Christmas is coming IV

Vegan Christmas Cake – the eating Every Wednesday I took the cake out of its box and brushed it all over with brandy to feed it. On Christmas day itself we had so much food that we didn’t get around to the cake. It was finally cut on New Year’s Day and it was lovely….

Brussels sprouts and kale curry

Like most people at Christmas, I over buy on food for the day and then have to find things to do with the stuff I have left. This year it was Brussels sprouts and kale. Yes, we had turkey left too but we ate that cold in the car whilst driving down to Dorset for…

Nigella rice

Rice is nice on its own but sometimes you want a bit more colour and flavour. This one uses turmeric for colour and an earthy flavour with nigella seeds. Goes well with greens like cabbage and spinach. Serves: 4 Ingredients 250g white basmati rice 1 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp nigella seeds Water Method Put…

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…

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…

No-egg meringue, vegan

Aquafaba, the miracle alternative to egg white. No, I couldn’t believe it either so I thought I’d try to make meringues with it. After all, meringue is the one dish where you MUST have egg whites! Right? What is aquafaba? It’s the water from tinned peas/beans. I used chickpea water from a tin I got…