Panforte with chocolate – vegan

Panforte is an Italian sweet with origins in Turkey. Usually made with honey, I have substituted Golden Syrup to keep it vegan. I’m not sure if Golden Syrup is available outside of the UK. It’s a light coloured syrup, similar in consistency to treacle/molasses. To make it more ‘Christmas’ I’ve included some warm spices often…

Stuffed butternut squash

Completely plant-based, this recipe uses nutritional yeast to give a slightly nutty, cheesy flavour without the dairy. I use tinned mixed beans for ease but if you’ve got the time, use whatever you have to hand. Serves: 4 Ingredients 2 butternut squash, halved and with the seeds scooped out 1 bell pepper, roughly chopped 150g…

Pot luck cupboard soup

Many kitchen gadgets are a triumph of desire over need (or even utility) but occasionally a product comes along that is genuinely useful and time saving. My soup maker is one of those. You’ll find loads of recipes for soup makers with a quick search and some are really nice but nothing beats the simplicity…

Orange, honey and mushroom chicken – vegan alt

A variation on a sweet and sour using mixed, dried mushrooms as they give a hearty texture for the non-meat eater. I cook the chicken separately so that my vegan daughter can have the dish without but still have a filling meal because the mushrooms are nice and chewy. Serves: 6 Chicken ingredients 600g skinless…

Failures

Not everything works out as planned. I wanted to make no-egg amaretti biscuits using aquafaba instead of egg white. All was going well, I’d got the soft white peaks using the aquafaba, sugar and lemon juice with a little vanilla and orange flavouring. I’d also included 1/2 tsp of baking powder to help it rise….

Falafels in pitta with salsa and yoghurt dressing

This was an easy recipe to make vegan, the only substitute I had to make was the yoghurt. I opted for soya. Everything was made from scratch except the pitta bread which I bought ready made. Whatever you do, don’t throw away the chickpea water. It’s so useful as an egg white alternative in recipes…

Mince pies – vegan

This recipe came from the BBC site, here. The changes I’ve made are: To use 290g cherries in kirsch rather than 390g. That’s just because that’s the only size jar I could find. Replace coconut oil with vegan margarine, Flora Buttery. Otherwise the coconut taste comes through too strongly. I made 24 out of the…

Breadsticks – quick and easy

Yes, you could buy breadsticks but these are easy to make and will have that non-uniform look of homemade produce that people love. You’ll see in the photos that some of these are rolled and some twisted. The twisted ones are much quicker to do so I’ll stick with them from now on. I wish…

Poached egg with mushroom and leaves

I light lunch time snack for one. Feeling a bit more hungry, just add another egg. The tarragon is completely optional but it goes so well with mushroom that it’s almost illegal to do it without. Serves: 1 Ingredients 1 large flat mushroom 1 egg 6 sprays of sunflower oil 1/2 tsp dried tarragon 1/2…

Red lentil, chickpea and spinach curry

Red lentils give a lovely texture as a base to a stew or curry. They are inexpensive and require no soaking so don’t take long to cook. I served this with fragranced rice but it works just as well with flat breads. I’ll post a recipe for 2-ingredient flat breads soon. I’ve just realised I…