Tag Archive for: vegan recipes

Summer and salad go hand-in-hand and this offering from Heather Whinney’s Virtually Vegan is a fresh, sweet, figgy take on a summertime staple. Complete with a harissa and mint dressing for an unmatched kick!

Taken from Virtually Vegan by Heather Whinney

Serves 4–6
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 40 mins

Ingredients
400g/14oz/2 cups dried Puy lentils, rinsed well
a pinch of allspice
2 garlic cloves, grated
about 10 fresh figs
a drizzle of olive oil
200g/7oz coconut pieces
2 celery stalks, trimmed and finely sliced
3 spring onions/scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
1 large handful of land cress or baby spinach leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dressing
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1–2 tsp harissa, plus extra for drizzling
1 handful of mint leaves, finely chopped, plus extra to garnish

Method
1 Put the lentils in a pan of salted water and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer with the lid partially on for about 40 minutes, or until tender. Drain well and leave to one side.
2 While they are cooking, make the dressing. Put the oil and vinegar in a small bowl or jug, whisk and season with salt and pepper, then stir in the harissa and mint. Pour it over the lentils while they are still warm so they soak up the flavours. Add the allspice and garlic and stir well so all the lentils are coated. Taste and season some more if needed.
3 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6.
4 Put the figs in a roasting pan and drizzle over the oil, add the coconut to the pan and roast for about 10–15 minutes until the juices start to just run from the figs and the coconut begins to turn golden. When cool enough to handle, slice the coconut pieces into shards and roughly chop the figs or quarter them. Leave to one side.
5 When the lentils are cool, stir in the celery, spring onions/ scallions and cress or spinach leaves, then add the figs and half the coconut and stir gently. Transfer to a serving bowl, scatter over the remaining coconut shards and mint leaves and drizzle with a little extra harissa oil from the jar to serve.

For non-vegans…
The Moroccan flavours of this salad work well with lamb kebabs, particularly for a barbecue. Alternatively, crumbled feta would make a tasty topping.

Don’t forget to tag us – @nourishbooks – in your recreations! Happy cooking!

There’s not much that can’t be fixed by a generous helping noodles, except maybe a snappy recipe to match. Chilli, garlic and a whole lot of seasonal veg makes this vegan dish ideal for a punchy midweek meal, perfect for a Tuesday night! Taken from Rose Elliot’s Complete Vegan, you can use straight-to-wok noodles or dried ones, remember to follow the instructions on the packet.

From Rose: ‘Meg is my middle daughter, a busy doctor and mother of three, and this is one of her fast after-work recipes. Meg uses ready-to-use or ‘straight-to-wok’ noodles; if you prefer to use dried ones, prepare according to the packet instructions.’

Taken from Rose Elliot’s Complete Vegan

 

Serves 2–3

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
125g (41/2oz) slim broccoli stalks
3 garlic cloves, grated or crushed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
3cm (1in) piece of fresh root ginger, grated
1 red (bell) pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
125g (41/2oz) button mushrooms
125g (41/2oz) sugar snap peas
125g (41/2oz) baby sweetcorn, sliced lengthways
300g (101/2oz) straight-to-wok noodles
soy sauce, to taste
handful of fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped, to garnish
roasted cashew nuts, to serve

Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan over a medium-high heat, add the onion and cook, stirring, for 3–5 minutes until starting to soften. Add the broccoli along with a splash of cold water, cover the pan and increase the heat to high. Steam the broccoli for 5 minutes, until the stems begin to soften and the water has evaporated.

Add the garlic, chilli, ginger, (bell) pepper, mushrooms, sugar snap peas and sweetcorn, and cook for 1–2 minutes until the vegetables are cooked. Stir in the noodles and warm over a low heat until the noodles are heated through. Add soy sauce, to taste.

3 Serve, garnished with the chopped coriander (cilantro) and roasted cashew nuts.

Happy cooking! Don’t forget to tag @NourishBooks in your social posts, we’d love to see your creations!

We are getting stuck right into #Veganuary2021 with this delicious, veggie-filled pizza from Virtually Vegan by Heather Whinney! We’ll be posting plant based meal inspo and dairy free dessert recipes – join us this month for a #Veganuary adventure!

‘Who needs dairy on a pizza? What you need is flavour, and this combo has lots of it. You can make the dough ahead and leave it to prove slowly in the refrigerator for a few days or wrap well and freeze for up to a month. For a change, try tossing a handful of fresh wild rocket/arugula on top to serve and give the pizza an extra drizzle of chilli oil.’

Courgette, mushroom & truffle oil pizza from Virtually Vegan

 

Makes 4
Prep: 20 mins, plus proving
Cook: 10 mins

Recipe

500g/1Ib 2oz/4 cups ‘00’ flour or strong white flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting
7g/¼oz/1 sachet of fast-action/instant active dried yeast
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
sea salt

FOR THE TOPPING*:
8 tbsp passata/sieved tomatoes
300g/10½oz portobello mushrooms, finely sliced
4 courgettes/zucchini, sliced into ribbons
a pinch of chilli flakes
a generous drizzle of truffle oil
1 handful basil leaves, to garnish
a few oregano leaves, to garnish

*NON-VEGAN TOPPING:
Try any non-vegan topping you like with this base and tomato sauce. It works well with dairy-free cheese, too, but you could scatter over some torn mozzarella if you prefer.

Method

1 To make the pizza dough, put the flour, yeast and a pinch of salt in a food mixer. Make a well in the middle and slowly
pour in 360ml/12½fl oz/1½ cups of warm water. Using the dough beaters, beat until the mixture comes together, then add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and continue to mix until it forms a dough. It will begin to make a slapping noise as it mixes, which means it is ready. Transfer to a floured board and knead for about 10 minutes until it softens up and becomes spongy.

2 Put the dough in a bowl, cover with cling film/plastic wrap or a dish towel and leave in a warm place for 30–40 minutes until doubled in size.

3 Preheat the oven to its highest setting and put a baking/cookie sheet in the oven to heat up.

4 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes to knock out the air, then divide the dough into four equal balls.

Have all your topping ingredients ready. Roll and stretch a dough ball until you get a round, about 25cm/10in in diameter. Making one at a time, lightly oil the hot baking/cookie sheet and put the dough round on it. Add 2 tablespoons of passata/sieved tomatoes to the top of the pizza and spread it out to cover. Top with mushrooms and courgettes/zucchini. It will seem like a lot of courgette/zucchini but pile them high as they will shrink when cooking. Sprinkle with chilli flakes and drizzle the truffle oil over the top. Bake for 10 minutes until golden. Remove and continue making the other pizzas. Garnish with fresh herbs, slice into triangles and serve.

 

We can never say no to pizza, so hopefully you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! Don’t forget to check back through Veganuary for oh so many new and delicious recipes.