The easiest, most delicious butternut squash soup recipe ever!

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You know when you really want to eat soup but can’t be bothered chopping and sauteing vegetables? I do, so I ran an experiment to see just how lazy I could I be and still turn out a passable bowl of soup. Turn out very, and the soup is as good as any I’ve ever made!

So, here’s what I did:

pumpkin

Chop a butternut squash in half, chop a red onion in half, chuck them together with 3 unpeeled garlic cloves on an oven tray with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Bake at 200 degrees for about an hour.

When cool, scoop out the butternut flesh, pop out the soft garlic, and put in a blender with the onion, a teaspoon of maple syrup, a tiny pinch of nutmeg, a grind of black pepper and about 2-3 cups vegetable stock.

Blend.

Serve.

soup

You’re welcome.

Vegan cauliflower pizza

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How to have a pizza that is plant-based, full of fibre and vitamins, and doesn’t have any inflammatory gluten, dairy, eggs or meat? Enter Cauliflower pizza! Ok, it’s not really like a normal pizza, more like a tart, but is super flavoursome and packed full of goodies.

I slightly adapted a recipe from Nutrition Stripped for the base, but the toppings are entirely based on personal preference (and greed!).

You could top it with anything that takes your fancy; I used hummus, olives, sweetcorn and mushrooms on a basic tomato paste pizza sauce.

pizza

Making the base is a bit fiddly, but totally worth it! Here’s how it’s done:

1 small head cauliflower

2 tablespoons chia seeds or ground flaxseeds, soaked in 5 tablespoons water for 10 minutes to make a paste

3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon of coconut flour

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

 

Roughly cut the cauliflower into florets, and pulse in a blender or food processor until a rice-like consistency. This next step is very important! Dump the cauliflower mixture into a clean tea towel and wring it like mad until all the moisture has come out. Saute in a frying pan on medium heat (no oil required) for about 10 minutes, until soft. Allow to cool, them mix with the remaining ingredients.

You could make 1 giant pizza or up to 4 mini pizzas with this mixture. Divide the mixture into as many pizza bases as you need, and spread it onto a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray. Bake at 225 degrees for about 20 minutes, until brown. When ready, carefully flip the bases and bake a few more minutes until the other side is brown.

Then it’s up to you! Top with whatever takes your fancy, and bake until everything is hot through.

Enjoy with a salad or some vege chips.

Avocados are back!

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In my opinion, avocados are amazing, and are best eaten with minimal fuss or seasoning. As well as being absolutely delicious, avos are full of healthy fats, vitamins and fibre.

This little bliss bowl allowed the perfectly ripe avocado to shine, with brown rice, edamame beans, shredded carrot, marinated mushrooms and a handful of my secret weapon; roasted munchy seeds. I drizzled a wee bit of olive oil over the top for some extra flavour.

Not so much a recipe as a suggestion for what to do with those avocados that are appearing in shops at reasonable prices right now. What are you waiting for? Get into them!

bowl

 

Clean vegan Snickers bars

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Given a few spare minutes, I will always get into the kitchen and whip up a healthy treat. Thanks to detoxinsta for this little beauty. I changed it up by adding a slosh of espresso to the caramel, and by just topping the slice with chocolate because who has time for chocolate dipping? Yum.

You can find the original recipe here

snickers

Easy-as weeknight dinner!

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Some nights you really don’t feel cooking, but know you’ll regret eating a toasted sandwich later. This broccoli/noodle/peanut recipe takes 10 minutes to whip up, is super-tasty, but won’t make you feel crappy because it is still plant-based. You’re welcome!

noodles

This recipe served 2, but would be easily adapted for more.

 

1 packet wholemeal udon/ramen noodles

Half a head of broccoli

 

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce

2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

1 spring onion, chopped

1 red chilli, chopped (optional)

Handful of fresh coriander, chopped

 

Chop the broccoli and steam it until just cooked. Add the noodles for the last 30 seconds just to get them warm and separated.

Mix the lime juice, oil, chilli sauce and peanut butter with 1-3 tablespoons water until combined and a pourable consistency.

Stir the dressing through the broccoli and noodles, then garnish with the spring onion, coriander and chilli (if using).

Serve!

You could mix this up by using green beans instead of broccoli, adding tofu for a more filling meal, or serving asian greens such as bok choi on the side. In fact, I think I need to eat this again tomorrow!

 

 

Comforting Koshari on a cold night

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If you’ve ever heard of the Egyptian dish Koshari you’ll know it’s a comfort dish made with white rice, lentils and pasta and layered with a tomato sauce. That sounded good for a day that didn’t get over 7 degrees (brrrrr!), but I wanted to make a recipe that was a bit less carby and a bit more vegetable-based. So with apologies to the purists, this is how I changed it up:

kusharibetter

carrot salad

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1 cup brown lentils, soaked for a couple of hours

1 cup brown rice

2 cups vegetable stock

2 cups mixed vegetables (I used peas and corn, but most things would work)

1 teaspoon salt

Good grind black pepper

 

Saute the onion and garlic in a heavy pan until soft and lightly coloured. Add the cumin and coriander and cook for another minute or so. Add the lentils, rice and stock and bake, covered, for about 25 minutes. Check it a couple of times during cooking; you might need to add a bit of water if it gets too dry.

Add your choice of vegetables and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the water has all been absorbed. Stir through salt and pepper to taste.

I served mine with chopped coriander and roasted eggplant, hard-boiled egg, spicy chutney and roasted peanuts and a carrot and coconut salad on the side. It would be equally good with caramalised onions, tomato pasata or any number of extras!

 

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Freakin’ Freekeh

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I am loving all things freekeh right now. Freekeh is an ‘ancient grain’-basically wheat that is harvested young and roasted. It is higher in protein and fibre than that other superfood quinoa, cooks in 10 minutes, and is really tasty and filling!

Freekeh can be used in heaps of ways, but I love to cook it, cool it, boost it with vegetables, and make it a salad.

Here’s a very loose recipe (more a suggestion) for a delicious weeknight salad that also makes a stunning left-over lunch.

freekeh

Freekeh Salad:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1.5 cups freekeh

2.5 cups water

1 onion

1 garlic clove

3 cups vegetables; I used courgette, corn, capsicum, rocket, broccoli, tomato, avocado and mushroom

Handful of kalamata olives (optional)

Handful fresh herbs; parsley, mint, coriander, chives would all be good

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup toasted walnuts (or any nuts or seeds that take your fancy)

Dollop of coconut yogurt (mine was mango and turmeric flavour, but plain would be fine too)

 

To cook the freekeh, heat the first measure of olive oil in a heavy frying pan. Toast the freekeh in it until brown and smelling good, about 4-5 minutes. Pour in the water, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until soft. You might need to add a bit more water if it all runs out before the freekeh is soft. Put aside to cool down.

Saute the garlic, onions and any vegetables that require cooking in a pan until just soft. Add to the freekeh. Add any raw salad vegetables and the chopped fresh herbs.

To make the dressing, mix the second measure of olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and stir through the salad. Adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Serve with a sprinkle of toasted nuts/seeds and a dollop of coconut yogurt.

 

Not jam sandwiches!

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Trying to convince a teenager to take a salad for a school lunch can be difficult, unless you can call it a ‘deconstructed salad’. Somehow then it’s cool. I give you my deconstructed sushi salad. Guaranteed to keep you full all afternoon, and never be boring.

salad (2)

For 4 serves:

2 cups cooked brown rice (or sushi rice)

Approx 5 tablespoons sushi seasoning, check bottle for amount

1 cup shredded cabbage

2 carrots, grated

2 radishes, thinly sliced

3/4 cup frozen edamame beans

1 spring onion

1/2 packet tempeh or tofu

2 sheets nori

4 little bottles soy sauce (I keep the ones from sushi shops, but you could fill up little pots from your bottle in the fridge

Optional extras: sliced avocado, wasabi mayonnaise

 

Cook the rice according to packet instructions, cool, and season to taste with sushi seasoning. Layer in the bottom of 4 containers/bowls.

Layer the vegetables over the top. I just chuck the edamame beans in frozen; they’ll be defrosted by lunchtime, promise.

Lightly fry the tempeh or tofu in a pan until brown on both sides. You might want to splash some soy sauce on while cooking for extra flavour. Add this to the salad.

Lightly toast the nori sheet; I hold mine over the gas hob until it goes crisp. You could toast it in a frying pan. Roughly rip this into pieces and put on top of the salad.

Tuck a little bottle of soy sauce in, to be added to the salad just before eating. Yum!

*Meat eaters might like to add some cold chicken or tinned tuna. You can make this salad to order.

 

 

Whole food plant based is cool

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The more studies that are done into diet and health, the more the evidence seems to suggest that a mainly plant-based diet is the way to go. The whole food plant based diet is based on a massive study done over several years in China, called The China Study, which concludes that “the closer people came to an all plant-based diet, the lower their risk for chronic disease.”

But isn’t cooking without animal products complicated? Isn’t it impossible to make meals interesting and tasty without meat or cheese? And don’t I need to carefully work out my protein requirements if my diet is vegan? Well, no! When you eat a diet based on fruit, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes you naturally get the levels of nutrients your body needs. And planning meals using vegetables as your starting point allows for so much creativity!

I’ll be sharing some of my whole food plant-based recipe ideas over coming weeks. They are by no means spectacular, but are quick and easy to make, and satisfy a busy, active family. I also try to make extra servings of my dinners which can double as packed lunches the next day. Bonus!

First up:

San Choy Bau, vegan style

san chow bow (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like most of my recipes, this doesn’t have specific amounts, or even ingredients! You can mix it up depending on what you have in the fridge. For instance, this night I had a bowl of leftover coleslaw in the fridge, so I filled my lettuce cups with that. Have fun experimenting!

1/2 iceberg lettuce

200 grams noodles (I used kelp noodles, but soba or vermicelli are also good)

1 packet silken tofu

2 cups raw mixed vegetables, e.g: shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, grated carrot, courgette, radish, avocado, capsicum….

3-4 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1/4 cup toasted seeds or nuts (optional)

 

Gently pull the inner leaves from the lettuce, and arrange in cups on a big platter. I work with 2 per person, but you might want to do more.

Cook the noodles according to packet instructions, drain and cool. Share evenly among the lettuce cups. Fill the cups with your choice of vegetables, then sprinkle over the crumbled tofu. Drizzle with hoisin sauce. It can be nice to sprinkle over some toasted sesame seed or cashews to add extra crunch.

Pick up the lettuce cups and eat with your fingers. Keep napkins close by!

Friday Pie Day

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It’s not always easy to get excited about vegetables, especially when they’ve been in the fridge for a week and are looking a bit sad. But it’s amazing what banging them between a couple of bits of pastry can do for their allure! I don’t reckon there’s much you can’t put in a pie; case in point Friday’s dinner.

I literally chopped up all the vegetables I had left in the fridge, (spinach, spring onion, carrot, cabbage), mixed them with a couple of eggs and half a block of feta, and covered the lot with filo pastry. Suddenly boring left-overs are cheesy pie and everyone wants some!

pie