Vegan and Vegetarian

My new favourite lunch

10.09.2014 by georgie // 1 Comment

My fridge looks pretty bare right now, but being a little broke and a little lazy (it’s raining) I was adamant to create something delicious and nutritious from what I had at home. And I think I might have just done that. Heck, even if no one else is on board, I think I’ve just created my new favourite lunch.

It ticks a lot of boxes this recipe: unrefined carbs, protein, veg, packed with flavour and I feel virtuous eating it. I love satay style foods, with gado gado being one of my favourite things ever. However with peanut allergic husband its no-go in this house, so I am always looking for ways to create that ‘nutty’ texture, without using nuts. Tahini is great for this, as is my new favourite thing, seed butters. There is a lady at our local food market who sells a range of nut and seed butters and at the moment I have a tub of pumpkin seed butter on the go. It makes a great snack, keeps well and as I have also found out, is a dream in salad dressings. Also its pretty darn good for you.

Mushroom and spinach noodles with lime and ginger dressing — Mushroom and spinach noodles with ginger and lime dressing

MUSHROOM AND SPINACH NOODLES WITH GINGER AND LIME DRESSING

Serves 1 (multiply as needed…)

2 teaspoons pumpkin seed butter (available at most health shops) or use peanut butter if you like
3 teaspoons coconut oil or other unflavoured oil (avocado oil would be good too)
2 teaspoons low salt soy sauce
2cm piece of ginger, peeled
1/4 red chilli (tip: I freeze red chillies, makes them easier to use and finely grate)
Half a juicy lime
1 teaspoon runny honey
a few springs of coriander and mint, leaves picked
50g brown rice noodles (or use normal rice noodle is you can’t get brown rice ones)
5 closed cup mushrooms, wiped
Large clove of garlic, peeled
2 balls of frozen spinach (you can used fresh if you like. A large handful of washed baby spinach, chopped would work)
1 large free range egg (omit to make vegan, or if you just don’t fancy it)

Start by finely slicing the garlic, and slicing the mushrooms. Put 2 teaspoons of your chosen oil in a small non-stick pan, and place on a medium-low heat. Add the garlic and mushrooms and fry for 6 – 8 minutes until golden, and any water has evaporated.

Whilst the mushrooms are frying cook your rice noodles according to packet instructions and leave to one side, in cold water until needed.

Soon as the mushrooms look a little golden add the frozen spinach and turn the heat down to low. Stir occasionally to soften, they should take 3-4 minutes to cook down.

Meanwhile make the dressing by mixing together the pumpkin seed butter, remaining oil, honey, lime juice and soy and finely grate in the ginger and most of the chilli. If you chilli isn’t frozen and won’t grate, then just finely chop it. Chop the coriander and mint leaves and stir most of them into the dressing.

Once the spinach and mushrooms are cooked, crack your egg into a small bowl and whisk. Add to the pan and ripple into the veg until it is just cooked through. If you aren’t adding egg just skip that bit and add the drained noodles straight to the pan. Toss everything together well, then remove from the heat and stir in the dressing. Mix together and plate up. Garnish with the remaining chopped herbs and a little more grated/ chopped chilli. Heavenly.

Sweet like chocolate

10.07.2014 by georgie // Leave a Comment

Like a lot of people I often need a 3pm pick me up. A caffeine hit. A sugar high. But since I made a real effort to cut out most sugars from my diet (me and the rest of the world) and cut back on the caffeine, I’ve been at a bit of a lose end. My go to option for most of the year is a hot chocolate. It ticks a lot of boxes for me – sweet, warming, delicious, easily consumable and I don’t feel too guilty (with skimmed milk, obviously). However, at the risk of sounding smug I genuinely find a lot of hot chocolates too sweet now. Cutting out a lot of sugars has been interesting, my palate has changed and foods I adored before have become less desirable and less tolerable.

My favourite hot chocolate which I will make a bee line for is Paul A Young’s, which he sells in his beautiful London shops. At around £4 for a small cup it isn’t cheap, but I think it is worth every penny. The smell that hits you when you walk into the shop is insane, and then you spot this vat of hot chocolate simmering away in the corner, with a little spice rack alongside it… Well, it’s all very ‘Chocolat’, very sensual. Interestingly the hot chocolate is dairy free, using just water instead of milk, which is said to get the most out of the chocolate. So with the days a little colder, I’m needing my fix again, and have decided to make my own.

PURE HOT CHOCOLATE

If you are thinking creamy milky hot chocolate, think again. This is rich, short and intense. I use Hasslacher’s 100% pure Columbian cacao for this recipe, and it is heavenly – very pure, nothing added and naturally high in antioxidants . You can order it on Amazon for only a fiver.

Serves 1

15g of 100% pure cacao chocolate (2 squares from a bar of Hasslacher’s)
A tablespoon of agave syrup, honey or light muscovado sugar
a stick of cinnamon or a few cardamom pods, lightly crushed

Melt the chocolate in a small milk pan, over a low heat (as per packet instructions) being careful not to burn the chocolate and letting it melt slowly. As soon as it has melted whisk in 200ml of water with your chosen sweetener and spice. Simmer over a low heat for a few minutes until smooth and hot, but not boiling. Whisk again, taste (carefully!) and add a little more agave/ honey/ sugar if necessary and serve.

Hasslacher's chocolate — Hasslacher’s chocolate

Roast squash soup with coconut and pumpkin seeds

09.29.2014 by georgie // Leave a Comment

With my fertility chat in mind, my first recipe is a squash and pumpkin seed recipe, of which I can’t take full credit. When we got back from holiday I came home to the new Ottolenghi book ‘Plenty More’, and was over the moon. I love Ottolenghi, I love his restaurants/ cafes/ books/ column, and I don’t think I have ever made a dud recipe written by the man (Jerusalem is our favourite, the fish chapter is already in tatters).

After a trip to our fabulous local greengrocers, where the produce is ridiculously beautiful and the service is rude and grumpy, I came away with a mound of autumn treats including a beast of a butternut squash. So with a little flick through my newest book I came across ‘Squash with cardamom and nigella seeds’, a delicious sounding recipe, which is packed with good stuff (if you ignore the knob of butter at the start).

So I made this for friends, and got thinking, if you omit the yoghurt this would make a wonderful base for a soup, with coconut milk and coriander… So here is a little tweak on Mr Ottolenghi’s recipe, resulting in an incredible soup for Autumn.

ROAST SQUASH SOUP WITH COCONUT AND PUMPKIN SEEDS

Serves 4 – 6

olive oil
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds, plus extra for serving
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 large cinnamon stick
1 green chilli, halved lengthways
400ml vegetable stock
A can of low fat coconut milk
Half a bunch of coriander chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g feta (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200/ 180/ Gas mark 6.

Place the onion and butternut squash in a large roasting tray, so they are spread out in one layer and add the pumpkin seeds, nigella seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, chilli and a good pinch of salt. Drizzle with a good lug of olive oil and mix well. Pop in the oven and roast for around 30 minutes, tossing occasionally, until cooked through and golden. Transfer the tray to the hob and add the coconut milk and stock and gently bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 5 minutes, then remove from the heat. Discard the cinnamon and chilli and stir in the chopped coriander, stalks and all. Blitz with a stick blender until you have a thick and creamy soup, adding a little extra water if needed. Then serve with the feta crumbled over the top, and a few extra pumpkin seeds.

NB: You can keep the recipe similar to the in ‘Plenty More’ by not turning this into a soup. Ottolenghi likes to serve his with greek yoghurt, or do as I did and serve with crumbled creamy feta.

Served as a starter instead, with crumbled feta