Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

I recently got a load of Toffuti 'Better than Ricotta Cheese' from Vx (aka, Vegan Cross), in central London.

So I started off by making the obvious classic: Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni. I made it pretty lazily, so this is an easy recipe. It just takes some time.

1. Mix one tub of 'Better than Ricotta Cheese' with a fork, in a large bowl, with the following...

• the juice of half a lemon
• one crumbled vegetable oxo cube (or similar vegan stock cube).
• 1 teaspoon (tsp.) dried oregano
• Handful fresh basil leaves. Washed and torn.
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced/finely chopped.

2. Stir-in 500g fresh spinach. Washed and torn.

3. Use a teaspoon to fill the cannelloni with this mixture. This is the time consuming part!
Don't worry about making it too neat. You're going to cover these with sauce and bake the crap out of them soon!

4. Line a baking dish with tomato sauce (I used this lovely stuff) and place the cannelloni in it, in rows.

5. Cover it with more tomato sauce. Top with a melting vegan cheese, such as Teese vegan cheddar sauce, or Wilmersburger 'Scheiben' gouda-style, both also found at Vx.

6. Bake at 220°C for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy on top.

I served this with sundried tomatoes, and various green vegetables.

Jen x

Healthier banana bread!

Okay, so it's not the healthiest thing in the world, but it's certainly a lot better for you than regular cake, and tastes divine! This is also a great way of using up bananas that are getting overripe.

I adapted my old banana bread recipe to, to get rid of the refined sugar and pack it full of goodness!

1. Mix the following ingredients in a large bowl, and stir with a fork...

• 10oz plain four (I used a gluten-free flour blend)
• 1 teaspoon (tsp.) bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch salt
• 4oz dairy-free spread (I used Pure Olive spread)
• 2.5oz date syrup
• 1.5oz agave nectar
• 2 tsp. egg-replacer (I used "No Egg")
• 3 large or 4 medium bananas - Mashed first into a thick pulp, in a separate bowl.
• pinch cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon (Tbsp.) oatbran
• 1 tsp. ground flax seed (linseed)

2. Add 1/2 to 1/3 of a cup of soya milk. Stir/whisk with a fork, adding extra soya milk if you need, until it becomes a thick, but still pourable, batter.

3. Pour into a greased loaf tin of around 20 x 13cm and bake at 180°C for 40-45 minutes. It will be quite brown in colour, due to the date syrup, so ensuring it doesn't burn can be quite a challenge. Just don't open the oven within the first 30 mins, at least!

4. Leave to rest for 2-3 mins, then loosen the edges all the way around with a narrow, sharp knife. Leave for a further 15 mins, then turn-out onto a wire rack and leave to cool fully.

Cut in slices and EAT.

Jen x

Nutty Chocolate Fudge Protein Bars!

I've fallen in love with exercise lately. And, with that, my dietary needs have changed too.
So I've been working on making some of my old recipes healthier, and coming up with new ones.
So what's today's healthy and delicious vegan treat? Nutty Chocolate Fudge Protein bars!

There are various vegan protein bars commercially available nowadays, but if you're looking to save a little money and avoid refined sugar and scary processed ingredients, this is the recipe for you!
These are easy and quick to make too, so what are you waiting for?

1. Throw the following in a blender. Blend intermittently, stopping to stir at intervals of 1 minute or so, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs...

• 3 rounded tablespoons (Tbsp.) of whole almonds
• 1 rounded Tbsp. cashew nuts
• 1 rounded Tbsp. brazil nuts

2. Remove about 1/4 to 1/5 of this mixture and put in a bowl. Put to one side for now.

3. Add these to the nut mix in the blender and continue blending as before. Aiming again for a fine breadcrumb texture...

• 60g protein isolate (I used soya, but pea, rice, hemp or other proteins would work too)
• 1 teaspoon (tsp.) vanilla extract
• 2 heaped Tbsp. cocoa powder.
• 2 rounded Tbsp. oatbran
• 2 rounded Tbsp. oats
• 2 rounded Tbsp. peanut butter
• 3 Tbsp. Agave nectar

4. Scrape all the contents of the blender into a large bowl and add 7 Tbsp. of unsweetened soya milk.

5. Knead the mixture thoroughly with your hands, then tip into a large rectangular dish (or several smaller ones), lined with greaseproof paper.

6. Press the mixture down until it is roughly 1-1.5cm thick throughout the dish. Then using a rolling pin to flatten and compress it more evenly.

7. Drizzle a little extra agave nectar over the top and spread it out as evenly as you can. Just enough so the surface is sticky. You can use a spatula for this, but I actually found it easier to use a square of greaseproof paper.

8. Sprinkle with the remaining nuts and chunks of dark chocolate. Instead of dairy-free chocolate chips, I find it cheaper to just buy cheap dark chocolate and chop it up.

9. Refrigerate for 20-40 minutes, until cool throughout, and firmer.

10. Cut into squares or rectangles. These can be a bit crumbly, so avoid making the sides of each longer than about 5cm.

You can wrap them in greasproof paper or clingfilm (or just in a tupperware box) in the refrigerater.

And most importantly, enjoy!

Jen x

Cocoa, Peanut butter & Cranberry bites.

For a relatively healthy and deliciously indulgent snack, try these!

Now, there are endless energy ball recipes out there, but these are slightly different. They don't contain cocoa butter or coconut oil. Instead they use peanut butter as a cheaper and easier alternative, with a higher protein content.

These are also amazingly easy to make. Just throw the following in a blender, and blend on max. for a few minutes.

• 2 Tablespoons (Tbps) wholenut peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon (tsp) ground linseed
• 1 Tbsp. dessicated coconut
• 1 Tbsp. date syrup
• 4 Tbsp cashew nuts
• 2 tsp. mixed seeds
• 2 Tbsp. currants
• 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp. dried cranberries
• 1 tsp. unsweetened soya milk
• Pinch cinnamon & a few drops of vanilla extract

Stop and stir with a fork every 20 seconds or so. It should end up as a coarse crumbly paste.

Tip/scrape into a bowl. Then use your hands to squash and roll it into balls of about 2cm in diameter. Then roll in cocoa powder.

Jen x

Stuffed Seitan Roast

I made a sort-of roast dinner recently, centring around a homemade chicken-style seitan roast, stuffed with sage & onion stuffing.
If you're stuck for a main protein in a vegan roast, whether it's a gathering of friends or a christmas dinner, I'd really recommend this.
You'll need gluten flour, which can be hard to find. In the UK, you can order online this from Flourbin. Or if you're in London, you can buy it at Vx, a vegan boutique in Kings Cross.

Here's the recipe.

Mix these dry ingredients with a large bowl, using a fork.

• 5 heaped tablespoons (tbp) gluten flour
• 1/4 teaspoon (tsp) garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp mild curry powder
• 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp vegan bouillon powder (or powdered vegetable stock)

Then, combine with the following wet ingredients. Use your hands to mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tsp soya sauce

Then add 100-120ml of cold water, using your hands to form a stretchy dough.

Stretch it, and roll as best you can with a rolling pin, into a rectangle. This will be the hardest part as this is a really strong dough that springs back into shape quickly.

Line it with stuffing mix and roll into a tube. Try and squish the ends together to get it to stay closed, adding a little flour and water between the edges. Baste with oil all over the outside. Then wrap the whole roll with kitchen foil and either bake it or steam it. I prefer steaming as it turns out softer. Either way, it will take 30-45 minutes. Just check on it regularly and it's done when it's a light golden colour on the outside and has a firm spring to it.

Leave it to rest on a chopping board for about 5 minutes, then slice and serve with vegetable gravy.

Jen x

Chocolate peanut butter cup-cakes

I made these today. They're like a cupcake version of Chocolate peanut butter cups and are as delicious as they sound!

I started by making my usual chocolate cupcakes, as follows...

Mix the following in a bowl:

• 6oz plain flour
• 6oz non-dairy margarine
• 6oz white sugar
• 2 teaspoons (tsps) white sugar
• 1 heaped tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 level tsps egg replacer
• 1.5 heaped tsps baking powder.
• 1.5 cups unsweetened soya milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp chocolate extract (if you can find it!)

Stir/whisk thoroughly with a fork until it becomes a custard-like texture. Or, if you're feeling lazy, just throw it in a blender.

Fill cupcake cases 3/4 full and bake for approx. 25 minutes at 180°C.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Use a melon baller to scoop out a little bowl shape in each cupcake. Then fill this bowl with peanut butter. I used a mix of smooth and crunchy as I couldn't decide which would be best!

 

Cover with melted chocolate (I used plain) and refrigerate.
Try to resist them until they're set. Then devour!

Jen x

Raw(ish) chocolates with puffed spelt and red fruits.

These were inspired by this recipe on This Rawsome Vegan Life. (<--I highly recommend this site, by the way. It's a blog of awesome and inspired raw vegan recipes. Mmmm...)

I was rather low on food, so threw together some of the few things I did have. And it made these delicious, mostly raw, chocolate and puffed spelt discs. I then topped them with red fruits from the garden...

These were so quick to make, and taste amazing, yet are surprisingly healthy. Seriously, try them!

Recipe:
Throw the following in a blender:

• Approx. 40ml melted coconut oil
• 5-10g melted raw cacao butter
• 1.5 heaped tablespoons (tbsp.) cocoa powder
• 1 heaped tbsp. golden syrup (or agave nectar)
• Handful of dates (i.e. 8-10)
• 2 tbsp. mixed seeds (e.g. sunflower, pumpkin, sesame)
• 2 tbsp. barley milk (or any other milk substitute)
• Pinch cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon (tsp.) vanilla extract

Tip: To melt your coconut oil or cacao butter without burning or boiling it, try putting the jar/bottle in a bowl of boiling water for a few minutes.

Remove it from the blender once it reaches a consistency somewhere between melted chocolate and PVA glue (mmm.. :P), with coarse bits in. Pour it into a bowl and stir-in:

• 3 heaped tbsp. of puffed spelt (e.g. these, or any other puffed grain)

Press into the mould of your choice with a teaspoon. Use your fingers to form a dip on the surface, then refrigerate until set. Finally, remove from the moulds and fill with red fruits. EAT!

Jen x