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Grown Up Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from this recipe by Oh She Glows

I read Angela Liddon’s recent recipe for chocolate chip cookies bound with arrowroot with interest. I don’t regularly bake due to limited kitchen space and a poor oven in my own house. I also never buy milled flaxseed because it is expensive and I never use a bag quickly enough. However, at the weekend I visited my parents house - the mecca of all ingredients and kitchen gadgetry. These cookies came together well, but not without extensive meddling on my part.

Chocolate chip cookies are more of an American thing - and especially the notion of chewy biscuits. While I love them (and have often left hobnobs open on the kitchen counter to ‘improve’ them to a state of chewiness), Irish people generally like their biscuits crisp - all the better for dipping into tea.

I do generally conform to the Irish norm with my distaste for overly sweet desserts and treats. I want my sweet stuff to have flavour AND sugar! As such I altered the ratios in Angela’s recipe and added two of my favourite features of desserts (and often savoury food too): sesame and treacle. As solitary flavours they can make some people’s faces pucker (my eldest brother is certainly a case in point) but they really enhance these cookies - making them darker and more complex while still being sweet and chocolatey!

I’m certainly sold on the idea of using arrowroot and will add it to my already bursting kitchen cupboard soon.

Makes 8 cookies

Wet Ingredients

65g almond butter

55ml maple syrup

25 ml coconut oil

10 ml treacle / molasses

20 ml tahini

Knife point of vanilla bean / ¼ tsp vanilla essence

Dry ingredients

30g porridge oats - gluten free is necessary

30g oat flour (just whiz up more oats in the food processor) - gluten free is necessary

20g arrowroot

15g ground almonds

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp pink salt

80g 80% dark chocolate, chopped into little chunks

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

Mix the wet ingredients well. Make sure the almond butter and tahini are well stirred before adding.

Combine the dry ingredients and then fold into the wet mixture little bits at a time. Reserve a tablespoon of the chocolate chunks and the sesame seeds until the end.

The dough will be quite solid and oily, and will be tricky to clump together once you add in the chocolate chips.

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Roll the dough into eight equally sized balls and then squish onto the baking tray as best you can, leaving a good bit of room between them. Press the tablespoon of chocolate chunks and sesame seeds that you reserved onto the top of the cookies.

Bake for 15 minutes until they’re are crispy and browned.

Leave to cool for 10 or 15 minutes on the tray.

Then enjoy! Don’t attempt to enjoy them as I did - with a badly beaten Irish football team on the telly.

Super Savoury Vegan Bolognese – with Lentils, Sausage and Marmite

I’m back! Life, yeh know. Anyway, on with the show.

Last year I rang a few shops in Dublin looking for accessories for a kitchen aid. A Danish friend was making a traditional Christmas dish and needed to track down meat grinding and sausage stuffing attachments for her machine. It was a busy Saturday afternoon in early December so the shops I was contacting from the cosy environs of a pub seemed relatively harried when I got through to them. Each place said they didn’t have it in stock but could order it if I needed it. That would be too late for my friend’s needs. On my third try the particularly stressed-sounding assistant seems to have thought I was trying to pull some sort of a prank when I declared that I was looking for a sausage stuffer and promptly hung up on me. My friend ended up trying to grind the meat in a food processor and destroyed it. Sometimes only the right tool will do.

With that in mind, if you do for some reason own a meat grinder it would do a great job in creating the sofrito base for this dish. Ground, browned carrots (that is a fantastically fun phrase) have a fantastic texture and taste amazing when browned. If not though, no worries. Leave the food processor alone and dice into very small cubes by hand. It is a little more labour intensive but your food processor will live to see another day.

With respect to marmite, if you are reluctant to buy it for a solitary recipe I assure you it will add an umami note to all sorts of vegetarian dishes such as chilli, stews and soups. It is a salty, sticky condiment eaten by lots of people on toast with butter. I forsake the butter and eat it with avocado and lemon. I’ve been called a terrible person for doing this but I assure you it’s delicious.

Notes:

Traditional Bolognese is a deeply savoury, slow-cooked dish built around a sofrito, ground meat, tomato and red wine. While this dish is delicious with 45 minutes cooking time, it is even better if left to slowly simmer for longer and, as with curries, very good the next day. As such, this recipe is for a relatively large batch as it is ideal for freezing.

Marmite is essential and cannot be exchanged for anything else (other than vegemite). It, along with the technique, provides the savoury depth to this dish that allows it to recall Bolognese in its original form. I can’t work out whether or not it’s gluten free. If you avoid it then some dried mushrooms and chickpea miso might be your best hope at replacing its joy.

Use whatever sausages you like – I have made this using a mixture of Linda McCartney and Fry’s sausages though this time I used Dee’s traditional sausages alone. If you have a brand of sausages lolling (yes, lolling was a word before it was an acronym) about that you don’t particularly like, this is an ideal way to use them up.

The rapeseed oil can be replaced with sunflower oil or other oil that tolerates high temperatures when cooking the sausage. An olive oil that is not extra virgin, butter or sunflower oil can replace the rapeseed used for cooking the sofrito.

Passata seems to be a British and Irish product. It’s just pureed tomato. Blending 700g (just under two cans) of tinned tomatoes will also work fine. Hell, don’t blend them if you enjoy tomato chunks (I sincerely do not).

Blurry photos. I know. They drive me bananas too. Cannot seem to work out the camera on my phone. Hey ho.

Serve with spiralised courgette as I have here alongside some garlic bread or, better still, mix up the courgette and Bolognese and serve on top of the garlic bread for the sloppy joe of your wildest dreams. That said, I won’t cry if you go the more traditional route with spaghetti, tagliatelle or in lasagne.

- Six portions - - Takes less than an hour (longer for a more developed flavour) - - Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free -

½ tbs + ½ tbs cold-pressed rapeseed oil

4 sausages

1 onion, diced

2 small carrots, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 celery sticks, diced

3 field mushrooms, diced

1 cup dried green lentils, rinsed

½ tbs tomato paste

½ tbs marmite

1.5 cups stock

1 (700g) bottle passata

½ cup red wine

Salt and pepper

Dairy free cream to finish, optional

Vegan parmesan (sesame seeds, ground almonds, nutritional yeast and miso quickly turned golden in a frying pan) to finish, optional

If your sausages are frozen, cook them until defrosted but not browned. In a large saucepan with a solid base, heat a half tablespoon of rapeseed oil. Slice the sausages lengthways and then roughly chop using a rocking motion with your knife. You are aiming to have pieces of sausage in the shape of nuggets. Some sausages such as Dee’s are very easy to do this with – others such as Fry’s may require a little more time. Add to the pan and fry until golden. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon or spatula.

Do not clean the pan. Add the other half tablespoon of oil and reduce the heat to a medium level. Sweat the onion, garlic, carrots, celery and mushrooms in the rapeseed oil. I usually chop the vegetables as I go to speed up the process. If you are similarly inclined, add them in this order: onion, celery, garlic, carrots, mushrooms. Stir up the vegetables each time you add a new one to the pot. Leave the lid on for the first ten minutes except when stirring and adding veg. A good bit of steam should develop as the vegetables truly sweat. About seven minutes after adding the mushroom (about 15 minutes after adding the onion), remove the lid and turn up the heat. Stirring the mixture every 45 seconds or so, allow the vegetables at the bottom of the pot to golden a little before scraping from the bottom of the pot and mixing through. Do this for five to ten minutes until the vegetable mixture is deeply golden. It can be a little difficult to tell due to the mushroom but make sure you aren’t burning the mixture!

Now add the lentils, marmite and tomato paste to the vegetable mix. Stir to combine and allow to cook for two minutes. Then add the stock, passata and wine. Again scrape the bottom of the pan with your wooden spoon ensuring that the pan is deglazed and the browned sofrito fully incorporated. When it reaches a bubbling temperature, turn down to a medium-low and cover. At this point, fold in the sausage. Simmer, tasting occasionally so you can add appropriate seasoning. Allow to simmer for as long as you can bear – though it will need at least half an hour for the lentils to cook – a full hour will lead to a complex, savoury, developed dish.

Vegan Aqua Faba and Spelt based Sponge Cake - with coconut and berries

Jaypers, I just looked back over my archives from the last few months and realised that there are a lot of salads lying around. Possibly too many salads. So you know what we need? Of course you do, you’ve already seen the photos and the title. CAKE. Behold the most trendy cake I have ever made. We’ve got coconut whipped cream, non-wheat flour, aqua faba and berries. Totes hip to the cool kids.

This cake went down an absolute storm with two non-vegans for whom I was cooking a few weeks ago. We ate the entire cake in one evening and would have eaten more quite happily. It is really simple and quick, requiring only a few ingredients. Before you ask, no you can’t sub out the oil for apple sauce / banana / prayers. Eggs have a high fat content and while aqua faba is great for providing the protein needed to bind, without added fat your cake will be grainy and, quite frankly, shit. It’s a bloody cake, just enjoy it. That said, traditional sponge cakes use a higher proportion of sugar but I’m not a big fan of rotting a tooth per bite. A final note on cake making in general: mix the batter for the least amount of time possible. You do not want to excite the gluten as you do when making bread. Mix until everything is combined and then stop. Also contrary to bread making, get it into the oven as quickly as possible. Make sure the oven is pre-heated and cake tin lined before the batter is mixed. It will really help to ensure your cake turns out well.

You need some sort of electric beater for this if you don’t want your hand to fall off. I use a handheld one rather than some sort of elaborate kitchen aid but only dare manual beating if you have a remarkably strong arm (maybe just a regular strength arm actually, I have no power in my arms whatsoever).

300g white spelt flour 200g caster sugar 135 ml aqua faba 50 ml Donegal cold pressed rapeseed oil (for its buttery goodness) 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste

A can of full fat coconut milk

Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and cherries

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease lightly a 7 inch cake pan with rapeseed oil. If it is poor quality, you might need baking paper. I use cake tins with removable bases as they make life a lot easier.

Whip the egg whites and sugar together until they have thickened and the beaters leave a ripple of white cream in their wake. It takes a while. You don’t want it to stiffen, mind, just to thicken.

Then using a spatula or wooden spoon fold in the sifted flour, caster sugar, oil, salt and vanilla bean paste until fully combined. (I mean it by the way: fold it, don’t stir it or the air you’ve spent all your time beating into the aqua faba will disappear). Pour into the pan and put straight into the oven.

Cook for 50 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool in the pan for five minutes before moving to a wire wrack. Put your can of coconut milk, upright into the freezer.

After about 30 minutes of cooling the coconut milk, remove the can from the freezer without disturbing it too much. Open and scoop out the coconut cream which should be at the top of the can (the water will have separated and lie at the bottom). Beat the coconut cream for a few minutes.

Ensuring that the cake is cool, either cut in half and fill with coconut cream and cut berries or be lazy like me: Pile the cream and berries on top of the whole thing and enjoy.

PS A little mint would also taste mega with the berries.

Enjoy, you lucky duck.

Vegan Caesar Salad with an Aqua Faba Dressing - An easy, quick way and a fancier version that tastes more authentic -

Hello hello! It has been a long time, a ridiculously long time! I spent the summer doing the thesis for my masters and starting a new (temporary) job. Due to a very brief adventure into sentimentality, I’ve included a sunset photo of the water tower that I’ve looked at every day for the last year. I enjoyed going back to college - it was great to feel challenged and learn so much. Hopefully it will lead to an interesting career while I continue to pursue my love of all things belly-worthy.

I’ve been mad busy as a result of all this swotting but was still cooking up a storm at times (as you may have seen on my Instagram). So hopefully now that I have a few more free hours, the idea of using a computer in my spare time won’t make me shudder. I need to remake lots of delicious things I’ve created over the summer because I, of course, didn’t bother my hole recording measurements. Well, that’s not true, I recorded the measurements for lots of dishes: in the notes section of my phone. So you know what that precarious situation inevitably led to: my phone was stolen. Oh, universe, you bastard. Luckily, I’ve made this Caesar Salad so often that the specifications are burned into my mind so as I spend the first afternoon in many months relaxing and watching tv I can rustle up this post without rustling up anything else to eat. (I lie, I just ate a giant bag of popcorn.)

The advent of aqua faba (bean brine) has caused a storm in the plant-based and vegan cooking world. I’m definitely more of a savoury sort so have focused more on things like recreating every decadent dressing in my memory, but I even ventured into cake making with the excitement of it all. Hopefully that will be along for your consumption soon.

Now, I cannot state this strongly enough: DO NOT USE OLIVE OIL in this recipe. It has far too strong a flavour and it will taste disgusting. You need a completely bland oil so sunflower or vegetable oil are really the best options. I also include some of my beloved cold pressed Donegal rapeseed oil to add some of the buttery richness that would typically come from the egg yolks in a traditional mayonnaise. I use vegan Worcestershire sauce to add a savoury kick. If you can’t find it, a tiny bit of marmite would also work.

So let’s look at my assertion that this is a Caesar salad. Chicken and bacon are very much new(ish) additions to this salad. In reality, Caesar salad is Romaine lettuce, croutons and parmesan with a dressing of raw egg, olive oil, anchovies and lemon. I use chickpeas instead of traditional bread croutons tossed in a salty paprika rub. That’s certainly not traditional but it is needed for a savoury, warm element that lives in both parmesan and anchovies. I, of course, use a nooch based parmesan too. As I said earlier, olive oil is not a good idea here. Without egg yolk, it just doesn’t mellow enough. I use Romaine lettuce about half the time - it isn’t widely available here. Here, I used some sort of a mad hybrid from Lidl that I eat by the bucket load. As you’ll see, the dressing is achieved in two ways. Choose what you will, but the first one is incredible!

I can tell you this much though: once you’ve made this once you can rustle it up in no time and when the dressing ingredients are purchased the cost of recreating it again and again is very low.

So I’m going to run through the more elaborate version first. This one tastes absolutely amazing. However, the quick and easy one that follows is really good and perfect for days when you couldn’t be bothered going further than your local shop.

Both recipes are for two people but there’s enough dressing for 4 salads. Well that or just the 2 if you’re like me the first time I made it!

The Fancy Version

Wakame is a type of seaweed. If you’ve ever eaten miso soup at a restaurant, there were probably vivid green pieces of it floating in there. It is delicious and apparently incredibly nutritious. I go through phases of eating huge quantities of it. Apparently, a wakame soup is fed to women who have recently given birth in South Korea as it is so high in iron. Now for yeh! Here I use the dried version you can get in Asian stores. However, it is extremely plentiful on Irish shores so you can go gather some if you like.

Dried woodear mushrooms are something I had never heard of until a Mary’s Test Kitchen video brought them into my life. By chance, I saw them on sale in Tesco a few weeks later. I’m been using them with abandon since for their intense unami flavour.

Combined, I think the wakame and woodear make for a great replacement for anchovies. In their dried form, the recipe below calls for about a teaspoon of the two. You don’t need to overdo it.

Ingredients

1 tbs Donegal cold pressed rapeseed oil 1/2 cup sunflower oil 3 tbs aqua faba 1 tsp mustard 2 tsp white wine vinegar 1/8 tsp salt 1.5 tbs lemon juice (sometimes needs to go up to 2) 10 capers 1/2 clove of garlic, crushed 1 piece dried woodear mushroom 5 pieces dried wakame 2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 can chickpeas, drained (keep that drainage for the aqua faba above!) 1 tsp each paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder pinch salt 1 tsp liquid smoke 2 tsp rapeseed oil

2 tbs ground almonds 1 tbs sesame seeds 2 tbs nutritional yeast 1 tsp miso paste 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp rapeseed oil

Romaine lettuce

Drain the chickpeas and reserve the chickpea brine. This is the aqua faba! Soak the tiny pieces of wakame and woodear in a tablespoon or so of hot water. They should expand out - expecially the wakame. Drain. Combine the aqua faba, mustard, capers, garlic, vinegar, mushroom, salt and wakame. Add the rapeseed oil and start to whisk. I use an electric immersion blender. They cost about 12 euro. They are really worth it for this job! Still running the blender, slowly add the oil. It should get really thick and mayonnaise-like. When this has happened, add the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce while continuing to whisk. This will make it more pourable. Taste to ensure it is rich, savoury and lemony.

Heat the rapeseed oil over a medium-high heat. Add the chickpeas and seasoning. Shake the pan over the heat until they become golden, fragrant and slightly crisps.

Scrape the chickpeas into a bowl but don’t wash the pan. Mix the almond, sesame seeds, garlic powder, miso paste and rapeseed oil together. Rub the liquids into the meal so that a crumb forms. Add to the pan. Move around with a wooden spoon until they turn golden but don’t burn.

Fill a bowl with the torn lettuce and top with chickpeas, dressing and parmesan.

Cheap, Simple and Easy Version

1/2 + 1 tbs cup sunflower oil 3 tbs aqua faba 1 tsp mustard 2 tsp white vinegar (I’ve used malt vinegar and it was fine) 1/8 tsp salt 1.5 tbs lemon juice (I have used those squeezy bottles of lemon juice. It works fine in a pinch) 1/2 clove of garlic, crushed (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder) 2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce / 1 tsp miso paste / 1/8 tsp vegan gravy granules disolved in a tiny bit of water

A can of chickpeas A little oil 2 tsps toast chicken seasoning (ingredients are usually paprika, salt and garlic based) - I possibly like this MORE that making my own seasoning, however it’s probably due to the salt content!

Flaked almonds

Lettuce

Mix the aqua faba, mustard, vinegar, salt and garlic. While whisking (use an immersion blender if you have it), slowly add in the sunflower oil. When it is thick and mayonnaise-like, add the lemon juice and your choice of savoury thing. At a push, you can leave these out but then you’ve basically made a lemon-mayo dressing. Also delicious but not Caesar dressing!

Cook off the chickpeas in a frying pan until they are becoming crispy. Remove but don’t wash the pan. Then add the almonds and let them toast over a low heat until fragrant and golden.

Lettuce - chickpea croutons - dressing - almonds

Enjoy!

There you have it. It’s good to be back and back with a bumper edition at that. By the way, writing this post made me crave this so much that I’ve eaten it the last two days as the draft languished!

Quick Dinner: Broccoli, Tomato and Tahini

- A series on Quick, Healthy and Vegan Meal Ideas -

When I was a kid my mother used to make a sandwich filling with chopped tomatoes, grated red cheddar and mayonnaise mixed together. I remember eating it, listening to the rest of my family so enjoying it. Yuck, I couldn’t stand it. It never did grow on me. Non-melted red cheddar and mayonnaise-dense foods always turned my stomach a little. As such, if you don’t like tahini don’t make this. The strong flavour is eased with lemon, seasoning and tomato but if you (like my brother) absolutely despises tahini - don’t go near this!

For everyone else (or ‘the normals’) I present a simple treat.

Between my exams, holidays and thesis work I have sunk into a nasty habit. I live off carbs for days on end. Then I eventually lose my mind about the lack of texture, flavour and nourishment (and surplus of bloating). However, I don’t have any choice about when this happens. So I eat a pack of rice cakes and a giant tub of hummus for dinner on an evening when I have plenty of time to cook. Then, on the days when I’m in a rush and grabbing a sandwich or noodles would be optimal, my body and mind scream out “Noooooooo!” and I find myself bursting into the corner shop by my house looking for cheap, flavourful and quick actual nourishment.

This is the results of one of those bursts.

I bought microwavable rice, a pack of tenderstem broccoli and headed home to the vague knowledge that I had tahini, lemons and possibly some tomatoes. I really enjoyed the resultant meal about six minutes after getting to my kitchen. It’s a mantra that I struggle to remember: taking off an accessory before you leave the house is always a good idea. While I love cooking up elaborate feasts, it is often the simple meals with one or two star vegetables as focus that I often enjoy the most. They’re somehow more of a sensory experience, often. - perhaps because more care goes into the exact preparation when I know my dinner is a one trick pony.

So for the next while, I’m going to focus on creating more “go-to” speedy meals that are affordable and nourishing. Well, I say that now. Maybe tomorrow I’ll decide to make an entire spread of world foods.

I thought for posterity and my own memory, I’d record a few quick meals I really enjoy and need to remember more often when I’m reaching for the hummus tub. These are the meals that I rarely record or write recipes for - they seem too simple often - but having a catalogue of them is really useful. I’ll post a “part two” if I succeed in my aims over the next few weeks.

For now, here’s one snappy, tasty, light dinner.

Note: You’re right, it does look like raw chicken. It doesn’t taste like it though so you should be alright.

- Serves Two - Takes less than ten minutes - - vegan, gluten free recipe -

Pack of microwavable rice (white/basmati/brown) Pack of tenderstem broccoli (200g) 6 ripe plum tomatoes 2 tablespoons tahini Juice of half a lemon 1/2 tsp soy sauce (gluten free if needs be) 2 tsp siracha (or to taste) s+p

1. Boil the kettle (or bring a pot of water to the boil. 2. Wash the broccoli and add to the boiling water. Leave for four minutes to cook and turn a vivid green. 3. Put the rice in the microwave. 4. Chop the tomatoes rougly. 5. In a bowl, whisk the tahini, lemon, soy sauce and siracha together. Add a tablespoon or two of the water the broccoli is boiling in to thin out the sauce a little. It should still be creamy, but not stiff. 6. Mix in the tomatoes and any juices that have escaped. Bruise them a little with the back of a spoon. 7. Drain the broccoli and refresh under cold water.

Serve!

Summer Satay Salad

Summer has officially arrived in Ireland. As the season generally lasts about four days, I try to pack it full of fresh food and outdoor adventures. However, since the summer typically likes to last from a Tuesday through to Thursday, my outside time is limited. Luckily, the food is not.

For the last few months I’ve been obsessed with ‘fruit salads’; not the dessert or breakfast form of just fruit but, rather, allowing fruit to star in my salads. From blueberries and strawberries to nectarines and plums, this is the time of the year when my usual indifference to fruit flips to raving obsession. Every year I am happier and happier to see stone fruits and berries taking over food shops and markets. My time in France left me enthralled with plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots and - my all time favourite - cherries. However, after a recent trip to Spain where ripe, dark, juicy cherries were on sale for two euro a kilo, seeing signs hearlding ten euro kilos (down from 13!) doesn’t make me feel well. Luckily there is all the other stone fruit, so no worries there. I will advise against eating eight, granted small, peaches in a row though. My stomach is still churning at the memory.

All this is to say that I assumed there was no way I’d turn my back on my beloved fruit salads in favour of a boring old vegetable based one. However, I’ve been craving something like Pad Thai or Summer Rolls for days. Since I didn’t feel like noodles, rolling or cooking (it’s hot, alright!) this came together in a blitz for my breakfast as I ate more apricots and strawberries as a starter.

It. Is. Delicious.

Usually I think that vegan and plant-based foods need quite complex combinations to really interest the palate but that’s not the case here. Granted the ingredients list still isn’t short, but it’s vegetable-heavy rather than pantry staple dependent. I’ve had a few complaints about my clearly well stocked cupboards causing my “quick to whip up!” recipes to be anything but as people trawl through multiple shops.

Well this is simple, fresh and comes together in a flash. Tesco even sell siracha now so you won’t have any troubles.

Notes

* I used some crappy chunky peanut nutter than already had sweetener in it. If you’re using pure nut butter, you might need some sweetener. * If your lime is solid to the touch, roll it hard on your kitchen counter for a few minutes until it softens. This breaks open the capillaries and you’ll get a lot more juice for your buck. * I used a julienne peeler as my spiralizer is still in storage, though that would be even quicker. If you have neither, a regular peeler will allow for something similar. *If you can’t have nuts, tahini would work well too - though I wouldn’t use as much of it. *I used regular ol’ supermarket fresh tofu that wasn’t silken. I’m willing to bet silken would also be delicious, though it might break up a little easier. * You can press the tofu if you feel like it. I didn’t bother as I want all the hydration I can get. As such, I also left the seeds in the cucumber and courgette. * You can use the microplaner on a normal grater for zesting, just be careful not to grate the pith. I have a zester and it is the handiest little thing: worth the investment (less than a tenner). * Coriander would go very well with this. All my plants are dead. Those poor, poor plants. I feel like Andy’s neighbour in Toy Story (but in respect of basil, not teddy bears).

- Per Person - - Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free recipe -

Half a courgette, spiralised A carrot, spiralised A scallion (spring onion), finely sliced Cucumber, about 9cm in fairly thin quarters Tofu, four 1cm slices cut into small cubes A red chilli, finely sliced lenghtways and then in half Zest of one lime

Dressing: 2-3 teaspoons of chunky peanut butter (depends on texture) 1 teaspoon soy sauce (gluten-free if need be!) 1 teaspoon siracha (Or more to taste; the picture above has more) Juice of 1 lime

In a small cup, mix the peanut butter with the soy sauce and siracha first to get a thick cream. Then add the lime juice.

Combine the courgette, carrot and cucumber, mix well with your hands. Then scatter on the tofu, dollop on lots of dressing and finish with the scallion, chilli and zest!

Peach, Tomato and Samphire Salad with Cashew Feta

Finally, FINALLY, we have reached a consistent salad season. After a few false starts (April always lulls me into a false sense of security), the weather has reached a consistent level of warmth to allow cold foods to seem appetising. I’m just back from a weekend of barbeque and salad munching with only a little booze so I’m energised and feeling imaginative.

After a recent trip to Spain where I consisted mostly off bread, wine and olives I arrived back last week gasping for protein and vegetables. It was one of those low weeks that truly crashed when my car battery died. However, these things usually come around and I ended up taking a trip to Greystones, a seaside town south of Dublin, where I walked along the beach to clear away the week and finally found some samphire in the Happy Pear.

I arrived back form my weekend away delighted to find that the samphire I had blanched for meals last week had survived happily over the weekend. With a punnet of ripe peaches and some cashew feta lying around, I was able to throw together this salad. I made the feta last week for a Greek salad and have been throwing it on every salad I’ve eaten since - definitely a keeper for salad season. As such, this recipe makes more than is necessary but five days into eating mine (kept in sealed tupperware in the fridge), it’s still fine. The joy of acids, I suppose. Likewise, I blanched more samphire than was needed and used it across various meals.

NOTE: Samphire can be tricky to track down - good vegetable shops and fishmongers are more likely to stock it than supermarkets.

NOTE: This recipe requires marinading time.

- Per person, feta recipe makes about 6 portions - - 40 minutes, mostly idle but with eight hours for marinading -

2 ripe peaches, in chunks 2 ripe plum tomatoes, in chunks A plate full of torn lettuce (I used a frise hybrid and gem) A handful of samphire

Cashew Feta (Adapted from Isa Does It)

1 cup unroasted cashews 1.5 tbs rapeseed oil 1.5 tbs red wine vinegar 2 tsp dried wild oregano Juice of 2 limes Good whack of salt and pepper

Cover the cashews with hot water and boil for 30 minutes. While they cook, whisk the other ingredients together. Drain and rinse the cashews. Mash roughly (I used a potato masher but a fork would do). Transfer to a tupperware container, pour over the marinade. Cover, shake and leave in the fridge overnight or for the day.

To assemble the salad: pick through the samphire and rinse it well. Bring a pot of water to the boil and then blanch the samphire for one minute. Drain and immediately cool down in iced water (or under the cold tap if you are as incompetent at life as I am - this stops the cooking process and will leave the samphire crunchy and brightly coloured). Some people can handle the supreme saltines of the samphire but I blanch it to ease it a little.

Throw everything on a plate or bowl and sprinkle liberally with some of your feta and a little of its ‘juice’ for an instant dressing.

Enjoy the most summery of summery dishes.

hummus and spuds

Grapefruit Sweet Chili Rainbowl

The grapefruit wars continue!

So many grapefruit recipes. I can’t believe I thought I didn’t like grapefruit until a few weeks ago. Ridiculous. It’s always worth trying things again and again, and then throwing them in all sorts of strange recipes for good measure.

So I thought I was being super inventive with the dressing here. “Grapefruit juice!” I thought, “Genius!” i muttered. Well peruse those ingredients and have a little think. That you’ve got right there is basically just an elegant and fancy sweet chilli sauce. I’m willing to bet it has a hell of a lot less chemicals and sugar though.

As always with most vegetable dishes, and especially salads, the cutting of the ingredients is important. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that this would also work really well with the courgette, carrot and cucumber spiralised. That was my original intention until I couldn’t find a spiraliser in my mother’s house! Then this would become a really ‘Asian’ dish of noodles, herbs, tofu and sweet chili sauce. Naturally enough, coriander would probably work well here too - but sometimes I’m just not in the mood for soap mouth.

- Per Person - - Takes about 30 minutes -

Dressing: Juice of half a grapefruit 1 tsp freshly minced ginger 1 clove freshly minced garlic 1 tsp chili flakes salt 2 tbs water 2 tsp white wine vinegar 2 tsp sunflower oil 1 tsp maple syrup (or to taste)

Bulk: 100g tofu, in 2cm cubes Cornflour Black pepper Sunflower oil

½ cucumber, cubed ½ courgette, cubed ½ carrot, cubed ½ grapefruit, membrane and pith removed, broken ino segments 1 scallion, finey chopped Bunch basil and parsley, chopped

Press the tofu between lots of kitchen paper and under a few heavy books. Put all the ingredients into a small pan over a medium heat. Bring it to a simmer, whisking occasionally and allow the dressing to reduce. Remove from the heat after about 5 minutes of thickening. Prepare the other vegetables. Heat a frying pan on a high heat with a little oil. On a plate mix a few tablespoons of cornflour, a little salt and lots of black pepper together. Toss a few cubes of tofu at a time in the cornflour, shaking off any excess. Wipe any extra oil from the pan with kitchen paper and drop in the tofu. Fry, turning methodically until all sides are golden. Combine with the vegetables, grapefruit, herbs and dressing. Mix.

Packed Lunch Idea: Pickle, Potato and Fennel Box

Spring! SPRING! Spring is here! There are flowers on my street. Magnolia and cherry blossom have begun to rear their heads. I went hiking for the first time in months (legs were sore for two full days after - ha!) I have left the house without a coat (I regretted it that night but, whatever.) To celebrate the green and pink coming back in my life (their being seen together thing so clearly complete hokey) I have a green and pink packed lunch for you. I’ll say it once last time in case you didn’t already pick up on my excitement: SPRING!!

This looks like a heap of ingredients but most of it is store cupboard stuff. I picked up the potatoes, courgette, fennel, cucumber and lemons and then everything else came together from rifling through the deeps of the kitchen. That said, though this didn’t initially come together by design I would encourage you to include everything as described below. It’s very little work and keeps in a few containers to be thrown together with ease over the week for an amazing lunch that explodes with flavour and texture. It’s my favourite of all the packed lunched I’ve had since this experiment began.

- Makes four lunches - - Takes about 25 minutes

Pickled Onion and Chilli: 1 red onion, sliced into thin rings 2 chillies, finely sliced ½ c. rice wine vinegar ½ c. water ½ tbs salt ½ tbs sugar

Dressing: Juice and zest of half a lemon 1 tsp miso 3 tsp tahini ~3 tsp water

Lemony Fennel: 1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced 2 tsp olive oil Juice and zest of half a lemon

Filling: 4 baby potatoes 1 can artichoke hearts 8 Lebanese (mini) cucumbers 2 courgettes, thinly sliced 1 can chickpeas

Toppings: sunflower seeds dill, chopped sumac fennel fronds, chopped

Set the potatoes to boil. Prepare the pickle: Bring the water, vinegar, salt and sugar to a boil in a small pot, stirring vigorously to dissolve the sugar. Then decant into a small container and sit in a bowl of cold water to speed cooling. Chop the fennel and sautee in the oil for 7 minutes. Then deglaze with lemon juice. Prepare the other vegetables and distribute among four lunchboxes (you might have some leftover chickpeas and artichoke - it depends on how big a lunch you want. When the pickling juice is cool, add the onion and chilli. Submerge in the liquid and seal the container. When the fennel has cooled a little, add to the lunchboxes. Drain the potatoes and dice; then add them to the lunchboxes too. Sprinkle over the seeds, dill, sumac and fennel fronds over each box. In a small jar, whisk together the tahini, miso, lemon and water.

Each morning, top your lunch with some pickle and dressing and you’re good to go!

Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

Oh blog. You’re good craic.

I’ve had a busy year this year - studying (and trying/failing to study) like a maniac for the most part. I’ve always enjoyed dreaming up, thinking up, cooking up and writing up recipes, but at the moment it’s a very particular escape. There are days when I’m still very focused but my brain isn’t fit for any more sums and then I’m so glad that I have a bulky drafts folder that needs to be sorted out. I enjoy writing little introductions, oggling my own photos and remembering dishes I’ve made. I’ve eaten a lot of curries and soups this year - it’s basically been winter since October and hearty, balanced and cheap meals have been the order of the day. A recent binge of recipe development and decent photograph opportunities have arisen over the last few weeks while we were on hiatus. As much as the main light in my daily life comes from doodling dish ideas and brainstorming ingredient pairings, there’s nothing like having a few days to pursue things. I can bake. I can obsess over new ingredients. I love it so much. And I love having this record of doing something that I really adore.

Apologies for the rambling declaration of love: I’m writing this up in between a particularly persnickety assignment that has me home on a Friday night so I’ve never been so glad to have an outlet for creativity, colour and flavour. I reckon that sums up this salad pretty well too.

I didn’t include the maple syrup in mine but did for others who don’t have the same taste for sourness I do.

- Per person -

½ avocado, in 2cm cube-ish pieces ½ grapefruit, membrane and pith removed, broken into segments 1 tbs shelled, salted pistachioes Plateful of spinach, rocket, red chard and bullsblood 2 tsp Donegal cold pressed rapeseed oil 2 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp maple syrup, optional ½ tsp sumac zest of half a lemon

Whisk the rapeseed oil, maple syrup (if using) and lemon juice together with a little salt. Arrange the salad ingredients and speckle with the sumac, zest and dressing.

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Vegan Bánh Mì Chay with vegan pâté, mayonnaise and all the fixings

I have been dreaming and yesterday the dream was realised.

I had a conversation last weekend about what the next burrito bar might be. Ireland is generally very slow to take up food fads and I often think that pinpointing the right trend in the American or Australian food market at the right time could be very profitable for an Irish entrepreneur. I love eating out and see the fads that the market goes through - tapas, Lebanese and Japanese food have all exploded over the last few years. The country is becoming increasingly health-focused and interested in food and it's great to see. A friend's boyfriend recently spoke very passionately about his love of "the crunch" that some burrito bars add (just crushed up nachos) and he described his rage that my favourite bar wouldn't do it for him. So a few days later I was thinking about the devotion that lots of people have to burritos and how frequently they eat them. I suppose hot chicken fillet rolls, pizza slices and subs have gone through similar times of mania. Burrito bars seem like a particularly good innovation though - they allow carnivores and vegans eat together without anyone feeling deprived. It's cheap, adaptable and fast food that doesn't leave you or your pocket feeling like shit. I wondered aloud what else might fit the bill - ramen perhaps? My companion rightfully pointed out that broth hasn't particularly taken off here and that many 'men' feel it isn't filling enough. It's also difficult to get in takeaway form. We fell into different topics and at some point he had a eureka moment - after spending a few months travelling in Asia last year he thinks bánh mì tick all the boxes. I had to agree with him. I asked what he loved about them and made them stand out for him. His response: the pâté.

I LOVE pâté. I may not have indulged in it for a long time but that doesn't mean the memory of it has left me. You can practically taste the iron seeping out of it. The booze and copious quantity of fat used to make my heart sing. At Christmas, my mother used to make up bowl upon bowl of the stuff - most of which I gobbled down on brown bread. The smell of chicken livers frying in butter and then being doused in alcohol makes my heart sing to this day. So I completely get that it could be the secret to a perfect sandwich.

For a Christmas party a few years ago I made a vegan variation out of brandy, lentils, mushrooms and more brandy. It went down as a roaring success with the huge group assembled there - carnivores and herbivores alike. I wrote down the recipe and promptly lost it. I've certainly thought about it since and this seemed like the perfect prompt to recreate it. I altered the recipe from my memory a little - subbing out the brandy (too expensive for me these days!) and the fake margarine (I've become wildly indifferent to it) - and improvised on the contents otherwise. I knew that agar agar had been the secret to a perfect texture all those years ago so I picked some up during a seaweed buying spree a few days later. This is boozey, savoury and thoroughly satisfies my memory of chicken liver pâté. It's great with carrot sticks, slathered on any sort of bread or crackers and most likely anywhere else to be honest! I encourage you to make it, even if you don't feel like an amazing Vietnamese sandwich to boot.

So what else makes up the bánh mì? Well the name itself only refers to the type of bread - an authentic Vietnamese one is a development on the French baguette. I read accounts of the use of rice flour but as that's gluten-free it is unlikely to be the reason for the particularly light and crunchy nature of the bread. Instead, it's simply regular wheat flour with a low protein content that's used (as opposed to the 00 or 'strong' flours usually used for bread that are more protein-dense). I just used regular French style baguette as I don't have a Viet bakery anywhere nearby!

The bánh mì is very much a French-Viet hybrid. The baguette seems to have been brought by the French and the sandwich also contains other classic French ingredients: the pâté and mayonnaise. On the street, vegetarian versions are unusual in Vietnam, though they are prepared in Buddhist temples during festivals. Usually they consist of various type of pork or chicken that are richly roasted or seasoned. As such, I tried a silken tofu marinaded in typical pork seasonings and then coated in polenta and gram flour to crisp-up the outside. It was really good but I thought that the sandwich needed the meaty 'bite' so I sprung for some commercially smoked extra-firm tofu. It really hit the spot.

On the Vietnamese side, the baguette is usually stuffed with pickled carrot and daikon radish, coriander, jalapenos and cucumber. Can you tell I did my research? Ha! It's exam time so naturally enough I'm procrastinating like there's no tomorrow. What a way to procrastinate though, and this sandwich is perfect study fare. Once the ingredients are prepared (and they really come together with surprising speed and ease) then I put everything into containers and have been eating sandwiches twice a day since - leaving lots of time to procrastinate in other ways: like writing an entire thesis on the one particularly delicious sandwich. . . I better get back to the books!

- Makes all the sandwiches you could dream of (about 5 with leftover pâté (you will want it) - - vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free - - Takes an hour -

Pâté: 1 cup dried puy lentils 3 shallots, finely diced 3 cloves garlic, crushed 125g button mushrooms, finely diced 1 inch chunk agar agar flakes 1/2 cup red wine 2 tbs olive oil 1.5 tbs miso paste 2 tsp rosemary Lots of cracked black pepper 1/2 tbs liquid smoke 1/2 tbs paprika 1/3 cup ground almonds 1/2 tbs siracha 1.5 tbs balsamic vinegar 2 tsp marigold bouillon powder 2.5 cups boiling water 2 dried bay leaves

Pickle: 1.5 cups daikon, in julienne 1.5 cups carrot, in julienne 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar 1/2 tbs salt 1 tbs sugar 1/2 cup cold water

Mayonaise: 120g Silken tofu, mashed 2 tsp dijon mustard 1/2 c. rapeseed oil, 1/3 c. vegetable oil 2 tsp lemon juice 1 clove of garlic, crushed salt -

Fixins: Smoked tofu, warmed and in thick slices Cucumber, thinly sliced Fresh coriander, leaves and stems Hot sauce and/or jalepenos Crispy French baguette (or gluten free alternative)

In a pot over high heat, add the lentils and the boiling water. Cover and leave to cook. Check occasionally to ensure they aren't sticking to the bottom of the pot and stir.

In a second, smaller pot, combine with pickling ingredients: the vinegar, salt, sugar and water. Bring it to the boil for five minutes - you want the salt and sugar to dissolve. Pour into a bowl and cool in the freezer.

Prepare the carrot and daikon. When the pickling liquid is cool, pour it over the vegetables and leave to pickle for as long as possible - though the half hour accounted for here is enough!

Chop the shallots, mushrooms and garlic.Over a medium heat, cook them in the olive oil until they are really well scented and coloured - 10 to 15 minutes.

When the lentils are cooked through and are becoming a little mushy but retain a little bite, separate out 3/4s of a cup and 'discard' (I used them for a salad a couple of days later). To the lentils add the mushroom mixture and all the other ingredients and a half cup of cold water. Stir and cover. You want the liquid to reach boiling to activate the agar agar and cook off some of the alcohol. Allow the liquid to reduce until a paste is reached - about five minutes. Remove the bay leaves. Then, using an immersion blender, turn the pâté into a smooth paste. Taste and add more seasoning as necessary.

In a container that is about the same width as your immersion blender (I used a gherkin jar but many immersion blenders come with one), place the silken tofu, lemon juice, mustard, garlic and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth and then start to slowly drizzle in the oils while continuing to blend - this will form the emulsion that constitutes mayonnaise. DO NOT USE OLIVE OIL. It will overpower the taste and cost you a small fortune. (Clearly I know this having done just that previously.)

To assemble the sandwich, lather generously with the pâté and layer on the pickle, cucumber, tofu, coriander, jalapenos, hot sauce and a good drizzle of mayonnaise. Best of luck closing the baguette enough to fit in your mouth - I spend half my time licking my hands when eating these (giant) joys.

EXTRAS: I added dry fried, sliced mushrooms for extra bite. They were a delicious if non-traditional addition.

Grilled Grapefruit and Orange

My new favourite brunch coming at you this Friday evening in time for your Saturday morning.

This screams sunshine and joy. I developed a heap of grapefruit recipes last week that obliterated my image of them as bitter and a poor man’s orange. I’ll keep this snappy, I have socialising to be doing Unbreakable Kimmy Shmidt to be watching.

- per person -

1 grapefruit 1 orange 1 tsp brown sugar 2 tsp dessicated coconut

Heat up your grill (broiler to you ‘muricuns).

Peel the grapefruit and orange. Slice into about 5 pieces horizontally. Knick the outside ‘membrane’ and peel from the outside of each slice. Remove the pith from the centre. Arrange in an oven proof dish (the lid from a pyrex dish is perfect). Sprinkle with sugar and put under the grill. When it begins to golden, sprinkle over the coconut and put back under the grill until it’s toasted.

Brunch sorted.

Packed Lunch Idea: Creamy Greens Bowl

Tahini-Miso-Siracha: Aaaaaa-men.

This is the result of really speedy meal preparation - Two portions are pictured above and I ate the third one hot from the pan for dinner. I used canned lentils and packet rice but if I wasn’t under a time pressure I’d usually cook them up from scratch for for dinner while I did everything else. Sometimes convenience food is very convenient though, and certainly this is example of using them wisely!

- Makes three lunches - - Takes ten minutes - - Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free recipe -

1 courgette (250g), halved lengthways and then chopped into 1cm thick slices 200g broccoli, broken into florets Half a bag of baby leaf spinach 2 handfuls of peas Bunch of coriander 1 shallot, finely diced 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 1/2 tbs oil Juice and zest of half a lemon Salt and pepper

1 tbs tahini 1 tsp miso paste 1 tsp lemon juice 1/2 tsp agave syrup 3 tbs soy milk

siracha

Half a can of Puy lentils (200g) Half a packet of microwavable basmati (brown if yeh can get it!) rice (125g)

In a frying pan over a medium heat, sauté the shallot and garlic for 2 or 3 minutes in the oil. Then add the courgette and broccoli; season and turn up the heat. Allow everything to char for a few minutes, tossing occasionally. Add the spinach, peas, coriander and lemon. Toss occasionally until the spinach is wilted and the peas are hot. Whisk the tahini, miso, lemon, agave and soy milk together. Divide the greens between three containers with the lentils and rice. Pour over the tahini dressing and a big drizzle of siracha.

Packed Lunch Idea: Noodles and Cabbage

I'm continuing valiantly in my efforts to reinvent the packed lunch. I have recently become preoccupied with cabbage - when charred to nuttiness it is extremely delicious. My childhood memories of water-clogged savoy are certainly being eclipsed (though said water-clogged cabbage still goes great with floury potatoes, margarine and a huge whack of pepper).

Noodles are an obvious choice for tasty packed lunches. I have opted for rice noodles because I enjoy their robust bite - however, if you would like a higher protein content buckwheat (soba) or tofu noodles would also work well.

I went to the Asian market on Thursday following an exam (it's a ritual I have) and bought four types of seaweed. One has already been employed to great success - recipes will follow soon - but for now I better return to my studies.

- Makes 2 large or 3 light lunches - - Takes 20 minutes (2 minutes in the morning) - - Vegan, vegetarian, glutenfree -

1 large carrot, spiralised 1/2 a green cabbage, chopped 1/2 a leek, slice into thin rounds 1 tsp coconut oil 2 portions dried flat rice noodles

1 clove garlic, grated 1 inch piece of ginger, grated 2 tsp sambal oelek 1 tsp soy sauce 1 tbs rice wine vinegar 2 tsp sesame oil Black pepper 1 tbs water

Iceberg lettuce, chopped Cucumber, in batons Black and white sesame seeds, pumkin and sunflower seeds Sesame oil, chilli oil and rice wine vinegar

Steep the noodles in just boiled water for 15 minutes, stirring often. When they are tender to the bite, rinse them under cold water to stop the cooking process.

While the noodles cook, prepare the cabbage and leek. Over a high heat, stirfry the cabbage and leek in the coconut oil. You want them to char a little - don't worry if you see little blackened bits! Don't mix it too much for the first few minutes - toss the ingredients occasionally but allow steam to build up and cook the vegetables. Meanwhile, mis the garlic, ginger, sambal oelek, soy, vinegar, sesame oil, water and ground pepper in a jar or using a whisk.

Pour the marinade over the vegetables when they have cooked for five or six minutes. Add the carrot and combine. Finally mix through the rice noodles - I use large chopsticks to ensure they don't become 'gloopy'.

If eating immediately, enjoy warm with the seeds, cucumber, lettuce and a sprinkling of chili oil, sesame oil and vinegar.

To keep for lunches, allow to cool in a non-sealed container. Add the garnishes on the morning you will eat your packed lunch.

Vegan Spinach Quiche (on a Rye, Rapeseed and Spelt Shortcrust)

It's my favourite week of the year: cooking and hiking week! This week I will mostly be cooking and hiking. I often cook and hike but I'm working from home so have lots of time for more drawn out cooking where presence is required even though dishes aren't too labour intensive. I'm also at home-home aka my parents' house so I have all of my mother's kitchen tools and her functioning oven with which to play.

So I started off strong today with a quiche and cinnamon rolls, both of which I have to say I knocked out of the park. This quiche is creamy, savoury and crumbly - all the good things, basically. I wanted to forgo nutritional yeast as non-vegans are after turned off by its mustiness - I am facing the biggest of all sceptics in this regard, my dad!

I took full advantage of my mother's cooking implements but I've listed what I used and any alternatives below - other than the tart tin and some sort of blender or food processor, most things can be improvised.

Donegal cold pressed rapeseed oil is made by Lakeshore in ireland and tastes unbelievable and is the colour of happiness (YELLOW). Do NOT replace it with standard rapeseed oil that is highly processed (canola). Use olive oil if you can't find it.

And, well, just look at it. It is so, so delicious. I've given a very detailed breakdown below but it really doesn't involve and tricky techniques at all - using oil instead of butter even means the pastry is easier than usual to make! It's (relatively) quick, wholesome and bloody yummy. Enjoy!

- Takes 80 minutes, lots inactive - Vegan recipe, vegetarian, gluten-free without the crust -

Materials: 8 inch pie dish with removable base, blender or food processor, baking beans (a few cups of uncooked rice work instead), baking paper, pastry brush (or use your finger), rolling pin (a bottle of wine would work), baking stone (optional), frying pan (skillet to you 'muricuns), microwave and kitchen paper OR a small pot of boiling water

Pastry: 170g white spelt flour 60g rye flour 6 tbs Donegal cold-pressed rapeseed oil 1 tbs ground flax 3 tbs lukewarm water Pinch herbamare, or salt

Cream: 300g silken tofu, drained 1 tsp miso paste 1 tsp Dijon mustard i tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

Vegetables: 1 tbs Donegal cold pressed rapeseed oil 2 shallots, finely chopped 1 stick of celery, finely chopped 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 5 blocks of frozen spinach (about 420g) 3 tbs white wine 1/2 tsp Marigold vegan bouillon powder 2 tsp dried wild oregano Cracked black pepper

Other stuff: 1 small potato (about 100g) 2 pieces of sun-dried tomato (in oil), roughly chopped

Method:

Start with the Pastry.

1. Combine the flax and lukewarm water. Leave for 5 or 10 minutes until it's gloopy - that's the technical word for 'egg-like in consistency'! Then put it in the freezer for five minutes until the liquid is cold.

2. While the flax is getting ready, mix the flours and salt. Then add the oil a tablespoon at a time while rubbing the oil into the flour with your fingers. You should achieve a breadcrumb like meal.

3. Add the flax bit by bit and mix until a dough has formed. Wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 20 minutes.

4. Put the baking stone, if using, onto the middle shelf of the oven. Pre-heat it (the oven) to 190 degrees Celsius.

Now onto the vegetables.

5. In a heavy based pan, over a medium heat, sauté the shallot, garlic and celery until fragrant and beginning to soften - about 8 minutes.

6. Add the spinach, white wine, oregano and Marigold. Allow the spinach to defrost and some of the white wine to cook off - 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Back to the pastry.

7. While the vegetables are cooking, brush the inside of the tart tin with some oil - make sure to get into any creases or grooves.

8. Remove the pastry from the freezer. Scatter a little flour on a surface and on your rolling pin.

9. Carefully roll out the pastry into a large circle - about 14 inches in diameter. It may crumble or break a little bit. Be careful to roll evenly and not with too much force and it stays together. Use a large knife, if needs be, to slide under the pastry if it is stuck to the counter. Hang over the rolling pin and lay over the greased baking tin. Gently press it into the tin, from the middle out. Trim the excess pastry that's hanging along the rim. You can use it to patch up any holes that may have appeared.

10. Prick the pastry a few times with a fork. Line with baking paper and fill the tin with baking beans or rice. Blind bake for 12 minutes in the pre-heated oven.

Completing the filling.

12.Prick the potato a few times, wrap in kitchen paper and microwave on full heat for 3 minutes, turning over once. When it's cool enough to touch, peel it and cut into small (3cm) cubes. If you don't have a microwave, peel and dice the potato and them steam or boil for 10 minutes.

11. By now, the vegetables should be removed from the heat. In a small food processor, or using a hand blender, blend the tofu, miso, mustard and Worcestershire sauce until the smoother cream forms. Fold the cream, potatoes and sundries tomatoes into the vegetable mixture. Add black pepper and salt to your liking - you want it to pack a punch.

Hey! Presto!

12. Remove the blind baked pastry. Turn the over up to 200 degrees Celsius. Spoon out the baking beads and remove the baking paper. Pour the filling into the pastry and smooth it out as best as you can. Bake from 30 minutes, when the top is almost caramelised and has begun to solidify. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes on a cooling rack. Then pop the sides down, slice and enjoy!

To reheat, use the oven, not the microwave!

Packed Lunch Idea: Robust Waldorf Salad

I’m continuing my war on pre-packaged sandwiches of death, homemade sandwiches of death and desperate pulling of crackers and peanut butter from the fridge.This is a properly robust salad that covers all manners of food groups: protein-rich yoghurt, nuts and beans, omega-filled walnuts, vitamin c from the lemon to absorb iron, apple for a juicy burst and heaps of celery for bulk, fiber and unending crunching. This is not something that you’ll throw back in two minutes.

- Makes 3 lunches - - Takes 15 minutes - - Vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, all that good stuff -

1 bunch celery (including leaves), chopped into small chunks 2 green apples, cored and in small chunks 1 can kidney beans 1 handful walnuts, broken into smaller pieces 1 small handful macademias 1 bunch parsley, leaves only, chopped 3 tbs soy yoghurt 1 tsp maple syrup Juice and zest of half a lemon White pepper and salt

If you’re eating this straight away, just throw all the ingredients together and mix it up. If you are preparing it for a few days, mix the celery, apple, parsley, lemon juice and zest together. Keep the beans, nuts and seasoned-maple yoghurt in separate containers to be combined the night before, or the morning of if at all possible. The yoghurt may split a little when the salad sits for a while but it’s still good to eat!

Flat Bread Brunch

I love Felicity Cloake’s “perfect” articles in the Guardian. She plows through the history and many recipes of different ‘classic’ dishes and arrives at her own amalgamation. She writes clearly and thoughtfully, throwing in lots of tidbits and always supporting her decisions. Reading the preamble is a good idea - though a recipe developer, she isn’t prescriptive so hidden within the preambles are all the things she thinks are also a good idea or worth trying. However, I do think that by the time she’s finished perfecting a recipe, she must be unutterably sick of whatever food she has been working on. Eating ten types of salted caramel might sound like a good time, but I reckon after five servings you’d be dying for a salad.

I made up a batch of her "perfect" naan bread the other day to eat with curry, but wisely left some for the next morning too (they reheat perfectly in the oven with a sprinkling of water on each side). I used soy yoghurt, replaced the ghee with rapeseed oil and added in garlic and garlic powder.

As a result, I had a near-instantaneous brunch to enjoy the next day.

- Vegan, vegetarian, quick - - Per Person - - Takes ten minutes -

1 garlic naan 6 chestnut mushroom, in quarters 6 cherry tomatoes, halved 1/2 tbs olive oil Handful chopped parsley Squeeze lemon juice 1 tbs hummus (Use store-bought or whizz up in no time with chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, water and hot sauce) Chilli flakes, to taste

* I don’t season my mushrooms here as the hummus is quite salty, but do if your hummus isn’t!*

Warm the naan in the oven. Over a medium heat, put the olive oil into a frying pan. When it’s hot, add the mushrooms. Leave to sear, only turning very occasionally. They should take about 6 minutes. Then add the tomatoes too. Again, don’t move them too much. Flip once or twice only. Remove from the heat. Scatter with parsley, lemon juice and chilli flakes. Spread the naan with hummus and dump it all on top.

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