending on taste

1 tin coconut milk

rice

water

Instructions:

1. Wash and dice the aubergine. Peel and chop the sweet potato. If you want, you can boil it for 5-10 minutes first, to soften it.

2. Stir-fry the vegetables in oil until soft, then add some red curry paste and a bit of the coconut milk. Continue cooking.

3. Cook the rice in water. When it’s almost done, add about 1 tsp of the curry paste to flavour it and some of the coconut milk.

4. Add the remainder of the curry paste and coconut milk to the vegetables.

5. Serve the vegetables over the rice.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato

water

¼ cup milk

½ cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp sugar

1 egg

oil

agave or maple syrup to serve with it

Instructions:

1. Peel and chop the potato, then boil it in the water for 10-15 minutes.

2. Mashed it with the milk and combine it with all the other ingredients through the egg.

3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the pancakes a few at a time.

4. Serve with agave or maple syrup.