• Fast and Flavoursome

    Sabich Platter (Vegan & Gluten Free)

    Holidays are a thing of the past at the moment but I can’t express just how much I miss them. Looking back at our holiday snaps makes me yearn for a little bit of adventure and that joy of discovering new places. If there’s one place I’d love to visit just for the food, it’s Israel. Food from all over the world, coming together in one place makes the food scene unbeatable. What’s more, influences from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa mean there’s a strong lean toward vegetables and Israel has the world’s highest ratio of vegans so finding tasty plant based food really isn’t hard. While everyone…

  • Fast and Flavoursome

    Aubergine & Butternut Squash Curry (Vegan & Gluten Free)

    Some friends and I recently started a recipe exchange to help break down the monotony of lockdown. One of the ones that caught my eye was an aubergine curry with plenty of potential but not enough flavour. This is my version of this recipe, I’ve developed it to build the flavours. Now it’s an intensely flavourful curry that’s incredibly easy to make and perfect for midweek. Enjoy! Makes: Serves 4-6 Ingredients 600g Aubergine, roughly diced 1/2 Butternut Squash, peeled & roughly chopped 2 Onions, finely diced 4 Garlic Cloves, minced 2 tsp Garam Masala 1 tsp Coriander Seeds 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds 1 tsp Crushed Chillies 1 tsp Paprika 1…

  • Fast and Flavoursome

    Aubergine, Broccoli and Crispy Tofu Stir Fry (Vegan, GF, NF)

    Aubergines get a lot of use in this house. Infinitely flexible, it’s a vegetable that works in so many cuisines and dishes. For this dinner, I wanted something quick but still tasty and aubergine is still my go to. We’ve ended up with a tasty dish that quick to make, bursting with flavour and with delicious contrasting textures. Starting with aromatics like garlic, ginger and chilli, finishing with a slightly sweet sauce. It’s a perfect dinner for when you’re in a pinch and need something fast. Enjoy! Makes: Serves 4-6 Ingredients For the Vegetables: 2 Aubergines, sliced into bitsize chunks 1 head of Broccoli, sliced into small florets 2 cups Chinese…

  • Fast and Flavoursome

    Aubergine Banh Mi (Vegan & Gluten Free)

    These spicy, crunchy sandwiches are a staple in Vietnamese food culture and are perfect on a warm summer’s day. It may seem complicated when you pick one up from a food truck but it’s actually quite approachable with lots of little bits that can be done ahead. In other words, its a recipe that’s made for lockdown, doing the odd bit here and there as working from home allows! The big benefit of doing this yourself is that it allows your to modulate the heat in this Sandwich. Traditionally, this is served with plenty of chillies and an extra layer of even more fresh chillies for those who want it.…

  • Fast and Flavoursome

    Vegan Shakshouka (with no tofu in sight!)

    Shakshouka is one of those classic regional dishes that has as many different versions as it does regions who lay claim to it. A rich, spicy, tomato sauce with poached eggs, and plenty of bread for dipping. Traditionally it’s most commonly used for breakfast (and a great hangover cure!) but it works wonderfully for any time of day and we always used to love it for dinner. It’s one of those meals that made taking that final step towards being vegan and giving up eggs quite hard, so today I wanted to have a go at tackling a vegan shakshouka. There have been plenty of attempts to veganise this dish…

  • Fast and Flavoursome,  Savoury Snacks

    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…