Gluten-free Baking: Apple, Pear & Raisin Cake

This is my latest experiment in gluten-free baking: it has a damper, more solid texture than a regular cake but I think it works well with the fruit. For me Ella's recipes have been a bit hit-and-miss so far but this one is a winner! The ingredients and flavours suggest autumn and winter but this still tasted delicious in July.

3 red apples (or whatever eating apples you have) peeled, cored and roughly chopped
2 pears, peel, cored and roughly chopped
225 g raisins (I used a mixture of raisins and currants)
200g ground almonds
100g chopped pecans
160g brown rice flour
150ml almond milk
4 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp cashew butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Put apples, pears and cinnamon in a small saucepan and cook gently for about 10 minutes or until they break down into a lumpy puree.
2. Place all remaining ingredients except raisins and pecans into a food processor and blend until smooth.
3. Add the apple and pear mixture and blend again.
4. Stir in the raisin and pecans then spread into a greased and lined springform tin about 23cm in diameter.
5. Cook at 180c for 40-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool in the tin as the cake is more fragile than one made with regular flour.

Because this cake won't really rise you don't have to be scared about opening the oven to check it - the original recipe said 40 minutes but my oven definitely took 60. Keeps for about a week in a tin although I defy you to have any left after more than two days.

It's spicy, fruity and delicious AND healthy.  Refined-sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free - who knew that could taste so good?! Vegans: you shall have your cake and eat it!

                             

Courgette Spaghetti Four Ways

Courgette spaghetti - or courgetti, or zoodles depending on your preference - is my love affair of the fortnight. Since getting a spiralizer for my birthday I find myself spiralizing like a crazy person: but this truly is a game-changer for weeknight suppers. Dinner on the table in 15 minutes plus it's healthy, low-carb, low-fat and gluten-free.

These are four basic recipes that can all be prepared quickly and easily, and should feed two.


with Avocado Pesto
(inspired by Ella but again changed to my tastes and according to what was in the kitchen!)

80g brazil nuts
handful fresh basil leaves
2 avocados
juice 2 limes
salt and pepper
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus extra for frying
200g mushrooms, sliced thinly
100g sugarsnap peas
1 handful frozen peas
2 large courgettes

1. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan then add the mushrooms.
2. While they cook, blitz the brazil nuts in a food processor until very finely chopped.
3. Add the olive oil, avocado, lime juice and basil then blend until it forms a smooth sauce.
4. Taste and season and necessary, adjusting the oil/citrus balance according to taste.
5. When the mushrooms start to crisp, add the sugarsnaps and frozen peas and stir together.
6. Spiralize your courgettes.
7. When the vegetables are ready (the green ones only really need heating through) add the courgette spaghetti and the pesto to the pan, then stir well to mix and heat it through for 2-3 minutes.
8. Serve and enjoy!

I loved the fresh limey-ness of this sauce - you could use whatever green vegetables you like. I am generally led by whatever is in the fridge and needs using. Any leftover pesto is great on salads or as a dip.



with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
250g chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 tsp dried tarragon
good slug of marsala
250ml soya single cream (for a non-vegan alternative my preference is half-fat creme fraiche)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (non-vegan alternative 30g parmesan or pecorino)
salt and pepper
2 large courgettes

1. Heat some oil in a frying pan then add the onion - salt it so that it doesn't colour too much and cook for a few minutes until it starts to soften.
2. Add the garlic and fry for another minute.
3. Add the mushrooms, leeks and tarragon (absolutely substitute fresh herbs if you have them) and cook for five minutes or so. Keep stirring - you don't want them to colour too much or it will make the sauce very brown.
4. When the mushrooms are cooked (to how you like - I like very soft in a sauce) slosh in some marsala and stir. I never measure so I can't be more specific - but wines are wonder ingredients in cooking and I love them. And mushrooms love marsala (if you don't have any then a dry sherry like amontillado is also good. But get some it's invaluable).
5. Pour in the soya cream and stir well. Season generously - it has a slightly sweet taste so I like a lot of salt and pepper; a squeeze of lemon is also good if you like.
6. Add the nutritional yeast (or cheese) and stir again, then add the courgette noodles and stir well to combine.
7. Cook for a few minutes until hot then serve with some chopped parsley or tarragon.

Although soya cream is light, as is the courgetti, this is still a surprisingly rich dish. I am greedy but was defeated. If using cheese grate some over the top before serving, but do not be tempted to do this with nutritional yeast. It gives a slightly cheesy flavour but it is NOT cheese!



with Puttanesca Sauce

2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
4 anchovies (omit for vegetarian/vegan)
1/2tsp chilli flakes
50g black olives roughly chopped
1 tbsp capers, chopped if large
150ml passata
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
few springs of flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped

1. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and cook the garlic gently for 30 seconds.
2. Add the anchovies and stir to help them break up and kind of dissolve.
3. Add all the other ingredients except the parsley and cook for five minutes to let all the flavours come together. Season to taste.
4. Spiralize your courgettes and add to the pan. Stir thoroughly through the sauce.
5. Cook for 5-10 minutes until the courgetti is cooked but still retaining some bite.
6. Stir through the parsley and serve.

There are millions of versions of puttanesca sauce so really you should adjust to whatever pleases you most. For a vegetarian/vegan version omit the anchovies and increase the amount of capers and olives. This article from The Guardian is a really interesting starting point for developing your own signature puttanesca.


with Walnut and Sundried Tomato 'Pesto'

200g sundried tomatoes in oil
100g shelled walnuts
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 red chilli
2 sprigs basil
1/2 jar artichoke hearts

1. Toast the walnuts in a frying pan for a few minutes then shake in a colander to get rid of any excess skin.
2. Place all ingredients in a food processor (about 4 tbsp of the oil and keep the rest) and blend to your desired consistency - I like it still with some texture.
3. Heat some of the tomato oil in a frying pan and spiralize your courgettes. Add to the pan with about half the pesto mixture.
4. Stir thoroughly to combine - you may need to add a bit of water to loosen the mixture.
5. Slice the artichoke hearts into wedges and add to the pan.
6. Cook for 5-10 minutes then serve topped with some torn basil leaves.

This makes at least twice the quantity of pesto you need but it's worth doing extra. It keeps for about a week in the fridge and is great as a dip, with roasted vegetables, instead of mayo in a sandwich - anything you would use a regular pesto for really! I adapted this from a recipe by Sophie Grigson - you could add whatever vegetable you like here in place of the artichokes.


It's surprising how filling all these dishes are. I can't eat more courgette spaghetti than the normal kind which makes no sense given that it is vegetable with a high water content. You can serve all of these without cooking the courgette or cook to soften according to preference. Equally a spiralizer usually has three blades that roughly equate to spaghetti, tagliatelle and pappardelle - so use whichever you prefer and adjust cooking time accordingly.

During these experiments I've found that raw courgetti gives me very painful indigestion so I now cook it thoroughly. I googled and apparently some of us find it harder than others to digest raw vegetables - and courgette is a common culprit!

Happy zoodling and would love to see other peoples ideas!

Weekend Brunch: Clean & Lean Pancakes

Is there anything more indulgent than pancakes for breakfast at the weekend?? Everyone loves them and these two recipes are seriously easy to make. They are both thick american-style pancakes and I love them both equally.

They both need a very good non-stick frying pan or they will stick and you'll end up using too much oil. Use a gentle heat or they can burn without being cooked inside (as you'll see from one of my photos!) If making for more people than specified here keep warm in a dish in a low oven until you have enough for everyone.

Arbonne Protein Pancakes (serves 1-2)

2 scoops Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder (vegan, gluten- and sugar-free)
1 egg
1 ripe banana
generous splash almond milk (or the type you prefer)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Use a fork to mash the banana then beat in the other ingredients.
2. The consistency should be thick but pourable so the amount of milk you need will depend on how ripe your banana is.
3. Heat a small amount of coconut oil in a large frying pan then spoon in the mixture and spread into a rough circle -this quantity will give you 3 or 4 depending on how big you make them.
4. Cook gently until the bottom comes easily away from the pan and the top is no longer liquid, then turn and cook for a few minutes on the other side.
5. Serve with coconut yoghurt and fresh berries.

This is the fastest recipe of the two and you can alter the flavouring according to what you fancy as the vanilla taste of the powder is quite mild. It's a very protein rich recipe which I like - I'm going to experiment with more banana and no egg to see if I can make a vegan version.


Sweet Potato Pancakes 
(serves 2-3, adapted from Deliciously Ella)

200g sweet potato, peeled and chopped
200ml oat milk or your preferred alternative
200g brown rice flour
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Steam or boil the sweet potato chunks for about 10 minutes or until really soft.
2. Place in a blender or food processor with the other ingredients and blitz until really smooth.
3. Heat a small amount of coconut oil in a large frying pan then spoon in about 4 tbsp and form into two circles (you can make more smaller ones if you prefer - one big one tends to break up).
4. Cook gently until the bottom comes easily away from the pan and the top is no longer liquid, then turn and cook for a few minutes on the other side.
5. Serve with coconut yoghurt or apple puree and fresh berries.

Neither of these recipes keep well once cooked (although you can make the batter in advance and keep in the fridge). So best to eat them all in one go!

                         

Click here for more info or to order the protein powder

In Search of the Perfect Burger: Chickpea & Sweetcorn

A burger is an awesome thing, and I am a big fan of a veggie burger. I was looking for something to cook a stressed-out flatmate for dinner last week but still wanted to stay healthy: vegan burger is the answer!

So just in time for the weekend, here's my first attempt (which I've now cooked twice).

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe from his website and I absolutely loved it. When it looks this good in the food processor you know it's going to be delicious! They've got a crisp outside but a really soft moist consistency inside - so if you're worried about a veggie burger being dry, there's no chance of that here.

Chickpea & Sweetcorn Burger
Makes 4

1 400g tin chickpeas
1 340g tin sweetcorn
1/4 bunch fresh coriander
1/4 bunch flat-leaf parsley
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp paprika 
zest of 1 lemon
3 heaped tbsp brown rice flour (or alternative) plus more for dusting

1. Put all ingredients in the food processor and pulse until roughly blended: you want it chopped but not smooth.

2. Dust a surface with flour and shape into 4 equal sized patties. It's quite a wet mixture, don't worry.

3. Refrigerate for around 30 minutes to firm up.

3. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and cook for about 15 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp on the outside.

In my first photo I served this like a traditional burger: in a bun with lettuce, tomato and ketchup. I'm not giving the bread recipe here as it was pretty awful (Deliciously Ella's Sundried Tomato Foccacia). We didn't like it but the cat did.

Second time I served in a chickpea wrap with chilli sauce and slaw. It works in both!

The slaw is based on Nigella Lawson's Vietnamese Chicken & Mint Salad. The dressing is amazing and I can't get enough of it. Hot, sour, zingy - it must be tried!

Asian-style Slaw

1/4 red cabbage, finely sliced
1/4 white cabbage, finely sliced
1 white onion, finely sliced
2 large carrots, coarsely grated
1/2 bunch mint, leaves finely sliced
1 hot thai chilli, finely chopped (deseed if you don't want it too hot)
1 fat clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp agave nectar
1.5 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1.5 lime juice
1.5 tbsp thai fish sauce or vegetarian alternative
1.5 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Mix the chilli, garlic, vinegar, agave, lime juice, fish sauce, oil, onion and black pepper to taste. Set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Combine the other ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss thoroughly to coat everything.

This keeps for several days in the fridge. Do experiment with other vegetables: the second time I used carrot and beetroot because it's what I had and that worked too.

I'm going to try lots more veggie burgers as the summer goes on in search of the ultimate recipe so watch this space!

                     

Soup for Summer: Lettuce, Pea & Mint

Seems like I've gone soup crazy after yesterday's post but I guess I'm just making ti a lot at the moment!

I so often seem to end up with a bag of salad in the fridge that's not fresh enough to use as salad and it drives me crazy throwing it away. So I googled (seem to say that a lot) and apparently lettuce soup is the thing to do.

Lettuce, Pea & Mint Soup

350g lettuce (any kind, and less is fine if that's what you have)
1 white onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
350g frozen peas
400g courgettes
1 pack mint (about 25g)
1 litre vegetable stock

1. Finely chop or food process the onion and courgettes (but separately).
2. Heat some olive oil and cook the onion for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
3. Add the peas, courgettes, mint, lettuce and stock.
4. Season and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Blend until smooth, taste and season again if required.

The recipe I adapted this from was supposed to be 750g of peas and no courgettes but I only had 350g and many courgettes. It worked! But it's a good illustration of how soups are really flexible and you shouldn't worry too much about exact quantities. I loved this soup both hot and cold and it's a lovely summery flavour.

I also learnt something crazy from the wonderful lifehacker.com: when you have a whole lettuce, don't throw away the bottom stump that you cut off. If you plant it the lettuce will regrow! Credit to them for this photo and will take one when I've tried it myself!

Soup of the Evening, Beautiful Soup

I love soup. It's the most brilliant food. I take it to work for lunch several times a week and as long as you have some in the freezer then you always have an emergency dinner that can be ready in just a few minutes.

I make new kinds often but these two are really my go-to recipes: the quickest and easiest.

Yellow Split Pea & Vegetable
(makes a huge quantity, at least 8 main course servings)

2 white onions
2 leeks
4 sticks celery
2 large carrots
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2-3 litres vegetable stock
500g dried yellow split peas
1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)
salt & pepper

1. Finely chop all the vegetables or blitz in the food processor.
2. Heat some olive oil in a pan then sweat all the vegetables together for five minutes or so with the herbs and chilli flakes if using. 
3. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes making sure it doesn't burn.
4. Add the split peas and mix to combine. Add 2 litres of stock and stir again.
5. Simmer for 45-60 minutes until the split peas are soft, adding more liquid as necessary (maybe check every 15 mins or so).
6. Season well: remember it's a big quantity so will need quite a lot.
7. Blend to your desired consistency: I like it fairly smooth but not completely. A stock blender is good for leaving some pieces whole.
8. Taste and adjust seasoning again.

This can be altered to fit really any quantity of mixed root vegetables - whatever you have. A slug of cooking sherry makes it even better.


Mushroom
(makes about 4-6 servings)

1 white onion
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 medium carrot
2 stick celery
600g mushrooms (any kind, nothing fancy)
2 tsp dried tarragon
1-2 litres vegetable stock

1. Finely chop all the vegetables or blitz in the food processor.
2. Heat some olive oil and sweat all the vegetables together with the tarragon for 5 minutes or until the onion starts to soften.
3. Add 1.5 litres of stock and simmer for 15 minutes, add some more then if it needs it.
4. Season well then blend until smooth.

VERY much recommend a slug of cooking sherry or marsala in here it really makes the mushrooms even more delicious. You can also finish the soup with a dash of cream (a couple of tablespoons is enough and you'll be surprised at how rich it makes the flavour).

Both these soups keep for 3-4 days in the fridge or freeze pretty much indefinitely. The split pea one in particular will probably need a bit of liquid adding on reheating.

I've recently taken a flask of these on a picnic too which was lovely with some Superfood Bread.

Note to self: take some more imaginative photos than just the finished soup in a bowl.....

Thai-style Steamed Fish

Super-quick post after yesterday's many-dish marathon: another off-the-cuff weeknight supper inspired by the awesome BBC Good Food website. Didn't know what I felt like but wanted something clean and healthy. The Boyfriend gets grumpy about too many vegan dinners so fish feels like a good compromise. Somehow.

2 fillets white fish (I used cod but I think something with more flavour would work better)
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 red or green chilli (or a mix of both) finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
zest and juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp sesame oil

1. Get a BIG piece of foil and place the fish in the middle.
2. Sprinkle the other ingredients over the top.
3. Seal up the parcel leaving lots of room at the top for steam to circulate.
4. Cook in a steamer for 15 minutes.
5. Serve with brown rice and your choice of greens (I did pak choi and broccoli).

You might like more lime. You might like a bit of honey for sweetness. You might like more or less of the ingredients above. It doesn't matter they're just the basic structure so jiggle till it's right for you: it's all yummy.