Homemade Baked Beans with Vegan Bacon – VeganMoFo Day 24

Today’s VeganMoFo prompt is about food to bring to a Pot Luck. Now I have never been to a pot luck, and I don’t even know if they’re a thing here in the UK, but from what I’ve seen, it’s a bit like a buffet only more hot food. People bring their own food and everyone helps themselves. Stews and casseroles seem to be a common thing. I wanted to inject a bit of a British flavour to it, so I made baked beans.

This may be a shocking turn of events, but I don’t actually like canned baked beans. I know, revoke my British citizenship (go for it, I don’t mind). But homemade ones are different. I added vegan bacon to these beans – I actually made my own using this recipe, which is my favourite, but shop bought vegan bacon also works well!

You could serve this as part of a breakfast, or on the side of a roast, or just like me have it on bagels. I’ll be honest, I think everything is better on bagels!

Baked Beans and Vegan Bacon

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 packet of vegan bacon, diced
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 tin white kidney beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• salt + pepper

Directions

1. Begin by frying the onion and garlic in a little oil until translucent.
2. Add the diced bacon, and fry for a few minutes more until starting to brown.
3. Add the paprika, herbs, and tomato puree and stir through.
4. Stir in the kidney beans, stock, and chopped tomatoes, and bring to a simmer.
5. Simmer for 10 minutes until thickened. Season to taste!

 

Mince & Potato Pie – VeganMoFo Day 23

From the title of this blog post, you may think I have gone Christmassy, and indeed despite it being still September, you can already find vegan Christmas mince pies in shops (Asda’s own are registered with the Vegan Society!). However, I haven’t started on Christmas quite yet, and this meal is of the savoury nature! The prompt for today’s VeganMoFo is “Sunday Dinner”, and whilst we don’t have a Sunday dinner tradition, if we did, this pie would be on it!

This pie is a proper pie, with a pastry top and bottom, which does come with a bit more work (you have to blind bake the bottom) but it’s definitely worth it for a good roast dinner. Use whatever size pie pots you have, or even smaller ramekins – mine are quite big so it made two pies, but smaller pots would make more.

The filling is a mix of mince – here in the UK, you can get frozen mince from the supermarkets that is vegan – and potatoes and is lovely and hearty!

Mince & Potato Pies

• Servings: 2 pies
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Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp vegan worcester sauce
• 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
• 500g potatoes, diced
• 300g vegan mince
• 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in the US)
• 1 packet puff pastry (500g)
• 2 tbsp non-dairy milk of choice

Directions

1. Begin by frying the onion and garlic in a little oil until softened. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the worcester sauce, stock powder, potatoes, mince, and 500ml water.
3. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes until the potatoes are softened.
4. In a small bowl, mix the cornflour with 2 tbsp cold water, and then stir it into the potato mix, mixing until thickened.
5. Set aside and leave to cool.
6. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F
7. Meanwhile, blind bake the bottom of the pies. Roll your pastry out to fit the pie dishes (with a little overhang), and top with baking paper and baking beans. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
8. Trim the edges of the pies, and then add the cooled filling mixture.
9. Roll out the remaining pastry and place on top of the filling. Seal the edges with a little milk.
10. Brush the top of the pies with the remaining soy milk (this helps the pastry to go golden).
11. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.
12. Serve hot!

Marshmallow Fluff Brownies – VeganMoFo Day 22

So, today’s VeganMoFo is about Fancy, but Frugal. I don’t actually do a whole ton of “fancy” food – you know, haute cuisine, giant plates with teeny portions of food, exotic ingredients – most of my savoury food is firmly in the home cooking, comfort food genre. If you want something fancy from me, it’s going to be a dessert. And so, I made brownies.

This may be my fourth brownie recipe on this blog, but it’s SO worth it. It uses pretty much the base recipe from my fudgy brownies, but it’s topped with marshmallow! Vegan marshmallows are, as you probably know, a bit expensive, but this isn’t! It’s made using aquafaba, which you use in the brownies anyway, and you probably have leftover from chickpeas.

The brownies end up topped with a fluffy, gooey, sweet cloud of marshmallow fluff that’s toasted lightly under the grill (or, broiler to some – apparently they’re the same thing) to give it a caramelised top. When I say lightly, I mean it – sugar caramelises very quickly so you have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn, burnt sugar is nasty.

The marshmallow fluff is based on what I used for these hot chocolate cupcakes, though you make less fluff (the perfect amount to cover the brownies!). It has xanthan gum in, which is necessary as it gives the fluff that gooey, slightly stretchy texture that marshmallow fluff has, but also more importantly stops the fluff from losing its shape – if you don’t put it in, it’ll look fine for a little, but disintegrate very shortly, which is very sad. You only need a small amount of xanthan gum, and it lasts forever, so it’s a good investment, and it means you can always whip up fluff when you like! (it goes great on hot chocolate).

Marshmallow Fluff Brownies

• Servings: 25 brownies
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Ingredients

For the Brownies
• 115g vegan dark chocolate, broken in to pieces
• 50g cocoa powder
• 90g vegan butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 4 tbsp aquafaba
• 360g white sugar
• 50ml milk of choice
• 300g plain flour
• 100g chocolate chips
For the Fluff
• 100ml aquafaba
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Directions

Preheat the oven to 175C/350F
1. Begin by placing the chocolate, cocoa powder, and butter in a heat proof bowl and melting (I do this in the microwave, but a double boiler is fine too!).
2. Once melted, add the vanilla, salt, bicarb, baking powder, aquafaba, and milk, and stir until combined.
3. Whisk in the sugar well.
4. Fold through the flour and chocolate chips.
5. Press the brownie mixture into a lined tin – it’ll be quite thick, but that’s a good thing!
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until a knife inserted comes out clean.
7. Leave the brownies to cool completely before making the topping.
8. To make the topping, begin by placing the aquafaba in a very clean bowl (important – if it’s at all greasy it won’t whip!).
9. Set aside 50g of the icing sugar, and add the xanthan gum to it, and mix well.
10. To the aquafaba, add the vanilla extract and cream of tartar.
11. Whisk the aquafaba with an electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks – up to ten minutes.
12. Now, with the mixer running, add the plain icing sugar a spoonful at a time, allowing it to combine.
13. Once the plain icing sugar is added, add the xanthan gum mixture a spoonful at a time, with the mixer still running.
14. Once thoroughly combined, your fluff is done! Spread it evenly over your brownies.
15. Preheat your grill (or broiler).
16. Place the fluff topped brownies under the grill, and grill until turning brown on top (watch carefully, as they can turn very quickly!).
17. Leave to cool, and then slice into individual brownies.

Tomato Dhal – VeganMoFo Day 20

It’s still budget week in VeganMoFo, and today I have one of our favourite cheap meals – dhal! Dhal is a really versatile meal, as you can put all kinds of vegetables and even different types of lentils in it. I usually use red lentils, as they’re cheap and quick to cook (you don’t have to soak them!). For this dhal recipe I used tomatoes – from a tin to keep it cheaper, but it’s also nice with fresh tomatoes in it too.

It’s a cold and rainy day here today, which makes it perfect weather to make a cosy dhal recipe! I served mine with rice, but I also like it with pita bread, chappati, or even toast (yes, curry on toast – you should try it!).

Tomato Dhal

• Servings: 2-3
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Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp curry powder (hot or mild – your choice!)
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 150g red lentils
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• salt and pepper to season

Directions

1. Begin by frying the onion and garlic in a pan with a little oil until translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the spices, and stir for a minute to let them toast off.
3. Stir through the tomato puree and red lentils.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and enough water to cover the lentils by about an inch.
5. Cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring regularly, until the lentils are soft!
6. Serve hot with your side of choice.

Sausage & Tomato Pasta – VeganMoFo Day 19

Today’s VeganMoFo post continues on from yesterday’s post…yep, we’re using leftovers! Presuming you didn’t eat all eleven of the sausages you made at once (no judgement, they’re good!) you can use them in this recipe. You could use shop bought sausages too, but for frugality purposes I used my own.

This recipe is pretty simple, but it’s one of our go-to recipes for a quick and easy meal! If you don’t have leftover sausages, I’ve used beans, or different types of fake meat too – burgers can be chopped up and used!
 
 

I actually used fresh basil in mine – I have a basil plant on my kitchen windowsill, I bought one of the cheap “living” pots you can get in the supermarket and repotted it, they’re usually still living but need a much bigger pot than they came in! However, dried basil also works find and is what I use when I don’t have fresh basil!

Sausage & Tomato Pasta

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

• Leftover sausages, sliced
• Enough cooked pasta for two!
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped,
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• handful fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 cup vegetable stock

Directions

1. Begin by frying your onion and garlic in a pan until turning translucent.
2. Add the sliced sausages and fry for a few more minutes until they begin to brown.
3. Stir through the tomato puree, and dried basil if you’re using.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
5. Stir through the fresh basil if you’re using it, and finally the cooked pasta.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Vegan Sausages – VeganMoFo Day 18

These next two days of VeganMoFo are leftover days…well, today is the beginning, where you make food, and tomorrow is the day where you use the leftover food. While leftovers can just be, well, leftovers from whatever you made, it’s an even better idea to plan your meals with leftovers in mind. Make a meal, and intend to use the leftovers for another meal. That’s what these sausages do!

These are actually, I think, my third sausage recipe on this blog. I have tomato and basil sausages, and pizza sausages! These ones are more traditionally flavoured, I think, and work great in hot dog buns with some fried onions! Once again I used Isa’s recipe as a base, but altered it a fair bit too.

Sausages made from seitan aren’t perhaps the most attractive of things, which makes them a little difficult to photograph, but they really are delicious! I actually use cups to measure this recipe out, because it all goes in the food processor so it’s easier than weighing.

Seitan Sausages

• Servings: 11 sausages
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Ingredients

• 1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup cold vegetable stock
• 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp marmite
• drop liquid smoke
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• several cracks black pepper
• 1.5 cups vital wheat gluten

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients, except for the vital wheat gluten, in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Add the vital wheat gluten and pulse until combined and forming a dough.
3. Roll the dough into sausage shaped pieces – they’ll expand as they cook so make them smaller than you want them!
4. Wrap each sausage in tin foil, making sure it’s all sealed in.
5. Place the wrapped sausages in your steamer (you may need to do this in two batches)and steam for 40 minutes.
6. Use how you fancy!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread – VeganMoFo Day 17

Carrying on with the budget theme for VeganMoFo, today we’re all about “Super Cheap Sweets”. Now, anyone who knows me will know I never skip the sweet food (OK, I’d eat sweet over savoury if I had to pick) but if you’re buying fancy vegan cakes and chocolates, it can get more expensive. Thankfully, it’s easy to make cheap and tasty sweets by yourself, like this banana bread!

Bananas are a great fruit to bake with cheaply, because the older they get, the better they are for baking – and the cheaper they are! To make banana bread, you want bananas with plenty of brown spots, and I often find these discounted in supermarkets. Using bananas, you don’t need anything like eggs in baking, which makes it even cheaper (and of course vegan).

Chocolate chips added to banana bread make it even tastier, but you could sub them out for any add ins you like – walnuts are nice, or dried fruit if you like it! Just check your chocolate chips for milk ingredients before you use them.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

• Servings: 1 loaf
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Ingredients

• 4 medium bananas, mashed
• 225g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• large pinch salt
• 110g sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 75ml sunflower oil
• 100g chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 170C/340F
1. Begin by mixing the mashed bananas, sugar, salt, oil, and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
2. Stir in the flour and baking powder to form a smooth batter.
3. Add the chocolate chips and mix.
4. Pour into a lined loaf tin.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Leave to cool in the tin (or eat warm!).

Spicy Pasta Soup – VeganMoFo Day 16

It’s the beginning of Week 3 of VeganMoFo 2018, and this week is Budget Week – where we aim to create meals that are both delicious, and budget friendly. A common criticism against veganism is that it’s expensive – and it’s true, if you’re constantly buying artisan vegan foods and treats, it can get expensive. But I’m of the opinion that the same is true of a non-vegan diet too – you could easily spend a lot of money on fancy food there as well! Veganism itself can be affordable and still tasty, and this week will aim to show that!

For the first day of this week, the prompt is “Storecupboard Meal” – making a meal with ingredients commonly found in your cupboards, without having to go to the shops to buy things. I made this spicy bean soup – it’s similar to my borlotti bean soup recipe, but with kidney beans and spices. The addition of pasta in the soup makes it a nice hearty meal and gorgeously warming on cold evenings! If you want it more soupy, just add more water, but I prefer my soups to be really thick.

Spicy Bean and Pasta Soup

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoky paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp stock powder
• 180g dry pasta
• boiling water

Directions

1. Begin by frying the onion and garlic in a little oil until fragrant and translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the spices, and cook for a minute.
3. Stir through the tomato puree, stock powder, and kidney beans.
4. Using a fork, mash the kidney beans a little until broken up.
5. Add the pasta, and pour over the boiling water until it covers the pasta by about an inch.
6. Bring to a simmer, and cook for approximately 10 minutes, until the pasta is done.
7. Serve and eat!

 

Low FODMAP chocolate biscuits – VeganMoFo Day 15

Have you ever heard of the low-FODMAP diet? It’s an elimination diet mostly aimed at IBS sufferers, but can also be used for other chronic conditions. FODMAPs (Fermentable Oligo-saccharides Di-saccharides Mono-saccharides and Polyols) are carbohydrates that have been found to contribute to irritation in the gut in some people – basically, they’re things that people with IBS are often intolerant to. The low-FODMAP diet gets you to eliminate all FODMAPs for a certain period of time, and then slowly reintroduce them, one at a time, so you can figure out what your body can handle. It is a really boring elimination diet – I’ve been on it myself and it wasn’t fun! Here is a list of high, and low FODMAP foods. For today’s VeganMoFo, I made chocolate biscuits that are acceptable on a low FODMAP diet!

These biscuits are made with oats, rather than wheat flour, as wheat is a high fodmap food. If you use certified gluten free oats and baking powder, these biscuits are also gluten free. I used vitalite vegan butter for these, which I believe is low Fodmap, but around the world vegan butters may vary!

Low FODMAP Chocolate Biscuits

• Servings: 12
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Ingredients

• 250g oats
• 100g vegan butter (i used vitalite), melted
• 60g golden syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g white sugar
• 30g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Directions

1. Begin by pulsing the oats in a food processor until they are finely milled and flour-like.
2. Meanwhile, mix the melted butter, golden syrup, vanilla extract, and sugar together in a large bowl until well combined.
3. Stir through the oat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda.
4. Place in the fridge for half an hour at least (you can make the dough a day in advance if you prefer).
Preheat the oven to 180C/355F
5. Take the dough out of the fridge and form into walnut size balls. Place on a lined baking tray and flatten slightly.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until they’re a little browner.
7. Leave to cool on the baking tray.

 

Balsamic Tomato Pasta – VeganMoFo Day 14

Today’s VeganMoFo prompt stumped me for a minute – it asks us to make a meal full of flavour, but low in salt – and as someone who has never had to cut down on salt I had to think a bit. It’s important though, I think, to learn how to cook for different requirements, so I gave it a go!

I made pasta with a herby balsamic tomato and white bean sauce. The balsamic vinegar and herbs bring strong flavours which mean the salt isn’t so necessary, and roasting the tomatoes really emphasises their savoury flavour.

I posted roasted chickpeas yesterday, but white beans (or canellini) are another bean that is really good roasted. I often put them in with vegetables to roast as they taste so good!

Balsamic Tomato Pasta

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

– enough pasta for two, cooked
– 400g cherry tomatoes, halved
– 2 cloves garlic, chopped
– handful of fresh rosemary and thyme, roughly chopped
– 1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
– 3-4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
– 1 tbsp oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180C/355F
1. Place the tomatoes, cut side down, on a lined baking tray.
2. Spread the beans, garlic, and herbs over the tomatoes.
4. Drizzle over the oil and balsamic vinegar, making sure to cover evenly.
5. Place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
6. Stir through the cooked pasta and enjoy! Great hot, or cold as a pasta salad.