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Vegetarian Recipes

makes 6:

120g fine oatmeal (can use normal oats that have been processed dry in a blender)
120g wholewheat or plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 x 7g sachet dried yeast
500ml equally mixed soya milk and water - warmed
50ml warm water for final mixing
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Mix milk/water, yeast and sugar and set aside in a warm place (aired oven is ideal) for a few minutes to froth

Add oatmeal, flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt to a bowl and mix

Add milk mixture and oil and whisk

Leave to rise in warm place for an hour (again an aired oven is ideal)

Lightly whisk - adding the 50 ml more warm water

Cook as for pancakes - ladle mix into pan wiped with cooking oil and fry on high heat until top "dries", flip and cook otherside

Once cooked, cool on a cake rack

These oatcakes are much nicer when they have cooled, ideally in the fridge for a few hours (overnight is best if you can wait that long)

To serve simply add filling and roll - ideal fillings are mushrooms, tomatoes or for a vegetarian filling melted cheese and brown sauce. The vegan "bacon" recipe detailed below goes well with these.



serves 4

2 large onions chopped
2 large carrots diced
2 large potatoes diced
4 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp thyme
4 tsp paprika
chili powder
1 tbsp caraway seeds
3 bay leaves
500g passata (this is sieved tomatoes, but a can of chopped tomatoes and extra concentrate will work fine too)
3/4 pint veg stock
3/4 tube tomato concentrate
2 large red peppers - top and tailed, slice in half from top to bottom and cut into C shaped thin slices

Heat oil in a large pan (ovenproof if adding dumplings later)

A add onions and garlic and fry until just softening

Add paprika and fry for a further minute while constantly stirring to stop it sticking

Add potato and carrot and another splash of olive oil

Stir and fry for a further 5 minutes

Add passata and stock, bay leaves, thyme, caraway seeds, tomato concentrate and chili powder to taste

stir well

bring to boil and simmer with the lid on - stirring occasional - until the potato and carrot are to your liking, which should be 30 mins or thereabouts - if it starts to get too thick add more stock or boiling water


In a frying pan with a tablespoon of oil fry the peppers until they are just turning brown

add a drop of paprika and fry a little longer

Add the peppers to the main mix, stir and cook it for a minute or so

Remove the bayleaves

It can be served as is, or dumplings can be prepared and added to the pan, cooked with the lid on until they have puffed up and hardened then transferred to the oven and baked on high heat to crisp which takes about 10 minutes.

Goes well with the following:



Lightly grill bread until just coloring - take a garlic clove and cut it so there is a flat face and rub that over the bread. brush with olive oil and return under the grill until golden. sprinkle with parsley.



This basic recipe makes a versatile focaccia style bread:

450g plain flour (or 350g plain flour and 100g wholemeal if preferred)
300ml hand hot water
1 x packet dry yeast (7g)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp herbs (rosemary works well)
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt for sprinkling

In a measuring jug measure out the hand hot water, add the sugar and stir to dissolve

Add the yeast, stir and set aside for 10 minutes until "frothy"

Sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl

Make a well in the center and pour in half of the water and 2 tbsp of oil and stir to combine the flour, drawing flour from the outside as you go.

Add the remaining water and 1 tbsp oil and combine until a dough is formed

Knead the dough in the bowl for a few minutes (adding additional flour if needed to prevent sticking)

Turn out onto a floured surface and continue to knead for 5-10 minutes, adding additional flour if needed, until the dough ceases to be sticky

flatten the mix using the heal of the hand and cover with the herbs, knead for a few minutes further to distribute the herbs

Turn the dough out into an oiled mixing bowl and rotate the dough to cover with oil

Cover with cling film (cream wrap) and put in a warm place to rise to double its size - approx 1 hour (you can heat an oven then allow it to cool until just aired for this).

Turn out onto floured surface again and knead lightly for a few seconds

Either roll the dough out or press with the hands onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment until it is the desired shape and approx 1-2cm in height

[ optional filling insertion point]

Cover with a tea-tower and return to the warm place for 10 minutes to allow it to rise a little

Using an oiled finger, firmly press dimples into the dough

Drizzle the surface with oil - and rub over to cover the top surface of the dough

Lightly Sprinkle with salt

Bake in an oven preheated to 220 degrees celsius for approx 15 minutes until golden in colour and hollow sounding when tapped on the base

Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

(if using dried herbs, the bread will taste even better the next day after the herbs have infused in the bread)

Typical Variations:

Olive Bread:
Make as above using oregano for the herbs. At the "optional filling insertion point":

add a handful of chopped mixed olives evenly over the surface

roll the dough back on itself like a swiss roll

press and shape again and continue as per basic recipe

Fruit Bread:
As for Olive Bread but use a mix of cinammon and sugar in place of herbs and use a mix of chopped glace cherries and sultanas or similar for the optional filling - skip the salt sprinkling step of the basic recipe. This tastes particularly nice with wholemeal flour mix.




Block of firm smoked tofu
sunflower oil for brushing
shoyu/soy sauce or similar
maple syrup
nutritional yeast flakes

This isn't an exact science and boils down more to personal taste, but this makes a crispy substitute that is better than any shop bought fake bacon I have tried:

Use a peeler to make wafer thin slices of tofu (sliding it from side to side as it is drawn down the tofu block helps)

Lightly brush each side of the tofu wafer slices with sunflower oil and place on a non-stick baking sheet

Cook in oven heated to 220 celsius for 10 minutes until crisp

Brush with a glaze mixed to taste of the shoyu or equivalent and maple syrup and sprinkle with a pinch of nutritional yeast flakes

Return to oven for a further minute to allow glaze to solidify




Batch 1:

170g caster sugar

75g vegan margarine

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1 banana - mashed

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Batch 2:

150g self-raising wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

40g ground almonds

flaked almonds for sprinkling

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125ml soya milk

Strawberry/Raspberry Jam

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Cream the ingredients from batch 1 together in a bowl.

Mix the dry ingredients from batch 2 together in a separate bowl

Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and the soya milk in turns with the creamed sugar/butter mix.

Once combined, spoon into the desired tins (muffin/loaf etc)

sprinkle with flaked almonds

Bake at 200 celsius for 20 minutes

Cool and slice in half, spread with jam and reassemble




Base:

200g wholemeal flour

125 ml lukewarm water

1 pack dried yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp oregano

Combine ingredients in a bowl to form a dough, allow to rise in a warm place (eg warmed oven) for 20 mins. Roll out to form a base on a floured surface.

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Sauce (this sounds weird but it really does work):

1 cooked beetroot (not in vinegar)

2 large carrots

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp oregano

Boil the carrots until very soft

Blend the carrots and beetroot together in a food processor until smooth

Add pressed garlic and oregano and pulse for a few seconds to mix

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Cook base for 5 minutes at 220 celsius

brush lightly with olive oil and then spread sauce

top with items of your choice eg corgettes, peppers, sweetcorn, pineapple etc

return to over for a further 20 minutes until fully cooked

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