Simply Delicious Coleslaw

Nothing tastes better than homemade coleslaw so here is a very quick and easy ‘slaw to stuff in your maw

Coleslaw

1/4 medium white cabbage, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, grated
400ml vegan mayo (you can also use half mayo, half dairy-free yoghurt if you want to reduce the calories slightly)
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

Throw everything in a large bowl and give it a good mix. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

(I told you it was quick and easy)

Chinese Takeout Style Lemon Seitan

Chinese Lemon Seitan

1.35 kg cooked seitan (about four fillet sized pieces)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 tsp salt
250 ml vegetable oil
5 tbsp cornflour
1/2 tsp baking powder
5 tbsp caster sugar
250ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 lemon, sliced

Southern Fried Chickenless Nuggets

Seitan:
Dry Ingredients:
1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
3 heaped tbsp chickpea flour
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried sage
Lots of fresh ground black pepper

Wet Ingredients:
¾ to 1 cup cold vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce

Coating:
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp corn flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chilli powder

Mix the dry seitan ingredients in a large bowl then add the oil, soy sauce, and ½ cup of the veg stock. Mix well adding more stock as needed (this will vary from batch to batch) until you have a stretchy, moist lump of seitan dough. Knead for a minute then cut/rip into pieces half the size of how big you want the final product to be.
Boil a large pan of water/veg stock with a tbsp of soy sauce then turn down to a very gentle simmer (the surface of the water should barely be moving). Drop the seitan pieces into the water and partially cover. Leave to cook for 45 minutes then turn off the heat and leave for another 15 minutes.
Mix the coating ingredients in another large bowl.
Drain the seitan and leave to cool in a sieve until you are able to handle it without burning yourself (don’t allow to cool completely though) then toss them in the coating mixture. Give a good mix to ensure every piece is fully coated and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Heat a deep pan of oil until a piece of bread dropped in turns brown in 10-15 seconds then fry the seitan, in batches, until golden brown and crispy. Drain on a wire rack.

This recipe has been entered into the Virtual Vegan LINKY Potluck

Everyone Loves Houmous

I don’t know about you but I find I am at my most creative in the kitchen when my purse is empty and all I have to work with is what I have in the house (the longer I have to go without buying fresh ingredients the more creative I get). For this reason I always have dried beans and lentils in the cupboard along with plenty of dried herbs and spices, and a bottle of lemon juice in the fridge. One thing I’ve recently started doing is freezing vegetable waste (peelings and the like) in a bag to use to make vegetable stock which in turn is frozen until I need it. (Thank you Thug Kitchen for that idea!) Today has been one of those days where I haven’t been able to go grocery shopping since before christmas and I really really want some snacks. I had a bar of dairy-free 70% dark chocolate that had bloomed past being edible as is so that was melted down and mixed with some vegan puffed rice to make crispy cakes, then I whipped up some oatmeal cookies using the porridge oats and whole wheat flour I had sitting at the back of the cupboard. Finally, I made this simple and lower-fat version of houmous which uses vegetable broth to replace most of the oil.

Simple Lower-Fat Houmous

1/2 cup dried chickpeas
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, finely diced
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup cold vegetable stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Mock Duck Spring Rolls

300g Mock Duck
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
5-6 spring onions, sliced
1 tbsp cornflour
8 spring roll wrappers
oil for frying

Marinade:
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp chinese 5-spice powder
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp Shaohsing rice wine

Christmas Brownies

5 tbsp rapeseed oil (in the uk most vegetable oil is actually rapeseed oil so save some pennies and check the ingredients in your local shop)
200g dark chocolate
170g Self-Raising Flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
180g castor sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract or paste
230ml plant milk
200g hazel nuts
50g dried cranberries (if you want to make these boozy brownies then soak the cranberries in sherry overnight)
a hand full of crushed salted pistachios

Veggie Barley Stew with Cheezy-herby Dumplings

It’s less than two weeks until christmas, the ground is frosty and the air is crisp. I’m trying to keep my Christmas binge to Christmas Eve, Day, and Boxing day this year so I’ve been looking at coming up with warming, filling, yummy meals that feels luxurious but are still low in fat. If you want to reduce the fat in this recipe further then skip the dumplings. This serves 4 with the dumplings or 3 without them.

2 medium onions, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 large carrots, sliced
2 large parsnips, sliced
1 medium leek, sliced
1/2 whole swede, diced
175g Pearl Barley, rinsed
1 ltr vegetable stock
1 tbsp shoyu
1 tsp miso
1 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp dried Parsley
1 Bayleaf
1 tsp vegetable/olive oil

Dumpling Mix:
100g Self-raising Flour
50g vegetable suet, grated
50g vegan cheese, grated
2 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp dried thyme, lightly ground
2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tsp fresh chives, chopped

Vegan Cinnamon French Toast

Tastes even better with a rustic loaf!

2 tbsp self-raising flour
1 tbsp cinnamon powder
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp Vegg (optional)
1 small banana, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
4 tbsp non-dairy milk (plus extra)
2 slices thick bread
1 tbsp vegan butter/margarine

Mix the flour, cinnamon, nutritional yeast, salt, and Vegg (if using) in a bowl and add the vanilla, bannana, and milk. Mix thoroughly then pour into a wide dish.

Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and add the butter/margarine. Once hot, dip a slice of bread into the batter coating both sides and place in the frying pan. Cook gently without touching until the botttom is golden brown (3-5 mintutes). Turn and repeat for the other side. Repeat with the other slice.

Serve warm, sprinkled with a little icing sugar (powdered sugar).

Carrot and Potato Gnocchi

This simple recipe is very time-consuming but definitely worth the effort if you have an afternoon free. This makes a large amount but, if you line the formed gnocchi on a lightly dusted tray and pop in the freezer for a couple of hours, you can store the extra in bags in the freezer for future use.

450g potatoes, whole and unpeeled
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
450g plain flour

Delicious Parsnip Soup

This recipe came about because I had some vegetables that needed to be used up and I had quite a few parsnips. I had made parsnip soup before but this has got to be the tastiest version I’ve ever had!

Parsnip Soup

5 parsnips, peeled and diced
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1 medium leek, roughly sliced into rounds
1 small to medium potato, peeled and diced
1 large clove garlic, roughly chopped
1.5 ltrs vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive/rapeseed oil
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
Sea Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste