Vegan Bolognese Sauce

Have this over pasta or couscous. Top with vegan cheese if desired.

 

Ingredients:

200 g dried lentils

water or stock (vegetable stock gives it a really nice flavour)

1 onion

olive oil

3 garlic cloves

2 stalks celery

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 pinch salt

 

Instructions:

1. Rinse the lentils and boil them in about three times the amount of water or stock for 20-25 minutes, until tender. Drain if necessary.

2. Peel and dice the onion and cook lightly in oil.

3. Peel and chop the garlic and chop the celery, and add to the onion. Cook a few more minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes and lentils and cook another 10 minutes.

5. Season with salt.

Eliopitta Olive Bread

I found this recipe in Sally Butcher’s Veggiestan and since we love olives, I thought I’d try it out. I adapted it to our tastes.

 

It was a nice bread, but for great olive taste, I still prefer a focaccia.

 

Ingredients:

250 g strong white flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

7 g dried yeast

2 tbsp olive oil

1-3 tsp rosemary

160 ml lukewarm water, plus water for the pan

75 g olives

 

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, olive oil, rosemary, and water together. Knead well and leave to rise for 30-60 minutes.

2. Knead again, then leave to rise again.

3. Shape into a loaf or round. Slice the olives and place on the loaf. Let the loaf rise another 30 minutes.

4. Fill a baking tray with water and place in the bottom of the oven.

5. Bake at 240 C for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 190 C and bake for another 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Vegan Cauliflower Gratin

You can adapt this to any vegetable/s  you like.

 

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 cauliflower

1 sweet potato

tofu (I only used about 100 g, since M can’t really eat soya products, but you can have more)

2 cups vegan cream sauce

50 g vegan cheese, such as by Vegusto

 

Instructions:

1. Lightly oil an oven-safe dish.

2. Wash the cauliflower and break it into florets. Peel and thinly slice the potato.

3. Dice the tofu.

4. Mix the vegetables and tofu and place into the dish.

5. Pour in the cream sauce.

6. Grate or chop some cheese and sprinkle it over the dish.

7. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 190 C.

Vegan Cream Sauce

I read a recipe for “cream sauce without the cream” in Eating Well magazine (the February 2013 issue) and decided to adapt it for our tastes.

 

This makes a big batch, so I froze much of it, for later use in soups or other dishes, such as the gratin I’ll post next.

 

Ingredients:

1 onion

olive oil

1 vegetable stock cube

2/3 cup rice

5 cups boiling water

1 tsp lemon juice

 

Instructions:

1. Dice the onion and cook it lightly in the oil in a big saucepan.

2. Add the stock cube and the rice and cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the water and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes.

4. Add the lemon juice.

5. Puree with a handheld blender in the pot until smooth. If too thick, add a little more water.

Sweet Potato and Greens Pie

I had a sweet potato that I needed to use, plus fresh chard from our garden, so I made a sweet potato and greens pie.

 

Ingredients:
1 onion
2-3 cloves garlic, optional, depending on taste
2-4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar

2 pounds greens (spinach, chard, cabbage, etc.) (if fresh, it should be washed carefully, and if frozen, it should be well thawed)

1 sweet potato

handful of black olives

1 dash salt

black pepper
1 package filo dough

Instructions:

1. Dice the onion. Mince the garlic, if using it. Preheat the oven to 190 C.
2. Gently fry the onion in some of the olive oil until golden, then add the garlic, if using it. Add the sugar so the onions caramelise.
3. Defrost the greens, if frozen, or steam it, if fresh. Add to the onion and garlic.
4. Thinly slice the sweet potato.
5. Chop the olives. Mix them into the greens. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Lightly oil a casserole dish. Line it with three sheets of filo, layered over one another so that the pieces hang over the edges of the dish.
7. Spread out some of the filling on top of the filo. Layer potato slices on top.
8. Place another sheet or two on top, then some more filling, then more potatoes. Repeat until the filling is all used up and then cover it with another sheet of dough. Brush it lightly with olive oil and tuck any excess edges in.
9. Bake the pie for 25-40 minutes, checking after about 20 minutes to see how golden and ready it is.
10. Serve and enjoy!

Gayby

We watched a silly, light film called Gayby. In it, a straight woman decides to have a baby with her gay best friend. Somewhat strangely, they decide to make this baby the traditional way, but they don’t have much luck at first, so the film follows them on their journey.

 

The main character does eventually get pregnant, but the question is whether the baby is actually her best friend’s or not.

 

It is an easy-to-watch film that has some funny moments. I get tired of the gay stereotypes (the effeminate guy who always has a witty remark, for example), but the film clearly was going for laughs. If you’ve had a bad day, it’s a good movie for an evening with some popcorn.

Rhubarb Meringue Cupcakes

Another experiment with rhubarb! Yum!

 

Ingredients:

200 g rhubarb

200 g sugar

1 tsp vanilla

130 ml milk (I used rice milk)

1 tbsp lemon juice

200 g flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon, optional

1 egg

2 tbsp vegetable oil

 

Meringue

3 egg whites

120 g sugar

1 tsp vanilla

 

Instructions:

1. Wash the rhubarb and dice it into fairly small pieces. Mix it with the sugar and vanilla.

2. Mix the milk and lemon juice and set aside.

3. Stir together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.

4. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and slowly add the egg, oil, and milk, stirring the whole time.

5. Add the rhubarb.

6. Pour the rhubarb mixture into cupcake/muffin cases until about half full. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until mostly cooked, but still slightly gooey in the middle.

7. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites, sugar, and vanilla into meringue. Spoon meringue on top of the cupcakes and bake for another 4-6 minutes.

Rhubarb Muffins

If you frost them, they are rhubarb cupcakes. I made a simple vegan buttercream (butter, icing sugar, and vanilla, plus added chopped rhubarb), but M preferred them without the frosting. You can also make rhubarb curd first, then blend it into muffin batter.

 

Ingredients:

1½ cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil or coconut oil

1/3 cup milk (I used rice milk)

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup rhubarb

 

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the muffins except the rhubarb. Once well mixed, chop and add in the rhubarb.

2. Place into muffin cases, filling each one about ¾ of the way up.

3.Bake for 20-25 minutes at 190 C.

Vegan Hot Fudge

I had an urge for hot fudge, so this is what I made one evening. It wasn’t as thick as fudge, but it worked on top of Booja Booja ice cream – delicious.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup coconut milk (you can also use almond milk, rice milk, etc)

½ cup cocoa

6 tbsp caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla

 

Instructions:

1. Mix the ingredients together and warm them over low heat until slightly thickened.

2. Serve as desired.

Strawberry Pancakes

These are tasty with some whipped cream (I used rice whip).

 

Ingredients:

1¼ cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk (I used rice milk)

1 tbsp vegetable oil plus extra for the pan

2½  cups strawberries

 

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together except the strawberries.

2. Wash, hull, and slice the strawberries. Mix 2 cups into the batter.

3. Warm some oil in the frying pan. Pour in some batter and fry the pancakes on both sides.

4. Serve with more sliced strawberries.

Mandelbrot

A friend who likes Jewish food was coming to visit, so I made mandelbrot for him. These cookies are like Jewish biscotti.

 

This is based on my grandma’s recipe. If you keep them in a Tupperware container, they will last a long time.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

4-6 cups flour (start with 4 and if it isn’t thick enough, slowly add in some more)

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 cup chopped nuts (almond is traditional, hence the “mandel”, but you can also use peanuts, walnuts, etc)

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon, if desired

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

zest and juice from 1 orange (you can use lemon if you prefer)

 

topping, optional

sugar

cinnamon

 

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together except the topping in a large mixing bowl and blend well. This will be quite stiff to stir, so a wooden spoon is helpful.

2. Shape the dough into two or three logs and place on baking paper on baking trays. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 C, until golden.

3. Leave to cool for 20-30 minutes, then slice into biscotti-like shapes (on the diagonal is an easy way to do it).

4. Place the cookies on their sides and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

5. Bake at 150 C for 10 minutes, until dry in the middle and golden.

6. Flip over, sprinkle with more topping, and bake another 5-10 minutes.

Nectarine Pancakes

I had some leftover ripe nectarines, so I decided to make pancakes with them.

 

Ingredients:

3 nectarines

water

1½ cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 pinch salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1-2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp honey

2 eggs

1¼ cup milk (I used rice milk)

oil

 

Instructions:

1. Score the nectarines. Boil the water and set the nectarines in it for about 3 minutes.

2. Peel and dice the nectarines.

3. Mix all the other ingredients except the oil together. Add the nectarines.

4. Warm the oil in a frying pan and drop tablespoonfuls of batter into the pan.

5. Fry the pancakes until golden on both sides.

Mexican Pie

I get a newsletter from VegNews, which always has an interesting vegan recipe. A recent one included tamale pie and while I couldn’t get all the ingredients here (in a small city in the UK without a Mexican population) and others weren’t to our taste, I adapted the idea and made a Mexican-style pie.

Ingredients:

 

pastry

1 vegetable stock cube

2 cups boiling water

2 cups fine cornmeal

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tsp mint

1 dash lemon juice

 

filling

2 red onions

3 garlic cloves

oil

1 tsp honey

5 mushrooms

1 pepper

2 cups spinach

1 tin/package black beans

½ cup frozen or tinned corn

1 tin peeled tomatoes

1 tsp salt

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp parsley

1 tsp chilli flakes, if desired

 

Instructions:

1. Put the stock cube in the water.

2. Mix all the other pastry ingredients and then add the vegetable stock. Stir well.

3. Press half of the pastry mixture into the bottom and sides of an oven-safe dish and bake for 10 minutes at 180 C.

4. Peel and dice the onions and garlic. Fry lightly in the oil and honey.

5. Brush and slice the mushrooms. Wash and chop the pepper. Add them and the spinach to the frying pan.

6. Drain the beans and add them, the corn, the tomatoes (not drained, so add the juice too), and the spices.

7. Stir and warm through for a few minutes.

8. Pour the filling over the pastry. Spoon the rest of the pastry over it and smooth out.

9. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 180 C.

Rhubarb and Raspberry Flan Bars

These have a lovely custardy consistency.

 

Ingredients:

 

pastry

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

60 g icing sugar

250 g flour

 

filling

60 g flour

400 g sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

300 g rhubarb

100 g raspberries (or strawberries)

 

Instructions:

1. Mix the ingredients for the pastry together and press into the bottom and sides of an oven-safe dish. Fill with baking beans or rice and bake for 10-12 minutes at 180 C.

2. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and spices together. Beat the eggs and add, mixing well.

3. Wash and dice the rhubarb. Wash the raspberries. Add them to the egg mixture.

4. Pour the fruit mixture over the pastry and bake for 25-30 minutes at 180 C.

Rhubarb Spice Cake

I love rhubarb in the springtime and I try to make lots of different dishes! This was wonderfully moist, and M loved it with a bit of Oatly cream.

 

Ingredients:

130 g vegetable oil, plus extra for the pan

130 g sugar (use dark sugar if you prefer)

200 ml water

4 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp mixed spice

2 tsp ginger

50 g honey

1 tbsp malt extract, if desired (molasses could work too, or you can leave it out)

4 tsp baking powder

300 g flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 eggsba

400 g rhubarb

 

Instructions:

1. Whisk the oil and sugar together.

2. Boil the water.

3. Add the spices, honey, malt extract, baking powder, and flour to the oil and whisk again.

4. Mix the bicarbonate of soda and water together and leave to fizz for a few moments.

5. Add it to the mixture.

6. Beat the eggs and mix them in. Make sure all is blended thoroughly.

7. Wash and chop the rhubarb into small pieces and stir into the mixture.

8. Pour into a lightly greased oven-safe dish.

9. Bake for about 30 minutes at 180 C, checking after 20.