Vegetarian Foods Archive

I am not a lazy person when it comes to making pastry from scratch . I make pies all the time, but I wanted to make a different style of pastry this time, both easier and perhaps lighter. I've been enjoying making sweet Galettes with homegrown fruit , so a savoury one was just waiting to be eagerly made. Its my first time baking with spelt flour, and I thought it would be a lot more sturdy to hold the filling,, but the recipe I followed from a blog that I hadn't previously used a recipe from, sadly the pastry just collapsed and crumbled.  Despite the spelt pastry falling apart, the pastry was crisp and biscuity in texture and this balanced well with the sweetness coming from the roasted sweet potatoes. As I had really enjoyed  VPud 'Black Pudding' last time , I was very keen to get my hands on some more to make this particular galette as I have been imagining this combo would work well together. And it did, the vegan Black Pudding surprising spice  kick offsets...

I am back from my holidays and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, but like all holidays it comes to an end.  I have lots of photographs to share, but that will have to wait till later in the week.   Today I share with you this Chipotle Chilli Sweetcorn Soup. This soup may look a tad simple on the visual side, but the bold flavours totally blew me away. Sweetness and bite from the sweetcorn, punch and fragrance from the coriander, there was also smokiness from the chipotle chile and a distinct fresh tarragon like flavour from the epazote, a little aniseed like.   Had I not rediscovered my No Croutons Required  hosted this month by  Lisa's Kitchen.  and Jac at  Tinned Tomatoes.   Chipotle Chilli Sweetcorn Soup Serves 4 Ingredients 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, finely sliced 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1/2 teaspoon dried epazote leaves or 1 sprig or tarragon 1/4 teaspoon allspice 1 teaspoon chile chipotle powder 400g...

Lat month I went on holiday to Marseille, South of France.  I would like to say I came back with loads of kitchen and edible goodies, but the fact is that I did not.  I picked up some sweets for the nephews and nieces and some little gifts for a handful of colleagues at work,; and for myself I brought home a Radis Noir d'Provence. Yes, you read right a Black Radish from Provence!.  It was tremendous.     A garlic grater.  I picked up two, one for my colleague at work.  Something completely new for me - Clearspring Noodle Broth.   Apple and Thyme Jelly  - I've had this savoury jelly in the cupboard for a very very long time, and still don't know what to do with it, but its pretty to look at - the colour and the way the thyme is suspended in the jelly. Korean Gochujang Sauce and Mama Sita's Achiote.  I've used Achiote seeds and more recently Achiote Paste recently for a Mexican Style dish, but it was nice to find s...

I've had a proper lazy weekend and most of all I have had a long sleep in, no dreading the alarm going off and waking up to go into work in the dark and come back home in the dark. The weekend has also allowed me to d some slow cooking and make the most of the little light there was outside for photographs, but the reality is its been a dark weekend with lingering dark clouds, drippy rain and blustery winds.  Today's hearty  lunch was Lemon-Coriander Maftoul with Roasted Harissa Rainbow Carrots.   I  picked up two bunches of rainbow carrots from a local greengrocers.  I wanted to make more of a feast of them, than just chop, grate or spiralize them for a coleslaw, so I roasted them whole in a harissa sauce and served it with  Zaytoun Palestenian Maftoul .  Maftoul is made from sun-dried bulgar wheat and hand rolled into tiny chewy balls.  The magic of maftoul is that it absorbs flavours wonderfully so I coated it in lemony coriander goodne...

The Christmas tree is up with its eclectic ornaments, handmade and gifted, but I am not here to talk about them dangling off the branches, but what is in my kitchen.   I have some jars of Welsh Lady jars of Roasted Chestnut Chutney and Mincemeat with Brandy and Sherry.  I actually got them last year, but had forgot about them, I am definitely going to use them this year. Something else that got lost in the back of one of the cupboards was this bottle of Pain d'Epices translated as Spice Bread aka Gingerbread S yrup.  I have it out and in full sight for making home-made flavoured coffees and some vegan Gingerbread cakes, to dribble over ice-cream, but if anyone has any other ideas they would be most welcome too.  Oh and I also found a bottle of Cranberry Syrup too (not featured).  Next to the bottle you will note a handmade gingerbread house.  I picked it up from a charity shop, because I loves it, but I am not sure what it is.  I had thought ...

I picked up these cute little tomato and apple oven mitts a few weeks back from a charity shop.  I don't know if I will ever use them, as they are quite small. Last month I had a few days off from work as I have loads of annual leave to take by March.  So I have been home alone most of last week, indulging in breakfast still in my PJs, but no vegetarian fry-ups.  Fry up are kept for weekends when I am with my husband.  No for me, its been cereal.  The first is Green Granola made with spirulina and coconut.  I have been meaning to make my own as I had been given a large packet of spirulina a couple of years back still waiting to be experimented with. But making my own Green Goddess Granola is still on the back burner as I was seduced by this packet. The other cereal which I did actually make was Parsnip Porridge doused generously with Goji Berry Powder and Seed Trail Mix.  It was rather splendid actually. The natural sweetness from the parsni...

Anyone who has used spirulina will know why I describe it as velvet.  The powdered form is textually very velvety.  Anyway,  I only made these velvet green Spirulina  Flapjacks as I was wishing to use up my very large packet of Spirulina  and the one thing I was adamant I would not make was another darn groovy green Smoothie.  Blogosphere  and cookbooks gearing towards healthy eating are laden with Spirulina  Smoothie recipes, so I gave that a deliberate miss and went for something completely different. I have plans on making a Green Goddess Granola, but that is on the back burner for other far more creative greeny bites.   Unlike other spirulina recipes that are super duper healthy: no butter, no sugar - this flapjack is made with both butter and sugar.  I have shared a link below of a healthier, vegan and raw version below, if you want to check it out.  Surprisingly, I actually liked these, but I don't often make the same fl...

Dydd Dewi Sant hapus!   (Happy St Davids's Day!) Lovely readers.   Laverbread is known in Wales as 'Welshman's Caviar'.   I first heard about an actual 'Welsh Laverbread Caviar' product from my nephew who came up to see me when I lived in Scotland  (see here ), and it had since got me thinking of making my own.   The eureka moment came to me a when I made my balsamic beetroot pearls  and then it dawned on me  to try this with tapioca, basil seeds and even chia seeds.  These worked well as a substitute, the beady seeds swelled and became voluminous and gelatinous, however they lacked in flavour.  I had to find ways to inject flavours into these bobbly beads.  Natural colours were easy to impart, but flavours were a little harder to accomplish, but I eventually got there with: brine, tomato juice, carrot juice, smoked liquid and so forth.   Even though I've been making  vegan  Caviar  for a few years now, I ha...

With today being St David's Day, I thought I would share some Welsh things and Welsh nibbles in my kitchen.    I treated myself to a cute new Welsh mug, this has found its way to the office.  I've showcased this chopping board before on my blog, but I couldn't resist sharing it again.  It reads in Welsh 'Homemade Bread made with Love'.  It was given to me as a gift from my nephew many years ago and I still treasure it, no bread or bread knife has ever been near it.  This is a novelty dish wash scrubby in the shape of a Welsh daffodil.   I've had Blodyn Aur Welsh Rapeseed Oils in my kitchen cupboards for a while, I often use them for pasta salads.  The Oak Smoked and Chilli Oil are my favourites. I've been using the Chilli Oil quite generously recently, I think its my favourite of the three. Blodyn Aur means golden flower.    I've been making vegan Welsh Laverbread Caviar for a while, here is a jar that I made recently. ...