VALUABLE VEGAN RECIPES

Are you tired of cooking frozen veggie burgers and eating salads?  Want to spice up your vegan life?  Check out these scrumptious recipes to begin your amazing vegan journey!

QUINOA BURGERS

The results were fab- very tasty and will certainly make again- even got a big thumbs up from the meat eaters! (makes 8 to feed 4)

Ingredients:

200g quinoa

400g (can) kidney beans

2 garlic gloves 

1 white onion

½ lemon/ lemon juice

20g fresh coriander 

optional sesame/chia seeds sprinkling

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp oil and oil to fry

Method:

1. Simmer the quinoa in water for 20 minutes whilst you chop the onions and garlic and fry them gently in a frying pan.

2. Blitz all the ingredients together.

3. Mould burgers using your hands into round disks.

4. Cook in a frying pan ensuring the oil is hot so they sizzle and give them 2-3mins on each side until they are a crispy brown on the outside (they will remain soft on the inside).

5. Serve with bread, homemade salsa and carrot sticks.

BANANA BREAD

I didn’t think I liked banana bread and wasn’t expecting so much but decided I’d give it a go and it was so moreish and delicious that it ended up being eaten within a day! I imagine it would make a perfect not-so-healthy breakfast with Alpro yoghurt, maple syrup and berries, although it is certainly nice enough on its own.

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Ingredients:

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2-3 bananas (mushy ones are great)

200g self-raising flour

125g melted margarine

125g unrefined sugar

4tbsp almond/soy milk as required

½ tsp vanilla essence

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg 1tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Oven to 180 degrees

2. Mash bananas well

3. Add melted margarine, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and splash of milk and mix well with banana mixture

4. Sieve in and fold well the flour and baking powder, the mixture should be gloopy (not too stiff to stir or runny so add milk if required)

5. Bake for 30-40mins

6. Serve warm and keep the rest for at most a week in an airtight container

MERENGUE

Ingredients:

Chickpea water (from a 400g tin drained)

125-150g icing sugar

1tsp cream of tartar

Flavouring of choice (1tsp- 1tbsp): Classic- vanilla extract/ coffee/ pistachio Floral- rosewater/ lavender/ violet Alcoholic- amaretto/ liqueur

Variations: replace some of the icing sugar with unrefined caster sugar for a chewier meringue

Method:

Prep: Preheat oven to 100 degrees, you will need at least two or three baking sheets lined with baking parchment, a piping bag or syringe is useful for shaping them but not essential

1.Whisk the chickpea water for five minutes until white and frothy and double in size (you can use the chickpeas in my tagine below or make a curry, falafels or burgers)

2. Add the cream of tartar and whisk for another 2 minutes

3.SLOWLY add the icing sugar bit by bit whilst whisking and watch with disbelief as the mixture grows and becomes white and cloud-like- this may take some time so do not rush and, unlike using egg whites, there is no risk of over whisking

4.Whisk until thick, glossy peaks appear and the mixture will stay in the bowl if you tip it over your head to test

5.Add any flavours or colourings and whisk in if an essence or fold in if thicker- for mine I split the mixture into three and did a third rose flavour, a third coffee and a third amaretto

6. Pipe the meringue onto the baking parchment, they do not spread in the oven so can be piped close to one another

7.Bake in the oven for 2hours (or 100mins if smaller) and DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN

8. LEAVE in the oven for AT LEAST 1 HOUR to dry out after baking

9.Store in an airtight container and eat within 1-2 weeks

10.Tell everyone about this ground-breaking discovery and enjoy!