Recipes

Since becoming mainly vegetarian my interest in food has increased through necessity as well as greed!

Finding a good balance of food for optimal health is more of a challenge for the vegetarian, especially living in a country that often thinks being vegetarian means not eating red meat - chicken, fish and shellfish seem to be considered as vegetarian food here.

So I've spent time researching as well as experimenting and occasionally find a real corker of a recipe. Sometimes I even manage to come up with one myself. As I've been asked by various volunteers for these recipes I've decided to put them here on our web site so everyone can enjoy them.

Tortilla Española - by Pablo Castellanos

This is a vegan version of the classic Spanish tortilla.

• 1 cauliflower
• pinch of ginger
• 100gm peeled broad beans
• 50gm chopped spring onions
• 2 tspns curry powder
• 200gm chickpea flour
• 500 ml water or veg stock
• 1 tbspn lemon juice
• 1 tbspn sesame oil
• salt
• love

Cut the cauliflower into little branches, mix with the broad beans, onion, 1 tspn of the curry powder, lemon juice and salt. Massage this mixture for a minute so all vegetables are covered in the mixture and leave to marinate for 30 mins.

In the meantime, mix the chickpea flour with the water, the other tspn of curry powder, sesame oil and salt.

After the 30 mins mix the two preparations together in an oven dish lined with baking paper and cook for 40-60 minutes at 200C.

I cook mine on the hob in a frying pan with a lid. It takes about 20 minutes on a lowish heat. Leave to rest for a while after cooking, the longer you leave it the firmer it becomes. It's really good the next day too!

Serve with fresh coleslaw for a tasty combination.

Fruit Cobbler - Laura Davies

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup sugar (half muscovado, half white)
• 1 tbsn roughly ground linseeds
• 1 tbsn roughly ground almonds
• 1 tbsn roughly ground sunflower seeds
• 1 egg beaten in a cup topped up to 3/4 cup with sunflower oil
• 1lb fresh fruit such as plums, apricots or apples, chopped and de-pipped

Gently simmer the chopped fruit in a saucepan until it becomes soft but still has bite. Pour into an ovenproof dish.

Mix the dry ingredients together thoroughly.

Pour egg/oil mixture into the centre and mix to a stiffish mix. Add a splash of water if necessary.

Dollop spoon sized blobs of the mix onto the prepared fruit - leave bits of the fruit visible so the juices can bubble through.

Cook at 180C for approx. 30 minutes.

This is good hot or cold and doesn't need cream or icecream, but you could always serve with some if you wish.

Enjoy!

Raw Vegan Mince Pies or Mini Tarts

Yes, really! The word raw makes it sound a bit scarey, but honestly it's not, and it tastes so fresh and delish! I know technically they're not pies as they don't have a top, but you could add a top if you wanted.

The base/pastry for this recipe can be used as the base for raw cheesecake or even a topper for a raw version of the fruit cobbler above. And it's easy peasey to make, you just need a food processor to grind everything up.

• 1 cup almonds
• 1 cup dates
• 1 medium peeled and chopped raw beetroot
• 1/2 cup soaked prunes
• 1/2 cup raisins or sultanas
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds or any other nut you fancy
• 1 tspn cinnamon
• a few drops vanilla essence
• Stevia to taste

Pulse the almonds and dates in the food processor until they start to stick together. You can pulse them more if you want a finer 'pastry' or less for a cheesecake type crunchy base.

Press blobs into tartlet tins.

Whizz up the beetroot and prunes in the processor until fairly smooth, add the soaking water a little at a time to help with this process and keep scraping down the sides.

Add the raisins, chopped nuts, cinnamon and vanilla then mix on a slower setting, you want to keep the raisins and nuts fairly whole for a mince pie type look. Have a taste, do you need more cinnamon, maybe a touch of nutmeg? Do you want it sweeter - add the stevia if yes.

Place teaspoons of this mixture in the tartlet cases. Refrigerate.

The flavours will develop when left a while (if you can resist) and the pastry base will harden making it easier to get out of the tartlet tins. Even so, you'll need to be a bit careful as they're quite delicate.

You could make these in any flavour you want depending on what fruit is in season, oooh, apple tarts using a mix of dried and fresh apples and cinnamon, now that sounds nice and you wouldn't need the beetroot.

Pink & Cakey

• 1 medium carrot - chopped
• 1 medium raw beetroot - peeled and chopped
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup dates - chopped
• 1 tablespoon carob powder
• Lemon curd for filling and topping (cornflour based curd for vegans) optional. Or cashew nut cream frosting

1. Throw everything (except the lemon curd of course) into a food processor and process until the mixture starts to stick together.

2. Pour half the mixture into the cake mould* and press down with the back of a large spoon.

3. Spread a layer of lemon curd over this base then carefully pile the rest of the cake mix on top and press down gently but firmly as before.

4. Spread another layer of lemon curd on top, cover mould with lid and place in fridge.

*Cake mould from an up-cycled ice cream pot and two lids- cut bottom out of the pot. Put on lid and turn upside down. You're now ready to fill with cake mixture. When done simply pop the second lid on top and there you have it! To serve take off top lid and gently separate and lift off sides from bottom lid. Cake is then on its own cake tray (aka lid) and easy to cut.

Black Forest Gateaux gluten free no bake

• Base
• 1.5 cups dried figs and prunes (soaked in water for 2 hours)
• 3 small to medium raw beetroots
• 1 cup coconut flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• Teaspoon vanilla extract
• Topping
• 1.5 cups cashews (soaked in water for 2 hours)
• 2 dessert spoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Honey to taste (1-2 teaspoons)
• Chocolate vermicelli to decorate

Base

Chop figs and prunes into chunks. Peel and chop beetroots. Add all base ingredients to a food processor and process on high until it comes together, you may ned to add some of the soak water to loosen the mix slightly. Taste - yum! Pile into cake form* and press down gently with the back of a spoon. Put in fridge while you make the topping.

Topping

Put first three topping ingredients into processor with some of the soak water. Process until smooth. You will need to pull down from the edges quite often and may need to add more of the soak water. You're after a slightly thicker than whipped cream texture. Taste, add a teaspoon of honey and process on medium, taste do you need more honey? If not you're ready to pile the topping onto the base. Sprinkle with the vermicelli put lid on cake form and refrigerate.

You could eat straight away, but the flavours will mellow and develop better if left overnight.

Enjoy!

*See recipe above for upcycled ice cream tub cake form

Variations on a theme: I just tried popping half an orange into the topping mix - Terrys Chocolate Orange cake - yum! You need to grate some of the peel into the mix, then pare the rest off, leaving the white pith on (the white pith is really good for you and will add creaminess to the mix). Then chop the half orange into small pieces and squeeze the juice and flesh from the other half. Process with the topping ingredients.

ps: the cashew nut soak water is delicious, don't throw it away!

Upcycled ice cream tub cake form