Tag Archives: vegetable

Onion and Sweet Potato Soup Recipe

Gluten-Free, Main Meal, Recipes, Soups, Spanish, Vegan, , , , , , ,

This delicious onion and sweet potato soup recipe is perfect to warm you up on a cold winter’s day. Onion soup is a popular recipe in France and Spain. It is surprising that the simplest recipes can be the most tasty! I made this on Christmas day as a starter for me and my brother and we loved it! It will keep you going until your vegan Christmas dinner is ready!

Onion and Sweet Potato SoupOnion and Sweet Potato SoupOnion and Sweet Potato Soup

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 tbsp Olive Oil

3 Onions

1 Clove Garlic

1 Litre Water

2 Medium Sweet Potatoes

1 Carrot

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

Instructions

Firstly add the olive oil into a large pan on a low heat.

Now slice the onions and add to the pan. Fry for a few minutes until cooked. Now add in the chopped garlic. Season with the salt, pepper, thyme and oregano. Stir in well. Leave to cook for a minute then remove from the heat. Pour in the water.

Now add in the 1cm sliced sweet potato and carrot. Put a lid on the pan.

Next bring to the boil. Cook for 30 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Finally add the soup into blender. Blend for 30 seconds until the soup is mostly smooth.

Pour the soup into bowl and serve immediately with a slice of toasted bread.

Pumpkin Curry

Main Meal, Recipes, Vegan, , , , , ,

If you are wondering what to do with your pumpkin now Halloween is over, look no further! Dice it up to make a delicious pumpkin curry! This is my first attempt at carving a pumpkin face! He looks more friendly that scary! Looked pretty cool glowing in the dark with a tea light inside on Halloween!

Pumpkin

Pumpkin Curry

Serves 2

Ingredients

1tsp                Coconut Oil

1/2                  Red Onion

1                     Garlic Clove

1cm cube        Fresh Ginger Root

80g                  Mushrooms

1tsp                 Ground Cumin

1tsp                 Ground Coriander

½ tsp               Ground Turmeric

1/4tsp              Sea Salt

1/4tsp              Black Pepper

1                      Carrot

1/2                   Medium Pumpkin

1/4 block          Coconut Cream dissolved in 200ml Hot Water

300ml               Passata

300ml               Filtered Water

65g                  Red Lentils

75g                  Basmati Rice (per portion)

Instructions

Melt the coconut oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Chop up the red onion, mushrooms and root ginger and add to the pan. Fry until the onions start to look translucent. Now add in the chopped garlic. Season with the spices and stir to mix.

Very finely chop the carrot and add to the pan. Dice the pumpkin into cubes and add to the pan.

Now melt the coconut cream in hot water and add the resulting coconut milk to the pan. Pour in the passata and add in the extra water. Add the lentils. Now bring to the boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Next pour around 300ml of water into a small pan. Bring to the boil and add the basmati rice. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Scoop half the curry sauce onto a plate and serve warm with the rice. Enjoy!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:15]

Vegan Lasagne

Gluten-Free, Italian, Main Meal, Recipes, Vegan, , , , , , , , , ,

This vegan lasagne reminds me of when I used to eat microwave ready meal lasagne as a student before I became ill. However this lasagne is much more delicious and more healthy for being gluten and dairy free! I used my vegan mozzarella recipe and tripled the amount to create the cheese sauce for the vegan lasagne. You can leave out the tofu mince if you want the lasagne to be soy free.

Vegan Lasagne Vegan Lasagne

Serves 4

Ingredients

Tomato Sauce

1tsp        olive oil

1/2          onion

3 cloves  garlic

1 can      passata

1             carrot

250g       mushrooms

2tsp        dried basil

1/4tsp     sea salt

1/4tsp     black pepper

Vegan Cheese Sauce

90g         cashew nuts

3tbsp      tapioca starch

600ml     almond milk

1tsp        pink himalayan crystal salt

1/2          lemon squeezed

2tsp        nutritional yeast (optional)

Tofu Mince

1 block    tofu

Other Ingredients

1tbsp      olive oil

12           gluten-free lasagne sheets

1L           water

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200C or 180C for a fan oven.

To prepare the tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat. Fry the chopped onion and mushroom until the mushrooms begin to brown. Then add the chopped garlic, salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes. Next add the chopped carrot. Now pour in the passata and stir in the dried basil. Simmer on a low heat while you prepare the other ingredients.

To make the vegan cheese sauce, add all the ingredients into a blender and blend for 30 seconds. Now pour the mixture into a large pan on a medium heat. The mixture will start to thicken and lumps will appear. Stir continuously. Once the sauce has thickened, turn off the heat.

Now make the tofu mince. First drain the tofu block. Then place it into a bowl and mash it up with a fork.

Grease the base of a casserole dish with olive oil.

Next bring a wide pan of water to the boil. Drop 3 lasagne sheets into the water and spread them out. Boil the sheets for 5 minutes each ensuring all the edges have softened. Place the first 3 lasagne sheets onto the base of the casserole dish, layering the sheets over one and other to fill in the gaps. Repeat with the remaining lasagne sheets.

Now spoon over a third of the tomato sauce and smooth over using the back of a spoon. Now add a quarter of the vegan cheese sauce on top and smooth over with a spoon. Finally add a third of the tofu mince on top.

Layer 3 more of the boiled lasagne sheets on top. Add another layer of tomato sauce, vegan cheese sauce and vegan mince..

Again layer 3 more of the boiled lasagne sheets on top. Add the final layer of tomato sauce. Add another quarter of the vegan cheese sauce. And add the final layer of vegan mince.

Now layer the final 4 lasagne sheets on top. Pour on the remaining vegan cheese sauce and spread out with a spoon.

Finally place the dish in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and slice into 4 portions. Indulge!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:14]

Sweet Potato & Tomato Casserole

Main Meal, Recipes, Vegan, , , , , , ,

This chunky sweet potato and tomato casserole was inspired by a recipe I saw on Jamie Oliver’s Superfoods TV show. This recipe is a fabulous and delicious way to get vitamin A rich sweet potatoes into your diet.

I love the positive work that Jamie Oliver is doing to make people aware of the harm that sugar does to children and adults alike and is campaigning for a tax on sugary drinks. You can sign his petition here

Sweet Potato & Tomato Casserole

Sweet Potato & Tomato Casserole

Serves 2

Ingredients

3 tbsp Olive oil

1/2 Red onion

1 Garlic clove

3 Medium mushrooms

1 tbsp Tomato puree

1 can Plum tomatoes

1 Carrot

2 Medium sweet potatoes

50g Green beans

1 tsp Herbs de provence

1/2 tsp Sea salt

1/2 tsp Black pepper

65g Red lentils (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Drizzle the olive oil into a casserole dish. Chop the garlic clove in half and add to the dish with the chopped onion and sliced mushrooms. Put into the oven and fry for 10 minutes.

Now take the dish out and add in the finely chopped carrot. Chop the sweet potato into 1 inch thick, chunky slices and add to the dish. Cut the ends off of the green beans, cut up into small pieces and add to the dish.

Finally pour on the tomato puree, plum tomatoes and water and season with the sea salt, black pepper and herbs de provence. Place in the oven and roast for 45 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft.

Serve warm. Buen provecho!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:3]

Veggie Cakes

Gluten-Free, Main Meal, Recipes, Vegan, , , , , , , , , ,

Veggie Cakes

These delicious veggie cakes are a treat to have for a main meal! They are a combination of savoury pancakes, scones and veggie burgers! They are also a great way of using up any leftover vegetables you have in the fridge!

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Makes 12

Ingredients

1tbsp              Coconut Oil

1                      Small Red Onion

1                      Garlic Clove

80g                 Mushrooms

1                      Carrot

1/2                  Sweet Potato

Handful          Spinach

75g                  Quinoa

75g                  Brown Rice

1tbsp               Desiccated Coconut

1tbsp               Ground Flaxseed

500ml              Almond Milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C. Bake the sweet potato for 45 minutes.

Now prepare the batter. Add the quinoa, brown rice, desiccated coconut, flaxseed and almond milk to the Vitamix blender. Blend on full power for 30 seconds.

Next, melt the coconut oil in a hot pan. Add the chopped onion and sliced mushrooms. Fry for a few minutes. Add the finely chopped carrot. Lastly add the chopped garlic, cooked sweet potato cut into cubes and the handful of spinach. Now add the cooked vegetables into the batter in the blender. Mix with a spoon.

I use a specialised pancake pan with 4 moulds to cook 4 veggie cakes, but you can add spoonfuls of the mixture to a hot pan to cook. Add 2 dessert spoonfuls of the batter mix to the hot pan, cooking 4 veggie cakes at a time. Cook for 5 minutes on one side then flip over and cook for another 5 minutes or until golden brown on each side. Place the cooked veggie cakes on a plate then cook 4 more.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Store in the fridge and eat within 3-4 days.

Roasted Root Vegetable Casserole

Gluten-Free, Main Meal, Recipes, Vegan, , , , , , , , ,

The delicious sweet flavours of the roasted root vegetables combine with the tomato sauce to create a tasty Autumnal dish! I will be making something similar for Christmas dinner with the addition of parsnips and brussels sprouts!P1000921P1000930P1000949P1000961

Serves 2

Ingredients

2                      Carrots

2                      Sweet Potatoes

1                      Red Onion

2                      Garlic Cloves

2tsp                 Cumin

3tbsp               Olive Oil

1 400g can      Chickpeas

350ml              Passata

1tsp                 Oregano

¼ tsp               Pink Himalayan Salt

¼ tsp               Black Pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Wash the vegetables. Cut the ends off of the vegetables and slice them lengthways, arranging them in layers in a baking dish. Add in the peeled garlic cloves. Sprinkle with cumin and generously drizzle over the olive oil.

Place the baking dish in the oven for 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Drain the chickpeas and add to the baking dish with the passata. Season with oregano, salt and pepper.

Return the dish to the oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Scoop out a portion onto a plate and serve immediately.

Building a Vegetable Box

Articles, Gardening, , , , , , , ,

I have always wanted to have a vegetable patch to grow my own organic vegetables! Here is the process of building the vegetable box, planting some small plants and seeds and the joy of watching them grow in the glorious sunshine we have been having lately!

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The box is built. Now we filled it with some rich fertiliser on the bottom layer and some top soil for the top layer.

We added a ring of copper plating around the upper inside of the box which the slugs can’t grip to to prevent the slugs from getting in and eating the leaves. No need for artificial pesticides!

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I planted the sweet potato plant I had been growing on the kitchen window sill from half a sweet potato in the top left hand corner of the box, and the small mung bean plants in the bottom right hand corner, grown from some old mung beans that I had in the cupboard and just scattered over a planter tray containing nutrient rich soil! I also planted a row of some old carrot seeds I found in the drawer in the back right and some chive bulbs planted in front of the sweet potato plant that were left from last year.

Also I planted a couple of medjool date seeds, hemp seeds and broccoli seeds! Will be interesting to see if they sprout!

We also put a scaredy cat plant next to box which gives off a smell that repels cat when they touch it, so the numerous cats in our neighbourhood wouldn’t use it as a litter box!

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The plants are getting very big! The sweet potato plant with the heart-shaped leaves has grown so tall and is winding around the bamboo sticks like ivy! Nearby are the chive plants. As you see we added a curly-leaved parsley plant which is doing really well in the sunshine, and tastes delicious. The mung bean plants have overtaken the vegetable box! You can just see the row of carrot leaves in the back row which are growing very quickly in the glorious sunshine!

I can’t wait to be able to pick my own sweet potatoes to bake for lunch! And I’m already using the parsley in my Quinoa & Lentil Burgers and will eventually use the carrots to make Carrot & Coriander Soup when they get big enough in the autumn!

It’s so convenient just to pop out into the garden to get your herbs and vegetables.