gluten-free

Moxarella – Homemade Vegan Mozzarella

Posted on March 21, 2018 by leroy watson

Here is our little offering to the coming of Spring. A simple vegan cheese recipe which is so versatile and can be enjoyed on pizza and melts nicely. As you may know, the way a vegan cheese melts can be quite an issue, we don’t want cheese like rubber on our pizzas!! I also like this as it is, especially with these kinds of accompaniments, this is like a rainbow ploughman’s really!! The texture of this cheeze is similar to Mozzarella and the flavour is light.

We enjoyed this in the garden, with bright sunshine and birds singing. After the recent snow storms, it really feels like Spring is finally on the way in Snowdonia. We’ll see….

Some vegan cheeses can go a little off piste. Not much like their namesake, cheddar or blue cheese style, you’ve probably been there. But this one delivers! A cheese that is simple to make, pretty healthy actually and also similar in texture and taste to the original. We’re using a handful of cashews here, so don’t expect over to top creaminess, but I love this and for an inexpensive, fuss-free, vegan cheese, I think this is top truckle!

ALL THE WAY FROM UTAH!

My friend Somer over at Vedged Out (coming straight outta Utah) calls this recipe ‘Foxy Moxy’. Which I like, but when punched into Google, you get some pretty unappetizing results!! So we’ll stick with Moxa. This is basically Somer’s awesome recipe, given a slight tweak, but when a recipe is this good, simple and tasty, why mess with it? Thanks for the inspiration Somer!!

EXCITING CHEESE!

Moxarella is so simple to make at home and has the stretchy texture of Mozzarella, coming from the flour we use. You’ll have to seek out some Tapioca Flour, found online or in your local health food shop. You can use other starches/ flours to make cheeses, but this one is the very best for Mozzarella style cheese. I’m going to be sharing one of my favourite Mexican-style Queso recipes soon, where we’ll use corn flour, the texture is subtly different, but perfect for a slightly thinner cheese. It’s exciting playing with these cheese making techniques!

If you’ve bought a bag of tapioca flour, you can also use it a a thickener for soups, stews and the like or it adds a really interesting, springy texture to baked goods. Ideal in bread I’ve found. It may be known as ‘Tapioca Starch’ where you are. Same thing.

The sun shines and spring is in the air, time to prepare ourselves for picnics and eating outside, what a joy! We’re coming out of the dark winter and bright platters like this really help to wake us up; eyes, tastebuds all tantalised by the colours an textures and it only takes a few minutes to make special.

Please feel free to share this recipe and leave us a comment below if your like the look of it or try it out. It’s always wonderful to hear from you!

Recipe Notes

A little more salt and lemon will really bring the flavours out, experiment with your preferred quantities.

If you’re not using oil, that’s cool, leave it out, it will still be a hit!

Somer likes to add a little nooch (nutritional yeast flakes) to the recipe. If you like them, go for it!! They will add a little more savoury cheesiness.

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Moxarella – Vegan Mozzarella

The Bits – For One Small Bowlful

75g cashews (soaked for a few hours in water, then drained)

250ml/ 1 cup hot water

2 tbs tapioca ﬂour

1 teas extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove (peeled and crushed)

½ tbs lemon juice

¾ teas salt

Do It

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth.

Pour into a saucepan, warm on a medium heat and stir constantly. The mixture will thicken and become gradually more elastic in texture. Keep stirring throughout to ensure the moxarella does not burn on the bottom.

Stir and cook for 10-12 minutes until thick and the edges leave the pan. Remember it will firm up even more when cooled.

Line a small bowl or ramekins with cling film/ baking parchment, once the cheeze has cooled a little, spoon in the moxarella mix and tap on a surface to remove any air bubbles. Smooth the top with the base of a spoon, once cooled enough, cover and pop in the fridge to set for an hour.

Keeps well in the fridge for a few days and can be used for pizza, cheese on toast or on your rainbow ploughmans…….you know how you like your mozza!

Foodie Fact

Tapioca flour may be a new one for some of you. Tapioca is made from the root of the Cassava plant, its a big knobbly tuber basically. Being a starch, this is high in carbs and has a smidge of calcium in there. It’s low in calories and fat and is something that will become really popular in vegan/ gluten-free baking I reckon.

Categories: gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan, vegan cheese | Tags: cheese, dairy free, moxarella, vegan mozzarella | 9 Comments

Goan Jackfruit Curry – Totally Tropical!

Posted on March 14, 2018 by leroy watson

This curry is totally over the top in all the right ways!! Flavours, intensity, creaminess, coconut! India cooking rocks my world, how about you?

Making things like this masala paste at home brings any kitchen to life with incredible colour’s and fragrance. Apparently it’s spring, but looking out the window here in Wales, we’re in serious need of some rainbow food! Some zest and zing, brightness on our plates. This Goan curry is perfect for that!

This type of curry takes me right back to Goa, sitting in my favourite little place, right under many jackfruit trees, and eating homemade curries with fresh mango juices. Not a bad life!! It wasn’t jackfruit season, but they were hanging off the trees like strange bright green, spiky alien space craft. If you’ve seen one, you’ll now what I mean.

This recipe is based on a selection of curries I ate almost every day for lunch. They were always homemade and you can really taste the difference, the ingredients taste real!! The cooks loved to use coriander seeds, giving their slightly citrus flavour to the curry. I’m not sure if this is classically Goan, but it is how the lovely families cooked. The cuisine of Goa is so diverse, see my post here, ‘A Taste of Goan Cuisine’ for more Goan food tales.

JACKFRUIT?

Is still a new ingredient for most of us. It doesn’t get much more exotic, it’s a very strange fruit. I love it!

Here we use the unripe jackfruit, which many say is a good meat sub, you can also eat the ripe jackfruit which is more like a yellow flower. Both are available in the UK in tins. The ripe jackfruit is better suited to desserts, makes an incredible ice cream and is delicious eaten raw.

You will find many street vendours around the world, in Thailand, India etc expertly dissecting the giant fruits (the can get massive) and serving the yellow, slightly rubbery flowers on small trays. For a few pennies you can enjoy the totally unique flavour of jackfruits, some say it has a hint of juicy fruit bubblegum in there. I get that.

But we’re all about the unripe version here, the one many people are using to replicate pulled pork. It works a treat and meat eaters are easily fooled by it. They certainly enjoy it!

Some people have said that we should not eat such an exotic ingredient regularly in the UK. I understand that, but we all love bananas and pineapples and jackfruit I think will always be a treat ingredient for me. Something we use seldomly, a very tasty kitchen curve ball.

There is a slight sourness to some Goan curries, it seems to be a legacy of the Portugese, who like adding vinegar to dishes. The sourness here comes in the form of the tamarind, but you can also add a little lemon juice to the curry at the end to give it that extra little twang!

Recipe Notes
Tamarind can be found in world or Indian food stores in its dried state, with the seeds still present. I like it like that. You can also buy the paste in supermarkets.

Chillies are up to you. Jane is not a huge fan of chilli, so I really tone things down. I would go for the green chillies and around 4 red dried chillies in this curry. Remember, that many dried red chillies are milder. If you use the equivalent in chilli flakes for example, you may have an incendiary curry on your hands.

If you don’t have jackfruit, you can substitute it with any vegetable you like or even a tin of black eyed beans. I really loved the Goan curries made with black eyed beans. Tofu or tempeh would of course be sensational here.

I left the jackfruit pieces whole here, but you can chop off the stem if you like and break the jackfruit up into smaller chunks. Like the BBQ Pulled Jackfruit recipe we did a while ago, see here.

Goan Jackfruit Curry

The Bits – For 4

350g squash – 1/2 medium-sized butternut squash, or carrots/ sweet potatoes
280g jackfruit (1 tin, well drained)
1/2 small onion (finely chopped)
2 tbs curry leaves
2 large pieces of cinnamon bark or 2 inch cinnamon stick
1 tbs coconut oil
2 teas sea salt

Masala Paste
70g grated/ dessicated coconut
5 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
1/2 small onion (finely chopped)
3 teas tamarind paste or 1/2 small lemon (juice)
2 heaped tbs fresh ginger (chopped)
2 1/2 teas coriander seeds
1 1/2 teas cumin seeds
12 peppercorns
2-6 dried red chillies (mild)
1 teas turmeric

1 tin coconut milk
100ml water

2 green chillies (optional)

1 tbs coconut sugar, brown rice syrup, sweetener of your choice.

Garnish
Toasted coconut
Coriander leaves

Do It

Press the jackfruit between kitchen paper to draw out most of the water. This leaves more room for flavours to infuse and get in.

Put all masala ingredients into a blender, I use a small blender (I have one that attaches to a stick blender), I find it easier to do this in a smaller blender.

Blitz up and gradually add roughly 125 ml coconut milk to the masala as you blitz and scrape down the sides of the blender until all is combined. You should have a smooth sauce, the better and more powerful your blender, the smoother the paste. Don’t worry about a few chunks, in Goa, the chunks of coconut are a nice surprise!

In a large saucepan, heat the oil and add the onions, cinnamon, salt and curry leaves, saute for 4 minutes. Then add the squash, jackfruit and masala paste, plus the leftover coconut milk from the tin and 150ml water. The green chillies can go in now if you’re using them.

Stir and bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 40 minutes. Until the squash and jackfruit are nice and tender, adding more hot water to thin out the sauce as needed.

Stir in your sweetener and check that you’re happy with the seasoning.

Serve topped with coriander and toasted coconut, with your favourite Indian rice and salad combo. Here’s some ideas that we’ve cooked in the past:

Cooling Watermelon, Tofu & Mint Salad

Toasted Cashew & Green Pepper Pulao

Quick Carrot & Ginger Pickle

Foodie Fact

Jackfruit is high in fibre, helping us to detox which in turn makes us glow! It also contains a good amount of carbohydrates, keeping us fully charged with energy and is loaded up with vitamin C and some potassium. Jackfruit seeds are a good source of protein and vitamin A.

Categories: Curries, gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Travel, Vegan | Tags: Goa, indian food, low fat, vegan recipes | Leave a comment

Dark Chocolate & Chilli Brownies – Vegan & Gluten-free

Posted on March 7, 2018 by leroy watson

An interesting twist on a classic chocolate brownie, made with black beans and given a lift with a little chilli and coffee kick!

Please don’t be put off by the whole bean thing, give them a go. You would never be able to tell and these brownies have a lovely rich texture and all the benefits of black beans, meaning that they’re healthy and gluten-free.

They’re also pretty fuss-free creations, pop all the bits in your trusty blender, blitz, bake, enjoy! Dessert sorted!! I don’t know who originally started to make cakes with beans, but I hope you’re very proud of your genius.

Rich and very chocolaty, they’re a real favourite of ours at the minute. We normally served them with our Dulce de Leche, it compliments the dark chocolate perfectly with its sweet caramel. If the Dulce de Leche is warmed, even better, then, a nice bit of vanilla ice cream. That’s some kind of perfection right there disguised as a gorgeous dessert!

I feel these brownies have a hint of Mexico about them, with the cinnamon and chilli. I just like a little chilli tickle, but I know some of you are chilli heads, so add as much as you fancy. A friend recently tried these with chipotle chilli flakes and enjoyed them, a little smokiness that could be interesting, but I’m not convinced. I’m going to try it soon, but smokiness in desserts seems like a taste bud twister to me.

There is a lot of cocoa/ cacao in these brownies, which gives them a lovely deep and rich chocolate flavour, with a nice bitterness. We prefer dark chocolate, this is definitely one for the dark chocolate lovers and when served with dulce de leche, you’ve got the whole sweet and bitter chocolate combo going on, which is a sensation! (So good, I mentioned it twice;)

Black beans are one of the most incredible plant based foods based nutrition wise, and they taste mighty fine too. Some people call them ‘turtle beans’ because of their hard shells.

I talk about their nutrition properties below in the ‘Foodie Fact’ bit, but they trample all over beef for example in almost every conceivable nutritional way. All we need are beans! We use a load of black beans in the Beach House, you can see by the recipes at the bottom of the page.

What’s your favourite bean? That’s a tough one I know. I’m definitely going through a black bean phase, with occasional butter bean relapses and a week rarely goes by when I don’t fall for a kidney bean. The world of beans are diverse and, in my eyes, there is no downside to beans.

I was once on BBC Radio Wales with Eleri Sion, how lucky am I! One of the first questions about us vegans was if we fart all the time!! Due to the bean thing. I don’t really get windy with beans, but I think the presenter was a little sensitive to pulses. I wasn’t expecting this question on national radio, it was a laugh and led to a chuckle of an interview.

Recipe Notes

These brownies are delicious without the chilli, if you’re not a big fan. The nuts and chocolate are luxury touches really, again, without them, the brownies still rock!

I think pecans are my favourite nuts for these brownies, but really, most nuts would love this brownie.

You can dare to slightly under bake these brownies. Much better that than over baking them.

Dark Chocolate & Chilli Brownies – Vegan & Gluten-Free

The Bits – Makes 12 Brownies

235g or 1 tin black beans (rinsed and drained)

2 tbs ground ﬂax (mixed with 5 tbs water)

3 tbs coconut oil or vegan spread

75g dark brown sugar

75g cocoa/ cacao powder

¼ teas sea salt

1 teas vanilla extract

2 teas instant coﬀee

1 teas cinnamon

1/6-1 teas chilli powder

1 teas gluten-free baking powder

½ teas g.f. bicarb soda

35g dark chocolate (chopped into small chunks)

35g chopped pecans/ cashews/ peanuts

Do It

Preheat fan oven to 180°C. Oil and line a small oven tray with baking parchment.

Mix your ﬂax seeds with the water and leave for 5 minutes to thicken.

Add all the ingredients to a food processor (except chocolate and peanuts), blitz for a minute. Scrape the sides of the blender down and repeat blending until a smoothish mix is formed.

Now add the chocolate and nuts, pulsing a few times to combine. Pour/ scrape the batter into your lined tray and press down flat, around 2/3 inch thick.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops and edges are just crisping up. Test with a toothpick or skewer; the insides should be a little sticky still. That’s what brownies are all about! Leave to cool in the tray and they will firm up.

Serve topped with dulce de leche, vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of nuts. Or as they are with a nice cuppa or if you fancy, serve with some whipped coconut cream for a real treat.

Foodie Fact

This is the low down and figures on the super charged hero that is the humble black bean. They’re full of healthy surprises!

Black beans contain calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper and zinc and can help to maintain strong bones and lower blood pressure. They are very high in fibre and protein, with much more protein and iron than beef, and they also contain selenium which is a quite rare in the plant world and very, very good for us. Eat beans, be merry!!

Categories: Baking, Cakes, Desserts, gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Superfoods, Vegan, Wales | Tags: vegan recipes | 4 Comments

Aubergine & Fava Bean Fatteh, Tahini Yoghurt & Pine Nuts – Lebanese Party Food!

Posted on March 2, 2018 by leroy watson

I love this dish! This is party food really, or the best snack you’ve ever encountered. I can see this on a big platter being tucked in by curious guests soon to be tongue tied in a good way. There are so many flavours and textures layered up here and they all work perfectly together. I was lucky to eat Fatteh loads on my recent Lebanon trip.

We could easily call this ‘Fatteh Al-Betenjane’ – Aubergine Fatteh. Fatteh (or fette) is named after the bread really, crushed or crumbled underneath or on top, but the highlight is the flavourful beans and all the accompaniments.

It has been said that this dish is like a Levantine Nachos, it’s not far off really, but with the sheer combination of delightful flavours and pine nuts, one of my favourites, Fatteh is way ahead of nachos in the BHK. Apologies Mexico.

I ate this dish quite a bit last year in my Lebanon trip. More of that (with pics):

Seeking falafel perfection in Lebanon and making the dream falafel wrap

I Ate Lebanon! – My experience of vegan Lebanese cuisine

Msabaha – Lebanese Chickpeas (A new twist on hummus)

Fatteh is a classic dish in Lebanon and is especially popular in the Northern City of Tripoli, which was probably the best place I ate in Lebanon (but it was very close in many respects). Lebanon is one of the best countries for plant-based wandering. Have you been?

Tripoli is a city little visited by tourists, but if you’re ever in the area, try the Fatteh. It is a dish that changes from region to region, country to country, so you’ll never grow tired of your Fatteh, although most variations contain meat unfortunately.

In Egypt it is eaten as a feast during Ramadan or to celebrate a woman’s first pregnancy. Like I said, its party food, a celebration on plate. Sometimes fatteh is even eaten as a breakfast, lucky people. Wow!

Fava beans you’ll find mainly dried, especially in World/ Asian food shops. If you’re lucky to live near a Middle Eastern shop, you’re sorted. You should be able to track things like Za’atar, Sumac, Tahini and Pomegranate Molasses down in supermarkets etc.

Fava beans are very popular in Middle Eastern cooking and you may have tried Ful or Ful Medames, which is a real staple. I love the flavour of fava beans cooked like this, rich, deep and full flavoured. We love cooking with Fava Beans, we’ve used Hodemdod’s Split Fava Beans to make this Yellow Thai Curry with Squash and also used Hodmedod’s dried fava beans here. This what they look like. Hodmedods are all organic and grown in the UK so we love ’em!

Recipe Notes

If you can’t track down fava beans, you could use chickpeas or red kidney beans. Black beans may also be nice.

No za’atar in the house? Go for dried mint or thyme, of both mixed together.

Short of sumac? A drizzle of pomegranate molasses or lemon zest would be nice.

You can serve this dish cold, but I much prefer the beans and pitta warm.

I used carrots here, but for an extra special touch, sprinkle over some pomegranate arils.

Gluten-free option, just go for gluten-free flatbreads/ pittas.

Aubergine & Fava Bean Fatteh, Tahini Yoghurt & Pine Nuts – Lebanese Party Food!

The Bits – For 2 main course/ 4 starters

1 small onion (finely diced)

4 cloves garlic (peeled and finely sliced)

1 medium aubergine (cut into small cubes)

1 1/2 tbs cooking oil

500g fava beans (cooked)

1 teas salt

Black pepper

2 1/2 teas ground cumin

2 teas paprika

1/2 teas cinnamon

300ml bean cooking juices/ light vegetable stock

2 tbs pomegranate molasses

Tahini yoghurt

150g soya yoghurt (unsweetened)

4 tbs tahini

1-2 tbs pomegranate molasses

Large pinch salt (to taste)

Topping

2-3 gluten-free pittas (cut into thin strips)

1/2 handful fresh mint (finely chopped)

1/2 handful grated carrot or pomegranate arils

3 tbs pine nuts (toasted)

Sprinkles of Sumac/ Za’atar

Do It

Preheat an oven to 200oC, toss the pitta in a little oil, spread out onto a baking tray and pop in the oven for 10 minutes until they are crisp. Set aside. The pine nuts can also be cooked on the baking tray, in the oven, check them every 5 minutes, they will burn easily.

In a large frying pan, heat of medium high heat and add the oil. Fry the onion for 1o minutes, until golden brown, add the aubergine and salt, cook for a further 8-10 minutes until the aubergine is slightly caramelised.

Add the garlic, fry for a minute before adding the spices, adding a good amount of black pepper, stir them in and let them cook for just 30 seconds. Enjoy the spicy aroma!! Now for the beans and bean cooking stock and pomegranate molasses, stir, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Check the seasoning.

For the yoghurt, mix all the bits together in a bowl.

Serve the beans on a small plate/ shallow bowl, top with tahini yoghurt, scatter with pine nuts and pitta slices, then fresh mint, grated carrot, topped with sprinkles of sumac and za’atar.

Foodie Fact

Fava beans are broad beans, normally bought dried. They are low in fat and full of protein and fibre, with good levels of folate, thaimin and minerals like manganese, copper, phosphorous, iron and magnesium.

Categories: gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Side Dish, Snacks and Inbetweens, Travel, Vegan | Tags: fava beans, Lebanese, Middle Eastern, vegan recipes | 12 Comments

Vegan Okonomiyaki – Japanese Savoury Pancake (Gluten-free)

Posted on February 22, 2018 by leroy watson

There are many ways of serving these Japanese Pancakes, so many delicious variations, I felt like sharing two of my favs, one very basic, one with a few more bells and whistles. TWO RECIPES. We love you that much!!

This is like Japanese soul food, you can add grated cabbage or carrot or tofu chunks to the pancake and toppings, there are so many; cheese, Okonomiyaki/ Tonkatsu sauce (like BBQ sauce), mayonnaise, pickled ginger, seaweed flakes….. I was having it for breakfast, so I kept it relatively simple this morning.

I’ve made the classic wheat flour recipe gluten-free and kept it really basic so you can get creative and embellish with your favourite sauces and toppings. Then I’ve gone and done a twist and shake on the traditional recipe, BHK style.

FOOD IS PLAY

The thing I like about the basic recipe is there are only a few ingredients and kids love it! Like a pancake but better, cooler, a little exotic and a lot of tasty, kids love scattering, leaves, snow, crumbs, torn up paper and also toppings, playing with their food like champions!!

I love seeing kids enjoying food and not taking it too seriously. But then again, I don’t have kids. I get to give them back at the end of the day/ 5 minute spell. Maybe some parents will disagree when the food starts flying around the room. It just makes me giggle and join in.

HOW YOU LIKE IT!

Okonomiyaki is more than just an awesome name! Its a delicious snack served all over Japan, but is generally associated with the Kansai and Hiroshima regions.

It’s an easy going dish, loves trying on different flavours for size. The name itself means okonomi, “how you like” and yaki meaning “grill”. Basically, get creative and enjoy!

These recipes are a great base for this kind of tasty fun. It’s that kind of dish, there are many restaurants with teppans tables around a grill, where you can grill your own Okonomiyaki. I’ve never done it, but it sounds like a great dining experience.

Traditionally, spring onions are used in this recipe, but I love leeks. At this time of year, I’m getting some beautiful organic leeks. If you’re in Britain, and not a super traditionalist, I’d go for some nice leeks. The first recipe is probably something like the simple Okonomiyaki that was popular in World War II in Japan, when rice was in short supply and this, classically wheat pancake, was nutritious and filling.

Gram/ chickpea flour is of course a genius ingredient and a vegans best friend. It adds a lovely flavour here which some have described as ‘slightly eggy’ (it was me earlier on). We’ll be playing more with this recipe soon, expect more variations.

Itadakimasu!!

Recipe Notes

You can omit the cornflour, but it does help bind the pancake together.

Use any type of gluten-free flour mix. All the ones I’ve tried work well.

These pancakes are like every pancake in the world, best served ideally straight from the pan. Although they are still tasty when served cool, just not straight from the fridge if possible.

If you’re not gluten-free you can just replace the other flours with wheat flour. Unbleached white flour would be good.

No seaweed flakes? No problems. Just grab a couple of sheets of nori and pop in a blender and blitz until they are a broken down into small flakes.

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Vegan Okonomiyaki – one of my all-time favourite names for a dish

Vegan Okonominyaki – Japanese Savoury Pancake (G/F)

The Bits – 1 pancake, 8 slices

100g spring onions/ leeks – roughly one medium leek (finely sliced)

10g g.f. cornflour

100g g.f. gram/ chickpea flour (or besan)

100g gluten-free flour mix

175ml water

1 tbs sesame oil

3 tbs g.f. teriyaki sauce/ tamari/ g.f. soya sauce

Toppings (how you like it….)

Chopped spring onions, toasted sesame seeds, pickled ginger, vegan cheese, mayonnaise, Okonomiyaki sauce (g.f), sea weed flakes, kimchi (is awesome but a curve ball is the traditional thing) or try our Wasabi mayo recipe here.

Do It

In a mixing bowl, add the flours and then water, mix together until smooth, add the onions/ leeks, mix in.

In a medium sized frying pan, warm on medium high heat, add the oil, ensure the pan is well covered with oil, pour in the mixture, smooth out into a neat, chunky pancake.

Pop a lid on and cook for 5 minutes, flip over. You can use a plate to make this easier. Pop the pancake on a large plate, flip the pan over and place it on top. Using a kitchen cloth (the pan is hot;) hold the pan over the plate and flip them both over. Hope that makes sense! Or just flip it using your A+ pancake tossing skills.

Pop lid back on and cook for 3 minutes more.

Transfer onto a chopping board, cut into 8 pieces. Brush with the teriyaki sauce, top with chopped spring onions/ leeks and sesame seeds. Or go wild!!

Okonominyaki with Tofu, Toasted Sesame, Seaweed and Pickled Ginger – Japanese Savoury Pancake (G/F)

The Bits – For 1 pancake, 8 slices

200ml water

10g g.f. cornflour

100g g.f. gram flour (chickpea flour)

100g gluten-free flour mix

125g / 2 small leeks (finely sliced – reserve 1/2 handful of sliced greens)

150g firm tofu (thinly sliced)

3 heaped tbs nooch (nutritional yeast flakes)

2 tbs sesame seeds

3 heaped tbs seaweed flakes

2 pinches salt

1 tbs sesame oil

Topping

2-3 tbs g.f. teriyaki/ tamari sauce

3-4 tbs vegan mayonnaise

3 tbs pickled Japanese ginger

1 tbs toasted sesame seeds

1 radish (finely sliced)

1/2 handful spring onion/ leek greens (finely sliced)

Do It

In a mixing bowl, add the flours and then water, mix together until smooth, add the onions/ leeks, seaweed, nooch and salt, mix in.

In a medium sized frying pan, warm on medium high heat, add the oil, ensure the pan is well covered with oil, scatter with sesame seeds, then place the tofu on top. Making a layer of tofu on the base of the pan. Pour over the mixture, smooth out into a neat, chunky pancake.

Pop a lid on and cook for 6 minutes, scatter the pancake with sesame seeds and then flip over. You can use a plate to make this easier. Pop the pancake on a large plate, flip the pan over and place it on top. Using a kitchen cloth (the pan is hot;) hold the pan over the plate and flip them both over. Hope that makes sense! Or just flip it using your A+ pancake tossing skills.

Pop the lid back on and cook for 3 minutes more.

Transfer onto a chopping board, cut into 8 pieces. Brush with the g.f. teriyaki sauce, then mayo and scatter on the other toppings until it looks beautiful. Serve now!

If you try one of these recipes out, please let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear how it went!

Foodie Fact

Gram flour is a genius!! It’s basically ground chickpeas. We cook with it all the time, vegan tortillas/ fritattas, omelettes, nofu (recipe coming soon), g/f chapattis, dosas, farinata and loads of cakes, check out our ‘Spiced Orange and Almond Upside Down Cake‘ from just before Christmas. So healthy, versatile and gluten-free too.

It’s got high levels of protein, iron, fibre, magnesium, potassium and vitamin B-6.

Categories: Breakfast, Budget, gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan, veganism | Tags: japan, japanese, vegan recipes | 7 Comments

2-Minute Vegan Chocolate Sauce – Only 3 ingredients!

Posted on February 20, 2018 by leroy watson

We love this one! 3 words, easy, rich and delicious, plus 3 ingredients (and a wee twist of salt). On our fantasy dessert island, this sauce would be the ocean.

We make this all the time and put it on most things really. Sometimes though, if you’re going wild, the only accompaniment needed is a big ol’ spoon. Of course, there is officially over a million ways to make chocolate sauce (no, more!!) but this is the easiest, apart from opening a packetbottlejar-thing.

February seems to be one of those months. Most people are feeling the winter pinch right now, we’re bang in the middle of Feb (sort of) and I think we all need as much sweetness as possible to get by at this time of year. This is not food, this is survival!! Cacao is really high in anti-oxidants so you could kind of say that this is a flu remedy.

RETRO MAGIC

This sauce will also solidify when poured over cold things like ice cream, or those ice cream sandwiches made out of cookies which are just awesome. Pouring over very cold things will result in a really nice crack and crunch, like the retro chocolate sauce we both had as kids (although Jane is querying the brand here). I think it was called Birds Ice Magic (see below). The mint flavour was my favourite, Jane’s was chocolate flavour. Which is no surprise. Ice Magic was some kind of revolution. Anyone remember it?

Ideas for this sauce are of course, ice cream, drizzle over your favourite biscuit/ cake/ pancake/ toast/ fruit/ you get the idea. This sauce rocks on anything!!

The great thing here is that with three ingredients, you can balance the chocolate sauce how you like it. Some like it really dark (more cacao/ cocoa), some are sweeties (more sweetener). You may also like to flavour this sauce with things like ginger, cinnamon, mint, orange, vanilla, butterscotch, brandy (just a dash;) this list goes on. Let us know if you try it out.

Cacao is unprocessed, well, cacao, which eventually makes chocolate. Cacao powder is a little more expensive but has loads more nutrients and we think the taste is better.

Recipe Notes

We prefer to use coconut oil in this sauce, you can get coconut oil that is low on coconut flavour, if you’re not into that. At a push, you can use other lightly flavoured oils, but we haven’t tried this extensively.

Maple syrup is our favourite but any liquid sweetener, like brown rice syrup, agave etc will work nicely.

This sauce will keep nicely in the fridge, but its so easy to make and eat, there will be little need for leftovers;)

The coconut oil should be melted, liquid, but not really hot. Let it chill a bit.

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2-Minute Vegan Chocolate Sauce

The Bits – One small bowlful

2 tbs cacao / cocoa powder

2 tbs coconut oil (melted and cooled a little)

1 tbs sweetener (maple syrup, brown rice syrup etc)

Pinch sea salt

Do It

Stir together the ingredients in a bowl until a smooth sauce forms. That’s it!!

Foodie Fact

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF REAL CACAO
Cacao has been known as the ‘Food of the Gods’ for centuries in the Americas and it’s easy to see why. The cacao tree produces big pods, where the cacao beans hide and grow. Inside each cacao bean there is a cacao nib (for chocolate) and cacao butter (for chocolate, cosmetics etc). Most chocolates are made with extra cacao butter, or things like soya lecithin, added to make the bar smooth.

Cacao is very high in antioxidants and essential nutrients although many of these can be lost when processed into chocolate or cocoa. Some of the apparent health benefits of eating cacao are lowering high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, asthma, diarrhea, preventing wrinkles, liver, bladder and kidney disorders and many more.

The cacao bean is packed full of antioxidants, good fats, carbohydrates, protein, minerals like calcium, magnesium, sulfur, copper, iron, zinc and potassium. They also contain oleic acid which is a heart-healthy essential monounsaturated fat, fiber and vitamins E, B2, B1, B5, B3 and B9 as well as small quantities of vitamin A and C. We think it’s incredible that something as decadent as chocolate, especially raw chocolate, is so wonderfully healthy.

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Categories: Desserts, gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, plant-based, Recipes, Sauces, Superfoods, Vegan, veganism | Tags: cacao, chocolate, vegan recipes | 4 Comments

Vegan Carbonara – Classic meal in minutes!

Posted on February 16, 2018 by leroy watson

A classic meal that can be ready in minutes. Vegan Carbonara can be made loads of ways, but here we make it with tofu, so it’s creamy and rich, but light at the same time. We all need staple recipes like this!? Something quick and satisfying that everyone enjoys.

We’d like to thank Jen at Veganuary for sharing this recipe, this is Jen’s photo, over on Instagram. We’ve been massive fans of Veganuary for years now, so to see it blossom in such a way is incredible. We even saw Matthew being interviewed on the BBC!

It’s true, we are not Instagramers but maybe one day we’ll make it over there. What do you think? Shall we venture into Insta-land? It does looks awesome! Some incredible vegan cooks over there doing amazing things.

VEGANUARY 2018 – HOW DID IT GO?

Did you try out Veganuary this year? How was your experience? You weren’t alone, over 150,000 people were joining you. We know a load of people who gave it a go and some have stayed full-time vegans and many are just eating loads more plant-based meals.

Everyone we have talked to feels the benefit of a vegan diet, especially when tried out for a whole month, sometimes it can be hard at first with cravings for our favourites foods and the body adjusting, but then, PING! Plant power takes over and we feel lighter, more energy, better digestion, brighter eyes and skin and the list goes on. How cool is that/ this!

STONKING STAPLE

This recipe is a real staple for us, we love to change up the pasta and make it with a full range, from wholewheat to pea, corn to buckwheat, there are so many choices out there now and many are really good quality. There was a time when gluten-free pasta would be quite soggy and have a dodgy texture. Not any more.

This sauce can be taken in so many directions, but we like it as it is, a nice touch of garlic and the freshness of the parsley. We love to green it up too, because we put greens in everything!

BIG THANKS TO ALL FACEBOOKERS:)

We just hit the 2000 mark over on our Facebook page, 2000 happy cooks with healthy outlooks, good vibe vegans, it’s quite a landmark for us. Thank you to you all for your amazing support over the years, feel free to share the BHK blog with all your friends, fans, followers and families. We couldn’t and wouldn’t do this without you.

I’m in the BHK today, recipe testing and coming up with new things. More recipes coming soon right here, I’m really feeling quite Japanese at the minute…….but until then, carbonara!

Recipe Notes

Jen used slices of vegan sausage in this picture and left out the greens.

We love it with Mushroom Bacon. Yum! Our version coming soon.

If you can’t find silken tofu, firm tofu also works just fine.

If you or the people you’re cooking for are still a little freaked out by tofu, this is a good dish to cook for them. Just don’t show them the nutritional yeast flakes just yet!! Maybe after dinner. We’ve all heard the stunning ‘looks like fish food’ jokes a zillion times before. But they taste awesome!

Gluten-free option, just use gluten-free pasta. We are digging pea pasta at the minute. Great colour!!

————-

Classic Vegan Carbonara

The Bits – For 4

Carbonara Sauce

300g silken tofu (drain off excess liquid)

125ml soya / almond milk

½ lemon (juice)

3 tbs nutritional yeast flakes

3 large cloves garlic (crushed)

2 tbs olive oil

1-2 teas salt

Pasta

Pasta of choice – roughly 80g per person

2 handfuls watercress/ spinach leaves

2 handfuls smoked sun-dried tomatoes

1 handful fresh parsley (chopped)

Do It

In a small frying pan, warm the olive oil on medium heat, add the garlic and gently fry for 1-2 minutes until nicely golden. Allow to cool a little.

Place all the bits for the carbonara sauce, including the cooked garlic oil, into a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste, adjust salt. How creamy is that!!!?

Cook your pasta, drain and stir in the carbonara sauce. Now stir in the watercress and leave with a lid on for a minute or so. If the carbonara gets thick or sticky, this might happen if you don’t serve it straight away, pour a splash of plant milk in and gently stir.

Serve in shallow bowls, topped with sun dried tomatoes/ mushroom bacon and parsley. Best with black pepper, vegan parmesan and a nice crisp salad.

Foodie Fact

Tofu is a real genius food for so many reasons. We can all get our hands on it really easy now in the UK, you’ll find it in most supermarkets. Not only is it a versatile ingredient, bringing a unique texture and flavour to dishes, its also completely packed with nutritional properties to make you shine. It’s full of protein to start with, also minerals like manganese, phosphorous and selenium. It even contains all of the amino acids and good levels of iron and calcium.

Categories: Budget, Dinner, gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Sauces, Vegan, veganism | Tags: italian, vegan recipes | 4 Comments

Zen Bowl – Teriyaki Sweet Potatoes with Wasabi Mayo

Posted on February 8, 2018 by leroy watson

A super healthy bowl with many of my favourite things all given a Japanese twist. I was thinking about winter warmers and just didn’t fancy another stew or soup. I felt like bright colours, crunch, some big textures and flavours. This is an exciting way to eat!

When it snows like this, these pictures were taken in the snow, my mind regularly thinks of Japan. I love the images of rural Japan in winter, especially when it’s covered with snow. It’s magical! Snow seems to do that, brings a sprinkle of something special to landscapes, Snowdonia is stunning today, the mountains have a whole new feel, even more majestic.

Caramelised sweet potatoes, green leaves with a zesty dressing, fresh crunchy veg and a creamy wasabi mayo. This is a warming bowl of goodness, bound to satisfy everyone. This is a gathering of the things I think we need in the depths of winter.

NEW TWIST ON COMFORT FOOD

I do love all the classic comfort food thing, I’ve just posted three soup recipes in a row, but lets re-vamp the concept of comfort food a little. Add some bright colours and new flavours. Broccoli and pak choi, radish, turnip and carrots, may all be growing at this time of year. Polytunnels are genius!! They should be easy to get hold of anyway. I am on a one man mission to get Britain eating turnips/ swedes again, but thats for another post.

Sweet potato is a treat (and maybe a little more glamorous to most) that I crack out when I feel like something a bit different, the way it takes on the flavours of the teriyaki sauce is something special. A great pairing right there. It is also packed with beta carotene which is very much welcomed at this time of year.

A winter sunshine bowl! But good anytime of year too. This is how we like to do things in the BHK for sure. Delicious food that happens to be healthy, thats a serious sweet spot right there!!

Zen Bowl

GET CREATIVE!

Improvise with the veg, the main highlights for me are the sweet potatoes, along with the wasabi mayo and the zesty dressing. Quinoa can be substituted for millet, cous cous, freekeh etc. The broccoli here is a bit special, purple sprouting, any blanched greens would be awesome green beans, mangetout etc, pak choi is easily subbed with chard, bok choi, kale and spring greens.

I hope to visit Japan soon, I doubt I’ll eat anything like this, but the flavours of miso and wasabi are two of my all-time, hall of fame, foodie favourites.

Teriyaki sauce is something I’ve loved since I was a kid. I spent some years in the Philippines as a child and had Japanese friends. I remember going over to their houses for dinner and being blown away by how different things were. It was crash course in chopsticks and new flavours. I loved them from the start and could see the huge difference in the way that Japanese people approach, cooked and ate food. One of my favoruites dishes was teriyaki kebabs cooked on mini BBQ’s. Teriyaki is basically a sweet soya sauce, normally including mirin and Teriyaki dishes are normally grilled.

If you’d like to make your own Teriyaki Sauce, there is a recipe in Peace & Parsnips.

Teriyaki sweet potatoes – a twist on comfort food

WHY ZEN?

I normally steer clear-ish of calling dishes Buddha bowls etc, although I imagine he would not have minded. Today is so peaceful though and the garden has taken on a zen quality, it seems deeply still, perfectly silent. It was the perfect backdrop to this lunch, appreciating being out in the icy cold, with the mountains. Feeling lucky to live in this beautiful area, but as we’re in Zen mode, there is no such thing as luck.

Maybe you’d like to try this dish out and cook it in a more mindful way? Take it easy and enjoy. It worked for me! As we know, food is much more than just the eating, we can get some joy, find some peace, in every part of the process. Jane likes washing up because it keeps her hands warm (it gets a bit chilly in our house!) There is a way to find enjoyment in any situation, or at the very least, to find a way to do things well, with awareness. Making a dish called a ‘Zen Bowl’ must be a good place to practice this, with the added benefit of a delicious, nourishing meal at the end.

Zen Bowl – A bowl of winter goodness

Zen Bowl – Teriyaki Sweet Potato with Wasabi Mayo

The Bits – For 2

1 large sweet potatoes (peeled and chopped into wedges)

1-2 tbs teriyaki sauce (gluten-free)

1 big handful radishes (cut in half)

1 big handful broccoli florets (blanched)

1 turnip (sliced finely)

1/2 medium carrot (finely sliced)

1/2 red pepper (finely sliced)

1 small bok choi (washed, leaves picked separately)

1/2 avocado (sliced)

2 tbs toasted sesame seeds

1 cup cooked quinoa

Miso & Lime Dressing

1 tbs lime juice

1 teas light brown miso (gluten-free)

1 teas fresh ginger (finely diced)

Wasabi Mayo

3 tbs vegan mayo

1 teas wasabi

1 teas lime (juice)

Do It

Preheat a fan oven to 200oC, line a baking tray with parchment. Toss the sweet potato and radish in a little oil and salt, cook in the oven for 20 minutes. The radish should now be nicely cooked. Turn the sweet potatoes, carefully, and drizzle over the teriyaki sauce, making sure the potatoes are well covered. Bake for another 10 minutes. If they are nicely caramelised, take them out. If not, drizzle over more teryiyaki sauce and bake for 5 minutes more. If you repeat this process, you are guarenteed very caramelised, delicious, Teriyaki potatoes.

While the potatoes are baking, cook your quinoa, follow the packet instructions. Boil a kettle and place your brocolli in a bowl. Pour over the boiling water and leave them for a minute, drain and refresh with cold water. This makes them nice and green. Mix your wasabi mayo ingredients together (see here for our homemade vegan mayo recipe). Mix together the dressing bits and toss the pak choi leaves in it, until they are well coated.

Toast your sesame seeds in a small frying pan over medium heat or on a baking tray in the oven. It will normally take between 5-10 minutes, until the sesame seeds turn a darker brown and you get that lovely toasty smell. Scatter them over your sweet potatoes.

While the ingredients are still warm, arrange everything in a shallow bowl, including the finely sliced vegetables and avocado. Serve the wasabi mayo on the side, I firmly recommend, the first thing you do, is to dip a sweet potato in the mayo and enjoy!

Foodie Fact

Wasabi is a close relative of horseradish and cabbage, commonly known as ‘Japanese Horseradish’. It’s loaded with anti-oxidants, helping the body detox and boosting the immune system. It has also been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and is good for the heart. If you’re looking for the true wasabi experience, you may need to spend a little more money, cheaper, imitation wasabi can be made using horseradish and mustard. Wasabi is hard to grow, meaning that it is sought after.

Cook vegan, get healthy, be happy!

Categories: Cooking Retreats, gluten-free, healthy, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Salads, Vegan, Wales | Tags: japan, vegan recipes, zen | 7 Comments

Creamy Parsnip & Coconut Soup – A bowl of winter sunshine!

Posted on January 31, 2018 by leroy watson

Ginger, turmeric, sweet parsnips, creamy coconut….yes please! This is just the kind of bowl I like to see at the cold end of the year. Bursting with colour, big flavours and bags of healthy giving goodness.

Thick frost this morning in Snowdonia and grey, as grey can be (with a pinch more grey for luck). When the frosts are here, I always think of parsnips. They love this time of year!

To combat the dark skies, I felt like adding some sunshine to lunch time. This soup is creamy, with the coconut and parsnips, sweet and spicy, and with a little fresh coriander on top, is a real winter time treat. Just the colour makes me feel warmer inside!

Most of you know that I’m quite partial to a parsnip every now and again. The ones I used here were huge, gnarled things, they look like they’d had a rough winter. There’s not much seasonal produce about at the minute, so I cherish these parsnips. A friend was here and tried the soup, and was surprised that she liked it. Not a parsnip fan you see. I think we have a convert! There are parsnips and then there are parsnips, try and get some good organic if poss ones and the difference is mega! I eat these ones happily raw, so sweet, in fact parsnips contain more sugar than bananas.

I’m going to keep making soups until I finally defrost this winter, probably sometime in June at this rate. Still, I’m not complaining, I love these crisp winter mornings and having a warm bowl of soup waiting for lunch is real food for the mind, body and soul.

Recipe Notes

Go wild with the turmeric if you like, its beautifully golden, turn it up to 5 (teas) if you really love it. It can only lead to lovely flavour and it amazing for our health.

I peeled the parsnips here, because the skins on mine were very funky, all kinds of nobbles and bashes on them. With veg like parsnips, much of the flavour and nutrients are just below the skin, scrubbing them is really best.

If you are not a parsnips fan, you could try it with other sweet roots like potato or sweet potato. Let us know how it goes! This recipes is a platform really for many great variations with veg.

A twist of lime brings it all to life. Highly recommended.

This soup freezes well, so feel free to double the quantity. I would check the balance of the spices though, maybe add 75% and then taste. Sometimes multiplying recipes can throw them out a bit.

If you do freeze it, taste it once it’s reheated, the spices may need jazzing up a bit. Add more, or a really nice idea would be to fry up a little more ginger in a pan, than stir in the spices, warm through and add to soup. Freezing can kill flavours.

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Creamy Parsnip & Coconut Soup

The Bits – For 4 Bowls
1 kg parsnips (peeled and chopped)
2 small onions (peeled and sliced)
3 inch ginger (peeled and finely chopped)

3-5 teas turmeric
3 teas cumin
1 teas cinnamon
½ teas cardamom

800ml light veg stock
1 tin coconut milk

Salt (to taste)

Topping

Tomato (chopped)

Coriander (chopped)

Toasted coconut or cashews (optional and very nice)

Sprinkle more of ground cumin

Lime wedges

Do It

In a large saucepan, warm 1 tbs cooking oil and fry onions and ginger on medium high heart for 5 minutes.

Then add spices and parsnip, stir and cook for a minute, before adding the stock and coconut milk. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, until the parsnips are soft.

Blend until smooth with a stick blender. Season with salt and serve.

P1350355

Foodie Fact

Parsnips are the same family as carrots, celery, dill and cumin. They are a good source of vitamin C and fibre, plus have good levels of vitamin K and manganese. Not just a pretty, knobbly root!

Categories: gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, Organic, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Soups, Vegan, Wales, Winter | Tags: recipe | 4 Comments

BBQ Pulled Jackfruit – My twist on the vegan classic

Posted on January 27, 2018 by leroy watson

Here’s my twist on a vegan classic! Pulled jackfruit is all about that texture and when cooked like this, gives all the crispy, caramelised happiness that pulled pork can.

You decide what to serve it with, but I love it with a little more BBQ sauce (find my new recipe below) and some smoky mayo, avocado is a must and then put it in a big, stacked sandwich, on tacos and burritos and my favourite, with Sweet Potato Mac n’ Cheese.

This is a recipe I’ve been tweaking for an age now, but I’m really happy with this, the BBQ sauce is packed with sweet tanginess and the jackfruit is nicely caramelised with deep flavours and lovely smokiness. This is a BHK staple for sure and I’m really chuffed to be able to share it with you all!

We’ve talked about jackfruit loads ‘Everyones Talking About Jackfruit – Ten Interesting Facts About Jack!‘ I’ve got a Malabar Jackfruit & Squash Curry that I’ve been meaning to post for a while. Watch this space, one I picked up in India. When we got back from India last year, we were surprised at how much Jack had taken over the vegan world! I can see why, I ate it every day in Goa near the beach in a curry, massive grin on my face. If cooked properly, it’s a delight.

The young green jackfruit is what you’re looking for, normally in tins, you may also find sweet jackfruit, which is lovely for desserts but will make a very weird BBQ Pulled Jackfruit. Best place in the UK to find jackfruit is in Asian Food Shops/ Supermarkets or Health Food Shops. When I find it, I normally buy a six pack, get nicely stocked up for a while. I’m sure it won’t be long until it gets more widely available. We’re riding the massive vegan wave! How amazing it is to see so many new vegan options in shops and supermarkets, Wahoo!!

Top Jack Facts!!
1) Jackfruit, the bit we eat, is actually called an ‘aril’. It’s a ﬂower and we eat the edible petals. One jackfruit contains hundreds of ﬂowers and one tree can grow 250 fruits per year.
2) In Indonesia, they make chips out of jackfruit, called Kripik. You can buy them and eat them like crisps.
3) Jackfruit seeds, when roasted, taste like brazil nut crossed with a chestnut. You can boil, bake and roast them. They can also be ground into a ﬂour.
4) Using jackfruit as a meat substitute is nothing new. In Thailand it’s sought after by vegetarians and historically called ‘gacch patha’ (tree mutton!)
5) Every part of the jackfruit tree is medicinally beneﬁcial, the bark, leaves, pulp, skin and roots. It is also antibacterial and antiviral.

Feel free to share this recipe with friends and do let us know if you try it out, leave a comment below, hearing from you makes our day over here at the BHK!

Recipe Notes

We all have our favourite BBQ sauce flavour, I like it a little smoky with a good kick of acidity. Tangy! See how you feel about it and adjust accordingly.

When frying the jackfruit with the BBQ sauce, you can keep going and make it very crispy. I like it after around 10 minutes.

You may also like to mix some chipotle paste into your mayo, instead of BBQ sauce, in fact, mixing it into your BBQ sauce too will take it into another dimension all together. I love the heat and smokiness of it and it just feels right if you’re going to make some tacos/ burritos. Chipotle is the flava of Mexico for me!

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BBQ Pulled Jackfruit

The Bits – For 2/ One medium bowlful
1 tin 280g jackfruit (unripe, not sweet)

Marinade
1 ½ teas smoked paprika
1 teas garlic powder
1 teas cajun spices
1 teas salt

1 tbs cooking oil

Barbecue Sauce – Makes 500ml / 2 cups
4 large ripe tomatoes chopped or 1 tin tomatoes
2 tbs tomato concentrate
2.5 tbs tamari/ gluten/free soya sauce
4 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 teas garlic powder
4 tbs dark brown sugar
1 teas chilli sauce
3 teas dijon mustard
2 teas smoked paprika
½ teas salt

Serve
Pickled Jalapenos, Lime wedges, Sour Cream, Avocado Slices, Corn Tortillas

Do It

Drain the jackfruit. Cut oﬀ the tough stems of the jackfruit pieces. Chop up the stems roughly and break up the other jackfruit strands, press excess moisture off between kitchen paper, then place in a bowl. Cover with the other marinade bits and toss to coat.

Make your BBQ sauce, really easy, pop it all in a blender and blitz until a smooth sauce forms. Check the seasoning and balance of the sauce. We all like it diﬀerent. You can make the sauce well beforehand. This will make more than needed but it keeps well in the fridge. Eat it raw, as it is, or simmer with a lid on in a pan for 15 minutes to thicken, stirring regularly. Check seasoning.

In a large non-stick frying pan, heat your oil on medium and fry the jackfruit for 15 minutes, stirring and using a wooden spoon/ spatula, scrapping the jackfruit off the pan if it sticks a little. It should begin to caramelise nicely. Add 250ml of BBQ sauce and simmer gently for 5-10 minutes, until the sauce sticks to the jackfruit. The jackfruit should be getting more caramelised, soft and sticky. Cook for longer if you really want to really crisp it up.

At the end of cooking, you can top with more BBQ sauce or chipotle mayo if you like, the jackfruit should be nice and crispy.

Foodie Fact

Jackfruit seeds are edible and healthy most people roast them. You can also boil them up and make a lovely attempt at hummus. Comes highly recommended. Every part of the jackfruit tree is medicinally beneficial, the bark, leaves, pulp, skin and roots. It is also antibacterial and anitviral.

Jackfruit is the heavyweight of all fruits, growing to four feet long and weighing in at over 35kgs. That’s a lot of burger right there!

It’s low in calories with good levels of Vitamin C and Vitamin B6 (which is quite rare). Its also a reasonable source of minerals and a good source of carbohydrates, fats, protein and has plenty of fibre. The seeds have plenty of vitamin A. Jackfruit has zero cholesterol.

Categories: gluten-free, healthy, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: jackfruit, pulled jackfruit, recipe, vegan food | 11 Comments

Leek, Potato & Kale Soup – Organic, Classic, Seasonal

Posted on January 23, 2018 by leroy watson

A simple classic. I realise I’m doubling up with soup posts here, but let’s face it, no one is complaining with this chilly start to the year.

There’s something in my bones that calls for this kind of soup in January, in the depths of winter. Many of us in the UK have had loads of snow recently, and at the very least have been facing freezing days and nights. It always feels a little colder and darker at this time of year, the warm glow of Christmas seems long gone.

What we need is warming, nourishing bowls of yum! We all know this soup, it’s a classic, but will never get tired. It makes the very best of British produce at this time of year, when not much else is growing and the land is resting.

We are so lucky to have a group of brilliant people down the road, at Tydnn Teg organic farm, who are soldiering on and still growing sensational produce. I am blown away by their veggies and this soup uses what has come from the heart of wintertime.

It seems right to be eating dishes like this, seems like I’m tuning in to the season and giving my body exactly what it needs. I love simple recipes that take a few ingredients and make them shine!

Recipe Notes

Use any winter herbs you like in this soup. A herb mix or fresh herbs would also be very nice. Just not too much, I think it’s nice just lightly flavoured with herbs, let the other ingredients come through.

Use any kale, you can see we went for curly. Spring greens and savoy cabbage are good alternatives.

The single cream is a luxurious extra.

Try to get the very best, organic if you can, produce for this soup. It will really make the difference.

You don’t need to blend this soup, I sometimes like it chunky. Try to cut your veggies into smallish pieces.

Leek, Potato & Kale Soup

The Bits – For 8 Bowls
1.25kg potatoes (peeled and chopped)
750g leeks (cleaned and sliced)
200g kale (sliced)
1.5 litres vegetable stock
1 teas dried sage
1 teas dried rosemary
1 teas dried thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and black pepper (to taste)

250ml vegan single cream (available in shops and supermarkets)

Do It
Add 1 tbs cooking oil to a large saucepan and warm on a medium high heat. Add the leeks, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Now add the potatoes, stock and herbs to the pan, cook 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are tender.

Add the kale and simmer for a couple of minutes. Pick out the bay leaves and blend using a stick blender until smooth.

Stir in the single cream and season well with salt and pepper.

Foodie Fact

I added kale to this classic soup combo because its seasonal and delicious, but also because it is one of the healthiest things we could ever, ever eat. It’s just outrageous how good kale is for us!

It’s off the charts high in Vitamin K, is ridiculously amazing for vitamin A and C, also high in minerals like manganese, copper, is a good source of fibre and even has some Omega 3 fats thrown in there. The list goes on really, but the more we can incorporate kale into our diets, the better, especially at this time of year when our bodies need a real healthy kick start.

Categories: gluten-free, healthy, Local food, Nutrition, Organic, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Soups, Vegan, Wales, Welsh produce, Winter | Tags: recipe | 3 Comments

Moroccan Bessara with Harissa Oil – Nourishing Fava Bean Soup/Dip

Posted on January 17, 2018 by leroy watson

We’re getting 2018 started with a simple and nourishing dish from Morocco, a country I love and where I first tried this delicious soup. We’re not long back from Spain, where we sit on beaches looking towards North Africa. A tenuous link, but its awesome to be back here and blogging!! After our little break in the sun, we’re topped up with fresh ideas for 2018.

This comforting bowl is ideal for new year, so easy and light, nutritious and flavourful. It’s also inexpensive and the basic soup only has a handful of ingredients. It also happens uses fava beans, which as you might know, were one of my favourite things about 2017. Couldn’t get enough of them. You can thin this out, or serve it as a dip. Either way, it’s a dish I cook all the time, a great staple and something I’ve been meaning to put on here for years. Finally, Bessara!

MOROCCAN MEALS

My favourite memories of Bessara was around 15 years ago (food lives long in my memory) when I was travelling all over Morocco and eventually found a little home in the Rif Mountains. It was chilly, icy winds whistling through all the buildings, my favourite cafe’s door kept blowing off and was missing a window (but the mint and gunpowder tea and tunes were bang on). I was lucky to be staying right beside the Hamam (steam baths), which was hewn from a hillside, so the whole area was warmed by the huge wood fires which heated the water. The same wood fires where people would bring their clay pots of food to be cooked. Great system there, plus the Hamas are the perfect place to meet people, like a pub really, without the booze and with the heating turned up to Gas Mark 2. Oh, and the clientele are mostly naked.

Every morning I met some friends and went for Bessara, it makes for a lovely breakfast, and we sat on little rickety benches with all the djellaba wearing locals and morose Mohammed (cook and propietor) sat before two giant vats of bubbling Bessara. His joint was basically a corrugated steel roof between two wonky buildings, but it was always buzzing and cosy. It’s a warming soup in more ways than one. Mohammed’s Bessara was very cheap and served without glee but with fragrant local olive oil and small bowl of fresh cumin and salt on the tables.

The bread man would occasionally whistle past on his push bike and we’d score some fresh bread straight from the bakery, that flat Moroccan bread that you may have tried. If you’re from the North East, it’s basically stottie cake (more stottie here). I’ve never been able to find out if there is any relation between the two, my romantic side which easily eclipses any of my other sides, says that yes. There is. In the middle ages some sailors from Seaham were blown of course and found themselves sahara bound. Or maybe it was the crusades? Either way, great bread and highly recommended with this soup.

PUNCHY DRIZZLE

I love harissa, especially with traditional Moroccan food, so I’ve come up with a zesty and punchy little oil to drizzle over the soup. You’ll have a little bit leftover no doubt, but I love dipping bread into it to finish it off. Just keep leftovers sealed in a fridge for a few days. It’s perfect I think after one day in the fridge, all the spices and flavours settle and mingle.

LOVE THY FAVA

I have some organic Hodmedod split fava beans, they actually have a Bessara recipe on their site! Great minds!! Hodmedods were kind enough to send me some of their range, which is awesome, so you’ll be hearing from them more this year. We love to give shouts out to producers who are doing brilliant things in enlightened ways. Hodmedods are all about incredible pulses basically and are bringing back many traditional British varieties. Fava beans are actually traditional in the UK, but I think more of them as a Middle Eastern/ North African ingredient. We have used them to make traditional Egyptian Falafels (Ta’amia) in the past and they make a delicious hummus.

So a big shukran to Mohamed the mirthless in the Rif Mountains for warming my belly each morning with this classic soup, I wrote his recipe down one day, but it got lost along the way, I’m sure this is a reasonable attempt. Proper mountain Bessara. Travelling around Morocco changed my life, my world view and my feelings about stottie cake. Bismillah!

Recipe Notes

By adding 750ml of hot water to the finished Bessara, you’ll have a soup. As the soup cools, it thickens.

My favourite garnish for this soup is the harissa oil and black olives, maybe a sprinke of dried mint. Toasted almonds are tasty too, as is fresh mint and you might like a lemon wedge on the scene…..the soup is really like a blank canvas for flavours, simply delicious but easily embellished.

If you are using split fava beans, there is no need to soak them beforehand.

Stirring a few handfuls of greens into this soup just before serving will be delicious and add a health twist and different texture, try spinach, chopped kale or spring greens.

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Moroccan Bessara Soup with Harissa Oil

The Bits – For 4 bowls

400g dried fava beans (split broad beans)

6 garlic cloves (peeled and finely sliced)

1.5 ltrs water

2 tbs cumin seeds

1 tbs paprika

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon (juice)

Sea salt (to taste)

Garnish (optional)

2 handfuls nice black olives (destoned) or toasted almonds (roughly chopped)

Sprinkles dried mint or chilli powder

Extra virgin olive oil (if not using the Harissa oil)

Fresh coriander (chopped)

Harissa Oil

The Bits – For one small bowlful

1-2 tbs harissa paste (how hot do you like it?!)

1/2 teas cumin seeds

1 teas coriander seeds

1/2 teas dried mint

1 garlic clove (peeled and crushed)

100ml olive oil

1 lemon (juice)

½ teas sea salt

Do It

Rinse the beans well in a colander with cold water. Place in a large saucepan and cover with 1.5 ltrs of cold water, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and place a lid on. Leave to cook for around 45 minutes, until soft, stirring occasionally.

Place all the ingredients for the Harissa Oil in a blender and blitz until smooth. Check the seasoning.

When the beans are about cooked, grab a small frying pan and warm on a medium heat, add your cumin seeds and toast them for a minute, tossing them gently in the pan. They should begins to release their aroma and change colour slighty. Place in a pestle and mortar and leave to cool a little, them grind them. Enjoy the smell! Taste a smidgen, if they are very bitter, they’re burnt, give them another try. It’s easily done!

In the same frying pan, add the oil and then the garlic, fry until golden, should take a couple of minutes. Add the cumin, garlic and paprika to the pan, stir in and simmer for a few minutes, then add the lemon juice and salt. Check the seasoning, this soup will need a good amount of salt to bring the flavours out. You might prefer it chunky, but when blended, this soup is velvety smooth. I prefer it that way. Use a stick blender. It’s easiest.

Ladle the Bessara into bowls and top with olives, dried mint and harissa oil, or any of the other options above. Best with flatbread.

Foodie Fact

Fava (very similar to Broad) beans are like all beans, they’re brilliant and protein powerhouses! Nutritionally, they’ve no cholesterol or saturated fats, have plenty of fibre, vitamin K, B1 and B6, loads of minerals like iron, copper, magnesium, manganese, selenium, potassium and zinc, they even have some calcium.

Some tests have even claimed that fava beans can help with depression, they contain dopamine.

Categories: Budget, gluten-free, healthy, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Side Dish, Soups, Travel, Vegan | Tags: Moroccan food, morocco | 4 Comments

Spiced Orange and Almond Upside Down Cake – Vegan and Gluten-free

Posted on December 18, 2017 by leroy watson

Spiced Orange & Almond Polenta Cake – Vegan, Gluten-free

This is just the kind of deliciousness I like at Christmas, something light and rich. Makes a nice change at this time of year! One of the highlights for me is the intense spiced marmalade glaze (with or without whiskey;) This cake can be served as festive dessert with some vegan creme fraiche or cream.

I do enjoy Christmas cake and pud, but they can get a little heavy. This one is so easy to make and looks lovely, it’s also gluten-free, so it ticks many dietary boxes. I know that we can be cooking for friends and family at this time of year and catering for dietary requirements. I love recipes like this, that everyone can enjoy, vegan, gluten-freers and the rest! It’s just a straight up delicious cake.

You’ll probably get a better, caramelised look in your oven. I was using a big old oven (looks like an ancient steam train) which is a temperamental creature, ideally, we’re looking for loads of gorgeous caramel all over your oranges. But either way, it’s a lovely cake.

The only problem I can see with your average polenta cake is that it can be a little dry. You won’t have that issue with this recipe as the oranges sit on top and keep the cake nice and moist. You can also use blood oranges (which I couldn’t get hold of), pears, apples, pineapple, plums, in fact most fruit will be great on top of this almond and polenta base. The polenta means that you get a nice crust on this cake, soft in the middle, crisp on the outside is always a good combo in my book.

If you’re looking for some Christmas recipes, here’s a few we think you’ll like:

boozy snowball truffles

roast winter vegetable salad

parsnip, cranberry & chestnut roast

oven baked squash gnocchi with sun-dried tomatoes, fennel & spinach pesto

festive pear & cranberry chutney

decadent double chocolate cake

ginger & chocolate treats (simple festive fun)

This will be my last post before Christmas ’18, I’m just leaving to Spain, so I must scoot. Thanks to everyone for the support, inspiration and love in 2017! You really make the BHK a very special place to be!! Have a peaceful and chilled Christmas filled with tasty nibbles. Let us know what’s cookin’ in the comments below?

Love and Happiness, Lee & JaneX

Recipe Notes

This cake is not a big riser, but it should still be light.

The texture of this cake is moist, when checking it during baking, bare this in mind. There is a difference between moist and sticky/ raw. You can tell when you check it with a skewer, there should be nothing that looks like raw cake batter on the skewer. I hope that makes sense;)

If you are using other fruit, feel free to freestyle with the glaze. Using other jams for example is a really nice idea to compliment the fruit.

Because of the fresh fruit, this cake does not keep well. I guess you’ll just need to polish it off quickly (don’t worry, this is easily done:)

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Everyday, there is cake!

Spiced Orange & Almond Upside Down Cake

The Bits – For 8-10 slices

4 mandarins

125ml light rapeseed/ olive oil

100g light brown sugar

150g ground almonds

80g polenta

1 lime or ½ lemon (juice)

1 teas baking powder (gluten-free)

½ teas turmeric

1 teas vanilla extract

2 tbs ground flax/ chia seeds (mixed with 5 tbs water)

A little light brown sugar (for dusting)

Glaze

5 tbs marmalade

2 star anise

4 cloves

2 green cardamom pods (cracked)

2 tbs whiskey (optional but nice)

Do It

Line and oil the base and sides of a 8 inch cake tin with baking parchment. Lightly dust the base and side of your cake tin with sugar. Preheat oven to 180oC.

Zest one of the mandarins, neatly peel the rest and slice across into ⅔ cm slices. Pick out any seeds. Lay the slices over the bottom of the tin and fill in the gaps with segments if needed. Beat together the oil and sugar and add the orange zest, lime juice, almonds, polenta, baking powder, turmeric, vanilla extract and flax seeds. Mix until combined well. Pour the batter into your cake tin. Smooth the top.

Bake on a middle shelf for 25-30 minutes, until the cakes top is golden brown and springy. Test with a skewer and remember this is a moist cake, so there will be more stickiness than a normal cake when testing.

While it’s baking, warm the marmalade and spices in a small pan, boil for a minute and then set aside.

Leave the cake to cool and turn out of the pan onto a serving plate/ platter. Brush with the marmalade (easiest to do when warm). Decorate with the spices if you like and serve with vegan creme fraiche or ice cream.

Categories: Baking, Cakes, Desserts, gluten-free, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: christmas, polenta, xmas | 1 Comment

Parsnip, Cranberry & Chestnut Roast

Posted on December 12, 2017 by leroy watson

We all need a good nut roast up our festive sleeves!! This is a tasty centre piece with all the flavours of Christmas, that won’t take an age to cook. It is also remarkably healthy, but we won’t dwell on that, after all, it’s nearly Christmas, time to feast and be merry!!

I’m sharing this one on the fly, its a busy time of year in the BHK! As I’m sure it is in your home. I took this picture whilst cooking for lovely people at the weekend, I haven’t had anytime for blogging of late, but this recipe is one we’re enjoying and lets face it, us vegans need a nut roast to lean on (then gobble) at this time of year!

I did a little poll recently in the BHK Vegan Cooking Group, asking what was the stand out vegan dish for Christmas lunch and Nut Roast ruled. 1st by quite a bit. I was a little surprised, I love nut roasts, but many people have nightmare stories about bland, crumbly roasts, which is the last thing we want when we are mid Xmas feast.

This is a substantial nut roast (aren’t they all!?), with a nice layer of roasted parsnips in the centre. It cuts nicely into slices and I like the idea of glazing things at this time of year. Makes it extra special and gives it an attractive finish.

I served it with full trimmings at the weekend, roasted Parmesan sprouts, mash, proper gravy, roast squash and swede, a few types of kale and a little red onion and parnsip tart tatin thrown in. It was snowing outside and Snowdonia was looking like a winter wonderland. The perfect Christmas scene.

Let us know if you make this roast, it would make our week! I’m heading off to Spain for Christmas and New Year very soon and Jane is having a nice quiet time with family, then an even quieter time at a silent meditation retreat;) We hope you have a wonderful festive time and get right into the Xmas groove. Have fun. jingle bells and spread the love:)

Merry Christmas everyone!!X

Recipe Notes

If you have some leftover mix, this would make awesome burgers. Festive burger twist? Why not!

Don’t dig parnsips. That’s cool, any root veg will be fine here, something like carrot or squash would be great. Nice colours too.

Walnuts are great in these dishes, they break down nicely, adding flavour and texture. You might prefer hazelnuts, which are also very delicious here.

Just use gluten-free breadcrumbs to make this a GF treat.

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Parsnip, Cranberry & Chestnut Roast

The Bits – For 4-6

2 medium onions (skin on and quartered)

300g/ 2 largish parsnips

1 head garlic

2 tbs rapeseed oil

200g chestnuts

100g breadcrumbs (g.f.)

100g toasted walnuts

3 teas dijon mustard

2 teas dried sage

1 teas dried rosemary

1/2 teas cinnamon

2 tbs ground flax (mixed with 7 tbs water)

4 tbs Cranberry Sauce

Serve

8 tbs cranberry sauce

2 tbs whiskey/ brandy or water

Fresh thyme leaves

Do It

Slice the thick end of your parsnips into thin discs, with a few smaller discs from the thinner end. This will be used for decorating the top of our roast. Cut the rest into thin batons.

Preheat an oven to 190oC. Trim the top of the garlic off to slightly expose the cloves. On a baking tray, toss the onion, garlic and parsnip batons (set aside the thin slices) in oil and a little salt. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until all is soft and caramelised nicely. The onion may need a little longer to go nice and soft. Leave to cool and pop the roasted garlic cloves from their skins. Remove any skin and roughly chop the onion into small chunks, keep enough parsnip batons for a decent layer in the middle of your roast, chop the rest up.

Pulse the chestnuts and walnuts into a rough crumb in a food processor. Place in a bowl and mix in the roasted onions, chopped parsnips and garlic, herbs, breadcrumbs, mustard, cinnamon, cranberry sauce, flax egg, salt and pepper. Mash together well and taste to check seasoning. Remember that flavours will develop when cooked. If it’s a little lumpy, that’s fine!

Line and oil a 900g/ large loaf tin with baking parchment, lay out your parsnip discs until they cover the base of your tin. Arrange them nicely, this will be the top of your roast. Spoon in half the chestnut mix, press down snuggly and level out with the back of a spoon. Arrange a layer of parsnips batons, press down a little until snug and spoon over the rest of your chestnut mix. Smooth and press down evenly to make a nice neat finish.

Cover with foil or baking parchment and bake for 45 minutes, then take off the foil and bake for a further 15 minutes. There should be a nice brown crust. Leave to cool for 15 minutes in tin before turning gently out onto a serving plate and again, leave for 10 minutes before slicing. Makes it easier and slices stay together.

In a small pan, mix together the cranberry sauce and whiskey, bring to a boil and simmer for 1 minutes. Keep warm. Glaze the top of your roast with the cranberry sauce and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves.

Looking for a quick and easy Christmas dessert?

Why not try this Spiced Apple & Pecan Tart. Follow the Apple Tart recipe in Peace & Parsnips, adding some spices to the marmalade, cloves, star anise, cinnamon and maybe a few shots of whiskey/ brandy. Top it all off with chopped roasted pecans.

Categories: Dinner, gluten-free, healthy, Healthy Living, Peace and Parsnips, plant-based, Recipes, Special Occasion, Vegan, Winter | Tags: christmas, christmas food, healthy christmas, vegan christmas | 15 Comments

Roast Carrot & Ginger Hummus

Posted on December 1, 2017 by leroy watson

Roast Carrot & Ginger Hummus – Get dippin’!

This is a lively one; zesty, colourful and filled with spice. Ideal for a winter party, sure to brighten things up! Playing with hummus flavours is something I believe all vegans enjoy, absolutely nothing wrong with the classic, but hummus is one of the tastiest vehicles imaginable for fabulous flavours! Hummus is important!! It’s one of those things that we can all cook, and we all have our own take on, some prefer a little more tahini, some more garlic…..

This hummus is not only a great combination of flavours, it’s also filled with all we need at this time of year to keep us shining, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, citrus and of course tahini (we love it!) I have added a small amount of oil here and think its rich enough, but by all means, add more to make it a really rich treat. Just sub the water for oil.

I’ll be sharing some more festive recipes soon…..

The Bits – One medium bowlful, For 4-6 for dipping

500g chickpeas (cooked, drained and rinsed)

2 large carrots (roasted and chopped)

1 1/2 teas turmeric

1 teas ground cumin

1/2 teas cinnamon

4 tbs light tahini

2 tbs heaped ginger (finely diced or grated)

2 limes (juice)

50ml olive oil

50ml water

Salt

Do It

Add carrots, chickpeas, spices, lime juice, ginger, 1/2 teas salt and tahini to a blender and blitz for a while. As it’s going, pour in the water and oil. It is fine a little chunky, but blend for longer if you like a really smooth hummus. Taste and add salt if needed to really bring out those zingy flavours.

Foodie Fact

There is so many vibrant and healthy ingredients packed into this hummus, it’s difficult to know where to begin with this foodie fact. Shall we talk about turmeric? Why not! Turmeric is a colourful root, that looks a lot like ginger in it’s raw state. Most of us know that turmeric is an incredible ingredient from a nutritional point of view, here’s a quick low down. It full of beneficial bits and pieces, loads of iron, vitamin C, magnesium and good amounts of protein and fibre. I like to sneak turmeric into meals, smoothies etc whenever I can. Turmeric is also known as an anti-inflammatory and has been said to cure a whole host of ailments. It is also a very cool colour (which is important;)

Categories: gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Side Dish, Snacks and Inbetweens, Superfoods, Vegan, Winter | Tags: beach house kitchen, hummus, recipe | 10 Comments

Pickled Jalapenos – Easy & Quick Way to Pickle

Posted on November 22, 2017 by leroy watson

Pickled Jalapenos – The easiest way to pickle

This is a legendary way to spice up your winter burgers, burritos or pizza (?!) plus homemade pickled jalapenos are way, way better than shop bought. When not pickled, I even like ’em in a smoothie, something like kale, banana and apple, is awesome with a few slices of jalapeno, great also paired with pineapple.

You can take this recipe wherever you like flavouring wise, add spices or herbs, but I went for simple garlic with a little tickle of ginger. Maybe some chipotle or other Mexican dried chillies, I wonder how that would go, never tried it…. let me know!

Use this method of pickling for most veggies, it’s a really simple way to preserve and enhance the flavours in vegetables. For some strange reason, they were selling off jalapenos for pennies at our local shop in Caernarfon, I snapped them up and knew exactly where they were heading. Jane is not a massive chilli fan, so having a jar of jalapenos in the fridge is perfect for me, I pop in there every now and again to add a little zing to dishes, of course, these will light up anything remotely Mexican. They are surely one of the most legendary Mexican ingredients.

When I love a dish, I always want to find a way to make it myself. These pickled are something I first really got a taste for in Mexico, I especially like the big jars of pickles in most street food style eateries, called ‘Escabeche’, huge jars of things like carrots, radishes, cauliflowers and onion. A perfect lift to go with the rich Mexican dishes. You can make ‘Escabeche’ like this, maybe add some black peppercorns to the mix.

These chillies will be nice served with our Cashew & Kale Black Bean Mole with Tofu Bacon or Mexican Corn & Mushroom Omelette with Avocado & Tomato Salsa.

Recipe Tips

I said this will work for most veggies, which is true, but with watery vegetables like cucumber, it’s best to salt them first. Rub some salt into them and leave them to drain over a colander for an hour or so then rinse well. This removes a good amount of the water and makes for more intense pickles.

If you leave the seeds in, expect fireworks! In a good way if you’re a chilli head. Take them out for milder, more placid results.

I love pickled garlic, so I’ve added a load of garlic cloves. They mellow when pickled and are really crunchy and lovely. If you’re not a fan, just omit them and add more chillies.

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Pickled Jalapenos

The Bits – One large jarful

14 jalapeno chillies (sliced)

175ml white wine/ distilled white vinegar

175ml water

8 or as many as you like garlic cloves (peeled and whole)

2 bay leaves

4 slices fresh ginger

2 tbs sugar

1/2 tbs sea salt

Do It

In saucepan, add all the ingredients, bar the chillies. Stir and bring to a boil, making sure the sugar is dissolved. Add the chillies and leave to cool for 15 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, pack your chillies, garlic and ginger into a clean jar, pour over enough pickling brine to cover. Seal the jar and leave in the fridge and enjoy! You can eat them straight away, but they’re better after a day or two.

The chillies will be quite happy in the fridge for a week.

Foodie Fact

Chillies are full, full, full of Vitamin C. Perfect for a boost in the winter. They are also rich in vitamin A and K, they even have a little fibre going on.

Categories: gluten-free, healthy, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, Recipes, Side Dish, Vegan | Tags: jalapeno, mexican, Mexico, pickling | 4 Comments

Chestnut, Millet & Sage Sausages with Homemade Ketchup

Posted on November 16, 2017 by leroy watson

I just felt like a sausage sandwich and these chestnut sausages from ‘Peace & Parsnips‘ are some of my favourite vegan bangers going. Teamed up with the Rye & Stout Loaf that I just posted and some home made ketchup (recipe is in the book;), made creamy with macadamias or cashews, you’ve got yourself a really top breakfast/ brunch.

I haven’t shared a recipe from the cookbook for a while and thought this one is arriving at an ideal time, a great way to start a chilly morning and these sausages freeze well, so you can make a stock for the freezer to last you through winter.

THE BIG QUESTION – WHAT’S ON THE XMAS MENU?!

I’ll be in Murcia, Spain for Christmas, a tough call, but someone’s got to do it! I’m spending time with family over there and no doubt Mum’s already thinking about Xmas lunch (as am I).

I think these sausages will be made over the festive period, there are huge mountains of local castana’s (chestnuts) down at the local food markets and after a quick roast in an oven, and especially when eaten straight from their shells, it’s one of my favourite tastes of Christmas.

I see Christmas as a great time to try out new things and I’m surprised how chestnuts can be neglected at this time of year, for me, they’re as essential as cranberry sauce or mince pies.

Do you already have one eye on your Xmas menu? It’s such a feast, a celebration of good food and drink, but I don’t think it necessarily needs to be really unhealthy. I’m looking at a balance between indulgence and food that makes us shine. Xmas doesn’t need to be an eating marathon that makes us feel sluggish and heavy all the way to February, I think we can get the best of both worlds. I know we can get the best of both worlds!!

I’m going to share some recipes with you and there are a few on the BHK already. Here’s one to get you into the spirit;) Maple Roasted Parsnip, Walnut & Mushroom Roulade with Cashew Cream Sauce.

Let us know what you have in mind for this Xmas and generally what’s inspiring you in the kitchen, it’s always awesome to hear from you in the comments below.

Here’s the intro from Peace & Parsnips:

“Chestnuts seem to have been a little neglected of late, and you rarely see the lonely chestnut roaster on the festive street corner these days. But chestnuts are so plentiful on our island, and can be used in a variety of dishes, both savoury and sweet. They come to life when paired with the robust and earthy sage, and will live with most herbs in harmony. I like to use them in sausages and burgers because they are quite starchy and help with the binding process, which can be a major failing in many vegan sausage and burger recipes. Most vegan sausages/burgers are best cooked straight from the freezer – they hold their shape better that way. The key with vegan sausages/burgers is to be gentle with them in the pan, and don’t mess with them unnecessarily. They just need a precise flip on occasion and they are perfectly happy. To make things easy, you may like to use pre-cooked chestnuts.”

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Chestnut, Millet & Sage Sausages with Homemade Ketchup

The Bits – For 15 small sausages

75g millet

250g cooked chestnuts

300g firm tofu (mashed with a fork)

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

a handful of toasted sunflower seeds

1 onion (grated)

3 cloves of garlic (peeled and minced)

2 tablespoons very finely chopped fresh sage

2 tablespoons very finely chopped fresh rosemary

1 red chilli (deseeded and finely diced)

a large pinch of ground allspice

2 tablespoons lemon juice

150g very fine wholewheat or gluten-free breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon tamari or teaspoon sea salt

Vegetable oil (for frying)

To Serve

Homemade raw ketchup (or your favourite sauce)

Do It

To cook the millet, put it into a small pan and cover with 2cm of cold water. Bring to the boil, then pop a lid on, lower the temperature and leave to cook for 20 minutes. Fluff up with a fork – the millet should be soft and tender but quite sticky. This is perfectly normal. Allow to cool.

In a food processor, blitz your chestnuts to fine crumbs. Add half the tofu and pulse a few times until quite smooth. In a large bowl, mix the chestnuts and tofu with the rest of the ingredients apart from the vegetable oil. The mixture should be firm enough to form into sausages, slightly tacky to the touch. Check the seasoning and add more tamari or salt if needed.

Using dampened hands, form your sausages, making them look like big chipolatas. Roughly 15 will do, but you may prefer just a few longer ones instead. Place them on a plate and cover lightly with cling film, then pop into the fridge and chill them for 30 minutes. Put 1 tablespoon of oil into a large frying pan on a medium heat and fry your sausages for 5minutes, turning them regularly to get a good colour all over.

Serve with a big blob of homemade raw ketchup and some warm toast. And normally I’ll have a few green leaves for the plate. Sausage sandwich, anyone?

Foodie Fact

Chestnuts are best kept in the fridge and are the only nut to contain good levels of vitamin C. You’ll also find some of the vitamin B’s along with a decent amount of fibre and minerals, especially copper and manganese. Nut-wise, they are low in fats and are unusually starchy for a nut.

Categories: Breakfast, gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Vegan, Winter | Tags: christmas lunch, recipe, vegan sausage | 2 Comments

Gado Gado – Indonesian Seasonal Salad with Kickin’ Zesty Peanut Sauce

Posted on November 6, 2017 by leroy watson

I’m trying to prove that you can eat salads in winter!! The sun is still shining! What a beautiful autumn we’ve had here in Wales. Here’s a seasonal salad with a seriously zesty and creamy sauce, a taste of autumn and early winter given a very Indonesian twist.

Some of the vegetables in Gado Gado can be served warm, which makes it idea for autumn, it is also so colourful and takes advantage of all those incredible veggies that are about at the minute.

Gado gado (or Lotek) is something you find all over Indonesia and basically means ‘mix-mix’, we travelled all over Indonesia last year and found that it changed most times we ate it. We’ve added roasted veggies instead of steamed/ boiled and some of our favourite, colourful local organic veg.

We use what is to hand for this salad, what is seasonal and looking great, with new potatoes and the thick peanut dressing, this seems to be the way things are done in Indonesia too. The veggies may change but the POW of the amazing sauce is a constant.

You can use any mix of veggies really, in Indonesia, potatoes always figure, with things like cabbage, jackfruit, bitter melon, corn, beansprouts, spinach, the list is long and tasty. It’s normally topped with something crispy, like fried rice crackers or deep fried shallots. We’ve kept it super healthy and gone for some toasted pumpkin seeds instead. Not traditional, but packed with nutrition and gorgeous flavour.

SULAWESI STYLE

I think our favourite Gado Gado was in a small town in the North of Sulawesi. One man was making it with such care at a warung (street food stand) and we ate it on the street on a little table with a group of lovely people, all giving us their top Gado Gado tips. It’s one of those dishes that is a real institution and everyone has their favourite quirk and twist with it. I love the way it’s so flexible and easy to make.

Gado Gado is a great option for a vegan traveller around Indonesia, its filling nutritious and will sometimes come with two of my Indonesia favourites; tempeh and tahu (tofu). They are everywhere, on each street corner, you’ll bump into a lump of tofu! We even visited a remote village that was all about tofu, check it out – Visiting Tofu Village – Yogyakarta, Indonesia

It’s fair to say that Indonesia captured our hearts, we loved travelling around and the people were amazingly friendly and hospitable. The food is also sensational and is one of those cuisines that hasn’t really taken off here in the UK, at least not like Thai or Vietnamese food. I would say that it’s a fascinating cuisine to explore and Gado Gado is at the very tip of an intensely tasty tree, and if you’re vegan, Indonesia will teach you all you need to know about making tofu and tempeh taste amazing (little tip, great sauces and marinades).

Recipe Notes

Gado Gado normally comes with the thick sauce poured over the dish, a very generous quantity normally. I like to see the lovely veggies and therefore drizzle the sauce on the base of the plate/ shallow bowl and then have some more around for people to drizzle on top.

We use cooked beans and roasted veggies here, you can serve them warm of cold. The contrast of raw veg and warm is nice and the sauce comes alive even more with a little heat.

If you can’t track down tamarind, just add a little more citrus.

Aduki beans are also really nice with this salad. We use beans to substitute tofu or tempeh when we don’t have any. Nice bit of protein!

Gado Gado – Indonesian Seasonal Salad with Kickin’ Zesty Peanut Sauce

The Bits – For 4

Salad

450g new potatoes (cooked and chopped)

300g mung or other beans (cooked)

4 big handfuls roasted veggies (we used golden and purple beetroot, squash and onion)

1/2 green pepper (sliced)

1/2 yellow pepper (sliced)

2 big handfuls red cabbage (finely sliced)

2 ripe tomatoes (diced)

1/2 cucumber (diced)

4 Brussels Sprouts (finely sliced)

Topping

½ bunch fresh coriander (leaves picked oﬀ) or mint leaves (sliced)

1 hot red chilli (ﬁnely sliced)

4 tbs toasted pumpkin seeds

Extra something crispy – fried wonton wrappers, cassava crisps. (Traditionally prawn crackers (krukuk) are used.)

Peanut Sauce

130g peanut butter (crunchy or smooth is fine)

3 tbs coconut cream (that’s the cream from a tin of coconut milk)

30-40g palm sugar or brown sugar

1 large clove garlic (crushed)

1 tbsp / 1 inch ginger or galangal (peeled and chopped)

1-2 red chillies

2 limes (juice)

2 tbs tamari

1 tablespoon tamarind paste

Salt (to taste)

2 tbsp water (more if needed to thin)

Do It

In a bowl or food processor (easier), mix/blitz the peanut sauce ingredients (except the lime) until a thick sauce forms, adding water if needed to thin it out.
Place sauce in a small saucepan and warm gently. Taste and season with salt if needed then stir the lime juice in. The sauce should be nice and smooth creamy and with a real lime zing.

Spoon the sauce around the outside of the base of a shallow bowl. Arrange all the other vegetables over the sauce however you like it, then sprinkle with all the other toppings, coriander, chillies and seeds and serve.

Foodie Fact

You may know that peanuts are really high in protein, but did you know they are very high in copper?! We need copper in our diet to to help us absorb iron and it also helps with red blood cells, nerves, bones and the immune system. Aren’t we amazing!! They are also a great source of healthy fats and even anti-oxidants.

If you’d like to read more about our Indonesian travels here’s a couple of posts:

Street Eats and Delicious Days – Our Indonesian holiday snaps

Jungle Kopi Culture – Sampling Indonesia’s coffee revolution

Categories: Autumn, Dressings, gluten-free, healthy, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Salads, Travel, Vegan | Tags: Indonesia, recipe | 7 Comments

Simple Black Bean & Pumpkin Curry

Posted on November 2, 2017 by leroy watson

We had this for breakfast! Might not be everyones bowl of morning happiness but Jane and I love curry for brekkie, a pleasant habit we picked up at train stations and little bus stops in India. We wanted the all-time classic ‘Chana Masala’, but we didn’t have chickpeas!? What’s going on there?!! I feel like I have failed our household. Still, it lead to this creation which I was so pleased with, I felt the urge to share and write and celebrate the beauty of a simple curry.

SPICY WAKE UP CALL

We were getting tired of the smoothies and bowls of nuts and fruits and things routine, we wanted some SPICE in our early, sleepy eyed life! When the grey tickles us, as it can at this time of year, we need to put some rainbow flavours and magic into our food. Spices are magic dust right?! Does any food have as much pizazz and down right tastiness as a deep and potent curry? It can enliven the senses. The sheer complexity of flavours mingling and merging, having a massive party all over your taste buds? This curry doesn’t have to be eaten for brekkie, but do let us know if you try. Ditch the fry up this Sunday AM and get spicy!!

I’ve been to India many times, it has become my second home. I love living a life of contrasts, living on a hill in middle of nowhere, slightly mossy, Wales, straight to the honking depths of down town Delhi, thats my kind of contrast. Mix things up. Keep things vibrant and interesting. For me, India is the country with everything going on within its borders, travel there is rich. I know I go on about the food all the time, but, it is incredible. Consistently. Mind boggling in variety. Like I’ve died and gone to a Dhaba.

HIDDEN TREASURES (AND PICKLES)

If you’re looking for the best spices and Indian/ Pakistani/ Bangladeshi/ Nepalese etc ingredients, I recommend a regular visit to your local Asian shop/ supermarket. It’s where all the best ingredients will be hiding and normally for very reasonable prices. I find them a perfect location for spice worship. Eastern cooking treasure troves, designed for real food lovers to disappear into for days, reappearing with carfull’s of fantastic ingredients, pickles and inspiration.

I say, take the afternoon off and have a good luck around, ask for help and guidance. For me they’re like a flavour library for a cook, sifting through the ingredients and always finding something new and interesting to take home and play with in the kitchen.

The curry powder we used here was recommended to us by an Indian man in one of my favourite Asian supermarkets in Newcastle. He wasn’t wrong, its brilliant, fiery and fragrant. Curry powder has a bit of a bad name, but its just the same as any spice mix like bharat, ras el hanout etc. If you buy a decent one, it works well. Of course, making your own is the holy grail of any spice enthusiast. But having the time and means to do that can be a challenge. This is a quick dish, so lets keep it simple.

This is no traditional curry, but its not far off. I’ve made this curry super easy for you, I’d love you to cook and enjoy it! With only two spice mixes, garam masala and curry powder, which most of you will have knocking about in your cupboards and a quick cooking time.

If you don’t have the spice mixes, just try making your own up using things like turmeric, cumin and coriander for the curry mix, adding a little cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom for the garam masala. Could be a very nice experiment! I add red lentils to thicken the sauce up and make things hearty and substantial. I used pumpkin, because its their ultra orange time of year, but use any vegetables you like here and a nice idea is stirring some greens in just before serving, a couple of handfuls of spinach leaves is cool.

In Nirvana, this is breakfast!

Recipe Notes

I like the curry quite thin, more a thick daal than a chunky curry. Better for dipping warm chappatis into! The lentils will just keep sucking up the water, so just keep some warm water handy when cooking, preferably a recently boiled kettle (easier) and top up the water as you fancy.

Mash it up!! Your garlic and ginger and chilli as best you can, blending them or whacking them in a pestle and mortar is best. Releasing all their vibrant potential.

Leaving the curry to cool slighty, let it sit for 10 minutes with a lid on, will help the flavours to mix and mingle, get deep and meaningful.

I’ve gone easy on the chillies because Jane is anti-chilli, but you go wild if you like!

The lemon and coriander to finish are extras, but the lemon especially, will add a lovely citrus twist to the generally sweet curry, it also seems to re-vitalise the spices a little, bring the flavours to some kind of glorious crescendo!!!! Swadishtx

The chickpea chapatis in the photos are made by whisking some gram flour, water and salt together, until a double cream texture forms, and frying in a little oil. Simple, gluten-free, healthy, tasty…….

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Simple Black Bean & Pumpkin Curry
The Bits – For 2

1 small onion (sliced)
1/2 tbs cooking oil

3 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed)
1 inch ginger – roughly 1 heaped tbs (finely grated)
1/2-1 green chilli (finely diced)

250g black beans
75g red lentil – 1 big handful (washed)

200g squash/ pumpkin – 2 handfuls (diced)
300ml hot water
2 tomatoes (chopped and mashed)
1 heaped tbs tomato puree
1 teas salt
1 1/2 tbs curry powder

1 heaped tbs garam masala

Roughly 2 teas lemon juice

Handful chopped coriander (optional one for the coriander lovers out there)

Do It

In a large sauce pan, fry the onions until they are texture like sun (golden brown), then stir in your garlic, ginger and chilli, stir and fry for a minute and then add the lentils, beans, tomatoes, tomato puree, curry powder, squash, water and stir together. Bring to a boil.

Cook on a fast simmer for 10 minutes with a lid on, stirring occasionally to stop the lentils sticking to the bottom. Add your garam masala and cook for 5 minutes more. Stir in a little more water if its getting too thick.

Once the squash is nice and soft, stir in the lemon juice, check seasoning and serve. If you like coriander, sprinkle some chopped coriander over the dish. I like it with warm chapatis or chickpea chapatis, dip them in and enjoy! I also served it with some green mango pickle. One of my favs.

Foodie Fact

Pumpkin is full, full of good things. Especially this time of year when they’re bang on seasonal and hopefully quite local. Very orange, means goodness. Lots of vitamin A, one cup contains 200% of your daily need. You’ll be seeing in the dark in no time. It’s got loads of fibre and pumpkin is also said to keep our skin shining. Bananas are famous potassium sources, but pumpkin actually has considerably higher levels of potassium than bananas. Vitamin C, also in the mix somewhere, they’re just one of the best things we can eat at this time of year and throughout winter. Superstars!!

PS – Please don’t throw away the seeds, clean them off and roast them for a while in an oven. You will not regret the slightly time consuming picking orange gloop off them.

Categories: Autumn, Curries, Dinner, gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, Organic, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: curry, india, recipe | 3 Comments

Drunken Cherries – Autumnal Livener!

Posted on October 31, 2017 by leroy watson

Surely one of the most delicious ways to warm up! A fruity little livener!! This is a simple method to preserve berries and produce some wonderful flavoured spirits to make winter cocktails.

It’s Halloween and we’re having a big fire and welcoming in the darker, wintery times with some luxury hot chocolate spiked with cherry brandy and some rich chocolate mousse (see recipe here) and drunken cherries. There’s a theme there!! Cherries and chocolate are a match made somewhere very, very nice.

I love an open fire at Halloween, staring into the flames I feel inspired and a real connection to the festival; from light to dark. It’s also just great to be outside at night in the winter, especially with a clear sky overhead and maybe a glass of cherry brandy warming your cockles!! Lighting fires at Halloween (or Samhain in Celtic Traditions) especially on higher ground is said to aid a souls way to heaven.

Samhain was a day set aside for fasting and reflection, but things have changed a little. Halloween is now a big party of course, all about feasting and treats. We’re well stocked for trick or treaters and I’m enjoying Rye flour at the minute, so loaves and cakes are on the way for tonight as well as plenty of squash/ pumpkin in a variety of forms. I might go for a good old school Soul Cake (like a spiced scone really)? We’ll see….

North Wales has been sparkling of late in Autumn sunshine and crystal clear skies. I love this time of year up here, probably my favourite time in these hills. We’ve been out walking, exploring new corners of Snowdonia, there seems to be endless trails and paths that lead to new vistas, lakes and terrain. Soon it will be a bog-fest, many paths transformed into marshes. The walking is still incredible, but you need to get a little more semi-aquatic, and definitely, a whole lot muddier and chilled.

I’m not a huge fan of the dark, long nights, so tonight is a chance for me to celebrate the brighter times of year. October has been so beautiful and November is the turning point where the wet and grey rise up and take control. I’m always reminded of the villages I’ve visited in the high Himalayas, where they are snowed in for many months a year and spend the days with friends and family, drinking local chang (like a watered down moonshine), singing, dancing and telling stories. That’s their approach to living through a really arduous winter. I think we all need more singing, dancing and story telling in winter and lets face it, homemade cherry brandy is way better than chang (trust me)!!

You can use this method (technically it’s called ‘macerating’) to preserve and transform any berries really into something warming and delicious in the winter months. We love to make things like Sloe Gin, Blackberry Whiskey and whatever soft fruits we can get our hands on. I managed to get some tasty cherries a couple of months ago and now we are reaping the rewards! I love preserving the bounty of summer/ autumn and enjoying it in the depths of winter, it seems like such a gift to pop open a jar of jam or pickle and share in the joys of the brighter months. It makes winter slip by a little easier, some summertime sweetness.

Recipe Notes

Berries/ fruits like blackberries, strawberries, loganberries, sloe, plums, damsons, mulberries, blueberries will all be very nice in this recipe.

The longer you leave the fruit to macerate, the more the flavours will develop and change. Taste it regularly and drink it when you like it! It’s a fascinating process!!

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Drunken Cherries

The Bits – Makes enough for one medium kilner jar

700g cherries (pitted and cut in half)

½ bottle brandy

2 handfuls sugar (to taste)

Do It

Place the cherries in medium sized kilner jar, if you’re keeping for awhile, or any large sealable container if otherwise. Pour over the brandy and sprinkle the sugar over. Place a lid on and gently shake to combine the sugar. Now taste. If you like it sweeter, add more sugar. Seal and store in a cupboard.

These can be enjoyed after a few days but are better when left for a few weeks or longer. If there are any cherries sticking above the brandy, either add more brandy or a splash of water.

Use the cherries in desserts and drink the brandy as you like it. It’s nice when served warm, especially in hot chocolate.