I’m a huge fan of mushrooms, Kenny hates them but that just means there’s more for me. They’re the perfect star for a stroganoff with their bold, meaty flavours. I love this dish so much – its so easy and quick to pull together that it works well for a quick lunch or even a dinner when you want something quick, satisfying and oh so tasty. There are two key ingredients to this dish, mushroom ketchup and vegan sour cream. Mushroom Ketchup started out for me as an ideal vegan pantry replacement for Worcestershire sauce as it offers a similar depth in flavour but without the anchovies. While I am…
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Instant Pot Cauliflower and Black Bean Masala
My mother has always had this vast, Aladdin’s cave of herbs and spices that she viewed as essential in food and equally essential in our cooking education. An old coffee grinder, that is likely older than me, serves as a spice grinder for an array of whole spices that live on the top shelf before being toasted, ground and decanted into the jars for the ground spices on the bottom shelf. In my childhood memories I can still remember being taken to the Bangladeshi food shops in Yorkshire, so that she could get spices you couldn’t find in supermarkets in those days, bulk bags of rice, beans, pulses and the…
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Vegan Meatball Subs
I had planned for today’s post to be something completely different but last night’s dinner was so well received I thought I’d bump it up the queue. Most of my burger recipes use a binder of some description to help keep them together but due to cupboard shortages last night was an attempt to build a vegan meatball without a binder. Thankfully, I think I can say this black bean based attempt was a complete success! They’re only a little delicate and not crumbly, with bags of flavour. Seved with a really simple spicy tomates sauce, it makes for an easy and slightly different dinner option. I do have to…
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Vegan Mac & Cheese
It’s creamy, it’s cheesy, it’s a satisfying bowl of carbs – but it’s all based on veg that’s begging to be used from the bottom of the fridge. This recipe has been a life saver for me when we really need to go to the shops and all we have in the fridge is odds and ends of old veggies. Brought together that old veg can make something extraordinary with out really much effort or tie spent. I also like to tell myself it’s much healthier than your typical non-vegan mac & cheese as it actually contains some vegetables! A lot of this recipe is really quite forgiving so feel…
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Spicy Asian Style Cauliflower Bites
Cauliflower is one of those veggies that have been through a massive ‘glow-up’ over the past few years. Once thought of as a bland, uninspiring veg that tends to be boiled to death, it’s now become a stable for many once you realise how flexible it truly is. My sister makes pizza bases with it, others I know make cauliflower ‘wings’, often for a tasty side I’ll roast it. Seriously it seems we’ve all been missing a trick by boiling it all these years. These cauliflower bite are a little salty, a little sweet, with a flash of chilli and crunch. What’s more they’re baked rather than fried so they’re…
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Chilli, Peanut Green Beans
Today’s recipe is a bit of an ugly duckling – so much so that I debating sharing this one. However, it’s tasty enough that I just couldn’t keep it too myself. This side dish is the perfect accompaniment to a buddha bowl or takeout-style evening. Inspired by my mother’s recipe for satay, this side dish has been simplified, uses similar flavours and is much easier to make. I’ve built this around frozen veg and other shelf stable ingriedients so it’s perfect for when you can’t get to the shops (like now!). However If you want to sub in fresh beans then this should work just as well. Makes: Serves 4…
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Banh Xeo – Vietnamese Pancakes
A lot of my food isn’t really know for its cultural authenticity. I’ll take inspiration from the original sure, but very rarely does it stay true to that original recipe, and so it is here. A quick look around at your typical Banh Xeo filling will tell you that prawns and pork typically make the cut, make it vegetables only and the general consensus seems to be that this is fit for a very light lunch or a starter only but I think we can fix that. The filling for my pancakes is a salad of rice noodles, thinly sliced vegetables, some pickled vegetables, add in some aubergines that are…
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Butternut Squash and Kale Spaghetti
There are days when I just don’t want to cook dinner, when I’m tired, can’t be bothered, or just want something with very little effort. This is the recipe I make when those moods strike. It’s incredibly easy and once you’ve roasted the butternut squash there’s really only 15 minutes more work. So if you’re getting tired of social distancing, tired of cooking, and just overall frustrated – pull together this dish, pour yourself a glass of wine, and breathe. Believe me, it’ll all feel better over a massive bowl of carbs! Makes: Serves 2 (Generously) Ingredients 900g Butternut Squash 1Tbsp Paprika 300g Spaghetti 2 Red Onions 4 Garlic Cloves…
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Warm Spring Salad
We’re at a slightly odd time of year, the weather can’t seem to decide if winter is over but the sun is definitely starting to push it’s head through the clouds. After days like this weekend I start to crave something light and salad-like but warm. My solution is this salad. It’s incredibly easy to make, takes advantage of seasonal produce like asparagus and salad potatoes when they’re just coming into their own, but it’s warm so it fits in perfectly when the weather is still a little cool. The lentils and potatoes make it filling without being heavy while the dressing brightens the dish with a little tang. If…
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Slow Cooker Lasagne Soup
Lasagne soup was completely foreign to me until recently thanks to some browsing on social media. It seems to be an american invention but what a great idea it is! All the elements of a great lasagne but with almost none of the work since, in my version, most of the cooking is done in the slow cooker. I like to serve mine with an easy homemade vegan ricotta which serves as a great counterpoint to the rich tomato sauce. This recipe works great for a crowd, uses mostly pantry stables, and is really quite hands off so is ideal for these days were so many people are working from…
