Bakewell flapjack [x]

• 200g oats (use gluten free if applicable)
• 60g plain flour (I use Dove’s farm gf)
• 100g ground almonds
• pinch of salt
• 170g melted dairy free spread
• 1 tsp. almond essence (lemon & vanilla are lovely substitutes)
• 1 tbs. golden syrup/agave syrup etc.
• 2-4 tbs. raspberry jam
• flaked almonds for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C. Grease a medium baking tray or casserole dish.
2. Stir the oats, flour, ground almonds and salt together in a mixing bowl.
3. Melt the dairy free spread and stir it into the oats mixture.
4. Mix in the golden syrup and almond essence.
5. The mixture should be wet enough to hold together but not gloopy- add more oats or more spread and syrup to comensate if necessary.
6. Spread half of the mixture into your pan. Press it down with the back of a spoon so that it compacts.
7. Cover the mixture in a thin layer of jam.
8. Spread the rest of the flapjack on top, pressing down again.
9. Decorate with a handful of flaked almonds and bake for 15-25 minutes until the edges are just golden.

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Chocolate brownie cookies from Chocolate Covered Katie.

I used Doves Farm plain flour, caster sugar, rape seed oil, and hazelnut milk and they were delicious.

(Recipe index)<- more chocolate things.

Cookie or brownie?

Potato and lentil pie [x]

Easier than it looks, and any left over filling can be re-heated later, or whizzed into a soup. Serves 4-6.

• 1 1/2 cups dried green lentils
• 5 1/2 cups of vegetable broth (I used Kallo’s French onion stock cube)
• 1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, minced
• 3 tsp. cumin powder
• 2 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 4 small to medium potatoes
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red onion
• 1 1/2 cup apple sauce or tomato sauce
• pinch of chilli powder
• pinch of salt

• 200g plain gf flour
• 100g vegetable suet
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

1. Boil the lentils in the vegetable broth in a large pot (all of the ingredients will eventually be added, so make sure it’s large enough).
2. Add the cumin and ginger, turn the heat down to a simmer & cook for 45 minutes.
3. While the lentils are cooking make the pastry. Sift the baking powder and salt into the flour, add the suet and just enough cold water to form a firm dough. It takes a lot of mixing, so use a food processor if you have one. Wrap the pastry in cling film and put it in the fridge until you need it.
4. Next scrub and chop the potato into pieces, slice the onion and mince the garlic. You can turn the lentils off if you’ve run out of time.
5. Fry the garlic and onion until they’re softened, then add the potato and fry the pieces until they’re crispy.
6. Add the potato mix to the lentils, and stir in the apple/tomato sauce, chilli powder and salt.
7. Cook the filling for 25 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, take the dough out of the fridge, line your pie tin(s) and make the pie tops. It’s gf so won’t hold together so well when it’s rolled out- don’t worry if you need to patch it together (it’s rustic).
9. Fill and cover the pies, and bake at 180 C for about 35 minutes.
10. Enjoy!

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Pineapple black beans and brown rice

I quartered the recipe from Fat Free Vegan (I did use a splash of oil to fry the shallots etc. because I always burn them, and subbed 1 shallot for the onion). This was really flavoursome (and fairly spicy), and perfect for a sunny day.

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Thai tofu cakes [x]

Spicy tofu cakes with thai flavours. These were really easy to make, and very yummy. The first night I served them with baby hasselback potatoes sprinkled with rice vinegar and salt and steamed asparagus; the next day I fried them up with some hash browns and steamed some frozen veg for a quick lunch. Serves 3-4.

• 250g of firm tofu
• 4-5 medium mushrooms
• 1 bunch of spring onions (green onions or scallions)
• 2 cm piece of ginger
• 1/2 to 1 green chilli
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tsp. dried coriander (or 2 tbs. fresh, a.k.a cilantro)
• 1.5-2 tbs. Thai red curry paste (Asda’s isn’t very authentic but is gf & vegan)
• juice and zest of 1 lime
• 2 egg replacers (I used no-egg powder)
• 1/3 cup of corn flour + more if necessary
• oil for frying

1. Press the tofu block between kitchen roll or clean tea towels to remove some moisture. I didn’t press the tofu & got a very sloppy mixture- you don’t need to leave it for hours & remove all the water, it’ll just be easier to fry the cakes if you press a bit first.
2. Make up the egg replacement and leave it to get gooey.
3. Shred the tofu. If you have a food processor you can grate it, if not just use a fork.
4. Finely chop the spring onions and mushrooms.
5. Mince or finely chop the garlic, ginger and chilli.
6. Grate the lime to remove the zest. You can juice it directly over the mixture in a moment.
7. Stir all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. You’re going to refrigerate the mix so it doesn’t matter if it’s a little sloppy, but you should be able to form the cakes with your hands. Put them on a lined baking tray in the fridge for about 30 minutes (or overnight if you prepare ahead).
8. Preheat the oven to 180C or 350F.
9. Fry the cakes for a minute on each side to brown them, and then bake for 6-8 minutes until hot all the way through.

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Jam biscuits [x]

I used Dove’s Farm gluten free flour, lemon extract rather than almond, and raspberry and pineapple & ginger jams.

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Colcannon-balls [x]

• 1-2 potatoes per person
• 1/4 leek per person
• a generous handful or two of chopped spinach per person
• pat of dairy free spread to fry the leeks in
• 2 tbs. non dairy milk per 4 potatoes
• 1-2 tbs. starch or gf flour per 4 potatoes
• 2 tbs nutritional yeast per 4 potatoes
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut and boil the potatoes until they’re soft.
2. While the potatoes are boiling clean and chop the leeks and fry them on a low heat in the df spread until they’re soft.
3. When the potatoes are almost done add the chopped spinach to the water and cook for a few minutes.
4. Pre heat your oven to 200 C.
5. Mash the potatoes, spinach and leeks together.
6. Stir in the df milk, starch or flour, nutritional yeast and salt and pepper. You want a mash which is still soft, but will hold it’s shape when you form it into balls.
7. Place the balls on a lined baking tray, and cook for about 20 minutes until golden brown on top, then roll them over and cook for another 15.

What’s your favourite way to serve mashed potato?

Vegan chocolate orange cake 

From the Ethical Chef. I used plain rather than self raising flour, and my measurements may have been a little out because I had no measuring spoons, but it took just over 1hr at gas mark 4 in an inefficient oven and produced a delicious cake/fudge cross. I decorated it with some orange slices from the zested orange and a melted bar of Lidl’s vegan dark chocolate  my meat and gluten eating extended family ate the whole thing (and my brother had 4 of the 6 cupcakes I made with the left over batter).

Red lentil and millet kofte [x,x]

Not a great picture, but these were really yummy & quite simple. They’re flavoursome without being too spicy, and really quite nutritious (flavours come from The Hairy Bikers, basic recipe adapted from Almost Turkish). I served them with pea & sweetcorn rice and some za’atar, but they are basically kebabs so you can have them with salad, in a tomato sauce, with chips/roast vegetables- go mad. This made about 25, easily enough to feed 5 people.

• 1 cup red lentils (optionally soak overnight)
• 1/2 cup millet
• 3-4 cups water
• 1-2 shallots
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp olive oil for frying
• 1 tbs sumac
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-2 tbs flax meal (optional)

1. Rinse the lentils and millet, then place in a medium-large pan with 3 cups water.
2. Bring to the boil and cook for 20-30 minutes until they have absorbed almost all of the water and are mushy. Stir occasionally and add more water if necessary to make sure the lentils don’t burn.
3. While the lentils and millet are cooking finely chop the shallots and garlic.
4. Fry the shallots and garlic in the olive oil until they’re fragrant.
5. Pre heat the oven to 180 C. Cover a baking tray in greaseproof paper (or spray with a little oil).
6. When the lentils and millet are cooked empty them into a mixing bowl. Stir in the shallots and garlic, and add all the remaining ingredients.
7. Wet your hands and take a walnut size/ teaspoon size ball of mixture. Roll it into a sausage shape, then flatten it slightly & place it on the baking tray. Continue until you’ve made enough- place leftover mixture in the fridge or form it into burgers and put it in the freezer.
8. Bake the kofte for 10-15 minutes, flipping them half way. All of the ingredients are cooked, so baking them is really just to make the outsides crispier.
9. Enjoy!

Potato farls with raspberry jam

A truly quick and easy bread. I like them with jam or chocolate spread for breakfast, but they can be savoury as well. If you use left over potato they’re even easier!

• 1 potato per person (2 farls)
• 1 tbs plain flour per potato
• pinch of salt
• butter substitute for frying

1. Either peel and boil your potatoes or quarter the potatoes, boil them and then peel off the peel or use left over mashed potato.
2. Mash the potato well- you want as few lumps as possible.
3. Mix/mash in the flour and salt.
4. When the mixture is starting to come together place it on a floured surface and knead and roll it out.
5. Heat the df spread in a frying pan. Either cut the rolled out dough into quarters or form the dough into individual pancakes with your hands.
6. Fry the farls for a few minutes on both sides until they’re golden.
7. Enjoy! (You can refrigerate any spare dough, or even freeze the farls).

Rhubarb and strawberry crumble with banana-vanilla ice cream [x,x]

This really was delicious- and you’d never know it’s vegan and wheat free. For the banana ice cream freeze 1-2 bananas for each person. Serves 5-6.

• 2 cups chopped rhubarb (~3-4 stalks)
• 3/4 cup chopped frozen strawberries
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 (and a bit) tbs.. plain flour (I used Dove’s Farm gf brown bread flour)
• 1 (and a bit) tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• ==============
• 1 cup rolled/porridge oats (use gf oats if necessary)
• 1/2 cup plain flour (See above)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 lemon biscuits (I used Dove’s Farm lemon zest cookies, you could sub. some lemon zest, but the cookies are worth it)
• 1/2 tsp salt, cinnamon & nutmeg
• 3/4 cup dairy free spread

1. Wash and chop the rhubarb, chop the strawberries (fresh will probably be fine, but will cook down more).
2. Combine all the filling ingredients (above the ====) in a mixing bowl and mix well. The fruit should be held together by a thick syrup.
3. Spoon the filling into a baking dish and pat it down.
4. Combine all the crumble ingredients except the dairy free spread in a mixing bowl.
5. Preheat the oven to 180C.
6. Rub the margerine into the crumble mixture until it comes together and feel crumbly.
7. Spoon the crumble on top of the filling. Pat it down with the spoon and try to cover the whole dish- the filling will bubble up and flood the crumble while cooking.
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the top is browned.
9. Gobble it up. (it will keep for a few days if there’s any left, and can be reheated in a microwave).

What’s your favourite crumble?

Microwave cinnamon cake/bread [x]

One of the things I really miss is cinnamon rolls. I have made them vegan & gf but it takes a lot of effort, so I was quite excited to see this microwave mug recipe. The only flour I had was Doves Farm brown bread flour, and I didn’t make up the icing, so the result was more bread than cake, but still very yummy.

• 1/4 cup + 1 tbs. plain flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3 tbs. light brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• generous shake of ground nutmeg
• 2 tbs. apple sauce
• 1 tbs. dairy free spread
• 1 tbs. non-dairy milk (hazelnut was lovely)
• few drops of vanilla extract

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mug.
2. Add the wet ingredients.
3. Mix very well with a teaspoon. Make sure all the flour mix is stirred into the batter- don’t leave flour in the bottom of the mug.
4. Microwave for 1 minute, then in 30s intervals until the cake is coming away from the mug/ a cake tester comes out clean/ you think it’s edible. Mine took 2m 30s in a 800W microwave.
5. Let it cool a little and enjoy!