Falafel!

A vegetarian staple. I'm so pleased to have found so many take-aways in Edinburgh that sell it! Having chips as the only veggie option in the kebab house gets real old real quick...But of course, it's much cheaper and healthier to just make it at home, and surprisingly quite easy.

My recipe is adapted from Rose Elliot's in 'The Complete Vegetarian' (my favourite cook book, I seriously recommend it!). I've doubled it (believe me you'll want a lot of them), reduced the salt (she puts too much salt in, even for me) and changed the cooking method (she recommends deep frying them but I choose to bake). Of course if you want to halve it back to the original recipe go for it, but I like to make extras to use in lunches throughout the week :)

Makes 24 small patties.

Ingredients:

2 x 400g tins of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 500g dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water for 24hrs)

1 bunch of parsley

1 large or 2 small onions

4 garlic cloves

3tsp cumin (seeds or ground, I prefer seeds but make sure you briefly toast them first)

3tsp ground coriander

pinch of chilli powder

1tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

ground black pepper to taste

oil, for greasing

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6

2. Whizz up the parsley in a food processor. If you have a big enough food processor then empty the parsley and put on a plate to the side. If you're like me and have a ridiculously tiny one (see picture. what is the point of it? came free with our flat though so not complaining..) just leave it be for now.

3. If you're working with a big food processor then put in the chickpeas, chopped onion and garlic, cumin, coriander, chilli powder, baking powder, salt and pepper without cleaning it so any parsley stuck on the sides can be mixed in. Whizz up until the mixture is smooth and holds together well. I don't have a big food processor so I just put everything in a bowl and use my trusty hand-held whizzy...thing...to mix it up. You could probably just mash it if you had neither, though the onions would have to be very finely chopped.

4. Rose recommends you now leave the mixture to stand for 30 minutes, but it isn't essential. Mix in the parsley by hand, apparently adding it at this stage makes the falafel lighter (and not like those HORRIBLE dense 'Cauldron' falafels you can buy from supermarkets, sorry Cauldron, I love your sausages but you need to sort out your falafel). 

5. Form into small patties and lay out on a lightly oiled baking tray. Again it's recommended but not essential to leave them to rest for another 15 minutes.

6. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. 

7. Serve! I had some of my latest batch in a tortilla wrap with salsa, kale and sour cream, NOM. Store any extras in the fridge, they can be eaten cold too and are a great sandwich/wrap/pitta filler!

#nomstagram September/October

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First of all, apologies for the lack of updates! The past two weeks have been pretty busy, with friends coming to visit, the usual job applications, job interviews aaaaaaand finally getting a job! Woo! So now things have settled down a bit I can finally begin my latest feature, #nomstagram.

Basically it’s a monthly round up of things I’ve cooked and eaten that I’ve posted to instagram. My instragram has personal photos as well as food so instead of putting a live feed widget on the side I thought I’d dedicate monthly posts to share all my super-hipster, super-yummy snaps! I'll write a description for each image too, if you want to know any more about a certain dish just comment :)

1. Pancakes with butter and golden syrup
2. Herby polenta slices with lentil and kale curry
3. Bread
4. Falafal, cous cous, roasted tomato and kale
5. Packed lunch -  cous cous, roasted tomato and kale
6. Falafal, pea quacamole and roasted parsnip wrap
7. Chocolate truffle and caramel birthday cake for Alex
8. Apple and brie sanwich and salad
9. Sprouted adzuki beans
10. Ramen
11. Porridge with sultanas and cinnamon
12. Garlic-y mushroom and kale sandwich
13. Falafal
14. Tofu, egg and vegetable stir fry
15. Ginger brownie

Some may be future recipe posts...stay tuned!

Vegan MoFo No4: Ginger nut brownies

I found the basis for this recipe in the book ‘1001 Cupcakes, Cookies and Other Tempting Treats’ and my version is pretty much the same though I substitute chocolate chips for nuts (found the choc chips don’t really add much) and double the ingredients – what they suggest does NOT make the 24 pieces it says! Of course if you want a smaller batch just half the ingredients…but who’d want to do that? 

Serving suggestion ;) Note: Despite what I said above, this photo is actually of a choc chip batch! 

It was the first one I made. And yeah this is cow's milk, but I can confidently say they taste 

great with oat milk too, so I think I can include them in Vegan MoFo!

I’ve made these about 4 times now, once as a thank you present, once for a friend, once to share at an Edinburgh Uni Feminist Society event, and once just because me and Alex were feeling greedy. Every time they’ve gone down amazingly so I really encourage you to try them! The spice mixture is especially lovely in these winter months, I expect I’ll be making a lot more over Christmas!

 

Warning: these are really, really addictive. 

Ingredients:

8 pieces of stem ginger in syrup

450g plain flour

3 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp grated nutmeg

230g soft light brown sugar

230g dairy/non-dairy butter (I’ve used Flora and vegan sunflower spread, both work great)

230g golden syrup

150g chopped nuts (hazelnuts and almonds work well, and I reckon macadamia nuts would too but they’re pretty pricey!)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C/300 degrees F/ gas mark 2 (sorry I normally only give the temperature in Celsius, will try and include Fahrenheit and Gas from now on!) 

2. Sift the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg into a large bowl. Finely chop the stem ginger and add to the mix along with the sugar. Stir it all together.

3. Gently heat the butter and golden syrup in a pan over the stove. Bring to the boil then pour into the dry ingredients bowl, stirring constantly. Once combined mix in the nuts.

4. When the mixture is cool enough to handle, press it into a lined 30x20cm/12x8inch baking tin and bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes till golden and when pricked with a knife it comes out clean. When finished, remove from the oven and cut into bars while still hot then leave in the tin to cool.

So obviously this is more than 24 pieces, but I cut these super tiny to share them at an event, 

it'll make approx 24 regular sized bars!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Goat's Cheese

This sounds like one of my fancier recipes but honestly it's really easy. The hardest bit is probably cutting the bloody squash in half - get a sharp knife!

Obviously this is not part of Vegan MoFo, if you want you can always omit the goat's cheese but I'm not sure how well the other flavours would work by themself - play around with it or just look for a new recipe entirely if you don't want the goat's cheese. 

Makes 2 portions as a main dish or could be divided up to serve more.

Ingredients:

Squash and filling:

1 butternut squash

3 tbsp butter/margarine

2 medium chopped onions

1 large clove of crushed garlic

Small piece of grated fresh ginger

Pinch of cinnamon, cumin seeds, and paprika

200g tinned chopped tomatoes (1/2 a regular can or carton)

150g lentils (I used brown, I reckon it’d work with green or puy but probably not red as they turn into a mush quickly)

75g goats cheese (the crumbly kind)

For the breadcrumbs:

1-2 slices of stale (not mouldy!) bread

Pinch of sage and rosemary

A few bits of goats cheese (10g?)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
2. Using a very sharp knife chop the butternut squash in half lengthways. Position side by side in a deep baking pan, cut sides up, and brush with 1 ½ tbsp butter and salt and pepper to taste. Roast in oven for 1 hour. 

  

3. Meanwhile (probably about 35-40mins after the squash has gone in the oven) start preparing the filling by boiling the lentils in one pan and heating the remaining butter in another on medium heat. When melted and hot, add the chopped onions to the butter pan and gently fry for approx. 5 mins before adding the garlic and cumin seeds and frying for a further 1, stirring regularly. Then stir in the ginger, cinnamon, and paprika and fry briefly before mixing in the tomatoes and drained lentils. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. While the filling is simmering prepare the breadcrumbs by tearing up the bread and mixing in a food processor along with the herbs and a bit of goat's cheese. 

5. Take the squash out the oven after 1 hour. Thickly spread on the filling, crumble on the rest of the goats cheese, and cover with breadcrumbs. Return to oven for 10-15 minutes to bake. 

 

Apologies for the messyness around the photos! I was making chocolate for the first time alongside this and the whole kitchen got pretty dirty.

Vegan MoFo No3: Vegan Chilli - GUEST POST!

This week we made chilli. And by we, I mean my boyfriend (Alex) did then I ate it. He's the chief chilli maker in the house and makes it so well I asked him to blog the recipe which incidently, is vegan! I guess you could add some sort of 'meat substitute' like Quorn (contains egg and milk) to it but honestly, it doesn't need it, it's substantial enough as it is and soooo much cheaper. Once you've got all the basics (spices, onions, garlic, tinned tomatoes) all you have to buy are tinned kidney beans and a few peppers. Hope you like it, and check out Alex's blog too!

Vegan Chilli

There are two foods I cook really well, one is pizza and the other is chilli. The best thing about chilli is you can add or take away loads of different ingredients, weird stuff I've included in chilli include apples and chocolate. This recipe is pretty basic however the quantity of lemon/lime juice makes it very tangy, if this isn't your thing then just use halves instead of whole fruit. The other best thing about chilli is that it's incredibly simple.

Ingredients:

Olive oil (1 tbsp)
Sunflower oil (1 tbsp)
One medium onion (chopped finely)
Three cloves of garlic (chopped and crushed)
One tin of kidney beans
Three peppers of any colour (chopped and rinsed)
One tin (or carton) of chopped tomatoes
A dash of tomato purée (about 2 tbsp)
The juice of one lemon
The juice of one lime
Chilli powder (2-3 tsp)
Cayenne pepper (1/2 tsp)
Cumin seeds or ground cumin (1 tsp)
Ground coriander (1-2 tsp)
Oregano (1 tsp)
Basil (1/2 tsp)
Salt & black pepper (to taste)

Method:

1. Heat a splash of olive and a splash of sunflower oil in a pan, once it's hot add the onion and garlic, mixing them until they start to brown.

2. Fry the peppers for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Put the kidney beans in a bowl and mash them up a bit with the back of a fork, keeping some intact (like in the disgusting picture). Add the beans, chopped tomatoes, purée, lemon and lime juices to the pan and heat until they start to bubble.

4. Mix together all the herbs and spices, they don't need to be exact, feel free to increase the chilli powder if you like spice or visa versa. Stir in the mix.

5. Bubble away on a low heat until the chilli is thickened up, this process will look a lot like my experiment with gif creation below.

6. Assemble into deliciousness with wraps, sadly I have broken from the vegan aim of this post but I just love sour cream! Enjoy the recipe, adiós!

Vegan MoFo No2: SPINACH CRISPS! (also Balsamic Mushrooms and Roasted Sweet Potato)

Yes, they were that exciting they warranted caps lock. 

Now I love spinach SO MUCH, and seen as it's always on offer in the supermarkets these days my boyfriend and I probably go through a bag every week. I normally just eat it raw in salads or cooked into a curry but I was bored one night and after the awesomeness that was the carrot chips I thought hey, why not make one of the healthiest vegetables into a greasy salty side-dish!

Spinach Crisps

Ingredients:

- fresh spinach leaves (as much as you want - bear in mind it shrivels up a lot so you might want to bake several batches!)

- a good glug of olive oil (adjust depending on how much spinach you have)

- salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C

2. Place the spinach in a bowl and mix with the olive oil, salt and pepper

3. Spread the spinach out on a lined baking tray and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes till crisp - not mushy, but not so crisp it's starting to shrivel and burn! This can happen quite quickly so keep an eye on it.

And this is how I ate them:

Mmmmmm. However the best thing was definitely the balsamic mushrooms. I pretty much followed this recipe but only used two mushrooms and didn't add salt or parsley. For the roasted sweet potato see my chip recipe (just chop them into cube shapes instead - also I added a pinch of rosemary, sage, oregano and chili powder to the seasoning).