Chestnut-Stuffed Squash

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This is a surprisingly easy dish, perfect for a festive meal. It serves 2-4, depending on the size of the squash.

Ingredients:
2 squash of choice (I used a delicata squash and a patty pan squash)
1 red onion, finely chopped
100g mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices wholewheat bread, in crumbs
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
1/2 tsp dried thyme, crumbled
1/2 tsp dried sage, crumbled
150g chestnut purée
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
2 tbsp dried cranberries
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup suitable-for-vegans cranberry sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy insides. Place cut-side down on the baking tray, and roast 20-40 minutes (depending on thickness of the squash) until tender. Turn the squash over and season the insides liberally.
2. Sauté the onion and mushrooms until tender.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the garlic, breadcrumbs, herbs, chestnut, walnuts, and cranberries. Fill the squash with the stuffing, and return to the oven 20 minutes.
4. Serve topped with cranberry sauce.

Red Pepper Sesame Kale

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This umami side is so creamy and flavourful that you’d almost wish you could eat it on its own. Perfect for serving with mashed potatoes for a comforting meal.

Ingredients:
1 large pack of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 tbsp sweet white miso paste
1 heaped tsp suitable-for-vegans Dijon mustard
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 cup sesame seeds, plus extra for serving

Directions:
1. Steam the kale. Drain, and press to remove the excess liquid.
2. Meanwhile, add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.
3. Toss the kale in the sauce, reheat gently, and serve with extra sesame seeds.

Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

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It’s sure to be a good morning with this Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal, served here with a generous dollop of coconut whip to give you that dessert-for-breakfast flavour and to start your day on a sweet note. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
2 tbsp suitable-for-vegans brown sugar
2 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Pinch salt
2 tbsp chopped pecans, optional; extra for serving
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups soy milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 160C.
2. Mix all ingredients together. Add to a shallow baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the centre is set.

Creamy Polenta with Red Wine Mushrooms

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A comforting and rich dish, this Creamy Polenta with Red Wine Mushrooms is great for entertaining, but easy enough for a decadent-tasting meal for two.

Ingredients:
For the Polenta:
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups soy milk
1 tbsp herbes de provence, crumbled
1 cup polenta (or cornmeal)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Mushrooms:
1 red onion, finely sliced
350g mushrooms, sliced (I used 250g chestnut and 100g shiitake)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup suitable-for-vegans red wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tsp dried thyme, crumbled
1 heaped tsp cornflour (cornstarch) mixed to a smooth paste with a little cold water
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Add the vegetable broth and soy milk to a large saucepan over a medium heat. Stir in the herbes de provence. Sprinkle in the polenta, whisking vigorously as you go (there’s no need for the water to be boiling or even warm to start polenta).
2. As soon as the polenta starts to spit, reduce the heat to low. Stir occasionally until the polenta starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Add the nutritional yeast, if using, and season to taste.
3. Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms and the onion until the liquid released from the mushrooms is reabsorbed. Add the garlic and stir for a few seconds before stirring in the wine. Mix in the tomato purée and thyme and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the cornflour mixture and allow to thicken. Season with black pepper.
4. Serve the mushrooms on top of the polenta, garnished with a little parsley if desired.

Overnight Oats Bowl: Budget Recipe

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This Overnight Oats Bowl cost €0.54 per serving at the time of posting, is very easy to put together, and is almost guaranteed to fill you up until lunchtime.

Serves 2.

Ingredients:
90g rolled oats
Large pinch cinnamon
100ml soy milk (or other all-plant milk)
100ml water
1/4 cup dried fruit
1 apple, chopped
1 banana, sliced
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp flaxseeds, ground

Directions:
1. Mix the oats with the cinnamon. Stir through the soy milk and water, and leave to soak overnight or for at least 15 minutes.
2. Divide between two bowls and serve topped with the rest of the ingredients.

Coconut-Molasses Chickpeas and Cauliflower

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The flavour profile of this dish is inspired by Indonesian cuisine, where molasses or brown sugar are frequently used in ketjap manis. Molasses is quite high in iron and other minerals, which makes it a much healthier choice than many other sweeteners.

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp red chilli paste
1 tbsp garlic-ginger paste
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp lime pickle
2 cups cauliflower, in small florets (mine were pre-roasted, but the recipe below is a quicker version)
1 head pak choy, chopped
1 can chickpeas
4 spring onions, chopped

Directions

  1. In a medium saucepan over a low heat, whisk together the coconut milk, red chilli paste, garlic-ginger paste, molasses, turmeric, soy sauce, and lime pickle.
  2. Add the cauliflower, chickpeas, and the hard ends of the pak choy. Allow to simmer over a low heat for 7 minutes.
  3. Add the green leafy parts of the pak choy and the spring onions. Cover and simmer again for another 3 minutes, or until the cauliflower is the desired tenderness.
  4. Serve.

Coconut Cream of Mushroom Soup

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Thick and full of umami notes, this recipe is incredibly quick and quite inexpensive to make.

Ingredients

2 small onions, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
650g brown mushrooms (I used chestnut and portobello), roughly chopped
10g dried mushrooms, ground fine in a blender or coffee grinder (optional)
2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cups coconut milk
Fresh parsley, to garnish

Directions

1. In a large soup pan over a medium-low heat, cook the onions, garlic, and mushrooms until the mushrooms release their juices.
2. Add the mushroom powder, vegetable broth, soy sauce, and coconut milk, reserving a little of the coconut milk for garnish.
3. Cover, bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 7 minutes, or until the mushrooms are softened.
4. Garnish with the reserved coconut milk and parsley.

Celeriac and Chickpea Soup with Spinach-Miso Purée

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This extremely thick, yet very creamy, soup  makes for a filling and delicious lunch.

Ingredients:

For the soup

1 onion, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 celeriac, peeled and diced roughly
1 can chickpeas
300g white cabbage, chopped roughly
1 can coconut milk
500ml vegetable broth
Pinch white pepper
2 tsp onion salt
2 tsp dried basil

For the purée

50g spinach
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp soy (or other all-plant) milk
1 tbsp white or yellow miso

To garnish

Suitable-for-vegans crispy salad onions, if desired

Directions:

1. Sauté the onion in a large soup pan over a medium-low heat until it starts to soften, but don’t let it take on much colour. Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic for about a minute.
2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the celeriac is tender.
3. Meanwhile, make the spinach purée by blending all ingredients in a high-speed blender.
4. Rinse the blender, blend the soup in it, return to the pan, and season to taste.
5. Serve the soup topped with some of the spinach-miso purée, and garnish with crispy onions, if desired.

Banana-Pecan Cake

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What do you do when your bananas are starting to brown? Make Banana and Pecan Cake, of course. This one is oil-free, relatively lower in sugar than other banana cakes or breads, and yet the flavour and texture don’t suffer as a result.

Ingredients:

2 overripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (also called bicarbonate of soda or bread soda)
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch cloves
Pinch nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup pecans (1/4 cup chopped; the rest left whole)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Grease or line an 8″ loose-bottomed cake tin.
2. Add all of the ingredients apart from the pecans to a large bowl in the order listed above. Mix well. Stir in the chopped pecans.
3. Transfer the mix to the baking tin and top with the pecan halves.
4. Bake at 10 minutes for 200C. Reduce the heat to 180C and bake for 10-15 minutes more, or until the cake is cooked and a knife inserted comes out clean.
5. Because ovens can vary, if your cake is over-browning on the top, cover it with foil.

Sticky Sriracha-Lime Cauliflower

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Delicious piled high on a wrap with all of your favourite vegetables, these cauliflower bites are intensely flavoursome. This uses a whole cauliflower, and serves 4. The recipe for the minty coconut yogurt dip is below.

Ingredients:

1 cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized florets

For the batter:
1 cup flour (I used wholemeal spelt)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp onion salt
Pinch allspice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soy (or other all-plant) milk

For the glaze:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp lime pickle
1 tbsp mango chutney
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp sriracha
1 tbsp maple syrup

For the Minty Coconut Yogurt:
250g all-plant coconut yogurt
1 bunch mint, finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 220C and line a baking tray with a silicone sheet.
2. Mix all of the batter ingredients together. Toss the cauliflower in the batter, spread on the baking tray, and bake 20 minutes, flipping once.
3. Meanwhile, make the glaze by mixing all ingredients together.
4. When the cauliflower has baked for 20 minutes, toss in the glaze. Return to the baking tray and bake for 5 minutes more.
5. Combine all of the minty coconut yogurt ingredients well.
5. Serving suggestion: suitable-for-vegans wholegrain tortilla wrap, Moroccan-Spiced Hummus, lightly sautéed mushrooms, bell peppers, and mangetout, steamed kale.